Urząd Bezpieczeństwa (UB, Security Office)
보안국, 우젱트 베즈피에첸스트바 (UB)
Urząd Bezpieczeństwa (UB) was the common name for the non-military state-security organs of People's Poland, especially the central and local offices operating from 1944 to 1956. Organized through central ministries and regional, municipal, and county offices, it monitored and investigated political opposition and underground movements, and was distinct from the Citizens' Militia (MO). After the 1956 reorganization, the name was largely superseded by Security Service (SB), its institutional successor.
In depth
The apparatus originated in the Department of Public Security of the Polish Committee of National Liberation in 1944, becoming the Ministry of Public Security at the end of that year. Its field network included provincial (WUBP), municipal (MUBP), and county (PUBP) offices; the central apparatus handled intelligence, counter-intelligence, communications surveillance, political investigations, prisons, and internal-security forces. Reorganized as the Committee for Public Security in 1954, it was succeeded by the SB in November 1956. During the Poznań uprising, the provincial office on Kochanowski Street became the site of an armed confrontation with demonstrators.
Sources
- Wikipedia (EN) | Defines Urząd Bezpieczeństwa (UB), its 1945–1954 institutional period, secret-police and intelligence functions, and distinction from the later SB.
- pl.wikipedia.org | Explains that UB was the common name for Poland’s non-military public-security structures and lists the local WUBP, MUBP, and PUBP network, alongside MO as separate order organs.
- enrs.eu | Documents the Provincial Office for Public Security in Poznań as the building occupied and defended during the June 1956 uprising, and distinguishes UB officers from Citizens’ Militia personnel.
- oac.cdlib.org | Hoover Institution Library & Archives finding aid describes Poland’s communist internal security police, its changing names, institutional role, and archival documentation.