Józef Światło

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Józef Światło

Józef Światło (born January 1, 1915 in Medyn near Sbarasch , Austria-Hungary as Isaak Fleischfarb , †  September 2, 1994 in the USA ) was a Polish secret service officer of the Ministry of Public Security (MBP), most recently with the rank of colonel, and defector .

Period from 1933 to 1945

In 1933 he joined the Communist Party of Poland (KPP). Because of his political activities against the military government of Ignacy Mościcki and Marshal Józef Piłsudski , he was arrested several times in the 1930s. In 1938 he was called up for military service and shortly after the attack on Poland by the German Wehrmacht he was taken prisoner of war. He was able to escape from this a short time later and fled to Soviet- occupied eastern Poland . Here he later became a member of the Polish Armed Forces in the Soviet Union under General Władysław Anders and a political officer in the Tadeusz Kościuszko Division .

After 1945

As early as 1945, still during the war, he was recruited to work as an agent by the US military intelligence agency, the Office of Strategic Services (OSS). Logically, after the end of the war, he switched to the secret service of the Polish Committee of National Liberation .

In 1949 he became head of "Department X" (party intelligence) of the Polish secret service.

Agent work for the UK MI6 and the forerunner of the US CIA

Światło was recruited by the British MI6 in 1948 and later operationally handed over to the forerunner of the US CIA ( OSS , headed by Allan Dulles). Światło took an active part in Operation Splinter Factor . As part of this operation, Noel Field was compromised in the eyes of the communist services and caused considerable confusion in Hungary, Czechoslovakia and Poland (Rajk trial in Hungary, Slansky trial in Czechoslovakia , Gomulka trial in Poland). Józef Światło reported the appearance of Field in Poland to his western clients and scattered misleading information about alleged agency work by Field for the west. After Stalin's death, Operation Splinter Factor was ended and Światło decided to flee to the West.

Overflow in Berlin

In November 1953, the Polish Prime Minister Bolesław Bierut (at the same time PZPR Secretary General) and the Minister responsible for the intelligence service Jakub Berman (member of the PZPR Politburo) ordered him to go to East Berlin together with the department head Anatol Fejgin to meet with the later Stasi boss Erich Mielke to talk about help with the removal of Wanda Brońska . The day after the conversation with Mielke, December 5, 1953, Światło fled to West Berlin and went to the US military base. A day later, American soldiers brought him to the Rhein-Main Air Base near Frankfurt am Main . On December 23rd, a special plane flew him to Washington, DC for further questioning by the CIA.

Activity in the United States

This was followed by statements before the US Senate Committee . On September 28, 1954, he started the series “Behind the Scenes of State Security and Party” for the Polish sector of Radio Free Europe , which he moderated himself. This series of programs received considerable attention in Poland. With this series of programs and the announcement of his escape, he aggravated the tense domestic political situation in Poland, which led to the dissolution of the MBP secret service and a drastic reduction in the security forces at the end of 1954. These and subsequent events were also known as “ Polish October ” and “ Gomułka Thaw ”.

Józef Światło lived in the United States after fleeing Poland.

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Światło, Józef
  2. ↑ Different life dates also 1905 - 1975, cf. DNB 127386173
  3. ↑ Article in "Rzeczpospolita" from February 9, 2010
personal data
SURNAME Światło, Józef
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Fleischfarb, Isaak (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Polish intelligence officer and defector
DATE OF BIRTH January 1, 1915
PLACE OF BIRTH Medyn near Sbarasch , Austria-Hungary
DATE OF DEATH 2nd September 1994
Place of death United States