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Peasant Battalions

The Peasant Battalions (Polish: Bataliony Chłopskie) were a Polish armed formation created during World War II in 1943 in the General Government, mainly in the Lublin region, as a self-defence force for rural communities. They were organised by the People's Party (Stronnictwo Ludowe) under the leadership of Józef Kuraś "Ogień" and later commanded by Franciszek Kamiński. The units operated primarily as partisan forces resisting the German occupation and, after 1944, came into conflict with units of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) in mixed-population areas of southeastern Poland. After liberation the battalions were incorporated into the Polish People's Army and eventually disbanded.