Program

9:00-9:15 – Opening of the conference – Deputy President of the Institute of National Remembrance Karol Polejowski, PhD, DSc, Director of the IPN’s Archive Marzena Kruk

Panel I – Operational Technique and Intelligence | Moderator: Magdalena Dźwigał (IPN’s Archive, Poland)
9:15-9:35 – Witold Bagieński, PhD (IPN’s Archive, Poland) – Technical Equipment Used by Polish Foreign Intelligence During the Cold War
9:35-9:55 – Peter Rendek (The Security Services Archive, ABS, Czech Republic) – Czechoslovak Security Forces: Insights into Multiple Domains. An overview of the activities of Scientific and Technical intelligence, the internal computer systems of the State Security Service, and a brief look at Pharmacology and Poisons
9:55-10:15 – Irina Tsukerman (The Washington Outsider Center for Information Warfare, USA) – Technology as Control: Eastern Bloc Security Cooperation in Monitoring Dissidents, Émigrés, and Foreign Intelligence
10:15-10:35 – Zaur Gouliev (University College Dublin, Ireland) – Baku by Wire: Communications, Intelligence, and Influence on the Soviet-Iranian Frontier
10:35-10:50 – Discussion
10:50-11:10 – Coffee break

Panel II – Operational Technique During the Cold War | Moderator: Grzegorz Wołk, PhD (IPN’s Office of Historical Research, Poland)
11:10-11:30 – Germina Ana Nagat, PhD (The National Council for the Study of the Securitate Archive, CNSAS, Romania) – On Means and Ends of Political Police in Communist Romania
11:30-11:50 – Kristina Burinskaitė, PhD (Genocide and Resistance Research Centre of Lithuania, Lithuania) – Secret war against unarmed anti-Soviet movement: usage of secret operational methods
11:50-12:10 – Paweł Skubisz, PhD (IPN’s Office of Historical Research, Poland) – Arsenal of Secret Gadgets? Materials and Means Used by American Intelligence in Operations in the Polish People’s Republic (1956–1990) from the Perspective of the Security Service
12:10-12:40 – Tomasz Krok, PhD (IPN’s Branch Office of Historical Research in Warsaw, Poland), Zbigniew Łagosz, PhD (AGH University of Science and Technology in Krakow) – The Apparatus of Repression and Psychotronics: State-Sanctioned Activity or the Search for Tools for the Creation of a Super-Agent?
12:40-13:00 – Discussion
13:00-13:40 – Lunch break

Panel III – Technical Equipment and its Use | Moderator: Dawid Chomej (IPN’s Archive, Poland)
13:40-14:00 – Detlev Vreisleben, Dipl.-Ing. (Private Researcher, Germany) – ThePhotographic Techniques Used by the Stasi
14:00-14:20 – Murat Döleker, PhD (Ministry of National Education, Turkey) – Technological Integration in KGB External Observation Operations: Evidence from the Lithuanian Archives
14:20-14:40 – Oğuz Şahbaz, PhD (Recep Tayyip Erdoğan University, Rize, Turkey) - KGB Information Systems: Cybernetics, Counterintelligence, and the Automation of State Security
14:40-15:00 – Monika Komaniecka-Łyp, PhD (IPN’s Branch Office of Historical Research in Cracow, Poland) – Specialized Operational Equipment of the Security Service of the Polish People’s Republic: Production at the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Cooperation with Eastern Bloc Security Services, 1956–1989
15:00-15:20 – Witold Sobócki (IPN’ Branch Office of National Education in Poznań, Poland) The DUDEK Encryption Device: Its Development and Implementation at the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Polish People’s Republic (1964–1970)
15:20-15:30 – Discussion
15:30-15:40 – Coffee break

Panel IV – Communications and Operational Technology in the Military | Moderator: Paweł Sztama (IPN’s Office of Historical Research, Poland)
15:40-16:00 – Daniel Povolny, PhD (Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes, ÚSTR, Czech Republic) – Technical Development and Tactics of Spatial Interception Operations by the StB in the 1950s and 1960s
16:00-16:20 – Bartosz Kapuściak, PhD (Museum of Cursed Soldiers and Political Prisoners of the Polish People's Republic in Warsaw, Poland) – Inventions and Patents of the Intelligence and Counterintelligence Services of the Polish People’s Republic Armed Forces in the 1960s and 1970s
16:20-16:40 – Radosław Peterman (IPN’s Office of Historical Research, Poland) –  IT Systems in Military Intelligence
16:40-17:00 – Radosław Poboży (IPN’s Archive, Poland) – Film and Television Equipment of the Ministry of Internal Affairs as a Tool for Operational Activities
17:00-17:20 – Paweł Tomasik (IPN’s Archive, Poland) – Techniques Used in the Operations of the Security Service in Feature Films from the Era of the Polish People’s Republic (Selected Examples)
17:20-17:30 – Discussion, summary and closing remarks of the conference

Submissions

The Institute of National Remembrance Archive invites submissions for the conference “Technology in the Service of Eastern Bloc State Security Organs.” The conference aims to explore the operational methods of the security apparatus in the Polish People’s Republic and other Eastern Bloc countries during the Cold War, with a particular focus on intelligence-gathering techniques. As is well known, both civilian and military services harnessed the latest technological advancements, adapting them to their operational needs. Over the decades, these methods evolved from simple mechanical devices to sophisticated electronic and computing solutions, including covert surveillance, operational photography, audio and video recording, and various forms of wiretapping and bugging.

The organizers hope the conference will provide an excellent opportunity to share research findings on these topics, drawn from studies done in Poland and abroad – particularly in post-communist countries. This will enable comparisons of the techniques employed, their levels of sophistication across different services in the Bloc, and presentations of specific devices or operational practices used by officers. It will also highlight how these were refined through technological progress to increase their effectiveness. Another promising area for analysis includes scientific and technical research into operational technology, as well as unusual real-world applications.

Presentations can take the form of scholarly papers or commentaries accompanying audiovisual materials. The organizers will provide the technical equipment necessary for presenting audio and video content.

Within the scope of this topic, we would like to address the following issues:

• procedures for the use of operational technology
• technical devices and practical methods of their deployment
• external observation
• operational photography
• filming
• use of operational technology in handling sources (informants, agents, secret collaborators)
• photochemistry and secret writing
• wiretaps and bugs
• electronic devices and computer technology
• radio communication and radio counterintelligence
• ciphers and cryptography
• unconventional operations employing operational technology
• operational technology in foreign intelligence operations
• pharmacology, poisons, and concealed firearms
• research into psychotronics and attempts at its use by Eastern Bloc security services
• organizational structures supporting the operational apparatus and personnel
• devices and equipment used by Western intelligence services
• research and development and technical progress
• cooperation among the Eastern Bloc security agencies in the field of technology

Conference venue: Warsaw, 9 June 2026.

Conference languages: Polish and English

The organizers reserve the right to select papers and presentations from the proposals submitted. Selected speakers will be notified of their invitation to the conference by email. To apply, please fill out the attached application form and send it to the email address below.

Deadline for submissions: 14 March 2026.

Deadline for approval of the participant list: 31 March 2026.

Publication:

The post-conference articles prepared by speakers will form the basis of the thematic section of the periodical Przegląd Archiwalny Instytutu Pamięci Narodowej (Archival Review of the Institute of National Remembrance), scheduled for publication in 2027. At the same time, we would like to note that preparing a post-conference text is not obligatory.

There will be no conference fee and the organizers will provide speakers with free accommodation, meals on the day of the conference, and reimbursement of travel expenses. (IPN employees will treat their participation in the conference as part of their allowable business trips.)

Contact:

Dawid Chomej, tel., +48 22 581-87-94 e-mail: dawid.chomej@ipn.gov.pl