The Ministry of the Interior ( Polish: ''Ministerstwo Spraw Wewnętrznych'', ''MSW'') was a ministry responsible for internal security, law enforcement, civil defence and registry functions in Poland. The current ministry was formed on 18 November 2011, when after the parliamentary election of 9 October 2011 there was a call to restructure the then Ministry of Interior and Administration, from which it was split. In late 2015 it was folded back to Ministry of Interior and Administration. The last minister was

Mariusz Błaszczak Mariusz Błaszczak (born 19 September 1969, in Legionowo) is a Polish politician, historian, and local government representative. Since 9 January 2018, Blaszczak has been the Minister of National Defence of Poland. On 22 June 2022 Preside ...

History and function

The ministry was founded in 1918. It has gone through several reforms, including partial splits and mergers, throughout its history. The post of Minister of the Interior is one of the most important cabinet positions in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

, According to the directive of the 'President of Council of Ministers' (Prime Minister) from 18 November 2011, the Minister of the Interior is responsible for: * The general interior security of the country, with respect to criminal acts or natural catastrophes ** including the major law-enforcement agencies (see law enforcement in Poland) *** the Polish National Police - safety and public order protection * State borders' protection, regulation of migration policy and preventing illegal immigration ** the

Polish Border Guard The Polish Border Guard ( pl, Straż Graniczna, also abbreviated as SG) is a state security agency tasked with patrolling the Polish border. It existed in the Second Republic era from 1928 to 1939 and was reestablished in the modern-day Thi ...

(Straż Graniczna) *

Civil defence Civil defense ( en, region=gb, civil defence) or civil protection is an effort to protect the citizens of a state (generally non-combatants) from man-made and natural disasters. It uses the principles of emergency operations: prevention, mit ...

and crisis management ** the

State Fire Service State Fire Service ( pl, Państwowa Straż Pożarna, PSP) is a professional fire fighting service in Poland. It is subordinate to the Polish Ministry of Interior and Administration. The modern State Fire Service is based on the 1992 legislation ...

Search and rescue Search and rescue (SAR) is the search for and provision of aid to people who are in distress or imminent danger. The general field of search and rescue includes many specialty sub-fields, typically determined by the type of terrain the search ...

and the oversight of

ambulance services An ambulance is a medically equipped vehicle which transports patients to treatment facilities, such as hospitals. Typically, out-of-hospital medical care is provided to the patient during the transport. Ambulances are used to respond to medi ...

* the granting of identity documents (

Polish passport A Polish passport ( pl, paszport) is an international travel document issued to nationals of Poland, and may also serve as proof of Polish citizenship. Besides enabling the bearer to travel internationally and serving as indication of Polish c ...

s, identity cards) and driving licenses through the network of

voivodeship A voivodeship is the area administered by a voivode (Governor) in several countries of central and eastern Europe. Voivodeships have existed since medieval times and the area of extent of voivodeship resembles that of a duchy in western medieval ...

s * relations between the central government and local governments (except in the case of regional development, which is undertaken by the Ministry of Regional Development *

logistics Logistics is generally the detailed organization and implementation of a complex operation. In a general business sense, logistics manages the flow of goods between the point of origin and the point of consumption to meet the requirements of ...

and organization of political

election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operat ...

s, at the national and voivodeship levels (but the results of the elections are overseen by the Supreme Court of Poland)http://www.sejm.gov.pl/prawo/konst/polski/kon1.htm article 101 * integration and registration of legal immigrants * civil registry functions: marital status registration, change of names or surnames While the ministry of the Interior supervises police forces, it does not supervise criminal enquiries; criminal enquiries are conducted under the supervision of the

judiciary The judiciary (also known as the judicial system, judicature, judicial branch, judiciative branch, and court or judiciary system) is the system of courts that adjudicates legal disputes/disagreements and interprets, defends, and applies the law ...

. The ministry's seat is located on Stefan Batory Street, south of Warsaw's city centre and in the governmental district which surrounds the Belweder. The Ministry can be referred to by its initials 'MSW'.

Ministers of the Interior (since 1989)

Political Party:

Other officeholders

Ministers of Internal Affairs of the Second Republic of Poland

* Stanisław Thugutt 17 November 1918 – 16 January 1919 * Stanisław Wojciechowski 16 January 1919 – 9 December 1919 * Stanisław Wojciechowski 13 December 1919 – 9 June 1920 *

Józef Kuczyński Joseph is a common male given name, derived from the Hebrew Yosef (יוֹסֵף). "Joseph" is used, along with "Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the mo ...

(kierownik) 23 June 1920 – 24 July 1920 *

Leopold Skulski Leopold Skulski ; (15 November 1878, Zamość – Brest, 11 June 1940) served as prime minister of Poland for six months from 13 December 1919 until 9 June 1920 in the interim Legislative Sejm during the formation of sovereign Second Polish ...

24 July 1920 – 28 June 1921 *

Władysław Raczkiewicz Władysław Raczkiewicz (; 28 January 1885 – 6 June 1947) was a Polish politician, lawyer, diplomat and President of Poland- in-exile from 1939 until his death in 1947. Until 1945, he was the internationally recognized Polish head of st ...

28 June 1921 – 13 September 1921 * Stanisław Downarowicz 19 September 1921 – 5 March 1922 * Antoni Kamieński 10 March 1922 – 6 June 1922 * Antoni Kamieński 28 June 1922 – 31 July 1922 * Antoni Kamieński 31 July 1922 – 16 December 1922 *

Władysław Sikorski Władysław Eugeniusz Sikorski (; 20 May 18814 July 1943) was a Polish military and political leader. Prior to the First World War, Sikorski established and participated in several underground organizations that promoted the cause for Polish i ...

16 December 1922 – 26 May 1923 * Władysław Kiernik 28 May 1923 – 15 December 1923 * Władysław Sołtan 17 December 1923 – 21 March 1924 * Zygmunt Hubner 21 March 1924 – 17 November 1924 *

Cyryl Ratajski Cyryl Ratajski (3 March 1875 – 19 October 1942) was a Polish politician and lawyer. Life and career Ratajski was born in Zalesie Wielkie, then part of the German Empire, on 3 March 1875. He graduated from a high school in Poznań and s ...

17 November 1924 – 14 June 1925 *

15 June 1925 – 13 November 1925 *

20 November 1925 – 5 May 1926 * Stefan Smólski 10 May 1926 – 15 May 1926 * Kazimierz Młodzianowski 15 May 1926 – 8 June 1926 * Kazimierz Młodzianowski 8 June 1926 – 24 November 1926 * Kazimierz Młodzianowski 27 September 1926 – 30 September 1926 * Felicjan Sławoj Składkowski 2 October 1926 – 27 June 1928 * Felicjan Sławoj Składkowski 27 June 1928 – 13 April 1929 * Felicjan Sławoj Składkowski 14 April 1929 – 29 December 1929 *

Henryk Józewski Henryk Jan Józewski (Kyiv, August 6, 1892 - April 23, 1981, Warsaw) was a Polish visual artist, politician, a member of government of the Ukrainian People's Republic, later an administrator during the Second Polish Republic. A member of Polish-in ...

29 December 1929 – 17 March 1930 *

29 March 1930 – 3 June 1930 * Felicjan Sławoj Składkowski 3 June 1930 – 23 August 1930 * Felicjan Sławoj Składkowski 25 August 1930 – 4 December 1930 * Felicjan Sławoj Składkowski 4 December 1930 – 26 May 1931 * Felicjan Sławoj Składkowski 27 May 1931 – 23 June 1931 *

Bronisław Pieracki Bronisław Wilhelm Pieracki (28 May 1895 in Gorlice – 15 June 1934 in Warsaw) was a Polish military officer and politician. Life As a member of the Polish Legions in World War I, Pieracki took part in the Polish-Ukrainian War (1918–1919). ...

23 June 1931 – 9 May 1933 *

10 May 1933 – 13 May 1934 *

15 May 1934 – 15 June 1934 * Leon Kozłowski 16 June 1934 – 28 June 1934 * Marian Zyndram-Kościałkowski 28 June 1934 – 28 March 1935 * Marian Zyndram-Kościałkowski 28 March 1935 – 12 October 1935 *

13 October 1935 – 15 May 1936 *

Felicjan Sławoj-Składkowski Felicjan ( uk, Феліцян, ''Felitsian'') is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Gorzków, within Krasnystaw County, Lublin Voivodeship The Lublin Voivodeship, also known as the Lublin Province (Polish: ''województwo lubelski ...

16 May 1936 – 30 September 1939

Ministers of Public Security

* Stanisław Radkiewicz ( PPR) 31 December 1944 - 7 December 1954

Ministers of Internal Affairs of People's Republic of Poland

* Władysław Wicha (

PZPR 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 leg ...

) 7 December 1954 – 12 December 1964 *

Mieczysław Moczar Mieczysław Moczar (; birth name Mikołaj Diomko, pseudonym ''Mietek'', 23 December 1913 in – 1 November 1986) was a Polish communist politician who played a prominent role in the history of the Polish People's Republic. He is most known for h ...

(

) 12 December 1964 – 15 July 1968 *

Kazimierz Świtała Kazimierz Czesław Switala ( Rakoniewice, Poland on 21 April 1923 – Warsaw, 6 March 2011) was a Polish communist politician. He was the Minister of Internal Affairs from 1968 to 1971, but was forced to resign as a result of the December 1970 m ...

(

) 15 July 1968 – 13 February 1971 * Franciszek Szlachcic (

) 13 February 1971 – 22 December 1971 *

Wiesław Ociepka :"Wiesław" is sometimes transliterated as "Wieslaw", in the absence of '' L with stroke.'' Wiesław () is a Polish masculine given name, of Slavonic origin, meaning "great glory" or "all glory". It is the shortened, more common, form of the pers ...

(

) 22 December 1971 – 28 February 1973 * Stanisław Kowalczyk (

) 22 March 1973 – 8 October 1980 * Mirosław Milewski (

) 8 October 1980 – 31 July 1981 *

Czesław Kiszczak Czesław Jan Kiszczak (19 October 1925 – 5 November 2015) was a Polish general, communist-era interior minister (1981–1990) and prime minister (1989). In 1981 he played a key role in imposing martial law and suppression of the ''Solidarit ...

(

) 31 July 1981 – 6 July 1990

References

{{authority control Interior

Poland, Interior Former ministries 2015 disestablishments in Poland 2011 establishments in Poland Defunct organisations based in Poland