Disintegration

The term „operative disintegration” is a very broad one, consisting of illegal dealings (like the abduction and murder of priest Jerzy Popiełuszko committed by SB functionaries, battery – e.g. of priest Tadeusz Isakowicz-Zaleski, abduction and pouring the acidic liquid – e.g. committed on opposition activist Janusz Krupski), and all of other activities leading to compromising of the selected persons or deepening of the conflicts in the affected circles. The specimen of such activity could be found in the operation targeting bishop Jan Zaręba (ordinary in Szczecin) and his coadiutors – Czesław Lewandowski and Kazimierz Jan Majdański. They (any many other Church personalities) were sent a lot of malicious letters, containing also ‘humorous’ verses with an intentional subtext, and drawn jokes. The task was treated by SB functionaries extremely seriously: not only the content of the letters was meticulously prepared, but also the details, language, style, addressing or even the place of dispatch. Therefore writing of some of those letter was let to trusted priests – SB’s informants. The aim of such dealings was to find the text, joke or verse, that could be deemed by clergy as coming from its own inner circle. The prepared documents (concerning the contemporary events and important for the priests) were ‘justified’ by the pretended concern for the diocese’s future as well as for doctrinal and moral purity of its clergy. Those letters were written in style convincing the reader to identify oneself with its contents and in opposition to the diocesan bishops. The carefully chosen recipients were to multiply the gossip and unfavoury comments, and become tools to undermine the credibility of bishops and trust of clergy towards them. The environmental discredit of the persons, who could have achieve important role in the Church was also a matter of continuous efforts. When in 1979 bishop Majdański was leaving the diocese, the security police prepared the list of the priests who were seen as his possible successors, and circulated the verse disavowing them. The SB functionaries prepared also the denunciation letters to the bishops, denigrating the priests seen as hostile to the Communist regime.

The functionaries of the SB unit in Włocławek assessed that thanks to the “D” (for ‘disintegration’) means they have succeeded in many tasks: in the first place in influencing the staffing of the parishes, and – last but not least – in deepening the conflicts among the clergymen. The aim of such dealings was to engage the priests in disputes, that would thwart their ministry. SB-men estimated that they succeeded also in the particular case: when the report reched them informing that bishop Zaręba allegedly admitted that he was worn by the situation in diocese and he looked forward to retire.