Edmund Charaszkiewicz - Military Intelligence

Military Intelligence

Meanwhile, on December 15, 1920, Charaszkiewicz had been assigned to the Polish General Staff's Section II, or Intelligence — specifically, to its Upper Silesia Plebiscite Department. During the Third Silesian Uprising he served (May 2 – August 15, 1921) as deputy commander of demolition squads known as the Wawelberg Group. For his courage and steadfastness in action against the Germans, as he blew up mined structures in the face of withering enemy fire and thereby halted the German advance, he was on February 18, 1922, again recommended for the Virtuti Militari. On June 27, 1922, Lt. Charaszkiewicz was decorated with the Virtuti Militari, 5th class.

Charaszkiewicz would later (February 16, 1940, in Paris) describe the Polish military-intelligence operation in the Third Silesian Uprising as a model operation of its kind: its objectives were clearly defined; the requisite personnel were skilfully recruited and trained; the necessary explosives, weapons, ammunition, equipment and supplies were smuggled into the operational areas and cached well in advance; and the plans were efficiently and resourcefully executed. He would later favorably contrast the Third Silesian Uprising with the indecisive preparations for, and execution of, Poland's takeover of Zaolzie 17 years later, in 1938. Moreover, the preponderant political circumstances in Poland, Germany and the world favored the Polish cause. The Silesian-Polish population gave its enthusiastic support, and all its social groups were recruited except for the communists, who for their part evinced a benign neutrality, having been instructed to back the Polish proletariat.

Between 1918 and 1923, Charaszkiewicz completed three years of the four-year law curriculum at Warsaw University.

After the Third Silesian Uprising (May 2 – July 5, 1921), in 1922 Charaszkiewicz was assigned to the General Staff's Section II. In evaluations, he was commended for his strength of character, initiative, energy, enthusiasm, and devotion to duty, especially in covert operations in Lithuania, with which Poland had a running dispute over Vilnius. In 1927, when he was decorated with the Silver Cross of Merit, he was cited for actions in the rear of the Soviet Army in 1920, actions in the Third Silesian Uprising, and actions in the Polish-Lithuanian neutral zone to secure the lives and property of Polish citizens against Lithuanian irregulars.

Charaszkiewicz's service record noted that his qualifications for intelligence work included a knowledge of German, French and English. He was promoted to lieutenant on June 1, 1919, to captain on July 1, 1925, and to major in 1935.

By 1931, until World War II, Charaszkiewicz served, last in the rank of major, as chief of "Office 2" of the General Staff's Section II. Office 2, which had been so named on April 1, 1929, was charged with the planning, preparation and execution of clandestine-warfare operations.

In the face of growing threats from Germany and the Soviet Union, Polish organizing of a "behind-the-lines" (pozafrontowa) clandestine network had begun immediately after the post-World War I wars for Poland's borders. Charaszkiewicz had been assigned to this network already on April 15, 1922.

Especially after Adolf Hitler's accession to power in 1933, Polish clandestine organizations were vigorously built up. They were meant, in future military actions, to paralyze enemy road and rail transport and destroy enemy military depots. Clandestine centers were created in Poland as well as in neighboring countries, chiefly Germany and the Soviet Union.

Personnel for the clandestine networks were recruited with great care. Thanks to this, the intelligence services of Poland's neighbors learned nothing about them until mid-1939, when the rising German threat prompted mass Polish training of irregular forces.