Anti-communist resistance in Poland (1944–1946)


The anti-communist resistance in Poland, also referred to as the Polish anti-Communist insurrection fought between 1944 and 1946, was an armed struggle by the Polish Underground against the Soviet takeover of Poland at the end of World War II in Europe. The guerrilla warfare conducted by the resistance movement formed during the war, included an array of military attacks launched against Communist prisons, state security offices, detention facilities for political prisoners, and prison camps set up across the country by the Stalinist authorities.
In January 1945, the pro-Soviet government installed in Poland by the advancing Red Army declared as "illegal" the Polish anti-Nazi resistance movement, principally the Home Army or the Armia Krajowa, and ordered its surviving members to come out into the open while guaranteeing them freedom and safety. Many underground fighters decided to lay down their arms and register, but after doing so, most of them were arrested and thrown in prison. Thousands of them were tortured and later deported into the Soviet Gulag camp system, or tried by kangaroo courts and murdered out of sight after extreme beatings.
As a result of repression, Armia Krajowa members quickly stopped trusting the new government, and some of them regrouped in a clandestine manner in order to oppose the new Soviet occupiers. They formed various post-AK resistance organisations, such as Wolność i Niezawisłość, and liberated hundreds of political prisoners. They became known as the "cursed soldiers" of the Polish underground, and most were eventually captured or killed by the security services and special assassination squads.

Soviet westward offensive across occupied Poland

On the night of 3–4 January 1944 the advancing Red Army crossed the former eastern border of the Second Polish Republic in the area of Volhynia. In several months, they pushed the Wehrmacht further west, reaching the line of the Vistula river on 24 July 1944. The Soviet advance stopped short of Warsaw, while the Armia Krajowa attempted to liberate the Polish capital from the Nazis ahead of the Red Army's offensive. The Warsaw Uprising by forces loyal to the Polish government-in-exile in London was crushed after 63 days.
On 22 July 1944, acting upon orders from Moscow, the Polish communists who arrived in the eastern town of Chełm created a pro-Soviet Committee, which became the Provisional Government of the Republic of Poland after re-locating to Lublin.
After moving to Warsaw in January 1945, and with full political control by Stalin and Soviet sponsorship, the communists abandoned the parliamentary system of prewar Poland and ignored the wishes of the Polish people, basing their new government's power solely on the Red Army's occupation of the country.
Meanwhile, acting together under the command of Soviet General Ivan Serov, the forces of the NKVD, SMERSH and the Polish communist secret service, which was modeled on the Soviet secret police, began countrywide operations against the members of the Armia Krajowa and other Polish resistance units loyal to the government-in-exile. Approximately 25,000 underground soldiers, including 300 Home Army officers, were arrested, disarmed, and interned before October 1944. On 15 October 1944, Lavrentiy Beria signed Order No. 0012266/44, which established NKVD Division 64, whose only task was to fight against the Polish resistance. Tens of thousands of Polish partisans were deported to Siberia. Many members of the Polish underground were given the choice between a lengthy prison sentence, and service in the Soviet-run Polish Armed Forces in the East. Faced with an unacceptable choice, and knowing about the grave fate of their own leaders, thousands of soldiers of the Home Army and other organizations decided to continue fighting for freedom after the end of World War II.

Polish anti-Communist Insurrection

The situation in Poland in the immediate aftermath of World War II has been described as an all-out civil war, or near civil war by many historians, as members of the independence movement carried out numerous attacks on both Soviet and Polish communist offices and institutions. In return, the Stalinist authorities carried out brutal pacifications of partisans and civilians, mass arrests, deportations, as well as executions and many secret assassinations.
The anti-communist movement responded with attacks on NKVD and UB camps, such as the Attack on the NKVD Camp in Rembertów. The underground units often engaged in regular battles with the Soviets and Polish communist forces. Resistance units loyal to the Polish government-in-exile did not hesitate to attack even large cities, to free their fellow soldiers kept in various prisons and detention camps across Poland.

List of attacks on Communist prisons, camps and state security offices

In 2007, the Institute of National Remembrance Commission for the Prosecution of Crimes against the Polish Nation, published the Atlas of the Independence Underground in Poland 1944-1956, listing scores of armed attacks on communist prisons after World War II, in which hundreds of political prisoners were freed. The most daring assaults were conducted before October 1946.
For a chronological list of anti-Communist operations, please use table-sort buttons.
City or townMonthYearResistance operation with number of prisoners liberated
Biala Krakowska May 12 1945 A failed attack on a local prison.
Biała Podlaska November 28 1944 2 political prisoners freed during an attack.
Biała Podlaska March 9 1945 103 political prisoners liberated after an attack.
Biała Podlaska May 21 1945 5 political prisoners were freed after an attack.
Białystok May 9 1945 100 members of Home Army, National Armed Forces and National Military Organization escaped after the local prison was taken over by them.
Biłgoraj February 28 1945 40 political prisoners liberated after an DSZ unit captured the whole town.
Biłgoraj May 27 1945 A failed attempt by DSZ unit at destroying an SB prison.
Bludek village in southern Lublin Voivodeship 1945? An attack on a local camp for political prisoners, by DSZ unit from Tomaszów Lubelski; the camp was captured and burned down, and the NKVD commandant of the camp executed.
Brzesko May 1945 A failed attack on a local prison.
Brzeziny September 6 1945 A failed attack on a local prison.
Brzeziny May 15 1946 A failed attack on a local prison.
Brzozów December 13 1944 11 political prisoners freed after a local prison was captured by a Home Army unit.
Dąbrowa Tarnowska May 8–9 1945 80 political prisoners were freed after an independence unit took control of the town and the prison.
Grajewo May 8–9 1945 100 political prisoners were liberated after several independence resistance units seized the whole town, killing 2 NKVD agents and 2 UB agents.
Grojec November 21 1945 A failed attack on a prison, in which 2 UB agents were killed.
Hrubieszów December 19 1944 12 Home Army soldiers kept in a local prison were freed by their own unit.
Hrubieszów May 27–28 1945 Acting together, DSZ and Ukrainian UPA units captured the whole town, burning down local prison and killing 5 NKVD agents.
Janów Lubelski April 27 1945 15 political prisoners liberated after an DSZ unit seized the town.
Jaworzno October 1945 A failed attack on the Central Labour Camp Jaworzno.
Kępno November 22–23 1945 A local prison was captured, 5 UB agents and a Red Army soldier killed.
Kielce August 4–5 1945 354 political prisoners liberated; 3 UB agents and a soldier of the Red Army killed after the unit under Antoni Heda took control of the city.
Koźmin September 1 1945 A local prison was destroyed.
Koźmin October 10–11 1945 A failed attack on a local prison.
Kozienice May 5–6 1945 8 political prisoners freed, and a Red Army soldier killed after an independence underground unit took control of the town.
Kraków August 18 1946 64 political prisoners freed after a local prison was captured.
Krasnystaw November 22 1944 5 Home Army soldiers kept in a local prison, liberated by their fellow companions.
Krotoszyn August 24 1945 A failed attack on a local prison.
Limanowa April 17 1945 13 political prisoners were freed after a local prison was captured.
Łomża May 21 1945 A local prison was destroyed, 2 UB agents were killed.
Łowicz March 8 1945 73 political prisoners were freed after a local prison was captured by the former Home Army unit.
Łuków January 24 1946 27 political prisoners liberated after a Freedom and Independence unit captured the town and the prison; 3 UB agents killed.
Maków Mazowiecki May 1 1945 42 political prisoners freed and 8 UB agents killed after an attack on a local prison.
Miechów April 25-2 1945 A local prison was destroyed.
Mława June 3 1945 An attack on a local prison in which unknown number of political prisoners was freed and 3 UB agents killed.
Nowy Sącz April 1946 A failed attack on a local prison.
Nowy Targ April 17-18 1945 A local prison destroyed by the unit under Józef Kuraś, 4 UB agents killed.
Ostrów Wielkopolski September 2 1945 A failed attack on a local prison.
Pabianice June 10 1945 10 political prisoners were freed after a local prison was captured.
Pińczów June 3-4 1945 A failed attack on a local prison, 1 UB agent killed.
Piotrków Trybunalski June 17 1945 An attack on a detention camp for the Home Army soldiers; the camp was captured and destroyed and 5 UB agents killed.
Przemyśl May 14-15 1945 58 persons escaped after the arrested soldiers of the Home Army took control of the prison.
Przeworsk May 15 1945 A failed attack on a local prison.
Puławy April 24 1945 117 political prisoners were freed, and 7 UB agents killed.
Rabka December 11 1945 A local prison was captured, 1 UB agent killed.
Radom September 9 1945 300 political prisoners were liberated, 2 Red Army soldiers and one UB agent killed.
Radomsko April 19-20 1946 5 political prisoners were freed after the town was captured and a local prison destroyed.
Radzyń Dec. 31 – Jan. 1 1945–46 A failed attack on the prison, carried out by the Freedom and Independence unit.
Rembertów May 20-21 1945 800–1400 men were liberated after an attack on NKVD prison camp.
Rozwadów February 3 1946 A failed attack on a local prison.
Rzeszów October 7-8 1944 A failed attack on a prison located in Rzeszów Castle made by a Home Army unit under Colonel Łukasz Ciepliński. Home Army lost 2 men, Red Army also 2, Milicja Obywatelska – 2 as well.
Sandomierz March 10 1945 100 political prisoners broke free from the local prison.
Sokołów Podlaski October 1944 A failed Home Army attack on a local prison.
Szamotuły June 7-8 1945 2 political prisoners were freed after a local prison was captured.
Szczyrk July 19 1945 A failed attempt to capture a local prison.
Tarnobrzeg November 2 1944 15 Home Army soldiers freed from local prison by a Home Army unit.
Tarnów July 1 1945 35 political prisoners were liberated after a local prison was captured.
Węgrów May 17-18 1945 2 political prisoners freed after an attack on a local prison.
Włodawa October 22 1946 100 political prisoners were freed after a local prison was captured.
Włoszczowa April 22 1945 A failed attack on a local prison.
Wyrzysk May 24 1946 43 political prisoners were liberated, and 1 UB security agent killed after a local prison was captured.
Zakopane February 1 1946 A failed attack on a local prison.
Zakopane October 13 1946 A failed attack on a local prison.
Zamość July 22 1944 18 Home Army soldiers kept in a local prison were freed by their fellow companions.
Zamość October 7 1944 34 Home Army soldiers kept in a local prison were freed by their own unit.
Zamość May 8 1946 301 political prisoners were freed after an attack carried out by the Freedom and Independence unit.
City or townMonthYearResistance operation with number of prisoners liberated

As per Atlas of the Independence Underground in Poland 1944–1956 by the Institute of National Remembrance, 2007

Polish National Day of Remembrance of the "Cursed Soldiers"

In 2001 the Polish Parliament passed a resolution recognizing the merits of underground organizations and groups fighting for Poland's sovereignty after World War II. The resolution acknowledged their unequal struggle against the Soviet takeover of Poland and paid tribute to the fallen and murdered soldiers and the imprisoned members of all organizations that were persecuted by the postwar communist authorities. This was the first official recognition of such magnitude intended to honor the fighters of the armed anti-communist underground. The bill was signed into law by President Bronisław Komorowski on 9 February 2011 and published in the Poland's Dziennik Ustaw Nr 32 / 160 on 15 February 2011. The National Day of Remembrance of the "Cursed Soldiers" is now commemorated every year in Poland on 1 March.
The original request to establish the Day of Remembrance was submitted in 2009 by Polish war veterans' organizations, including the World Union of Home Army Soldiers and the Association of Soldiers of the National Armed Forces. The initiative was backed by local authorities and parliamentary groupings including Poland's two main political parties, Civic Platform and Law and Justice. The legislative initiative for the enactment of the new national holiday was taken in 2010 by the late President Lech Kaczyński.

In popular culture

The novel Ashes and Diamonds by Jerzy Andrzejewski and Andrzej Wajda's dramatization of the book, are devoted to the bloody events in Poland in the immediate aftermath of the Second World War, depicting an operation by anti-communist resistance fighters to assassinate a commissar.