Wacław Krzeptowski (24 June 1897,

Kościelisko Kościelisko is a village in Tatra County, Lesser Poland Voivodeship, in southern Poland, close to the border with Slovakia. (It was previously in Nowy Sącz Voivodeship from 1975 to 1998.) It is the seat of the gmina (administrative district) c ...

– 20 January 1945,

Zakopane Zakopane ( Podhale Goral: ''Zokopane'') is a town in the extreme south of Poland, in the southern part of the Podhale region at the foot of the Tatra Mountains. From 1975 to 1998, it was part of Nowy Sącz Voivodeship; since 1999, it has been ...

) was one of the leaders of the

Goralenvolk ''Goralenvolk'' was a geopolitical term invented by the German Nazis in World War II in reference to the Goral highlander population of Podhale region in the south of Poland near the Slovak border. The Germans postulated a separate nation ...

action in

Podhale Podhale (literally "below the mountain pastures") is Poland's southernmost region, sometimes referred to as the "Polish Highlands". The Podhale is located in the foothills of the Tatra range of the Carpathian mountains. It is the most famous ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. Before the

German occupation German-occupied Europe refers to the sovereign countries of Europe which were wholly or partly occupied and civil-occupied (including puppet governments) by the military forces and the government of Nazi Germany at various times between 1939 an ...

he was chairman of the People's Party (SL) in

Nowy Targ Nowy Targ (Officially: ''Royal Free city of Nowy Targ'', Yiddish: ''Naymark'', Goral Dialect: ''Miasto'') is a town in southern Poland, in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship. It is located in the Orava-Nowy Targ Basin at the foot of the Gorce Mounta ...

. In the early years of the war – as self-proclaimed ''Goralenführer'' – Krzeptowski lobbied

Hans Frank Hans Michael Frank (23 May 1900 – 16 October 1946) was a German politician and lawyer who served as head of the General Government in Nazi-occupied Poland during the Second World War. Frank was an early member of the German Workers' Party ...

in favor of his plan to establish an independent state for his ethnic group in southern

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

. This project proved to be a failure due to lack of support among the local population. During the German-Soviet war, Krzeptowski tried to recruit volunteers for his "Goralen legion" (also referred to as Goralische Division SS) to fight alongside the

Axis Powers The Axis powers, ; it, Potenze dell'Asse ; ja, 枢軸国 ''Sūjikukoku'', group=nb originally called the Rome–Berlin Axis, was a military coalition that initiated World War II and fought against the Allies. Its principal members were ...

. The attempt ended in a complete fiasco as out of the initial 300 able bodied recruits (from the entire Podhale region) all but twelve deserted within a short time or were sent to concentration camps by the Germans for insubordination. At the end of the war, he refused to flee to

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

and instead hid out in the Tatry mountains of his native region. In December 1944 he was tracked down and captured by the

Home Army The Home Army ( pl, Armia Krajowa, abbreviated AK; ) was the dominant resistance movement in German-occupied Poland during World War II. The Home Army was formed in February 1942 from the earlier Związek Walki Zbrojnej (Armed Resistance) est ...

. He was tried for high treason and executed.

Notes and references

* Magazine "Wiedza i Zycie, Inne Oblicza Histori", No. 07, February 2005. 1897 births 1945 deaths People from Tatra County Polish Gorals People's Party (Poland) politicians Polish collaborators with Nazi Germany People executed for treason against Poland People executed by Poland by hanging Executed people from Lesser Poland Voivodeship People executed by the Polish Underground State Executed collaborators with Nazi Germany {{Poland-politician-stub

See also

Notes and references