“The Case of Fourteen” and the Polish Anti-Soviet Underground in Lviv during 1939-1941

• Main Authors: Bogdan Levyk, Mariusz Skorniewski
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Ukrainian Center for Cultural Studies 2019-12-01
• Series: Cхід
• Subjects: lviv; soviet occupation; poland; underground; “union of armed struggle”; criminal case № p-30031
• Online Access: http://skhid.kubg.edu.ua/article/view/185935
• ISSN: 1728-9343; 2411-3093

An issue about the Polish underground activity under the circumstances of the occupation regimes in Western Ukraine is considered in the paper. Particularly, the archive criminal case № P-30031 from the fund of the Security Service of Ukraine in Lviv region about the conviction by the Russian authorities of 14 members from the headquarters of the Polish underground “A Union of Armed Struggle” has been published and analyzed for the first time. Prior to this, the course of the war between Poland and Germany on September 1st-28th 1939 is briefly characterized; an arrival of the Soviet army and army of the repressive forces is depicted. The autonomous endeavors of the Polish patriots to organize the underground military organizations for the struggle with the occupants in Lviv at the end of 1939 - at the beginning of the 1941 are described. The efforts of the Polish emigration government to organize the underground struggle against the occupants throughout the territory of former Rzeczpospolita II are confirmed. A detailed characteristic of “A Union of Armed Struggle” is given where the command staff, its quantity, a level of armament and the general readiness for the armed rebellion are presented. “The case of fourteen” members of the Union is highlighted, the behavior of police officials, detectives, judges, the officials from the cassation authorities and the Supreme Legislative Bodies of Soviet Ukraine and the USSR regarding to the defendants is considered. The authors have come to a following conclusion: despite the scale and detailed plans of the emigration government and the Polish underground organizations directed to the renewal of Poland according to the borders of 1939, the lack of state, insufficient quantity of weapons, material and financial resources for the struggle had led to the quick revelation and subsequent arrest of UAS leaders, that was one of the biggest underground organization. The analysis of the criminal, control and personal cases of UAS members has depicted the tragic fate of the Polish military underground in Lviv in 1939-1941-s.