Gwardia Ludowa

:"This is an article about a communist Polish resistance organization. For a socialist one, see Gwardia Ludowa WRN."Gwardia Ludowa ("People's Guard", abbreviated GL) was a communist armed organisation in Poland, organised by the Soviet created Polish Workers Party. It was the largest military organization which refused to join the structures of the Polish Underground State. It was created in 1942 and in 1944 it was incorporated by the Armia Ludowa.

History

Gwardia Ludowa was created on January 6, 1942. Its main tasks were: fight against Germany, by means of partisan warfare, sabotage and reprisal actions, destruction of Polish independence movement and subordination of Poland to Soviet Union. In addition, Gwardia Ludowa was connected to the intelligence services of the Soviet Union.The first partisan detachments (foray groups were organized even earlier) of Gwardia Ludowa were formed in May 1942 near Piotrków and Radom. By the end of the year the organisation was divided onto 7 administrative areas:
* Warsaw
* Lublin
* Radom-Kielce
* Kraków
* Łódź
* Silesia
* Lwów

The Lwów area was never fully developed and in 1943 it was passed to the Soviet partisans. Gwardia Ludowa was commanded directly by the head of the Polish Workers' Party. The first commander of GL was Bolesław Mołojec. After his execution in at the end of 1942 by the Polish Workers' Party he was succeeded by Franciszek Jóźwiak.

The units of GL were divided onto field partisan units and garrison units created for fast attacks and which returned to their homes after the action. By the end of 1942 GL had approximately 5,000 members, including, at least nominally, every member of the Polish Workers' Party. By late 1943 the number rose to about 10,000. Among them approximately 1,700 were partisans, and the rest were part-time fighters.

The Gwardia Ludowa carried out mostly sabotage tasks, including sabotage of railway transport. However, the units of GL also fought on several occasions against the forces of Armia Krajowa and NSZ.

On July 21st, 1944, by a decree of the Krajowa Rada Narodowa, the Soviet-recognized Polish government in exile, the Gwardia Ludowa became a part of the newly-formed Armia Ludowa.

Commanders

The prominent commanders and chiefs of staff were:
* Marian Spychalski
* Franciszek Jóźwiak
* Mieczysław Moczar
* Franciszek Zubrzycki

External links

* [http://www.ipn.gov.pl/portal/pl/398/4908/ Gwardia Ludowa, Armia Ludowa] on the pages of the Polish Institute of National Remembrance