Józef Światło, born Izaak Fleischfarb (1 January 1915 – 2 September 1994), was a high-ranking official in the

Ministry of Public Security of Poland The Ministry of Public Security ( pl, Ministerstwo Bezpieczeństwa Publicznego), commonly known as UB or later SB, was the secret police, intelligence and counter-espionage agency operating in the Polish People's Republic. From 1945 to 1954 it w ...

(''UB'') who served as deputy director of the 10th Department run by Anatol Fejgin. Known for supervising the torture of political prisoners, he was nicknamed "the Butcher" by the detainees. After the 1953 death of

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secretar ...

and arrest of

Lavrentiy Beria Lavrentiy Pavlovich Beria (; rus, Лавре́нтий Па́влович Бе́рия, Lavréntiy Pávlovich Bériya, p=ˈbʲerʲiə; ka, ლავრენტი ბერია, tr, ; – 23 December 1953) was a Georgian Bolsheviks ...

, Światło traveled to

East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

on official business. While on the Berlin subway with Fejgin, passing through

West Berlin West Berlin (german: Berlin (West) or , ) was a political enclave which comprised the western part of Berlin during the years of the Cold War. Although West Berlin was de jure not part of West Germany, lacked any sovereignty, and was under mi ...

, on 5 December 1953, he "slipped away" and defected to the West. Afterwards he worked for the American

Central Intelligence Agency The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...

and

Radio Free Europe Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) is a United States government funded organization that broadcasts and reports news, information, and analysis to countries in Eastern Europe, Central Asia, Caucasus, and the Middle East where it says tha ...

. Światło's written and broadcast denunciations shook the

Polish United Workers' Party The Polish United Workers' Party ( pl, Polska Zjednoczona Partia Robotnicza; ), commonly abbreviated to PZPR, was the communist party which ruled the Polish People's Republic as a one-party state from 1948 to 1989. The PZPR had led two other lega ...

. This ultimately contributed to post-Stalinist reforms of the Polish security apparatus and to Poland's political liberalisation in the socialist

Polish October Polish October (), also known as October 1956, Polish thaw, or Gomułka's thaw, marked a change in the politics of Poland in the second half of 1956. Some social scientists term it the Polish October Revolution, which was less dramatic than the ...

revolution.

Biography

Józef Światło was born on 1 January 1915 as Izaak Fleischfarb (also Fleichfarb, Licht, or Lichtstein, sources vary), into a

Jew Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""T ...

ish family in Medyn village near

Zbarazh Zbarazh ( uk, Збараж, pl, Zbaraż, yi, זבאריזש, Zbarizh) is a city in Ternopil Raion of Ternopil Oblast (province) of western Ukraine. It is located in the historic region of Galicia. Zbarazh hosts the administration of Zbarazh urb ...

in Galicia (now

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

).Józef Światło - biography, photos, documents
at

Institute of National Remembrance The Institute of National Remembrance – Commission for the Prosecution of Crimes against the Polish Nation ( pl, Instytut Pamięci Narodowej – Komisja Ścigania Zbrodni przeciwko Narodowi Polskiemu, abbreviated IPN) is a Polish state resea ...

. Retrieved 6 April 2011 In the Second Polish Republic he was first a

Zionist Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת ''Tsiyyonut'' after '' Zion'') is a nationalist movement that espouses the establishment of, and support for a homeland for the Jewish people centered in the area roughly corresponding to what is known in Je ...

and later, a communist activist. He was arrested twice for his illegal activities. Conscripted in 1939, he served in the

Polish Army The Land Forces () are the land forces of the Polish Armed Forces. They currently contain some 62,000 active personnel and form many components of the European Union and NATO deployments around the world. Poland's recorded military history stre ...

(

Polish 6th Infantry Division Polish 6th Infantry Division ( pl, 6. Dywizja Piechoty) was a unit of the Polish Army in the interbellum period, which fought in the Polish–Ukrainian War, Polish–Soviet War and Polish September Campaign. It was formed on May 9, 1919, in the area ...

) during the

German invasion German invasion may refer to: Pre-1900s * German invasion of Hungary (1063) World War I * German invasion of Belgium (1914) * German invasion of Luxembourg (1914) World War II * Invasion of Poland * German invasion of Belgium (1940) * G ...

that year. Taken prisoner by the

Germans , native_name_lang = de , region1 = , pop1 = 72,650,269 , region2 = , pop2 = 534,000 , region3 = , pop3 = 157,000 3,322,405 , region4 = , pop4 = ...

, he escaped, only to be taken prisoner by the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army ( Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, afte ...

, which invaded Eastern Poland where his family lived and deported east along with hundred thousands of others. It was also in that period that, on 26 April 1943, he married Justyna Światło, taking her more Polish-sounding surname. Światło eventually joined the Polish Forces in the East (

Polish 1st Tadeusz Kościuszko Infantry Division Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...

, Berling's Army), becoming a political officer; he was also promoted to junior lieutenant (''

podporucznik ''Podporuchik'' ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, потпоручник, potporučnik, cs, podporučík, pl, podporucznik, russian: подпору́чик, bg, подпоручик, sk, podporučík) is the most Junior officer in some Slavic armed forces, an ...

'') and became involved in organising state administration in areas taken from the Germans. In 1945, he was transferred to the newly formed

(officially ''MBP'', but commonly abbreviated to ''UB''). In his work, Światło, like many other communist secret police agents, used

torture Torture is the deliberate infliction of severe pain or suffering on a person for reasons such as punishment, extracting a confession, interrogational torture, interrogation for information, or intimidating third parties. definitions of tortur ...

and forgery. He was involved in arresting hundreds of members of Polish underground organization, Armia Krajowa, its leadership (the

Trial of the Sixteen The Trial of the Sixteen ( pl, Proces szesnastu) was a staged trial of 16 leaders of the Polish Underground State held by the Soviet authorities in Moscow in 1945. All captives were kidnapped by the NKVD secret service and falsely accused of var ...

) and falsifying of the 1946 Polish referendum. In time he was promoted to Lieutenant colonel (pol.Podpułkownik) and served in various offices and departments, eventually in 1951 ending up in the 10th Department, where he was one of the leading officers. The 10th Department was responsible for handling the Party members themselves. He received orders personally from the

First Secretary of the Polish United Workers' Party The Polish United Workers' Party ( pl, Polska Zjednoczona Partia Robotnicza; ), commonly abbreviated to PZPR, was the communist party which ruled the Polish People's Republic as a one-party state from 1948 to 1989. The PZPR had led two other lega ...

Bolesław Bierut Bolesław Bierut (; 18 April 1892 – 12 March 1956) was a Polish communist activist and politician, leader of the Polish People's Republic from 1947 until 1956. He was President of the State National Council from 1944 to 1947, President of Po ...

, and arrested such notable people as politicians

Władysław Gomułka Władysław Gomułka (; 6 February 1905 – 1 September 1982) was a Polish communist politician. He was the ''de facto'' leader of post-war Poland from 1947 until 1948. Following the Polish October he became leader again from 1956 to 1970. G ...

and

Marian Spychalski Marian "Marek" Spychalski (, 6 December 1906 – 7 June 1980) was a Polish architect in pre-war Poland, and later, military commander and a communist politician. During World War II he belonged to the Polish underground forces operating within ...

, General

Michał Rola-Żymierski Michał Rola-Żymierski (; 4 September 189015 October 1989) was a Polish high-ranking Polish United Workers' Party, Communist Party leader, communist military commander and NKVD secret agent. He was appointed as Marshal of Poland by Joseph Stalin ...

and Cardinal

Stefan Wyszyński Stefan Wyszyński (3 August 1901 – 28 May 1981) was a Polish prelate of the Catholic Church. He served as the bishop of Lublin from 1946 to 1948, archbishop of Warsaw and archbishop of Gniezno from 1948 to 1981. He was created a cardinal on ...

. He had access - sometimes unique - to many secret documents. He interrogated

Noel Field Noel Haviland Field (January 23, 1904 – September 12, 1970) was an American communist activist, diplomat and spy for the NKVD, whose activities before and after World War II allowed the Eastern Bloc to use his name as a prosecuting rationale du ...

on 27 August 1949 in

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

as well as his brother, Herman Field (a US citizen who went to Poland to look for his brother). Herman would be secretly imprisoned for five years, until the information on him was revealed - by Światło himself.

Defection to the West

In November 1953, the

asked Politburo member

Jakub Berman Jakub Berman (23 December 1901 – 10 April 1984) was a Polish communist politician. Was born in Jewish family, son of Iser and Guta. An activist during the Second Polish Republic, in post-war communist Poland he was a member of the Politburo ...

to send UB Lieutenant Colonel Józef Światło on an important mission to East Berlin. Światło, deputy head of UB's ''Department X'', together with Colonel Anatol Fejgin, were asked to consult with Stasi chief

Erich Mielke Erich Fritz Emil Mielke (; 28 December 1907 – 21 May 2000) was a German communist official who served as head of the East German Ministry for State Security (''Ministerium für Staatsicherheit'' – MfS), better known as the Stasi, from 1957 u ...

about eliminating Wanda Brońska. Światło, however, after the death of Stalin in March 1953 and arrest of

in June that year, became afraid for his own life. He suspected that Bierut in Poland might turn on him and other members of the Ministry, attempting to make them into scapegoats. The two officers traveled to Berlin and spoke with Mielke. On 5 December 1953, the day after meeting the Stasi chief, Światło defected to the U.S. military mission in

. He left family - wife and two children - in Poland. The next day, American military authorities transported Światło to

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on it ...

and by Christmas Światło had been flown to Washington, D.C., where he underwent an extensive debriefing. It has been reported that his interrogations were compiled into about fifty long reports. The United States gave him political asylum with the full knowledge that "he would have to be protected for the rest of his life because the number of his victims and relatives of victims sworn to exact retribution was so great."

Aftermath

Światło's defection was revealed in Poland by the

Polish Press Agency The Polish Press Agency ( pl, Polska Agencja Prasowa, PAP) is Poland's national news agency, producing and distributing political, economic, social, and cultural news as well as events information. The agency has 14 news desks in its headquarters ...

on 25 October 1954, with Światło labelled a

traitor Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...

and provocateur. It was, however, widely publicised in the United States and Europe by the US authorities, as well as in Poland via

, embarrassing the Communist authorities in Warsaw - the first international press conference with Światło took place on 28 September 1954. Światło had intimate knowledge of the internal politics of the Polish government, especially the activities of the various secret services. Over the course of the following months, US newspapers and Radio Free Europe (in the "Behind the scenes of the secret service and the party" cycle) reported extensively on political repression in Poland based on Światło's revelations.Jan Skorzynski
"1956 - a european date" From Thaw to Restoration: A Chronology
. Retrieved 13 April 2007 Capitalising on them, in what was known as "Operation Spotlight", RFE broadcast some 140 interviews by Światło, and 30 programs on him. Światło's RFE broadcasts were not only serialized but even distributed over Poland by special

balloon A balloon is a flexible bag that can be inflated with a gas, such as helium, hydrogen, nitrous oxide, oxygen, and air. For special tasks, balloons can be filled with smoke, liquid water, granular media (e.g. sand, flour or rice), or light so ...

s. Światło detailed the torture of prisoners under interrogation and politically motivated executions and struggles inside the

. Leszek Szymowski
Brawurowa ucieczka najsłynniejszego zbiega
',

Onet.pl Onet.pl is one of the largest Polish web portals. It is owned by the Kraków-based Grupa Onet.pl S.A. It was founded in 1996 by Optimus company. According to Alexa rankings, as of October 2017, it was the 45th most popular website worldwide an ...

, 26 January 2010. Retrieved 6 April 2011 None of the Polish Communists intelligence, counterintelligence and public security agencies escaped unscathed and without some of their secrets being revealed. The highly publicised defection of Colonel Światło, not to mention the general hatred of the Ministry of Public Security among Poles, led to changes in late 1954, as first the 10th Department and soon afterwards, the entire Ministry, was broken up and reorganised; many officials were arrested.

Paweł Machcewicz Paweł Mateusz Machcewicz (born April 27, 1966 in Warsaw) is a Polish historian and university professor. Biography Machcewicz graduated in 1989 from the Department of History at the University of Warsaw. In 1990 he became a research analyst at t ...

, "Social Protest and Political Crisis in 1956", which appears on pp. 99-118 of ''Stalinism in Poland'', 1944-1956, ed. and tr. by A. Kemp-Welch, St. Martin's Press, New York, 1999, . Światło's scandal contributed to the events of political liberalisation in Poland, known as the

. For a long time, it was uncertain if Światło was dead or still alive. Piotr Zychowicz
''Poszukiwany Józef Światło''

Rzeczpospolita () is the official name of Poland and a traditional name for some of its predecessor states. It is a compound of "thing, matter" and "common", a calque of Latin ''rés pública'' ( "thing" + "public, common"), i.e. ''republic'', in Engli ...

, 18 December 2008. Retrieved 6 April 2011 Information on him was protected by the US

witness protection Witness protection is security provided to a threatened person providing testimonial evidence to the justice system, including defendants and other clients, before, during, and after a trial, usually by police. While a witness may only require p ...

program; there were rumours that he died in the late 1960s, 1975 or 1985. In 2010, the United States government stated that he had died on 2 September 1994.''Światło zmarł w 1994 roku''

, 18 December 2008. Retrieved 6 April 2011 Documents relating to him are still classified in the United States and not available to researchers.

Awards

Notes

a Sources vary in giving his original surname. IPN lists it as Fleischfarb, noting that this name was used by Światło himself in some documents; this name is used most commonly in the sources. Several sources, such as Gluchowski, use an alternative spelling - Fleichfarb. Piotrowski and several other sources also list one or two other name variants, namely: Licht and Lichtstein.

Biography

Defection to the West

Aftermath

Awards

See also

Notes

References

Further reading