The GZI was established in 1944 as part of the Polish Military in the
USSR. When it was founded, its officers were predominantly
Russian, having been sourced from the Soviet secret services like the
NKGB, the
NKVD, and
SMERSH. In December 1945, the number of
Poles in the GZI did not surpass 43%, but by 1946–1947, it had grown to 77%. At the GZI's headquarters in
Warsaw, the commendatory staff was initially entirely Russian and the first Polish officer was not installed until the end of 1945. By September 1947, almost all important positions at the headquarters were occupied by Polish army officers. In June 1950 headquarters again had been placed under the management of a Russian officer when
Dmitrij Wozniesieński (a former SMERSH officer) become the head of GZI. With him came 150 new Russian officers who retook over all executive posts. In 1945, the number of staff surpassed 1,000 officers. In the next year, because of the demobilization of the armed forces, the number of staff fell to 992. Increasing repression on
Army,
Navy and
Air Force officers, and the very fast development of the new
Polish People's Army, again forced GZI to increase its manpower and the number of new posts. Whilst in January 1951, the number of permanent employees in GZI was 2,740 (1,002
officers, 302
non-commissioned officers, 1,198
privates and 238 civil employees), by January 1953 the number of permanent employees had reached 4,130 people (1,502 officers, 453 non-commissioned officers, 1,795 privates and 380 civilian employees). New
informers and
secret agents were recruited from regular army, navy and air force units. The biggest number of informers and secret agents was in 1952, when for a total of 356,481 Polish army soldiers there were 24,025 informers and secret agents, working inside military structure. At that time, every seventh soldier in the Polish military was in contact with a GZI officer. It was the approved norm that at least one agent from the GZI should be in each platoon.
Changes and reform on the building of the former headquarters at 3b Chałubińskiego Street In September 1955
Główny Zarząd Informacji Ministerstwa Obrony Narodowej became part of the Committee for Public Security (Polish:
Komitet do spraw Bezpieczeństwa Publicznego; which directly translates from the Russian
Komitet gosudarstvennoy bezopasnosti), which was the well known successor to
Ministerstwo Bezpieczeństwa Publicznego. The Committee for Public Security then became known as the Main Directorate of Information of Committee for Public Security (
GZI KdsBP). It was responsible for the political police, counter-intelligence operations, intelligence operations, and government protection. In November 1956, the GZI KdsBP separated from Committee for Public Security, and returned to its previous role, becoming again the Main Directorate of Information of
Ministry of National Defense. After the reform instituted by
Władysław Gomułka in 1956, and the role GZI played in repressions and executions, one year later in 1957 the Main Directorate of Information of Ministry of National Defense was dismantled and replaced by
Internal Military Service (
WSW; English:
Military Internal Service). In 1990 the WSW was merged with the
Second Department of Polish General Staff, so that Intelligence and counter-intelligence agents were working under one structure. The agency created by the merger became known as
Zarząd II Wywiadu i Kontrwywiadu (English:
2nd Directorate for Intelligence and Counter-intelligence). The organization structure was accepted by minister of national defence General
Flolrian Siwicki, but at the same time, the Polish military and political establishment wasn't happy about the huge size of 2nd Directorate. Eventually, a decision was made to separate the law enforcement part responsible for law and order in military and create a new organization called
Zandarmeria Wojskowa. The remaining post-communist services KI, and military intelligence were transformed in to the
Wojskowe Służby Informacyjne (WSI; English:
Military Information Services). == Structure and organization ==