Polish Underground State

The **Polish Underground State** (, also known as the **Polish Secret State**) was a single political and military entity formed by the union of resistance organizations in occupied Poland. They were loyal to the Polish government-in-exile in London. The armed wing of the Polish Underground State is called the Home Army.

### Membership

The size of the Home Army throughout its existence is outlined as follows.

|Year|Size|
| --- | --- |
|100,000||
|200,000||
|400,000||

### Structure

The Home Army Headquarters was divided into two bureaus, five sections and several other specialized units:

- Section I: Organization – personnel, justice, religion
- Section II: Intelligence and Counterintelligence
- Section III: Operations and Training – coordination, planning, preparation for a nationwide uprising
- Section IV: Logistics
- Section V: Communication – including with the Western Allies; air drops
- Bureau of Information and Propaganda (sometimes called "Section VI") – information and propaganda
- Bureau of Finances (sometimes called "Section VII") – finances
- Kedyw (acronym for _Kierownictwo Dywersji_, Polish for "Directorate of Diversion") – special operations
- Directorate of Underground Resistance

The Home Army's commander took orders from the Polish Commander-in-Chief (General Inspector of the Armed Forces) of the Polish government-in-exile and the Government Delegation for Poland.

|Home Army commander|Codename|Period|Replaced because|Fate|Photo|
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|General Michał Karaszewicz-Tokarzewski <small>Technically, commander of Służba Zwycięstwu Polski and Związek Walki Zbrojnej as Armia Krajowa was not named such until 1942</small>|_Torwid_|– March 1940|Arrested by the Soviets|Joined the Anders Army, fought in the Polish Armed Forces in the West. Emigrated to the United Kingdom (UK).||
|General Stefan Rowecki|_Grot_|– June 30, 1943|Discovered and arrested by German Gestapo|Imprisoned in Sachsenhausen concentration camp. executed by personal decree of Heinrich Himmler following the start of the Warsaw Uprising.||
|General Tadeusz Komorowski|_Bór_|– September 2, 1944|Surrendered after end of Warsaw Uprising.|Emigrated to United Kingdom.||
|General Leopold Okulicki|_Niedźwiadek_|– January 17, 1945|Dissolved the AK trying to lessen the Polish-Soviet tension.|Arrested by the Soviets, sentenced to imprisonment in the Trial of the Sixteen. Likely executed in 1946.||

## Persecution under Soviet occupation

After Nazi Germany was defeated, the Soviet Union set up a puppet state in Poland, subjecting Poland to communist totalitarianism until 1989, while Soviet troops did not leave Poland until 1993. The puppet state's founding came with the arrest of 25,000 Polish Home Army soldiers, who were deported to Gulag camps in Russian mainland. As many as 100,000 Polish women were also raped by Soviet soldiers.

Some anti-communist Poles rose up in arms against the Soviet occupiers right after the war. However, the armed resistance failed due to the lack of external support. Tens of thousands of them were deported to Gulag camps as well, with a few to no confirmed survivors. Among them consisted of 6,000 Poles being jailed in Borowicze (now Borovichi, Russia) and 6,300 in Stalinogorsk (now Novomoskovsk, Russia). The exact number is unknown due to the lack of access to all of the relevant Soviet documents.

## Infobox (country)

- **conventional long name**: Polish Underground State
- **native name**: _Polskie Państwo Podziemne_
- **common name**: Polskie Państwo Podziemne
- **status**: Government in exile
- **p1**: Second Polish Republic
- **flag p1**: Flag of Poland (1928-1980).svg
- **s1**: Provisional Government of National Unity
- **flag s1**: Flag of Poland (1928-1980).svg
- **image flag**: Flaga_PPP.svg
- **flag**: Flag of Poland
- **image coat**: Kotwica jako symbol Polski Walczącej (SVG).svg
- **symbol type**: Emblem
- **national motto**:
 ()
- **national anthem**: "Mazurek Dąbrowskiego"
()
- **common languages**: Polish language, Polish
- **government type**: Republic
- **title leader**: <small>List of heads of state of Poland, President of the Polish government-in-exile</small>
- **year leader1**: 1939–1945
- **title deputy**: <small>Prime Minister of the Polish government-in-exile</small>
- **deputy1**: Władysław Sikorski
- **year deputy1**: 1939–1940 <small>(first)</small>
- **deputy2**: Tomasz Arciszewski
- **year deputy2**: 1944-1945 <small>(last)</small>
- **era**: World War II
- **event pre**: Constitution adopted
- **date pre**: April 23, 1935
- **event start**: Invasion of Poland
- **date start**: 1 September
- **year start**: 1939
- **event end**: Provisional Government of National Unity established
- **date end**: 28 June
- **year end**: 1945