The Home Army was the dominant resistance movement in German-occupied Poland during World War II. The Home Army was formed in February 1942 from the earlier Związek Walki Zbrojnej established in the aftermath of the German and Soviet invasions in September 1939. Over the next two years, the Home Army absorbed most of the other Polish partisans and underground forces. Its allegiance was to the Polish government-in-exile in London, and it constituted the armed wing of what came to be known as the Polish Underground State. Estimates of the Home Army's 1944 strength range between 200,000 and 600,000. The latter number made the Home Army not only Poland's largest underground resistance movement but, along with Soviet and Yugoslav partisans, one of Europe's largest World War II underground movements.
Generał Tadeusz Komorowski, better known by the name Bór-Komorowski was a Polish military leader. He was appointed commander in chief a day before the capitulation of the Warsaw Uprising and following World War II, 32nd Prime Minister of Poland, 3rd Polish government-in-exile in London.
Krzysztof Kamil Baczyński, was a Polish poet and Home Army soldier, one of the most well known of the Generation of Columbuses, the young generation of Polish poets, of whom several perished in the Warsaw Uprising and during the German occupation of Poland.
The Polish Underground State[a] was a single political and military entity formed by the union of resistance organizations in occupied Poland that were loyal to the Government of the Republic of Poland in exile in London. The first elements of the Underground State were established in the final days of the German and Soviet invasion of Poland, in late September 1939. The Underground State was perceived by supporters as a legal continuation of the pre-war Republic of Poland that waged an armed struggle against the country's occupying powers: Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union. The Underground State encompassed not only military resistance, one of the largest in the world,[b] but also civilian structures, such as justice, education, culture and social services.
The kotwica was an emblem of the Polish Underground State and Armia Krajowa used during World War II. It was created in 1942 by members of the Wawer minor sabotage unit within the AK, as an easily usable emblem for the struggle to regain the country's independence. The initial meaning of the initialism PW was pomścimy Wawer, in reference to the 1939 Wawer massacre, which was considered to be one of the first large scale massacres of Polish civilians by German troops in occupied Poland.
The People's Army was a communist partisan force of the Polish Workers' Party (PPR) active in Occupied Poland during World War II from January to July 1944. It was created on the order of the Soviet-backed State National Council to fight against Nazi Germany and support the Red Army against the German forces in Poland.
The Cross of Valour is a Polish military decoration. It was introduced by the Council of National Defense on 11 August 1920. It is awarded to an individual who "has demonstrated deeds of valour and courage on the field of battle." It may be awarded to the same person up to four times. The medal is given only in wartime or shortly after.
Yitzhak Zuckerman, also known by his nom de guerre "Antek", was one of the leaders of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising in 1943 against Nazi Germany during World War II.
The Union of Armed Struggle, also translated as the Union for Armed Struggle, Association of Armed Struggle, and Association for Armed Struggle, was an underground army formed in Poland following its invasion in September 1939 by Germany and the Soviet Union that opened World War II. It existed from 13 November 1939 until 14 February 1942, when it was renamed into Home Army.
Józef Chyliński was a Polish soldier and resistance fighter, recipient of the Silver Star of the Virtuti Militari, Cross of Valour and Gold Cross of Merit with Swords.
In Poland, the resistance movement during World War II was led by the Home Army. The Polish resistance is notable among others for disrupting German supply lines to the Eastern Front, and providing intelligence reports to the British intelligence agencies. It was a part of the Polish Underground State.
Aleksander Krzyżanowskinom de guerre "Wilk" was an artillery colonel of the Polish Army, officer of the Service for Poland's Victory, Union of Armed Struggle, commander of the Vilnius District of the Home Army, political prisoner of the Stalinist period. In 1994 he was posthumously promoted to the rank of brigade general.
Henryk Iwański (1902–1978), nom de guerre Bystry, was a member of the Polish resistance during World War II. He is known for leading one of the most daring actions of the Armia Krajowa in support of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, however later research cast doubts on the veracity of his claims. For his assistance to the Polish Jews Iwański was bestowed the title of the Righteous Among the Nations by Yad Vashem in Jerusalem in 1964.
The Cross of the Home Army is a Polish military decoration that was introduced by General Tadeusz Bór-Komorowski on 1 August 1966 to commemorate the efforts of the soldiers of the Polish Secret State between 1939 and 1945. The decoration was awarded to soldiers of the Home Army and of its predecessor organizations.
The Montelupich Prison, so called from the street in which it is located, the ulica Montelupich, is a historic prison in Kraków from early 20th century, which was used by the Gestapo in World War II. It is universally recognized as "one of the most terrible Nazi prisons in [occupied] Poland". The Gestapo took over the facility from the German Sicherheitspolizei at the end of March 1941. One of the Nazi officials responsible for overseeing the Montelupich Prison was Ludwig Hahn.
Ludwik "Hanka" Kalkstein was a Polish Nazi collaborator of German descent. He worked as a Nazi police agent during the German occupation of Poland and then as a Stalinist informant after the Soviet takeover of Poland. Along with his wife, they became traitors to the Polish AK resistance organization. Kalkstein was responsible for the arrest and execution by the Nazis of at least 14 officers of the Polish underground, including General Stefan Rowecki.
Kazimierz Wincenty Iranek-Osmecki was an infantry colonel (pułkownik) in the Polish Army, and colonel in Poland's Home Army (AK). He fought in the 1944 Warsaw Uprising, and was responsible for negotiations between the Home Army and the German Wehrmacht.
Eugeniusz Świerczewski was a Polish journalist, soldier and drama critic.
During the German occupation of Poland, citizens of all its major ethnic groups collaborated with the Germans. Estimates of the number of collaborators vary. Collaboration in Poland was less institutionalized than in some other countries and has been described as marginal, a point of pride with the Polish people. During and after the war, the Polish government in exile and the Polish resistance movement punished collaborators and sentenced thousands of them to death.
The disbandment of Osa–Kosa 30 refers to the arrest by the Gestapo of dozens of soldiers from the Organization of Special Combat Actions, who had gathered on 5 June 1943 for the wedding of a comrade in Warsaw's St. Alexander's Church. On 12 July 1943, the chief of staff of Osa–Kosa 30, Lieutenant Mieczysław Kudelski, codenamed Wiktor, who had attempted to reconstruct the unit, was also arrested. These events forced the command of the Home Army to dissolve the unit.
Second Polish Republic
Major general 
