NIE (; short for '' niepodległość'' "independence",Jerzy Eisler, ''Zarys dziejów politycznych Polski 1944-1989'', Warszawa 1991 and also meaning " no") was a Polish

anticommunist Anti-communism is political and ideological opposition to communism. Organized anti-communism developed after the 1917 October Revolution in the Russian Empire, and it reached global dimensions during the Cold War, when the United States and the ...

resistance organisation formed in 1943. Its main goal was the struggle against the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

after 1944 (see Soviet occupation of Poland). NIE was one of the best hidden structures of Armia Krajowa, active until 7 May 1945. Its commanders were Generals Leopold Okulicki and

Emil August Fieldorf August Emil Fieldorf (''nom de guerre''; “''Nil''”; 20 March 1895 – 24 February 1953) was a Polish brigadier general who served as deputy commander-in-chief of the Home Army after the suppression of the Warsaw Uprising (August 1944 – ...

. One of the first members of the organisation was

Witold Pilecki Witold Pilecki (13 May 190125 May 1948; ; codenames ''Roman Jezierski, Tomasz Serafiński, Druh, Witold'') was a Polish World War II cavalry officer, intelligence agent, and resistance leader. As a youth, Pilecki joined Polish underground s ...

. Origins of the organization date back to the second half of 1943, when on September 27, the

Polish government-in-exile The Polish government-in-exile, officially known as the Government of the Republic of Poland in exile ( pl, Rząd Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej na uchodźstwie), was the government in exile of Poland formed in the aftermath of the Invasion of Pola ...

stated that conspirational activities should be maintained during the possible Soviet occupation of the country. Organization, statutes and structure of NIE was created by high-ranking officers of the

Home Army The Home Army ( pl, Armia Krajowa, abbreviated AK; ) was the dominant resistance movement in German-occupied Poland during World War II. The Home Army was formed in February 1942 from the earlier Związek Walki Zbrojnej (Armed Resistance) est ...

, and among those involved were General

Tadeusz Komorowski ''Tadeusz'' is a Polish first name, derived from Thaddaeus. Tadeusz may refer to: * Tadeusz Bór-Komorowski (1895–1966), Polish military leader * Tadeusz Borowski (1922–1951), Polish writer and The Holocaust survivor * Tadeusz Boy-Żeleń ...

, and Polish Commander in Chief, General Kazimierz Sosnkowski. Members of NIE were carefully selected, and ordered to break their ties with soldiers of the Home Army. In May 1944, General Leopold Okulicki was named commander of NIE. The organization however failed to achieve its objectives, due to the

Warsaw Uprising The Warsaw Uprising ( pl, powstanie warszawskie; german: Warschauer Aufstand) was a major World War II operation by the Polish underground resistance to liberate Warsaw from German occupation. It occurred in the summer of 1944, and it was led ...

and

Operation Tempest file:Akcja_burza_1944.png, 210px, right Operation Tempest ( pl, akcja „Burza”, sometimes referred to in English as "Operation Storm") was a series of uprisings conducted during World War II against occupying German forces by the Polish Home ...

, which took place in the summer of 1944. Its structures were disorganized, and there was no communication with branches located east of the German-Soviet frontline. Most officers of NIE took part in the Warsaw Uprising, and after its capitulation were captured by the

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the '' Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previo ...

. On November 22, 1944, General Okulicki was ordered to create a conspirational network in

Eastern Borderlands Eastern Borderlands ( pl, Kresy Wschodnie) or simply Borderlands ( pl, Kresy, ) was a term coined for the eastern part of the Second Polish Republic during the interwar period (1918–1939). Largely agricultural and extensively multi-ethnic, it ...

, but his efforts failed. On January 16, 1945, a meeting of General Okulicki, General Fieldorf, Jan Stanislaw Jankowski and Stanislaw Jasiukowicz took place in Krakow. On March 7, however, Fieldorf was arrested by the

NKVD The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (russian: Наро́дный комиссариа́т вну́тренних дел, Naródnyy komissariát vnútrennikh del, ), abbreviated NKVD ( ), was the interior ministry of the Soviet Union. ...

, and sent to

Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive region, geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a ...

. On March 27, the Soviets arrested Okulicki (see

Trial of the Sixteen The Trial of the Sixteen ( pl, Proces szesnastu) was a staged trial of 16 leaders of the Polish Underground State held by the Soviet authorities in Moscow in 1945. All captives were kidnapped by the NKVD secret service and falsely accused of var ...

). After these arrests, NIE was briefly commanded by Colonel Antoni Sanojca, who, with permission of General Wladyslaw Anders, dissolved it on May 7, 1945. According to its statutes, NIE was an organization aimed at long-term anti-Communist activities. It concentrated on self-defense, propaganda, and gathering information, also about the morale of soldiers of both the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army ( Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, afte ...

, and the

Armia Ludowa People's Army ( Polish: ''Armia Ludowa'' , abbriv.: AL) was a communist Soviet-backed partisan force set up by the communist Polish Workers' Party ('PR) during World War II. It was created on the order of the Polish State National Council on 1 ...

. NIE did not plan any guerilla activity.

References

{{Authority control Polish dissident organisations Organizations established in 1943 Organizations disestablished in 1945 World War II resistance movements Military units and formations of Poland in World War II Polish underground organisations during World War II Anti-communism in Poland Polish resistance during World War II