German non-governmental organizations operating for the Abwehr in Poland in the years 1918-1927

This publication contains the information concerning illegal operations of the German intelligence in the years 1918-1927, ascertained by the Polish special services – the Second Department of the Polish General Staff (the Second Department). The paper is based on source documents currently stored by the Institute of National Remembrance and the Central Military Archive. Therefore, the information contained herein represents the data available to the Second Department in the relevant period. The Treaty of Versailles imposed military restrictions on Germany, limiting significantly their offensive capabilities. Driven by desires of further expansion and as a result of not coming to terms with the outcome of the Great War, the Abwehr had the government organizations operating in Poland infiltrated by undercover officers of the former Imperial German intelligence service. The most important ones included Consul, Zentrale Wannsee and Burgwall. In addition, the Second Department identified 16 detective bureaux receiving commissions from the Abwehr and eleven commercial establishments cooperating with the intelligence service. Furthermore, numerous officers of the pre-war German intelligence service did not find employment with the state, which gave rise to the rank-and-file initiative to create private intelligence bureaux. The pre-war connections were still maintained. The substantive value of the text consists in identifying the said organizations and presenting the then available information about them. Such data can be useful for researchers of the period of revival of the Polish State, methods employed for “bypassing” the Treaty of Versailles by the German Reich and the activity of German organizations in Poland in the relevant period. Furthermore, the paper may serve as a case study for the infiltration of organizations seemingly unrelated to the armed forces by intelligence agents.