The Movement of the Urban and Rural Working Masses – Freedom, Equality, Independence ( Polish : Ruch Mas Pracujących Miast i Wsi – Wolność, Równość, Niepodległość ), commonly known as Polish Socialist Party – Freedom, Equality, Independence ( Polish : Polska Partia Socjalistyczna – Wolność, Równość, Niepodległość ) and abbreviated as PPS-WRN or just WRN, was an underground organisation in occupied Poland during World War II set up by the activists of the Polish Socialist Party (PPS) and continuing its traditions. The party leadership used the name Central Leadership of the Movement ( Polish : Centralne Kierownictwo Ruchu , CKR). Within the Political Consultative Committee , the organization used the code name "Koło" ( lit. ' Circle ' ).
21-619: The PPS had a long history of operating under underground conditions, primarily in the pre-1918 period, as part of the PPS Fighting Organization and the Polish Military Organization. In light of the expected war, the party's authorities made the first preparations for underground activity as early as 1934, which were made more specific in 1938 for the German occupation. The plan essentially called for
42-649: A second stage of the Nazi German campaign of violence in Poland during World War II , aimed to eliminate the intellectuals and the upper classes of the Second Polish Republic across the territories slated for eventual annexation by the German Reich. Most of the killings were arranged in a form of forced disappearances from multiple cities and towns upon the arrival of German forces. In
63-451: A series of secretive Gestapo–NKVD Conferences . The first killings of Polish intelligentsia took place soon after the German invasion , lasting from autumn 1939 until spring 1940. It was called Operation Intelligenzaktion , a plan to eliminate Poland's intelligentsia and leadership in the western part of the country, realized by Einsatzgruppen and Volksdeutscher Selbstschutz . As
84-585: The Ausserordentliche Befriedungsaktion on 16 May 1940. In the following weeks, the German police, Gestapo, SD ( Sicherheitsdienst ) and units of the Wehrmacht arrested roughly 30,000 Poles in major Polish cities, including Warsaw , Łódź , Lublin and Kraków . The interned were held in a number of prisons, including the infamous Pawiak where they were subject to brutal interrogations by Nazi officials. After time spent in
105-462: The Bliżyn forest near Skarżysko-Kamienna . Among those killed were Maciej Rataj , Stefan Bryła , Tadeusz Tański , Mieczysław Niedziałkowski , Janusz Kusociński and Stefan Kopec . Actions were started on a similar scale in other Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany . According to many historians , including Norman Davies , the action against Polish leaders was coordinated with the authorities of
126-651: The German minority in Poland and printed ahead of time by the German Intelligence as the Sonderfahndungsbuch Polen (Special Prosecution Book-Poland). Prior to AB-Aktion , in late 1939 and early 1940, most Polish university professors, intellectuals, writers, politicians, teachers and other members of the elite of Polish society were briefly arrested by the Gestapo and had their names registered. Frank finally accepted and approved
147-591: The Gestapo . Niedziałkowski was personally interviewed by Heinrich Himmler , who asked "What do you want from us; what do you expect?" Niedziałkowski responded "From you I neither want nor demand anything. With you I fight." This biographical article about a Polish politician is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . German AB-Aktion operation in Poland The 1940 AB-Aktion ( German : Außerordentliche Befriedungsaktion , lit. ' Extraordinary Operation of Pacification ' ),
168-576: The Soviet Union , who at the same time perpetrated the mass murder of 22,000 Polish military officers at Katyń and other places. The active persecution of Polish intellectuals was continued until the end of the war. The direct continuation of the AB Action was a German campaign in the east started after the German invasion of the USSR . Among the most notable mass executions of Polish professors
189-611: The intelligentsia , and people suspected of potential anti-Nazi activity began in the fall of 1939, and was seen by Nazi Germany as a pre-emptive measure to keep the Polish resistance scattered and to prevent the Poles from revolting during the planned German invasion of France . The anti-Polish AB-Aktion was prepared by Hans Frank , the commander of the General Government . It was also discussed with Soviet officials during
210-503: The WRN were based on centralism, i.e. the unquestionability of the leadership's decisions. WRN activists organized themselves into five-person cells, which were subject to a hierarchical structure. At the same time, a military organization called the People's Guard WRN was established, headed by Kazimierz Pużak as the main commander, and Józef Dzięgielewski as the organiser. A separate formation
231-544: The Warsaw District of the Workers' Committee on September 26, 1939. Then on October 2 by three members of the party's Central Executive Committee – Mieczysław Niedziałkowski , Kazimierz Pużak and Zygmunt Zaremba . In reality, the party never intended to cease operations, only to go underground. In mid-October, without the participation of Niedziałkowski, but probably with the participation of Tomasz Arciszewski ,
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#1732776482608252-667: The consolidation of all organizations affiliated with the PPS into the Union of Socialist Workers' Organizations. To this end, in 1939 the Supreme Council transferred all prerogatives and the right to direct the movement to the Central Executive Committee. The decision to freeze the activities of the PPS was made while the German invasion of Poland was still in progress. First, at the request of Zygmunt Zaremba by
273-800: The country, as were the chairman of the Supreme Council Zygmunt Żuławski , members of the Supreme Council Norbert Barlicki and Adam Próchnik , and a member of the Review Committee Stanisław Dubois . This state of affairs later became the basis for undermining the WRN's right to be the sole continuation of the PPS and sole representative of the labor movement. The movement's established leadership in Helenów consisted of: The following were co-opted without voting rights: The activities of
294-428: The group decided to form a cadre underground organization – WRN. This decision was confirmed at a conference of activists from all over Poland, which took place on November 19, 1939 in Helenów, near Warsaw . Despite the wide participation of activists from all over the country, only 3 of the 12 members of the Central Executive Committee (Arciszewski, Pużak and Zaremba) attended this meeting, although 6 others were still in
315-672: The primary activists and cofounders of the Centrolew alliance. He published several works on socialism and Polish politics. He took part in the defence of Warsaw in 1939 against the Nazi German aggression, organizing the volunteer militias . He was subsequently arrested and interrogated by the German secret police or Gestapo . He was shot dead on 21 June 1940 in Palmiry during the German AB-Aktion . After his arrest by
336-532: The prisons of Warsaw, Kraków, Radom , Kielce , Nowy Sącz , Tarnów , Lublin or Wiśnicz , the arrested Poles were transferred to Nazi concentration camps , most notably to the newly created camp of Auschwitz , as well as Sachsenhausen and Mauthausen . Approximately 3,500 members of the Polish intelligentsia were executed at the mass murder sites in Palmiry near Warsaw, Firlej , Wincentynów near Radom , and in
357-622: The remains ceased political activity, emigrated or joined the communist party. Its military formations included Gwardia Ludowa WRN and the Workers' Militia PPS-WRN . Mieczys%C5%82aw Niedzia%C5%82kowski Mieczysław Niedziałkowski (September 19, 1893 in Vilnius - June 21, 1940 in Palmiry ) was a Polish politician and writer. He was an activist in the Polish Socialist Party , editor in chief of Robotnik , and one of
378-548: The result of this operation 60,000 Polish nobles , teachers, entrepreneurs, social workers, priests, judges and political activists were killed in 10 regional actions. The Intelligenzaktion was continued by the German AB-Aktion Operation in occupied territories of central Poland. Both murder operations were conducted in part according to an "enemies of the Reich list" prepared before the war by members of
399-656: The spring and summer of 1940 the Nazi authorities in German-occupied central Poland (the so-called General Government ) arrested more than 30,000 Polish citizens. About 7,000 of them, including community leaders, professors, teachers and priests (labeled as suspected of criminal activities), were subsequently massacred secretly at various locations - including at the Palmiry forest complex near Palmiry . The others were sent to Nazi concentration camps . The mass murder of Polish leaders, politicians, artists, aristocrats,
420-466: Was the Militia WRN , which had defensive tasks and was formed in workers' centers. The militia was commanded by Antoni Pajdak . At the end of World War II, the name PPS was contested by PPS-WRN and the pro-communist Workers Polish Socialist Party ( Robotnicza Partia Polskich Socjalistów ). Eventually in 1947, most top PPS-WRN activists were arrested by Polish secret police, Urząd Bezpieczeństwa ;
441-555: Was the massacre of Lwów professors , in which approximately 45 professors of the university in Lwów were murdered together with their families and guests. Among those killed in the massacre were Tadeusz Boy-Żeleński , former Polish prime minister Kazimierz Bartel , Włodzimierz Stożek , and Stanisław Ruziewicz . Thousands more perished in the Ponary massacre , in German concentration camps, and in ghettos. The total number of victims and
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