Motorized Reserves of the Citizens' Militia

The Motorized Reserves of the Citizens' Militia (Polish: Zmotoryzowane Odwody Milicji Obywatelskiej), commonly known as ZOMO, were paramilitary-police formations during the communist era in Poland.

These elite units of Citizens' Militia (MO) were originally created to fight dangerous criminals, to provide security during mass events, and help in the case of natural disasters and other crises; however, they became known instead for their brutal and sometimes repressive lethal actions of riot control and their role in quelling civil rights protests.

Their mission statement was defined as "the protection of the nation", and their main role was as a rapid-response police force, structured after and trained by the instructors from the Schutzpolizei of East Germany.

Since 1990 several trials against former ZOMO members and their political leaders took place, most prominently in the case of the massacre in the Wujek Coal Mine (where nine people were killed and 21 wounded when Katowice's Special Platoon opened fire on the striking miners in 1981 in the bloodiest incident of the martial law era).

[2] The ZOMO's last action took place on July 3, 1989, when they dispersed a demonstration against the presidential candidature of General Wojciech Jaruzelski, former First Secretary and head of the Military Council of National Salvation (WRON).

ZOMO in action during the martial law in Poland , 1981 or 1982.
"ZOMO arrived for an action", a political caricature from the 1980s showing ZOMO squads forming the word " Gestapo "