The Milicja Obywatelska (; MO), known as the Citizens' Militia in English, was the national police organization of the Polish People's Republic.

The MO was established on 7 October 1944 by the Polish Committee of National Liberation under Chief Commander Franciszek Jóźwiak to police Red Army controlled areas of Poland during World War II. It became the official police force with the founding of the Polish People's Republic in 1947, effectively replacing the pre-war State Police as the main uniformed civilian police of Poland during the communist era. The MO was headquartered in Warsaw while training for the force was conducted in the town of Legionowo.

The MO was supported by two paramilitary formations: the elite Motorized Reserves of the Citizens' Militia (ZOMO) and the reservist Volunteer Reserve of the Citizens' Militia (ORMO). In most cases it represented a state-controlled force used to exert political repression, especially with its elite ZOMO squads. The MO continued to exist after the fall of communism in Poland in 1989 until it was transformed back into Policja on 10 May 1990.

History The Citizens' Militia (MO) was created on the basis of provisions of the July Manifesto of the Soviet-backed Polish National Liberation Committee (PKWN), State National Council. It was formally established by decree on 7 October 1944 during the later stages of the Eastern Front of World War II. Milicja had been adapted from the cognate term militsiya used in the Soviet Union, itself derived from militia with its etymology from the concept of a military force composed of ordinary citizens.

The MO was used to establish the authority of the PKWN in areas of Poland that came under control of the Red Army as it pushed through the country into Nazi Germany. The first generation officers and agents were drawn from the following groups and sectors of society:Work collective, Dictionary of civic knowledge , Warsaw 1970, p. 248. Servicemen from the Polish People's Army on secondment. Partisans from the People's Army militia. Civilians with far-left party affiliation: the Polish Workers' Party, the Polish People's Party and the Polish Socialist Party.

Poland came under the domination of the Soviet Union at the end of World War II and, following the rigged 1947 Polish parliamentary election, the PKWN-derived Provisional Government of National Unity was able to legitimise itself enough to supplant the London-based Polish government-in-exile recognized by the Western allies. The MO effectively became the official civilian police force of Poland replacing the Policja. Former members of the anti-communist underground such as the Home Army, who tried to ensure an influence on everyday life, joined the new force, to the point that the entire outposts were Home Army members.Maciej Krawczyk, Fighting Poland. History of the Underground State. Ani Polska, Ani Robotnicza PPR i Gwardia (Armia) Ludowa , Warsaw 2015, vol. 11, p. 46. The MO was supplemented by about a thousand former policemen employed in 1945, mainly in positions requiring special qualifications.Krzysztof Halicki, 'The history of the police in Gniew and the region in 1920-2013'. Bydgoszcz 2014, pp. 137-138.

In 1948, Poland's strengthened turn toward Stalinism brought the beginning of formalised totalitarian rule, "in which one Party ruled autonomously over all sections of society".Kemp-Welch, A. (2008). Poland under Communism: A Cold War History, p. 26. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. . Officers of the MO took the same solemn oath as the officers of the Security Service. Its main fragment read as follows:

The first chief commander of MO was Franciszek Jóźwiak.Tadeusz Łepkowski, "Dictionary of Polish history", Warsaw 1973, p. 253. 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.Tadeusz Łepkowski, 'A Little Dictionary of Polish History', Warsaw 1964, p. 300.Collective work, 'History of the PRL. Politics, people, everyday life', Warsaw 2009, vol. 1, pp. 28, 37, 38.

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),Henryk Piecuch Secret History of Poland; Imperium Służb Specjalnych "from Gomułka to Kania" Agencja Wydawnicza CB Warszawa 1997 st. 56 in Rzeczpospolita - "press organ of the Polish Committee of National Liberation" - August 16, 1944 was provided with:

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. This consisted of 47 officers assigned to five sections.

In 1982, the WZ had a unit that is on standby to conduct anti-hijacking operations and provide security on LOT Polish Airlines airplanes. The WZ would later be known as the Biuro Operacji Antyterrorystycznych (BOA) after being reorganized.

Directors PortraitRankNameTermFranciszek JóźwiakOctober 1944 - March 1949Józef KonarzewskiMarch 1949 - December 1953Stanisław WolańskiDecember 1953 - June 1956Ryszard DobieszakJune 1956 - July 1965Tadeusz PietrzakJuly 1965 - August 1971Kazimierz ChojnackiSeptember 1971 - May 1973Marian JanickiMay 1973 - February 1978Stanisław ZaczkowskiFebruary 1978 - October 1981Józef BeimOctober 1981 - April 1987 Zenon TrzcińskiMay 1987 - May 1990

Organisation

When the MO was first organized in 1945, it comprised the following:

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 (Battalion 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 to 1975 when the country was divided to 17 provinces and five cities with voivodeship rights.

The MO had 20 municipal headquarters.

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 ZOMO motorized riot troops, which played the most visible role in quelling demonstrations in 1980 and 1981, were reduced in size somewhat by the early 1990s and renamed Preventive Units of the Citizens' Militia (—OPMO). OPMO forces are restricted to roles such as crowd control at sporting events, ensuring safety in natural disasters, and assisting the regular police. In theory, higher government authority would be required for large OPMO contingents to be used.

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.

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.

Rank CategoryCommissioned Officers (1945–1957)Commissioned Officers (1958–1990with changes made in 1975 and 1986)English translation (military/police rank)General officers No equivalent General armii GeneralDirector General No equivalent General broni Lieutenant GeneralCommissioner General No equivalent Generał dywizji Major GeneralInspector General Generał brygady MO(formerly General MO) Generał brygady MO Police BrigadierCommissionerField grade officers Pułkownik Pułkownik Police ColonelCommanderDetective Commander Podpułkownik Podpułkownik Police Lieutenant ColonelChief SuperintendentDetective Chief Superintendent Major Major Police MajorSuperintendentDetective SuperintendentSubaltern grade officers Kapitan Kapitan Police CaptainChief InspectorDetective Chief Inspector Porucznik Porucznik Police LieutenantSenior InspectorDetective Senior Inspector Podporucznik Podporucznik Police Second LieutenantInspectorDetective Inspector Chorąży(abolished as officer rank 1956–57) No equivalent Police EnsignDivisional InspectorDetective Divisional Inspector

Rank CategoryNon-Commissioned Officers and basic agentsEnglish translation (military/police rank)Station inspectors and senior NCOs(created 1974–75)Starszy chorąży sztabowySenior Station InspectorChief Warrant Officer(ZOMO)Chorąży sztabowyStation InspectorSenior Warrant Officer(ZOMO)Starszy chorążySub-inspector first classMaster Warrant Officer(ZOMO)Chorąży Sub-inspectorFirst Warrant Officer(ZOMO)Młodszy chorążyAssistant sub-inspectorSecond Warrant Officer(ZOMO)Police NCOsStarszy sierżant sztabowySergeant MajorSierżant sztabowyHead ConstableMaster Sergeant (ZOMO)Starszy sierżantSergeant First ClassSierżantStaff SergeantPlutonowySergeantStarszy kapralLance CorporalKapralCorporalConstablesStarszy szeregowySenior ConstablePrivate First Class (ZOMO)SzeregowyConstablePrivate (ZOMO)

Transportation The most common types were:

See also Ministry of Public Security (UB)

Notes

References

Bibliography