Podpułkownik Józef Kratko w przedwojennym ruchu komunistycznym, wojsku i Komendzie Głównej Milicji Obywatelskiej (1914–1945)
Lieutenant Colonel Józef Kratko and his Role in the pre-War Communist Movement, the Army and the Headquarters of the Citizens’ Militia (1914–1945)

Summary/Abstract: Józef Kratko was born in 1914 to working-class Jewish parents. At a young age he became involved with the communist movement and was an activist in several youth organizations, including the Communist Youth Union of Western Ukraine. After graduating from high school, he left for Warsaw where he studied for a year at the State Music Conservatory. During this period, he became an active member of the Communist Party of Poland and was imprisoned several times by the authorities for conducting illegal activities. At the outbreak of World War II Kratko took part in the Polish campaign, after which he fled to the Soviet Union where he worked predominantly as a music teacher. After the Germans attacked the Soviet Union in 1941 Kratko was sent by the Comintern to serve with the so-called Władysław Anders’ Army, where he was supposed to conduct agitation activities. He left this unit in 1943 and enlisted in the 1st Tadeusz Kosciuszko Infantry Division that was created by the communists. His role involved serving in various units, e.g. the Polish Independent Special Battalion. In 1944, he parachuted into occupied Poland and joined the „Jeszcze Polska nie zginęła” Organization as a political and educational officer. After the Red Army took over eastern Poland, Kratko was hired to work at the Headquarters of the Citizens’ Militia.

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