Szymon Biliński

Szymon Biliński (16 April 1899 – 1 August 1979) was a Polish religious activist and a controversial figure in several Protestant communities in Poland, including Baptists, Evangelical Christians, Methodists, and Lutherans. He was expelled from these groups amid scandals and attempted to establish his own church. Biliński served as an unofficial collaborator with the Security Service and informed on Protestant clergy. He frequently came into conflict with the law, resulting in multiple arrests. In his later years, he emigrated to the United States.

Biography

Born in 1899 in Lviv to an Orthodox family, Biliński lost his father at age 9 and was raised in the home of Baptist pastor . In 1919, he fought in the unit of Symon Petliura, and in 1920, he was interned and held in a camp in Słupiec. Between 1924 and 1926, he completed studies at the in Łódź, subsequently becoming an active member of the . In July 1926, he took charge of the in Poznań. For a brief period, he served as editor-in-chief of the Ukrainian-language Baptist monthly Pisłaniec Prawdy. In 1926, he was elected president of the Youth Associations, affiliated with the Baptist Church. His career in the Baptist Church initially showed promise, and in 1926, he became a member of the church's Supreme Council. However, he was expelled from the Baptist community due to a scandal involving premarital sex. He then joined the . He was later removed from the Union of Evangelical Christians for disloyalty. For a time, he was affiliated with the , but in 1933, he returned to the Evangelical Christians.

In 1942, Biliński moved to Warsaw. In 1944, he was deported to Neuwied for forced labor. Toward the end of the war, he was transferred to Lebenstein and liberated by American forces. The Americans moved him to a camp in Elsterberg, where he remained until the arrival of the Red Army. In August 1945, he returned to Lviv. During the war, he collaborated with the Gestapo, and after the Soviet occupation, with the NKVD under the pseudonym "Siemionov". Initially residing in Lviv, he returned to Poland as a repatriate in August 1946 and settled in Ząbki, near Warsaw, in October 1946. He worked as a preacher for the Evangelical Christians but was expelled in August 1947. Shortly after, he became a preacher for the Union of Churches of Christ, engaging in missionary activities in Warsaw and its surroundings. In September, he joined the Union of Churches of Christ Presidium and led the missionary department. However, on 12 May 1948, he was expelled from the Union of Churches of Christ. He then attempted to establish his own religious community. In 1950 and 1951, he sought employment with the Methodists, and in early 1953, he became a deacon under Bishop of the Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession. where he lived out his remaining years in Maryland. He died on 1 August 1979. He had two sons, Aleksander (born 1929) and Bogdan (born 1930). Bogdan died in 1952. Initially, the alliance comprised three congregations (Ząbki, Łódź, and Morawy).

By 1952, only one congregation remained, led by Biliński's wife, Józefa, known as the "Patrick group", based in Bródno, a district of Warsaw. In 1955, an attempt was made to establish a congregation in Łomża. In June 1955, the Department V of the Committee for Public Security considered integrating this group into the United Evangelical Church structure. Biliński himself had officially disassociated from the group in 1952 and joined the Lutherans. In March 1952, he completed an accelerated deacon training course organized by . There is no evidence of the "Patrick group" continuing after 1955.

Informant "Żebrowski"

Biliński began working for the Security Service in February 1947, officially registered as an informant under the pseudonym "Żebrowski" on 15 March 1947. His reports contained numerous accusations against evangelical church leaders. In his first report on 14 February 1947, he described the activities of non-Catholic denominations in Poland, focusing heavily on the Methodists. He accused them of dominating the Polish Ecumenical Council, being financially robust with Western funding, and working for British or American intelligence.

Biliński's accusations were not limited to secret reports. In November 1948, he sent a biography to the Ministry of Public Administration, implicating evangelical leaders Szenderowski and Sacewicz in collaborating with Anglo-American intelligence. On 28 February 1949, he was interrogated at the Warsaw District Inspectorate of Financial Protection, where he accused prominent evangelical leaders of spreading anti-Soviet propaganda and serving American imperialism. He operated under multiple pseudonyms for the Security Service.

Alongside Eugeniusz Kupski ("Eagle"), Biliński was among the most prolific informants, providing damaging information about evangelical leaders. Reports from 1949 and 1950 on evangelical figures were largely based on their intelligence.

Legal conflicts

Biliński was also monitored by the Security Service and arrested multiple times for illegal possession of weapons and black-market trading. In August 1948, he was arrested for possessing firearms, during which he provided interrogators with incriminating information about evangelical leaders. He claimed he founded the United Evangelical Church but was expelled for seeking independence from American influence and was removed from the Union of Churches of Christ due to Sacewicz's fear of competition. He also claimed responsibility for causing a schism in the Baptist Church. He was released after a few days. In 1953, Department XI (formerly Department V) of the Ministry of Public Security resumed investigations into Biliński. In 1960, he was arrested for trading foreign currency and packages received from the West. He was arrested again in 1963, facing the possibility of a lengthy prison sentence. According to , Biliński was expelled from evangelical churches due to disloyalty and dishonesty. described him as having the nature of an agitator and schismatic. Leszek Jańczuk noted that Biliński "possessed a rare ability to infiltrate various Protestant circles, establish new connections, attend significant conferences and meetings, and take an interest in foreign visitors".