Cichociemni (
PolishPolish is a West Slavic language and the official language of Poland. Its written standard is the Polish alphabet which corresponds basically to the Latin alphabet with a few additions...
for
The Dark and Silent,
the silent dark ones or
silent and unseen) were a secret unit of the Polish Army in exile created to maintain contact with occupied
PolandPoland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe . Poland is bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
during
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
The name
Initially the name was informal and used only by the soldiers who volunteered to be dropped over Poland. However, from September 1941 it became official and was used in all official documents afterward. It was used both for the secret training detachment of the Polish Headquarters created to provide the agents with necessary knowledge, money and equipment, as well as for all agents that were transported to Poland and other
GermanGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium,...
-occupied countries.
Early days
On December 30, 1939
CaptainThe army rank of Captain is an officer rank historically corresponding to command of a company of soldiers. The rank is also used by some air forces and marine forces. Today a captain is typically the commander, or second in command, of a company or squadron...
Jan Górski, a Polish Army officer who managed to escape to
FranceFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
after the
Polish Defensive WarThe Invasion of Poland, also known as the September Campaign or 1939 Defensive War in Poland and the Poland Campaign in Germany, was an invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union, and a small Slovak contingent that marked the start of World War II...
of 1939, prepared a report for the Polish Chief of Staff in which he proposed the creation of a secret unit maintaining contact with the ZWZ by a group of well-trained envoys. The report was initially ignored, so Górski repeated it several times. Finally commander of the Polish air forces,
GeneralA general officer is an officer of high military rank. The term or equivalent is used by nearly every country in the world. General can be used as a generic term for all grades of general officer, or it can specifically refer to a single rank that is simply called general.-All general officer...
Zając, replied that although creation of such a unit would be a good move, the Polish Airforce had no means of transport and no training facilities for such a unit to be created.
However, Górski and his colleague
Maciej KalenkiewiczMaciej Kalenkiewicz was a Polish engineer and military officer, a podpułkownik of the Polish Army. During the World War II he received training as a Cichociemny and was delivered to occupied Poland, where he assumed the command over the Nowogródek Home Army area...
continued studying the possibility of paratroops and
special forcesSpecial forces and special operations forces are generic terms for elite highly-trained military teams/units that conduct specialized operations such as reconnaissance, unconventional warfare, direct action and counter-terrorism actions.In the United States, the term special operations forces is...
. After the capitulation of
FranceFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
, they managed to reach the
United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
. They studied documents on German paratroops and drafted a plan to create in exile a Polish airborne force to be used in covert support operations. The force was to be employed solely in aid of a future
uprisingOperation Tempest was a series of uprisings conducted during World War II by the Polish Home Army ....
in occupied Poland. Their plan was never adopted, but on September 20, 1940, the Polish
commander-in-chiefA commander-in-chief is the commander of a nation's military forces or significant element of those forces. In the latter case, the force element may be defined as those forces within a particular region or those forces which are associated by function. As a practical term it refers to the...
, General Władysław Sikorski, ordered the creation of Section III of the Commander-in-Chief's Staff (
Oddział III Sztabu Naczelnego Wodza). The purpose of Section III was contingency planning for covert operations in Poland, air delivery of arms and supplies, and training of paratroops.
Training
The 3rd Detachment started to accept volunteers soon afterwards. Those who were chosen left their units silently and at night - hence the name, Cichociemni. Among 2,413 candidates, only 605 managed to finish the training and passed all the exams. 579 of them qualified for the airlift.
Among the volunteers were:
- 1 general
- 112 staff officers
- 894 officers
- 592 NCOs
Non-commissioned officer , abbreviated to NCO or Non-com , is a term in many armed forces indicating leadership ranks less senior than commissioned officers...
- 771 privates
- 15 women
- 28 civilian envoys of the Polish government in exile
The Polish government-in-exile was the government of Poland after the country had been occupied by Germany and the Soviet Union at the start of World War II...
The training prepared by the Polish 6th Detachment of the General Staff (
Oddział VI Sztabu Naczelnego Wodza) and the British
Special Operations ExecutiveThe Special Operations Executive was a World War II organisation of the United Kingdom. It was officially formed by Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Minister of Economic Warfare Hugh Dalton on 22 July 1940, to conduct warfare by means other than direct military engagement...
consisted of five parts:
- preparation and physical training (kurs zaprawowy)
- psychological and technical research (kurs badań psychotechnicznych)
- parachute training (kurs spadochronowy)
- covert operations and partisan warfare (kurs walki konspiracyjnej)
- final course (kurs odprawowy)
During the first phase of the training all the volunteers were taught to use all weapons (including British, Polish, German, Russian and Italian) and mines. Additional courses were organized on which the soldiers were trained in basic covert operations, topography, cryptography, and sharpshooting. They were also taught all the details of life in occupied Poland, from laws imposed by the Germans to fashion popular in Warsaw under the occupation. The fourth course included all sorts of covert operations,
Jujutsu, literally meaning the "art of softness," or "way of yielding" is a collective name for Japanese martial art styles including unarmed and armed techniques. Jujutsu evolved among the samurai of feudal Japan as a method for defeating an armed and armored opponent without weapons...
, and shooting at invisible targets,
The final course included learning of a new, false identity. All soldiers who passed training were sworn in as members of the
Armia KrajowaThe Armia Krajowa , abbreviated "AK", was the dominant Polish resistance movement in World War II German-occupied Poland. It was formed in February 1942 from the Związek Walki Zbrojnej . Over the next two years, it absorbed most other Polish underground forces...
.
Air bridges
The first
air bridgeAn airbridge is the route and means of delivering material from one place to another by an airlift.An airbridge is the means by which an airhead is kept supplied by overflying enemy held territory...
was organized on February 16, 1941. The Allied air commands carried out 483 air bridges altogether, losing 68 planes to air crashes and enemy fire. Apart from the Cichociemni themselves, approximately 630 tonnes of war material were delivered in special containers. In addition, the agents delivered the following amounts of money to the Armia Krajowa:
- 40 869 800 forged Polish zloty
- 26 299 375 dollar
The dollar is the name of the official currency in several countries, including Australia, Canada, the Eastern Caribbean territories, Hong Kong, Singapore, and the United States.-History:...
s in banknoteA banknote is a kind of negotiable instrument, a promissory note made by a bank payable to the bearer on demand, used as money, and in many jurisdictions is legal tender. Along with coins, banknotes make up the cash or bearer forms of all modern money...
s and golden coins
- 1 755 pounds
The pound sterling , often simply called the pound, is the currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands and British Antarctic Territory...
in golden coins
- 3 578 000 German marks
Until December 27, 1944 an overall total of 316 soldiers
http://www.polishembassy.ca/files/Polish%20Armed%20Forces%20in%20WWII%20eng.pdf and 28 envoys were successfully paradropped over Poland. Additionally, 17 agents were dropped over
AlbaniaAlbania , officially the Republic of Albania , is a Mediterranean country in South Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Montenegro to the north, Kosovo to the northeast, Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south-east...
,
FranceFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
,
GreeceGreece , officially the Hellenic Republic , is a country in southeastern Europe, situated on the southern end of the Balkan Peninsula....
,
ItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia. Italy shares its northern, Alpine boundary with France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia...
and
YugoslaviaYugoslavia is a term that describes three political entities that existed successively on the Balkan Peninsula in Europe, during most of the 20th century.The first country to be known by this...
. An unknown number of Poles were also dropped over France by the SOE to start an underground movement among the half-a-million strong
Polish minorityPolonia, which is the name for Poland in Latin and in many other languages, refers in modern Polish language to the Polish diaspora, and to people of Polish origin who live outside Poland....
(among them the best known was
Krystyna SkarbekKrystyna Skarbek, GM, OBE, Croix de guerre was a Polish-born World War II British Special Operations Executive agent.In 1941 she began using the name Christine Granville, which she legally adopted after the war....
).
Although the unit was organized in collaboration with SOE, it was largely independent. The Polish section of the SOE was the only one which chose its own men freely and operated its own radio communication with an occupied country. Also, the identities of the Polish agents were known only to the Polish General Staff.
Among those transported to Poland were soldiers of all grades. The oldest of them was 54 years old, the youngest was 20. As a rule, all volunteers were promoted one rank upwards at the moment of their jump.
The fight
In Poland the Cichociemni were transferred mostly to various special units of the ZWZ and
AKThe Armia Krajowa , abbreviated "AK", was the dominant Polish resistance movement in World War II German-occupied Poland. It was formed in February 1942 from the Związek Walki Zbrojnej . Over the next two years, it absorbed most other Polish underground forces...
. Most of them joined
WachlarzWachlarz was a Polish World War II resistance organization formed by the Armia Krajowa for sabotage duties behind the German Eastern Front, outside of the Polish borders. Its commanders were Lt.Col. Jan Włodarkiewicz and Lt.Col...
,
Związek OdwetuZwiązek Odwetu was a Polish World War II resistance organization established on April 20, 1940. It was created by Gen...
and
KeDywKedyw , was a Polish underground Armia Krajowa organization during World War II, which specialized in active and passive sabotage, propaganda and armed action against Nazi German forces and collaborators.-Operations:Kedyw was created on January 22, 1943, from two pre-existing Armia Krajowa...
. Many became important staff officers of the Polish Secret Army and took part in the
Operation TempestOperation Tempest was a series of uprisings conducted during World War II by the Polish Home Army ....
and the Uprisings in Wilno,
LwówThe Lwów Uprising was the armed struggle started by the Polish Home Army against the Nazi occupiers in Lwów, during World War II. It started on July 23, 1944 as a part of a plan of all-national uprising codenamed Operation Tempest. The fights lasted until July 27 and resulted in liberation of the...
and
WarsawThe Warsaw Uprising was a struggle by the Polish Home Army to liberate Warsaw from Nazi German occupation during World War II. The Uprising began on 1 August 1944, as part of a nationwide rebellion, Operation Tempest. It was intended to last for only a few days until the Soviet Army reached the...
.
The cichociemni took over various duties in occupied countries:
- 37 started working for the intelligence
- 50 were radio operators and envoys
- 24 were staff officers
- 22 were airmen and airdrop
An airdrop is a type of airlift, developed during World War II to resupply otherwise inaccessible troops, who themselves may have been airborne forces. In some cases, it is used to refer to the airborne assault itself. Early airdrops were conducted by pushing small crates with parachutes out of the...
coordinators
- 11 were instructors of armoured forces and professors of anti-tank warfare in secret military schools
- 3 were trained in forging documents
- 169 were trained in covert operations, diversion and partisan warfare
- 28 were envoys of the Polish government
Famous Cichociemni
Among the most notable Cichociemni were:
| Rank |
Name and nick-name |
Dropped |
Note |
| colonel |
Kazimierz Iranek-Osmecki - Antoni |
March 14, 1943 |
commander of the 2nd Detachment of the Armia KrajowaThe Armia Krajowa , abbreviated "AK", was the dominant Polish resistance movement in World War II German-occupied Poland. It was formed in February 1942 from the Związek Walki Zbrojnej . Over the next two years, it absorbed most other Polish underground forces...
General Staff (intelligenceIntelligence refers to discrete information with currency and relevance, and the abstraction, evaluation, and understanding of such information for its accuracy and value...
and counterintelligence), discovered the German V-1 and V-2 testing facility at PeenemündePeenemünde is a village in the northeast of the German part of Usedom island. It stands near the mouth of the Peene river, on the easternmost part of the German Baltic coast. The area includes the 1992 :commons:Historisch-technisches Informationszentrum Peenemünde, an Anchor Point of the...
. Fought in the Warsaw Uprising. |
| general |
Leopold OkulickiGeneral Leopold Okulicki was a General of the Polish Army and the last commander of the anti-German underground Home Army during World War II. He was murdered after the war by the Soviet NKVD.-Early life:...
- Niedźwiadek |
March 14, 1943 |
deputy Chief of Staff of the Armia KrajowaThe Armia Krajowa , abbreviated "AK", was the dominant Polish resistance movement in World War II German-occupied Poland. It was formed in February 1942 from the Związek Walki Zbrojnej . Over the next two years, it absorbed most other Polish underground forces...
, commander of the NieNIE may mean:* The German word for "never"* The Polish word for "no" or "not".* The Slovak word for "no" or "not".*NIE, a Polish weekly magazine by Jerzy Urban*NIE , the Polish anti-communist resistance movement in 1940s...
organization, arrested by the NKVDThe People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs was the public and secret police organization of the Soviet Union that directly executed the rule of power of the Soviets, including...
, probably tortured to death in Lubyanka prison in MoscowMoscow is the capital and the largest city of Russia. It is also the largest metropolitan area in Europe, and ranks among the largest urban areas in the world. Moscow is a major political, economic, cultural, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the world, a...
on December 24, 1946 |
| captain |
Tadeusz Klimowski - Klon |
January 7, 1942 |
Chief of Staff of the Polish 27th Home Army Infantry Division 27 Volhynian Infantry Division was the World War II Polish Armia Krajowa unit fighting in 1944 in Volhynia region. It was recreated on January 15, 1944 from smaller partisan units of self-defence during the Volhynia massacre and was patterned after the prewar Polish 27th Infantry Division.-...
|
| captain |
Adam Borys - Pług |
October 2, 1942 |
organizer of the Agat Batalion Parasol was a Scouting battalion of the Armia Krajowa, the primary Polish resistance movement in World War II. It mainly consisted of members of the Szare Szeregi, distinguished itself in many underground operations and in the Warsaw Uprising of 1944.- History :It was first organized as...
group fighting against the GestapoThe was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. Beginning in April 1934, it was under the overall administration of the Schutzstaffel under Heinrich Himmler in his position as leader of the SS and Chief of German Police...
. Most known action was execution Franz KutscheraFranz Kutschera was an SS General and Gauleiter of Carinthia...
, SSThe , abbreviated SS- or - was a major Nazi organization under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party. The SS grew from a small paramilitary unit to a powerful force that served as the Führer's "Praetorian Guard," the Nazi Party's "Shield Squadron" and a force that, fielding almost a million men ,...
and ReichReich is a German loanword cognate with the English reign, but used most often to designate an empire, realm, or nation. The qualitative connotation from the German is " sovereign state." It is also cognate with the Latin word and the Scandinavian rike/rige, , , ; as found in bishopric...
's Police Chief in WarsawWarsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River roughly from both the Baltic Sea coast and the Carpathian Mountains. Its population as of 2009 was estimated at 1,709,781, and the Warsaw metropolitan area at approximately 2,785,000...
in action known as Operation KutscheraOperation Kutschera was the code name for the successful assassination of Franz Kutschera, SS and Reich's Police Chief in Warsaw, executed on 11th February 1944 by the Resistance fighters of Polish Home Army's unit Agat...
|
| ensign |
Adolf Pilch Adolf Pilch was a Polish resistance fighter. He became part of the Polish special forces trained in the United Kingdom, and was parachuted into occupied Poland on February 17, 1943...
- Góra, Dolina |
February 17, 1943 |
organizer of a 1000 people strong cavalry partisan unit in the Nowogródek area, broke through to the Kampinos Kampinos is a village in Warsaw West County, Masovian Voivodeship, in east-central Poland. It is the seat of the gmina called Gmina Kampinos...
forest near WarsawWarsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River roughly from both the Baltic Sea coast and the Carpathian Mountains. Its population as of 2009 was estimated at 1,709,781, and the Warsaw metropolitan area at approximately 2,785,000...
and liberated it with his men; between June 3, 1943 and January 17, 1945 they fought in 235 battles. |
| lt. col. |
Maciej Kalenkiewicz Maciej Kalenkiewicz was a Polish engineer and military officer, a podpułkownik of the Polish Army. During the World War II he received training as a Cichociemny and was delivered to occupied Poland, where he assumed the command over the Nowogródek Home Army area...
- Kotwicz |
December 28, 1941 |
organizer of the Cichociemni and the main planner of the Operation Ostra Brama, KIAKilled in action is a casualty classification generally used by militaries to describe the deaths of their own forces by other hostile forces. The United States Department of Defense says that those declared KIA need not have fired their weapons but have been killed due to hostile attack...
in the Battle of Surkonty with the NKVDThe People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs was the public and secret police organization of the Soviet Union that directly executed the rule of power of the Soviets, including...
forces on August 21, 1944. |
| lt. |
Józef Czuma - Skryty |
February 18, 1943 |
organizer of a partisan unit of his name in the area of Warsaw, arrested by GestapoThe was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. Beginning in April 1934, it was under the overall administration of the Schutzstaffel under Heinrich Himmler in his position as leader of the SS and Chief of German Police...
on July 12, 1944, probably tortured to death in PawiakPawiak was an infamous political prison built in 1835 in Warsaw, Poland. During the World War II German occupation of Poland, it eventually became part of the Warsaw concentration camp.-History:...
prison. |
| lt. |
Stanisław Jankowski - Agaton |
March 3, 1942 |
expert forger, member of the Warsaw Uprising, survived the war to became a notable architect |
| colonel |
Józef Spychalski - Grudzień, Luty |
March 31, 1942 |
commander of the KrakówKraków , in English also spelled Krakow or Cracow and pronounced , is one of the largest and oldest cities in Poland and a popular tourist destination. Its historic centre was inscribed on the list of World Heritage Sites as the first of its kind...
AKThe Armia Krajowa , abbreviated "AK", was the dominant Polish resistance movement in World War II German-occupied Poland. It was formed in February 1942 from the Związek Walki Zbrojnej . Over the next two years, it absorbed most other Polish underground forces...
Area, arrested by GestapoThe was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. Beginning in April 1934, it was under the overall administration of the Schutzstaffel under Heinrich Himmler in his position as leader of the SS and Chief of German Police...
on March 24, 1944. |
| colonel |
Roman Rudkowski |
January 26, 1943 |
commander of the 3rd Detachment of the Home Army General Staff (air forces and aerial deliveries). |
| major |
Bolesław Kontrym |
September 2, 1942 |
organizer of the secret police force, took part in the Warsaw Uprising. After the war arrested by Urząd Bezpieczeństwa and executed in January 1953. |
| major |
Hieronim Dekutowski Hieronim Dekutowski was a Polish boyscout and soldier, who fought in Polish September Campaign, was a member of the elite forces Cichociemni, fought in the Home Army and after World War II, fought the communist regime as one of commanders of Wolnosc i Niezawislosc.- Early years :Dekutowski was...
"Zapora" "Odra", "Reżu", "Stary", "Henryk Zagon" |
September 2, 1942 |
He was dropped at night on September 17, 1943 along with kpt. dypl. Bronisław Rachwał "Glin" and ppor. Kazimierz Smolaker "Nurek" as a part of the operation “Neon 1” . Initially, he was a staff officer in the Home Army outfit under the command of Tadeusz Kuncewicz "Podkowa". Eventually, he became a commanding officer of the 4th company of the 9th Pułk Piechoty Legionów AK of the Local Inspectorate of the Home Army "Zamość". In addition to his regular fighting with German anti-partisan units and sabotage Sabotage is a deliberate action aimed at weakening another entity through subversion, obstruction, disruption, or destruction. In a workplace setting, sabotage is the conscious withdrawal of efficiency generally directed at causing some change in workplace conditions...
, he organized hideouts for Jewish refugees in his partisan camps. After the war, he joined Wolność i Niezawisłość. He was arrested by Urząd Bezpieczeństwa tortured, and tried in secrecy on November 3rd, 1948. He was sentenced to death and executed on March 3rd 1949. He was buried in the garbage dump. |
| major |
Jan PiwnikJan Piwnik was a Polish World War II soldier, a cichociemny and a notable leader of the Home Army in the Świętokrzyskie Mountains. He used the noms de guerre Ponury and Donat.-Biography:...
"Ponury" |
November 7, 1941 |
Dropped into occupied Poland on November 7th, 1941. He was the commanding officer of KeDywKedyw , was a Polish underground Armia Krajowa organization during World War II, which specialized in active and passive sabotage, propaganda and armed action against Nazi German forces and collaborators.-Operations:Kedyw was created on January 22, 1943, from two pre-existing Armia Krajowa...
of Radom-Kielce district of the Home Army. He organized large Home Army unit called Zgrupowania Partyzanckie Armii Krajowej "Ponury". He was KiA near the village of Jewlaszcze on June 16, 1944. |
| General |
Elżbieta ZawackaElżbieta Zawacka , known also by her war-time nom de guerre Zo, was a Polish university professor, scouting instructor, SOE agent and a freedom fighter during World War II...
- "Zelma", "Zo" |
September 10, 1943 |
the only woman among the Cichociemni to be dropped into occupied Poland, she served as a courier between the HQ of the Home Army and the Polish government in exile The Polish government-in-exile was the government of Poland after the country had been occupied by Germany and the Soviet Union at the start of World War II...
. After the war she was arrested and tortured by Urząd Bezpieczeństwa, yet she survived. After her release from the prison, she got her doctorate degree from Gdansk University- History :University of Gdańsk in Gdańsk was established in 1970 by the amalgamation of the Higher School of Economics in Sopot and Gdańsk College of Education .- School Authorities :* Rector: Prof. dr hab. Bernard Lammek...
. |
Losses
Out of 344 men transported to Poland 112 were
KIAKilled in action is a casualty classification generally used by militaries to describe the deaths of their own forces by other hostile forces. The United States Department of Defense says that those declared KIA need not have fired their weapons but have been killed due to hostile attack...
:
- 84 in fights against the Germans or tortured to death by the Gestapo after being arrested
- 10 committed suicide in German prisons and concentration camps
- 10 executed by the Communists during and after the war
- 9 were shot down with their planes before reaching their targets
Out of 91 cichociemni who took part in the
Warsaw UprisingThe Warsaw Uprising was a struggle by the Polish Home Army to liberate Warsaw from Nazi German occupation during World War II. The Uprising began on 1 August 1944, as part of a nationwide rebellion, Operation Tempest. It was intended to last for only a few days until the Soviet Army reached the...
18 were killed in action.
Post war
The first book about
Cichociemni in communist Poland was published in 1985. Stefan Bałuk's memoir,
Byłem Cichociemnym (
I was a Cichociemny) was published in 2008. Bałuk was 94 years old when the book first appeared in bookstores. On August 4, 1995, the Polish special forces unit
GROMGROM is the primary special forces unit of the Polish Land Forces. It was officially activated on July 8, 1990...
adopted the name and traditions of the
Cichociemni.
See also
- Armia Krajowa
The Armia Krajowa , abbreviated "AK", was the dominant Polish resistance movement in World War II German-occupied Poland. It was formed in February 1942 from the Związek Walki Zbrojnej . Over the next two years, it absorbed most other Polish underground forces...
- GROM
GROM is the primary special forces unit of the Polish Land Forces. It was officially activated on July 8, 1990...
- KeDyw
Kedyw , was a Polish underground Armia Krajowa organization during World War II, which specialized in active and passive sabotage, propaganda and armed action against Nazi German forces and collaborators.-Operations:Kedyw was created on January 22, 1943, from two pre-existing Armia Krajowa...
- Polish government in exile
The Polish government-in-exile was the government of Poland after the country had been occupied by Germany and the Soviet Union at the start of World War II...
- Special Operations Executive
The Special Operations Executive was a World War II organisation of the United Kingdom. It was officially formed by Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Minister of Economic Warfare Hugh Dalton on 22 July 1940, to conduct warfare by means other than direct military engagement...
- Stanisław Sosabowski
- Western betrayal
Western betrayal or Yalta betrayal are terms often used in some Eastern and Central European countries, which refer to the foreign policy of several Western countries between 1919-1968, which violated allied pacts and agreements made during the period from the Treaty of Versailles through World...