Estezet (STZ) was the code name of a Polish intelligence service branch established in
New York City in August 1941 when a cooperative agreement was signed between Polish and American spy services.
History
The branch was set up by
Section II (Oddział II) of the General Staff of the
Polish Armed Forces. The agency worked in secret at the General Consulate of the
Second Polish Republic
The Second Polish Republic, at the time officially known as the Republic of Poland, was a country in Central Europe, Central and Eastern Europe that existed between 1918 and 1939. The state was established on 6 November 1918, before the end of ...
in New York. Its operational area was the
United States,
Canada,
Brazil,
Argentina,
Chile,
Paraguay,
Uruguay,
Peru, and
Bolivia
, image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg
, flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center
, flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...
. The goals of the agency were to observe the military, political situations and the development of the
Polish diaspora in countries in the Americas. The agency paid particular attention to agitation and penetration by Communism and its agents with special regard to the United States, Canada and Polish affairs. It also concerned itself with the state, development and political situation of
Ukrainian communities and the analysis of Central and Eastern European immigrant press (Polish,
German, Ukrainian,
Czech,
Slovak,
Lithuania
Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...
n, and
Jewish).
Archives
A digitized collection of Estezet documents is available at the
Józef Piłsudski Institute of America
The Józef Piłsudski Institute of America (full name: Józef Piłsudski Institute of America for Research in the Modern History of Poland) was created in New York City in July 1943. It is an archive, museum and research center devoted to the stud ...
. It was given to the Institute by Marian Chodacki, a former Estezet operative, after he entrusted it in the care of at the
Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth in Phildadelphia in the event of his death.
Archiwum Majora Mariana Chodackiego Fond 39/6, p. 354, in the collections of the Józef Piłsudski Institute of America
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See also
* History of Polish intelligence services
References
{{Authority control
1941 establishments in New York City
Defunct Polish intelligence agencies
Polish-American organizations
Organizations based in New York (state)
Government agencies established in 1941