„J’ai des yeux de Cracovien”. Jean Van Ghele (1912–1985), French consul in Cracow in the sight of Polish Security Service

The article is a biographical sketch of the biograpy of French consul in Krakow, who served as in the years 1956–1961. The background is the life of Krakow at the turn of the 1950s and 1960s, as well as the extended and complicated operation of the communist secret police. The text presents broad aspects of counterintelligence activities in the system of an authoritarian state. The context is also the warming in Polish-French relations, which was significant after the turn of October 1956, bringing cultural, scientific and regulatory effects.

From 1975, as part of the operation code-named “Zapora” carried out by the Security Service, counterintelligence operations are documented as having been carried out with the aim of protecting facilities and units of the Polish and Soviet Army in Piła Voivodeship. Department II of KWMO/WUSW in Piła, in cooperation with WSW and MO, kept diplomats and foreigners from Western countries under surveillance. This control extended to the monitoring of all persons, regardless of nationality, in the areas adjacent to the facilities and those employed in enterprises providing services to the Polish Army. These persons of interest were identified as part of operational checks and registration questionnaires, using numerous secret collaborators and personal contacts. As a part of “Zapora”, major military exercises such as “OPAL 87” and “Przyjaźń 87” were also safeguarded. Operation „Zapora” was completed in January 1990.