Polish-Jewish Relations: 1,300 Keyword-Phrase-Indexed Book Reviews (by Jan Peczkis)

Przestepcze Wymuszenie Zeznan, by Przemyslaw Piatek. 2018. Instytut Pamieci Narodowej (IPN), Katowice-Warszawa

The Communist Secret Police (U. B., or Bezpieka) in the Trials of the Accused

COERCED CRIMINAL TESTIMONIES is the title of this very detailed IPN study of various archives. It soundly debunks the myth that trials, in Communist-ruled Poland in 1945-1956 (notably the 1949 Lomza trials regarding Jedwabne) were in any sense fair. It  brings back to Earth the likes of  Andrew Kornbluth, who blissfully imagines the innocence of Communist trials.

When the Soviets had imposed the Communist puppet government on Poland in 1944, they had schooled Poland’s Communists in various Soviet administrative and torture methods. (p. 61). These are elaborated below.

The Communist trials of Polish freedom fighters were largely a spent issue as of 1948 (p. 34, 68-69) owing to the near-elimination of organized resistance, and it enabled the Communist authorities to focus on other matters. One standout accusation, made by the Communists, was that of collaborating with Nazi Germany. It was used extensively (e. g, p. 84,162) against Polish citizens, and it encompassed those Poles accused of denouncing or killing fugitive Jews.

IMPLICATIONS FOR THE AUGUST DECREE

There are numerous examples of the Communist security forces (U. B. or Bezpieka) using tortures in order to get the accused to confess to whatever they are accused of (e. g, p. 209), or to give testimonies that incriminate someone else that is charged with some offense. (p. 7). In fact, Piatek (p. 53) estimates that, in over 53% of court cases in the Katowice area, the Bezpieka used criminal acts against defendants. He points out that it is impossible to determine if there were any court cases in which the Bezpieka had not resorted to criminal acts! (p. 55).

For details on the trials of those accused of denouncing fugitive Jews, see:

https://www.jewsandpolesdatabase.org/2021/07/26/august-decree-postwar-trials-tortured-suspects-why-common-leniency-towards-those-accused-of-harming-jews-gieron/

THE STAGGERING VARIETY OF COMMUNIST TORTURE METHODS

Piatek (pp. 128-155) extensively analyzes and tabulates over 1,600 uses of torture by the U. B. This includes beating with clubs, sticks, rubber truncheons, etc. on various sensitive areas of the human body. There was pulling of hair, yanking of ears, and twisting arms behind the body. The Bezpieka delivered electric shocks, and cigarettes were used to burn prisoners. Pins were jammed under fingernails, while pliers were used to tear other fingernails away. There was a crushing of genitals in doorways and drawers. Prisoners were forced to sit in awkward and very uncomfortable positions for long periods of time.

So much for physical torture. The Bezpieka also used psychological torture, such as forcing the accused into prison cells with wet floors, and into cells that were too small in which to stretch out. The accused were deprived of food, water, and sleep. There were gratuitous threats against the lives of the accused, and there were mock executions, including partial strangulations.

COPIED SOVIET COMMUNIST TORTURE METHODS

Some of the Polish Communist torture methods were earlier used by the Soviet NKVD. There was the stojka (stoyka). The accused was forced to stand, in one position, for hours or days at a time, until he/she confessed. (p. 149).

There was also the konwejer (conveyor). (p. 142, 242). The accused was not only kept awake for hours or days at a time, but was subject to uninterrupted interrogation until he/she confessed.

JEWISH LEADERSHIP OF BEZPIEKA DRIVES TORTURES: COMMUNISTS EVENTUALLY PUT THEM IN JAIL

The 1940’s leadership of the U. B. was so egregious that the Communists themselves turned against it after the death of Stalin in 1953. The likes of Anatol Fejgin, Jozef Rozanski (Josef Goldberg), and Roman Romkowski (Natan Grunspan-Kikiel) were put on trial in the late 1950’s, for torturing suspects, and given prison sentences. (e. g, pp. 337-342).

TURNOVER IN THE COMMUNIST SECURITY FORCES

Out of some 24,000 Bezpieka members in 1945, a total of 5,633 members were fired as of the end of 1947. (pp. 237-238, 270). Most of the fired members had been deemed “worthless”, while a sizeable fraction had been deemed “politically unreliable.” (p. 237).

It is common for Communists to turn on other Communists. The Communist authorities, as of 1946, determined that some Bezpieka members were too prone to use torture, and prosecuted them. (p. 238, 242, 329). However, the scope of this action should not be exaggerated. (p. 401).