Tatra Confederation The Tatra Confederation ( ) , or Confederation of the Tatra Mountains , was a Polish resistance organization operating in the southernmost Podhale region during the Nazi German occupation of Poland . The Tatra Confederation was founded in May 1941 in Nowy Targ – the historical capital of Podhale , by the poet and partisan , Augustyn Suski ( " nom - de - guerre " Stefan Borusa ) ; with Tadeusz Popek as his deputy . The organization had its ideological roots in the peasant movement of the mountain region of interwar Poland . Wartime activities . During the German occupation , the clandestine group had about 400 – 500 members . The main geographical area of its activity was the city of Nowy Targ itself and the village of Waksmund in the same county . At the end of summer 1941 the first combat unit of the Tatra Confederation was established , named Mountain Division ( " Dywizja Górska " ) led by Major Edward Gött - Getyński ( " nom - de - guerre " Sosnowiecki ) . The unit never became a division contrary to the intentions of its organizers ; it consisted of about a few dozen guerrillas at its peak . Its main defence area and military base were the Gorce Mountains – part of the Western Beskids , and the vicinity of Turbacz Mountain in the same range . " Konfederacja Tatrzańska " published an underground newsletter in German , with a monthly circulation of about 100 copies , called " Der Freie Deutsche " , meant for the occupiers . It was edited by Aleksander Stromenger from Poznań as well as Bernard Mróz , and printed under heavy guard at the remote house of the Wincenty Apostoł family in Nowy Targ . Most articles came from Polish originals submitted by Suski himself . The paper was so well written that the Nazis believed it to be the product of internal saboteurs , and frantically investigated the Wehrmacht , but to no avail . The extent of their investigation became known after the end of the war , during the German court trial of the Gestapo chief from Zakopane , Robert Weisman . The principal aim of the Tatra Confederation was to oppose the implementation of the " Goralenvolk " action by Nazi Germany , aimed at germanization of the Polish highlanders . < ref name = " podhale24 . pl / " > < / ref > Due to organizational errors however , the Confederation was quickly broken up by the Gestapo . Augustyn Suski died in the Auschwitz - Birkenau concentration camp on May 26 , 1942 , while Major Edward Gött - Getyński was shot dead in the same camp on January 25 , 1943 . Other , previously arrested members of the organization , including Tadeusz Popek , were interrogated and tortured at the Gestapo headquarters in Zakopane in the cellars of the " Palace " Hotel ( " Death ' s Head Resort " – as called by its victims ; some 300 Jews , including women and children , were killed there also ) . Waksmund village was repeatedly " pacified " for its alleged collaboration with the Tatra Confederation . Under Soviet domination . The guerrillas of the Mountain Division who survived the wave of arrests joined the Home Army ( AK ) and fought the Nazis from within the AK structures until the end of war , under the leadership of Lieutenant Józef Kuraś ( Orzeł ) . He changed his pseudonym from Eagle to Fire ( Ogień ) after the pacification of Waksmund village on June 29 , 1943 , when his family including wife and son were massacred by the Germans . Kuraś was eventually expelled from the Home Army ( AK ) for insubordination and created his own guerilla unit called Błyskawica . < ref name = " books . google / Chodakiewicz " > < / ref > After liberation , Kuraś turned against the communist authorities including UB and the NKVD in April 1945 , once he learned about an arrest warrant issued against him by the supporters of the new Stalinist regime . He committed suicide on February 21 , 1947 , when his remote hideaway at Ostrowsko village was ambushed by the Internal Security Corps special - purpose unit ( " Korpus Bezpieczeństwa Wewnętrznego " , KBW ) tipped off by an informant . The infamous " Palace Hotel " in Zakopane housed a tuberculosis sanatorium in communist Poland , and a state - run child care centre with qualified staff . Thanks to the efforts of Auschwitz survivors and World War II historians , there was a Museum of Struggle and Martyrdom set up in its basement with a permanent exhibit of the Gestapo headquarters . However , it is now a privately owned guesthouse , and was recently put up for sale . The future of the museum is in doubt . The building may be completely refurbished or torn down , if the local council is unwilling to buy it back from its private owners .