Roman Romkowski
| Roman Romkowski | |
|---|---|
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Roman Romkowski
aka Natan Grinszpan-Kikiel |
|
| Born |
May 22, 1907 Moscow, Russian Empire |
| Died | July 1, 1965 (aged 58) Warsaw, Poland |
| Other names | Natan Grünspan |
| Citizenship | Polish |
| Occupation | Vice-minister, security agent |
| Known for | State Security Services (Urząd Bezpieczeństwa) |
Roman Romkowski born Natan Grünspan-Kikiel, (May 22, 1907 – July 1, 1965) was a Polish communist official of Jewish background trained by Comintern in Moscow, who changed his name and settled into Warsaw after the Soviet takeover, and became second in command (the deputy minister) in Berman's Ministry of Public Security (MBP) during the late 1940s and early 1950s. Along with several other high functionaries including Dir. Anatol Fejgin, Col. Józef Różański, Dir. Julia Brystiger and the chief supervisor of Polish State Security Services, Minister Jakub Berman from the Politburo, Romkowski came to symbolize communist terror in postwar Poland. He was responsible for the work of departments: Counter-espionage (1st), Espionage (7th), Security in the PPR–PZPR (10th Dept. run by Fejgin), and others.
Romkowski was arrested on April 23, 1956, during the socialist Polish October revolution, and brought to trial along with functionaries responsible for gross violations of human rights law and their abuse of power. Historian Heather Laskey alleges that it was probably not a coincidence that the high ranking Stalinist security officers put on trial by Gomułka were Jews. Władysław Gomułka was captured by Światło and imprisoned by Romkowski in 1951 on Soviet orders, and interrogated by both, him and Fejgin. Gomułka escaped physical torture only as a close associate of Joseph Stalin, and was released three years later.
At trial, Col. Różański didn't deny that he routinely tortured prisoners including Polish United Workers' Party members, and he didn't apologize for his actions. Instead, he pointed a finger at Romkowski and continuously repeated the of justification of any means to an end. For him, torturing people was a daily double-shift job, nothing more, nothing less. He admitted that all charges against his victims were falsified on site by his department.
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Wikipedia