The Polish Scouting and Guiding Association (, ZHP) is the coeducational Polish Scouting organization recognized by the World Organization of the Scout Movement and the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts. It was founded in 1918 and currently is the largest Scouting organization in Poland (138,112 members in 2012). The first ZHP was founded in 1916, the current one is the fourth organization with this name. It is a public benefit organization as defined by Polish law. History Pre-war history The Polish Scout movement was started in 1910. Initially, the ideas of Scouting were implemented by Andrzej Małkowski and his wife Olga. The three main branches of Polish Scouting included the Strzelec paramilitary organization for boys, a sport and education society Sokół and the anti-alcoholic association Eleusis. However, it wasn't until the Partitions of Poland came to an end that the ZHP would be officially founded by the merging of existing groups. Soon after the merger in 1918, the ZHP members fought in all the conflicts Poland was engaged in around this time: Great Poland Uprising, Polish-Bolshevik War, Silesian Uprisings, and Polish-Ukrainian War, much like their predecessors during the Siege of Mafeking. All of the units joined in 1918 and formed the ZHP, one of the founding members of the World Organization of the Scout Movement. Although many units retained their own traditions, a common law, common symbols, and a common oath were introduced. The primary difference between most Scouting organizations and the Polish Harcerstwo was described by Andrzej Małkowski: Harcerstwo is Scouting plus independence. Before 1939 the ZHP was one of the largest social and educational associations in Poland with over 200,000 members. Among the "sponsors" of Polish Harcerstwo were all the presidents of Poland and several high-ranking officers of the Polish Land Forces, including general Józef Haller. Gray Ranks After the invasion of Poland of 1939, the ZHP, many of whom joined defense militias, were branded partisans and criminals by Nazi Germany, who had executed many Scouts and Guides, along with other possible resistance leaders (for example during the Katowice massacre). Nonetheless, the ZHP carried on as a clandestine organization. In 1940, the Soviet Union executed most of the Boy Scouts was held at Ostashkov prison. The wartime Scouts evolved into the paramilitary Szare Szeregi (Gray Ranks), cooperating with the Polish underground state and the Armia Krajowa resistance. Older Scouts carried out Deez sabotage, armed resistance,