| Milicja Obywatelska MO Citizens' Militia | |
|---|---|
 Milicja patch | |
 Collar patch known as palemka | |
| Common name | Milicja |
| Abbreviation | MO |
| Agency overview | |
| Formed | 7 October 1944 |
| Dissolved | 10 May 1990 |
| Superseding agency | Policja |
| Employees | 80,000 (1980s)[1] |
| Jurisdictional structure | |
| National agency | Polish People's Republic |
| Operations jurisdiction | Polish People's Republic |
| General nature | |
| Operational structure | |
| Headquarters | Warsaw |
| Agency executive |
|
| Parent agency |
|
| Child agency | |
Milicja Obywatelska (MO; Polish pronunciation: [miˈlit͡sja ɔbɨvaˈtɛlska]), known as the Citizens' Militia in English , was the national police organization of the Polish People's Republic.
The MO was established on 7 October 1944 by the Polish Committee of National Liberation under Chief Commander Franciszek Jóźwiak to police Red Army controlled areas of Poland during World War II.[2] It became the official police force with the founding of the Polish People's Republic in 1947, effectively replacing the pre-war Policja as the main uniformed civilian police of Poland during the communist era. The MO was headquartered in Warsaw while training for the force was conducted in the town of Legionowo.
The MO was supported by two paramilitary formations: the elite Motorized Reserves of the Citizens' Militia (ZOMO) and the reservist Volunteer Reserve of the Citizens' Militia (ORMO). In most cases it represented a state-controlled force used to exert political repression, especially with its elite ZOMO squads. The MO continued to exist after the fall of communism in Poland in 1989 until it was transformed back into Policja on 10 May 1990.
- ^ "Ogólnopolskie Stowarzyszenie Internowanych i Represjonowanych - Biuletyn 24".
- ^ Czubacki, Jacek (7 October 2015). "Powstanie Milicji Obywatelskiej 7 października 1944". Historia zapomniana i mniej znana. Retrieved 20 March 2018.