On the Soul and Character of the Polish Nation. Zrzeszenie Wolność i Niezawisłość

Prepared jointly by the Instytut Pamięci Narodowej, the Muzeum Armii Krajowej w Krakowie and the Muzeum Żołnierzy Wyklętych i Więźniów Politycznych PRL in Warsaw, the exhibition traces the origins of the WiN Association, its main lines of activity and the repressions that fell on its members.

The exhibition is enriched by priceless exhibits. Among them is a smuggled note written from prison by the last WiN chairman, Łukasz Ciepliński "Pług", the pistol of Józef Franczak "Lalek", a soldier of a WiN partisan unit killed in combat in 1963, the uniform jacket of Hieronim Dekutowski "Zapora", a Cichociemni (silent unseen) paratrooper, and a series of objects connected with Adam Lazarowicz "Klamra". Visitors will also see original issues of underground newspapers and leaflets, forged documents and the materials used to make them.

The project is partnered by the Zarząd Obszaru Południowego Zrzeszenia WiN in Kraków.

The exhibition was originally shown at the Muzeum Armii Krajowej w Krakowie (from 20 October 2025 to 8 February 2026).

The WiN Association was the most important and most numerous armed underground organisation of the postwar period, arising directly from the Home Army (AK).

It was founded on 2 September 1945 by five officers of the former AK Main Command, headed by Colonel Jan Rzepecki. Its principal aim was to transform the postwar armed underground into a clandestine political activity. Faced with the establishment, under the Yalta agreements, of the Provisional Government of National Unity, recognised by the Western Allies, the founders of WiN concluded that broader armed struggle could lead to repression, and that the chance to save sovereignty and democracy lay in the promised elections to the Legislative Sejm. The Association was therefore meant to focus on clandestine propaganda and information work. In the face of communist repression, however, it also carried out self-defence actions, and over time a number of partisan units and groups came under its command. The Association was led successively by Jan Rzepecki, Franciszek Niepokólczycki, Wincenty Kwieciński and Łukasz Ciepliński.

For more than two years the Association was the most important underground opponent of the communists. For the postwar underground it was what the Home Army had been for the resistance during the war. Nevertheless, the terror inflicted on society and the falsification of the elections could not be prevented. Despite the failure of its original assumptions, WiN continued its work, remaining underground, informing the world about the situation in the country and waiting for a change in the international situation. The last, IV Main Board of the Association was broken up in November 1947. The murder on 1 March 1951 of chairman Łukasz Ciepliński together with comrades from the IV Main Board of WiN became the basis for establishing 1 March as the National Day of Remembrance of the "Cursed Soldiers".