“For the Soul and Character of the Polish Nation. The Freedom and Independence Association”

The exhibition tells the story of the Freedom and Independence Association (WiN), the largest underground organisation active in Poland after the end of the Second World War. It was founded on 2 September 1945 in Warsaw by a group of Polish Army officers, among them Jan Rzepecki, Janusz Bokszczanin, Franciszek Niepokolczycki and Jan Szczurek-Cergowski. It was meant to be a civilian organisation: its founders wanted to end armed struggle and, faced with the communisation of Poland, move their activity onto political ground.

From 20 October 2025 the exhibition was shown at the Home Army Museum in Krakow. The Warsaw edition has been expanded with an additional room holding biographies of WiN members and of people who co-operated with the organisation. Visitors can see the uniform jacket of Major Hieronim Dekutowski “Zapora”, objects linked to Adam Lazarowicz “Klamra”, a chess set made of bread in the Rakowiecka prison in 1948 by Jozef Rzadzki “Boryna”, and an embroidered handkerchief given to Barbara Sadowska “Robert” by her fellow prisoners.

The exhibition scenario was written by Filip Musial and Michal Wenklar of the Institute of National Remembrance in Krakow; the Warsaw edition was curated by Tomasz Maniewski of the Museum of Cursed Soldiers and Political Prisoners of the Polish People’s Republic. It can be seen at Rakowiecka until 31 December 2026.