A response to the last letter
Dear Editor:
Re: New investigation:
KGB behind all plots to assassinate John Paul II:
Ali Agca’s Secret Services
Dear Mr. Brodhead,
You have asked: “If you have copies or can point me toward copies of published Stasi documents regarding the KGB/Agca business, I would appreciate it very much.”
No, I don’t have any copies of the Stasi documents. And I don’t think these documents are the most important ones for the eventual future investigation into the plot against the “Polish Pope” and the attempt on St Peter’s Square (May 13, 1981). The most important documents are certainly in Moscow, not to be reached at now.
The future investigation by the Polish authorities would be certainly limited to an eventual participation of the then Polish communist intelligence and secret service (SB - Sluzba Bezpieczenstwa) in all plots against the life of John Paul II.
My article, published on the CFP last Friday (May 19,2006) was based on the findings of a Polish “Wprost” weekly. I quoted from that article, in a broader context, to turn the attention of the Readers (outside Poland) that the plot and the assassination attempt of May 13, 1981, had never been solved, and that many “conspirationist theories” were created and purposedly dissiminated by the Soviets as a cover up for their own plots.
Going back to Stasi documents: I have also heard and read that these findings mostly concerned the propaganda tasks, allotted to the East Germans, to deny the Bulgarian secret services participation in the plot. It happened many times, before and after 1981, that the communist intelligence and secret services in general distributed specific tasks to their counterparts in the so called “socialist countries”, or even to Comparties in other countries of the World.
The Polish investigation could eventually help to find close links between the KGB and the Polish services (SB - Security Service, Foreign Intelligence Department of the Ministry of the Internal Affairs) in all plots and activities aimed at the “Polish Pope”.
The Bulgarian secret services have been chosen by the KGB to help the Grey Wolves (Agca in particular) to execute the attempt against the pope (in 1981). It was not very peculiar that the KGB leadership served themselves by extreme-right organizations as their “final execusion agents”. There are several cases of KGB’s cooperation with rascist organizations in South Africa, or with right-wing politicians in West Germany. In the event of failure, such organizations or people could be blamed for the criminal acts, without implicating the Soviet communists.
This seems to the the case in the May 13, 1981 plot and attempt.
After the failed attempt, executed by Mehmet Ali Agca (a Turkish ultra-nationalist), the HQ of the KGB made many efforts to cover up their own engagement and to divert the attention by putting the blame on other, foreign forces, and in particular on:
(1) The Grey Wolves in Turkey, as if Turks had their own reasons to kill the Catholic Pontiff (religious reasons for example);
(2) On the American CIA ,as if the U.S. wanted to stop the “Polish Pope” from arousing an anti-communist rebellion in Poland, which could provoke an unwanted confrontation, or even a war, between the East and West);
(3) On the Vatican ,as if some political forces within the Church, opposing John Paul II’s policies, wanted to get rid of him.
The powerful Soviet secret service, the KGB, certainly acted on behalf of the leaders of the Communist Party and the Government of the USSR. The election of a Polish priest, known for his opposition to communism, for the highest post in the Catholic Church prompted the founding of “Solidarity”, a nominal labor union but in fact a huge opposition movement in Poland. In 1980-1981, “Solidarity” began to erode the power of the Polish Communist Party and in 1981 it was very close to overthrow it by peaceful methods. In Fall of 1981, about one million members of the total 3-million-strong Polish Communist Party were also members of sympathizers of a 10-million-strong “Solidarity”. John Paul II was the supreme authority to the Polish nation. His influence in the Polish politics was enormous, though he understood very well that restraint was necessary not to provoke the Soviets. The Kremlin reacted to “Solidarity” by blaming the Polish movement “anti-socialist” in the cummuist propaganda, by many tough pressures, up to a threat of a Warsaw Pact military intervention in Poland and by pushing the Polish leaders (General Wojciech Jaruzelski in particular) to organize their own military solution - the martial law, finally imposed on Poland on December 13, 1981. For the next 8 years, the rule of the communists over Poland was assured. But still, in this period, the influence of John Paul II helped Poland’s regime change in 1989. Therefore, it is true and logical that the KGB plotted against the pope, at least until the end of 1989.
I hope that you will consider my explanation. I am also ready to discuss with you some other aspects of this problem.
Best regards
David Dastych
journalist, former intelligence operative
