On 14 February 1942, the order of the Chief Leader General Władysław Sikorski was appointed the National Army (AK). It was the largest and best organized underground army in occupied Europe, whose goal was to fight for Poland's freedom from the German and russian occupations.
The National Army was formed from the transformation of the previously existing Armed Combat Union (ZWZ), which operated since November 1939. In turn ZWZ came from an even earlier conspiracy organization – the Polish triumph Service (SZP), established on 27 September 1939, even before the fall of the besieged capital.
The Polish triumph Service (SZP) was the first underground organization in occupied Poland, created by General Michał Karaszewicz-Tokarzewski, was rapidly replaced by the OGM, as the government in exile wanted to avoid the strictly military character of the organization. In 1940, Gen. Stefan Rowecki “Grot” took command and consolidated the structures, creating an underground army operating throughout occupied Poland.
The National Army was the largest opposition organization in Europe. Its numbers changed depending on the war period:
- 1942 – approx. 100,000 sworn soldiers
- 1943 – approx. 250,000.
- 1944 – before the outbreak of the Warsaw Uprising the number increased to 380-400 thousand.
The structure of the AK was divided into districts that corresponded to pre-war voivodships, and subdistricts and circuits at local level. The command was in Warsaw, and the management of operations was subject to the General Command.
Actions and largest AK shares
The National Army conducted extended conspiracy, sabotage and diversion activities. Among the most crucial operations is:
- Wieniec action (1942) – an attack on railway lines around Warsaw, disrupting the transport of German troops to the east front.
- The Arsenal action (1943) – a spectacular reflection of prisoners, including Jan Bytnar "Rudy", by the Grey Lines Storm Group.
- assassination of Franz Kutschera (1944) – the liquidation of the German SS general liable for panic in Warsaw.
- Storm (1944) – a large-scale military action to liberate Polish lands before the Red Army comes.
- Warsaw Uprising (1944) is the largest military operation of the AK to liberate the capital. It lasted 63 days and ended in surrender to the Germans.
On 19 January 1945, in the face of the Red Army's invasion, General Leopold Okulicki dissolved the AK to avoid further repression. Unfortunately, many underground soldiers were later arrested by the NKVD and convicted in fake trials. The symbolic end of the AK command was the Sixteenth Process (1945), during which the Soviets sentenced the leaders of the Polish Underground State to many years of prison sentences.
National Army and National Underground
The National Army was the main armed force of the Polish Underground State, but was not the only organization fighting for independence. 2 another crucial national conspiracy groups are the National Armed Forces (NSZ) and the National Military Organisation (NEW).
The National Military Organization, which is the armed arm of the National Party, has frequently collaborated with the ZWZ and the AK, and in 1942 a large part of its structures was merged with the AK. However, any of the members of the NOW, recognizing the government in exile but having serious objections to the AK's Headquarters, passed to the National Armed Forces, which acted independently.
The NSZ, formed in 1942, represented the national stream and focused on the fight against Germany and the communist guerrilla. In 1944, part of the NSZ was incorporated into the AK, but part of the group (the alleged NSZ-ZJ) operated independently and did not comply with the orders of the AK Headquarters.
Although there were ideological and strategical differences between the AK and the NSZ, in many areas the soldiers of these organizations took joint action, especially in the fight against Germany. After the war, both the AK and NSZ soldiers were persecuted by communist authorities, and many of them died in Stalinist prisons or were murdered by UB and NKVD.
Marzena Sulik
