Milicja Obywatelska

Milicja Obywatelska (Polish pronunciation:

The term milicja had been adapted from the

Under both communist and post-communist governments, the Polish police system has traditionally operated under the auspices of national authority. Starting at the end of World War II, Poland went under the influence of the Soviet Union. In 1948, the country's strengthened turn toward Stalinism brought the beginning of formalised totalitarian rule, "in which one Party ruled autonomously over all sections of society".^[3] Training for the force was conducted in the town of Legionowo.

History

The Citizens' Militia was created on the basis of provisions of the

• servicemen from the Polish People's Army on secondment
• partisans of the
  Armia Ludowa
• civilians with party affiliation (Polish Workers' Party, Polish People's Party and Polish Socialist Party)

Former members of the underground (eg

I solemnly vow ...- to faithfully serve the Fatherland, the Party and People's Authority and to protect the law, order and public safety.

— Sławomir Cenckiewicz, Through the eyes of the security. Sketches and materials from the history of the security apparatus of the People's Republic of Poland, Kraków 2006, p. 509

The first chief commander of MO was Franciszek Jóźwiak.^[7] The militia was then subordinated to Ministry of Public Security, and from 1955 to Ministry of Internal Affairs. From March 1946 to the end of the 1940s, local MO units with units of the Polish People's Army, Internal Security Corps, Ministry of Public Security and Border Protection were subordinated to provincial security committees subordinate to State Security Commission. In the years 1944–1948, the Citizens' Militia was used to fight cursed soldiers' ', as well as servicemen of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army and German Werwolf elements.^{[8] [9]}

The decrees and the first organizational structure

When on July 27, 1944, the Civic Militia was established by one of the two decrees of the Polish Committee of National Liberation (PKWN's decree was approved on August 15, 1944 by the National National Council),^[10] in Rzeczpospolita - "press organ of the Polish Committee of National Liberation" - August 16 1944 ^[10] was provided with:

We are creating the Citizens' Militia. The name is not accidental. The militia must be truly a civic militia and all its efforts to ensure public safety will find support from the public.

Given the fact that the first generation officers and men of the MO were drawn partly from the armed force the MO sported military ranks, a tradition shared with the other Warsaw Pact police forces.

Rise of terrorism

Due to increasing terrorist threats, the MO created the Wydział Zabezpieczenia (Security Department) on February 22, 1976.^[11] This consist of 47 officers assigned to five sections.^[11]

Organisation

When the MO was first organized in 1945, it comprised the following:^[12]

• Main Office (Kancelaria główna)
• Political and Educational Board (Zarząd polityczno-wychowawczy)
• Investigation Service Board (Oddział służby śledczej)
• External Service Branch (Oddział służby zewnętrznej)
• Operational Battalion (Batalion operacyjny)
• Personnel Department (Wydział personalny)
• Finance and Economic Department (Wydział Finansowy i gospodarczy)

Until 1950, Poland was divided to 16 provinces. It was only from 1950-1975 when the country was divided to 17 provinces and five cities with voivodeship rights.^[12]

The MO had 20 municipal headquarters.^[12]

The Citizens' Militia was divided into a Public Order Department, Traffic Militia (Highway patrol), Criminal Investigations (Major crimes, forensics), Investigations Militia and an Infrastructure Security Section (Security of government buildings, airports, installations).

The

From the 1960s through the 1980s, ORMO forces, which at one time numbered as many as 600,000 civilian volunteers, were used to augment regular police personnel at key trouble spots. In the early 1980s, ORMO harassed Solidarity members and prevented independent groups from organizing. Largely staffed by industrial workers who gained substantial privileges by monitoring their peers in the workplace, ORMO was the object of extreme resentment throughout the 1980s. Kiszczak attempted to promote ORMO as a valuable auxiliary police force, but the organization was abolished by the Sejm in 1990.[13]

Ranks and uniform

As a general rule, the MO wore grey and sky blue uniforms. The full dress variant of this was worn with the peaked cap, service dress was the same but the riot police wore combat helmets.

Transportation

The most common types were:

• 
  FSO Warszawa MO car
• 
  Restored Polski Fiat 125p and Nysa 522 RSD Milicja Obywatelska vehicles
• 
  FSO Polonez MR'78 militia car in Poznan 2011
• 
  Restored FSO Polonez MR'83 and

  Nysa 522 RSD

  of Citizens' Militia of Polish People's Republic (from the reenactment group milicja.waw.pl)
• 
  Nysa 522 RSD
• 
  truckbus

See also

• Ministry of Public Security (UB)

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Citizens' Militia in People's Republic of Poland.

• The history of the police in Poland from WWII to the present^{[permanent dead link]}