On June 30, 1943, the Gestapo arrested General Rowecki. His successor, General Bor-Komorowski was named
Commander-in-Chief of the AK. The Chief of Staff of the High Command, Colonel Janusz Albrecgt, was captured by the
Germans, and subsequently committed suicide. His post was given to General Tadeusz Pelczynski.
The High Command was divided into several sections: the organizational section, communications section, the
Command of Diversion (KEDYW), the section of Military Bureau (Portfolio) and the Bureau of Information and Propaganda.
The military administration was organized on a regional basis, dividing Poland into three areas; Warsaw, Lwow, and the
West, which were subdivided into voivodships, and districts, then again into counties, and townships. Each district as well
as subdistrict had a commander and staff. Among them were smaller units called platoons which were comprised of three
sections and in turn each section was comprised of fifteen soldiers grouped into three squads.
Bureau of Information and Propaganda operated from with the ranks of the AK. The Home Army Press was its main
instrument, and reached a circulation of over 200,000 copies. Among the numerous publications were over fifty periodicals
and many books. The subjects ranged from culture, literature, scouting, political satire, and of course, propaganda. They
were printed in several languages: Polish, French, English, Hebrew, Yiddish and German.
The Civilian Defense, headed by Stefan Korbonski, published Code of the Rights and Obligations of Poles which called
for a strict code of behaviour among the population. Any Pole found guilty of violating the sentenced to death. Death
sentences would be carried out only upon the approval of the Delegatura, or a military commander. " To kill a German
General or high official was difficult - to kill a would-be Polish collaborator was relatively child's play " The Polish
underground succeeded in maintaining a high degree of resistance despite German efforts to entice Poles to
collaborate with them. Two hundred death sentences were carried out by the Civilian Defense. Offenses of a lesser
nature were punished by flogging, at the wo. Polish women who had socialized with the Germans or had intimate
relations with them, had their heads shaven.
There was a constant stream of messages and communication between the Polish Goverment-in-exile in London, and the
Delegatura in occupied Poland. The Chief Delegate, the Commander-in-Chief of the Home Army, the Director of the Office
of the Delegate constantly relayed messages expressing their hopes and vision for a post-war Poland based on
principles of freedom and equalilty with a government that would have a democratic parliamentary system. Included in their
messages were urgent appeals for military weapons and supplies, as well as troop reinforcements.
Poles never flinched under the German threat. All over Warsaw, young patriots spray painted in red, the letters P and W,
joined together. It stood for POLSKA WALCZY! POLAND FIGHTS! It took enormous courage to do even this because to be
caught by the Germans meant certain death
