Piotr Kazana

The geographical location of Nowy Sącz had a huge impact on the occupational history of the town. Given the geopolitical relations of the period in central Europe, the short distance between the city and the border with the Slovak Republic was important for the role it played in the underground operations during World War II.[1] From the second half of September 1939 until spring 1944 Nowy Sącz and the whole Sądecki region became one of the most important points on the map of smuggling people through the border and on the routes of the civil and military underground communication between the occupied country and the Polish government in exile (located in Paris until June 1940 and then, until the end of the war, in London).

After the German forces took control of Nowy Sącz on 6 September 1939, one of the first forms of underground activities, spontaneously organized, was helping people who wanted to get out of the occupied country. Their main motivation was the desire to continue fighting against Germany alongside allied France. It was possible because from October 1939 it was in this country that the Government of the Republic of Poland in exile functioned with President Władysław Raczkiewicz and Prime Minister, who also served as Chief Commander, Gen. Władysław Sikorski.[2] In accordance with the Polish-French agreements signed between the end of September 1939 and may 1940, the voluntary units of the Polish Army under the French staff, but commanded by Polish officers were formed in the country.[3] The news about the formation of the Polish Armed forces units in France caused a stir in the occupied country, especially among the surviving soldiers of the defensive war of September 1939 and civilians, who were just now trying to join the fight against the occupant. There were several ways to safely get out of the country: through Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Yugoslavia, and even by sea, through Lithuania and Sweden[4]. However, due to the geopolitical situation at that time, the fastest and safest option turned out to be crossing the southern Carpathian border. From autumn 1939 to spring 1940, thousands of people found their way through it: soldiers, weapons specialists (including artillery officers and pilots), engineers, politicians, people of culture and science and others. The intensifying repressions mad more and more people threatened with arrest and Jews, saving their lives, flee.^[5]

The Hungarian direction, crossing the Sącz region and the city of Nowy Sącz, was the most significant for the emerging smuggling routes. This was due to several factors – mainly due to the closeness of the border and the borderline being charted through the forested hills of the Beskids, relatively easy to get across, in terms of technique. Logistically speaking the fastest way to Budapest led through Nowy Sącz, after traversing Slovakia. From there, mainly through Yugoslavia and then the Mediterranean Sea, it was possible for people to reach the southern French coast by ship. Hungary, despite being part of the Nazi countries axis, has remained neutral towards the September assault of Germany, Slovakia and the Soviet Union on Poland from the first day of the war. After the Soviet Union invaded on 17 September 1939, the Hungarian authorities opened their border with the Second Polish Republic for civilian and military refugees.^[6] Polish soldiers were disarmed and interned in camps scattered around the territory of Hungary. In practice, they were treated as guests and friends who were supposed to be helped.^[7] Moreover, despite German pressure, until June 1941 the Hungarian authorities turned a blind eye to the Polish legation remaining active in Budapest^[8].

However, the situation with the Slovak Republic was completely different. The Slovaks, unlike the Hungarian authorities, assumed the role of aggressors and occupants of small fragments of the Polish Spisz and Orawa regions.^[9] However, the sentiments of Slovak society did not fully align with the state anti-Polish narrative. The mostly positive attitude toward the Polish case was decisive for the success of the cross-border people smuggling operations. Many Slovaks were their active participants. This behavior was influenced by the close neighbor relations of the people on both sides of the border. It often was a result of participation in the contraband smuggling or even of family ties.^[10] Unfortunately, a dark page in history was written by the Slovak militia units of Hlinkova Garda^[11] and Finančna Stráž^[12]catching Polish refugees and handing them over to the Germans.^[13] The geopolitical situation on the southern border also helped increase the chances to reach the destination abroad. That is why in the autumn of 1939 so many refugees had come to the occupied Nowy Sącz. They arrived by all available means, from all corners of the country.^[14] The pre-war contacts were valued like gold, they were quickly spread among the interested “tourists”. Guests such as these often visited the house of Tadeusz Sokołowski at Józef Szujskiego 10 Str. Before the war he studied law at the Warsaw University, which is why he was hosting a lot of friends from Warsaw in the autumn of 1939. Together with his mother Anna, he would provide the refugees with wide-ranging assistance: lodgings, food and organizing their crossing to Hungary.^[15] They were joined in the efforts by Zbigniew Ryś, a colleague of Tadeusz from school, who recalled after the war: […] Our work was spontaneous and makeshift – we were driven by patriotism and desire to oppose the occupant.^[16] Similar points were located in other districts of the city at Kościelna Str., where the law firm of Dr. Hyży used to be, at Galler’s dental practice on Batorego Str., in the Freisler family home at Nawojowska 70 Str., at the Kwiatkowski family at Toczewskiego 3 Str., in the apartment of the Lohs family on Chodkiewicza and Batorego Strs., in the Stramka family house at Gorzkowska 37 Str., in the apartments of the Kuhnen family at Grodzka 16 Str., of Jadwiga Wolska and of the Moszycki and Wzorek families on Tatrzańska Str. and of the Stobiecki family^[17] at Kunegundy 14 Str.^[18], as well as in apartments of Wanda, Maria and Zofia Flis  at Jagiellońska 29 Str. or of Stefan and Arpad Marschalko at Jagiellońska 76 Str.^[19]

Biegonice and Nawojowa, directly adjacent to the city, were two equally important elements of the smuggling arrangements thanks to the involvement of Jadwiga Steifertówna and the Mirek and Stadnicki families^[20]. It is impossible to calculate today how many families and people were involved in this process, but the pattern remained more or less the same. First, friends would arrive, then the next ones would come to the specified specified address, this time – friends of friends. Those without contacts such as these often sought help from local priests. One example is the clergy house of the church in Biegonice. Together with local families, priests Józef Kądziołka, Stanisław Śmiałek and Stefan Zalesiński provided various kinds of help to refugees^[21].

The initial uncoordinated and spontaneous attempts to cross the southern border often would end tragically. Many refugees, instead of Budapest, went to German and Slovak prisons. The atmosphere of these events is perfectly reflected in the account of Leopold Kwiatkowski “Tomek”, one of the main organizers of people smuggling in the Sącz region, a later courier of the Government Delegation for Poland: In 1939, many groups, better or worse organized, tried crossing the Slovak border to go to Hungary, choosing routes in the Sącz district, through Krynica, Piwniczna, Szczawnica. They were often so-called “wild” groups, not organized, making risky decisions when crossing the border […]. When harsh winter came and the control of the Germans and the Gestapo was tightened, the conditions of passage became very difficult. The prison in Nowy Sącz was filled with people who were caught [at the border]. The Sucha Valley near Piwniczna, is now named the Valley of Death^[22].

On the border of the General Government (GG), created on 12 October 1939, which included Nowy Sącz and the Sącz region with Slovakia, the Slovak border guards and the German Zollgrenzchutz^[23] units were very active. The situation was additionally complicated by the issue of national relations near the border in the Sącz region. The greatest threat was the attitude of the ukrainized Lemkos who would look for and catch people at the border.^[24] However, as Józef Bieniek rightly pointed out, it was not possible to continue the people smuggling without the involvement of the Lemkos of the Sącz region.^[25] To prevent further arrests, the crossings, until now uncoordinated and spontaneous, have been put into an organized framework. The most important role in the initial stage of creation of the smuggling routes was played by the Krakow District of the White Eagle Organization (Organizacja Orła Białego, OOB).^[26] On behalf of this organization the routes to Hungary were prepared by Eng. Henryk Radosiński “Herfurt”. Based on the pre-war structures and members of the Non-front Diversionary Group, coming mainly from among young scouts, OOB began creating the first organized smuggling networks.^[27] Nowosądecki district was divided into two parts with the cryptonyms “Lubań” (Nowy Sącz, Linko, Szczawnica, Krościenko nad Dunajcem) and “Poprad” (Nowy Sącz, Piwniczna, Rytro), which was commanded by Lt. Klemens Gucwa “Góral”^[28]. With the establishment of the Service for Poland’s Victory (Służba Zwycięstwu Polski, SZP) and its transformation into the Union of Armed Struggle (Związek Walki Zbrojnej, ZWZ), the achievements of the OOB in the field of people smuggling routes were passed under the command the Main Command (Komenda Główna, KG) of the SZP-ZWZ.^[29] In Nowy Sącz, a smuggling network, led by Ludwik Kowalski, “Leopold Korabiewicz” was created as part of the OOB. However, the young age of its members and the carelessness in its activity led to the organization being busted in spring 1940. Many of the people involved in it were later murdered by the Germans in the June execution in the forest near Wysokie. Alongside the OOB, the people smuggling operation in the Sącz region was also undertaken, from December 1940 by The Union of Military Action (Związek Czynu Zbrojnego, ZCZ) and the Polish Armed Organisation (Polska Organizacja Zbrojna, POZ). Numerous arrests of members of both organizations led to their destruction by the Nowy Sącz Gestapo^[30]. The organizers of the transfer routes first sought cooperation with people trained in diversionary groups in after them – guides who, during the first spontaneous wave, on their own, selflessly or for money, smuggled people across the border. These were mainly small-time smugglers and Polish and Lemko people living near the border. Another desirable group were athletes, as the service required people of high physical fitness level.

The best organized smuggling group in Nowy Sącz was created by “Góral” mentioned above. He asked Jan Freisler “Sądecki” and Leopold Kwiatkowski for help in its creation. They managed to secure the involvement of several couriers: Rudolf Lenc “Rudek”^[31], Zbigniew Lohse “Łupieński”^[32], Roman Stramka “Romek”, Jan Szyszka “Piekarski”^[33], Tadeusz Sokołowski “Ogór”, brothers Kazimierz and Władysław Świerczek^[34], Franciszek Krzyżak “Frantol”^[35], Władysław Olchawa, brothers Józef and Tadeusz Ciastoń^[36] and Zbigniew Ryś “Fantom”. All of them knew each other from a common yard and sports. They lived near each other, mainly in Gorzków, the railway district of Nowy Sącz. Before the outbreak of the war, they practiced skiing, track and field and football together at the “Sandecja” Railway Military Training Sports Club (Klub Sportowy Kolejowego Przysposobienia Wojskowego, KS KPW). The guardian and trainer of the skiing section was the oldest of them, Kwiatkowski, whose life passion, besides skiing, was aviation.

To control the chaos on the border of the GG, establishing of permanent bilateral communication between the occupied country and the Polish government and military authorities located in France, and from June 1940 in the UK, was necessary. It was essential in order to exchange necessary information and money and to coordinate operations against the occupants. In the reality of the Second World War, it was maintained in two ways: with technology, by using radio stations^[37] and with human resources in the form of clandestine and properly trained emissaries, couriers, runners and guides.^[38] Each of the couriers took an oath, received a pseudonym, false documents and wage. As the elite among them, the emissaries, who were properly trained, were assigned the most responsible missions. The courier would be send with a special task, by the safest possible route known to him. Emissaries and couriers carried messages perfectly disguised in everyday objects.^[39] They personally delivered the letters they were entrusted with to designated contact points, without learning their content themselves. A runner was constantly coursing between intermediate points, like a postman moving through area well known only to them. The guides were smuggling groups of people or individuals, they also acted as guides for couriers and government emissaries crossing the border in the area they worked in.

In the autumn of 1939 SZP began to form the Foreign Communication Cell, giving it the code names “Zagroda”, “Łza” and “Zenobia”. In June 1940, the southern transfer routes of the KG SZP-ZWZ were merged into the “South” section divided into four subsections. The routes running through Nowy Sącz were given the code name “Sabina” and the person responsible for them was Stefan Ryś ps. „Waga”. The routes were:

1. Nowy Sącz – Rytro – Kordowiec – Kosarzyska – Eliaszówka (border crossing) – Stará Ľubovňa – Lipany – Prešov (border crossing) – Košice – Budapest;
2. Nowy Sącz – Krynica – Tylicz (border crossing) – Lenartov – Minčol – Čergov (Čergov Mountains) – via Torysa river to Košice – Budapest;
3. Nowy Sącz – Rytro – Kordowiec – Kosarzyska – Eliaszówka (border crossing) – Stará Ľubovňa – Kežmarok – Spišská Nová Ves – Hnilec (border crossing) – Rožňava – Budapest;
4. Nowy Sącz – Krynica (border crossing) – Lenartov – Bardejov – Kapušany – Vranov – Garany (border crossing) – Sátoraljaújhely – Oramus (former vineyard of Kraków merchants) – Budapest;
5. Nowy Sącz – Przehyba – Szczawnica – Lesnica – Poprad – Rožňava – Budapest (or through Andrassy Park near Veľká Poloma to Budapest);
6. Nowy Sącz – Kosarzyska (the Valley of Death) – Eliaszówka – Prešov – Košice – Budapest;
7. Nowy Sącz – Kosarzyska – Eliaszówka (border crossing) – Jarabina – Kežmarok (border crossing) – Budapest;
8. Nowy Sącz – Muszyna (border crossing) – Orlov – Prešov (border crossing) – Košice – Budapest;
9. Nowy Sącz – Muszyna – Powroźnik – Dubne (border crossing) – Lenartov – Prešov (border crossing) – Košice – Budapest.

From November 1939, the communication from abroad was provided by the clandestine Liaison-Intelligence Bases: № 1 in Budapest, code names “Romek”, “Liszt”, “Pestka”; № 2 in Bucharest, code name “Bolek”; №. 3 in Kaunas, code name “Witold”, in summer 1940 it was moved to Stockholm with the code name “Anna”.^[40] Due to numerous conflicts between civil and military structures, on 28 February 1940 the Committee for Home Country Affairs (Komisja do Spraw Kraju, KSK) has decided to set up a separate communication network for the army and politicians. For civilian use, the “W” Branch was established in Budapest, led by Edmund Fitz-Fietowicz, with Wasław Felczak “Lech” directly responsible for coordinating couriers.^[41] In the spring of 1940, a civilian Government Delegation for Poland was established. The courier routes going through Nowy Sącz were delegated for its use in the autumn of 1940, along with a team of guides-couriers-runners operating on them.^[42] It was based on the so-called “relay” system, meaning the transfer of deliveries and information in stages. The emissaries of the Polish Government, as well as many “cichociemny” special paratroopers did go through Nowy Sącz on their way to the west, including Jan Karski “Kozielewski”[43], Tadeusz Chciuk “Marek Celt”^[44], Franciszek Moskal “Martyniuk”.^[45] The courier communication on the southern border was severed in March 1944, when the Wermacht entered Hungary.

Biographies of couriers and guides from Nowy Sącz can be found in the Biographies tab.

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[1] See further: Z. Goetel, Warunki i okoliczności polskiej akcji w kierunku południowym w latach 1939–1945 na Węgrzech i Słowacji, „Rocznik Sądecki”, vol. IX., Nowy Sącz 1968, pp. 211–248.

[2] See further: E. Duraczyński, Polski Rząd na uchodźstwie 1939–1945, Warszawa 1993; Zuziak J., Wojsko Polskie we Francji 1939–1940. Organizacja i działania bojowe, Warszawa 2013.

[3] See further: W. Biegański, Polskie Siły Zbrojne na Zachodzie 1939–1945, Warszawa 1990; W. Biegański, M. Juchniewicz, S. Okęcki, Polacy w ruchu oporu narodów Europy 1939–1945, Warszawa 1977, p. 462.

[4] W. Frazik, Wojskowa i cywilna konspiracyjna łączność kurierska, „Biuletyn Informacyjny Armii Krajowej”, № 1, January 2017, pp. 1–2.

[5] W. Frazik, Kurierskie szlaki Delegatury Rządu i Armii Krajowej, [in:] Wojna i okupacja w Piwnicznej i na Sądecczyźnie, ed. by W. Wdowiak, Piwniczna – Zdrój 2010, p. 105.

[6] See further: W. Felczak, Historia Węgier, Wrocław 1983, pp. 339–370; J. Kochanowski, Węgry – od ugody do ugody 1867–1990, Warszawa 1997.

[7] See further: Z. Antoniewicz, Rozbitkowie na Węgrzech – wspomnienia z lat 1939–1946, Warszawa 1987; J. Łożański, Orzeł z Budapesztu. Wspomnienia kuriera AK, Warszawa 2012; Idem, Warszawa – Nowosielce – Budapeszt (Wspomnienia Kuriera), „Rocznik Sanocki”, vol. II., Sanok 1967; Idem, Wspomnienia Kuriera, „Rocznik Sanocki”, vol. III, Sanok 1971.

[8] B. Ablonczy, Pal Teleki (1879–1941), Warszawa 2020, pp. 154–199.

[9] See further: M. Lacko, Dwuramienny krzyż w cieniu swastyki. Republika Słowacka 1939–1945, Lublin 2012; L. Kościelak, Historia Słowacji, Wrocław 2010, pp. 342–383; D. Golik, Wrzesień 1939 w Dolinie Dunajca. Bój graniczny i walki nad Górnym Dunajcem między 1 a 6 września 1939 r., Kraków 2018; A. Olejko, Niedoszły sojusznik czy trzeci agresor? Wojskowe i polityczne aspekty trudnego sąsiedztwa Polski i Słowacji 1918–1939, Kraków – Rzeszów 2012.

[10] J. Bieniek, Przyjaciele z trudnych lat,  „Rocznik Sądecki”, vol. XV/XVI, Nowy Sącz 1974/1977, pp. 255–330.

[11] Hlinkova Garda – a paramilitary force of the Slovak People’s Party (SLS), based on the German SS formations, see further: P. Sokolović , Hlinkova Garda 1938–1945, Bratislava 2009.

[12] Finančná Stráž – Slovak Financial Guard, equivalent of the Polish Border Guard. In the literature on the subject and in witness accounts referred to as finance, J. Zubek, Ze wspomnień kuriera, Warszawa – Piwniczna 2008, p. 15.

[13] Z. Goetel, Warunki…, op. cit.

[14] P. Kazana, Zielona granica 1939–1940, „Sądeczanin. Historia”, № 3/2019, pp. 77–84

[15] Idem, Tadeusz Sokołowski (1914–2006), „Sądeczanin”, № 8/2014, pp. 66–67.

[16] Z. Ryś, Wspomnienia kuriera, Nowy Sącz 2016, p. 14.

[17] See further: J. Bieniek, Saga rodu Stobieckich, „WTK” 1971, № 10.

[18] J. Bieniek, Między Warszawą a Budapesztem, „Rocznik Sądecki”, vol. IX, Nowy Sącz 1968, pp. 274–280.

[19] L. Migrała, Ulica Jagiellońska w Nowym Sączu od końca XIX w. do 1945 r. – mieszkańcy i zabudowa, Nowy Sącz 2012, pp. 61, 122.

[20] J. Bieniek, op. cit.

[21] Ibidem, p. 261.

[22] L. Kwiatkowski, Walka na zielonych szlakach, typewritten, Nowy Sącz , 9 I 1966.

[23] German customs guard.

[24] Ł. Grzywacz-Świtalski, Z walk na Podkarpaciu, Warszawa 1971, p. 130

[25] J. Bieniek, Łemkowie w służbie Polski Podziemnej, „Tygodnik Powszechny”, № 15, 1985; A. Klonder, Łemkowie Sądecczyzny od początku lat trzydziestych do 1947 r., [in:] Okupacja w Sądecczyźnie 1939–1945, ed. by J. Berghauzen, Nowy Sącz 1974. 

[26] See further: K. Pluta – Czachowski, Organizacja Orła Białego. Zarys genezy, organizacji, działalności, Warszawa 1987.

[27] K. Mrozowski, M. Bron jr, Działalność polskich grup sabotażowo-dywersyjnych na Podhalu w latach 1939–1941, [in:] Podhale during the occupation, ed. by J. Berghausen, Warszawa 1977.

[28] After his death on 18 March 1941, Jan Fresiler “Sądecki” bacame the commander of this section. See further: H. Latkowska-Rudzińska, Łączność zagraniczna Komendy Głównej Armii Krajowej 1939–1945. Odcinek Południe, Lublin 1985, p. 20.; P. Kazana, Klemens Konstanty Gucwa. Zapomniany kurier Polskiego Państwa Podziemnego, „Sądeczanin”, № 2/2014.

[29] H. Latkowska-Rudzińska, op. cit.

[30] See further: G. Mazur, R. Wojciech, M. Zagórniak, , Wojna i okupacja na Podkarpaciu i Podhalu na obszarze Inspektoratu ZWZ-AK Nowy Sącz 1939–1945, Kraków 1998.

[31] Rudolf Lenc “Rudek” (1920–2005) came from Gorzków near Nowy Sącz, he joined the smuggling network thanks to Roman Stramka. In March 1941, together with Franciszek Krzyżak “Frantol” and Klemens Gucwa “Góral” he was shot at by the Slovak border guard patrol in the area of Košice (“Góral” suffered fatal wounds in the skirmish). In the summer of 1943, he was returning to the occupied country together with Jan Szyszka, and in the area of Dukla Pass (then near the border of Hungary with GG) they came across a patrol of the Hungarian border guard. In the resulting Szyszka was fatally wounded, and Lenc was arrested and imprisoned in Miskolc, and then in Budapest, from where he managed to get out after the intervention of the director of the underground “W” Branch, E. Fietowicz. In 1944, he was arrested in Hungary by the Gestapo and after a cruel investigation sent to the concentration camp in Mauthausen-Gusen. After the war he moved to Warsaw. See further: J. Bieniek, Między…, pp. 315–317.; J. Oleksiewicz, Rudek, „Stolica”, № 44 from 1978, pp. 5–6.

[32] Zbigniew Lohse “Łupieński”

[33] Jan Szyszka “Piekarski” came from a railman’s family from Gorzków near Nowy Sącz. He was a talented painter, creating both portraits and paintings with religious themes. Forced to flee from the Gestapo to Hungary, he began his courier service through Roman Stramka. In July 1942, during one of his courier runs, he was killed by the Hungarian border guard in the area of the Dukla Pass. The place of his burial is still unknown to this day. See further: J. Bieniek, Między…, pp. 337–338.

[34] Brothers Kazimierz (1918–1944) and Władysław Świerczek (1912–1944), pre-war skiers of “Sandecja”, couriers and runners of the “W” Branch, connected with the Polish Socialist Party (Polska Partia Socjalistyczna, PPS) cells. They smuggled a lot of Jewish people across the southern border. They died on 31 May 1944 in the Kunowski Forest near Nowy Sącz, after being shot at by a German patrol. They were buried in the place of their death. See further: J. Kitowicz 2003, pp. 336–337.

[35] Franciszek Krzyżak “Franek”, “Frantol”, “Karol” (1915–1986), the pre-war skier of the “Sandecja” KPW , PPS activist, coordinator of sabotage and military intelligence operations in the Nowy Sącz Railway Workshops, guide and courier of the Freedom Equality Independence People’s Guard (Gwardia Ludowa – Wolność Równość Niepodległość, GL-WRN) and the Budapest civilian “W” Branch, organizer of the GL-WRN units in the Sącz region. After the war he was a social and economic activist in Tarnów, among other places. In the years 1951–1957 he was registered in the Voivode Office of Public Security (Wojewódzki Urząd Bezpieczeństwa Publicznego, WUBP) in Krakow as an informer with codename „Kazek”, see further; IPN Kr 009/5427, Teczka personalna informatora ps. „Kazek”;  J. Bieniek, Sądeccy Kurierzy, pp. 19–22; W. Frazik, Emisariusz…, pp. 49–224.

[36] Józef and Tadeusz Ciastoń ( d. 1944), the pre-war athletes of the “Sandecja” KPW, couriers of the PPS-WRN, they died in 1944 in the area of Kosarzyska – the Valley of Death (Sucha Valley), see further; J. Bieniek, Między.…, p. 332; R. Cybulski, J. Leśniak, 75 lat Komunikacyjnego Klubu Sportowego „Sandecja” 1910–1985, Nowy Sącz 1986; D. Weimer, Złota Księga Sandecji 1910–2010, Nowy Sącz 2010, pp. 156–158.

[37] The constant radio communication between the occupied country and the Polish authorities in London was established in the summer of 1940, see further: W. Grabowski, Polska tajna administracja cywilna 1940–1945, Warszawa 2003, pp. 98–105.

[38] See further: W. Frazik, Emisariusz wolnej Polski. Biografia polityczna Wacława Felczaka (1916–1993), Kraków 2013; Idem, Łączność kurierska z Rządem Polskim na Uchodźctwie, [w:] Wojna i okupacja w Piwnicznej i na Sądecczyźnie, ed. by W. Wdowiak, Piwniczna-Zdrój 2010, s. 103–112;  Idem, Historia placówki „W” i przerzutów poczty krajowej. Raport Wacława Felczaka „Lecha” z kwietnia 1945 r., „Zeszyty Historyczne WiN-u”, № 8/1995; Idem, Wojskowa i cywilna łączność kurierska, „Biuletyn Informacyjny Armii Krajowej”, № 321, January 2017; H. Latkowska-Rudzińska, op. cit.; T. Dubicki, Bazy wojskowej łączności zagranicsznej ZWZ-AK w latach 1939–1945, Częstochowa 2000; Kliszewicz L. A. B., Placówki wojskowej łączności kraju z centralą w Londynie podczas II Wojny Światowej, [pt. 1–6], Warszawa–Londyn 1998–2000.

[39] K. Minczynkowska, Cichociemna Generał Elżbieta Zawacka „Zo”, Warszawa 2016; H. Latkowska, op. cit.

[40] W. Frazik, Kurierskie…, p. 106.

[41] Wacław Felczak “Wacek”, “Lech” (1916–1993), historian, courier and government emissary, organizer of the Budapest facility for the communication with the government – the “W” Branch, head of the facility’s couriers. See further: W. Frazik, Emisariusz…, op. cit.

[42] J. Zamojski, Konferencja belgradzka w 1940 r., Najnowsze Dzieje Polski – materiały i studia z okresu II wojny światowej, vol. X, Warszawa 1966, pp. 191–238.

[43] Jan Kozielewski vel Jan Karski “Witold” (1914–2000), an emissary of the Polish Government in exile. In June 1940, he was caught by the Gestapo when crossing the GG border to Slovakia. On 28 July 1940, the ZWZ in Nowy Sącz organized a successful escape of the emissary held in the Nowy Sącz hospital. See further: J. Karski, Tajne państwo, Kraków 2014; S. M. Jankowski, Karski. Raporty tajnego emisariusza, Poznań 2009; A. Puławski, Wobec „niespotykanego w dziejach mordu”. Rząd RP na uchodźstwie, Delegatura Rządu na Kraj, AK a eksterminacja ludności żydowskiej od wielkiej „akcji” do powstania w getcie warszawskim, Chełm 2019.

[44] See further: M. Celt , Raport z podziemia 1942, pp. 183–196;

[45] A. Talar, W. Wdowiak, Cichociemni na szlakach Sądecczyzny, [in:] Wojna., pp. 144–147.