Działalność Michała Żymierskiego w czasie okupacji niemieckiej w świetle akt Ministerstwa Bezpieczeństwa Publicznego

Abstract

The Activity of Michał Żymierski during the German Occupation in the Light of the Records of the Ministry of Public Security

The article was based on material used by officers of the Ministry of Public Security and the Main Directorate of Information of the Polish Army during the 1950s in connection with a struggle waged against the so-called rightist-nationalist deviation in the Party and the Army. One of the chief examined motifs was an attempt at establishing the nature of the activity pursued by Żymierski at the time of the German occupation. Apparently, from the very onset Żymierski maintained steady contacts with German secret agents in Warsaw. Other symptoms indicate that he could have established contacts with officers of the German secret police. During the first years of the occupation Żymierski tried to take an active part in the Polish Underground but initially found himself on the margin of conspiracy work (as the head of the Reserve Officers’ Association); with time, he also made contacts with members of larger conspiracies, such as “Miecz i Pług” (Sword and Plough). In addition, Żymierski attempted to join the main current of the Polish Underground and become a member of Związek Walki Zbrojnej/Armia Krajowa (Union for Armed Struggle/Home Army). In the spring of 1942 the future communist marshal renewed his links with the Soviet Intelligence for which he had worked already in the 1930s. Until 1945 he sent from the occupied Polish capital information concerning acquaintances in political and military Underground organisations. The Soviet Intelligence headquarters in Moscow used him for work in the communist underground military organisation – Gwardia Ludowa (People’s Guard – GL); on 1 January 1944 Żymierski became head of GL’s successor – Armia Ludowa (People’s Army). In this manner, he found himself within a small group of communist activists who after the war seized power in Poland.