The Polish Underground State versus the Communist Resistance. Some Remarks in the Margins of A Discussion

Abstract

The point of departure for the considerations in this paper is the decision made by the Department for Veterans and the Persecuted. By virtue of that decision a former underground activist's widow has lost the entitlement to special pension which she has had so far. The man was an activist of the underground communist party during the Second World War. Such pensions were given to people who were especially merited in the fight for independence that the Polish state conducted. There was an appeal from that decision to the Principal Administrative Court, of which the press has widely informed.

The paper has analyzed the place and position of the communist organizations, and that from the point of view of the Polish law binding at the time of the Second World War. It has been pointed that in the light of those regulations the communist organizations, functioning as branches of the international, but in fact the Soviet, communist structures. They acted against the interests of the Polish Republic, her sovereignty and independence.

Thus looking at the decision of the Office from that perspective, one should notice its content-related legitimacy.