The SCP Foundation in Poland — The History of The Polish Containment Project

Introduction

Meeting of members of the Polish Containment Project with the contemporary O5-█, 1931

The Polish Containment Project was an initiative founded in February 1914 by the now deceased O5-11.¹ Its main purpose was to investigate the activity of Fae (Homo sapiens sidhe) and to confirm the existence as well as subsequent preservation of the anomalous Free Port of Esterberg (later classified as SCP-5373) largely inhabited by the previously mentioned Fae, located near Częstochowa in the former Kingdom of Poland.

Over time, however, the Project's goals evolved, and its primary mission became to establish a foothold for the Foundation in the newly formed post-World War I Republic of Poland. Initial plans to secure SCP-5373 with classic methods failed, due to the protection and establishment of laws guaranteeing the independence of Free Ports by the League of Nations in 1923.² Despite this, however, the Foundation did happen to violate these laws several times and entered Esterberg unauthorized; however, aside from these few incidents, the Foundation abandoned its plans to secure SCP-5373 and focused on monitoring it and conducting unarmed research explorations in the city, which were allowed by a loophole in the law.

The Polish Containment Project was finally disbanded and incorporated into the Foundation in October 1945 after the end of World War II, also known in the anomalous world as the VII Occult War.³

O5-11 - The Visionary [DECEASED]

Male. Age unknown. Of Jewish and Slavic origin. In his lifetime, a figure strongly associated with the occult, esotericism and thaumaturgy. Responsible for the establishment of the Department of Ontokinetics, of which he was the original director. Pioneer in the field of modern life extension using thaumaturgy.

Responsible for significantly expanding the Foundation's influence around the world, particularly in Central and Eastern Europe; initiated, among other things, the Polish Containment Project in 1914. Fierce critic of the use of human personnel, especially D-Class, in experiments.

[DETAILS OF THE DEATH OF FORMER O5-11 ARE RESTRICTED TO LEVEL 5 OR HIGHER PERSONNEL]

Structure

During its existence, the Polish Containment Project had its own organizational structure and was divided into several specialized units responsible for various aspects of its functioning.

History

The Polish Containment Project existed for about 31 years, which can be further divided into three general periods lasting respectively:

1914-1918

The project was initiated by O5-11 in February 1914. At its top, Hannah Rivera, who had been the Director of Site-30, was placed in the role of administrator. The expedition under her leadership set out for the Kingdom of Poland in June 1914 a month before the start of World War I, which greatly hampered the original mission of the Project. Despite this, in early 1916 they were able to establish that Fae activity was concentrated around the Częstochowa region. During the search for the Free Port, SCP-5292⁴ (then designated as PL-X0R38/0124) was accidentally discovered, around which Provisional Site-120 was established. That same year, a group of Fae terrorists known as GoI-120 ("Triumviraté") attacked it, causing some damage to SCP-5292 and killing Project Director Hannah Rivera.

Raia Micheals, formerly head of the Department of Science and a specialist in Theology, was chosen to lead the Project after Hannah's death. Also in May of that year, at Raia's request, Site-120 became an official facility,⁵ where the Command of the Polish Containment Project was located. In the following years, the Foundation focused on monitoring Esterberg and made several unsuccessful attempts to seize and secure it.

1919-1938

After the end of World War I and the establishment of an independent Polish state, the goals of the Project significantly expanded. At that time, it began to function as an agency of the Foundation dealing with anomalies in the Republic of Poland. It was during this period that the Project grew to its largest size in terms of staff and anomalies under its jurisdiction. The Foundation also abandoned its attempts to secure/acquire Esterberg due to the laws protecting anomalous Free Ports established by the League of Nations in 1923, but despite this, there were several incidents involving their violation by the Foundation.

During those years, the Project also encountered many anomalous organizations whose activity was greatly increased by the zenith of the so-called Paranormal Renaissance already underway since the end of the Sixth Occult War, the more important of which are listed below.

Beginning in 1933, the Foundation initiated the evacuation of most of its European assets, including those of the Polish Containment Project, to America and other safer locations due to the possibility of another global conflict in Europe following Adolf Hitler's rise to power in Germany. On the eve of the outbreak of war, only administrative, security, and maintenance personnel from the Polish Containment Project remained in Poland.

1939-1945

The Foundation officially remained neutral during the Second World War/VII Occult War until 1944, but in spite of this, the then overhead section of Site-120 and many other Project facilities were destroyed by bombing. In September 1944, the Foundation officially joined the War on the side of the Allies when Konrad Weiss, head of Obskurakorps research, was arrested and the AOI and the Foundation learned that Obskurakorps was planning to perform a powerful occult ritual known as the "Rite of Solomon". The Foundation, together with the AOI, succeeded in stopping its execution in Operation Aeon Dawn in January 1945. The remnants of the Project remaining in Poland during this period began to assist the Polish Underground State, which, after the defeat of the Warsaw Uprising, moved its capital to Częstochowa and used Esterberg as its base.

Also worth mentioning is that during these years, the previously mentioned Polish Ministry of Occult Affairs mostly emigrated to Three Portlands⁶ where its members helped co-found the AOI. They also contributed significantly to the Allied victory in 1943 during the Battle of Three Portlands against Obskuracorps commando forces. The attack occurred in order to sabotage the supply route between the U.S. and Great Britain, in which the Portlands played a significant role.

The project was finally dissolved and absorbed into the structures of the Foundation in October 1945 several months after the end of World War II, also known as the VII Occult War. Negotiations with the emerging government of the Polish People's Republic also began at that time in order to arrange a comfortable position for the Foundation in postwar Poland.

Dissolution and further activities of the Foundation in Poland

Current logo of Site-120

The Polish Containment Project was officially dissolved and absorbed into the standard structures of the Foundation on October 21, 1945 by a unanimous decision of the Overwatch Command. The Foundation also began negotiations with the newly formed government of the People's Republic of Poland, which guaranteed the Foundation a well-placed position in future years. Despite this, the Foundation's activity was to some extent diminished by the activities of the GRU Division "P" or Poland's ZM "Witch Slayer" Division; however, the situation was much better there than in other Warsaw Pact countries such as East Germany or Czechoslovakia.

Initially, Esterberg was inclined to cooperate with the new communist government, which guaranteed the city a great deal of independence from the latter. The Polish People's Republic officially called Esterberg "Tysiąclecie Górne"; this name is still used to some extent today. These relations, however, deteriorated significantly in the 1950s.

The former Director of the Polish Containment Project (who was also the Director of Site-120), Raia Micheals, eventually died in 1959, being replaced by Site-120 Director MacCarthy,⁷ who had previously been Assistant Director, as well as the head of the Tactical Operations Command during the last years of the Project's existence. Site-120 continues to serve as the main base of operations for the Foundation's activities in the Republic of Poland.