Polish-Jewish Relations: 1,300 Keyword-Phrase-Indexed Book Reviews (by Jan Peczkis)

Armia Krajowa: Spojrzenie Po Siedemdziesieciu Latach, by Ryszard Gryz (ed). 2015. Wydawnicto Jana Kochanowskiego, Kielce

Polish Guerrilla Combat in the Kielce Region

THE HOME ARMY: A LOOK AFTER THE PASSAGE OF SEVENTY YEARS, is the title of this Polish-language book. I focus on a few issues.

In the discussion towards the end of the book, Dr. Jerzy Gapys reminds us that the Home Army was not just a conspiratorial and guerrilla movement. It was deeply rooted in Polish society. (p. 143).

THE ZOLNIERZE WYKLECI (INDOMITABLE SOLDIERS) IN THE KIELCE AREA

Kinga Majecka describes the fight of the U. B. (Bezpieka), the Soviet-imposed Communist security forces, against the Polish freedom fighters. There were strong units of A. K., NSZ, and–later–WiN, in the Kielce area. Their numbers were considerable–in the 120,000–180,000 range. (p. 107). They were especially situated near Blizyn, Suchedniow, Bodzentyn, Nowa Slupia, Morawica, Checiny, Lopuszno, Piekoszow, Zagnansk, Ciwo, Daleszyce, and Niewachlow. (pp. 106-107).

In one example of guerrilla combat, the WiN unit led by Jerzy Bellona “Cygan”, attacked a Communist militia MO (Milicja Obywatelska) outpost at Bodzentyn. They also conducted other ambush attacks against Communist security forces. (p. 115).

After the confessedly-sham elections of January 1947 (p. 105), the Communists officially came to power, and further resistance lost any sense, in the view of the author. According to Communist sources, about 90% of WiN and 60% of national forces disclosed themselves after the amnesty of February 22, 1947. (p. 105).

THE COMMUNIST MURDERERS

In the discussion towards the end of the book, Zygmunt Peksyk estimates that there were 50,000 to 70,000 active Communist killers, of which the Bezpieka was the worst. Jews played a disproportionate role in these crimes: Salomon Morel, Julia Brystigier (Brystiger), and Stefan Michnik, to name a few. (p. 135).

POSTWAR REUNIONS OF A. K. VETERANS IN THE KIELCE AREA

After the (nominal) end of Stalinism in Poland and the “thaw” of 1956, certain Home Army veterans dared once again meet publicly. The ZBoWiD (Zwiazek Bojownikow o Wolnosc i Demokracje) specifically the “Ponury” and “Nurt” group, had a reunion in the Swietokrzyskie area. Around 2,000 people came. (p. 122). This area had a long history of Polish independentist activity. In the January 1863 Insurrection, Polish forces had bivouacked in the area, and, 80 years later, the “Ponury” guerrillas had fought there in 1943. (p. 123). These reunions became an annual event in the fall, throughout the 1960s.

After that, the reunions and activities continued. With the (nominal) fall of Soviet-imposed Communism in 1989, the “Ponury” and “Nurt” group became the core of a new global organization, the SZZAK (Swiatowy Zwiazek Zolnierzy Armii Krajowej), or the World Union of the Home Army Veterans. (p. 127). In 1989, there were 225 verified still-living A. K. soldiers, and, in 2015, there were still 22 veterans alive. (p. 128).