Marian Bernaciak

 ( 1917 Births ) 

One of his most famous actions took place on April 24, 1945, when Orlik's men attacked and captured the UB office in Puławy, freeing 107 political prisoners (mostly former AK members). Another famous engagement took place on 24 May 1945 near Las Stocki, when together with a unit of fifty men under lieutenant Czesław Szlendak ("Maks") Bernaciak won a battle against a force of 680 soldiers (KBW, UB and NKVD) which was equipped with three armored cars. After a fight that lasted a whole day, between 30 and 70 communist soldiers and militia had been killed. This was the largest battle fought in the post-World War II period between the forces of the Polish and Soviet governments and Cursed soldiers in Poland.Henryk Pająk, "Oni się nigdy nie poddali" (They never surrendered), "Retro", 1997, pg. 168, [2]

In the fall of 1945 he was made the commander of all WiN units operating in the Regional Inspectorate "Puławy". During this time he was promoted to the rank of major (according to some sources, captain).Leszek Pietrzak, "Konspiracja i opór społeczny w Polsce 1944-1956", Volume I IPN, 2002, accessed from [3] The anti-communist partisan group led by him, one of the largest in the Lublin region (between 160 and 200 soldiers) carried out many military actions against the communist authorities, the communist secret police (UB), units of Polish People's Army and the Militsiya. According to released NKVD documents, as well as an investigation by the Polish Institute of National Remembrance in 2006, Bernaciak was considered sufficiently dangerous by the Soviets that they refused to let Polish communists "handle the problem on their own" and insisted on becoming involved themselves.

His partisans operated as a single group until July 1945. However, afterward, due to the increased presence of regular Polish army and UB security units in the region, Bernaciak was forced to change his tactics. He divided his grouping into small and squads which could stay hidden in various villages while being supported by the WiN network. At the same time, communications were maintained between them so that the overall group could quickly mobilize and carry out bigger operations. The approach changed once again in 1946 when the larger group was reformed and then divided into two sub-regiments. The first one operated under the leadership of Wacław Kuchnio, "Spokojny" ( Peaceful),"Odznaczenia kombatantów z okazji Dnia Weterana", (Orders for combatants on the occasion of Veteran's Day), Website of the President of Poland, 2009-08-14, [4] in the north of the Puławy region, while the second, operating in the south was under the command of Zygmunt Wilczyńsk, "Żuk" ( Beetle).Jerzy Cezary Malinowski, "Zarys dziejów Okręgu Lubelskiego Zrzeszenia Wolność i Niezawisłość, 1945-1956", Agencja Wschodnia Dom Wydawniczy, 1995, pg. 22, [5]

The source of Bernaciak's successes at this time lay in his leadership ability and the willingness to change his tactics in response to a changing situation. Thanks to his efforts, his patrols and diversion squads, in addition to military actions, also carried out intelligence work, gathered information on the political and social situation in the world and in the region, and published informational pamphlets, communiques, and political manifestos. The best known of these were Orlik's appeal to the public on the occasion of the 1946 referendum and the pamphlet "The Pulawski Katyn" (a reference to the Katyn massacre).

In his home village of Zalesie, a monument was erected after the fall of communism in 1989, commemorating him with an inscription, a cross and a symbol of Kotwica.

On 25 June 2006, in Piotrówek, the President of Poland, Lech Kaczyński led a ceremony honoring the memory of Marian Bernaciak, "Orlik" and awarded him the Grand Cross of Polonia Restituta posthumously.Oficjalna strona Prezydenta Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej (Official webpage of the President of the Polish Republic), "Krzyż Wielki Orderu Odrodzenia Polski dla legendarnego "Orlika"" (Grand Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta for the legendary "Orlik"), June 24, 2009, [7]