Armia Krajowa Obywatelska
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Armia Krajowa Obywatelska (AKO, Citizens' Home Army) was a Polish military anticommunist organization, based on the disbanded Home Army (Armia Krajowa, AK). It was founded in February 1945 by Colonel Wladyslaw Liniarski (nom de guerre “Mscislaw”), who had previously been commandant of the Bialystok District of the Home Army.
AK in the Bialystok area was a powerful force, in early 1945 it had almost 30 000 soldiers, together with units that remained east of the Curzon Line, around Grodno and Wolkowysk. The number of soldiers grew steadily in the first half of 1945, as numerous AK brigades from Districts of Wilno and Nowogrodek were coming to Bialystok to continue fighting the Communists.
AKO was concentrated on military action, between February and September of 1945 it fought several battles and skirmishes with Red Army (62nd I.D.) and NKVD troops as well as Polish Urzad Bezpieczenstwa units. In early summer of 1945 the Soviets and Polish Communists de facto controlled only the city of Bialystok and a few major towns, like Grajewo or Ostroleka, the rest of the Bialystok Voivodeship remained in the hands of AKO. Soldiers of AKO liquidated hundreds of Soviet agents - only in May of 1945 they killed some 200 of them. They also attacked almost all towns in the area, apart from Bialystok.
Armia Krajowa Obywatelska did not exist for a long time, as in late summer of 1945 its units were disbanded. The remaining structure was incorporated into Wolnosc i Niezawislosc.
