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Violence by Other Means: Denunciation and Belonging in Post-Imperial Poland, 1918–1923

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 November 2020

Keely Stauter-Halsted Open the ORCID record for Keely Stauter-Halsted [Opens in a new window]
Keely Stauter-Halsted*
Affiliation:
University of Illinois at Chicago, Department of History, Chicago, Illinois, 60607, USA
*
Corresponding author. Email: stauterh@uic.edu
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Abstract

Recent scholarship on post-imperial Eastern Europe has emphasised the continuation of wartime violence in post-war states. Focusing on the early years of the Polish Second Republic, this article considers how the ‘unmixing’ of Eastern European peoples also unfolded in ways not explicitly violent. Specifically, I demonstrate how the sorting of returning refugees on Poland's new frontiers, the culling of personnel from the former imperial civil service and the submission of citizen denunciations helped to disaggregate loyal citizens from hostile foreigners. All of these practices highlight the importance of internal bordering as a process that accompanied the formal drawing of international boundaries in this period.

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Article
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Contemporary European History , Volume 30 , Issue 1 , February 2021 , pp. 32 - 45
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Copyright © The Author(s), 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press

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32 Report to the Starostwo in Żywiec from state police post in Zwardoń, 12 Dec. 1919; Report to the Starostwo in Żywiec from Zwardoń, 10 Jan. 1920, ANKr StŻ II 114, 21, 95.

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36 ‘Uchodźcy i bieżeńcy z Rosji – rejestracja’, Office of the Governor General in Lwów, 8 Mar. 1921, ANKr Starostwo Grodzkie w Krakowie, hereafter StGKr 346.

37 Rada Główna Opiekuńcza, hereafter RGO, in Warsaw, AAN 1350, 1–9.

38 ‘Instrukcji. Prawo do Powrotu do Kraju,’ 3 May1918, AAN PRRKPR 140, 20–1.

39 Appeal from Alma Orłowska to the Representative of the Regency Council of the Polish Kingdom in Russia, 25 Oct. 1918, AAN PRRKPR 146; Appeal from Stanisław Witkowski, 10 Nov. 1918, AAN PRRKPR 147, 227.

40 Circular from Count Lasocki of the Polish Liquidation Commission to all commissioners of the PLC and the chief of police in Cracow, 19 Jan. 1919, ANKr StGKr 23, 391.

41 Letter from the Presidium of the High National Court to Cracow police headquarters, 30 Jan. 1919, ANKr StGKr 23, 545, 551–5.

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47 These denunciations are found in the files of the Cracow District Office (Starostwo Grodzkie w Krakowie) housed at the National Archive in Cracow. The files contain accusations of disloyalty and legal investigations into ‘enemy aliens’ who were incarcerated in the Dąbie internment camp near Cracow.

48 ‘Szpiedzy Cześcy i Ukraińscy’, Głos Narodu, 28 Jan. 1919; ‘Szpiedzy Cześcy i Ukraińscy’, Illustrowany Kurier Codzienny, 29 Jan. 1919.

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53 Anonymous letter from ‘an electrical official’ to Cracow police, 2 Feb. 1919; letter from brewery worker Jan Radłowski to Cracow police headquarters, 28 Jan. 1919; statement from Galician Municipal War Credit Bank to Cracow police headquarters, 2 Feb. 1919, ANKr StGKr 23, 809–14, 821–4, 857–60.

54 Anonymous denunciation from ‘the residents of Dębniki’ to the police chief in Cracow, 3 Feb. 1919. ANKr StGKr 24, 637–48.

55 Electrical official to Cracow police regarding the Ruthenian, Mikołaj Harasymczuk, 2 Feb. 1919; confidential memo to Cracow police regarding Czechs and Jews guarding military warehouse; report from the ‘members of an association’ on Piotr Kriżnik, 1 Feb. 1919; anonymous letter to Cracow police regarding Jan Siefert, 4 Feb. 1919, ANKr StGKr 23, 845, 857–60, 719–22; ANKr StGKr 24, 627–36.

56 Testimony of Julijanna Majka, 11 Feb. 1919, ANKr StGKr 24, 319–22.

57 Ministry of Internal Affairs, Political Department, Defensive Division, Warsaw, to the Information Section of the District Command in Cracow, 25 Oct. 1919, StGKr 31, 753–59.

58 Józef Kraszewski to Cracow Police Headquarters, 23 Oct. 1919, ANKr StGKr 31, 39–45.

59 Ministry of Internal Affairs to Cracow police headquarters, 31 Nov. 1921, ANKr StGKr 50, 1–6.

60 Anonymous letter to Cracow police headquarters, 7 Jan. 1920, ANKr StGKr 33, 163–9.

61 Police in Lwów to police in Cracow, 18 Nov. 1919, ANKr StGKr 31, 1003.

62 Anonymous denunciation to Cracow police headquarters, 7 Jan. 1920, ANKr StGKr 33, 163–9; a defence of Mr. Sokołowski came from the Liga Pomocy Przemysłowej in Lwów, 29 Jan. 1920 signed by the president and vice president of League, ANKr StGKr 33, 695.

63 Anonymous denunciation to Cracow police headquarters regarding Jan Seifert, 3 Feb. 1919. ANKr StGKr 23, 845; anonymous denunciation to Cracow police regarding Mr. Langer and Mr. Waliczek, 2 Feb. 1919, ANKr StGKr 23, 787–8.

64 Report of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, state police command in Cracow, to Cracow police headquarters, 31 Nov. 1921, ANKr StGKr 50, 1–6.

65 ANKr StGKr 31, 39–45.

66 Memo from the Cracow Magistrate to the Ministry of Internal Affairs in Warsaw, 27 Sept. 1919, APKr StGKr 30, 301.

67 ‘Brak mieszkań’, Nowa Reforma, 2 Oct. 1919; ‘Brak mieszkań w Krakowie’, Goniec Krakowski, 1 Oct. 1919.

68 Appeal from Agnieszka Klewar on behalf of Antoni Klewar, 6 Feb. 1919; appeal from Joana Rozbozil on behalf of Edward Rozbozil, 5 Feb. 1919 to Cracow police headquarters, ANKr StGKr 24, 17–9, 63.

69 Letter from Andrzej Makas to Cracow police headquarters, 6 Feb. 1919. ANKr StGKr 24, 119–23.

70 Józef Skrynkowicz to Cracow police headquarters. Authorities released Peranek from internment on 6 Feb. 1919 seemingly in response to this letter.

71 See, for example, the statement from the Galicyjski Miejski Wojenny Zakład Kredytowy to the Police Chief in Cracow, 2 Feb. 1919, in defence of Jan Dragańczuk, Ruthene, ANKr StGKr 23, 821–4.