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April 1, 2002
'''S&#322;u&#380;ba Bezpiecze&#324;stwa''' ('''SB''', until [[1956]] ''Urz&#261;d Bezpiecze&#324;stwa'', '''UB''') was the name of the [[Intelligence agencies|intelligence agency]] and [[secret police]] in the ''[[People's Republic of Poland]]''.

It was a plainclothes section of the Ministry of Internal Affairs with a remit to investigate those regarded by the government as subversive both internally and abroad. It was established in [[1944]] as the Urz&#261;d Bezpieczenstwa (UB), from which the slang name for secret policemen in Poland - "Ubeks" - is derived.

Throughout the late [[1940s]] and [[1950s]], the UB was heavily under the influence of the Soviet Union, and responsible for, amongst other task, the investigation and prosecution of [[Armia Krajowa]] (AK, or Home Army) Polish resistance fighters, and those believed to be sympathetic to the [[Western Allies]] during and after the [[Second World War]]. It was renamed as the SB in [[1956]], and entered a period of relative inaction during the era of reform insituted by [[Wladyslaw Gomulka|W&#322;adys&#322;aw Gomu&#322;ka]]. After [[1968]] it was revived as a stronger body, responsible for the implementation of political suppression, most notably in the case of the [[Solidarity]] movement, the leader of which, [[Lech Walesa|Lech Wa&#322;&#281;sa]], was under constant SB surveillance, until its replacement by the ''[[Urzad Ochrony Panstwa|Urz&#261;d Ochrony Pa&#324;stwa]]'' in [[1990]] after the [[fall of communism]].

Amongst those executed by the SB were AK founder [[Witold Pilecki]] and Catholic priest [[Jerzy Popieluszko]]. Since 1990, many SB operatives have been tried for their crimes.

== See also ==
* [[Rakowiecka prison]]
* [[Instytut Pamieci Narodowej]]

[[Category:Polish intelligence agencies]]
[[Category:Polish history]]
[[pl:S&#322;u&#380;ba Bezpiecze&#324;stwa]This is [[April Fool's Day]], [[2002]]

April fools hoaxes for this year:
* [[The Register]]: [http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/28/24652.html reported] [[AOL]] buying up [[weblog]]s
* The [[Open Directory]] [http://[email protected]/April-01-2002_GOD_PR.html re-branded] itself as the 'Microsoft Directory Project'
* [[Kuro5hin]] [http://www.kuro5hin.org/story/2002/4/1/05035/09001 acquired] met4filter.org
* [[Slashdot]] [http://slashdot.org/articles/02/04/01/1452256.shtml?tid=124 announced] that is will start posting advertiser-sponsored news stories, and disable anonymous posting.
* [[Google]] [http://www.google.com/technology/pigeonrank.html described] its PigeonRank system.
* [[The Guardian]] profiled Harmony Cousins
* [[CPAN]] renamed itself the 'Comprehensive Java Archive Network'
* The annual spoof [[Linus Torvalds]] post on the [[Linux kernel mailing list]] announced his resignation from the Linux effort
* [[IETF]] published [[April 1st RFC]]s RFC3251 (Distribution of electricity over IP) and RFC3252 (Encapsulating IP in XML).
* [[MIT]] changed its home page to a spoof of the [[Google]] home page.
* a spoof Yahoo News story was circulated stating that PK Interactive had received funding from [[idealab]] (note: check the URL below closely)
* The TidBITS newsletter offered a [http://www.tidbits.com/tb-issues/TidBITS-623.html spoof issue]


''Please add more [[2002]] April Fool hoaxes here, including any relevant external links''

External links:
* [http://www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0,3604,677004,00.html Guardian profile of Harmony Cousins]
* [http://www.cs.helsinki.fi/linux/linux-kernel/2002-13/0063.html A letter 'from' Linus Torvalds]
* [http://news.yahoo.com:PK%20Interactive%20Receives%20Funding%20from%[email protected]/Yahoo!%20News%20-%20PK%20Interactive%20receives%20funding%20from%20idealab.htm Spoof Yahoo News story]