Foreign military organization
In a judgment of February 19, 2014 (II OSK 2311/12), the Supreme Administrative Court ruled that joining the Haganah military organization in 1946 did not mean that the conditions for "entering military service in a foreign country" within the meaning of Art. 11 point 2 of the Act on Citizenship of the Polish State, because at that time it was not a military formation hierarchically subordinated to any state. However, in 1946, Art. 115 sec. 1 of the Act on the Universal Duty of Defense, which, as a condition for the loss of Polish citizenship by Polish citizens subject to military duty, also provided for the assumption of duties in a foreign military organization without the consent of the Polish authorities.
The provision of art. 115 (1) of the Act on the Universal Duty of Defense was in force in the period from September 1, 1938 to May 29, 1950. However, a question may be asked whether it can certainly be applied now without the use of a purposive interpretation, taking into account the current understanding of the Polish national interest. After all, a simple linguistic understanding of the provision in question would lead to the conclusion that the entire communist underground in the post-war period were foreign military organizations. The then-existing Polish communist state treated the steadfast soldiers who fought with it as mortal enemies.
Therefore, the conclusion can be drawn that there can be no automatism in the application of the provision under discussion, but it should always be assessed whether service in a foreign military organization served the broadly understood interest of Poland. Polish raison d'etat should be understood differently, and often quite the opposite, to the interests of the People's Republic of Poland.
