Nazi occupation

In 1939 he was made commander of one of the departments of the Polish Commander-in-Chief's Headquarters.

During the outbreak of World War II and the defense of Poland against Nazi Germany in 1939, Okulicki was in Warsaw.^[5] After Edward Rydz-Śmigły evacuated his staff from Warsaw, Okulicki remained in the Polish capital and served in various posts during the Siege of Warsaw.

After the capitulation of the Polish troops defending the capital, Okulicki evaded capture by the Germans and joined Służba Zwycięstwu Polski (en.Service for Poland's Victory), one of the first underground resistance organizations formed in Nazi- and Soviet-occupied Poland. This organization later changed its name to the Union of Armed Struggle and then to the Home Army.

In January 1940 he moved to Łódź, where he assumed the post of commander of the local area of that organization. After a brief stint at Headquarters, he was transferred to Soviet-occupied Lwów and became head of that area.^[4] General Stefan Rowecki, the commander-in-chief of the ZWZ, appointed Okulicki as the commander of the Soviet occupation in Area No. 2 - Białystok and Area No. 3 - Lwów, with the task of eliminating the organizational breakdown in the Lwów Area and putting the affairs of the ZWZ in order throughout the entire occupation. It was a difficult and dangerous mission.^[6]

Soviet period

Arrested by the NKVD in January 1941, Okulicki was imprisoned and tortured in various Soviet prisons.

Released after the Sikorski-Mayski Agreement of 1941, he joined the Polish Army recreated in the USSR, where he assumed the post of chief of staff.

After a brief period commanding the Polish 7th Infantry Division, he was moved to London for training in the Cichociemni training camp and transported to occupied Poland. In July 1944, during Operation Tempest, he became the commander of the 2nd Echelon of the Home Army. General Bór-Komorowski, anticipating his own arrest by the Soviets after the Warsaw Uprising, named him his deputy and successor.

Okulicki fought in the Uprising, among other posts as chief of staff of the Home Army. After the capitulation of the Uprising, he managed to evade capture by the Germans and moved to Kraków, from where he started to reorganize the Home Army. On 3 October 1944 he became commander of the entire Home Army.

On 3 January 1945 he met in the "Zacisze estate" near Odrowąż, Radomsko County near Radomsko with the British special SOE Mission Freston.^[7] Capt D.T. Bill Hudson wrote on 3 January 1945: "we met the Commander of the Home Army and our friend, Colonel Rudkowski [...]. There were also several other people whose names and functions we did not have time to learn. The commander of the Home Army seemed to us a decisive, sincere and clear-minded man. His demeanor was calm and friendly. He knew many personalities from the London SOE office and stated that he commanded the 7th Infantry Division in the army of General Anders. We didn't know his name.".^[8][9]

In order to protect Polish soldiers against the NKVD and the repressions of Stalin's Russia, in consultation with the government delegate and on the basis of the government instruction from London of November 14, 1944, providing for the dissolution of the Home Army in the areas occupied by the USSR, General Okulicki issued an order on January 19, 1945 dissolving Home Army and releasing soldiers from their oath.^[10] He feared that the existence of Allied forces in Poland would only lead to the Soviets murdering or arresting more people.

Following an NKVD provocation, he was arrested with 15 leaders of the Polish Underground State and imprisoned in Moscow.^[4] According to him, "In comparison with the NKVD, the Gestapo methods are child's play."^[11]

Sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment in the staged Trial of the Sixteen. Under international law, this was a completely illegal verdict.^[12] He independently defended Poland in the courtroom against Soviet accusations. "He left the courtroom with his head held high," noted an Englishman present at the trial.^[13] Okulicki died 24 December 1946 at Butyrka prison.^[14] A cenotaph commemorating his death was built in the Powązki Military Cemetery, Warsaw. ^{[citation needed]}