The activity of the anti-communist resistance in the Southern Podlachia (1944-1948)

Abstract

The Southern Podlachia is understood as the area which administratively, politically and ethnically nowadays belongs to the Masovia Voivodeship, constituting its eastern part and Lublin Voivodeship. Course of military actions alongside the eastern front in July and August 1944 had a great impact on the future of the anti-communist conspiracy in the Southern Podlachia. Saturation of the area of Podlachia with the Red Army soldiers
towards the end of 1944 did not encourage the activation of the resistance. The acceptance of the communist government by the Allies created a new image of Poland at an international forum. This was reflected by the perception of the political situation in the resistance leadership. Therefore already in August 1945, col. Jan Rzepecki gave an order to disband the Armed Forces Delegation. On account of a new political situation in Europe
and Poland on the 2nd of September 1945, a new conspiracy organisation, Freedom and Independence, became constituted; it was expected to have a civil and political, and not military, nature. Overall, as a result of the activities of the independence resistance movement in the Southern Podlachia around 900 people were killed in 1944-1948, including 95 in the district of Łuków, 135 in the district of Siedlce, 98 in the district of Sokołów, 66 in the district of Węgrów, 282 in the district of Biała Podlaska and 130 in the district of Radzyń. According to my calculations the resistance movement conducted around 1500 actions targeting disorganisation of the communist authorities’ system. Spectacular actions were found amongst them, i.e. the action lead by the troops of Leon Taraszkiewicz, alias “Jastrząb”, on the 17th of July 1946, when the partisans stopped the car with Bolesław Bierut’s sister, Zofia Malewska, and her family. Military activities of the anti-communist resistance in the Southern Podlachia 1944-1948 ended in bloody harvest on both sides of the political barricade. Around 240 people were killed at the hands of the communists in the district of Sokołów; the losses of people in the district of Siedlce in 1944-1954 amounted to 430, in the district of Radzyń around 120 people, in the district of Włodawa more than 1300 people. Overall, around 2500 people died at the hands of the communist authorities in the Southern Podlachia between 1944 and 1948. It is necessary to add to that the victims of the people’s judicature, which condemned to death penalty 100 people, which gives us 2600 victims of communist in Podlachia. If to the sum of the communism victims we add
around 900 people killed at the hands of the resistance movement, we will get a number of victims of around 3500 people. This is the price the society of the Southern Podlachia paid during the fights for power between 1944 and 1948.