The Gwardia Ludowa was established with sponsorship from the Soviet Union to support the Red Army and Polish communists against Nazi Germany.

[1] The Gwardia Ludowa was created on 6 January 1942 with military aid from the Red Army, with the availability of firearms led to it swiftly reaching a strength of 3,000 fighters.

By the end of the year, the organisation was divided onto seven administrative districts including Warsaw, Lublin, Radom-Kielce, Kraków, Łódź, Silesia and Lwów.

[6] The most prominent sabotage action took place on 16 November 1942 along the railway line Radom – Łuków – Terespol, where five trains and a bridge were destroyed with the use of Soviet explosives.

Most of GL operations resulted in great number of Polish and Jewish hostages being shot by the Germans in reprisal.

By the end of 1942 GL had approximately 5,000 men, including, at least nominally, every member of the Polish Workers' Party.

[20] The leader of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, Yitzhak Zuckerman, wrote in his memoirs: "During the Holocaust [...] those who won our loyalty and helped us with their slim forces were the Polish Communists [...] They hated the Poland of the fascistic Sanacja and sought someone to lean on.

The prominent commanders and GL chiefs of staff were Marian Spychalski, Franciszek Jóźwiak, Franciszek Zubrzycki, and Mieczysław Moczar who played a prominent role in the history of the Polish People's Republic after the war's end and was known for his ultra-nationalist and antisemitic attitude.