The Fighting Poland Exhibition has been put together by the Public Education Office of the Institute of National Remembrance and Regional Public Education Office in Lublin as part of the commemoration of the 70th anniversary of the “Storm” campaign.
Poland was the first country to put up armed resistance to Hitler’s expansion in Europe. After a bloody campaign starting on 1 September 1939 it succumbed to Germany’s military superiority, after being abandoned by its allies, France and Great Britain. On 17 September the Soviet Union joined in the attack and carved up Poland with Germany. Despite this, Poland did not surrender and throughout the World War II it continued its fight against the occupying powers with the aim of regaining independence.
As soon as the conflict began in September 1939 resistance activities were initiated all over Poland. The body that was to lead it: the Service for the Victory of Poland (SZP) was established on 27 September 1939 in German-occupied Warsaw. SZP soon became the Union for Armed Struggle (ZWZ) and then the Home Army (AK) in 1942. From the outset, in addition to military structures, civilian official bodies and underground political organisations were established.This is how the foundations were laid for building the Polish Underground State which united the people to fight against the occupying powers.
In 1944 the Home Army carried out its largest military operation with the code name “Storm”. It hit the German armies retreating from Poland and many times gave the Red Army combat support. AK forces entered liberated towns and villages, showing they were Polish, especially to the east of the country.
The Fighting Poland Exhibition prepared by the Institute of National Remembrance commemorates the Polish Underground State, a unique phenomenon in the occupied Europe of World War II. It tells of the beginnings of the Polish resistance in September 1939, its development and the various forms of underground combat against the occupying forces -the Germans and the Soviets. Using archive photographs and documents from the era. we show the key events from the Polish and regional perspective.
