Brygada Świętokrzyska
Introduction:
The Holy Cross Mountain Brigade has remained contentious since its formation on 11th August 1944 on the Lasocin estate, Opatów County in the foothills of the Góry Świętokrzyskie (Holy Cross Mountains). The Brigade was the military arm of the National Armed Forces (NSZ), one of the largest partisan armies fighting both the Germans and communist partisans supported by the Soviets. The Brigade was simultaneously sought by the Wehrmacht, the Waffen SS and the Red Army. To complicate matters, the NSZ did not recognise the Government in Exile in London and a proposed merger with the AK failed to materialise (Walker, 2008). An emissary of the NSZ, Bartke managed to travel to London on forged papers through Germany and then entered Spain with the help of the French Red Cross (Walker, 2008). The proposed merger between NSZ and the AK broke down over the NSZ refusal to submit to the AK’s authority. ‘Keeping track of the mushrooming Resistance movement poses as many headaches for historians as it no doubt did for the Gestapo’ (Davies, 2003 p.183). Indeed, there were over 270 fighting units ranging from the AK to ad hoc smaller groups (Paczkowski, 1995).
The National Armed Forces were formed in 1942 by the nationalist radical Lizard Union (Organizacja Wojskowa Związek Jaszczurczy) of the National Radical Camp (Obóz Narodowo-Radykalny) and included a dissenting part of the Christian-right National Military Union of the National Party. Other right-wing Christian groups were associated with the NSZ and attracted those who supported the attacks on Germans and Soviet backed partisans. The NSZ acted as an umbrella organization for Christian nationalist, radical nationalist, hard right, and extreme populist as well as conservative and monarchist orientations. It is these associations that give the NSZ and the Holy Cross Mountain Brigade ‘bad press’ which is largely based on Soviet propaganda and its known antisemitism (Kochanski, 2012). The inter-rivalries between the AK, AL, NSZ, Jewish and Soviet partisans in some areas led to armed clashes in the eastern forests of Poland prior to the Soviet invasion (Kochanski, 2012). In March 1944 divisions within the group created a split where the more moderate members joined the AK to form NSZ-AK and the ‘hard’ core formed the NSZ – Związek Jaszczurczy in August 1944 with between 1-2,000 troops fighting the communist partisans.
Operations:
The analysis of the NSZ’s activities are complex due to its political stance made it a body of interest to the Gestapo, Abwehr, the AK’s counter intelligence and the NKVD with action by SMERSH too. It is thought the AK’s counter intelligence records were destroyed in 1947, however files recently discovered by the IPN (Instytut Pamięci Narodowej) reveal how effective the AK’s counter intelligence and its networks were. Few records exist covering the NSZ (Paczkowski, 1995). As the Red Army pushed westwards and ‘liberated’ Poland, the NKVD with SMERSH and supported by the newly formed UB (Urząd Bezpieczeństwa), had lists of AK and NSZ members. Stalin wanted to ‘ethnically cleanse’ land east of the Curzon Line (Williamson, 2012), hence the increase in Soviet partisans in the designated areas. In the area north of the Pripet Marshes around Nowogródek and Wilno, Soviet partisans continued the policy of exterminating the AK (Williamson, 2012). In January 1944, the Soviets had occupied Volhynia, Polesia and south-eastern Poland, conscripting O.R’s from the AK and AL into the poorly trained and equipped Berling’s Army as it consolidated its hold on the area (Davies, 2003; Kochanski, 2012; Williamson, 2012).
The resistance behind the German lines in the General Government areas between January and July 1944 was in part a race to the front of the advancing Soviets and a need to harass the retreating Germans. On 9th June 1944 AK based in the Parczew Forest, lying 60km north of Lublin were surprised by a SS Unit and killed. It was a remote area of forests and lakes with few passable roads making it ideal for partisans. In the forests around Lublin and Zamość, the resistance groups of AK, NSZ, AL and The Peasants’ Battalions (Bataliony Chłopskie) had mobilised their units with the National Security Corps (AK) ready to police communities (Williamson, 2012). On 22nd June 1944 Operation BAGRATION was unleashed by the Soviets to clear the Germans out of Byelorussia and eastern Poland.
The NSZ broke away from the AK in November 1944 and merged with the National Military Union or NZW to form NOW (Narodowe Organisacja Wojsjowa). The formation of the Holy Cross Brigade was surrounded by rumours over collaboration with the Germans and military actions against each other (Williamson, 2012) which plagued their political credibility until 1947.
Operation BURZA (Tempest) and the Warsaw Rising 44 revealed who were members of the underground state, making it easier to remove potential opposition to the Lublin Committee. Politicians, civil leaders and officers of the AK were arrested, imprisoned or deported to the Gulags. Many simply disappeared. O.R’s were conscripted into the 1st Polish People’s Army who also posed a threat since their loyalty to the AK might not have diminished causing dissent.
Battle of Kuryłówka took place on 7th May 1945 as peace settled on Europe. The National Military Alliance (NZW) fought the NKVD near in the village 6 km NE of Leżajsk. The area is part of the disputed Galicia Stalin wanted to incorporate into the Soviet Union before Yalta and the Curzon Line was settled. The Soviets had occupied the territory in the summer of 1944 and had started a campaign to purge the area of AK and any resistance organisations plus leading political and civilian figures. In January 1945, the AK had been disbanded, and this gave rise to several partisan groups who continued the armed struggle against Soviet occupation. Notably, it was WiN (Zrzeszenie Wolność i Niezawisłość) and NIE (niepodległość) which rose from the ashes of the AK.
The first anti-communist action was on 9th August 1943 when 26 members of the People’s Guard had been captured near Borów in Kraśnik County, Lublin Voivodeship by members of the NSZ and killed (Paczkowski, 1995) much to the anger of the AK.
On 21st August 1944, the AK engaged the NKVD with support from the Cichociemni at Surkonty, in the Voranava District in the Grodno region in today’s Belarus (see https://polandinexile.com/article/cichociemni-the-role-of-couriers/). The Wehrmacht recorded up until July 1944 110,000 attacks of various types in the General Government with 1,500 attacks on the rail network, the destruction of 135 bridges and 4,500 attacks on German soldiers and police (Paczkowski, 1995). It is estimated 90,000-100,000 resistance members died (ibid).
In March 1945, the NZW took command of the partisan troops in the forests around Rzeszów under the command of Maj. Franciszek Przysiężniak (Ojciec Jan). The NKVD based in Biłgoraj sent 2 companies to Kuryłówka searching for deserters from the 1st Polish People’s Army. 200 Polish partisans engaged the NKVD who attacked the village three times (WojtekG, 2025) with many killed on both sides, unfortunately, there are no exact records to verify numbers. Fearing reprisals, the partisan unit left the area. The NKVD raised the village to the ground and shot 6 people leaving almost a 1,000 people homeless. The Red Army’s front line lay on the Oder and Nysa Łużycka rivers in the west and were clearing Pomerania around Kołobrzeg in some of the most bloody fighting of the war (See https://polandinexile.com/article/1st-polish-peoples-army/ and https://polandinexile.com/article/polish-army-air-force/). Poznań had been liberated in February 1945 with the southern sector launching attacks on Opole to cut off the retreating German Army and liberated Upper Silesia by Marshal Konev’s 1st Ukrainian Brigade.
Battle of Las Stocki on 24th May 1945 was a combined AK-NSZ unit led by Maj. Marian Bernaciak (Orlik) who was based in Puławy forest, NW of Lublin. The Soviets had sent a unit of several hundred NKVD and UB troops from Wierzchoniów south of the city. Bernaciak’s unit had sprung over 100 prisoners from the Puławy prison the previous month. Around 190 officers and 680 troops with two armoured personnel carriers and a tankette made a surprise attack at mid-day on the partisans. During the initial attack several troops were severely injured. A counterattack on the flank was followed up by another counterattack against the NKVD and UB troops, knocking out one personnel carrier and disabling the other. They managed to breakout of the encirclement and Bernaciak led a skirmish group into the forest and met by accident the commander of the anti-partisan unit, Lt. Aleksander Ligęza, (Armata) and shot him. Without their commander, the NKVD and UB troops scattered in chaos into a ravine known as ‘Zadole’ where they were liquidated.
The following year with the end of the war insight, on 18th August 1945 the Battle of Miodusy Pokrzywne took place. It was one of the first battles against communist partisans where the 1st Squadron of the 5th Vilnius Brigade commanded by Lt. Zygmunt Błażejewicz (Zygmunt) and the unit commanded by 2nd Lt. Władysław Łukasiuk (Młot) destroyed the Soviet forces trying to affect a surprise attack. They chose to hide in a barn from a heavy rainstorm before the full attack commenced. No prisoners were taken. The NSZ were in the local area and despite signal flare being fired, did not come to the aid of the 1st Squadron.
There were over 60 attacks between 1945 and 1947 by the partisan groups where prisons were targeted and former AK soldiers were freed, mainly by NIE and WiN. (See https://polandinexile.com/article/operation-vistula/).
In January 1945 the Brigade had escaped the NKVD security forces and were based at Galatz where negotiations for a safe passage had started with the Germans suggested a Polish Legion could be formed to fight the Soviets (Williamson, 2012). The idea was rejected by the ‘London Poles’.
In March 1945 the Brigade started marching west ahead of the Soviet Army and the rear actions of the NKVD liquidating any partisan resistance. Through local non-aggression negotiations with retreating German units (Chodakiewicz, 2018) the Brigade was attempting to link up with the Allies and managed to reach Boehmerwald, 35 miles from Plzeň (Williamson, 2012). The Allies main efforts were in taking the Rhineland and Ruhr areas while Gen. George Patton had by April to May 1945 liberated western Czechoslovakia having reached Plzeň.
Holýšov (Holiszów) (a sub-camp of Flossenbürg) Liberation was a surprise attack by the Brigade on the morning of 5thMay and the only resistance group to liberate a concentration camp. Located to the SW of Plzeň it was close to Patton’s Third Army forces and there were concerns that the SS would murder the inmates and burn the camp down to hide their crimes. The rescued inmates included 400 French Women, 280 Jews who were about to be burned to death and 167 Poles. The Brigade led by Col. Antoni Szacki (Dąbrowski Bohun) arrived in time to stop any attempt to liquidate the inmates. The Camp Commander switched off the electrified fence allowing the Brigade to enter and discovered the horror that lay inside (Chodakiewicz, 2018). Over 200 SS guards were captured. The Brigade went on to attack the XIII German Army, taking over 500 prisoners and assisting clearing the route for the US 2nd Infantry Division to enter Plzeň (Chodakiewicz, 2018). A few weeks later, Soviet backed partisans entered Plzeň and demanded the Brigade to be disarmed and handed over to the Soviets in reprisal for crushing a large number of units of the 1st Polish People’s Army in Kielecczyna region (Zechenter, 2019). Patton resisted Stalin’s demands and enrolled the Brigade into US Guards Companies and entitled to wear the ‘Indian Head’ insignia of the US Division and moved to Bavaria (Williamson, 2012).
Postscript:
Members of the Holy Cross Mountain Brigade joined other members of the underground in being labelled the ‘Cursed Soldiers’ (żołnierze wyklęci). Both WiN and NIE with lesser-known groups (KWP, ROAK, AKO and WiS) continued their struggle through the 1950s into the early 1960s against the Sovietisation of Poland. Similar groups operated throughout Central Europe (Bulgaria’s Goryani; Moldovia’s Black Army; Croatia’s Crusaders; Forest Army of the Baltic States; Belarusian Black Cats and the Chetniks. The remaining NSZ/ NTW units remained in Poland and were dissolved with many attempting to escape westwards to avoid the Soviets (Williamson (2012) across the ‘Green Frontier’ before destroying a police station in Zakrzówek and later in August a prison break in Kielce when 250 troops freed 376 prisoners.
Some post war writers such as, Gutman (1994), Kassow (2007) and Zimmerman (2017) identified acts of antisemitism by the resistance movements. The AK had a positive policy towards Jews being recruited and integrated into their ranks, while some local resistance groups may have behaved differently. Recent research by the IPN has clarified some of the contested history. It is most likely acts of antisemitism arose in the eastern provinces of Poland through collaboration with the Soviets during the 1939 invasion as acts of retribution for betrayals. It is a complex part of history and not by any means settled. The AK tried to assist the Jewish Ghetto Uprising, however at this stage of the war, their resources and equipment was limited and local Jewish organisations such as the Jewish Combat League or the
Bielski Partisans too were under resourced. (See https://polandinexile.com/article/warsaw-ghetto-uprising-1943/).
In 2019 the Polish Government recognised the Brigades contribution to the war effort as part of a rehabilitation process of the ‘Cursed Soldiers’. The accusation of collaboration is in part communist propaganda and part misunderstanding of the Brigades actions. The collaboration was in essence a local non-aggression pact to resist the Soviet advance over southern parts of Poland to facilitate the Brigades escape to the Allied lines.
Selected References:
Chodakiewicz, M.J. (2018) “All that Ruckus about the Holy Cross Brigade”, Polonia Institute, https://poloniainstitute.net/polands-history/all-that-ruckus-about-the-holy-cross-brigade/ (Accessed 09.04.2026).
Davies, N. (2003) “Rising ’44: The Battle for Warsaw”, Macmillan, UK.
Kochanski,H. (2012) “The Eagle Unbowed: Poland and the Poles in the Second World War”, Allen Lane, UK.
Paczkowski, A. (1995) “The Spring Will Be Ours: Poland and the Poles from Occupation to Freedom”, The Pennsylvania State University Press, USA.
Walker, J. (2008) “Poland Alone: Britain, SOE and the Collapse of the Polish Resistance, 1944”, The History Press, UK.
Williamson, D.G. (2012)”The Polish Underground 1939-1947”, Pen & Sword Military, UK.
WojtekG (2025) “7 maja 1945 roku miała miejsce bitwa pod Kuryłówką”, Historykon.pl (Accessed 11th May 2026).
Zechenter, A. (2019) “How the Świętokrzyska Brigade of the National Armed Forces saved female prisoners of the German camp in Holiszów”, Przystanek Historia, https://przystanekhistoria.pl/pa2/tematy/english-content/55503,How-the-Swietokrzyska-Brigade-of-the-National-Armed-Forces-saved-female-prisoner.html (Accessed 14.04.2026).
Selected Websites:
https://www.cestyosvobozeni.cz/en/location/holysov.html – Holýšov Liberation
https://apnews.com/general-news-9eb9502f00724a50aeb33082ff7ce692 – Poland honours the Holy Cross Mountain Brigade in Auguest 2019.
Selected YouTube Videos:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTP5GHxPSUE – Battle of Kuryłówka
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBqV9Pp0Pxs – NKVD Pacification of Poland
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_IXKfDlwJvY – Churchill Against Poland
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kiU6FB9dggI – Holýšov Liberation
