Estado subterráneo polaco

Este artículo trata sobre los grupos de resistencia en Polonia durante la Segunda Guerra Mundial que fueron leales al gobierno polaco en el exilio . Para conocer el "estado secreto" en Polonia durante la década de 1860, véase Gobierno nacional polaco (Levantamiento de enero) .

Estado subterráneo polacoPolskie Państwo Podziemne
1939–1945 [1] [2]
Bandera Escudo de armas
Himno:  " Mazurek Dąbrowskiego " (Inglés: "Polonia aún no se ha perdido" )
Estado	Gobierno en el exilio
Lenguajes comunes	polaco
Gobierno	República
Presidente del gobierno polaco en el exilio
• 1939–1945	Władysław Raczkiewicz
Primer ministro del gobierno polaco en el exilio
• 1939-1940 (primero)	Władysław Sikorski
• 1944-1945 (último)	Tomasz Arciszewski
Legislatura	Comité Consultivo Político (1940-1943) Representación Política Nacional (1943-1944) Consejo de Unidad Nacional (1944-1945)
Era historica	Segunda Guerra Mundial / Guerra Fría
•  Constitución adoptada	23 de abril de 1935
•  Invasión de Polonia	1 de septiembre de 1939
•  Establecimiento del Gobierno Provisional de Unidad Nacional	28 de junio de 1945 [1] [2]
Precedido por Sucesor Segunda República Polaca Gobierno Provisional de Unidad Nacional

Parte de una serie sobre el
Estado subterráneo polaco
Historia de Polonia 1939-1945
Autoridades Gobierno Administración Parlamento Tribunales
Organizaciones politicas Partidos principales Partido socialista polaco Partido Popular partido Nacional Partido Laborista Partes menores Campamento de Unidad Nacional partido Democrático Bolsa de Trabajo Judío Hashomer Hatzair Betar (juventud sionista) Oposición Campamento Radical Nacional Partido de los Trabajadores Polacos
Organizaciones militares Ejército de casa (AK) Servicio para la victoria de Polonia (SZP) Resistencia armada (ZWZ) Rangos grises Cuerpo de Seguridad Nacional (PKB) Principalmente integrado con la Resistencia Armada y el Ejército Nacional. Gwardia Ludowa WRN Batallones campesinos Parcialmente integrado con la Resistencia Armada y el Ejército Nacional. Organización Militar Nacional Fuerzas Armadas Nacionales Campamento de Polonia de Lucha Grifo de Pomerania Konfederacja Narodu Autoridad no integrada pero reconocida de la Resistencia Armada y el Ejército Nacional Organización de combate judía Unión Militar Judía Oposición Unión de lagartos militares Armia Ludowa
Temas relacionados Actividades culturales Educación Historia de Polonia durante 1939-1945
v t mi

El Estado clandestino polaco (en polaco : Polskie Państwo Podziemne , también conocido como el Estado secreto polaco ) ^[a] era una entidad política y militar única formada por la unión de organizaciones de resistencia en la Polonia ocupada que eran leales al Gobierno de la República de Polonia. en el exilio en Londres. Los primeros elementos del Estado clandestino se establecieron en los últimos días de la invasión alemana y soviética de Polonia , a finales de septiembre de 1939. Los partidarios del Estado clandestino eran percibidos como una continuación legal de la República de Polonia de antes de la guerra.(y sus instituciones) que libraron una lucha armada contra las potencias ocupantes del país: la Alemania nazi y la Unión Soviética . El Estado clandestino abarcaba no solo la resistencia militar, una de las más grandes del mundo, ^[b] sino también estructuras civiles, como la educación, la cultura y los servicios sociales.

Aunque el Estado clandestino disfrutó de un amplio apoyo durante gran parte de la guerra, no fue apoyado ni reconocido por la extrema izquierda (comunistas). Los nacionalistas del Campamento Nacional Radical Falanga y del Campamento Nacional Radical ABC se opusieron a la ocupación alemana de Polonia y los dos movimientos fueron rápidamente reemplazados por la Konfederacja Narodu , una parte del Estado subterráneo polaco que también incluía a la mayoría de los miembros de la lejana preguerra. derecho. La influencia de los comunistas finalmente disminuyó en medio de reveses militares (más notablemente, el fracaso del Levantamiento de Varsovia ) y la creciente hostilidad de la URSS. La Unión Soviética había creado un gobierno títere alternativo en 1944 (el Comité Polaco de Liberación Nacional) y se aseguró de que formara la base del gobierno de posguerra en Polonia . Durante la toma comunista de Polonia respaldada por los soviéticos al final de la guerra, muchos miembros del Estado clandestino fueron procesados como presuntos traidores y murieron en cautiverio. Abandonadas por los aliados occidentales , ante la imposibilidad de negociar con los soviéticos y deseando evitar una guerra civil, las instituciones clave del Estado clandestino se disolvieron en la primera mitad de 1945.

En última instancia, cientos de miles de personas participaron directamente en varias agencias del Estado clandestino ( las estimaciones de membresía solo en Armia Krajowa a menudo se dan en torno a medio millón de personas), y fueron apoyados silenciosamente por millones de ciudadanos polacos. La razón fundamental detrás de la creación de la autoridad civil secreta se basó en el hecho de que la ocupación alemana y soviética de Polonia era ilegal. Por lo tanto, todas las instituciones creadas por las potencias ocupantes se consideraron ilegales, y se establecieron instituciones clandestinas polacas paralelas de conformidad con la ley polaca . La escala del Estado clandestino también se vio favorecida inadvertidamente por las acciones de los ocupantes, cuyos intentos de destruir el Estado polaco, la nación y su cultura, incluidos los más importantesLas políticas genocidas dirigidas a los ciudadanos polacos impulsaron el apoyo popular al movimiento de resistencia polaco y su desarrollo.

Durante la era de la Guerra Fría , la investigación sobre el Estado clandestino fue restringida por los funcionarios comunistas polacos, quienes en cambio enfatizaron el papel que jugaron los partisanos comunistas en la resistencia antinazi. De ahí que, hasta hace poco, la mayor parte de la investigación realizada sobre este tema la llevaran a cabo académicos polacos que vivían en el exilio.

Historia

1939-1940: Formación

En muchos aspectos, la historia del Estado clandestino polaco refleja la de la resistencia polaca no comunista en general. El estado subterráneo tiene sus orígenes en la organización Servicio para la Victoria de Polonia (Służba Zwycięstwu Polski, SZP), que fue fundada el 27 de septiembre de 1939, un día antes de la rendición de la capital polaca de Varsovia , en un momento en que la derrota polaca en La invasión alemana de Polonia (acompañada de la soviética ) parecía inevitable. ^{[3] [4] El} fundador del SZP, el general Michał Karaszewicz-Tokarzewski, recibió órdenes del comandante en jefe polaco , el mariscal Edward Rydz-Śmigły.organizar y llevar a cabo la lucha en la Polonia ocupada. ^{[4] [5]} Karaszewicz-Tokarzewski decidió que la organización que estaba creando necesitaba ir más allá de un formato estrictamente militar; y en línea con las tradiciones del subterráneo 19a del siglo Gobierno Nacional de Polonia y de la Primera Guerra Mundial -era Organización militar polaca , tendría que abarcar varios aspectos de la vida civil. ^[6] Por lo tanto, el SZP, en contacto con (y subordinado a) el gobierno polaco en el exilio , se veía a sí mismo no solo como una organización de resistencia armada, sino también como un vehículo a través del cual el estado polaco continuaba administrando sus territorios ocupados. ^[7]

De acuerdo con la Constitución polaca , el presidente Ignacy Mościcki , internado en Rumania después de que el gobierno polaco se evacuara de Polonia el 17 de septiembre, renunció y nombró al general Bolesław Wieniawa-Długoszowski como su sucesor; impopular con el gobierno francés, Wieniawa-Długoszowski fue reemplazado por Władysław Raczkiewicz el 29 de septiembre. ^{[8] [9] [10] El} general Władysław Sikorski , un opositor a largo plazo del régimen de Sanacja que residía en Francia y tenía el apoyo del gobierno francés, se convertiría en el comandante en jefe polaco (el 28 de septiembre) y Primer Ministro de Polonia(el 30 de septiembre). ^{[9] [11] [12]} Este gobierno fue rápidamente reconocido por Francia y el Reino Unido. ^[13] Raczkiewicz, descrito como "débil e indeciso", tuvo relativamente poca influencia en comparación con el carismático Sikorski. ^[14]

Debido a las diferencias políticas entre las facciones del gobierno polaco en el exilio y, en particular, a los vínculos del SZP con el régimen de Sanacja que dominó al gobierno polaco desde mediados de la década de 1920, el SZP se reorganizó en la Unión de Lucha Armada (Związek Walki Zbrojnej, ZWZ) 13 de noviembre de 1939. ^{[13] [15]} Karaszewicz-Tokarzewski apoyó esa medida, con el objetivo de incluir partidos marginados por el régimen de Sanacja, y apoyó la formación del Consejo Político Principal (Główna Rada Polityczna, GRP). ^[11] Sikorski nombró al general Kazimierz Sosnkowski jefe de la ZWZ y al coronel Stefan Roweckifue nombrado comandante de la zona de ocupación alemana ZWZ. Karaszewicz-Tokarzewski se convirtió en el comandante de la zona soviética ZWZ, pero fue arrestado en marzo de 1940 por los soviéticos cuando intentaba cruzar la nueva frontera germano-soviética. ^[13] En junio, Sikorski nombró a Rowecki comandante de ambas zonas. ^[13]

Władysław Sikorski , comandante en jefe y primer ministro polaco durante la Segunda Guerra Mundial

Given that the ZWZ focused on military aspects of the struggle, its civilian dimension was less clearly defined and developed more slowly—a situation exacerbated by the complex political discussions that were then unfolding between politicians in occupied Poland and the government in exile (first located in Paris, and after the fall of France, in London).^[11][16][17] Sikorski's government opted for a much more democratic procedure then the less democratic prewar Sanacja regime.^[9][18][19] The National Council (Rada Narodowa) was formed by the government in exile in December 1939, including representatives from different Polish political factions.^[9] Mientras tanto, en la Polonia ocupada, a finales de febrero de 1940 se dio un paso importante hacia el desarrollo de la estructura civil de la organización, cuando la ZWZ estableció su versión local del Consejo Nacional, el Comité Consultivo Político (Polityczny Komitet Porozumiewawczy, PKP) . ^{[16] [20]} PKP se formó en 1940 en virtud de un acuerdo entre varios partidos políticos principales: el Partido Socialista , Partido Popular , Partido Nacional y el Partido del Trabajo . En 1943 pasó a llamarse Representación Política Nacional ( Krajowa Reprezentacja Polityczna ) y en 1944 a Consejo de Unidad Nacional.( Rada Jedności Narodowej ). ^{[21] : 235–236}

The structures in occupied Poland maintained close communication with the government in exile, through radio communications and "hundreds, if not thousands" of couriers, such as Jan Karski.^[22][23][24] One of the most significant developments of 1940 was the creation of the office of Government Delegation for Poland (Delegatura Rządu na Kraj), with Cyryl Ratajski (nominated on 3 December) as the first Delegate; this event marked the official beginning of the Underground State (Ratajski would be followed by Jan Piekałkiewicz, Jan Stanisław Jankowski and Stefan Korboński).^[25][1] The post of the Delegate could be seen as equivalent to that of a Deputy Prime Minister (particularly since the legislation of 1944).^[1][26] Unlike the GRP and PKP, which operated alongside the military structures but had no influence over them, the Delegation had budgetary control over the military.^[27] The Delegation was to oversee the military, and recreate the civilian administration.^[27]

As early as 1940, the Underground State's civilian arm was actively supporting underground education;^[25] it then set out to develop social security, information (propaganda) and justice networks.^[28][29][30]

1941–1943: Growth

By 1942, most of the differences between politicians in occupied Poland and those in exile had been positively settled.^[31] By 1943, the PKP had evolved into the Home Political Representation (Krajowa Reprezentacja Polityczna, KRP), which served as the basis of the Council of National Unity (Rada Jedności Narodowej, RJN), created on 9 January 1944.^[32] The council, headed by Kazimierz Pużak, was seen as the Underground State's parliament.^[33] Meanwhile, the military arm of the Underground State expanded dramatically, and the ZWZ was transformed into Armia Krajowa (AK, or the Home Army) in 1942.^[34] ZWZ-AK commanders included Stefan Rowecki, Tadeusz Komorowski and Leopold Okulicki.^[35]

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In August 1943 and March 1944, the Polish Underground State announced its long-term plan, which was partly designed to undercut the attractiveness of some of the communists' proposals.^[36] The communists, in their increasingly radical What We Fight For declarations (from March and November 1943), were proposing the creation of a heavily socialist or even communist state, denouncing capitalism, which they equated to slavery.^[37] They demanded nationalization of most if not all of the economy, introduction of central planning,^[37][38] The Underground State's declaration What the Polish Nation is Fighting For declared the reconstruction of Poland as a democratic parliamentary state as its goal, guaranteeing full equality to the minorities, as well as full freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and freedom of political activity.^[33][39] The plan also called for the creation of a Central European federal union, without domination by any single state.^[39] In the economic sector, planned economy would be endorsed, by embracing the socialist and Christian Democrat principles, such as income redistribution, aiming at a reduction of economic inequality.^[33][40] The plan promised land reform, nationalization of the industrial base, demands for territorial compensation from Germany, and re-establishment of the country's pre-1939 eastern border.^[36] According to the plan, the country's Eastern borders, as delineated by the 1921 Treaty of Riga, would be kept while in the north and west compensation would be sought from German territories.^[39] Thus, the main differences between the Underground State and the communists, in terms of politics, were not rooted in radical economic and social reforms, which both sides advocated, but rather in their divergent positions on such issues as national sovereignty, borders, and Polish-Soviet relations.^[36] The program was criticized by the nationalist factions, for being too socialist, and not "Christian" enough.^[40]

The Underground State achieved its zenith of influence in early 1944.^[36] In April, the Polish government in exile recognized the administrative structure of the Delegate's Office as the Temporary Governmental Administration.^[41] This was when the Delegate officially became recognized as the Deputy Prime Minister, and the Council of Ministers at Home (Krajowa Rada Ministrów, KRM) was created.^[26] The Underground State however declined sharply in the aftermath of the nationwide uprising, Operation Tempest, initiated in the Spring of 1944.^[42] In addition to the costly and eventually unsuccessful Warsaw Uprising part of the Operation Tempest, the hostile attitude of the Soviet Union and its puppet Polish government, the Polish Committee of National Liberation (Polski Komitet Wyzwolenia Narodowego, PKWN) towards the non-communist resistance loyal to the Polish government in exile proved to be disastrous.^[42] The Underground State assumed that the Polish resistance would aid the advancing Soviet forces, and AK commanders and representatives of the administrative authority would assume the role of legitimate hosts.^[1] Instead, the Soviets commonly surrounded, disarmed and arrested the Underground's military authority members and its civilian representatives, instituting their own administrative structures instead.^[43][44] In early July 1944, even as the AK resistance continued its struggle against the Germans, the Underground State was forced to order the AK and its administrative structure to remain in hiding from the Soviets, due to continued arrests and reprisals experienced by those who revealed themselves.^[1]

1944–1945: Decline and dissolution

Events taking place in 1943 significantly weakened the Polish government in exile. A rift developed between Poland and the Soviet Union, an increasingly important ally for the West, particularly after the revelation of the Katyn massacre in 1943 (on 13 April), followed by the breaking-off of diplomatic relations with Poland by the Soviets (on 21 April). The subsequent death (on 4 July) of the charismatic General Sikorski, succeeded by less influential Stanisław Mikołajczyk as the Prime Minister, and General Sosnkowski as the Commander-in-Chief, contributed to the decline.^{[45][46][47][48][49][50]} No representative of the Polish government was invited to the Tehran Conference (28 November – 1 December 1943) or the Yalta Conference (4–11 February 1945), the two crucial events in which the Western Allies and the Soviet Union discussed the shape of the post-war world and decided on the fate of Poland, assigning it to the Soviet sphere of influence.^[1][51] In Teheran, neither Churchill nor Roosevelt objected to Stalin's suggestion that the Polish government in exile in London was not representing Polish interests; as historian Anita Prażmowska noted, "this spelled the end of that government's tenuous influence and raison d'être."^[50] After the Teheran Conference, Stalin decided to create his own puppet government for Poland, and the PKWN was proclaimed in 1944.^[51] PKWN was recognized by the Soviet Government as the only legitimate authority in Poland, while Mikołajczyk's Government in London, was termed by the Soviets an "illegal and self-styled authority."^[52] Mikołajczyk would serve in the Prime Minister's role until 24 November 1944, when, realizing the increasing powerlessness of the government in exile, he resigned and was succeeded by Tomasz Arciszewski, "whose obscurity", in the words of historian Mieczysław B. Biskupski, "signaled the arrival of the government in exile at total inconsequentiality."^[49][51]

Stefan Korboński, the last delegate

The communists refused to deal with the Underground State just like they refused to deal with the government in exile; its leaders and soldiers in "liberated" Polish territories were persecuted.^[43] A number of prominent leaders of the Underground State, including the Government Delegate, Jan Stanisław Jankowski and the last AK Commander-in-Chief, General Leopold Okulicki, who decided to reveal themselves and upon the Soviet invitation begun open negotiations with the communist authorities, were arrested and sentenced by the Soviets in Moscow in the infamous Trial of the Sixteen (arrests were carried out in March 1945, and the trial itself took place in June that year).^{[1][43][53][54][55]} On 27 June 1945 the Council of National Unity held its last session, issuing a 12-point declaration demanding that the Soviet army leave Poland and the repression of the non-communist political parties cease.^[1][2] The Government Delegate's Office at Home, restructured after the arrests of its leadership and headed by the last Delegate, Stefan Korboński, disbanded on 1 July, after the creation in Moscow of the Provisional Government of National Unity (Tymczasowy Rząd Jedności Narodowej, TRJN) on 28 June 1945.^[56][57] The disbanding of those structures marked the end of the Underground State.^[1][2]

The TRJN was composed primarily of communist representatives from the PKWN, with a token representation of the opposition as a gesture towards the Western Allies.^[51][53] With the establishment of the TRJN, the government in exile stopped being recognized by the Western Allies (France withdrew its recognition on 29 June, followed by United Kingdom and the United States on 5 July), who decided to support the Soviet-backed and increasingly communist TRJN body.^{[8][19][49][58][59]} Seeing this as a "Western betrayal",^[60] the government in exile protested that decision and continued to operate till the fall of communism in 1989, when it recognized the post-communist Polish government.^[19][61] The rigged Polish legislative election of 1947 marked the onset of undisguised Communist rule in Poland; the few independent politicians like Mikołajczyk who attempted to form an opposition were threatened with arrests, retired or emigrated.^[59]

The Underground State's military arm, Armia Krajowa, officially disbanded on 19 January 1945 to avoid armed conflict with the Soviets and a civil war.^[62][63] Over the next few years the communists solidified their hold on Poland, falsifying elections, persecuting the opposition and eliminating it as a political power.^[64] Remnants of the armed resistance (NIE, Armed Forces Delegation for Poland, Freedom and Independence) that refused to lay down their weapons and surrender to the communist regime continued to hold out for several years as the cursed soldiers, fighting the Soviet-backed communist forces until eradicated.^[43][56][64]

Political representation

The Underground State represented most, though not all, political factions of the Second Polish Republic. The Political Consultative Committee (PKP) represented four major Polish parties: the Socialist Party (PPS-WRN), the People's Party (SL), the SN, and the Labor Party (SP).^[26] The SP joined the PKP in June 1940, four months after the PKP was created; and the PPS-WRN withdrew from the PKP between October 1941 and March 1943.^[65] Those parties, known as the Big Four, were also represented in the Home Political Representation (KRP).^[26] Compared to PKP and KRP, the Council of National Unity was much more representative, and included representatives of several smaller political groupings.^[44] Several other groups lacked significant representation in PKP and KRP, but nonetheless had supported the Underground State.^[66] Non-Polish ethnic minorities, primarily the Ukrainians and the Belarusians, were not represented in the Underground State; however the Jews were.^[67][68]

The most important groups that lacked representation in the Underground State included the communist (Polish Workers Party (PPR) and its military arm, the Gwardia Ludowa), and the far right (Group Szaniec and its military arm, the Military Organization Lizard Union).^[69] Both the extreme left (the communists) and the extreme right (the nationalists) saw themselves in opposition to the Underground State.^[66] Only the PPR, however, opposed to Polish independence and supporting full inclusion of Poland in the Soviet Union, was seen as completely outside the framework of the State; the other groups were seen as a legitimate opposition.^[70] In 1944 PPR would become part of the PKWN Soviet puppet government.^[70]

Structure

Civilian

Further information: Government Delegate's Office at Home and Polish Government in Exile

Polish Underground State's underground Information Bulletin, 15 July 1943, reporting the death of Gen. Sikorski and ordering a national day of mourning

The government in exile, located first in France and later in the United Kingdom, with the President, Prime Minister and the Commander-in-Chief of the Polish Army was the top military and civilian authority, recognized by the authorities of the Underground State as their commanders.^[9][71] The government in exile was represented in the occupied Poland by the Government Delegation for Poland, headed by the Government Delegate for Poland.^[1]

The main role of the civilian branch of the Underground State was to preserve the continuity of the Polish state as a whole, including its institutions. These institutions included the police, the courts, and schools.^{[25][28][29][30]} This branch of the state was intended to prepare cadres and institutions to resume power after the German defeat in World War II.^[72] By the final years of the war, the civilian structure of the Underground State included an underground parliament, administration, judiciary (courts and police), secondary and higher-level education, and supported various cultural activities such as publishing of newspapers and books, underground theatres, lectures, exhibitions, concerts and safeguarded various works of art.^[11][1][73] It also dealt with providing social services, including to the destitute Jewish population (through the council to Aid Jews, or Żegota).^[1] Through the Directorate of Civil Resistance (1941–1943) the civil arm was also involved in lesser acts of resistance, such as minor sabotage, although in 1943 this department was merged with the Directorate of Covert Resistance, forming the Directorate of Underground Resistance, subordinate to AK.^[13]

The departments can be seen as loosely corresponding to ministries. Three departments were dedicated to war-related issues: the Department for Elimination of the Consequences of War, the Department for Public Works and Reconstruction, and the Department for Information and the Press; the other departments mirrored pre-war Polish ministries (e.g., Department of Post Offices and Telegraphs, or Department of the Treasury).^[74] The Delegate's Office was divided into departments,^[75] 14 of which existed toward the end of the war; the full list included: the Presidential Department, the Department of Internal Affairs, Justice Department, Employment and Social Welfare Department, Agriculture Department, Treasury Department, Trade and Industry Department, Postal and Telegraph Services Department, the Department for Elimination of the Consequences of War, Transport Department, Information and the Press, Department of Public Works and Reconstruction, Department of Education and Culture and the Department of National Defence.^[1]

On the geographical division level, the Delegation had local offices, dividing Polish territories into 16 voivodeships, each under an underground voivode, further divided into powiats headed by starostas, and with separate municipal bodies.^[1] In early 1944, the Delegation employed some 15,000 people in its administration; those were primarily older people, as the younger ones were recruited for the military side of the operations.^[1]

Military

Further information: Związek Walki Zbrojnej and Armia Krajowa

Regional organization of Armia Krajowa in 1944

The military arm of the Polish Underground State consisted primarily of various branches of the Armia Krajowa (AK) and, until 1942, the Union of Armed Struggle. This arm of the state was designed to prepare the Polish society for a future fight for the country's liberation. Apart from armed resistance, sabotage, intelligence, training, and propaganda, the state's military arm was responsible for maintaining communication with the London-based government in exile, and for protecting the civilian arm of the state.^[76][77]

The Armia Krajowa's primary resistance operations were the sabotage of German activities, including transports headed for the Eastern Front in the Soviet Union.^[63] The sabotage of German rail and road transports to the Eastern Front was so extensive it is estimated that one eighth of all German transports to the Eastern Front were destroyed or significantly delayed due to AK's activities.^[78]

The AK also fought several full-scale battles against the Germans, particularly in 1943 and 1944 during Operation Tempest.^[63] They tied down significant German forces, worth at least several divisions (upper estimates suggest about 930,000 troops), diverting much-needed supplies, while trying to support the Soviet military.^[63][79][80] Polish intelligence operatives supplied valuable intelligence information to the Allies; 43 percent of all reports received by British secret services from continental Europe in 1939–45 came from Polish sources.^[81][82] At its height, AK numbered over 400,000 and was recognized as one of the three largest, or even the largest,^[b] resistance movement of the war.^[83][84][85] Axis fatalities due to the actions of the Polish underground, of which AK formed the bulk, are estimated at up to 150,000.^[86]

Definition, historiography and remembrance

The Polish Underground State Monument in Poznań

For decades, research on the Polish Underground State was restricted, largely because the communist People's Republic of Poland did not wish to fully acknowledge the role of the non-communist resistance.^[87] During the first postwar Stalinist years, efforts to explore this topic were regarded as dangerous, bordering on illegal.^[87] Research into the events occurring in the Soviet-annexed territories in the 1939–1941 period was particularly difficult.^[73][88] The limited research devoted to the Underground State that did take place was done mainly by Polish émigré historians living in the West.^[89][90] The communist state downplayed the importance of the non-communist resistance movements, while the communist movement (Armia Ludowa) was emphasized as being of primary importance; in fact, the opposite was true.^[91] The absence of research by Polish scholars, along with obstacles presented to foreign scholars seeking access to source material in communist Poland, contributed to a situation in which there was virtually no discussion by Western scholars of one of Europe's largest resistance movements—the non-communist Polish resistance movement. The bulk of Western research centred on the much smaller^[b] French Resistance (la Résistance).^[92][93]

With the fall of communism, Poland regained full independence and Polish scholars could begin unrestricted research into all aspects of Polish history.^[94] Scholars who chose to investigate the Underground State were also confronted with the issue of its uniqueness (no country or nation has ever created a similar institution), and hence, the problem of defining it.^[89] Polish historian Stanisław Salmonowicz, discussing the historiography of the Polish Underground State, defined it as a "collection of state-legal, organizational and citizenship structures, which were to ensure constitutional continuation of Polish statehood on its own territory".^[95] Salmonowicz concluded that "This constitutional continuity, real performance of the state's functions on its past territory and the loyalty of a great majority of Polish society were the most significant elements of its existence."^[95]

The Underground State also became officially recognized by the Polish government, local authorities and the community, with most major cities in Poland erecting various memorials to the Underground State affiliated resistance.^[96] In Poznań, there is a dedicated Polish Underground State Monument erected in 2007.^[96] On 11 September 1998 the Sejm (parliament) of Poland declared the day of 27 September (anniversary of the founding of the Service for Poland's Victory organization) to be the Day of the Polish Underground State.^[97]

See also

• Home Army
• Kotwica
• Minor sabotage
• Polish contribution to World War II
• Polish resistance movement in World War II
• Polish Resettlement Corps

Notes

a ^ The more widely used term Polish Underground State was first used on 13 January 1944 by the official underground publication of the Polish underground authorities, the Biuletyn Informacyjny.^[98] Polish Secret State (Polish: Tajne państwo) was a term used by Jan Karski in his book Story of a Secret State, written and first published in the second half of 1944 in the United States.

b ^ Several sources note that the Armia Krajowa was the largest resistance movement in Nazi-occupied Europe. For example, Norman Davies wrote "Armia Krajowa (Home Army), the AK, which could fairly claim to be the largest of European resistance";^[83] Gregor Dallas wrote "Home Army (Armia Krajowa or AK) in late 1943 numbered around 400,000, making it the largest resistance organization in Europe";^[84] Mark Wyman wrote "Armia Krajowa was considered the largest underground resistance unit in wartime Europe".^[85] Certainly, the Polish resistance was the largest resistance movement until the German invasion of Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union in 1941; in the last years of the war those two resistances would rival AK in its strength (see Resistance during World War II for a more detailed analysis). Compared to them, the size of the French resistance was smaller, numbering around 10,000 people in 1942, and swelling to 200,000 by 1944.^[99]

References

1. Grzegorz Ostasz, The Polish Government-in-Exile's Home Delegature. Article on the pages of the London Branch of the Polish Home Army Ex-Servicemen Association. Retrieved 4 April 2011.
2. Garliński, p. 253
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Further reading

• Jan Karski (2001). Story of a Secret State. Simon Publications. ISBN 978-1-931541-39-8.
• Halik Kochanski (2012). The Eagle Unbowed: Poland and the Poles in the Second World War. Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-06816-2.
• Stefan Korboński; Francis Bauer Czarnomski; Zofia Korbonski (2004). Fighting Warsaw: The Story of the Polish Underground State, 1939–1945. Hippocrene Books. ISBN 978-0-7818-1035-7.
• Richard C. Lukas (2012). The Forgotten Holocaust: The Poles Under German Occupation, 1939-1945. Hippocrene Books. ISBN 978-0-7818-1302-0.
• Richard C. Lukas (2004). Forgotten Survivors: Polish Christians Remember the Nazi Occupation. University Press of Kansas. ISBN 978-0-7818-0242-0.
• Jan Nowak (1982). Courier from Warsaw. Wayne State University Press. ISBN 978-0-8143-1725-9.
• Tadeusz Bór-Komorowski (2011). The Secret Army: The Memoirs of General Bór-Komorowski. Pen & Sword Books Limited. ISBN 978-1-84832-595-1.

External links

• Warsaw Uprising and The Polish Underground State