Józef Światło Józef Światło ( born Izaak Fleischfarb ) ( Medyn , 1 January 1915 – 2 September 1994 , USA ) was a high - ranking official of the Ministry of Public Security of Poland ( deputy director of the 10th Department run by Anatol Fejgin ) . He was nicknamed " Butcher " – the torture master – by the MBP prisoners . After the death of Stalin and the arrest of Lavrentiy Beria in 1953 , Światło travelled on the Berlin subway with Fejgin through the West Berlin sector where he " slipped away " and defected to the West . After his defection on 5 December in Berlin , he worked for the CIA and the Radio Free Europe ( RFE ) . Światło ' s written and broadcast incriminations shook the Polish United Workers ' Party , and ultimately contributed to the reform of the Polish security apparatus at the end of the Stalinist period , as one of the factors leading to the political liberalisation of the socialist Polish October revolution . Biography . Józef Światło was born on 1 January 1915 as Izaak Fleischfarb ( also Fleichfarb , Licht or Lichtstein , sources vary ) , into a Jewish family in Medyn village near Zbarazh ( now Ukraine ) . In the Second Polish Republic he was first a Zionist and later , a communist activist . He was arrested twice for his illegal activities . Conscripted in 1939 , he served in the Polish Army ( Polish 6th Infantry Division ) during the Polish September Campaign that year . Taken prisoner by the Germans , he escaped , only to be taken prisoner by the Red Army , which invaded the East Poland where his family lived and deported east along with hundred thousands of others . It was also in that period that , on 26 April 1943 , he married Justyna Światło and changed his name to a more Polish - sounding one , Światło . He eventually joined the Polish Forces in the East ( Polish 1st Tadeusz Kościuszko Infantry Division , Berling ' s Army ) , becoming a political officer ; he was also promoted to junior lieutenant ( " podporucznik " ) and became involved in organising state administration in areas taken from the Germans . In 1945 he was transferred to the newly formed Ministry of Public Security of Poland ( " MBP " ) . In his work , Światło , like many other communist secret police agents , used torture and forgery . He was involved in arresting hundreds of members of Polish underground organization , Armia Krajowa , its leadership ( the Trial of the Sixteen ) and falsifying of the 1946 Polish referendum . In time he was promoted to colonel ; he served in various offices and departments , eventually in 1951 ending up in the 10th Department , where he was one of the leading officers . The 10th Department was responsible for handling the Party members themselves . He received orders personally from the First Secretary of the Polish United Workers ' Party Bolesław Bierut , and arrested such notable people as politicians Władysław Gomułka and Marian Spychalski , General Michał Rola - Żymierski and Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński . He had access - sometimes unique - to many secret documents . He interrogated Noel Field on 27 August 1949 in Budapest as well as his brother , Herman Field ( a US citizen who went to Poland to look for his brother ) . Herman would be secretly imprisoned for five years , until the information on him was revealed - by Światło himself . Defection to the West . In November 1953 , the First Secretary of the Polish United Workers ' Party Bolesław Bierut asked Politburo member Jakub Berman to send MBP Lieutenant Colonel Józef Światło on an important mission to East Berlin . Światło , deputy head of MBP " Department X " , together with Colonel Anatol Fejgin , were asked to consult with Stasi chief Erich Mielke about eliminating Wanda Brońska . Światło , however , after the death of Stalin in March 1953 and arrest of Lavrentiy Beria in June that year , became afraid for his own life . He suspected that Bierut in Poland may turn on him and other members of the Ministry , attempting to make them into scapegoats . The two officers traveled to Berlin and spoke with Mielke . On 5 December 1953 , the day after meeting the Stasi chief , Światło defected to the U . S . military mission in West Berlin . He left family - wife and two children - in Poland . The next day , American military authorities transported Światło to Frankfurt and by Christmas Światło had been flown to Washington , D . C . , where he underwent an extensive debriefing . It has been reported that his interrogations were compiled into about fifty long reports . The United States gave him political asylum with the full knowledge that " he would have to be protected for the rest of his life because the number of his victims and relatives of victims sworn to exact retribution was so great . " Aftermath . Światło ' s defection was revealed in Poland by the Polish Press Agency on 25 October 1954 , with Światło labelled a traitor and provocateur . It was , however , widely publicised in the United States and Europe by the US authorities , as well as in Poland via Radio Free Europe , embarrassing the Communist authorities in Warsaw - the first international press conference with Światło took place on 28 September 1954 . Światło had intimate knowledge of the internal politics of the Polish government , especially the activities of the various secret services . Over the course of the following months , US newspapers and Radio Free Europe ( in the " Behind the scenes of the secret service and the party " cycle ) reported extensively on political repression in Poland based on Światło ' s revelations . Capitalising on them , in what was known as " Operation Spotlight " , RFE broadcast some 140 interviews by Światło , and 30 programs on him . Światło ' s RFE broadcasts were not only serialized but even distributed over Poland by special balloons . Światło detailed the torture of prisoners under interrogation and politically motivated executions and struggles inside the Polish United Workers ' Party . None of the Polish Communists intelligence , counterintelligence and public security agencies escaped unscathed and without some of their secrets being revealed . The highly publicised defection of Colonel Światło , not to mention the general hatred of the Ministry of Public Security among Poles , led to changes in late 1954 , as first the 10th Department and soon afterwards , the entire Ministry , was broken up and reorganised ; many officials were arrested . Światło ' s scandal contributed to the events of political liberalisation in Poland , known as the Polish October . Bierut himself did not last much longer than Światło , he was replaced by rehabilitated Gomułka few years later ( see Polish October ) . For a long time , it was uncertain if Światło was dead or still alive . Information on him was protected by the US witness protection program ; there were rumours that he died in late 1960s , 1975 or 1985 . In 2010 , United States government stated that he had died on 2 September 1994 . Documents relating to him are still classified in the United States and not available to researchers . Notes . a Sources vary in giving his original surname . IPN lists it as Fleischfarb , noting that this name was used by Światło himself in some documents ; this name is used most commonly in the sources . Several sources , such as Gluchowski , use an alternative spelling - Fleichfarb . Piotrowski and several other sources also list one or two other name variants , namely : Licht and Lichtstein .