History
Initially there were two delegates: one for the Polish areas annexed by Germany, and one for the General Government. A delegate for the Polish areas annexed by the Soviet Union was never appointed. From 1942, power was consolidated and there was only one delegate, in the rank of deputy prime minister. He in turn had 6 deputies for each of the regions, whose responsibilities were further delegated to county-level officers.
In July 1944 the delegate's three deputies were promoted to ministers, and a Home Council of Ministers (Krajowa Rada Ministrów) was created. The Home Council became the local counterpart of the Polish Government in Exile.
The Delegation's political body was the Political Consultative Committee (Polityczny Komitet Porozumiewawczy), a council comprising 4 main political parties. On March 21, 1943, it was renamed the Home Political Representation (Krajowa Reprezentacja Polityczna) and became an underground coalition parliament, comprising members of the Polish Socialist Party, National Party, People's Party and Labor Party. It became the controlling body of the Delegation and the Headquarters of the Home Army (Armia Krajowa). On January 9, 1944, it was turned into a Council of National Unity (Rada Jedności Narodowej), the parliament of underground Poland.
During Operation Tempest, in 1944, the Council's local representatives and local Home Army commanders, as the representatives of the legitimate Polish government and the Polish Army, emerged from underground and welcomed the advancing Red Army. Despite several instances of successful cooperation with the Soviet Union, most of the Polish representatives and commanders were soon arrested by the NKVD and sent to Russian prisons or to the GULag.
During the Warsaw Uprising, the central Government Delegation for Poland likewise came out of hiding and began acting officially as the Polish parliament in the liberated areas of Poland. After the Uprising's suppression, most of the Delegation's members left Warsaw with the civilian population and managed to evade the Germans. However, contact with local branches in Soviet- and German-occupied areas was broken.
In February 1945, the Government Delegate, most members of the Council of National Unity, and the Home Army Commander-in-Chief were invited by Soviet General Ivan Sierov to a conference on their eventual inclusion in the Soviet-backed Provisional Government. They were given safe conducts but were arrested by the NKVD and brought to Moscow, where they were tried in a staged Trial of the Sixteen.
The Delegation was reconstructed and continued in its duties until disbanded on July 1, 1945.
Read more about this topic: Government Delegation For Poland
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