Post by Bonobo on Nov 18, 2008 20:37:23 GMT 1
You was mislead by communist propaganda which didn't like NSZ, which fought against Soviet Russians AND Nazi Germans
I wasn`t misled. Firstly, I try to keep away from all "nationalist" groups because they are always fanatic and intolerant. Secondly, NZS committed acts of barbarity when they executed captured leftist partisans, either ethnic Poles or Jews. Thirdly, they too often collaborated with Germans, finally withdrew from Poland together with German forces.
Bo, aren't you talking about ONR? If not then sorry but we will have to disagree on number 4. This is the first time we disagree on the facts and not the opinions, btw
Once the facts are straightened our opinions will not differ that dramativcally as today. NSZ is beside the AK the most honourable formation of Polish army in WWII. And in fact they really cannot be quite seperated in the action layer: the foundation of every army is intelligence, and this was solely done by NSZ and used by both formations.here is a wiki info on NSZ
Narodowe Siły Zbrojne (English National Armed Forces, NSZ) was a right wing organization which was part of the Polish resistance movement in World War II, fighting the Nazi German occupation of Poland in General Government.
NSZ was created on September 20, 1942, from the merger of the Military Organization Lizard Union (Organizacja Wojskowa Związek Jaszczurczy) and part of the National Military Organization (Narodowa Organizacja Wojskowa). At the maximum strength it reached about a total of 70,000-75,000 members, making it the third largest organization of the Polish resistance (after Armia Krajowa and Bataliony Chlopskie).[1] In March of 1944 the NSZ split with the more moderate faction coming under the command of Armia Krajowa. The other part of the organization became known as NSZ-ZJ (after "Związek Jaszczurczy" or the "Salamander Union"). NSZ units took part in the Warsaw Uprising.
In January 1945, the NSZ Holy Cross Mountains Brigade (Brygada Świętokrzyska) retreated before the Red Army with the German approval into the German Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia. However, it resumed the fight against the Nazis again on May 5, 1945 in Bohemia, where the NSZ brigade freed women from a concentration camp in Holiszowo. The brigade suffered heavy casualties.
NSZ occupied the right wing of the political spectrum, and after the split, NSZ-ZJ, the extreme right. Its program included the fight for Polish independence against the Nazi Germany as well as the Stalinist Soviet Union, with the aim at keeping the Second Polish Republics pre-war eastern borders while gaining additional territories to the west.
During and after the war, NSZ had been subjected to provocations by Polish communists including their paramilitary organizations such as Gwardia Ludowa (GL) and Armia Ludowa (AL). Reportedly, communist partisans engaged in planting of false evidence like papers and forged receipts at the sites of their own robberies pointing fingers at NSZ. It was a method of political warfare practiced against NSZ also by Polish secret police (UB) and Milicja Obywatelska (MO) right after the war as revealed by PRL court documents. NSZ has been blamed for various pacification operations; yet, not taken to war crime tribunal for lack of evidence.
The wiki article in Polish is much more informative. It seems based on many sources.
There are also a few other sites about NSZ, both in English and Polish.
After reading them, I can say why I view NSZ with a little suspicion.
1. Creating a seperate underground organization while there already was Home Army AK was a mistake. You shouldn`t dissipate your energy and effort while the nation is endangered by a powerful enemy. The united are stronger than the seperated.
2. The attempts to unite AK and NSZ were partly successful. Most of NSZ joined AK. However, some guys refused and created NSZ ZJ. They were so radical that they murdered a few NSZ officers who had agreed to join AK.
3. Close contacts of NSZ with Germans, especially Gestapo, are a fact. NSZ intelligence cooperated with Germans to fight against leftist organizations. It meant that NSZ gave away communist Poles to Gestapo and in the other way round, Gestapo informed NSZ about their suspicions and asked NSZ squads for "intervention", i.e. liquidation of suspected Poles.
Later, the so called Holy Cross Brigade openly cooperated with Germans during their retreat from Poland. In fact, NSZ units were marching along with German troops for 4 months.
4. Some historians, both Polish and Jewish, claim that NSZ was an antisemitic organization whose members killled Jews hiding in forests. Other historians defend NSZ saying the issue is ambiguous because only recently have various independent archives been opened for serious studies. They stress the fact that NSZ accepted Jewish members as well.
The Holy Cross Mountain Brigade
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holy_Cross_Mountains_Brigade
