Holy Cross Mountains Brigade

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The Holy Cross Mountains Brigade (Polish: Brygada Świętokrzyska) was a tactical unit of the Polish underground NSZ organization during World War II. It was created in August 1944 in the Kielce region out of the 204th infantry battalion and Special Action Groups of the NSZ. The purpose of the brigade was the realization of the political and military program of NSZ. The commander of the brigade was Colonel Szacki ("Bohun-Dabrowski"). Initially the brigade numbered around 800 men, but eventually grew to about 1500. The unit fought against Germans (among others at Brzescie, Zagnansk, Cacow and Marcinkowice), the NKVD, and Polish communist partisans of the Armia Ludowa (at Fanislawice and Borow). In January 1945 it began a retreat through Silesia into the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia with approval of German forces who did not wish to have a second front open at their backs while they were trying to fight against the incoming Red Army. Between January 15, 1945 and the May of the same year the brigade suspended all military operations against the German army. However soon after it renewed the fight against Germans and on May 5 liberated the concentration camp at Holiszow, which led the United States to recognize it as an allied military unit. Soon after the brigade fought alongside American troops. In August 1945 the brigade was demobilized and transformed into a sentry company in the American occupied zone of Germany.