Item #30516 Teka Partyzancka [Partisan Portfolio].
Teka Partyzancka [Partisan Portfolio].
Teka Partyzancka [Partisan Portfolio].
(Government Corruption: Justice and Injustice)

Teka Partyzancka [Partisan Portfolio].

Sopocki, K. M. (illus.)

Warsaw: Wydanictwo Prasa Wojskowa, 1950. Quarto. (8)ff., loose. Eight woodcuts depict various actions of the Gwardia Ludowa, or the People’s Guard, an underground Polish communist resistance force. Most of the Gwardia’s operations focused on sabotage, ambush, and other guerrilla tactics. These included disassembling train tracks, bombing German-frequented coffee houses, and printing clandestine documents and flyers. Although much of the Gwardia Ludowa’s retaliatory activities relied on violence and were executed with little thought for civilian casualties, it was the largest and most organized partisan force on Polish soil and its strength was essential to the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising of 1943, the largest single revolt by Jews during World War II. The uprising was unsuccessful and brought appalling consequences and deaths to the Jewish community at the hands of the Nazis, but in its aftermath, the Gwardia remained to help Jews escape. Though not without its failures—zealous nationalism and ultraviolence dogged multiple Gwardia commanders—they were a hopeful force in one of the most besieged parts of Europe, recognizing the importance of grassroots activism and, as demonstrated here, of the press. Inconsequential creasing to some sheets, else fine in a printed portfolio. Former owner’s name to the front cover. Item #30516

Price: $750.00