[ANTONI PĄCZEK] Set of Bolshevik photos from the archives of the Dow. 3rd Army Detachment II

An interesting set of photos, depicting the Bolsheviks, according to word of mouth, the photos come from the private archive of Antoni Pączek. He was an active political activist, and an MP in the Sejm during the Second Republic. More on his biography here. The point of contact between the aforementioned and counterintelligence was his work in 1920 as an emissary of the Union for the Defense of the Fatherland, in which he participated in sabotage actions in the Zamosc area.

It is not certain whether A. Pączek acquired these photos in the 'field' or whether they were sent to him for further inventory and deciphering. The photos were probably obtained from Bolshevik chancelleries, or from individual soldiers who were captured. A possible hypothesis is that a friendly photographer provided additional prints to the Polish government.

The photos in the set fall into two potential categories - some are purely propaganda, posed; while others have the stamps of Dow. 3rd Army Detachment II; Defensive Post no.7 and with handwritten annotations, of a more intelligence nature.

Of the more interesting items, one can certainly stand out with the above stamp, of a young man with a shashka, where his personal details are given on the front, and a note on the back that the Bolsheviks killed his father. The second interesting one is a photo of a woman described as Dabrowski's (?) mistress from the CzK-. This group certainly served intelligence as well as counterintelligence, to pass information to each other and to obtain information from the enemy.

Another series are documents with a photographer's stamp - Gasko Rowno, where Rowno (Rovno) is a city in what is now Ukraine, and before World War II was within the borders of the Second Republic. A battle took place near Rowno on July 3-9, 1920, between Polish and Bolshevik forces, in which the Bolsheviks were victorious. This is probably when the photos with the mentioned seal were taken.

The set is undoubtedly interesting from a historical point of view, providing an opportunity to interact with never published photos, from the tumultuous period of the Polish-Bolshevik war.