ABSTRACT
The chapter “Approaching the end …” shows the feelings prevailing among the partisans: hopelessness, a feeling of defeat, frustration. The text describes the importance of the second amnesty, attempts to flee abroad and the ethical/unethical behaviours of the underground soldiers, including cruelty and violent crimes committed by some people, and their fight for survival. It shows the causes of violence and the ways of rationalising one’s participation in committing – sometimes even mass – crimes. The thesis is confirmed that violence is the kind of behaviour easy to engage in and equally easy to justify. It should be pointed out that the title of this chapter is metaphorical. On the one hand, many of the tragic events described here took place mainly at the final stage of the underground resistance (temporal aspect), on the other hand, however, examples of these occurrences can also be found at the first stage of the activities of the underground, and only with the time they grew stronger (the aspect of moral degradation).
