Polish Secret State History of Poland
The authorities
Government
Administration
Parliament
Courts
Political organizations
1PPS (socialists)
2SL (agrarian party)
3SN (right-wing party)
SP (Christian democrats)
4PPR (communists)
5Bund and Hatzoar (Jewish left)
6Betar (Zionist)
7Camp of National Unity (Sanacja)
ONR (right-wing)
Falanga (extreme right)
SD (centrist)
Military organizations
ZWZ
Armia Krajowa
Szare Szeregi
1MR PPR-WRN and GL WRN
2KB and BCh
3NOW and NSZ
4GL and AL
5ŻOB
6ŻZW
7OPW
Others
Press and Media
Education
See also:
History of Poland (1939–1945)
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Armia Krajowa (the Home Army), abbreviated "AK," was the dominant Polish resistance movement in World War II German-occupied Poland. It was formed in February 1942 from Związek Walki Zbrojnej (Union for Armed Struggle) and over the next two years incorporated most other Polish underground forces. It was disbanded in January 1945, when Polish territory had largely been cleared of German forces by the advancing Soviet Red Army. Polish Secret State (also known as Polish Underground State; Polish Polskie Państwo Podziemne) is a term coined by Jan Karski in his book Story of a Secret State; it is used to refer to all underground resistance organizations in Poland during World War II, both military and civilian. ... Image File history File links Flaga_PPP.svg‎ pl: Flaga Armi Krajowej en: Flag of the Armia Krajowa File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Polish contribution to World War II Armia Krajowa History of Poland (1939–1945... Main article: Polish government in exile On 1 September 1939, without a formal declaration of war, Germany invaded Poland. ... Government Delegates Office at Home (Polish Delegatura Rządu Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej na Kraj) was one of the agendas of the Polish Government in Exile during World War II. It was the highest authority of the Polish Secret State in occupied Poland and was headed by the Government Delegate... This article contains information that has not been verified and thus might not be reliable. ... Directorate of Civil Resistance (Polish Kierownictwo Walki Cywilnej, short KWC) was one of the branches of the Polish Government Delegate’s Office during World War II. Its main tasks were to maintain the morale of the Polish society, encourage the passive resistance, report German attrocities and cruelties to the... The Polish Socialist Party (Polska Partia Socjalistyczna, PPS) was one of the two most important Polish political parties from its inception in 1892 until 1948, when it merged with the Stalinist Polish Workers Party (PPR) to form the Polish United Workers Party (PZPR), the ruling party in the Peoples... Stronnictwo Ludowe (SL, Peoples Party) was a Polish political party, active from 1931 in the Second Polish Republic. ... Stronnictwo Narodowe (National Party, SN) was a Polish political party formed in October 1928 after the transformation of ZwiÄ…zek Ludowo-Narodowy (National Peoples Association). ... The Polish Workers Party (Polska Partia Robotnicza, PPR) was a communist party in Poland from 1942 to 1948. ... A Bundist demonstration, 1917 The General Jewish Labour Union of Lithuania, Poland and Russia, in Yiddish the Algemeyner Yidisher Arbeter Bund in Lite, Poyln un Rusland (אַלגמײַנער ײדישער אַרבײטערסבונד אין ליטאַ, פוילין און רוסלאַנד), generally called The Bund (בונד) or the Jewish Labor Bund, was a Jewish political party operating in several European countries between the 1890s and the... The Semel Tnua, the official logo of Hashomer Hatzair. ... The Betar Movement (ביתר, also spelled Beitar) is a youth movement founded in 1923 in Riga, Latvia, by Zionist leader Zeev Jabotinsky. ... Obóz Zjednoczenia Narodowego (Camp of National Unity), abbreviated as OZN and often reffered to as Ozon (Polish for ozone) was a political party of the Sanacja movement created in 1937. ... Flag of the Chief of State (1919-1927) Sanacja was a coalition political movement of the Second Polish Republic in the inter war years. ... Obóz Narodowo-Radykalny (National Radical Camp, ONR) was a Polish nationalist nazis political party, formed on May 14, 1934 mostly by the youth radicals who left the Narodowa Demokracja movement. ... Stronnictwo Demokratyczne (Democratic Party, SD) is a Polish centrist party established on April 15, 1939. ... ZwiÄ…zek Walki Zbrojnej (ZWZ; Association of Armed Struggle) was a cryptonym of the Polish Army formed in Poland after it was occupied by Germany and the Soviet Union as a result of the Polish Defensive War. ... Szare Szeregi (Polish for Grey Ranks) was a codename for the underground Polish Scouting Association (ZwiÄ…zek Harcerstwa Polskiego) during World War II. The organisation was created on September 27, 1939, in Warsaw and largely contributed to all resistance actions of the Polish Secret State and its members were among... PaÅ„stwowy Korpus BezpieczeÅ„stwa (Polish for National Security Corps, short PKB) was a Polish underground police force organized by the Armia Krajowa and Delegates Office under German occupation during World War II. It was trained as the core of the future police forces during the assumed all-national... Bataliony ChÅ‚opskie (BCh, Polish Peasants Battalions) was a Polish World War II resistance movement and partisan organisation. ... Narodowe Siły Zbrojne (English National Armed Forces, NSZ) was one of the Polish armed underground guerilla organizations, fighting Nazi German occupation in General Government. ... Gwardia Ludowa (Peoples Guard, abbreviated GL) was a World War II resistance movement in Poland, organised by the Polish Workers Party. ... Armia Ludowa (AL, pronounced ; English Polish Peoples Army) was a Polish World War II resistance organisation. ... Other languages FAQs | Table free Welcome to Wikipedia, the free-content encyclopedia that anyone can edit. ... Å»ydowski ZwiÄ…zek Wojskowy (Å»ZW, Polish for Jewish Military Union) was an underground organisation operating during World War II in the area of Warsaw Ghetto and fighting during Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. ... Obóz Polski WalczÄ…cej (OPW, Camp of Fighting Poland, or Fighting Poland Movement) was a minor part of the Polish resistance movement in World War II. Created in 1942-44 and centered in Warsaw[1], its members were mostly composed of the former political party, Obóz Zjednoczenia Narodowego... The history of Poland from 1939 through 1945 encompasses the German invasion of Poland through to the end of World War II. On September 1, 1939, without formal declaration of war, Germany invaded Poland. ... German supply train blown up by the Armia Krajowa during World War II. Polish resistance movement was a resistance movement in Poland, part of the anti-fascist resistance movement which fought against the occupation of Poland by Nazi Germany during World War II. Resistance to the Nazi German occupation began... Main article: Polish government in exile On 1 September 1939, without a formal declaration of war, Germany invaded Poland. ... ZwiÄ…zek Walki Zbrojnej (ZWZ; Association of Armed Struggle) was a cryptonym of the Polish Army formed in Poland after it was occupied by Germany and the Soviet Union as a result of the Polish Defensive War. ... Main article: History of Poland In the period following its emergence in the 10th century, the Polish nation was led by a series of strong rulers who converted the Poles to Christianity, created a strong Central European state and integrated Poland into European culture. ... Motto: Пролетарии всех стран, соединяйтесь! (Transliterated: Proletarii vsekh stran, soedinyaytes!) Translation: Workers of the world, unite!) Anthem: The Internationale (1922-1944) Hymn of the Soviet Union (1944-1991) Capital Moscow Language(s) Russian (the de facto official language), 14 other official languages Government Socialist republic Leaders  - 1922-1924 Vladimir Lenin  - 1924-1953 Joseph Stalin... The Workers and Peasants Red Army (Russian: Рабоче-Крестьянская Красная Армия, Raboche-Krestyanskaya Krasnaya Armiya; RKKA or usually simply the Red Army) were the armed forces first organized by the Bolsheviks during the Russian Civil War in 1918 and that in 1922 became the army of the Soviet Union. ...

Armia Krajowa, with over 400,000 members, was by far the largest Polish underground resistance movement, and the world's second largest after that in Yugoslavia. It constituted the armed wing of what became known as the "Polish Secret State" ("państwo podziemne"). A resistance movement is a group or collection of individual groups, dedicated to fighting an invader in an occupied country through either the use of physical force, or nonviolence. ... Yugoslav Partisan Flag The Yugoslav Partisans were the main resistance movement engaged in the fight against the Axis forces in the Balkans during World War II, the Yugoslav Peoples Liberation War. ... Polish Secret State (also known as Polish Underground State; Polish Polskie Państwo Podziemne) is a term coined by Jan Karski in his book Story of a Secret State; it is used to refer to all underground resistance organizations in Poland during World War II, both military and civilian. ...

AK's primary activity was sabotage of German transports headed for the eastern front in the Soviet Union. AK also fought some full-scale battles against the Germans, particularly in 1943 and 1944 during Operation Tempest, thereby tying down a number of German Army divisions. German supply train blown up by the Armia Krajowa during World War II Sabotage is a deliberate action aimed at weakening an enemy, oppressor or employer through subversion, obstruction, disruption, and/or destruction. ... Combatants Soviet Union1 Poland (from January 1945) Germany1 Italy (to 1943) Romania (to 1944) Finland (to 1944) Hungary Slovakia Commanders Aleksei Antonov Azi Aslanov Ivan Konev Rodion Malinovsky Ivan Bagramyan Kirill Meretskov Ivan Petrov Alexander Rodimtsev Konstantin Rokossovsky Pavel Rotmistrov Semyon Timoshenko Fyodor Tolbukhin Aleksandr Vasilevsky Nikolai Vatutin Kliment Voroshilov... Generally, a battle is an instance of combat in warfare between two or more parties wherein each group will seek to defeat the others. ... Please wikify (format) this article as suggested in the Guide to layout and the Manual of Style. ... Symbol of the Polish 1st Legions Infantry Division in NATO code A division is a large military unit or formation usually consisting of around ten to twenty thousand soldiers. ...

Armia Krajowa, loyal to the Polish Government in Exile, was viewed by the Soviet Union as an antagonistic force, leading to growing conflicts between AK and Soviet forces both during and after the war. The Government of the Polish Republic in Exile was the government of Poland after the country had been occupied by Germany and the Soviet Union during September-October 1939. ... Poland was annexed and partitioned by Germany and the Soviet Union in the aftermath of the Polish September Campaign of 1939. ... This is a monument to the Armia Krajowa in Sopot, Poland. ...

History

World War II

AK's origins were in Służba Zwycięstwu Polski (Service for the Victory of Poland), which had been set up, just as the German invasion of Poland was nearing completion, on September 27, 1939, by General Michał Karaszewicz-Tokarzewski. Seven weeks later, November 17, 1939, on the orders of General Władysław Sikorski, this organization was succeeded by Związek Walki Zbrojnej (Union for Armed Struggle), which over two years later, on February 14, 1942, became AK. SÅ‚użba ZwyciÄ™stwu Polski (Service for Polands Victory, or Polish Victory Service, abberviated SZP) was the first Polish resistance movement in World War II. It was created by the order of general Juliusz Rómmel on 27 September 1939, when the siege of Warsaw, capital of Poland... September 27 is the 270th day of the year (271st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1939 (MCMXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... MichaÅ‚ Tadeusz Karaszewicz-Tokarzewski, pseudonym Doktor, Stolarski, Torwid (b. ... 17 November is also the name of a Marxist group in Greece, coinciding with the anniversary of the Athens Polytechnic uprising. ... 1939 (MCMXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... WÅ‚adysÅ‚aw Eugeniusz Sikorski Coat of arms of Kopaszyna, (May 20, 1881 – July 4, 1943; pronounced ) was a Polish military and political leader. ... ZwiÄ…zek Walki Zbrojnej (ZWZ; Association of Armed Struggle) was a cryptonym of the Polish Army formed in Poland after it was occupied by Germany and the Soviet Union as a result of the Polish Defensive War. ... February 14 is the 45th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1942 (MCMXLII) was a common year starting on Thursday (the link is to a full 1942 calendar). ...

While those two were the founders of AK, other Polish resistance movements existed, yet most of them eventually joined AK: Narodowa Organizacja Wojskowa (fall 1942/summer 1943, partially), Konfederacja Narodu (fall 1943), Narodowe Siły Zbrojne (summer 1944, partially), Bataliony Chłopskie (partially), Gwardia Ludowa (1943, partially). The most notable movement that did not join with AK was Armia Ludowa. Narodowe SiÅ‚y Zbrojne (English National Armed Forces, NSZ) was one of the Polish armed underground guerilla organizations, fighting Nazi German occupation in General Government. ... Bataliony ChÅ‚opskie (BCh, Polish Peasants Battalions) was a Polish World War II resistance movement and partisan organisation. ... Gwardia Ludowa (Peoples Guard, abbreviated GL) was a World War II resistance movement in Poland, organised by the Polish Workers Party. ... Armia Ludowa (AL, pronounced ; English Polish Peoples Army) was a Polish World War II resistance organisation. ...

Tadeusz Bór-Komorowski.

Stefan Rowecki (pseudonym Grot, or "Arrowhead"), served as the AK's first commander until his arrest in 1943; Tadeusz Bór-Komorowski commanded from July 1943 until his capture in September 1944. Leopold Okulicki, pseudonym Niedzwiadek ("Bear Cub") led the organisation in its final days. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (534x748, 200 KB) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (534x748, 200 KB) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... General Count Tadeusz Komorowski (June 1, 1895 - August 24, 1966), better known by the name Bór-Komorowski (after one of his wartime code-names: Bór) was a Polish military leader. ... Stefan PaweÅ‚ Rowecki (pseudonym: Grot, hence called Stefan Grot-Rowecki, 1895-1944?) was a Polish general, journalist and the leader of the Armia Krajowa. ... General Count Tadeusz Komorowski (June 1, 1895 - August 24, 1966), better known by the name Bór-Komorowski (after one of his wartime code-names: Bór) was a Polish military leader. ... General Leopold Okulicki (noms de guerre Kobra, Niedźwiadek; 1898-1946) was a General of the Polish Army and the last commander of the Home Army during the World War II. He was murdered by the NKVD after the war. ...

Throughout the period of its existence AK units carried out thousands of armed raids and daring intelligence operations, bombed hundreds of railway shipments, and participated in many partisan clashes and battles with German police and Wehrmacht units. AK also conducted retaliatory operations to assassinate Gestapo officials in response to Nazi terror tactics imposed on the civilian population of Poland. Look up partisan in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Image:Wehrmacht 20 April 1939 Birthday Parade. ... The   (contraction of Geheime Staatspolizei; Secret State Police) was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. ...

Armia Krajowa supplied valuable intelligence information to the Allies, for example, about V-1 and V-2 flying bombs^[1] and on German concentration camps.^[2] One Project Big Ben mission used a stripped-for-lightness RAF twin-engine Dakota (Operation Wildhorn III) from Brindisi Italy to fly to an abandoned German airfield in Poland (code named Motyl) to retrieve engineer and aircraft designer A. Kocjan, as well as 100 lbs of cargo regarding V-2 wreckage from a Peenemünde launch, including Special Report 1/R, no. 242, photographs, a select set of eight parts, and drawings of the wreckage. Kocjan returned to Poland and was captured and executed by the Germans on August 13, 1944. ^[3] Intelligence (abbreviated or ) is the process and the result of gathering information and analyzing it to answer questions or obtain advance warnings needed to plan for the future. ... Aside from military operations, the Home Army was also heavily involved in intelligence work. ... See also the related article on Nazi concentration camps The following is a list of German concentration camps during World War II. are marked with pink, while major concentration camps of are marked with blue. ... German test launch. ... Peenemündes position in Germany Peenemünde is a village in the northeast of the German island of Usedom. ...

While the AK did not engender a general revolt, its forces did carry out intensive economic and armed sabotage in addition to engaging the occupying forces in guerilla attacks. In 1944 it acted on a broad scale, notably in initiating the Warsaw Uprising, which broke out on 1 August 1944 with the aim of liberating Polish capital of Warsaw before the arrival of the Soviet Red Army. While the insurgents released a few hundred prisoners from the Gęsia St. concentration camp and carried out fierce street-fighting, the Germans eventually defeated the rebels and burned the city, finally quelling the Uprising only on 2 October 1944. Combatants Poland Germany Commanders Tadeusz Bór-Komorowski, Antoni ChruÅ›ciel, Tadeusz PeÅ‚czyÅ„ski Erich von dem Bach, Rainer Stahel, Heinz Reinefarth, Bronislav Kaminski Strength 50,000 troops 25,000 troops Casualties 18,000 killed, 12,000 wounded, 15,000 taken prisoner 250,000 civilians killed 10,000 killed... August 1 is the 213th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (214th in leap years), with 152 days remaining. ... Year 1944 (MCMXLIV) was a leap year starting on Saturday. ... In politics, a capital (also called capital city or political capital — although the latter phrase has a second meaning based on an alternative sense of capital) is the principal city or town associated with a countrys government. ... Warsaw (Polish: , , in full The Capital City of Warsaw, Polish: ) is the capital of Poland, its largest city, and a gamma world city. ... The Workers and Peasants Red Army (Russian: Рабоче-Крестьянская Красная Армия, Raboche-Krestyanskaya Krasnaya Armiya; RKKA or usually simply the Red Army) were the armed forces first organized by the Bolsheviks during the Russian Civil War in 1918 and that in 1922 became the army of the Soviet Union. ... It has been suggested that Internment be merged into this article or section. ... October 2 is the 275th day (276th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 90 days remaining. ... Year 1944 (MCMXLIV) was a leap year starting on Saturday. ...

Polish Home Army's 26th Infantry Regiment en route from the Kielce-Radom area to Warsaw in an attempt to join the Warsaw Uprising.

Major military and sabotage operations included the Operation Belt in 1943, a series of attacks against German border guarding stations on the frontier between the General Government and the territories annexed by Germany and the Operation Tempest in 1944, a series of uprisings whose chief goal was to seize control of cities and areas where German forces were preparing their defenses against the Soviet Red Army, so that Polish underground civil authorities could take power before the arrival of the Soviets. The largest and most known of the Operation Tempest battles was the Warsaw Uprising - the attempt to liberate Warsaw. It started on August 1, 1944; the Polish troops took control of significant portion of the city and resisted the German-led forces until October 2 (63 days in total). Other similar actions included the Wilno Uprising and Lwów Uprising. Image File history File links 26PPAK_relief_Warsaw_Uprising. ... Image File history File links 26PPAK_relief_Warsaw_Uprising. ... Kielce ( ) is a city in central Poland with 202,609 inhabitants (2006). ... Radom (pronounce: [radÉ”m]) is a city in central Poland with 227 309 inhabitants. ... Warsaw (Polish: , , in full The Capital City of Warsaw, Polish: ) is the capital of Poland, its largest city, and a gamma world city. ... Combatants Poland Germany Commanders Tadeusz Bór-Komorowski, Antoni ChruÅ›ciel, Tadeusz PeÅ‚czyÅ„ski Erich von dem Bach, Rainer Stahel, Heinz Reinefarth, Bronislav Kaminski Strength 50,000 troops 25,000 troops Casualties 18,000 killed, 12,000 wounded, 15,000 taken prisoner 250,000 civilians killed 10,000 killed... Operation Belt (Polish Akcja Taśma) was one of the large-scaled anti-German operations of the Armia Krajowa Kedyw during the World War II. In August 1943 the headquarters of the Armia Krajowa ordered Kedyw to prepare an armed action against German border guarding stations on the frontier... The General Government (in full General government for the occupied Polish areas, in German Generalgouvernement für die besetzten polnischen Gebiete) was the name given by Germany to the governing authority in Poland after its occupation by the Wehrmacht in September and October 1939. ... Annexation is the legal merging of some territory into another body. ... Please wikify (format) this article as suggested in the Guide to layout and the Manual of Style. ... The Workers and Peasants Red Army (Russian: Рабоче-Крестьянская Красная Армия, Raboche-Krestyanskaya Krasnaya Armiya; RKKA or usually simply the Red Army) were the armed forces first organized by the Bolsheviks during the Russian Civil War in 1918 and that in 1922 became the army of the Soviet Union. ... Civil authority is that apparatus of the State other than its military units that enforces law and order. ... Motto: Пролетарии всех стран, соединяйтесь! (Transliterated: Proletarii vsekh stran, soedinyaytes!) Translation: Workers of the world, unite!) Anthem: The Internationale (1922-1944) Hymn of the Soviet Union (1944-1991) Capital Moscow Language(s) Russian (the de facto official language), 14 other official languages Government Socialist republic Leaders  - 1922-1924 Vladimir Lenin  - 1924-1953 Joseph Stalin... Combatants Poland Germany Commanders Tadeusz Bór-Komorowski, Antoni ChruÅ›ciel, Tadeusz PeÅ‚czyÅ„ski Erich von dem Bach, Rainer Stahel, Heinz Reinefarth, Bronislav Kaminski Strength 50,000 troops 25,000 troops Casualties 18,000 killed, 12,000 wounded, 15,000 taken prisoner 250,000 civilians killed 10,000 killed... Warsaw (Polish: , , in full The Capital City of Warsaw, Polish: ) is the capital of Poland, its largest city, and a gamma world city. ... August 1 is the 213th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (214th in leap years), with 152 days remaining. ... Year 1944 (MCMXLIV) was a leap year starting on Saturday. ... October 2 is the 275th day (276th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 90 days remaining. ... The Wilno Uprising (also known as Operation Ostra Brama) was the armed struggle started by the Polish Home Army against the Nazi occupiers of Wilno (now Vilnius), during World War II. It started on July 7, 1944 as a part of a plan of all-national uprising codenamed Operation Tempest... The Lwów Uprising was the armed struggle started by the Polish Armia Krajowa against the Nazi occupiers of Lwów, during World War II. It started on July 23, 1944 as a part of a plan of all-national uprising codenamed Operation Tempest and lasted until July 27. ...

Axis casualties due to the actions of the Polish underground, of which AK formed the bulk of, are estimated at up to 150,000.^{[citation needed]} The AK primary activity was sabotage of German rail and road transports to the eastern front in Russia, but the organization also fought some full scale battles with the Germans, particularly in 1943 and 1944, tying down several German divisions.^[1] German supply train blown up by the Armia Krajowa during World War II Sabotage is a deliberate action aimed at weakening an enemy, oppressor or employer through subversion, obstruction, disruption, and/or destruction. ... Combatants Soviet Union1 Poland (from January 1945) Germany1 Italy (to 1943) Romania (to 1944) Finland (to 1944) Hungary Slovakia Commanders Aleksei Antonov Azi Aslanov Ivan Konev Rodion Malinovsky Ivan Bagramyan Kirill Meretskov Ivan Petrov Alexander Rodimtsev Konstantin Rokossovsky Pavel Rotmistrov Semyon Timoshenko Fyodor Tolbukhin Aleksandr Vasilevsky Nikolai Vatutin Kliment Voroshilov... Generally, a battle is an instance of combat in warfare between two or more parties wherein each group will seek to defeat the others. ... Symbol of the Polish 1st Legions Infantry Division in NATO code A division is a large military unit or formation usually consisting of around ten to twenty thousand soldiers. ...

Postwar

Kotwica, one of the symbols of the Armia Krajowa

The AK officially disbanded on 19 January 1945 to avoid armed conflict with the Soviets and a civil war. However, many units decided to continue their struggle under new circumstances. Image File history File links Flaga_PPP.png‎ Unofficial flag of the Armia Krajowa and the Polish Secret State. ... Image File history File links Flaga_PPP.png‎ Unofficial flag of the Armia Krajowa and the Polish Secret State. ... Kotwica painted on one of the monuments in Warsaw by the Szare Szeregi Kotwica (Polish anchor) was the symbol of the Polish Secret State and the Armia Krajowa during World War II. It was created in 1942 by the members of the Wawer Small Sabotage unit of the Armia Krajowa... January 19 is the 19th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1945 (MCMXLV) was a common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1945 calendar). ... Motto: Пролетарии всех стран, соединяйтесь! (Transliterated: Proletarii vsekh stran, soedinyaytes!) Translation: Workers of the world, unite!) Anthem: The Internationale (1922-1944) Hymn of the Soviet Union (1944-1991) Capital Moscow Language(s) Russian (the de facto official language), 14 other official languages Government Socialist republic Leaders  - 1922-1924 Vladimir Lenin  - 1924-1953 Joseph Stalin...

Soviet Union and Polish communists viewed the underground loyal to the Polish government in exile as a force which had to be removed before they could gain complete control over Poland. Future General Secretary of PZPR, Władysław Gomułka, is quoted as saying: "Soldiers of AK are a hostile element which must be removed without mercy". Another prominent Polish communist, Roman Zambrowski, said that AK had to be "exterminated".^[4] ... The Government of the Polish Republic in Exile was the government of Poland after the country had been occupied by Germany and the Soviet Union during September-October 1939. ... A large number of international organizations and other bodies have a secretary general or secretary-general as their chief administrative officers or in other administrative capacities. ... The Polish United Workers Party (PUWP; in Polish, Polska Zjednoczona Partia Robotnicza, PZPR), was the governing political party in communist-ruled Poland from its creation (through a fusion of the communist Polish Workers Party and the left wing of the Polish Socialist Party) in December 1948 until the regimes... WÅ‚adysÅ‚aw GomuÅ‚ka (February 6, 1905, Krosno – September 1, 1982) was a Polish Communist leader. ...

The first AK structure designed primarily to deal with the Soviet threat was NIE, formed in the mid-1943. NIE's goals was not to engage the Soviet forces in combat, but rather to observe and conduct espionage while the Polish governent in exile decided how to deal with the Soviets; at that time the exiled government still believed that the solution could be found through negotiations. On 7 May 1945 NIE ("NO") was disbanded^[4] and transformed into Delegatura Sił Zbrojnych na Kraj ("Homeland Armed Forces Delegation"), this organization however lasted only until 8 August 1945, when the decision was made to disband the organization^[4] and stop partisan resistance on Polish territories. NIE - Polish anticommunist resistance organisation formed in 1943 in a case of Soviet occupation of Poland. ... May 7 is the 127th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (128th in leap years). ... Delegatura SiÅ‚ Zbrojnych na Kraj (Delegature of the Polish Forces at Home) was a Polish anticommunist resistance organization, formed May 7, 1945 by commander-in-chief of Polish forces general WÅ‚adysÅ‚aw Anders as a continuation of NIE organization. ... August 8 is the 220th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (221st in leap years), with 145 days remaining. ...

Armia Krajowa Cross was awarded to veterans of AK by the Polish government in exile.

The first Polish communist government, PKWN, formed in July 1944, declined jurisdiction over AK soldiers, therefore for more than a year it was the Soviet Union agencies like NKVD that took care of dealing with AK. By the end of the war approximately 60,000 soldiers of AK were arrested, 50,000 of them were deported to Soviet Union's Gulags and prisons; most of those soldiers were captured by Soviets during or in the aftermath of Operation Tempest, when many AK units tried to cooperate with the Soviets in a nationwide uprising against the Germans.^[4] Other veterans were arrested when they decided to approach the government officials after being promised amnesty. After such broken promises during the first few years of communist control, AK soldiers stopped trusting the government.^[4] Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Armia Krajowa Cross Armia Krajowa Cross (or Cross of the Home Army, Polish: ) is a Polish military decoration introduced by general Tadeusz Bór-Komorowski on 1 August 1966 to commemorate efforts of the soldiers of Polish Secret State through 1939 to 1945. ... The Government of the Polish Republic in Exile was the government of Poland after the country had been occupied by Germany and the Soviet Union during September-October 1939. ... The PKWN Manifesto, issued on July 22, 1944 The Polish Committee of National Liberation (Polish Polski Komitet Wyzwolenia Narodowego, PKWN) was a provisional Polish communist government that was created by the Soviet Union. ... This does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Gulag ( , Russian: ) is an acronym for Главное Управление Исправительно—Трудовых Лагерей и колоний, Glavnoye Upravleniye Ispravitelno-trudovykh Lagerey i kolonii, The Chief Directorate [or Administration] of Corrective Labour Camps and Colonies of the NKVD. Anne Applebaum, in her book Gulag: A History, explains: // Literally, the word GULAG is an acronym, meaning Glavnoe Upravlenie Lagerei, or Main Camp... Please wikify (format) this article as suggested in the Guide to layout and the Manual of Style. ... Look up Amnesty in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

The third AK organization was Wolność i Niezawisłość ("Freedom and Sovereignty"). Again its primary goal was not combat. Rather, it was designed to help the AK soldiers in transition from the life of partisans into that of civilians; the secrecy and conspiracy were necessary in the light of increasing persecution of AK veterans by the communist government^[5]. WiN was however in much need of funds, to pay for false documents and to provide resources for the partisans, many of whom had lost their homes and entire life's saving in the war. Viewed as enemies of the state, starved of resources, and with a vocal faction advocating armed resistance against the Soviets and their Polish proxies, WiN was far from efficient.^[4] A significant victory for the NKVD and the newly created Polish secret police, Urząd Bezpieczeństwa, came in the second half of 1945, when they managed to convince several leaders of AK and WiN that they truly wanted to offer amnesty to AK members. In a few months they managed to gain information about vast numbers of AK/WiN resources and people. By the time the (imprisoned) AK and WiN leaders realised their mistake several months later, the organizations had been crippled with thousands of their members having been arrested.^[4] WiN was finally disbanded in 1952. Zrzeszenie Wolność i NiezawisÅ‚ość WiN (Freedom and Independence) was Polish underground anticommunist organisation founded September 2, 1945 and active to 1952. ... SÅ‚użba BezpieczeÅ„stwa (SB, until 1956 UrzÄ…d BezpieczeÅ„stwa, UB) was the name of the communist intelligence agency and secret police in the Peoples Republic of Poland. ...

AK Monument, Sopot, Poland.

NKVD and UB were certainly not beyond using force. In Autumn of 1946 a group of 100-200 soldiers of NSZ group were lured into a trap and then massacred. By 1947 a colonel of the communist forces declared that "Terrorist and political underground has ceased to be a threatening force, although there are still man of the forests" that need to be dealt with.^[4] Image File history File links Download high resolution version (636x800, 98 KB) Z http://pl. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (636x800, 98 KB) Z http://pl. ... Sopot (pronounce: [sÉ”pÉ”t]; German: ; Kashubian: Sopòt) is a seaside town in Eastern Pomerania on the southern coast of the Baltic Sea in northern Poland, with a population of approximately 40,000. ... Narodowe Siły Zbrojne (English National Armed Forces, NSZ) was one of the Polish armed underground guerilla organizations, fighting Nazi German occupation in General Government. ...

The persecution of AK was only part of the big picture of stalinism in Poland. In the period of 1944-1956, approximately 2 million people were arrested,^[4] over 20 thousand, such as the hero of Auschwitz, Witold Pilecki, were executed or murdered in communist prisons,^[4] and 6 million Polish citizens (i.e. every third adult Pole) were classifed as a 'reactionary or criminal element' and subject to invigilation by state agencies.^[4] In 1956 an amnesty released 35,000 former AK soldiers from prisons: for the crime of fighting for their homeland they had spent sometimes over 10 years in prisons. Still, some partisans remained in the countryside, unwilling or simply unable to rejoin the community; they became known as the cursed soldiers. Stanisław Marchewska "Ryba" was killed in 1957, and the last AK partisan, Józef Franczak "Lalek", was killed in 1963^[4] - almost 2 decades after the Second World War ended. It was only four years later, in 1967, that Adam Boryczka, a soldier of AK and a member of the elite, Britain-trained Cichociemny ("The Silent and Hidden") intelligence and support group, was released from prison. Until the end of the People's Republic of Poland AK soldiers were under investigation by the secret police, and it was only in 1989, after the fall of communism, that the sentences of AK soldiers were finally declared invalid and annulled by the Polish courts.^[4] Joseph Stalin. ... Auschwitz, in English, commonly refers to the Auschwitz concentration camp complex built near the town of Oświęcim, by Nazi Germany during World War II. Rarely, it may refer to the Polish town of Oświęcim (called by the Germans Auschwitz) itself. ... Witold Pilecki (May 13, 1901 – May 25, 1948; pronounced [vitɔld pileʦki]; codenames Roman Jezierski, Tomasz Serafiński, Druh, Witold) was a soldier of the Second Polish Republic, founder of the resistance movement Secret Polish Army (Tajna Armia Polska) and member of the Home... This is a monument to the Armia Krajowa in Sopot, Poland. ... Symbol Silent and Dark Cichociemni (Polish for Silent and dark) were a secret unit of the Polish Army in exile created to maintain contact with occupied Poland during World War II The name Initially the name was informal and used only by the soldiers who volunteered to be dropped over... The Peoples Republic of Poland or Polish Peoples Republic (Polish: Polska Rzeczpospolita Ludowa, PRL) was the official name of Poland from 1952 to 1989, during its period of rule by the Communist party, officially called the Polish United Workers Party (Polska Zjednoczona Partia Robotnicza, or PZPR). ... The rise of Gorbachev Although reform stalled between 1964–1982, the generational shift gave new momentum for reform. ...

Structure and membership

Soldiers of the 1st company of Sambor command of Drohobycz Armia Krajowa inspectorate armed with German-made arms and dressed in captured German field uniforms. The soldier on the lower left appears to be holding a Russian-made PPSh-41, or some derivative of that weapon.

In the summers of 1943 and 1944 AK reached its highest membership numbers, estimated at close to 400,000. Estimates of AK membership in the first half of 1944 range from 250,000 to 400,000^[1], with an average being over 300,000^[6], including a cadre of more than 10,000 officers. Such numbers made Armia Krajowa not only the largest of the Polish resistance movements, but also the second largest in the world, after Yugoslavian partisans who numbered over 800,000.^[1] Casualties during the war are estimated at about 34,000^[6]-100,000, plus about 20,000^[6]-50,000 after the war (casualties and imprisonment). Image File history File links 1Comp_obwSambor_inspecDrohobycz_Burza3. ... Image File history File links 1Comp_obwSambor_inspecDrohobycz_Burza3. ... Designed by Georgii Shpagin, the PPSh-41 (Pistolet-Pulemet Shpagina, Russian: Пистолет-пулемёт Шпагина, nicknamed Phe-phe-sha, Shpagin and Burp Gun) was one of the most mass produced weapons of World War II. It was designed as an inexpensive alternative to the PPD-40 which was expensive and time consuming to build. ... Yugoslav Partisan Flag The Yugoslav Partisans were the main resistance movement engaged in the fight against the Axis forces in the Balkans during World War II, the Yugoslav Peoples Liberation War. ...

The executive branch of the AK was the operational command, composed of many units. Most of the other Polish underground armies became incorporated into the AK^[1], including:

• The Konfederacja Narodu (Confederation of the People) (1943).
• The Bataliony Chłopskie (Peasants' Battalions).
• A large military organization of the Stronnictwo Ludowe (People's Party).
• The Socjalistyczna Organizacja Bojowa (Socialist Fighting Organization), established by the Polska Partia Socjalistyczna (Polish Socialist Party).
• The Narodowa Organizacja Wojskowa (National Military Organisation), established by the Stronnictwo Narodowe (National Party).
• From March 1944, parts of the extreme right-wing organization, the Narodowe Siły Zbrojne (National Armed Forces).

The largest group which refused to join AK was the pro-Soviet and communist Armia Ludowa (AL), which at it's height in 1944 numbered 30,000 people^[7]. Bataliony Chłopskie (BCh, Polish Peasants Battalions) was a Polish World War II resistance movement and partisan organisation. ... In a detail of Brueghels Land of Cockaigne (1567) a soft-boiled egg has little feet to rush to the luxuriating peasant who catches drops of honey on his tongue, while roast pigs roam wild: in fact, hunger and harsh winters were realities for the average European in the... Stronnictwo Ludowe (SL, Peoples Party) was a Polish political party, active from 1931 in the Second Polish Republic. ... Socialism is a social and economic system (or the political philosophy advocating such a system) in which the economic means of production are owned and controlled collectively by the people. ... Polish Socialist Party (Polska Partia Socjalistyczna, PPS) was one of the most important Polish political parties 1890-1948. ... Year 1944 (MCMXLIV) was a leap year starting on Saturday. ... In politics, right-wing, the political right, or simply the right, are terms which refer, with no particular precision, to the segment of the political spectrum in opposition to left-wing politics. ... Narodowe Siły Zbrojne (English National Armed Forces, NSZ) was one of the Polish armed underground guerilla organizations, fighting Nazi German occupation in General Government. ... Soviet redirects here. ... This article is about communism as a form of society and as a political movement. ... Armia Ludowa (AL, pronounced ; English Polish Peoples Army) was a Polish World War II resistance organisation. ...

The AK divided itself organizationally into sixteen regional branches, subdivided in turn into eighty-nine inspectorates, which further comprised 278 districts. The supreme command defined the main tasks of the AK as preparation for action and, after the termination of German occupation, general armed revolt until victory. At that stage plans envisaged the seizure of power in Poland by the delegatura establishment, the representatives of the London-based Polish government in exile; and by the government-in-exile itself, which would return to Poland. Much of the recent sociological debate on power revolves around the issue of constraining and/or enabling nature of power. ... Government Delegates Office at Home (Polish Delegatura RzÄ…du Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej na Kraj) was one of the agendas of the Polish Government in Exile during World War II. It was the highest authority of the Polish Secret State in occupied Poland and was headed by the Government Delegate at... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... The Government of the Polish Republic in Exile was the government of Poland after the country had been occupied by Germany and the Soviet Union during September-October 1939. ...

Soldiers of the 1st Battalion of the 1st Legions Home Army Regiment, from the Kielce-Radom Armia Krajowa inspectorate; August 1944

In another dimension the AK was divided into seven sections: Organizations, Information and Espionage, Operations and Training, Logistics, Communications, Information and Propaganda, and finances. Please wikify (format) this article as suggested in the Guide to layout and the Manual of Style. ... Warsaw (Polish: , , in full The Capital City of Warsaw, Polish: ) is the capital of Poland, its largest city, and a gamma world city. ... Praga Północ and Praga PoÅ‚udnie Pragas market, Jan Piotr Norblin, 1791. ... StanisÅ‚aw Haller StanisÅ‚aw Haller (born 26 April 1872, murdered in April, 1940) - Polish politician and general, cousin of general Józef Haller de Hallenburg. ... Hajduk (or haiduk, haiduc, hayduck, hayduk) is a term most commonly referring to outlaws, highwaymen or freedom fighters in the Balkans. ... The 28 Dywizja Piechoty was a Polish infantry division which saw action against the invading Germans during the Polish September Campaign of World War II. The division suffered heavy casualties in battles near Lodz and the remnants retreated to Warsaw, where they surrendered. ... Olsztyn ( ; German: ; Old Prussian: Alnāsteini) is a city in northeast Poland, on the Łyna river. ... Tuchola is a town in Pomerania, northern Poland in the center of Tuchola forests. ... Königsberg redirects here. ... The 8th Infantry Division was a tactical unit of the Polish Army. ... Motto: Semper fidelis Oblast Lviv Oblast Municipal government City council (Львівська міська рада) Mayor City chairman Lyubomyr Bunyak Area 171,01 km² Population  - city  - urban  - density 808,900 ? 4786/km² Founded City rights 13th century 1353 Latitude Longitude 49°51′ N 24°01′ E Area code +0322 Car plates  ? Twin towns Corning, Freiburg... WÅ‚adysÅ‚aw Filipkowski (noms de guerre Cis and Janka; 1892-1950) was a Polish military commander and a professional officer of the Polish Army. ... Motto: Semper fidelis Oblast Lviv Oblast Municipal government City council (Львівська міська рада) Mayor City chairman Lyubomyr Bunyak Area 171,01 km² Population  - city  - urban  - density 808,900 ? 4786/km² Founded City rights 13th century 1353 Latitude Longitude 49°51′ N 24°01′ E Area code +0322 Car plates  ? Twin towns Corning, Freiburg... Ivano-Frankivsk (Ukrainian: ; before 1962 Станиславів, Stanyslaviv; Polish: StanisÅ‚awów 14th century - 1939; Russian: ; German: Stanislau (before World War I); Yiddish: סטאַניסלוו/Stanislev) is a city in Ukraine. ... Binomial name Carassius carassius (Linnaeus, 1758) The Crucian Carp (Carassius carassius) is a member of the family Cyprinidae, which includes many other fish such as the common carp, or the smaller minnows. ... Ternopil (Тернопіль in Ukrainian, Tarnopol in Polish, Ternopol in Russian) is a city in Western Ukraine, located at the banks of the Seret river. ... PoznaÅ„ ( ; full official name: The Capital City of PoznaÅ„, Latin: , German: , Yiddish: פּױזן Poyzn) is a city in west-central Poland with over 578,900 inhabitants (2002). ... Gdynia (IPA: , German: (until 1939 and after 1945) / Gotenhafen (1939-1945); Kashubian: ) is a city in the Pomeranian Voivodeship of Poland and an important seaport at GdaÅ„sk Bay on the south coast of the Baltic Sea. ... Janusz PaÅ‚ubicki Janusz PaÅ‚ubicki (1948-) was a Polish politcian and activist. ... PoznaÅ„ ( ; full official name: The Capital City of PoznaÅ„, Latin: , German: , Yiddish: פּױזן Poyzn) is a city in west-central Poland with over 578,900 inhabitants (2002). ... Vilnius Old Town Vilnius (sometimes Vilna; Polish Wilno, Belarusian Вільня, Russian Вильнюс, see also Cities alternative names) is the capital city of Lithuania. ... Aleksander Krzyżanowski (1895 - 1951) – was a Polish officer, major, member of the Polish resistance movement in World War II and Commandant of the Armia Krajowa in the Wilno (now Vilnius) region. ... Navahradak (Нава́градак in Belarusian; Polish: Nowogródek; Russian: Novogrudok, Lithuanian: Naugardukas) is a Belarusian city with an old history, the first capital of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. ... Gen. ... Polesie is one of the largest European swampy areas, located in the South-Western part of the Eastern-European Lowland, mainly within the territories of Belarus, Ukraine and partly also within Poland and Russia. ... Pinsk (Belarusian: Пінск), a town in Belarus, in the province of Palesse, travesed by the river Pripet, at the confluence of the Strumen and Pina rivers. ... Volhynia (WoÅ‚yÅ„ in Polish; Волинь, Volyn’ in Ukrainian; also called Volynia, Volyň in Czech) comprises the historic region in western Ukraine located between the rivers Pripyat and Western Bug -- to the north of Galicia and of Podolia. ... Rivne (Ukrainian: Рівне; before 1991 and in Russian: ) is a city in western Ukraine, capital of Rivne Oblast, with 249,900 inhabitants (2004). ... BiaÅ‚ystok (pronounced: , Belarusian: , Lithuanian: , Yiddish ביאַליסטאָק) is the largest city (pop. ... For other uses, see Lublin (disambiguation). ... Wawel Hill. ... The 21st Mountain Infantry Division (Polish: , 21 DPG) was a pre-war unit of the Polish Army. ... Col. ... Silesia (Czech: ; German: ; Latin: ; Polish: ; Silesian: Åšlónsk) is a historical region in central Europe. ... Panorama of Katowice at night Katowice (pronunciation: [] (Czech: Katovice, German: Kattowitz) is an important city of the historical region of Upper Silesia in southern Poland on the KÅ‚odnica and Rawa rivers. ... Kielce ( ) is a city in central Poland with 202,609 inhabitants (2006). ... Radom (pronounce: [radÉ”m]) is a city in central Poland with 227 309 inhabitants. ... The 7th Infantry Division (Polish: , 7 DP) was the name of several units of the Polish Army. ... Łódź ((?)) is Polands second largest city (population 776,297 in 2004). ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Franz Liszt (Hungarian: Liszt Ferenc) (October 22, 1811 – July 31, 1886) was a Hungarian virtuoso pianist and composer of the Romantic period. ...   (IPA: ; German: IPA: ), is the German word for realm or empire, cognate with Scandinavian rike/rige, Dutch rijk and English ric as found in bishopric. ... Berlin is the capital city and one of the sixteen states of the Federal Republic of Germany. ... Image File history File links 1Baon1PPLeg_Radom-Kielce_1944. ... Image File history File links 1Baon1PPLeg_Radom-Kielce_1944. ...

Other important Armia Krajowa sub-units included:

• Kedyw (also known as 'special operations eight section')
• Wachlarz (part of Kedyw)

Kedyw (acronym for Kierownictwo Dywersji, Polish Directorate of Sabotage and Diversion; probably also a play on the Turkish khedive, which translates into Polish as kedyw): a Polish World War II Armia Krajowa organization that specialized in active and passive sabotage, propaganda and armed action against German forces and collaborators. ... Wachlarz (Polish for folding fan) was a Polish World War II resistance organization formed by the Armia Krajowa for sabotage duties behind the German Eastern Front, outside of the Polish borders. ...

Weapons and equipment

Soldiers of the 1st company of Sambor command, Drohobycz inspectorate during the Operation Tempest; the soldier on the right is equipped with Kb wz.98a while the one on the left with a German MP40 machine pistol

As a clandestine army operating in a country occupied by the enemy, separated by over a thousand kilometers from any friendly territory, the AK faced unique challenges in acquiring arms and equipment. In a tremendous achievement, the AK was able to overcome these difficulties to some extent and put tens of thousands of armed soldiers into the field. Nevertheless, the difficult conditions meant that only infantry forces armed with light weapons could be fielded. Any use of artillery, armor or aviation was obviously out of the question (except for a few instances during the Warsaw Uprising, like the Kubuś armored car). Even these light infantry units were as a rule armed with a mixture of weapons of various types, usually in quantities sufficient to arm only a fraction of a unit's soldiers. Image File history File links 1Comp_obwSambor_inspecDrohobycz_Burza2. ... Image File history File links 1Comp_obwSambor_inspecDrohobycz_Burza2. ... Sambir is a city in western Ukraine, close to the border with Poland. ... Drohobycz (the Polish and German name; in Russian Дpoгoбыч Drogobych, in Ukrainian Дpoгoбич Drohobych; in Yiddish דראָביטש Drobitsh or Drubitsh) is a city in Ukraine, in the Lvivska oblast. Population... Please wikify (format) this article as suggested in the Guide to layout and the Manual of Style. ... Karabin wz. ... The MP40 (Maschinenpistole 40, literally machine pistol 40) was a submachine gun developed for and used extensively by Nazi Germany during World War II. The MP40 was a very well made weapon. ... Combatants Poland Germany Commanders Tadeusz Bór-Komorowski, Antoni ChruÅ›ciel, Tadeusz PeÅ‚czyÅ„ski Erich von dem Bach, Rainer Stahel, Heinz Reinefarth, Bronislav Kaminski Strength 50,000 troops 25,000 troops Casualties 18,000 killed, 12,000 wounded, 15,000 taken prisoner 250,000 civilians killed 10,000 killed... Original car Modern replica KubuÅ› was a Polish World War II armoured car and Armoured personnel carrier(APC), made by the Home Army during the Warsaw Uprising. ... Polish armoured car Korfanty in 1920. ...

In contrast, their opponents - the German armed forces and their allies - were almost universally supplied with plenty of arms and ammunition, and could count on a full array of support forces. Unit for unit, its German opponents enjoyed a crushing material superiority over the AK. This severely restricted the kind of operations that it could successfully undertake.

The arms and equipment for Armia Krajowa mostly came from four sources: arms buried by the Polish armies on the battlefields after the Invasion of Poland in 1939, arms purchased or captured from the Germans and their allies, arms clandestinely manufactured by Armia Krajowa itself, and arms received from Allied air drops. Combatants Poland Germany, Soviet Union, Slovakia Commanders Edward Rydz-Śmigły Fedor von Bock (Army Group North), Gerd von Rundstedt (Army Group South), Mikhail Kovalov (Belorussian Front), Semyon Timoshenko (Ukrainian Front), Ferdinand Čatloš (Field Army Bernolak) Strength 39 divisions, 16 brigades, 4,300 guns, 880 tanks, 400 aircraft, Total: 950...

From the arms caches hidden in 1939, the AK obtained: 614 heavy machine guns, 1,193 light machine guns, 33,052 rifles, 6,732 pistols, 28 antitank light field guns, 25 antitank rifles and 43,154 hand grenades.^[8] However, because of inadequate preservation which had to be improvised in the chaos of the September campaign, most of these guns were in poor condition. Of those that were hidden in the ground and dug up in 1944 during preparation for Operation Tempest, only 30% were usable.

Polish afterwar communist propaganda poster showing soldier of Armia Ludowa and soldier of Armia Krajowa, saying: "The Giant and the spat dwarf of reactionism."

Sometimes arms purchases from German soldiers were conducted on a "grass roots" level. Purchases were made by individual units and sometimes by individual soldiers. As Germany's prospects for victory diminished and the morale in German units dropped, the number of soldiers willing to sell their weapons correspondingly increased and thus made this source more important. All such purchases were highly risky, as the Gestapo was well aware of this black market in arms and tried to check it by setting up sting operations. For the most part this trade was limited to personal weapons, but occasionally light and heavy machine guns could also be purchased. It was much easier to trade with Italian and Hungarian units stationed in Poland, which willingly sold their arms to the Polish underground as long as they could conceal this trade from the Germans. Image File history File links Polish afterwar communist propaganda poster showing soldier of Armia Ludowa and soldier of Armia Krajowa, saying: The Giant and the dwarf of reactionism. ... Image File history File links Polish afterwar communist propaganda poster showing soldier of Armia Ludowa and soldier of Armia Krajowa, saying: The Giant and the dwarf of reactionism. ... Armia Ludowa (AL, pronounced ; English Polish Peoples Army) was a Polish World War II resistance organisation. ... Regressivism is a term used to critically denote policies, ideologies or philosophies that are characterized as advocating a reversal to ones long abandoned or deprecated. ... The   (contraction of Geheime Staatspolizei; Secret State Police) was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. ...

The efforts to capture weapons from Germans also proved highly successful. Raids were conducted on trains carrying equipment to the front, as well as guardhouses and gendarmerie posts. Sometimes weapons were taken from individual German soldiers accosted in the street. During the Warsaw Uprising, the AK even managed to capture a few German armored vehicles.

Arms were clandestinely manufactured by the AK in its own secret workshops, and also by its members working in German armament factories. In this way the AK was able to procure submachine guns (copies of British Sten, indigenous Błyskawica and KIS), pistols (Vis), flamethrowers, explosive devices, road mines and hand grenades (Filipinka and Sidolówka). Hundreds of people were involved in this manufacturing effort. This article is about the submachine gun. ... This article is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ... Kis was the name of a Polish machine pistol from the time of the Second World War. ... Vis (Polish designation , German designation 9 mm Pistole 35(p), often simply called the Radom in English sources) is a 9 mm caliber, single-action, semi-automatic pistol. ... ET wz. ... R wz. ...

The final source of supply were Allied air drops. This was the only way to obtain more exotic but highly useful equipment such as plastic explosives or antitank weapons (PIAT). During the war 485 Allied planes made air drops destined for the AK, delivering 600.9 tons of supplies. During these operations, 70 planes and 62 crews (of which 28 were Polish) were lost. Besides equipment, the planes also parachuted highly qualified instructors (the Cichociemni), of whom 316^[6] were inserted into Poland during the war.^[8] Due to the large distance from bases in Britain and the Mediterranean, and lukewarm political support, the airdrops were only a fraction of those carried out in support of French or Yugoslavian resistance movements. Plastic explosive (or plastique) is a specialised form of explosive material. ... PIAT in Canadian War Museum The PIAT, for Projector, Infantry, Anti Tank, was one of the earlier anti-tank weapons based on a HEAT shell. ... Cichociemni in England in 1943 Cichociemni (Polish for Silentdark) were a secret unit of the Polish Army in exile created to maintain contact with occupied Poland during World War II. // Initially the name was informal and used only by the soldiers who volunteered to be dropped over Poland. ... A C-130 Hercules airdropping a light tank. ...

Relations with other forces

Relations with Jews

Henryk Woliński, the head of the "Jewish Department" in AK's Bureau of Information and Propaganda, one of the Polish Righteous among the Nations.

In February 1942, the Operational Command of the AK Information and Propaganda Office set up the Section for Jewish Affairs, directed by Henryk Woliński.^[9] This section collected data about the situation of the Jewish population, drafted reports and sent information to London. It also centralized contacts between Polish and Jewish military organizations. The AK also organised financial aid for Jews (see Żegota). The AK accepted only a few Jews (about one thousand) into its own ranks: it generally turned down Jewish applicants, since they could be more easily identified by the Nazis. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Henryk WoliÅ„ski Henryk WoliÅ„ski (1901-1986) was a member of the Polish resistance movement in World War II, specifically the Armia Krajowa (AK), where he reached the rank of colonel. ... Righteous Among the Nations (Hebrew: חסידי אומות העולם, Hasidei Umot HaOlam), in contemporary usage, is a term often used to describe non-Jews who risked their lives during the Holocaust in order to save Jews from extermination by the Nazis. ... Henryk WoliÅ„ski Henryk WoliÅ„ski (1901-1986) was a member of the Polish resistance movement in World War II, specifically the Armia Krajowa (AK), where he reached the rank of colonel. ... For other uses, see Jew (disambiguation). ... Å»egota (pronounced [ʒε:gÉ”ta], also spelled Zhegota, Zegota) was the codename for the Council to Aid the Jews (Rada Pomocy Å»ydom), an underground organisation in German-occupied Poland from 1942 to 1945. ...

One of AK members, Witold Pilecki, was the only person to volunteer for imprisonment in Auschwitz. The information he gathered proved crucial in convincing Western Allies about the fate of Jewish population.^[2] Witold Pilecki (May 13, 1901 – May 25, 1948; pronounced [vitɔld pileʦki]; codenames Roman Jezierski, Tomasz Serafiński, Druh, Witold) was a soldier of the Second Polish Republic, founder of the resistance movement Secret Polish Army (Tajna Armia Polska) and member of the Home... Auschwitz, in English, commonly refers to the Auschwitz concentration camp complex built near the town of Oświęcim, by Nazi Germany during World War II. Rarely, it may refer to the Polish town of Oświęcim (called by the Germans Auschwitz) itself. ...

The AK provided the Warsaw Ghetto with about sixty revolvers, several hundred hand grenades, and ammunition and explosives. During the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising in 1943, AK units tried twice to blow up the ghetto wall, carried out holding actions outside the ghetto walls, and together with GL forces sporadically attacked German sentry units near the ghetto walls. Security Cadre (Kadra Bezpieczeństwa or KB), one of the organizations subordinate to the AK, under the command of Henryk Iwański took a direct part in fights inside the ghetto together with Jewish fighters from ŻZW and ŻOB.^[10] The Ghetto Heroes Memorial The Warsaw Ghetto was the largest of the Jewish ghettos established by Nazi Germany in General Government during the Holocaust in World War II. In the three years of its existence, starvation, disease and deportations to concentration camps and extermination camps dropped the population of the... Combatants Nazi Germany {SS, SD, Gestapo, Order Police, Wehrmacht} Collaborators {Blue Police, Jewish Ghetto Police} Jewish resistance (Å»OB, Å»ZW) Polish resistance (Armia Krajowa Gwardia Ludowa) Commanders Ferdinand von Sammern-Frankenegg Jürgen Stroop Mordechai Anielewicz†, Dawid Apfelbaum†, PaweÅ‚ Frenkiel†, Icchak Cukierman, Marek Edelman, Zivia Lubetkin, Henryk IwaÅ„ski Strength Official... Gwardia Ludowa (Peoples Guard, abbreviated GL) was a World War II resistance movement in Poland, organised by the Polish Workers Party. ... PaÅ„stwowy Korpus BezpieczeÅ„stwa (Polish for National Security Corps, short PKB, sometimes also referred to as Kadra BezpieczeÅ„stwa) was a Polish underground police force organized by the Armia Krajowa and Delegates Office under German occupation during World War II. It was trained as the core of the... Henryk IwaÅ„ski (1902-1978), codename Bystry was a member of the Polish resistance during WWII. He is known for leading one of the most daring action of Armia Krajowa in support of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. ... Å»ydowski ZwiÄ…zek Walki (Å»ZW, Polish for Jewish Fighting Union) was an underground organisation operating during World War II in the area of Warsaw Ghetto and fighting during Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. ... Other languages FAQs | Table free Welcome to Wikipedia, the free-content encyclopedia that anyone can edit. ...

Three out of seven members of the Collective Command of the AK (KG AK) had Jewish origins.

While most historians agree that AK was largely untainted in collaboration with Nazis in the Holocaust,^[11] the accusations of the complicity of single AK members or groups in anti-Jewish violence are frequently brought up to this day.^[11] The issue remains a controversial one and is subject to a difficult debate.^[12] This article is becoming very long. ...

Relations with Lithuanians

Aleksander Krzyżanowski, commandant of the Armia Krajowa in the Wilno (now Vilnius) region.

Relations between Lithuanians and Poles were strained already during most of the interwar period but during the war the previous conflicts escalated. Although Lithuanian and Polish resistance movements had in principle the same enemies - Nazi Germany and Soviet Union - they never became allies during the war. The main obstacle in forming an alliance was a territorial dispute centering on Vilnius.^[13] Only in 1944-1945, after the Soviet re-occupation, did Lithuanian and Polish resistance start cooperating in the fight against Soviet occupants. ^[14] The issue of Polish and Lithuanian relations during the Second World War is a controversial one, and some modern Lithuanian and Polish historians still differ in their interpretations of the related events, many of which are related to the operations of Polish resistance organization of Armia Krajowa on territories inhabited... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Aleksander Krzyżanowski (1895 - 1951) – was a Polish officer, major, member of the Polish resistance movement in World War II and Commandant of the Armia Krajowa in the Wilno (now Vilnius) region. ... Vilnius Old Town Vilnius (sometimes Vilna; Polish Wilno, Belarusian Вільня, Russian Вильнюс, see also Cities alternative names) is the capital city of Lithuania. ... Europe between 1929 and 1938 The Interwar period (also interbellum) is understood within Western culture to be the period between the end of the First World War and the beginning of the Second World War in Europe, specifically 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939. ... Location Ethnographic region AukÅ¡taitija County Vilnius County Municipality Vilnius city municipality Coordinates Number of elderates 20 General Information Capital of Lithuania Vilnius County Vilnius city municipality Vilnius district municipality Population 540,318 in 2005 (1st) First mentioned 1323 Granted city rights 1387 Not to be confused with Vilnius city...

Some Lithuanians, encouraged by German's vague promises of autonomy, ^[15] cooperated with the Nazis in their actions against Poles during the German occupation. In autumn 1943, Armia Krajowa started retaliation operations against the Lithuanian Nazi supporters, primarily the Lithuanian Secret Police, ^[16] and killed hundreds of mostly Lithuanian policemen and other collaborators during the first half of 1944. In response, Lithuanian police, who had already murdered hundreds of Polish civilians since 1941, ^[17] intensified their operations against the Poles. Eventually, this led a low-level civil war under German occupation, ^[16] which culminated in the massacres of Polish and Lithuanian civilians in Glitiškės and Dubingiai villages.^[17] Look up autonomy, autonomous in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Lithuanian Security Police also referred to as Saugumas (Lithuanian: ) was a Lithuanian Nazi-sponsored collaborationist Police from 1941 to 1944. ... A civil war is a war in which parties within the same culture, society or nationality fight against each other for the control of political power. ... GlitiÅ¡kÄ—s (Polish: ) is village in Vilnius region, on the eastern bank of lake Å irvys. ... Dubingiai is small village in Lithuania, nearby lake Asveja, the longest lake in Lithuania. ...

The postwar assessment of AK's activities in Lithuania has been a matter of controversy. During the decades of Soviet occupation in Lithuania, the AK were presented as a terrorist organization. Its activities in Lithuania have been investigated by a special Lithuanian government commission in 1993. Only in recent years have Polish and Lithuanian historians been able to reach some compromises, even if they still differ in the interpretation of many events. ^{[18] [19]}

Relations with the Soviets

Armia Krajowa relations with the Soviets went proverbially from bad to worse. Not only did the Soviet Union invade Poland together with Germany during the Invasion of Poland in 1939, but even after Germans invaded Soviet Union the Soviets saw Polish partisans loyal to the government in exile as more of an enemy to their plans to take control of post-war Poland than as a potential ally.^[20] As ordered by Moscow on June 22 1943^[11] the Soviet partisans engaged Polish partisans in combat, and actually they attacked the Poles more often than they did the Germans.^[20] Similarly, the main forces of the Red Army and the NKVD conducted operations against the AK partisans, even during or directly after the Polish Operation Tempest which was designed by the Poles to be a joint Polish-Soviet action against the retreating Germans and to document Polish claims to those territories.^[1][4] However Stalin's aim to ensure that an independent Poland would never reemerge in the postwar period which made the Operation Tempest idea doomed from the beginning.^[21] Poland was annexed and partitioned by Germany and the Soviet Union in the aftermath of the Polish September Campaign of 1939. ... Combatants Poland Germany, Soviet Union, Slovakia Commanders Edward Rydz-ÅšmigÅ‚y Fedor von Bock (Army Group North), Gerd von Rundstedt (Army Group South), Mikhail Kovalov (Belorussian Front), Semyon Timoshenko (Ukrainian Front), Ferdinand ÄŒatloÅ¡ (Field Army Bernolak) Strength 39 divisions, 16 brigades, 4,300 guns, 880 tanks, 400 aircraft, Total: 950... Combatants Nazi Germany Romania Finland Italy Hungary Slovakia Soviet Union Commanders Adolf Hitler Ion Antonescu C.G.E. Mannerheim Benito Mussolini Miklós Horthy Jozef Tiso Joseph Stalin Strength ~3. ... The Workers and Peasants Red Army (Russian: Рабоче-Крестьянская Красная Армия, Raboche-Krestyanskaya Krasnaya Armiya; RKKA or usually simply the Red Army) were the armed forces first organized by the Bolsheviks during the Russian Civil War in 1918 and that in 1922 became the army of the Soviet Union. ... This does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Please wikify (format) this article as suggested in the Guide to layout and the Manual of Style. ... Iosif (usually anglicized as Joseph) Vissarionovich Stalin (Russian: Иосиф Виссарионович Сталин), original name Ioseb Jughashvili (Georgian: იოსებ ჯუღაშვი&#4314...

In late 1943, the actions of Soviet partisans, who were ordered to liquidate the AK forces^[11] resulted in a limited amount of uneasy cooperation between some units of AK and the Germans. While AK still treated Germans as the enemy and conducted various operations against them,^[11] when Germans offered AK some arms and provisions to be used against the Soviet partisans, some Polish units in the Nowogródek and Wilno decided to accept them. However, any such arrangements were purely tactical and did not evidence the type of ideological collaboration as shown by Vichy regime in France, Quisling regime in Norway or closer to the region, the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists.^[11] The Poles main motivation was to gain intelligence on German morale and preparedness and to acquire some badly needed weapons.^[12] There are no known joint Polish-German actions, and the Germans were unsuccessful in their attempt to turn the Poles toward fighting exclusively against Soviet partisans.^[11] Even so, most of such collaboration of local commanders with the Germans was condemned by AK High Command.^[11] Tadeusz Piotrowski quotes Joseph Rotschild saying "The Polish Home Army was by and large untained by collaboration" and adds that "the honor of AK as a whole is beyond reproach".^[11] Navahradak (Нава́градак in Belarusian; Polish: Nowogródek; Russian: Novogrudok, Lithuanian: Naugardukas) is a Belarusian city with an old history, the first capital of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. ... Vilnius Old Town Vilnius (sometimes Vilna; Polish Wilno, Belarusian Вільня, Russian Вильнюс, see also Cities alternative names) is the capital city of Lithuania. ... Vichy France (French: now called Régime de Vichy or Vichy; called itself at the time État Français, or French State) was the French state of 1940-1944 which was a puppet government under Nazi influence, as opposed to the Free French Forces, based first in London and later... Vidkun Quisling Vidkun Abraham Lauritz Jonssøn Quisling (July 18, 1887–October 24, 1945) was a Norwegian fascist politician and officer. ... Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists or OUN (Ukrainian: or ОУН) was a Ukrainian political movement originally created in the interwar Poland. ... Tadeusz Piotrowski can refer to: Tadeusz Piotrowski (mountaineer). ...

Soviet forces continued to engage the elements of AK long after the war.

See also

• Leśni
• Polish contribution to World War II

Leśni (short for Leśni ludzie, Polish for the men from the forests) is one of the informal names applied to the partisan groups operating in occupied Poland during the World War II. The groups were formed mostly by people who for various reasons could not operate from settlements... Poland: First to Fight (poster, 1939). ...

References

A cover of Rzeczpospolita Rzeczpospolita ( ) is one of Polands large nationwide daily newspapers, with a circulation of 260-270,000 and an estimated readership of 1. ... June 7 is the 158th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (159th in leap years), with 207 days remaining. ... Stefan KorboÅ„ski (1901-1989) was a Polish agrarian politician, lawyer, journalist and a notable member of the wartime authorities of the Polish Secret State. ... Volumes 1 thru 11 Wielka Encyklopedia Powszechna PWN (Great Universal Encyclopedia) is the largest Polish encyclopedia ever written. ... Stefan KorboÅ„ski (1901-1989) was a Polish agrarian politician, lawyer, journalist and a notable member of the wartime authorities of the Polish Secret State. ... June 13 is the 164th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (165th in leap years), with 201 days remaining. ... Tadeusz Piotrowski can refer to: Tadeusz Piotrowski (mountaineer). ... Brooklyn College is a senior college of the City University of New York, located in Brooklyn, New York. ... ArÅ«nas Bubnys (born November 7, 1961) is a Lithuanian historian and archivist. ... January 30 is the 30th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Tadeusz Piotrowski can refer to: Tadeusz Piotrowski (mountaineer). ... Timothy Snyder is an American historian from Yale University specializing in history of modern nationalism and history of East Europe. ... Tadeusz Piotrowski can refer to: Tadeusz Piotrowski (mountaineer). ... Gazeta Wyborcza (pronounce: [gazεta vibÉ”rʧa] , gazeta vibborcha) is, as of 2005, Polands second largest distribution daily newspaper (after the tabloid Fakt). ... June 7 is the 158th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (159th in leap years), with 207 days remaining. ... Marek Jan Chodakiewicz (born in 1962 in Warsaw, Poland) is an American historian specializing in East Central European history of the 19th and 20th century. ... Sarmatian Review is an English language peer reviewed academic journal on the culture, history, and society of Central and Eastern Europe, published by Polish Institute of Houston at Rice University three times a year in January, April, and September. ... Sarmatian Review is an English language peer reviewed academic journal on the culture, history, and society of Central and Eastern Europe, published by Polish Institute of Houston at Rice University three times a year in January, April, and September. ... Norman Davies, Warsaw (Poland), October 7, 2004 Norman Davies (born June 8, 1939 in Bolton, Lancashire) is an English historian of Welsh descent, noted for his publications on the history of Poland, Europe and the British Isles. ... Roger Moorhouse (born 14 October 1968) is a British historian and author. ... Michael Alfred Peszke (born 1932, Dęblin, Poland) is a Polish-American psychiatrist and historian of the Polish Armed Forces in World War II. After the outbreak of World War II and the Soviet invasion of eastern Poland, Peszke, his mother Eugenia Halina Grębocka Peszke, and his... General Count Tadeusz Komorowski (June 1, 1895 - August 24, 1966), better known by the name Bór-Komorowski (after one of his wartime code-names: Bór) was a Polish military leader. ... Midtown Manhattan, looking north from the Empire State Building, 2005 New York City (officially named the City of New York) is the most populous city in the state of New York and the entire United States. ...

External links

• Armia Krajowa
• Armia Krajowa
• Die "Stunde W"
• Home Army (Polish) the Home Army, site in Polish
• POLAND: HERE IS THE RECORD
• Polish resistance - Site edited by the London Branch of the Polish Home Army Ex-Servicemen Association
• Warsaw Uprising 1944
• World War II - Poland
• Warsaw Uprising Museum