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May 29, 1968

Cipher Telegram 2102-2037, To Minister of National Defense of Poland Division General Cde. W. Jaruzelski

This document was made possible with support from Leon Levy Foundation

Top Secret

 

Incoming cipher message number 2102; outgoing number 2037

Unit name: USSR 1630 29 May 1968

 

TO MINISTER OF NATIONAL DEFENSE OF PNR [POLAND]

Division General Cde. W. Jaruzelski

 

WARSAW

 

Dear Cde. Minister!

 

In accordance with the coordinated plan of joint measures for the 1968 summer period a strategic operational command staff exercise will be conducted under my command on the territory of Poland and Czechoslovakia in the area in June under the codename SUMAVA with equipment and designated troops.

 

It would be advisable to involve [the following] from the Polish armed forces in this exercise:

 

- a reduced staff of the HQ of the Silesian Military District with communications, support, and service subunits in the role of the field command of the 12th Combined Arms Army;

- the HQ of two MD [mechanized division] (TD [tank division]).

 

It is desirable to have one full-strength mechanized regiment in one division and the staff of a mechanized regiment and one motorized rifle battalion in the second division .

 

Request your instructions to designate the necessary communications and service subunits to support the work of the staffs for the exercise

and to also have a 15-day supply of materiel for all the personnel being brought to this exercise.

 

The exercise control provides for a deputy for the Polish armed forces, and several generals and officers of the Polish armed forces for work in the exercise control staff, the staff of the front, and also as umpires in staffs and in the field.

 

[The following] theme is planned during the exercise:

 

"The preparation and waging of combat operations of allied forces at the start of a war".

 

It is planned for the departure position for the troops of the army to be in the region of BOLESLAWIEC, KAMIENNA-GORA, KLODZKO, SWIDNICA. The army headquarters is to be in the area of SWIDNICA.

 

The departure position is to be occupied by the end of 18 June 1968.

 

The plan of the exercise provides for the staffs and troops to move onto the territory of the CSSR and conduct tactical troop exercises at the MIMON training range of the Czechoslovak People's Army. It is advisable for the tanks of Polish Armed Forces units and subunits participating in the exercise to be sent to Czechoslovakia on trailers. It is planned to send a special communications group of the exercise control staff and a VCh communications station to the headquarters of the 12th Army of the Polish Armed Forces. All issues connected with the preparations for and support of the exercise, the movement of staffs and troops onto the territory of the CSSR, and also issues of the construction of lines of communication on the territory of the PNR for the exercise will be coordinated by the staff of the OVS [Combined Armed Forces] with the General Staffs of the Polish Armed Forces and the Czechoslovak National Army.

 

Regards,

 

I. YAKUBOVSKY, Marshal of the Soviet Union

Commander-in-Chief of the OVS

 

Deciphered 29 May at 1920 by Major Durlej; one copy made, for the addressee

 

Sent by the Soviet Union, this cipher message notifies Polish forces that a joint strategic operational military exercise will be conducted in Poland and Czechoslovakia in the coming month. Soviet Marshal Yakubovsky advises Polish Division General Jaruzelski to mobilize the appropriate forces and resources for the purposes of the exercise.



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August 30, 1968

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Cipher Telegraph 2765-311/8, To Minister of National Defense of the Poland, Division General Cde. W. Jaruzelski

This Soviet cipher message provides Polish military forces with specific instructions regarding the forthcoming joint military exercise in Poland and Czechoslovakia. The given details pertain primarily to Polish troop movements.

August 30, 1968

Cipher Message 3235-8/223, Warsaw to Minister of National Defense of the Polish People's Republic Division General Cde. W. Jaruzelski

Because the Warsaw Pact has recently conducted a large number of military exercises and the costs of doing so, and given the present military occupation of Czechoslovakia, Soviet Marshal Yakubovsky proposes postponing the October joint military exercise to the following year. Yakubovsky solicits Polish General Jaruzelski's opinion on the matter.

Document Information

Source

Institute of National Remembrance (IPN-BU). Translated for CWIHP by Gary Goldberg.

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Original Uploaded Date

2012-07-26

Type

Cable Report

Language

Record ID

114727

Original Classification

Top Secret

Donors

Leon Levy Foundation