The National Radical Camp () was an ultranationalist and antisemitic political movement which existed in the pre-World War II Second Polish Republic, and an illegal Polish anti-communist, Obóz Narodowo-Radykalny WIEM Encyklopedia and nationalist political party formed on 14 April 1934 mostly by the youth radicals who left the National Party of the National Democracy movement.
Shortly after its creation ONR split into two branches: the National Radical Movement "Falanga" (; RNR "Falanga" or ONR "Falanga"), and National Radical Camp "ABC" (; ONR "ABC"). "Falanga" is Polish for "phalanx", a reference to Falangism, and "ABC" refers to a newspaper printed by the organisation at the time.
Since 1993, an organization has existed in Poland, which has adopted the name ONR, following its ideology and traditions.
History
Origins of ONR
Dominated by youth, National Radical Camp was an outgrowth of the Endecja movement, an ultra-nationalist movement that had arisen in the 1920s. The emergence of the National Radical Camp was part of broader movement of the Polish right toward radicalization in the 1930s. Its basis was the generational difference of the "young" within the nationalist camp. The writings of the national-radicalism cultivated the cult of youth, writing for example: "In the fight against the young, the old cannot keep up." As Włodzimierz Sznarbachowski recalled:
The criticism coming from the "young" initially concerned tactical and psychological issues – the "old" were accused of "complete indolence, inability to act". The mechanism of secession was set in motion only by the frustration caused by the lack of reaction of the movement's leadership to the dissolution of the Camp of Great Poland (OWP). The "young" tried to maintain organizational independence, avoiding subordination to the National Party, dominated by the "old". Their stronghold was the "Eight" - the secret leadership of the National Democrat youth structures. Initially, the "Eight" proposed to Roman Dmowski that "while maintaining a common confidential organization, we should establish a second party with a radical program". In July 1933 during the training camp of the "young" in Błota Karwieńskie, a split occurred: while Tadeusz Bielecki was in favor of moving to the SN Youth Section (Sekcja Młodych SN), Jan Mosdorf wanted to maintain independence and conduct underground activities. Mosdorf did not manage to push through his project. However, the National Radical Publishing Committee of the Young was established (Witold Staniszkis, Jan Rembieliński, Jan Mosdorf). The Committee published brochures popularizing the program of the "young". Its propaganda platform was also "Sztafeta" - published since October 1933. In the autumn of 1933, representatives of the "young" from Warsaw and Lwów met at Henryk Rossman's to work out a common position - mainly making personal accusations (incompetence, passivity), they decided to demand that Dmowski remove Tadeusz Bielecki and Aleksander Dębski. Only when their conversation with Dmowski ended in failure was the decision to secede made. According to Jerzy Drobnik, who emphasised the personal ambitions of the secessionists, "the tool got tired of being a tool". The conflict intensified in the winter of 1933/1934. In the first quarter of 1934, police sources had already noted the existence of a "national-radical movement of the "Young" within the Party". In March, the SN authorities deprived Mosdorf of the leadership of the Youth Section and banned the publication of "Sztafeta". The "young" responded by establishing the ONR on 14 April 1934.
Creation and legal activity The National-Radical Camp was formed by a group of Warsaw academic youth led by Tadeusz Gluziński, Jan Jodzewicz, Jan Korlec, Jan Mosdorf, Henryk Rossman, Tadeusz Todtleben, Wojciech Zaleski and others in the canteen of the Warsaw University of Technology. Its ideological declaration, drafted mainly by Mosdorf, was published the next day in the weekly "Sztafeta". The ONR was to be a social movement, led by a multi-stage conspiratorial Polish Organization, interacting through loyal and proven activists with various associations and organizations, and there were plenty of them at the time, as almost everyone was involved in something - from student corporations, Brotherly Aid to scouting. After the establishment of the ONR, a period of intensive organizational development followed. Within two months, several thousand members were recruited. In Warsaw alone, the ONR had 2,200 members and 3,000 supporters in 17 sections. National radicals operated almost exclusively in the capital city of Warsaw. Attempts were made to remedy this by expanding local structures. In May 1934, 33 new sections were created (18 in the Warsaw voivodeship, 13 in the Łódź voivodeship, one each in the Lublin and Nowogródek voivodeships), and the activity of national radicals was also noted in the Poznań voivodeship (the absorption of the Great Poland Party) and Wilno voivodeships. During the month of its existence, the ONR held over 20 public meetings and also achieved success in the local elections in Żychlin.
Repression and delegalization
The collapse of the organization came suddenly: the assassination of Bronisław Pieracki by Ukrainian nationalists on June 15, 1934, gave the Sanation authorities a pretext to deal with national radicals – after a wave of arrests, the camp was officially banned on July 10, 1934. Repressions led to a crisis of the organization. The previous leader Jan Mosdorf was discredited by his passive attitude (hiding during arrests). Isolated in the national-radical movement, he became closer to Catholic-social groups. Some of the ONR-ists began to conspire as the Camp of National Revolution, but many joined the Union of Young Nationalists (ZMN) or the Youth Section of the SN (SM SN). The secret leadership of the movement was not to be established until early 1935.
Split of the ONR
The delegalization revealed a conflict between two generations of “youngs”. Włodzimierz Sznarbachowski explained: “the years of age difference also meant a different social status. […] We, often twenty years younger, did not want compromises. We wanted […] to move forward unfettered by anything”. Wilhelm Szewczyk expressed this difference even more emphatically: “The ABC was more stable in its beliefs and methods, small and quiet. More mature people united here […]. The “Falanga” had a younger, explosive, often anarchist element. […] each of its members was armed with brass knuckles and two […] revolvers”. The difference in temperament gave rise to tactical differences – while the elders, led by Rossman, wanted the movement to be led by a secret hierarchical organization of the lodge type, Piasecki’s supporters believed in the principle of leadership. Already in 1933, at the "Akademik Polski" (Polish Academic) an Ideological Committee was established - on the initiative of B. Piasecki - which developed the ideas of the Political Organization of the Nation and a national planned economy. Ideological differences were already evident before the establishment of the ONR, at the beginning of 1934, then they intensified (extremists wanted armed struggle and radicalization of the social program), to explode with full force after B. Piasecki was released from the camp in Bereza Kartuska. The split finally took place at the beginning of 1935, it was revealed on 25 April, and on 29 June of that year in Kąty the founding congress of the faction, called Falanga or - from the initials of the leader - Bepists took place. From then on, Rossman’s group continued to operate as the ONR “ABC” (after the title of their newspaper) while Piasecki took the lead of the National-Radical Movement, commonly referred to as the ONR “Falanga".“Obóz Narodowo Radykalny (1934).” Encyklopedia Ruchu Narodowego, t. 1, Warszawa, 2022.
During World War II During World War II, both organizations created underground resistance organizations: ONR "ABC" was transformed into Grupa Szańca (Rampart Group), whose military arm became the Związek Jaszczurczy (Lizard Union), while the RNR "Falanga" created the Confederation of the Nation. They were not supportive of the mainstream Polish Underground State related to the Polish government in exile. During the German occupation of Poland, many of the former ONR activists belonged to National Armed Forces resistance groups. After World War II, the forced exile of many ONR members was made permanent by the newly created Polish People's Republic, which branded them enemies of the state.
Ideology
National radicalism – origins The secessionists developed their own, clearly distinct ideology called "national radicalism". "National radicalism" is not the same as radical nationalism. This term was constructed on the model of "national socialism" and "national syndicalism", because it should be remembered that in the 1920s the term "radicalism" was used to describe the non-Marxist left. Jan Jodzewicz said at the All-Polish Youth congress in 1929 that the enemy were "radicals of all shades and camps". Five years later, "Szczerbiec" publicists fully annexed this concept, writing that "radicalism without anti-Semitism is no radicalism". National radicalism was therefore supposed to be a response to the enemy's challenge by partially adopting its slogans and methods - a kind of national equivalent of the left.
The ONR did not, however, seek models in the socialist movement, or even less so in the communist movement – on the contrary, it was characterised by uncompromising hostility towards Marxists. The point of reference, however, was Piłsudski's legacy. National radicals were fascinated by the legend of the Legions’ deeds, which they camouflaged under the slogans of cooperation with the army. This was clearly done in the RNR. Włodzimierz Sznarbachowski recalled that Bolesław Piasecki was greatly influenced by his acquaintance with Piłsudski's political thought during his stay in Bereza. Evidence of this can already be found in the brochure "The Spirit of New Times and the Young Movement" – Piasecki noticed nationalist elements in the writings of Adam Skwarczyński at that time. Over time, the positive opinion of the Legions began to transform into a postulate of a synthesis of “Polish political thought” (national-democratic) and “soldierly” (Piłsudski's). In 1939, a journalist from "Przełom" wrote that RNR "Enriched and deepened the content of Polish nationalism, associating the political thought of the author of "Polish Policy" with the values of the soldier's psyche, developed on the battlefields of Józef Piłsudski's Legions". Jan Mosdorf also expressed a positive opinion about Piłsudski and the independence movement. Even the most reserved ONR "ABC" in this respect emphasized that "crossed [...] the barriers between Poles-soldiers and Poles-civilians" ("soldiers" is a euphemism for the Sanation).