The term Free Polish can refer to the following:
- Polish government-in-exile - The remnants of the Polish government, based in the United Kingdom, following the Invasion of Poland during World War II
- Polish Armed Forces in the West - The military forces of the Polish government-in-exile serving with the Western Allies in many of the major battles of World War II.
However, the expression "Free Polish" (inspired by the term Free French) is technically misleading and unnecessary since, unlike France, Poland never surrenderred to the Third Reich. Poland's armed forces, under an exilé but fully legitimate government, continued their fight from bases in the United Kingdom and there was no official collaborator regime in their homeland to differentiate from in political terms.
Famous quotes containing the words free and/or polish:
“Whatever does not spring from a man’s free choice, or is only the result of instruction and guidance, does not enter into his very being, but still remains alien to his true nature; he does not perform it with truly human energies, but merely with mechanical exactness.”
—Karl Wilhelm Von Humboldt (1767–1835)
“It is the art of mankind to polish the world, and every one who works is scrubbing in some part.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)