Description
Poland #1683 (1969) – 4th Congress of the Union of Fighters for Freedom and Democracy
The Society of Fighters for Freedom and Democracy (Polish: Związek Bojowników o Wolność i Demokrację, ZBoWiD) was an official Polish state-controlled veterans association in the People’s Republic of Poland. Initially headed by Franciszek Jóźwiak, it was formed on September 2, 1949 out of 11 pre-existing veterans associations. In its early period, and especially during the Stalinist years, the organization was formed mostly of former veterans of the Soviet-sponsored Polish People’s Army, communist partisans and former concentration camp inmates. However, with the advent of a partial political thaw in the 1960s it also started accepting the veterans of other Polish formations that had fought in World War II.