It was the most significant joint action carried out by both organizations, which had previously often fought each other, but they decided to co-operate in the face of the common threat from the Polish communists and the Soviet NKVD.

[3][4][5] After the establishment in April 1944 of the Polish Committee of National Liberation (PKNW) (a communist provisional government sponsored by the Soviet Union under Joseph Stalin), the persecution intensified.

[6] As early as September 1944, the UPA commander in Eastern Galicia, Vasyl Sydor (Szelest), issued an order ending general anti-Polish actions in the region; from then on UPA units were only allowed to attack those Poles who served with the Soviets (although it took several months for the orders to reach individual commanders in the field).

[7] In 1945 the AK issued a manifesto calling for an end to fighting between Poles and Ukrainians and for cooperation, printed it in 7,500 copies and distributed it in the surrounding villages.

[7] The two sides agreed to stop fighting each other, to have areas of influence, to come each other's aid in case of being attacked by communist forces, to put an end to mutual attacks on civilian targets, to share intelligence reports and to co-ordinate actions against communist agents and common bandit groups that plagued the area.

[7] In May 1946, a meeting took place in the village of Miętkie, between the Lublin region commanders of the two groups; the Poles were represented by Wacław Dąbrowski (Azja), the Ukrainians by Jewhen Sztendera (Pryrwa).

[1] The Resettlement Committee building, however, was heavily fortified and staffed with experienced and well-armed NKVD troops, and the UPA attack stalled.

Quite likely, the regular army soldiers waited as long as they could before joining in the fighting, as WiN had infiltrated its ranks and had carried out an extensive anticommunist information campaign.

[1] One of the soldiers among the army units happened to be Wojciech Jaruzelski, the future communist leader of Poland, who declared martial law in 1981.