National Military Union
Encyclopedia
Narodowe Zjednoczenie Wojskowe (National Military Union, NZW) was a Polish
anti-Communist organization, founded in November 1944, after collapse of the Warsaw Uprising
. It was among the largest and strongest resistance organizations established in the Soviet-controlled Poland in mid- and late 1940s. The NZW consisted mostly of members of disbanded Narodowe Sily Zbrojne
and Armia Krajowa
.
NZW's first commander was Colonel Tadeusz Danilewicz, then Colonel Boguslaw Banasik. The organization was organized into sixteen "areas" and was most active in the districts of Białystok, Lublin
and Rzeszów
. It had several armed units, called Pogotowie Walki Zbrojnej, which fought many skirmishes with both NKVD
and Soviet Red Army
. Its headquarters were destroyed in early spring of 1946, when Communist secret police arrested hundreds of its members. However, several units remained active until mid-1950s.
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe 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...
anti-Communist organization, founded in November 1944, after collapse of the Warsaw Uprising
Warsaw Uprising
The Warsaw Uprising was a major World War II operation by the Polish resistance Home Army , to liberate Warsaw from Nazi Germany. The rebellion was timed to coincide with the Soviet Union's Red Army approaching the eastern suburbs of the city and the retreat of German forces...
. It was among the largest and strongest resistance organizations established in the Soviet-controlled Poland in mid- and late 1940s. The NZW consisted mostly of members of disbanded Narodowe Sily Zbrojne
Narodowe Sily Zbrojne
Narodowe Siły Zbrojne was a Polish, anti-Soviet and anti-Nazi paramilitary organization which was part of the Polish resistance movement in World War II, fighting the Nazi German occupation of Poland in the General Government, and later the Soviet puppet state known as the Polish People's Republic...
and Armia Krajowa
Armia Krajowa
The Armia Krajowa , or Home Army, 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...
.
NZW's first commander was Colonel Tadeusz Danilewicz, then Colonel Boguslaw Banasik. The organization was organized into sixteen "areas" and was most active in the districts of Białystok, Lublin
Lublin
Lublin is the ninth largest city in Poland. It is the capital of Lublin Voivodeship with a population of 350,392 . Lublin is also the largest Polish city east of the Vistula river...
and Rzeszów
Rzeszów
Rzeszów is a city in southeastern Poland with a population of 179,455 in 2010. It is located on both sides of the Wisłok River, in the heartland of the Sandomierska Valley...
. It had several armed units, called Pogotowie Walki Zbrojnej, which fought many skirmishes with both NKVD
NKVD
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 political repression, during the era of Joseph Stalin....
and Soviet Red Army
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
. Its headquarters were destroyed in early spring of 1946, when Communist secret police arrested hundreds of its members. However, several units remained active until mid-1950s.
Sources
- http://portalwiedzy.onet.pl/39559,,,,narodowe_zjednoczenie_wojskowe,haslo.html
- http://powstanie-warszawskie-1944.ac.pl/zw_nzw.htm
- http://www.zebrane-doswiadczenia.salon24.pl/30841,index.html