Government Delegation for Poland

The Government Delegation for Poland (Polish: Delegatura Rządu Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej na Kraj) was an agency of the Polish Government in Exile during World War II. It was the highest authority of the Polish Secret State in occupied Poland. It was headed by the Government Delegate for Poland, a de facto deputy Polish Prime Minister.

The Government Delegation for Poland was intended as the first provisional government of wartorn Poland until the Exiled Polish Government could safely return from abroad to a liberated Poland.

Initially there were two Delegations formed, one for the Polish areas annexed by Germany, and one for the General Government. A delegate for the Polish areas annexed by the Soviet Union was never appointed. From 1942, power was consolidated and there was only one delegate chosen, in the rank of deputy prime minister. He in turn had 6 deputies for each of the regions, whose responsibilities were further delegated to county-level officers. In July 1944 the delegate's three deputies were promoted to ministers, and a Home Council of Ministers (Krajowa Rada Ministrów) was created. The Home Council became the local counterpart of the Polish Government in Exile.

The Delegation's political body was the Political Consultative Committee (Polityczny Komitet Porozumiewawczy), a council comprising 4 main political parties. On 21 March 1943 it was renamed the Home Political Representation (Krajowa Reprezentacja Polityczna) and became an underground coalition parliament, comprising members of the Polish Socialist Party, National Party, People's Party and Labor Party. It became the controlling body of the Delegation and the Headquarters of the Home Army (Armia Krajowa). On 9 January 1944 it was turned into a Council of National Unity (Rada Jedności Narodowej), the parliament of underground Poland.

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