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Leśni (short for Leśni ludzie, Polish for the men from the forests) is one of the informal names applied to the anti-German partisan groups operating in occupied Poland during World War II. The groups were formed mostly by people who for various reasons could not operate from settlements they lived in and had to retreat to the forests. Contrary to most of the organised groups of resistance, with the Armia Krajowa being the most notable, the forest people formed a sort of a standing army as opposed to regular partisan units that gathered shortly before an action and then retreated to their homes.
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The first such groups were formed in 1939, shortly after the invasion of Poland, mostly by marauders from the Polish Army and other people who evaded being arrested by the new Nazi or Soviet authorities. In March 1940 partisan unit of the first guerrilla commanders in the Second World War in Europe - Henryk Dobrzański "Hubal" completely destroyed a battalion of German infantry in a skirmish near the village of Huciska. A few days later in an ambush near the village of Szałasy it inflicted heavy casualties upon another German unit. To counter this threat the German authorities formed a special 1,000 men strong anti-partisan unit of combined SS-Wehrmacht forces, including a Panzer group. Although the unit of maj. Dobrzański never exceeded 300 men, the Germans fielded at least 8,000 men in the area to secure it.[1][2] (the most famous was the group of Henryk Dobrzański).
Although most of the groups accepted the overall command of ZWZ and then the Home Army, different realities made them remain largely independent.
In early 1943 strength of the leśni groups can be estimated at about 40 groups numbering in total 1,200-4,000 fighters, but the numbers grew significantly during Operation Tempest in 1944.[3]