Józef Kuraś

Who was Józef Kuraś?

Józef Kuraś, noms-de-guerre "Orzeł" and from June 1943 "Ogień"; was born in Waksmund near Nowy Targ. He served as lieutenant in the Polish Army during the invasion of Poland, and became the underground member of Armia Krajowa and Bataliony Chłopskie in the Podhale region. Soon after the end of World War II, he was one of the leaders of anticommunist resistance.

Kuraś died in Nowy Targ on February 22, 1947 from a self-inflicted wound after having been ambushed at Ostrowsko by units of the Polish secret police. Vilified by communist propaganda and accused by UBP of war-crimes, he was officially rehabilitated only after the fall of communism in Europe. In 2006, the Polish president Kaczynski opened an official memorial in Zakopane, in recognition of his resistance efforts. However, Kuraś still remains a controversial figure from after the Soviet takeover of Poland.