The underground courts (') were World War II secret courts in occupied Poland, organized by the Polish government-in-exile. The courts determined punishments for citizens of Poland who were subject to Polish law before the war.
History
After the Polish Defense War of 1939, the German authorities of the General Government mobilized all the pre-war Polish policemen to the German service. The so-called Navy-Blue Police (Policja granatowa, nicknamed after the color of their uniforms) were used as an auxiliary unit of the Gestapo and Kripo, yet they had no means of executing law and order in the occupied country. At the same time, the German police forces and courts were more interested in persecution of Jews and members of the Polish intelligentsia and underground rather than common criminals.
First underground, ad hoc courts were created alongside some of the first Polish resistance organizations as early as in 1939. At first, they were purely military, concerned only with the cases that would fall under military law (such as treason). to 17,000 cases of collaboration, and sentenced over 3,500 individuals to death
See also
- Państwowy Korpus Bezpieczeństwa
- Operacja Główki
- Military Special Court
Notes
<!--See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Footnotes for an explanation of how to generate footnotes using the