On 21 October, the legendary spy and intelligence expert, General Marian Zacharski, was a guest at Collegium Civitas. Prof. Stanisław Mocek, Rector of Collegium Civitas (CC), stressed that this meeting with such a distinguished guest was the initiative of CC students, and in particular, the host for the event, Aleksander Hamerski, a student in International Relations.

The General spoke about the real role embassies play as well as the role of the intelligence service in international relations. Concerning the book Kody Wojny [The Code of War], which he published recently, he described previously unknown documents about the role of the intelligence service in the interwar and wartime periods. There was an opportunity to buy the his new book both before and after the meeting, have a photo taken with the General and have his autograph taken.

Marian Zacharski was not only an intelligence service officer—working for the Urząd Ochrony Państwa [Office for State Protection] in the Polish People’s Republic—but also worked as the director of Pewex, a chain of hard currency shops during the communist period, and was equally a prisoner who was later exchanged for 25 American agents on Berlin’s famous Glienicke Bridge.

The event lasted one and a hours and was conducted entirely in English.