Armia Krajowa

[Wolfgang ski]

Can anyone tell me more about Armia Krajowa activities against Russia during the war and immediately after the war. Or where I can get more information and possibly a list of names of it's soldiers? Thank you.

[Liluh]

AK was dissolved on 19th Jan 1945 due to majority of the former polish territory being cleared of german units and the failure of operation Tempest.

I guess that for a start you can read it simply on wikipedia and follow the referenced links at the bottom of that page

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armia_Kraj ... _partisans

As for the post war years, some members of AK decided to continue the fight, this time against soviet occupation and they created various military units which operated on until late 40`s, with last remnants destroyed at the beginning of 50`s.

[Wolfgang ski]

Liluh thanks. I know of AK activities against Germans. My great-uncle was in AK! He fight Russians after WWII and they capture him and send him to Gulag in Russia. He spend seven years in this hell hole but he live and make it back to Poland! I just wonder what type activities ex-Armia Krajowa members do against Russians? It seems very secretive even today? I am proud of Armia Krajowa- these were brave men!

[Liluh]

There were several organizations that formed up after AK ceased to exist. Nowadays we refer to all of them as "the cursed soldiers" (Żołnierze Wyklęci). Some, like "NIE" were originally intended to take over after AK, but due to failure of Warsaw Uprising and Tempest operation were unable to operate. Other simply continued the fight after regrouping - like NSZ (Narodowe Siły Zbrojne) or NZW (Narodowe Zjednoczenie Wojskowe) which originated in the prewar nationalistic groups. There was also WiN (Wolność i Niezawisłość - Freedom and Independence) which was suppoused to be direct descendant of AK - NIE - and then Delegatury Sił Zbrojnych (all of which were acting on the direct orders of Polish Goverment in Exile). Unfortunately the main strenght of WiN - which had not only AK's structures, units, but also its money and backbone and men, was also its Achilles heel. Its structures were early on inflintrated by procommunistic groups and soviet agents and therefore were destroyed from within. There were also many other smaller groups from which some operated (in really few numbers) as long as to middle 60`s.

I will just shortly describe the biggest players, which I consider NZS/NZW and WiN. They all had similiar goals and counted for around 30.000 thousand soldiers each (plus twice as much "civilians" involved in conspiracy). Basically, they were all for driving out Soviets and communists out of the country which would allow to regain the independence. First they supported political activities because there seemed to be a chance of winning back the country through democratic elections (PSL party), and that was mainly WiN. They performed defending measures against Soviet and NKVD activities against citizens and their property, and also against political and physical prosecution performed on political activists. NZW and NSZ also wanted to restore the borders to the prewar state. So first they tried to stop the soviet influence on the country and its devastation. Then when it was aparent that all the voting are falsified and there's no chance on achieving the goals in peacfull way they restored to military actions (which doesn't mean there were none prior to that) and espionage in the waiting for World War III. Since, i.e. WiN had direct orders from the goverment in exile, cooperated with CIA and provided some valuable info even to the UN, such expectations were not so unlikely like we think today.

Military actions basically involved clashing with NKVD, UB (Security Agency), MO (Militia) and KBW (Internal Security Corp) units. Liberation actions like assualts aimed at freeing jails from politicial prisoners. Execution or destruction of groups of communistic activists, goverment figures, traitors, spies etc. And later on, also actions aimed at gaining money and resources to continue the fight.

Apart from that, as I mentioned, they also defended local citizens against bandits or other threats, had their own press, conducted espionage and also had agents within communistic structures, had their own courts and so on.

The biggest blow was recieved by WiN, which in the beginning of 1948 went under full control of communistic agents (it's a different topic, but i`ll just mention that they were so throughly spied upon that the whole head structure was controled by Soviet agents which played their roles of polish patriots luring in simple soldiers and any other anti-communistic activists into their traps. It was a part of secret service play which continued up until 1952 when the operation was finally cancelled and the last remnants arrested).

Much better performance was shown by NZW and NSZ mainly because they were disconnected from AK early on, and began fighting soviet troops and communistic guerilla even before the war was over, so they were not easy to infiltrate.

Of course there's much more into what I`ve wrote. NSZ had different goals than AK. They didn't believe in Warsaw Uprising (even though they took part in it) stating that it's destined to fail. They even took, at least some groups, serious actions against efforts of uniting both organizations.

The topic of Cursed Soldiers is still rather unknown in modern Poland due to the 45 years of communism during which period any information about them was banned and could be only refered to as "bandits". After 1989 they got some much earned respect. Some publications and books araised, monuments were built and now thanks to the RIP former president Lech Kaczynski - 1st march is the national day of Cursed Soldier. Yet, the fact that several thousand people took part in what is called anticommunistic uprising in the years 1944-1963 is still a history to uncover. Situation was the same in Estonia, Latvia, Lotwa and Lithuania.

[Wolfgang ski]

Thank you Liluh! You have given me more information than I thought I could get! Thanks brother. Liluh it seems a book on these brave men is in order. Some of their brave deeds go unrecorded even now! I would like to research more and honor these brave men. My relatives tell me when my great-uncle released from Russian gulag after seven years, they still watch him and spy on him. he had to be very secretive his whole life. Is there a archive in Poland on names and units of men who served in Armia Krajowa and other Polish resistance units? I am coming to Poland soon and want to research some things. Thank you very much!

[Liluh]

No problem mate, glad I could help. The best info and archive you can get is placed at the vast basements of Institute of National Remembrence (http://ipn.gov.pl/portal/en/) - IPN. They are gathering all the files from secret and security agencies post and pre wwII, often (as they have their own prosecutors office) uncovering forgotten crimes and hunting down those responsible. You could probably get insight into what they have on your great uncle, providing that you`re close relative, journalist or historian as this data is not publicly available to preserve privacy of those who were hurt (or worked for) by the system. It's not given on spot, as they have to search through the archives and often takes a couple of weeks after formal inquiry. You can drop them an email though and just ask.

Second place to search for AK data would be Warsaw Uprising Museum which gathers anything related to polish resistance. Be sure to visit it anyway because it's a fun and educational place to see. Check it out on http://1944.pl/en/
Drop them an email aswell, guys there are usually young people that have a sense of a mission in their work, so they should be quite responsive and helpfull, probably more than rather formal IPN.

As for the strict archives searching, you could probably try Archiwum Akt Nowych (Archive of New Files), they have quite a load of original documents of the period regarding AK activity, although I`m not sure if they also have units personal charts. They do, however, have a lot of copies of orders, reports, and such. http://aan.gov.pl/index_en.php
Drop them an email and ask if they have what you`re looking for. You can view those files on spot, paying a small fee on hour basis.

As for the books about this particular subject, personally I read only the 1st one of those mentioned and I must say, as much as it has a lot of little, interesting details I find its language to be hard to read (a little bit chaotic narration, jumping between topics and situations all the time, taking every side stories roads all the time, to the point you have to actually go few pages back to remember what is being described atm).

"Żołnierze wyklęci" Jerzy Ślaski (Cursed Soldiers) Oficyna Wydawnicza Rytm, Warszawa 1996

"Łupaszka, Młot, Huzar. Działalność 5 i 6 Brygady Wileńskiej AK (1944-1952)" Kazimierz Krajewski i Tomasz Łabuszewski
(Lupaszka, Hammer, Hussar. Activity of 5th and 6th Vilnius Brigade of AK (1944-1952)

"Żołnierze wyklęci. Antykomunistyczne podziemie zbrojne po 1944 roku" Kazimierz Krajewski, Tomasz Łabuszewski, Janusz Kurtyka, Leszek Żebrowski, Jerzy Węgierski, Jacek Pawłowicz, Grzegorz Wąsowski, Piotr Niwiński
(Cursed Soldiers. Anticommunistic military underground after 1944)

If you want to learn more about this subject right now, you can also try one of two sites :

http://www.doomedsoldiers.com/

http://www.freedomandindependence.com/

That should give you pretty good insight.

Have fun

[Wolfgang ski]

Thank you Liluh! You have really helped me brother:) I will look into this and keep you updated if I find something interesting. You have been a great help! Some of the things these men did are truly heroic!

[henryk]

I bought this book for my cousin as a Christmas present.
Geneza Powstania Ruchu Samoobrony Armii Krajowej i Narodu w 1945 Roku.
Gen. bryg. Stanisław Burza Karliński
I presume it is on battles with the Soviet Army and the Polish Communists. I haven't been able to find anything about this book on the internet. Anyone read this book? What is it about?

[Dachhase]

This cover picture is an obvious re-enactment. (There are very few - if any - genuine colour photos from that era. Also few film clips.) It may or may not be accurate. I have not seen that type of cap worn in genuinely contemporary pictures. Nor have I seen what appear to be puttees instead of boots. In the forests, they also often (mostly?) had bandoliers.Where would these chaps have been carrying their spare ammunition?
On the topic of books: Can anyone help me to obtain a copy of:
Antoni Bohun-Dąbrowski: Byłem dowódcą Brygady Świętokrzyskiej Narodowych Sił Zbrojnych?
Preferably the 2001 edition. Amazon has it on its list, but when you go there it says "Currently unavailable"; and it has said that for some six months. Abe Books will not handle it - although I have been a client of theirs for several years. It is available on Polish e-Bay (mostly the 1984 edition, at from one to sixty zloty), but I have so much trouble with e-Bay in English that I chickened out on the Polish one, after going about half-way through the ordering process.

[henryk]

Zdjęcie na okładce ze zbiorów Jednostki Strzeleckiej 2036 im. O. P. A. K. Błysk w Paradyżu

My translation:
Cover photo from the collections of the 2036 Rifle Unit, O. P. A. K. Błysk, in Paradyż.

[Dachhase]

I have come across a puzzle. All the records that I have seen regarding Bohun-Dabrorowski give he real name as "Szacki".
Why, then, do his official records show this:
BSE-48-0001 SKARBEK Antoni (BOHUN-DĄBROWSKI)
Any ideas?

[henryk]

http://www.thenews.pl/1/9/Artykul/12861 ... s[quote][b]President decorates anti-communist resistance veterans[/b]

28.02.2013 15:05

President Bronislaw Komorowski has decorated 18 veterans of Polish anti-communist resistance forces that fought in the aftermath of World War II.

President Bronislaw Komorowski (C) with anti-communist resistance veterans during Thursday's ceremony: photo - PAP/Jacek Turczyk (see source for photo)

The ceremony at the Presidential Palace ties in with tomorrow's so-called Day of Remembrance of Cursed Soldiers, which pays tribute to those who refused to lay down arms after the close of the Second World War, choosing instead to fight Poland's Moscow-backed communist regime.

“You stood fast in the struggle for Poland's freedom, independence, and sovereignty,” Komorowski said during today's ceremony, as quoted by Polish Radio.

Poland's wartime government-in-exile oversaw the disbandment of its official resistance force, the Home Army (AK), in January 1945, after the Red Army pushed back the Nazi German occupiers from pre-war Polish territory.

However, convinced that Stalin would not allow free elections in post-war Poland, many resistance fighters refused to lay down their arms.

Several splinters of the Home Army emerged, including Freedom and Independence (WiN). Meanwhile, the independent wartime National Armed Forces (NSZ) resistance force continued its activities.

An amnesty was held in 1947, and most of the remaining resistance was snuffed out by the communist authorities by the early 1950s, following waves of arrests.

The Day of Remembrance for Cursed Soldiers was first marked in 2011, with the date of March 1 marking the execution of seven members of WiN on that day in 1951. (nh)

Source: PAP/IAR[/quote]