by Dr. Andre Gasiorowski

Cryptonym: OPERATION BRIDGE

OPERATION BRIDGE was a code name for the operation of transferring Jews from the USSR (and former Soviet Union countries) to Israel in 1990-1994 by transit through airports in Poland with the help of special services of Poland and Israel. It was carried out with the great risk the largest and most difficult secret mission of Polish special services in history. It was to remain a strictly protected secret forever. This operation became the beginning of the largest Jewish exodus in the history of Israel – it ended with the immigration to Israel of more than 1.5 million Jews from the former Soviet Union.

On March 26, 1990, the Polish government approved the action at a meeting of the American Jewish Congress, made a declaration that Poland would help Jews who emigrated from the Soviet Union and would provide them with transit. After the decision, the cooperation of special services: Poland – all intelligence, counterintelligence agencies, Israel – Nativ, Mossad, Shabak, Sayeret Matkal, Soviet Union – KGB, GRU, USA – CIA, NSA, Austria, Germany, and other countries. The basic issue was to ensure the safe transit of Jews as part of a joint operation codenamed “Operation BRIDGE”.

Through a chain of unusual events, part of the preparations for this operation was coordinated with and financed by a company called Art-B – a global corporation owned by two Polish businessman – Boguslaw Bagsik and Andre Gasiorowski.

June 14th, 1990 the first plane in the direction of Tel Aviv takes off from the airport Okecie in Warsaw, Poland. The Operation “BRIDGE” symbolized a break with the dependence of Polish secret services on the Soviet Union. Close cooperation between Polish and Western secret intelligence agencies began from this point. In the history of the world, there is no example of such a legal and organized undercovered transfer of over one-and-half million people from a specific ethnic group to another continent, thousands of kilometers away…

Isaiah 11:11-12

In that day the Lord will reach out his hand a second time to reclaim the surviving remnant of his people from Assyria, from Lower Egypt, from Upper Egypt, from Cush, from Elam, from Babylonia, from Hamath and from the islands of the Mediterranean.

He will raise a banner for the nations and gather the exiles of Israel;  he will assemble the scattered people of Judah from the four quarters of the Earth.

Historical context

true facts, based on documents available

20.01.1981, USA

Ronald Reagan elected as 40th President of the USA. The main goal of his Foreign Policy was winning the Cold War and the rollback of Communism—which was achieved in Eastern Europe in 1989 and at the end of the Soviet Union in 1991. As part of the “Reagan Doctrine”, the United States also offered financial and logistics support to the anti-communist opposition in central Europe. Ronald Reagan introduced economy as a weapon in the diplomatic arsenal, as a possible substitute for military action, attempted highly selective and refine the use of the economic and financial sanctions as a weapon to change specific policies of the Russian regime and all their Communist allies. Reagan became the first president to propose a constitutional amendment on school prayer.

11.02.1981, Poland

Gen. Wojciech Jaruzelski becoming the leader of Polish military government, becoming the only professional military man to become the leader of a ruling European Communist party. A fortnight after taking power, Jaruzelski met with Lech Walesa – head of national-wide Polish pro-democracy movement “Solidarity”, and Catholic bishop Jozef Glemp, and hinted that he wanted to bring the church and Solidarity into a sort of coalition government.

13.12.1981, Poland

Wojciech Jaruzelski citing purported recordings of Solidarity leaders with the support of Catholic church leaders are planning a coup, Jaruzelski organized his own coup by proclaiming Martial Law in Poland. A Military Council of National Salvation was formed, with Jaruzelski as Chairman. Pro-democracy movements such as Solidarity and other smaller organizations were banned, and their leaders, including Lech Walesa, jailed overnight. In the morning, thousands of soldiers in military vehicles appeared on the streets of every major city, many people were killed during the crackdown. A curfew was imposed, the national borders sealed, airports closed, and road access to main cities restricted. Telephone lines were disconnected, mail subject to renewed postal censorship, all independent official organizations were criminalized, and classes in schools and universities suspended. Jaruzelski contends that the establishment of martial law was an attempt to suppress the Solidarity movement. According to Jaruzelski, martial law was necessary to avoid a Soviet invasion. At that time, Soviet political and strategic interests were threatened. Over 700,000 people were running away from Poland to Western Europe as political refugees.

24.12.1981, USA

Ronald Reagan ordered a series of economic sanctions on Polish economy, but also international political and public relations field. That resulted in suspension of the guarantees for loans from international banks desperately needed for Poland, expressing opposition to the entry of Poland into the International Monetary Fund, the blockade of supplies for agriculture, food for animals, suspension of cooperation in science, the blocking of technology transfer and the ban on landing of Polish airplanes in the USA, finally abolishing the most-favored-nation clause – which was to be a chance for Poland to obtain new loans.

In February 1982, the British joined the US, who suspend talks on the restructuring of the debt of the Poland, cancel the loans granted and resign from food supplies. It was death sentence for Polish economy, being at this moment in agonal stage. The Americans thus punished Jaruzelski’s regime for disallowing Solidarity.

29.12.1981, USA

Ronald Reagan accusing the Soviet Union of ‘heavy and direct’ responsibility for the Polish situation, retaliated with seven economic sanctions against Soviet Union. US companies were ordered to abandon all work on the Siberian pipeline; cancellation of Aeroflot’s privileges, closing of the Soviet Purchasing Commission, which handles about one-third of the Soviet purchases of U.S.,  freezing grain agreements, including a deal for an extra 23 million tons of grain to make up the Soviet shortfall in this year’s harvest,  ban on electronic technology, most of the joint U.S.-Soviet scientific agreements to be canceled.

01.01.1985, Soviet Union

GRU (Soviet Union Military Counterintelligence Agency) presented secret report to the leadership of the Soviet Union, proving that East European Communist block is heading towards economic bankruptcy, and that Soviet Union is not any longer capable to support existence of countries belonging to global Communist Totalitarian System.

11.03.1985, Soviet Union

Mikhail Gorbachev took control of the Soviet Union with the intention of revamping the country’s economy and government. He dismantled the secret police and introduced perestroika (economic restructuring) in an attempt to begin mending relationships with Western European countries and the United States with understanding of how the end of the Cold War. Gorbachev’s loosening of Soviet Union central governmental power created a domino effect in which Eastern European alliances began to crumble, inspiring countries to declare their independence.

25.09.1985, USA

Wojciech Jaruzelski visit to UN General Assembly in New York to present his speech, by that occasion meeting in Rockefeller Center with David Rockefeller – an American banker, also with Zbigniew Brzezinski – Polish-born US national security adviser, with top officials from UN, West Germany, Spain, Brazil, USSR, Jordan. Because of the chill in relations between the United States and Poland, it was no plan to meet with any Government officials.

David Rockefeller was acquainted with Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) director Allen Dulles and his brother, John Foster Dulles – who was an in-law of the family since his college years.

A secret meeting was arranged by David Rockefeller with Edgar Bronfman – President of the World Jewish Congress. During this meeting Wojciech Jaruzelski expressed his will to support airlift of possibly exodus of Soviet Jews to Israel through Poland, in exchange to lobby release of growing international financial pressure on Poland, that was imposed by banking institutions gathered in Paris and London Club due to US sanctions on Poland.

19.11.1985, Switzerland

Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev hold their first summit conference  in Geneve, Switzerland, produced no earth-shattering agreements. As the two men engaged in long, personal talks and seemed to develop a sincere and close relationship. For Gorbachev, the meeting was another clear signal of his desire to obtain better relations with the United States so that he could better pursue his domestic reforms. Six agreements were reached, ranging from cultural and scientific exchanges to environmental issues.

30.11.1985, Soviet Union

Edgar Bronfman visit to the Soviet Union meeting with President Mikhail Gorbachev with tentative negotiations between the Soviets and Israelis, whose diplomatic relations were broken off by Moscow following the 1967 Six-Day War between Israel and Egypt, Syria, Lebanon – Arab countries allied with USSR. The highly secret purpose of these talks was to ask the Soviets to lift emigration restrictions for Jews who want to leave the Soviet Union and to allow religious freedom for Jews who wish to remain. The complex scheme that would involve Soviet Union, Israel, France, USA and Poland –  was to move the Soviet Jews first to Poland, and then airlift them to Israel in the top-secret unrecovered operation.

09.12.1985, France

Gen. Wojciech Jaruzelski visit to Paris meeting President Francois Mitterrand. Secret international talks on the departure of first 15,000 Jews from the Soviet Union to Israel by French planes through Poland. During meeting with representatives of Paris Club options to make financial release on Polish debts repayment were discussed.

12.12.1985, Poland

World Jewish Congress president Edgar Bronfman arrived in Warsaw from Moscov for a two-day stay to confer with Polish President Wojciech Jaruzelski.  He said to the press the main subjects of his visit is to discuss  the protection of Jewish monuments, the preservation of Jewish culture, and the upkeep of Jewish cemeteries and museums, meeting local Jewish community leaders and attending a performance of the Warsaw Yiddish Theater now celebrating its 35th anniversary. In fact purpose of his visit was to discuss preparations related to

06.12.1987, USA

On Sunday, December 6, 1987, March for Freedom rally was timed to take place 24 hours before Gorbachev was to arrive in Washington DC for a two-day summit conference on disarmament. An estimated 250,000 people representing 300 Jewish Federations, Community Councils, synagogues, youth groups and other Jewish and non-Jewish organizations – demonstrated on the National Mall, despite the freezing winter temperatures, in an unprecedented display of solidarity for Soviet Jewry during the largest, best-organized protest rally in American Jewish history. It was preceded by several events on the preceding Friday, including the giving of testimony by five refuseniks to the U.S. Helsinki Commission, a news conference, a Congressional prayer service, and a fast vigil.

The mass mobilization, organized by a broad-based coalition led by National Conference for Soviet Jewry (NCSJ), the Council of Jewish Federations (CJF), United Jewish Appeal (UJA) and national agencies, brought activists from across the United States –  to demand that Gorbachev extend his policy of glasnost to Soviet Jews by putting an end to their forced assimilation and allowing their emigration from the USSR.

The massive mobilization ensured President Reagan’s intention to keep human rights on the summit agenda. At the Rally itself, George Bush, Sr., then Republican presidential candidate, declared, “I will not be satisfied until the promise of Helsinki is a reality.”

During the summit, Gorbachev was not pleased with Reagan’s constant reminder of the emigration issue and of the quarter-million Americans who had rallied in support of Soviet Jewry over the weekend. The head of the Soviet Union would return to his country and in subsequent months, prepare for the opening of Soviet borders for immigration to Israel.

March for Freedom thus marked a turning point in the struggle that led to the releasing of more than one million Jews over subsequent years.

09.12.1987 USA

During the Washington Summit President Reagan and Mikhail S. Gorbachev signed Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty to reverse the nuclear arms race. Treaty required the United States and the Soviet Union to eliminate and permanently forswear all of their nuclear and conventional ground-launched ballistic and cruise missiles with ranges of 500 to 5,500 km. The first time the superpowers had agreed to reduce their nuclear arsenals, eliminate an entire category of nuclear weapons, and utilize extensive on-site inspections for verification. As a result of the INF Treaty, the United States and the Soviet Union destroyed a total of 2,692 short-, medium-, and intermediate-range missiles by the treaty’s implementation deadline of June 1, 1991. The treaty resolved a crisis of the 1980s when the Soviet Union deployed a missile in Europe called the SS-20, capable of carrying three nuclear warheads. The United States responded with cruise and Pershing II missiles based in Europe.

An immediate mood of warmth was established as the two leaders agreed this morning to call each other by their first names, a White House official said. He quoted the President as telling Mr. Gorbachev, ”My first name is Ron.” Mr. Gorbachev answered, ”Mine is Mikhail.’

06.02.1989, Poland

“Round Table” negotiations initiated by Wojciech Jaruzelski between Polish Communist party and the opposition led by Lech Walesa, resulted by legalizing the Solidarity trade union, holding partially free elections, eliminating censorship, and in general end four decades of authoritarian rule. June 4th 1989 first ever free elections were held in Poland, where Solidarity wins all the contested seats in the lower house of parliament, and 99 out of 100 seats in the Senate.

19.08.1989, Poland

Tadeusz Mazowiecki becomes the first non-communist prime minister of Poland since World War II.

01.10.1989, Poland

Andre Gasiorowski takes 40% of shares of Art-B, a private company registered in Poland by Boguslaw Bagsik with 15 USD as startup capital. In less than 2 years, both partners will expand Art-B into a global holding with  over 3,000 companies in 50 countries, employing over 150,000 people, with  22.5 billion USD revenue (1990-1991).

26.03.1990, USA

Tadeusz Mazowiecki during meeting with Edgar Bronfman at American Jewish Congress in New York made a declaration that Poland would help Jews who emigrated from the USSR and would provide them with transit. After the decision, the cooperation of special services: Poland (Intelligence, and Counterintelligence Agencies), Israel (Nativ, Shabak, Mossad, Sayeret Matkal), USSR (KGB, GRU), USA (CIA, NSA), Austria, Germany, and other countries. The basic issue was to ensure the safe transit of Soviet Jews  and airlift them to Israel as part of a joint top-secret unrecovered operation codenamed BRIDGE (MOST).

10.04.1990, Poland

As per request of Polish State, part of the preparations for this operation was coordinated and financed by  Art-B, a corporation owned by Boguslaw Bagsik and Andre Gasiorowski.

14.06.1990, Poland

The first plane in the direction of Tel Aviv takes off from the Warsaw Okecie airport with 250 Soviet Jews onboard. Within next 5 years over 150,000 Soviet Jews followed this safe passage through Poland making going home to their new homeland – Israel.

Within the next 10 years, over 1,5000,000 Jews made EXODUS to Israel via other transit routes.

Isaiah 43:5-6

Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bring your children from the East, and gather you from the West. 

I will say to the North, ‘Give them up! and to the South, ‘Do not hold them back.’ Bring my sons from afar, and my daughters from the ends of the Earth.      

End of Cold War

1989 Communist Block

Hungary: March 22, “Opposition round table” is formed to press the government for reforms.  June 13, The opposition begins round table negotiations with the government.

China: June 4, Protestors in Tiananmen Square, Beijing, are massacred when the military breaks up student-led pro-democracy demonstrations.

Hungary: June 13, The opposition begins round table negotiations with the government. September 10 – Hungary opens its border to the West. October 23 – The Hungarian People’s Republic has officially renamed the Republic of Hungary, with an amended constitution proclaiming the virtues of democracy.

Soviet Union: July 7, 1989. Mikhail Gorbachev explicitly declares that the USSR will no longer interfere in the internal affairs of East-Central Europe.

Bulgaria: November 10, Todor Zhivkov is removed as leader of Bulgaria.

Czechoslovakia: November 17, Protests began in Prague, culminating eight days later when 750,000 people demonstrate against the government. December 29 –  Václav Havel is elected President of Czechoslovakia

Romania: December 17, Security forces open fire upon protestors in Timisoara, Romania. The violence spread, leading to the overthrow and execution of Nicolae Ceausescu on December 25.

East Germany: October 9, Anti-Communist protests begin in Leipzig. November 9, The Berlin Wall felt, leading East and West Germany to officially reunite within a year.

1991 Soviet Union

The dissolution of the Soviet Union occurred on 26 December 1991, officially granting self-governing independence to the Republics of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (Soviet Union). It was a result of the declaration number 142-Н of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union. The declaration acknowledged the independence of the former Soviet republics and created the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), although five of the signatories ratified it much later or did not do so at all.

On the previous day, 25 December, Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev, the eighth and final leader of the USSR, resigned, declared his office extinct and handed over its powers – including control of the Soviet nuclear missile launching codes – to Russian President Boris Yeltsin. That evening at 7:32 p.m., the Soviet flag was lowered from the Kremlin for the last time and replaced with the pre-revolutionary Russian flag.

Previously, from August to December all the individual republics, including Russia itself, had either seceded from the union or at the very least denounced the Treaty on the Creation of the USSR. The week before formal dissolution, eleven republics signed the Alma-Ata Protocol formally establishing the CIS and declaring that the Soviet Union had ceased to exist. Both the Revolutions of 1989 and the dissolution of the Soviet Union also marked the end of the Cold War.

Several of the former Soviet republics have retained close links with the Russian Federation and formed multilateral organizations such as the Commonwealth of Independent States, Eurasian Economic Community, the Union State, the Eurasian Customs Union, and the Eurasian Economic Union to enhance economic and security cooperation. On the other hand, the Baltic states have joined NATO and the European Union.

Thirty Years later…

October 20 2018. The Trump administration just announced it will officially withdraw from an aging nuclear missile treaty with Russia, a move that could kick-start an arms race and threaten the European continent — but also allow the US to better prepare for a war against China. On Friday morning last week, President Donald Trump issued a statement that put the final nail in the coffin of the Cold War-era agreement.

“Tomorrow, the United States will suspend its obligations under the INF Treaty and begin the process of withdrawing from the INF Treaty,” Trump said. “For arms control to effectively contribute to national security, all parties must faithfully implement their obligations.”

In a press conference around the same time, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said, “Russia has jeopardized United States security interests, and we can no longer be restricted by the treaty while Russia shamelessly violates it.”

“Decades ago the United States entered into a treaty with Russia in which we agreed to limit and reduce our missile capabilities,” the president said. “While we followed the agreement to the letter, Russia repeatedly violated its terms. That is why I announced that the United States is officially withdrawing from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, or INF Treaty.”

This is a big deal. The INF Treaty was signed by President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev in December 1987. The agreement prohibited Washington and Moscow from fielding ground-launched cruise missiles that could fly between 310 and 3,420 miles.

to be continued…