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| Anti-Communist Resistance in Poland | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of theCold War,anti-communist insurgencies in Central and Eastern Europe, and theRevolutions of 1989 | |||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||
 Government-in-exile United States United KingdomWestern Bloc Holy See (from 1978)Catholic Church in Poland | Polish People's RepublicSupported by: Soviet UnionEastern Bloc | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Units involved | |||||||
| Armed resistance...and others Civil resistance ...and others | |||||||
Anti-communist resistance in Poland can be divided into two types: the armedpartisan struggle, mostly led by formerArmia Krajowa andNarodowe Siły Zbrojne soldiers, which ended in the late 1950s (seecursed soldiers),[1] and the non-violent,civil resistance struggle that culminated in thecreation and victory of the Solidarity trade union.
TheFreedom and Independence Association (Polish:Zrzeszenie Wolność i Niezawisłość, orWiN) was a Polish undergroundanticommunist organisation founded on September 2, 1945, and active until 1952.[2]
TheNational Armed Forces (NSZ;Polish: Narodowe Siły Zbrojne) was a Polish right-wing underground military organization of theNational Democracy operating from 1942 until 1947. DuringWorld War II, NSZ troops fought againstNazi Germany andcommunist partisans.[3] In March 1944, the NSZ split, with one faction coming under the command of theHome Army while the other part became known as the NSZ-ZJ (the Lizard Union). This branch of the NSZ conducted operations against Polishcommunist activists,partisans and secret police, theSoviet partisans,NKVD andSMERSH, and their own (NSZ) former leaders.[4] During the war, the NSZ fought the Polish communists, including their military organizations such as theGwardia Ludowa (GL) and theArmia Ludowa (AL).[5] After the war, former NSZ members were persecuted by the newly installed communist government of thePolish People's Republic. Reportedly, communist partisans engaged in planting false evidence, such as documents and forged receipts at the sites of their own robberies, in order to blame the NSZ.[6] It was a method of political warfare practiced against the NSZ also by theMinistry of Public Security of Poland andMilicja Obywatelska (MO) right after the war, as revealed by communist Poland's court documents.[6] Members of the NSZ, like other "cursed soldiers", and their families were persecuted during the postwarStalinist period. In the fall of 1946, 100-200 soldiers of an NSZ unit under the command ofHenryk Flame,nom de guerre "Bartek," were lured into a trap and massacred by communist military and police forces.[7]
In 1992, acknowledging its contribution to the fight for Poland's sovereignty, Polish authorities recognized National Armed Forces underground soldiers as war veterans. The Polish ParliamentSejm passed a bill in 2012 commemorating the 70th anniversary of the creation ofNarodowe Siły Zbrojne in 1942. Members of the Sejm who supported the resolution pointed out that NSZ members became the most obstinatetarget of repressions and hate propaganda by security apparatus underStalinism.[8]
