Polish Greatness (Blog)

Secret Polish Forces of WW2: The "Silent and Dark Ones" Conclusion

2011-12-15T01:13:00.002-05:00

School of Polish Special Forces - London 1944 - Szkoła Polskich Sił Specjalnych (00:15:05m)

The Cichociemni were a special elite force of the Polish Armed Forces during World War II. Their main objective was to conduct a series of uprisings, in conjunction with the Armia Krajowa (the Polish Home Army) and free Poland by seizing control of major cities including Warsaw. The tactic was straightforward: while the Germans were preoccupied in setting up defenses against the approaching Soviet Red Army, Polish civil authorities planned on re-establishing control before the Soviets arrived.

It was called Operation Tempest (Operation Storm). Details of the uprising were already being planned in September of 1942. It was slated to begin in Central Poland, that is, the General Gouvernment and quickly spread to other regions. The Poles had every expectation that the plans would succeed. During the long years of occupation, the Polish State did not collapse, but merely went underground. Every sector of government, civil and military, continued to exist and function, although in secret, thus ensuring an easier transition when the time came to reassert power.

Polish contribution to World War II (Underground State) pt 3/3   (00:05:55m)

The Cichociemni were a cut above the rest - trained in partisan warfare, espionage, and sabotage, among many other specialties. Of 2,413 candidates for the training programme, only 605 managed to pass the test. These heroic men (and a couple of women) fought in the Wilno, Lwow and Warsaw Uprisings, parachuting into Poland under cover of darkness, hence their nickname, the "Silent and Dark Ones".  They were also selected by the SOE for secret missions in other Nazi-occupied countries, including Egypt, Hungary, and France.

Visit Parts I, II and III of this special series present rare videos, photos, and historical data and information about the most mysterious and powerful special forces of WW2, the Cichociemni.

PART I
Introduction

PART II MISSIONS
Operation Foxley
Operation Most III
Operation Belt
Operation Heads - Operacja Glowki
Operation Burkl - Operacja Burkl
Operation Kutschera
Operation Ostrama Brama
Operation Arsenal

PART III
Famous Cichociemni

Suggested Links

"The Unseen and Silent: Special Operation Paratroops in the Warsaw Uprising" (in English)
by Professor Jerzy R. Krzyzanowski (Warsaw Uprising 1944 website)

"Stanislaw Edward Mostwin, Polish Freedom Fighter Dies" (in English)
The Baltimore Sun June 4,2011 (Obituary)

Cichociemni (in Polish)
NB. I recommend that you install a translator toolbar to read this in your language.

Cichociemni i ich znaczenie dla Armii Krajowej (in Polish)
(Cichociemni and their importance to Armia Krajowa)

Szkolenie spadochronowe cichociemnych (in Polish)

(Cichociemni Parachute Training)

Cichociemni Wallpaper

LOYAL TO THE VOW

Secret Polish Forces of WW2: The"Silent and Dark Ones" PART III FAMOUS CICHOCIEMNI

2011-12-14T00:05:00.052-05:00

Cichociemni, Secret Polish Forces WW2

The Polish Underground Resistance during World War II was the largest of it's kind in Europe. It consisted of numerous divisions of the Armia Krajowa (AK), the Home Army which reached over 400,000 combattants at the height of its operations.

Their primary objectives were that of sabotage, subversive activities and intelligence. According to estimates, the Polish Underground succeeded in destroying and significantly delaying at least one eighth of German transports to the Eastern Front. Moreover, activities of the AK were responsible for the deaths of approximately 150,000 Nazi Germans, including scores of key high-level SS Nazi officers.

The allied war effort owes its success to the many significant contributions made by the Polish Underground. It was a team of Polish mathematicans who cracked the Enigma Code. Before WW2 had even started, the Poles had already cracked the Code and had reconstructed working copies of the Enigma and gave the Polish-made Enigmas to British and French authorities just as the war broke out. Of the total reports received by the British SOE during the war, 43% were supplied by Polish Intelligence units. Most spectacular was the discovery of a crashed V-2 Rocket which was salvaged by members of the AK and subsequently shipped to London for further analysis. And it was the Polish Underground, in particular Witold Pilecki,that provided the allies with documented proof that the Nazi Germans were exterminating the Jews.

But nothing has captured the attention and imagination of the public more than the secret Polish forces of World War II. They were called the Cichociemni, the "Silent and Dark Ones". These men (and women) were a special breed of Elite soldiers, parachutists, and espionage operatives. There were over 350 Cichociemni operating throughout Europe - particularly in Poland during the Warsaw Uprising. The following lists just a few of the most famous of the Cichociemni. This series is a Tribute to them all, for their incredible Courage, Sacrifices and Honour.

FAMOUS CICHOCIEMNI

Leopold Okulicki "Niedźwiadek"
Rank: General
Dropped: March 14, 1943
Okulicki was Deputy Chief of Staff of the Armia Krajowa and Commander of the Nie organization. He was arrested by the NKVD and tortured to death
in Lubyanka prison in Moscow on December 24, 1946.

Kazimierz Iranek-Osmecki "Antoni"

Rank: Colonel

Dropped: March 14, 1943

He was Commander of the 2nd Detachment of the Armia Krajowa General Staff (Intelligence and Counterintelligence), discovered the German V-1 and V-2 testing facility at Peenemünde. Fought in the Warsaw Uprising.

Stefan Bałuk "Starba" "Kurbus"

Rank: 2nd Lieutenant (then Lieutenant)
Later: Brigadier-General rtd (honorary rank)
Dropped: April 10, 1944

Baluk was a specialist in document forgery and microphotography; an operative of legalization section 'Agaton'; part of the intelligence operations of Armia Krajowa.

During the Warsaw Uprising he was Deputy Commander of 'Agaton' Platoon,

and finally commander of 'Communications Unit 59',

a detachment protecting the AK General Staff.

Tadeusz Klimowski "Klon"
Rank: Captain
Dropped: January 7, 1942
Klimowski was Chief of Staff of the Polish 27th Home Army Infantry Division.

Adam Borys "Plug"
Rank: Captain
Dropped: October 2, 1942
Borys organized the Agat group which was fighting against the Gestapo. The best known mission was the assassination of Franz Kutschera the Reich's Police Chief in Warsaw in an action known as Operation Kutschera.

Jan Piwnik "Ponury"
Rank: Major
Dropped: November 7, 1941
Piwnik dropped into Poland on November 7, 1941. He was the commanding officer of KeDyw of Radom-Kielce district of the Home Army. He organized a large Home Army unit called Zgrupowania Partyzanckie Armii Krajowej "Ponury".
Piwnik was KIA on June 16, 1944 near the village of Jewlaszcze.

Krystyna Skarbek "Christine Granville"
Rank: Captain (Flight Officer)
Dropped: July 6-7, 1944
Skarbek was a Polish SOE agent and became a legend in her own time
for her daring expolits in intelligence missions in Nazi-occupied Poland and France.
In December 1939 she skied over the Tatra Mountains into Poland. She also helped organize the routes whereby Polish couriers brought intelligence reports from Warsaw to Budapest. She was the longest-serving of all SOE agents.

Adolf Pilch "Gora" "Dolina"
Rank: Warrant Officer
Dropped: February 17, 1943
Pilch was the organizer of a 1000-strong cavalry partisan unit in the Nowogródek area;
they broke through to the Kampinos forest near Warsaw and liberated it with his men;
they fought 235 battles between June 3, 1943 and January 17, 1945.

Hieronim Dekutowski "Zapora"

Rank: Major

Dropped: September 2, 1942

On the night of September 17, 1942, Dekutowski took part in Operation Neon 1 together with Bronisław Rachwał "Glin" and Kazimierz Smolaker "Nurek". He started out as a staff officer in the Home Army outfit under the command of Tadeusz Kuncewicz "Podkowa" but was eventually promoted to Commanding officer of 4th company of 9th Pułk Piechoty Legionów AK of the Local Inspectorate of the Home Army "Zamość". His unit was involved with sabotage and fighting against the German anti-partisan units but he also organized hideouts for Jewish refugees in his partisan camps. After the war he joined Wolność i Niezawisłość. He was arrested and tortured by communist state police, the Urząd Bezpieczeństwa. On November 3, 1948 he was subjected to a mock trial and sentenced to death.He was executed on March 3, 1949. His burial place is not known.

Stanislaw Jankowski "Agaton"

Rank: Lieutenant (later Captain)

Dropped: March 3, 1942

Jankowski was a forgery specialist and assisted in the organization of the Home Army's document forgery department, codenamed 'Agaton section'; commander of 'Agaton Platoon' during the Warsaw Uprising; later adjutant to the Home Army's C-in-C.

He survived the war to became a notable architect.

Boleslaw Kontrym "Bialy"
Rank: Major
Dropped: September 2, 1942
Kontrym was the organizer of the the secret Polish forces, the Cichociemni,
and fought in the Warsaw Uprising. He was decorated with the Silver Cross of the Virtuti Militari, Cross of Valor (3x), Commander's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta (posthumously in 2009), Croix de Guerre, among many others. After the war he was arrested by Urząd Bezpieczeństwa and executed in January 1953.

Jozef Czuma "Skryty"

Rank: Lieutenant

Dropped: February 18, 1943

Czuma was the organizer of a partisan unit of his name in the Warsaw area.

On July 12, 1944 he was arrested by the Gestapo and tortured to death in Pawiak prison.

Maciej Kalenkiewicz "Kotwicz"

Rank: Lieutenant-Colonel

Dropped: December 28, 1941

Kalenkiewicz was an organizer of the Cichociemni and the main strategist of

Operation Ostra Brama. He fought in the Battle of Surkonty against NKVD forces

and was KIA on August 21, 1944.

Elzbieta Zawacka "Zelma" "Zo"

Rank: Brigadier-General rtd (Honorary Rank)

Dropped: September 10, 1943

Zawacka was an SOE agent and (one of) the female Cichociemny agents to be dropped into Nazi-occupied Poland. She served as a courier between Home Army HQ and the Polish government in exile. She also organized routes for other AK couriers. She fought in the Warsaw Uprising. After it's capitulation, she continued her underground activities in Krakow. In 1951 she was arrested and tortured by Urząd Bezpieczeństwa and sentenced to prison for 10 years for treason and espionage, but the sentence was shortened and she was released in 1955. Zawacka then embarked on academic research and earned a doctorate degree from Gdansk University. She has been decorated with numerous medals including the Silver Cross of the Order of Virtuti Militari (2x), Cross of Valour (5x), Order of Polonia Restituta, Order of the White Eagle (1995) and others.

Jozef Spychalski "Grudzien" "Luty"

Rank: Colonel

Dropped: March 31, 1942

commander of the Kraków AK Area, arrested by Gestapo on March 24, 1944.

Henryk Krajewski "Wicher" "Trzaska"

Rank: Lieutenant Colonel

Dropped: January 6-7, 1942

Krajewski planned the strategy and participated in the Operation Wieniec (wreath) in which his team conducted successful sabotage of 6 railway lines around Warsaw. He was the head of training of Kedyw units, and commanded the 30 Division Army during Operation Tempest. At the start of the Warsaw Uprising he sent 30 divisions to come to their aid, but on August 18th, 1944 a cluster was arrested by the Soviet Red Army at Otwock. On December 11th "Wicher was arrested and sentenced to 10 years in prison. But during transport to prison on July 26 1945, he was freed by guerrilla squad "Orlik".

Stefan Ignaszak "Nordyk" "Drozd"

Rank: Lieutenant Colonel

Ignaszak was a soldier in the Home Army and served in intelligence operations which led to the discoveries of the V-1 and V-2 factories at Peenemunde. During the Warsaw Uprising he was an officer of the VI Golski's Clusters. He was decorated with the Silver Cross of the Order of Virtuti Militari, Cross of Valour, Silver Cross of Merit with Swords, and Warsaw Insurectionary Cross.

NEXT: Conclusion

Don't miss it!

Included is list of links

plus

Free Cichociemni Wallpaper for your computer!

Secret Polish Forces of WW2: The "Silent & Dark Ones: PART II: MISSIONS Operation Arsenal

2011-12-13T00:05:00.005-05:00

Jan Bytnar "Rudy" (00:01:35m)

OPERATION ARSENAL

Operation Arsenal (Polish: Akcja pod Arsenalem) code-named "Meksyk II" took place in Warsaw on March 26, 1943 in one of the first major operations undertaken by the Polish Underground Szare Szeregi (Gray Ranks). Their mission was to free their troop leader, Jan Bytnar "Rudy" (Redhead) and his father who had been arrested and imprisoned by the Gestapo.

Jan Bytnar "Rudy"

A team of 28 scouts were led by the Warsaw Standard Commander, Stanislaw Broniewski "Orsza" in a daring attack against the Warsaw Arsenal. It was a crucial moment. The inmates had just been loaded onto a prison van which was ready to transport them from Pawiak prison to the Gestapo headquarters at Szucha Avenue. The "Attack" Group was under the command of Tadeusz Zawadzki "Zoska" and the "Cover" Group under the command of Władysław Cieplak "Giewont". The mission ended successfully resulting in the release of Jan Bytnar, his father and 24 other prisoners including another Storm Group leader, Henryk Ostrowski "Henryk", and 6 women. Sadly, Henryk's wife died in prison.

COMMANDERS OF OPERATION ARSENAL

Stanislaw Broniewski "Orsza"
Commander of Operation Arsenal

Tadeusz Zawadzki "Zoska"
Commander of Attack Group

Władysław Cieplak "Giewont"
Commander of Cover Group

ATTACK GROUP

Jan Rodowicz "Anoda"
Commander of Section: "Bottles"

Attack Group Members
Tadeusz Hojko "Bolec"
Henryk Kupis "Heniek"
Stanisław Pomykalski "Stasiek"

Sławomir Maciej Bittner

Commander of Section: STEN I

Sten I Members

Eugeniusz Koecher "Kolczan"
Wiesław Krajewski "Sem"

Jerzy Gawin "Słoń"

Commander of Section: Sten II

Sten II Members

Tadeusz Krzyżewicz "Buzdygan"(died, due to wounds)

"Cielak" Tadeusz Szajnoch

Maciej Aleksy Dawidowski "Alek"

Commander of Section: Grenades

Grenades Members

Hubert Lenk "Hubert"
Jerzy Zapadko "Mirski"

COVER GROUP

Konrad Okolski "Kuba"

Commander of Section: Signalisation

Signalisation Members

Witold Bartnicki "Kadłubek"
Andrzej Wolski "Jur"

Jozef Saski "Katoda"

Commander of Section: Stare Miasto

Stare Miasto Members

Stanisław Jastrzębski "Kopeć"
Żelisław Olech "Rawicz"

Tytus Trzciński "Tytus"

Commander of Section: Ghetto

(regretfully, no photo could be found)

"Ghetto Section" Members

Feliks Pendelski "Felek"
Józef Pleszczyński "Ziutek"
Jerzy Tabor "Pająk"

Jerzy Zborowski "Jeremi"

Section: Car

Jerzy Pepłowski "Jurek TK"

Section: Car

(regretfully, no photo could be found)

Jan Bytnar was very active in the Warsaw underground resistance. He was a Scoutmaster and was soon promoted to Lieutenant of the Home Army. Before the war he had organized a group of scouts at the school he previously attended, Universal School at 9 Zagorna Street. He then continued his studies at the Gymnasium, Stefan Batory, where he graduated with Honours in 1939. When war broke out, he escaped Warsaw with the Polish Scouting Association, and went underground. They returned to Warsaw and began what became very high-profile acts of small sabotage - painting symbols and slogans on public buildings and monuments, smashing windows of establishments frequented by Germans. Eventually they progressed to sabotage and armed actions.

Rudy made himself quite well-known among the Nazi German authorities. Nevertheless he continued to carry out many dangerous stunts in defiance of the Nazi occupation, acts that would have been punishable by death had he been caught. He inscribed offensive slogans as well as drawings on the walls of the many streets; comments like "Only pigs are sitting in the cinema". In another one of his famous inscriptions - his answer to a German poster in front of the main recruiting office on Arbeitstamst Street, which when translated read as "Go with us to Germany!" whereas he inscribed his reply, "Go Yourselves!" The most famous of his works was the painted Kotwica (anchor) on the pedestal of the monument, Airman Union of Lublin (na placu Unii Lubelskiej). The symbol remained untouched to the end of the war. It was removed by the Russians after the war.

Kotwica-Airman Union of Lublin

The Polish Anchor, or Kotwica was created in 1942 by the AK Wawer "small sabotage" unit. The PW originally
meant "Pomscimy Wawer" We Will Avenge Wawer. It was a response to Nazi Germans for the large scale massacre of Polish civilians. The slogan was later shortened to PW and later translated to Polska Walcząca.

On June 27, 1942, in celebration of the city's patron saint, of Polish President Wladyslaw Raczkiewicz and CC Wladyslaw Sikorski, soldiers of the Armia Krajowa (Home Army) stamped 500 copies of a German propaganda newspaper, Nowy Kurier Warszawski (The New Warsaw Courier) with the Kotwica. The following year it increased to 7,000 copies! Polish General Stefan Rowecki issued an order to the Polish Underground that all sabotage, partisan and terror activities be marked with the sign of the Kotwica. It became a prominent symbol of the Warsaw Uprising.

The Kotwica was of enormous symbolic importance to the Polish Underground, as it not only manifested their resistance to Nazi German occupation but served as a continuous instrument of psychological warfare - to let the enemy know that Poland was not broken but very much alive, and that Poles were ready to Fight!

Jan Bytnar "Rudy" was interrogated by the Gestapo who subjected him to severe beatings and torture in an effort to obtain the names of his friends and colleagues in the Polish underground. Despite his frail appearance he refused to cooperate. He died four days later from this wounds, on March 30, 1943. He was posthumously awarded the Cross of Valour. He was 21.

The Nazi Germans responsible for the brutal death of Jan Bytnar were soonafter assassinated. SS Rottenfuhrer Ewald Lange and SS Obersturmfufrer Herbert Schultz were gunned down by Group Szturmowe of Szare Szeregi. Schultz was killed on May 6, 1943 by Slawomir Maciej Bittner "Maciek", and Eugeniusz Kecher "Kolczan". Lange was shot dead on May 22, 1943 by Jerzy Zapadko "Dzik"

PART III: Famous Cichociemni

Secret Polish Forces of WW2: The "Silent & Dark Ones" PART II: MISSIONS Operation Ostrama Brama

2011-12-12T00:05:00.005-05:00

One of the most sensational battles of World War II was waged between the Polish Home Army and the Nazi German occupiers of Wilno. It was called Operation Ostrama Brama, (Operation Gate of Dawn) and was part of the larger Operation Tempest, the national uprising that lasted from July 7, 1944 to July 14, 1944.

Tadeusz Komorowski "Bor"

General Tadesuz Bor-Komorowski, Commander-in-Chief of the Home Army ordered the Armia Krajowa districts of Wilno and Navahrudak to capture Wilno from German control and maintain control over it before the Soviets could reach it. On June 12, 1944, Bor's orders were put into action. General Aleksander Krzyzanowski "Wilk", Commander of the Home Army District in Wilno (now Vilnius), regrouped all Polish partisan units in the northeastern section of Poland to launch the assault from inside the city as well as from it's perimeter. Fighting erupted on July 7, 1944. Over 12,500 Home Army (AK) soldiers launched a vicious attack on the German garrison and succeeded in seizing most of the city center. Fighting was extremely fierce and lasted until July 14. Meanwhile in the eastern suburbs of Wilno, AK units were cooperating with reconnaissance groups of Soviet 3rd Belorussian Front.

During the operation, General Krzyzanowski attempted to consolidate all Polish partisan groups into a re-created Polish 19th Infantry Division, but it was too late. On July 15th, the advancing Red Army had already entered the city and the NKVD began to arrest all Polish soldiers and officers. In a strategy typical of Soviet chicanery, officers of the 3rd Belorussian Front extended an cordial invitation to Polish officers to a joint meeting at their headquarters, and then proceeded to arrest them when they arrived. About 5,000 Polish NCO's, soldiers, and officers were deported to a provisional internment camp located in Medininkai, a suburb of Wilno. They were given the "option" of joining the 1st Polish Army (Soviet-backed). The majority of Poles refused to join the Soviet army. They were deported to the wastelands of the USSR.

General Aleksander Krzyzanowski "Wilk"

A secret NKVD/NKGB report dated July 17, 1944, from Lavrenti Beria to Stalin, Molotov and Antonov, reveal the extent of Soviet conspiracy against Polish forces. The following is an English translation:

July 17, 1944, Moscow

L. Beria to J. Stalin, V. Molotov, and A. Antonov

Forwarding report(s) of [Ivan] Serov and I. Tcherniakovsky

[Concerning] Arrest of Lt. Col. Aleksander Krzyżanowski, and planned disarming of Polish [Armia Krajowa - Home Army] military formations.

Beria and his mentor Stalin

****TOP SECRET****

Following information were received today from Comrade Tcherniakowsky:

The so-called Major-General “Wilk” / Kulczycki was summoned today. Wilk was told that we are interested in the locations of Polish formations, and that it would be prudent that our officers were familiar with them. Wilk agreed, and gave us 6 such locations, where his regiments and brigades are stationed. Additionally, we expressed our interest in his officers’ core, and proposed that he gathers all regimental and brigade commanders, their second in command, and chiefs of staff. “Wilk” also agreed to that, issued the necessary orders, and gave them to his communications officer, who immediately left for his headquarters.

After that, “Wilk” was disarmed [and arrested]; present at the time was a captain – the Chief of Staff who represents [the Polish] Government in London, who attempted to draw his side arm in order to resist, he cocked his gun, but was disarmed [and arrested as well].

Taking under consideration, that we received locations of Polish[Home Army] formations, the following operations’ plan was established:

1) Experienced generals and People’s Commisars for the State Security of NKVD were dispatched in order to approach the Poles and to investigate [further].

2) At the same time, units of the 3rd Belarusian Front were dispatched to disarm the Poles.

3) Today, at 1900-hours, a Border Security unit, as well as the leadership cadre of men and women of the NKVD were dispatched to disarm the [Polish] officers’ cadre.

4) Tomorrow, on 18th July, at 4 o’clock in the morning, units designated to disarm the Poles will be move to their deployment positions, will receive orders, and will begin the operation. They will report about the results of the operation.

AK Headquarters ordered an immediate retreat of all Polish units to Rudininkai Forest. By July 18 approximately 6,000 soldiers had reached the area, joined by an additional 12,000 volunteers. However, Soviet air reconnaissance discovered their locations, and they were subsequently surrounded by Soviet NKVD agents. Polish Command attempted to split their units in an attempt to try to break through to the Bialystok area, but to no avail. Most of the Polish forces were captured and interned.

In a subsequent report issued by Beria to Stalin on July 20, 1944, Soviet troops were reported to have disarmed a total of 6,000 Polish soldiers, among whom were 650 officers and NCO's. In the 2-day crackdown, the Soviets confiscated a large quantity of weapons including 5,100 rifles, 350 machine guns, 230 light and heavy machine guns, 12 light artillery pieces, 27 vehicles, 7 radio transmitters, a substantial cache of of ammunition and grenades, as well as 350 horses.

In the vicinity of Wilno, Lt. Col. Maciej Kalenkiewicz "Kotwicz" and approximately 80 to 100 soldiers remained hidden in the forests but sprung into action on August 21, engaging the NKVD expeditionary forces in battle. But Soviet units were stronger having received additional reinforcements from NKVD Intelligence-Search Unit 3, Battalion 32 (commanded by NKVD's Captain Shulkha, and Capt. Tshikin of the Regional NKVD detachment.)

Major Maciej Kalenkiewicz "Kotwicz"

Major Maciej Kalenkiewicz among his soldiers - 1944

Kalenkiewicz was trained as a Cichociemni and on December 27, 1941 parachuted into Nazi-occupied Poland to assume command of the Nowogrodek Home Army. Due to pilot error, instead of landing in the area of the General Governement, the plane was landed smack in the middle of territory annexed by the Third Reich. The pilot and crew were arrested as soon as they landed, but later were able to escape from captivity, recapturing their weapons and killing all the Germans. In the meantime, Kalenkiewicz and his team had already reached Warsaw where Kalenkiewicz met with General Stefan Rowecki (Grot) and was accepted into the Association of Armed Struggle, the predecessor to the Home Army.

General Stefan Rowecki "Grot"

Kalenkiewicz was nick-named by the NKVD as the "handless major". He was severely wounded in his right arm during the battle against the Germans at Iwa on June 24, 1944. However he continued to take part in ambush operations against a German transport convoy near the estate of Kwiatkowce, situated about 4 km from Subotnik. (During the battle his unit was also under attack by Soviet troops.) Kalenkiewicz developed gangrene in his wounded arm and on June 29th had to undergo amputation of his hand at Antoniszki, near the Oszmina. Despite his serious condition and very high fever, on July 9th he still reported to General "Wilk" for service but his condition prevented him from taking part in the liberation of Wilno from the Germans. Major Kalenkiewicz and 38 AK soldiers were killed in action during the Battle at Surkonty on August 21, 1944.

To the Poles Operation Ostrama Brama was not a victory though they achieved a tactical victory over the German forces. The destruction of Polish units and subsequent occupation of the city by the Red Army was a bitter defeat to the Polish Home Army who struggled to achieve the goals of Operation Tempest.

PART II MISSIONS: Operation Arsenal

Secret Polish Forces of WW2: The "Silent & Dark Ones" PART II: MISSIONS Operation Kutschera

2011-12-11T00:05:00.002-05:00

Assassination of Franz Kutschera (Scene from Polish movie "General Nil" ) (00:02:21m)

Operation Kutschera was part of the much bigger mission called "Operation Heads" in which the Polish Resistance successfully eliminated many key Nazi officials. Franz Kutschera was one of the targets taken down by "Agat", a division of the Armia Krajowa's Anti-Gestapo unit. Kutschera was gunned down on February 1, 1944, in a spectacular gun battle that would have made early James Bond films pale in comparison.

Franz Kutschera

On September 25, 1943, the Reich had appointed Franz Kutschera SS-Brigadefuhrer and Generalmajor of Polizei (SS and Police Chief) to a posting in Warsaw. He had previously proven himself as a ruthless officer in the Mogilev District in the Soviet Union, where he demonstrated his unscrupulous measures and earned a reputation for brutality. He was called the "Executioner of Warsaw".

As soon as Kutschera arrived in Warsaw to assume his command, he wasted no time in inflicting his barbarous measures against the Polish civilians. The rate of public executions and lapanka (round-ups) increased dramatically. So too did the daily German announcements which published lists of names of the Polish hostages who would be shot in the event that any German soldier was attacked. These tactics, decreed by Hans Frank were applied with ruthless frequency in the hope that it would quash the Polish resistance, but it had, in reality, quite the opposite effect. It hardened their resolve to oppose and fight against their German occupiers.

Kutschera was a cunning officer, knowing full well of the dangers of venturing outside one's familiar territory. He was all too well aware of the methods used by Polish intelligence and took steps to conceal not only his whereabouts but his name and identity as well. That the Polish Resistance was still able to locate him was due to sheer coincidence and luck.

Aleksander Kunicki "Rayski"

Aleksander Kunicki, code-named "Rayski" was the Chief of Intelligence of the Agat unit, and was working on Walter Stamm (IV Department Gestapo Director in Warsaw) and Gestapo Command Office, as well as Dr. Ludwig Hahn, the head of that Office. Rayski frequently made visits to the police quarter of Warsaw to survey activity. One day he spotted an Opel Admiral limousine pulling into the driveway of a palace at 23 Aleje Ujazdowskie, the site of the Warsaw District SS and Police Leader. An SS man emerged from the vehicle and just then his black coat opened enough to reveal a general's collar insignia. It was Kutschera. From that day, Polish intelligence agents were posted everywhere closely monitoring his every movement until they discovered his name and address.

"Rayski"' dispatched a report to Kedyw Commander Emil August Fieldorf code-named "Nil". Several days later a reply was sent back by the Special Polish Courts. Nil had issued an order to "liquidate" Kutschera. The plan immediately went into preparation. Commander Adam Borys,"Plug" of Parasol Battalion, chose 1st Platoon to carry out the action. Bronislaw Pietraszewicz "Lot", the Platoon Commander took charge and together with "Plug" studied the intelligence that had been gathered by "Rayski".

Emil August Fieldorf "Nil"

The first attempt occured on January 28, 1944 when "Lot" and his team took their positions and waited for Kutschera. They had waited in vain as Kutschera never showed up. Tragically, in the interim Jan Kordulski "Zbik" was mortally wounded by German patrol units, and had to be replaced by Zbigniew Gesicki "Juno" and Stanislaw Huskowski "Ali"

The next opportunity arose on February 1st, 1944 at 8:50 am. All the members of the execution team were at their places and ready to take action.

"Plug" (Adam Borys)

Plug was the mastermind behind the Parasol Battalion.

He organized attacks on SS and Gestapo officers
and planned the Kutschera assassination

"Lot" (Bronisław Pietraszewicz)

Lot was the commander and 1st executioner.

His weapons: MP 40 submachine gun, Vis gun, Filipinka hand grenades.

"Bruno" (Bronislaw Hellwig)

Opel Kapitan driver (2 Parabellums, grenades)

"Ali" (Stanisław Huskowski)

Second-in-command and security screen (STEN, grenades)

"Kruszynka" (Zdzisław Poradzki)

2nd executioner (STEN, grenades)

"Miś" (Michał Issajewicz)

Adler Trumpf-Junior car driver and 3rd executioner
(Parabellum pistol and grenades)

"Cichy" (Marian Senger)

Cover ( STEN, Parabellum, grenades)

"Olbrzym" (Henryk Humięcki)

Cover (STEN, Parabellum, grenades)

"Juno" (Zbigniew Gesicki)

Cover (STEN, Vis, grenades)

"Sokół" (Kazimierz Sott)

Mercedes 170 V driver (2 Parabellum, grenades)

"Kama" (Maria Stypułkowska-Chojecka)

Signals

"Dewajtis" (Elżbieta Dziębowska)

Signals

"Hanka" (Anna Szarzynska-Rewska)

Signals

At precisely 9:09 am Kama gave the signal to indicate that Kutschera was leaving his house at Aleja Róż 2. Even though SS headquarters was a mere 150 meters from his home, he habitually rode by car. Just as he neared the gate of SS headquarters, a car swerved to block his path. "Miś" was driving.

HQ of German SS and Police Commander Warsaw District
Ale Ujazdowskie

Area of Franz Kutschera Assassination

At that moment, "Lot" and "Kruszynka" ran to the limousine and opened fire on Kutschera at point blank range. Meanwhile the other members of the team ran to take their places and move in with their vehicles. The scene turned into a wild gunfight as German guards from the neighbouring Offices of the Gestapo, Schutzpolizei, and garrison club, all converged in the area, and an intensive firefight ensued. Amid a hail of bullets Miś jumped out of his car, and joined by Kruszynka finished off the wounded Kutschera. They then searched him for documents.

Ali was in charge of the hand grenades but at the crucial moment was unable to open the briefcase in which they were contained. As fate would have it, these were the only weapons at his disposition. He did not receive the other weapons in time, and thus could not support his team, Cichy, Lot and Olbrzym. As a result they were all wounded in a vicious hail of bullets.

Gravely wounded, Lot was unable to call out loud enough to order a withdrawal. None of the team members heard him and as a result, the shootout was unnecessarily prolonged. They were in extreme danger, caught in the very epicenter of the German office quarter. Miraculously, they were finally able to get into their get away cars and escape.

What followed was a frantic search for a hospital that was willing to defy German orders and agree to operate on Cichy and Lot, who were mortally wounded. (The original medvac plan failed.) It took several hours and five attempts before a hospital would finally admit them. But tragically, because of the delay, both men died within the next couple of days.

In the meantime Sokół and Juno, in defiance of AK orders, attempted to return the car to the garage but were intercepted by German troops at Kierbedz bridge. After a short, fateful exchange of gunfire, Sokol and Juno tried to escape by jumping into the Vistula River. They either drowned or were shot.

Franz Kutschera Funeral

The Germans held a funeral ceremony for Kutschera in Bruhl palace. His body was then transported to Berlin on a special train. The Nazi Germans had demanded 100 million zloty from the City of Warsaw as a retribution. Then the very next day, German troops rounded up and executed 100 Polish civilian hostages.

They were shot in what was the last public execution in Warsaw...until the outbreak of the Warsaw Uprising....

PART II MISSIONS: Operation Ostrama Brama

Secret Polish Forces of WW2: The "Silent & Dark Ones" PART II: MISSIONS Operation Burkl - Operacja Burkl

2011-12-10T01:05:00.002-05:00

Gestapo - Documentary - Part 1 (00:10:15m)

OPERATION BURKL - OPERACJA BURKL

Armia Krajowa

Operation Burkl, the second phase of Operation Heads was carried out by the "Anti-Gestapo" Agat unit of the Kedyw Divison of the Armia Krajowa on September 7, 1943. Their objective was to assassinate specific SS Nazi officers in Warsaw. It was a success.

Franz Burkl

Franz Burkl, a notorious Gestapo officer, was responsible for ordering numerous executions of the Polish people including Polish Jews, and prisoners of the infamous Pawiak prison in Warsaw. Between 1941 and 1943 he personally murdered several dozen people, both in and outside prison installations. In his trips inside the Warsaw Ghetto, he conducted shootings of people at random. During the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, a gang of Pawiak criminals under Burkl's command was sent to hunt down and kill the Jewish insurgents. According to reports, Burkl was alleged to have been addicted to morphine. He was always accompanied by Kastor, his German Shepherd, which he routinely trained to terrorize the Pawiak convicts. He was a deranged sadist and mass murderer. The Secret Polish Underground Court sentenced him to death by for crimes committed against the Polish nation.

In the action, Burkl was ambushed by five young fighters of the Armia Krajowa armed with Sten submachine guns and Filipinka hand grenades. The attack took place in broad daylight on Marszalkowska Street. The AK group led by 21 year old Jerzy Zborowski, consisted of recruits from the Polish scouting organization called Szare Szeregi.

L-R Grenades Sidolowka and Filipinka,
manufactured by Armia Krajowa
(exhibition in the Museum of Warsaw Uprising)

Jerzy Zborowski

Sten Mk. II (trigger mechanism cover is missing)

The Operation took all of 90 seconds. In that brief moment, Burkl and seven other German policemen were gunned down and killed. Though Group Agat suffered no losses in the mission, the Nazis carried out reprisals by publicly executing 20 Polish inmates of Pawiak prison.

Polish Prisoners Hanged at Pawiak Prison

The British SOE (Special Operation Executive) supplied the Cichociemni, the Secret Polish Resistance forces with various models of Sten sub-machine gun. Approximately 11,000 Sten guns were delivered to the Armia Krajowa between 1942 and 1944. During this time the Polish Underground was manufacturing variations of the Sten guns in secret workshops throughout Poland. Polish replicas were being made in at least 23 underground workshops. The design was simple. Some workshops manufactured copies of the Mark IIs while others produced the Polski Sten and KIS. The Polski Sten was made under command of Ryszard Białostocki and was built from a combination of components that were legally made in official factories. The main body of the machine pistol consisted of hydraulic cylinders that had been produced for hospital equipment. In order to disguise the origin of the production all the pistols were marked in English. Stens' barrels were also used for SMGs produced in Poland under the name Błyskawica.

PART II MISSIONS: Operation Kutschera

Secret Polish Forces of WW2: The "Silent & Dark Ones" PART II: MISSIONS Operation Heads - Operacja Glowki

2011-12-09T00:25:00.003-05:00

OPERATION HEADS - Operacja Glowki

During World War II Nazi-occupied Poland was a veritable hunting ground. German troops were constantly on the rampage, rounding up as many Polish civilians as possible. These daily arrests were referrred to by the Poles as lapanka. Hundreds of Polish men, women, and children were arrested and executed en masse. In Warsaw between 1942 and 1944 over 400 Poles fell victim to the lapanka on a daily basis. Many more perished throughout Poland. By the end of the war tens of thousands of Polish civilians had been murdered in mass executions, including an estimated 37,000 Polish inmates in Pawiak prison, run by the Gestapo. Thousands of Polish civilians and resistance fighters were murdered in the ruins of the Warsaw Ghetto. Many of the executions were made a public spectacle in an effort by the Germans at pacification. The Nazis published lists of names of Polish individuals marked for execution. In retaliation, the Polish Underground also published their own lists naming specific Nazi German officials for assassination, and proceeded to systematically carry out their threats.

Lapanka - German soldiers arresting Polish civilians

Polish Civilians Hanged at the Gallows by Nazi Germans

Operation Heads was the Polish answer to Nazi terror. The Polish Underground targeted key Nazi officials for assassination as recompense for the German crimes perpetrated against the Polish people. The assassinations were legally decreed by the Secret Polish Underground State, and by the Special Courts of the Polish Underground. They named the mission Operation Heads in sarcastic reference to the Totenkopf, which was the symbol prominently displayed on SS Nazi German uniforms and headgear.

Totenkopf

In response to Nazi brutality, members of the Polish Home Army planned and carried out ambushes, killing 361 gendarmes in 1943, and another 584 in 1944. In Warsaw 10 Germans were killed on a daily basis. From August to December 1942, the Home Army carried out 87 attacks on the German administration and members of the terror regime. By 1943 the frequency of attacks increased radically. During the first four months of 1943, the Home Army increased the attacks to 514. The Polish underground targeted key figures of the German administration, police, SS, SA, labor office and Gestapo. All were condemned to death by the Polish Underground Court for crimes against the Polish people. Even Poles who were caught collaborating with the Germans were sentenced to death. Retribution was swift and merciless.

The following list of names are just a few of the Nazi officials that were targeted by the Armia Krajowa for execution.

TARGETS FOR ASSASSINATION

Anton Hergel

a Nazi commissioner of printers who controlled press and publishers in General Government. The Polish Resistance fighters wounded him twice,

in two separate actions 1943.

Franz Bürkl

was an SS-Oberscharführer, Gestapo officer, and commandant of Pawiak.

He was killed in Operation Bürkl on September 7, 1943.

August Kretschmann

was an SS-Hauptscharfuhrer and commandant of prison camp Gesiowka.

He was executed September 24, 1943.

Stephan Klein SS-Scharfuhrer

member of Pawiak prison. He was killed on 1943 by Kedyw baon Battalion Parasol.

Franz Kutschera

was an SS-Brigadeführer and Generalmajor of Polizei, SS and Police Leader of the Warsaw District. He was killed in Operation Kutschera on February 1, 1944.

Ernst Weffels

was an SS-Sturmmann member of Nazi personnel of Pawiak. He was executed on October 1, 1943 for cruelty and executions in the Women's Prison in Pawiak.

Ludwig Fischer

was Governor of the Warsaw District during the occupation General Government. Shots were fired at his car in Operation Hunting in 1944, but he survived. After war, he was caught, sentenced to death, and executed by hanging in Poland.

Albrecht Eitner

was a secret agent working to Abwehr. He was executed on July 1, 1944.

Willi Lubbert

worked at the unemployment office and organizedł apanka (Polish euphemism for rounding up of non-combatants) of Poles to be sent to Nazi labor camps.

He was executed on July 1, 1944.

Wilhelm Koppe – Hohere SS und Polizei Fuhrer

HSSP, SS-Obergruppenfuhrer wounded in "Akcja Koppe" (Action Koppe)

on 11 July 1944 in Krakow.

Ernst Durrfeld

had shots fired at his car on July 12, 1944, but he escaped.

Willy Leitgeber

was an officer of section Kripo assigned to fight with Polish underground.

He was wounded in one action and killed in second.

Michajlo Poholowko

was a Ukrainian Nazi collaborator from Komitet Ukrainski.

He was killed on March 31, 1944.

Walter Stamm

was an SS-Sturmbannführer, IV Department Gestapo, director in Warsaw Sicherheitsdienst. He escaped from Operation Stamm on May 5, 1944.

Eugen Bollodino

worked in the unemployment office and organized lapanka (Polish euphemism for rounding up on the streets of civilians) of Poles to be sent to Nazi labor camps.
He was executed on 1944.

Karl Freudenthal Kreishauptmann

of powiat Garwolin responsible for murder of Jews and Poles, and for deportation of local Jewish population to the ghettos

PART II MISSIONS: Operation Burkl

Secret Polish Forces of WW2: The "Silent & Dark Ones" PART II: MISSIONS Operation Belt

2011-12-08T00:12:00.006-05:00

Szare Szeregi (00:03:34m)

OPERATION BELT

One of the largest Polish Operation against the Nazis was Operation Belt. In August 1943 Polish Command gave the order to Kedyw Division of the Armia Krajowa to launch an attack against German border guarding stations located on the frontier between the territory of the German General Government, and the territories annexed by Germany. By February 1943, the Polish secret forces were able to destroy 13 of these German outposts, with minimal losses among Polish units.

The Kedyw Division were specialists in sabotage of all genre, anti-Nazi propaganda, and armed action directed towards Nazi German forces and their collaborators. Most notable among their Operations was the sabotage of rail lines, bridges and roads, burning of trains and fuel depots, and the destruction or damage of German weapons' factories. They were also instrumental in liberating hundreds of prisoners and hostages held by the Nazis.

Polish Underground derailed trains WW2

Polish Underground WW2 Grenade Production

Most of the members of Kedyw were recruits from Zwiazek Harcerstwa Polskiego, the Polish Scouting and Guiding Association. After the invasion of Poland, the Nazis condemned this group as criminals and executed many of them. They came to be nicknamed "Szare Szeregi" (Gray Ranks). The Division was grouped into several infantry battalions, most notable among them the famous "Zoska" battalion, the "Parasol" battalion, and the "Miotla" battalion.

Kolegium B unit of Kedyw AK during training in Celestynowski Forest near Warsaw

May 1944: L-R: unknown "Grot", Eugeniusz Domanski "Mis", Zbigniew Mlynarski "Kret", Ryszard Jablonowski "Wawrek", Tadeusz Borek, Jozef Lapinski "Chmura".

The Wachlarz (the "Fan") was another organization among many others which specialized in sabotage behind German-Soviet frontlines. Between January 1, 1941 and June 30, 1944, they derailed 732 trains, set fire to 443 German transports and over 4,000 vehicles, damaged 19,000 train carriages, 6,900 engines, set fire to 1,200 gasoline tanks, blew up 40 railway bridges, destroyed 5 oil shafts, froze 3 blast-furnaces, conducted about 25, 000 sabotage acts in war factories, burnt 130 magazines of weapons and equipment, made 5,700 assassination attempts on various officer ranks of the German Wehrmacht, soldiers and police as well as the Volksdeutschs (Polish citizens of German descent who collaborated with the Nazi Germans.) In addition, the Wachlarz rescued and set free inmates held in 16 prisons. As of 1943 partisan troops began conducting missions - fighting more than 170 battles and in the process killing more than 1,000 Germans. By the start of 1944, there were approximately 60 AK partisan groups in operation, some of them numbering up to a few hundred soldiers each, and about 200 sabotage squads.

Polish Partisan Troop

Polish Partisans Preparing for Battle

Polish Snipers - 1st Armoured Division 1944

Tadeusz Zawadzki

One of the most notable figures in the Polish Underground, was Tadeusz Zawadzki, code-named Zoska. He was a Scoutmaster, resistance activist and second lieutenant of the Armia Krajowa.

During the night of August 20-31, 1943, he was killed during the "Tasma" action - an suprise attack against the Grenzschutzpolizei building in Sieczychy, near Wyszkow. The fight was quick and Polish fighters succeeded in wiping out the Germans. There was only one Polish casualty. It was Tadeusz Zawadzki. He was 22 years of age.

PART II MISSIONS: Operation Heads - Operacja Glowki

Secret Polish Forces of WW2: The "Silent & Dark Ones" PART II: MISSIONS Operation Most III

2011-12-07T00:57:00.002-05:00

V2 Rocket Facility At Peenemunde - WWII In Colour (00:02:56m)

OPERATION MOST III

In Operation Most II, the Polish Home Army (Armia Krajowa) was instrumental in providing its' British allies with invaluable intelligence about the German V-2 Rocket (also known as the A-4). The V-2 was a liquid-propelled rocket developed by Gemany - the ancestor to the long-range ballistic missile.

The Nazi Germans tested their rockets at Peenemunde, in Germany near the Baltic sea coast). From the start the testing programme was plagued with a plethora of technical problems - rocket failures, explosions, unstable trajectories, premature engine cut-off and so on. On June 13, 1944, one of the rockets exploded in an air-burst several thousand feet over a farm in the county of Backebo, in Sweden. There were no injuries. But thanks to the local residents the British were able to obtain the invaluable wreckage and attempt to reconstruct the V-2.

The combination of Polish Intelligence, the Oslo Report, and RAF photo reconnaissance prompted a meeting of the British Cabinet on June 29, 1943. In the ensuing debate, Professor Frederick Lindemann opposed the bombing at Peenemunde. He questioned the credibility of intelligence reports, and claimed that there was no evidence that the German V-2 rockets even existed. In the midst of counter-arguments, Churchill interceded, "Peenemunde is...beyond the range of our radio navigation beams and...we must bomb by moonlight, although the German night fighters will be close at hand and it is too far to send our own. Nevertheless, we must attack it on the heaviest possible scale." On July 15, 1943, the British Chiefs of Staff, Herbert Morrison, Lindemann, and Churchill devised the bombing plan to be conducted at the earliest opportunity.

The bombing run proceeded as planned. During the night of August 17-18, 1943 Operation Hydra Bombing went into action. The RAF dispatched its' squadrons for a massive allied air raid over Peenemunde Army Research Center and in a series of three waves of strategic bombings, attempted to destroy Germany's V-2 weapons programme. Though the Operation caused extensive damage, it was by no means a success. It caused only a temporary delay in German weapons testing by a period of seven weeks. In its' wake the allies suffered casualties amounting to 215 British RAF personnel killed, loss of 40 bombers, and hundreds of civilian deaths in nearby concentration Camp Trassenheide. German casualties were two V-2 rocket scientists.

Bomb Craters at Peenemunde- Operation Hydra

Though impressive the above photograph is deceptive. The Germans fabricated many of the bomb craters in an attempt to mislead Allied Command of the extent of damage actually inflicted. But the Allies were not without an ace up their sleeves. Several of the bombs had timers that were set to detonate up to three days later, severely hampering German salvage attempts.

After Operation Hydra, the Germans moved their rocket production and testing to Blizna in southeastern Poland, and to Tuchola Forest (near the town of Tuchola in northern Poland). The V-2 rockets were constructed at the Mittelwerk site using forced labor of inmates from the Mittelbau-Dora concentration camp. It is estimated that approximately 20,000 prisoners from this Camp died, mostly from disease or starvation. From these, 9,000 perished from sheer exhaustion and 350 were hanged, including 200 of whom were executed for having conducted acts of sabotage in the manufacturing plant.

German V-2 Rocket

In 1943 the Intelligence Divison of Armia Krajowa was able to retrieve a few parts of German rockets that were being tested near Blizna and by April of 1944 more such parts became available to the Polish underground as German testing and misfiring of rockets increased in frequency. Several rockets had fallen near the village of Sarnaki, in the vicinity of the Bug River (south of Siemiatycze) but before the Germans could find and retrieve the wreckage, members of the Armia Krajowa had quickly located and salvaged the parts. They were then shipped to secret labs in Warsaw where the rocket parts were analzyed by a specialized team headed by Professor Janusz Groszkowski, Marceli Struszynski, and Antoni Kocjan, among others.

Members of Armia Krajowa salvage parts of V-2 Rocket from Bug River

Janusz Groszkowski, Polish Scientist

Marceli Struszynski, Polish Scientist

Antoni Kocjan, Polish Intelligence Agent

In March 1944, British Intelligence received a report from an agent of the Armia Krajowa (Home Army) who had surveyed the Blizna railway line and noticed that it was heavily guarded by SS German soldiers. In plain sight was a freight car loaded by "an object which, though covered by a tarpaulin, bore every resemblance to a monstrous torpedo."

Impact sites of V-2 Rockets in Poland

The Polish Underground had hoped to obtain an undetonated V-2 rocket for further analysis. The opportunity arose on May 20, 1944, when a V-2 rocket fell on the swampy shores of the Bug River, near the village of Sarnaki. Remarkably, it was found to be relatively intact. Local Polish villagers succeeded in hiding it from the Germans. The V-2 was successfully dismantled and smuggled across Poland and then by plane to London, England.

Operation Most II was carried out during the night of July 25-26, 1944. The RAF had dispatched a Dakota transport plane of the 267th Squadron from Brindisi, Italy to its destination at a remote AK outpost located near the village of Jadowniki Mokre, 60 kilometers (37 miles) east of Krakow. The passage was an extremely dangerous one as the presence of German troops in the nearby villages was considerable. When it came time to take off, the plane's landing gear sank in the marsh, risking the failure of the entire Operation. Fortunately, with the help of the partisans the plane was eventually able to take off and returned to Brindisi with the parts of the V-2 rocket.

Kazimierz Szrajer was the second pilot on the plane. Here is a first-hand account in his words:

"...These events took place in July 1944 toward the end of my operational tour on Halifaxes. I was with the 1586 Flight stationed at Brindisi, Italy. I was called by our squadron leader who informed me that I was assigned to the British crew of a Dakota for an assignment to Poland. We were to land there for a pickup. He advised me to be physically and morally prepared for this flight. I felt deeply honoured and for a next few days I was excited, impatiently waiting for my assignment.

Finally, in a morning of July 25th, I was informed that the flight would take place that night. The plane was to land at Brindisi to pick me up. I suddenly realized that I never flew that type of aircraft, and started be a little apprehensive. My commander assured me that I'll do just fine and that the British pilot would brief me about plane's systems and a take-off procedure. That exactly what happened. I took F/Lt Culliford, a New Zealander, about five minutes to introduce me to Dakota. After referring me to instruments, fuel and undercarriage system, he made a fully qualified co-pilot. Our plane had two extra tanks installed in the fuselage, what extended its range significantly and allowed us to stay airborne for at least 13 hours. Our crew consisted of: F/Lt S.C. Culliford (pilot), F/O K. Szrajer (co-pilot and translator), F/O J.P. Williams (navigator) and F/Sgt J. Appleby (wireless operator). It was to be my twentieth flight to the occupied Poland.

By pure luck, this mission was almost scrapped by the last minute, when unexpectedly, a day before the operation, the Germans set up an outpost with two FW190s fighters on the very strip designated for Dakota to land. Fortunately, they left the same day and Resistance was able to prepare everything on time.

We took off from Brindisi at 7:30 p.m. escorted by a Polish Liberator. It was mostly for our psychical comfort, since both planes were easy target for German fighters. On board we had some equipment and four passengers. Not only the common sense but also strict regulations prohibited us from knowing who they were. After the war I learned from different sources that our passengers were: Kazimierz Bilski, Jan Nowak, Leszek Starzynski and Boguslaw Wolniak. During crossing of the Yugoslavian coast nightfall came. Until that moment I had a radio contact with our escort, which took its own course. Ours led through Yugoslavia, Hungary and Czechoslovakia. Over Hungary we saw AA in action, but far from us and apparently stimulated by somebody else. Our orientation point for landing was the outlet of the River Dunajec to the River Vistula. We reached it according to plan, right on time. Down there they waited for us, and after signals exchange, the lights appeared on four corners of the landing strip. Pilot made two attempts before putting down the plane. Right after we stopped I opened the door to established contact with the receiving party. I was welcomed by Wlodzimierz Gedymin who commanded on the ground. Our passengers left, the equipment was unloaded and took five new passengers. They were: T. Arciszewski, J. Retinger, J. Chmielewski, T. Chciuk and C. Micinski. Jerzy Chmielewski was in possession of the V-2 parts and written report on them. He was responsible for the watch on Blizna.

After only several minutes on the ground we got ready to take off. It turned out that the field was oozy. Our Dakota was stuck in the mud. I immediately realized my situation: I was on a Polish soil and I could join the Polish Resistance and in few days meet my family and friends. The Polish officer was asking me a lot of questions about certain people, Polish units, etc. while there was no time to waste. We franticly tried to free the aircraft, all in vain. We were running out of time and we discussed burning the plane. Finally, after an hour and five minutes on a ground, we succeeded and took off for home.

We still had a big problem on our hands. In our desperation to budge the aircraft we severed their hydraulic hoses to eliminate the possibility of the wheels' locked breaks. This prevented us from lifting up the undercarriage. Flying with the wheels down created a drag what threatened with running out of fuel before reaching our base. We filled the hydraulic tank with whatever fluid we could get: water, thermos tea, whatever. By the time we passed the Tatra Mountains we had the wheels up. Then I went to see to our passengers and instruct them about parachute harness in case of need. Back in the cockpit I took over the controls. It was a beautiful, starry and calm night and we all calmed down, calculating that after three hours of flight we'll back home and relatively safe. I reflected on the group of people we left in behind us, who already for five years fought with the hated occupant, and who put a lot of effort into the "Third Bridge". Our successful flight back to Allied territory with the parts of V-2 was their triumph..."

Douglas DC3 DAKOTA
This type of the aircraft was taken to the air by Kazimierz Szrajer in the 'Third Bridge' operation to smuggled parts of German rocket V-2 from occupied Poland to the West in July 1944

By the end of the month the precious cargo was delivered to London. Kocjan Antoni was to have been part of the entourage and it was his intention of personally delivering the V-2 rocket and all its' documentation to British authorities. As fate would have it, Antoni and his wife were arrested by the Gestapo and imprisoned at Pawiak. They were executed on August 13, 1944.

Documentation of V-2 Rocket drawn and submitted by Polish Underground

Among the participants of Operation Most III were Jerzy Chmielewski, Jozef Retinger, Tomasz Arciszewski, Tadeusz Chciuk, and Czeslaw Micinski. The Captain was a Pole by the name of K. Szrajer, and crew were also Poles; Kazimierz Bilski, Jan Nowak, Leszek Starzynski, and Boguslaw Ryszard Wolniak. The plane's navigator was British.

Among the AK "Urban" group were Adam Gondek and Captain Wladyslaw Kabat ps."Brzechwa" , commander of the Motyl (Butterfly) landing security. Other participants were
Kpr. Franciszek Nowak "Pomidor", Dr. Jan Deszcz "Wacek", Kpr. pchor. Wladyslaw Bysiek "Morena", Plut. Jozef Lupa "Czarny Sep", Ppor. Franciszek Kuczek "Deska", Por. Mieczyslaw Czech "Jurand", Por. Pawel Chwala "Skory", Ppor. Jan Gomola "Jawor".

PART II: MISSIONS Operation Belt

Secret Polish Forces of WW2: The "Silent & Dark Ones" PART II: MISSIONS Operation Foxley

2011-12-06T00:05:00.005-05:00

42 WAYS TO KILL HITLER (part 3 of 5) (00:09:32m)
Editor's note: The video fails to mention that Polish agents were working with the SOE in this Operation.

OPERATION FOXLEY

Winston Churchill

In November 1944, the British SOE devised the plan for the assassination of Adolph Hitler, though it was never carried out. Apparently there was considerable resistance to the plan, in particular by the deputy head of SOE's German Directorate, Lt. Col. Ronald Thornley, although his superiors, Sir Gerald Templer and Prime Minister Churchill both supported it wholeheartedly.

Sir Gerald Templar

The method chosen and most likely to have succeeded had the plan gone forward, would have been a sniper attack at Hitler's compound in Berghof. According to information given by a German prisoner (who had been a member of Hitler's personal guard at Berghof), Hitler took daily, solitary walks near the woods, and always at the same time - 10:00 a.m. During these moments he was not visible from the sentry posts, thus providing a perfect opportunity for a sniper to get a clean and easy shot. Whenever Hitler was present at Berghof the Nazi flag was raised and could clearly be seen from a cafe in the nearby town.

The plan called for two SOE paratroops (a British sniper, and a German-speaking Pole) disguised in German army uniforms to parachute to landing targets in the surrounding area and position themselves within the compound. In preparation for the mission a sniper was assigned to practice sessions firing at moving dummy targets using the standard Wehrmacht rifle, the accurized Kar 98K.

Hitler's retreat at Berghof

KAR98k German sniper rifle with scope

The KAR98k was one of the most effective sniper weapons of the German Wehrmacht. It was a 7.92mm bolt-action rifle with 4x power sniper scope (an improvement over previous models.) It had a range of 1000 yards, although the 5-round magazine had to be loaded a round at a time.

The SOE had the good fortunate to have found a reliable inside man, Heidentaler, a German who lived in Salzburg, Austria, only 20 kilometres from Berghof. Heidentaler was vehemently anti-Nazi, and regularly visited the shooting range with other like-minded shopkeepers.

Hitler talking walk at Berghof compound

Operation Foxley had all the earmarks for success

but was scrapped by British authorities.

The British came up with variety of excuses to call off the Operation. In 1944 Hitler had already proven himself to be a poor military strategist. The British feared the consequences of Hitler's assassination, that is, his successor might very well possess superior military leadership skills that would pose an even greater threat to the allies. Thornley's reason to oppose the plan was that the assassination of Hitler would have made him a martyr and thereby fan the flames of Nazism.

PART II: MISSIONS Operation Most III

Secret Polish Forces of WW2: The "Silent & Dark Ones" PART I: Introduction

2011-12-05T00:05:00.003-05:00

Cichociemni (00:02:01m)

Secret Polish Forces of WW2: The "Silent & Dark Ones"

Part I - Introduction

On September 1st, 1939 the German Wehrmacht launched a blitkrieg attack on Poland the likes of which had never before been seen in the history of warfare. Two weeks later the Soviet Union attacked Poland from the east. Though Polish troops were overwhelmed by the German war machine, they did not cower but fought courageously. However, by month's end they withdrew upon the orders of the Polish government. A massive evacuation was underway as thousands of Polish troops headed for Romania, and from there to France where they reassembled their forces under the auspices of the French Armed Forces.

Polish Infantry Division in France 1940 (00:01:06m)

Within a few short months, on December 30, 1939 a plan had been devised by Captain Jan Gorski for the creation of a secret unit that would maintain contact with the Polish underground unit called ZWZ (Związek Walki Zbrojnej) Union of Armed Struggle. Gorski in collaboration with his associate, Captain Maciej Kalenkiewicz, studied and analyzed documents about German paratroops, and how a Polish equivalent could be used in covert support operations, and assist in a future uprising in occupied-Poland. However,Gorski's plan was never adopted despite his frequent submissions.

Captains Jan Gorski and Maciej Kalenkiewicz,England WW2

According to one Polish Air Force Commander, General Zajac, the plan was a good one, but efforts at implementing it would have been futile due to the lack of materiel resources, transport, and training facilities in France. After the capitulation of France, Polish troops again evacuated and regrouped in Great Britain.

Polish airmen in England 1940 (00:00:30 sec)

On September 20, 1940 General Wladyslaw Sikorski, the Commander-in-Chief of Polish Armed Forces, ordered the creation of special covert operatives, the Oddział III Sztabu Naczelnego Wodza (Section III of the Commander-in-Chief's Staff) whose mission was contingency planning and covert operations in Poland, as well as air delivery of arms and supplies and training of Polish paratroops. Just several weeks earlier, Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and Minister of Economic Warfare, Hugh Dalton, had officially inaugurated the SOE (Special Operations Executive) with the sole purpose of conducting guerilla warfare against the Axis powers. Their chief objective was to provide instruction and assistance to resistance movements in Nazi-occupied countries. To use Churchill's words they were to
"set Europe ablaze".

Training took place in Scotland under the utmost of secrecy and was directed by the Polish 6th Detachment of the General Staff and the British Special Operations Executive (SOE). Because of it's secrecy very few allied officials even knew of it's existence. The SOE was instrumental in providing the secret Polish forces, the Cichociemni with every resource at it's disposal including training facilities and logistical support. Many of the Polish units were based at Audley End House, in Essex, England. There they received rigorous training before parachuting into Poland. Recruits were also trained at Ringway in Manchester. Incidentally, each paratroop was promoted one rank higher at the moment of their first jump.

Cichociemni - Parachute Training in Great Britain - WW2

Thousands of Polish men and women volunteered but only a few were chosen. Among the recruits were one general, 112 staff officers, 894 officers, 592 NCO's, 771 privates, 15 women, and 28 civilian envoys of the Polish government-in-exile. Of a total of 2,413 candidates, only 605 successfully completed the rigorous training and passed all their exams. Among those transported to Poland were soldiers of all grades. The oldest agent was 54 years of age, and the youngest, 20. Only those demonstrating superior physical and intellectual faculties were accepted into the elite corps. These elite fighters were officially sworn in as members of Armia Krajowa - their identities known only to the Polish General Staff.

Training was comprehensive and extremely demanding. In addition to sabotage, covert operations and partisan warfare, there was intensive instruction requiring the mastery of the use of all weapons which included British, Polish, German, Russian and Italian armaments. Courses dealt with a vast array of specialized subjects which included topography, cryptography, and sharpshooting. Recruits were also taught the details of German laws that were imposed on occupied-Poland, the art of Jujutsu, and shooting at invisible targets. The final course concentrated on strategies and techniques for creating a new, false identity.

Cichociemni Training in England: Otton Wiszniewski and Jan Serafin (operating Sten machine gun)

The chosen few eventually came to be referred to as the Cichociemni, the "Silent, Dark ones" so-called because individuals would vanish mysteriously and silently during the night to carry out special operations. Although the Cichociemni collaborated with the British SOE, the former was predominately independent. Polish Command was free to choose their own operatives, and operated their own radio communications.

These special Polish agents played a large role in allied covert operations. Their first flight was organized on the night of February 15-16, 1941 in which three Polish soldiers (athletes), were transported by a two-engine British Whitley bomber headed for Poland: Captain Stanislaw Krzymowski (code-named Kostka "Cube"); Jozef Zalbieski (code-named Zbik "Wildcat") and courier Czeslaw Raczkowski (code-named "Wlodek"). The flight was a long and hazardous one whose route passed directly over German positions. The intended drop zone was to have been in Wloszczowa in Kielce, but due to unknown circumstances they ended up at Cieszyn Silesia, near Skoczdw, in a zone that Germany had annexed.

Due to the extreme danger, flights were suspended temporarily. After a period of nine months flights resumed however using an alternate flight path from Denmark or Sweden, and air transport by a Halifax Bomber that was built to handle long hauls. Planes had to take off only during the night and only by moonlight - Poland did not have radar making it essential for the pilots to rely on eyesight to navigate. During summers, flights were altogether suspended due to the shorter night hours. By the end of 1943, the Cichociemni base was transferred to Brindisi, Italy and flights resumed by Liberator aircraft.

Flight path carrying Cichociemni agents to Poland WW2

Cichociemni parachute drop Poland WW2

Allied missions conducted a total of 483 air bridges but lost 68 planes to crashes and enemy fire. Apart from the Cichociemni themselves, about 630 tonnes of war material were delivered in special containers. The Cichociemni airdropped supplies and war materiel including large amounts of currency to the Armia Krajowa in Poland - currencies amounting to 40,869,800 in forged Polish zloty, $26,299,375 in banknotes and gold bullion, £ 1,755 in gold bullion,and 3,578,000 German marks.

By December 1944, 316 Polish soldiers and 28 envoys had successfully parachuted into Poland. In addition, 17 Polish agents parachuted into Albania, Greece, Italy and Yugoslavia, to carry out missions for the SOEC, although the number of Polish agents who parachuted into France is still undetermined. Among them was one of the most famous of Cichociemni, the vivacious and inimitable Krystyna Skarbek. Incidentlaly, she was one of the founding members of the SOE, and helped to organize cells of Polish spies throughout Central Europe, including Poland, Hungary, France and Egypt. Skarbek, it had been said, was one of Churchill's most favorite spy, she so dazzled him.

Krystyna Skarbek - Cichociemni - SOE Operative

The Cichociemni agents were assigned to special units of the ZWZ and the Armia Krajowa, mostly comprising units of the Wachlarz, Zwiazek Odwetu, and KeDyw underground divisions. Many of them were promoted and served as staff officers of the secret Polish army. They carried out many missions, most notable among them were Operation Tempest, and the Uprisings in Wilno, Lwow and Warsaw.

Cichociemny Jan Piwnik (Ponury) and colleagues from Kedyw unit of Home Army
Radom-Kielce Home Army area, 1944

Among their areas of expertise, the Cichociemni were highly skilled and efficient in the covert take-over of many functions in Nazi-occupied countries, working for intelligence organizations, functioning as radio-operators and envoys, flying missions, and coordinating airdrops and forging documents. Many of them were instructors in secret military schools, teaching the art of anti-tank warfare, diversion, and partisan warfare.

The emblem of the Cichociemni is a Polish eagle, descending on the attack, clutching a wreath of olive leaves encircling the letters PW- Polska Walczaca, meaning Poland Fights. The Cichociemni were the predecessors of today's GROM, (Grupa Reagowania Operacyjno-Manewrowego), that is, the Operational Mobile Reaction Group - special anti-terrorist forces unit. The name GROM means "thunder", aptly represented by an emblem of the same Polish eagle on the attack cluthing a lightning bolt.

Of the 344 Cichociemni flown to Poland, 113 were killed in action: 9 were shot down before their planes reached their targets; 84 during battle against the Germans, or died as a result of being tortured by the Gestapo, after having been captured and arrested; 10 committed suicide in captivity in prisons and concentration camps; and 10 were executed by the Communists during and following the end of war. 91 Cichociemni took part in the Warsaw Uprising. 18 were killed in action.

PART II: MISSIONS Operation Foxley

THE ELEVENTH HOUR ON THE ELEVENTH DAY: REMEMBRANCE OF ALLIED SOLDIERS

2011-11-11T01:25:00.004-05:00

Remembrance Day (Veterans Day, or Armistice Day) marks the official date in which World War I came to an end. It has since been observed as a national holiday or memorial every November 11th.

We have much to be thankful for and this day gives us the opportunity to honor our veterans and the fallen soldiers who have sacrificed so much for our country and for the free world. We remember and give thanks to these brave soldiers - those who fought in World War I, World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Gulf War, and many other battles around the world. Their sacrifices are immeasurable, their courage, great. Remembrance Day is not intended to glorify warfare, but to recognize these exceptional men and women of valor, and to show our respect and deepest appreciation.

Wearing a red poppy is symbolic largely as a result of the famous poem, "In Flanders' Fields", written by a Canadian doctor, and soldier, Lt. John McCrae. But more so because red poppies bloomed throughout many of the worst battlefields in Europe. It's red color is symbolic for the blood spilled in battles. It has the same symbolism in the Polish song "Red Poppies on Monte Cassino" - a song that is very well-known and beloved to every Polish patriot, and reminiscent of the enormous loss of life in one of the greatest battles of World War II.

President Lincoln said it best when he made his famous Gettysburg Address:

But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here."

POLISH INDEPENDANCE DAY NOVEMBER 11: CELEBRATION OF THE REBIRTH OF A NATION

2011-11-11T00:11:00.009-05:00

Polish Independence Day (00:04:00m)

November 11 is Independence Day in Poland. More than a national holiday, it is a day sacred to the hearts and souls of all Poles in Poland and around the world. It marks the day in which the Polish nation was finally reborn after having been virtually obliterated from the map for 123 years. History is a testament to the courage and steadfastness of the Polish people in the face of terror and subjugation. Their fierce determination and most especially their faith has carried them through many a Tribulation.

Poland's resurgence as a nation-state came at the end of World War I - the result of US President Woodrow Wilson's Fourteen Points. On January 8, 1918, just ten months before the armistice with Germany, Wilson had delivered his speech before US Congress setting the terms for peace negotiations.

US President Woodrow Wilson

Among the Fourteen Points, Wilson called for the evacuation and restoration of several occupied territories in Europe including that of Poland. Point 13 referred to specifically to Poland, that is
"An independent Polish state should be erected which should include the territories inhabited by indisputably Polish populations, which should be assured a free and secure access to the sea, and whose political and economic independence and territorial integrity should be guaranteed by international covenant."

Within this context, Wilson introduced the idea of the League of Nations as the means with which to preserve international peace and security, for large and small nations alike. (It was the forerunner to the United Nations). He hoped that this international organization would be able to prevent another global conflagration from ever occurring again.

US President Woodrow Wilson addresses Congress

Jozef Pilsudski

On November 11, 1918, Jozef Pilsudski was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Polish Armed Forces by the Regency Council, and was bestowed with the duty of creating a national government for the newly independent nation.(The Regency Council was formed by Germany and Austria-Hungary in September 1917 in the occupied Polish territories, and functioned as the highest authority in the Kingdom of Poland, albeit a semi-autonomous and temporary one. The Council was intended to serve only until such time that a King or Regent (ie. Head of State) would be appointed. The members of the Regency were Cardinal Aleksander Kakowski (the Archbishop fo Warsaw); Prince Zdzislaw Lubomirski (the President / Mayor of Warsaw); and Jozef Ostrowski, (former Chairman of the Polish Club in the Duma in St. Petersburg who was a conservative politician and a landowner of substantial means). On November 14 of the same year the Regency passed all authority to Pilsudki and a week later he officially assumed the role of Supreme Head of State.

Regency Council: L-R Ostrowski, Kakowski, Lubomirski

Jozef Pilsudski quickly established a coalition government whose ideology was largely socialist. He introduced policies that had long been proposed by the Polish Socialist Party, such as the eight-hour work day, free school education, and women's suffrage. Despite these changes, Pilsudski was not a socialist nor a proponent of partisan politics. Rather he sought to rebuild a shattered nation - a nation that had been ruthlessly exploited and pillaged by its' occupiers. Foremost among his objectives was the consolidation of disparate systems of law, economics and administration, among others. (During the years of occupation, Poles were subjected to nine systems of jurisprudence, five currencies, 66 types of rail systems, with 165 models of locomotives.)

Initially, Western governments regarded Pilsudski with suspicion because of his cooperation with the Central Entente during the war, and because of the socialist governments of Daszynski and Jedrzej Moraczewski. However his image, and that of Poland drastically improved months later when world-renowned pianist Ignacy Paderewski became Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Poland.

The fledging nation was in danger of teetering on the precipice of civil war - what with the co-existence of two Polish governments each claiming to be the legitimate power - that of Pilsudski`s in Warsaw, and that of Dmowski`s in Paris. But Paderewski succeeded in convincing them, both fierce rivals, to join forces: Pilsudski would act as Provisional Chief of State and Commander-in-Chief, while Dmorski and Paderewski represented Poland at the Paris Peace Conference.

Roman Dmowski

Pilsudski and Dmowski held widely differing views and were often at odds with each other concerning their vision of Poland. And on January 5, 1919, several Dmowski-supporters attempted a coup against Pilsudski and Moraczewski, but failed.

On February 20 Pilsudski declared that he would return his powers to the newly elected Sejm, (the Polish Parliament) but the Sejm reinstated Pilsudski's office in the Little Constitution of 1919, by striking the word "Provisional" from his title. Thus, Pilsudski held his position until December 9, 1922.

Pilsudski envisaged the creation of a Polish federation stretching from the Baltic to the Black Sea, and comprising the independent Baltic states, Belarus and the Ukraine. The plan was referred to as "Intermarum" and emulated somewhat the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth before Poland was partitioned. However his plans were met with fervent opposition by neighbouring countries, and lead to the outbreak of several border wars: the Polish-Czechoslovakian conflict erupted in 1918 followed by the Polish-Ukrainian War (1918-19), the Polish-Lithuanian War (1920), and most notably the Polish-Soviet War of 1919-1921.

L-R Jozef Piłsudski and Edward Rydz-Śmigły- 1920 during Polish-Soviet War

Before the outbreak of the Polish-Soviet war, the Bolsheviks had launched a propaganda campaign alerting Europe that Poland's capital city Warsaw would soon fall, and that it would be the signal for the beginning of the communist revolutions in Poland and throughout Europe.

On August 12, 1920 the Red Army, commanded by Mikhail Tukhachevsky advanced toward Warsaw, and the Modlin Fortress but were forced to withdraw by Polish counterattacks from the south. International political experts were convinced that Polish troops would be utterly defeated. Instead the Polish troops, led by Marshal Jozef Pilsudski, achieved a stunning victory, in what has been called the "Miracle at the Vistula". Russian casualties amounted to 10,000 KIA, 500 MIA, 30,000 WIA and 66,000 taken prisoner. Even Lenin commented that the Bolsheviks "suffered an enormous defeat" at the hands of the Poles. In the ensuing months, Poland had several more victories which helped the nation to secure it's independence and which led to the signing of peace treaties with Soviet Russia and the Soviet Ukraine. It ensured the sovereignty of Poland's eastern frontiers - at least for the next twenty years.

1920 Polish-Soviet War
Polish soldiers display captured Soviet battle flags after the Battle of Warsaw.

Despite his membership in the Polish Socialist Party, Pilsudski was an ardent Polish nationalist. His political beliefs were formed in his youth, when in 1894 he was editor of an underground socialist newspaper called the "Robotnik", meaning "the worker". His was the position that doctrinal matters had only minimal importance, and that socialist ideology had to meld with that of nationalist ideology to ensure the restoration of Polish independence.

Pilsudski was born in the village of Zalavas, which is today Lithuania. He came from a Polish noble family, and was brought up with Polish traditions despite efforts of "russification" by the Russian government. Polish history and literature were vigorously suppressed by the regime but served only to fan the flames of rebellion. His father, also named Jozef fought in the January 1863 Uprising against the Russian occupation in Poland.

In 1885, while studying medicine at Kharkov University (in the Ukraine) Pilsudski became involved in the revolutionary movement, Narodniki. A year later he was suspended for having participated in political demonstrations, and was barred from entry to University Dorpat (in Tartu, Estonia). On March 22, 1887, Jozef Pilsudski was arrested on suspicion of plotting to assassinate Tsar Alexander III and was exiled to Siberia for five years. In fact it was his elder brother, Bronislaw who was actually embroiled in the conspiracy. He was arrested and sentenced to fifteen years of hard labour in eastern Siberia.

In the aftermath of World War I, Pilsudski encountered colleagues of his early revolutionary days. They addressed him as "Comrade" and attempted to solicit his support for their revolutionary agenda but he refused to reply in kind. Instead he stated,

"Comrades, I took the red streetcar of socialism to the stop called Independence, and that's where I got off."

"...and I must close with a wish for the next eleventh of November. Even if the month brings storms which roar in the chimney and shriek of death and terror, I know that restoration of the body and the soul’s rebirth give strength and beauty. In them we find an inward warmth which baffles the damp and poison. And may you smile then as on the magic eleventh of November in 1918! May the autumn sun burn your cheeks and a gentle breeze cool them, and may we laugh together from happiness at being great-souled and reborn! This, men and women and dear children, I wish you all."

Jozef Pilsudski

WARSAW UPRISING 1944: COMPLETE INDEX OF BLOG POSTS AUGUST 1, 2011 to OCTOBER 6, 2011

2011-10-08T22:41:00.011-04:00

THE WARSAW UPRISING

The Warsaw Uprising was the most ferocious battle fought during WWII. Never before or since has the world witnessed such savagery, courage, and betrayal. Savagery of the SS Nazi storm troopers as they wielded all the power of the German Wehrmacht against the Polish Home Army. Courage of the Polish insurgents as they fought fearlessly against overwhelming and impossible odds. Betrayal of Poland by its' closest allies (England and the United States) which promised to come to the aid of Warsaw in its' darkest hours, and instead chose political expediency instead of Honour.

Though the allies won the war, freedom came at a very high price. Poland - the 4th largest ally lost the war, it's country and independence - languishing behind the Iron Curtain for more than 45 years. After almost half a century, the silence has finally been broken and the facts revealed. From August 1, 2011 to October 6, 2011, Polish Greatness (Blog) published daily posts documenting the events of the Warsaw Uprising - the courage of the Polish Insurgents in fighting against the overwhelming force of the Wehrmacht, the ferocious and bloody massacres, and battles, and the determination of the insurgents to fight to the very end.

COMPLETE INDEX OF BLOG POSTS

WARSAW UPRISING 1944

Click on the following links to read blog posts

MONTH OF AUGUST

August 1 Polish Home Army Attacks!

August 2 Fighting Heavy in Warsaw

August 3 Polish Prime Minister meets with Stalin

August 4 GERMANS MASSACRE POLES AT WOLA AND OCHOTA

August 5 POLES LIBERATE JEWISH PRISONERS

August 6 Warsaw Postal Service Continues Amid Bloodshed

August 7 POLES ASSASSINATE TOP NAZI OFFICER

August 8 POLISH GENERAL DEMANDS WEAPONS

August 9 POLISH INSURGENTS ATTACK GERMAN CONVOY

August 10 Secret Polish Radio Stations

August 11 German Attacks Break Polish Resistance

August 12 Polish Prime Minister Fears Sovietization

August 13 German Tank Explodes Killing 350 Polish Insurgents

August 14 Polish Fighters Capture German Strongholds

August 15 WARSAW BLACK MARKET FOR WATER

August 15 Eyewitness Reports Polish Attack on German Tank

August 16 STALIN TURNS HIS BACK ON WARSAW

August 17 SOVIET "NYET" TO AMERICAN BOMBERS

August 18 German Demand Polish Surrender

August 19 Massive Assault on Warsaw Old Town

August 20 POLISH FIGHTERS SMASH GERMAN STRONGHOLD "PAST"

August 21 ALLIES WATCH AS WARSAW DIES

August 22 RUSSIAN ARMY SLAUGHTERS POLISH SOLDIERS AND CIVILIANS

August 23 Germans Wipe Out Entire Polish Army

August 24 Roosevelt Turns His Back On Poland

August 25 Polish Insurgents Escape Through Sewers

August 26 WARSAW POLES LOSING TERRITORY

August 27 POLISH INSURGENTS CAPTURE INFAMOUS DIRLEWANGER GANG

August 28 1,600 Germans Attack Polish Stronghold

August 29 German Troops Kill Elderly and Invalids

August 30 Polish attempt to break German lines

August 31 POLISH INSURGENTS EVACUATE OLD TOWN

MONTH OF SEPTEMBER

September 1 Warsaw Fights Alone and Abandoned

September 2 Polish Home Army Abandons Old Town

September 3 Polish Suffer Staggering Casualties

September 4 Germans Unleash Fury as Poles Wait for Allied Help

September 5 Roosevelt Praises Polish Heroes

September 6 Communist Takeover Expected

September 7 German Troops Capture Powisle

September 8 POLISH CIVILIANS EVACUATE CITY

September 9 Unsung Heroes of Warsaw

September 10 Capitulation Talks Begin

September 11 POLISH GENERAL BREAKS NEGOTATIONS

September 12 Lt. Ward Interview with Polish General "Bor"

September 13 Soviet Troops Smash Praga District

September 14 SOVIETS WIPE OUT GERMANS IN PRAGA

September 15 SOVIETS SEND POLISH TROOPS TO THEIR DEATH

September 16 ROOSEVELT CALLS FOR MUTUAL UNDERSTANDING

September 17 Russia: Treacherous Alliance

September 18 Russia Allows Air Drops to Warsaw

September 19 Warsaw Defence Crumbles Under German Fire

September 20 Polish Forces Re-Organize

September 21 Poles Are Fiercest Adversaries Says Himmler

September 22 Poles Refuse To Surrender

September 23 Nazi SS Execute Over 200 Polish Insurgents

September 24 Polish Heroes: The Ciechociemni - "Silent Dark Ones"

September 25 NO SURRENDER! Polish Insurgents Die Fighting!

September 26 Warsaw Beleagured and Bleeding to Death

September 27 MOKOTOW SURRENDERS!

September 28 Negotiations Begin, Fighting Continues

September 29 Germans Defeat Famous Kampinos

September 30 ZOLIBORZ SURRENDERS!

MONTH OF OCTOBER

October 1 Thousands of Civilians Evacuate Warsaw

October 2 POLISH HOME ARMY SURRENDERS

October 3 General Bor's Farewell Address to Soldiers of Fighting Warsaw

October 4 NOT YET IS POLAND LOST!

October 5 POLAND GOES INTO CAPTIVITY

October 6 The Aftermath

October 6 Compendium of Resources

REMEMBER THE UPRISING

Warsaw Uprising 1944: October 6 Compendium of Resources

2011-10-06T00:42:00.006-04:00

COMPENDIUM OF RESOURCES

WARSAW UPRISING 1944

RECOMMENDED WEBSITES

Warsaw Uprising 1944
(Project InPosterum)

Warsaw Uprising 1944
Polonia Today.com

The Personal Notes and Diary of Eugeniusz Melech

Written in English, Before, During and After the

Powstanie Warszawskie - The Warsaw Uprising

(compiled and edited by Lester P. Gideon)

BBC TIMEWATCH - BATTLE FOR WARSAW

by Wanda Koscia

List of Polish Military Units in Warsaw Uprising (wiki)

Tadeusz Kondracki - The Warsaw Uprising

Translated from Polish by Antoni Bohdanowicz

The Warsaw Rising
Poland In Exile.com

Cultural Representations of the Warsaw Uprising (wiki)

History of No. 301 Polish Bomber Squadron

by Wilhelm Ratuszynski

1st Polish People's Army - Pierszwa Armia Wojska Polskiego

Poland in Exile

Soviet Repressions of Polish Citizens (1939-1946) (wiki)

Nazi Crimes Against Ethnic Poles 1939- 1944 (wiki)

MILESTONES IN THE STORY OF THE POLISH AMERICAN CONGRESS
THE FIRST 50 YEARS 1944-1994

German Crimes Committed During the Warsaw Uprising Part I
Document compiled by Dr. S.D. Stein
Faculty of Humanities, Languages and Social Sciences
University of the West of England, Bristol

On the Front Lines: Interview with Wladyslaw Bartoszewski
Former Minister for Foreign Affairs & Participant and Historian
of the Warsaw Uprising
September 1, 2004 The Warsaw Voice online

Polish Special Duties Flight no. 1586 and the Warsaw Uprising
by Michael A. Peszke
Summer 2006 Air Power History

Warsaw Uprising 1944
(Polish Home Army ex-Servicemen Association - Montreal Branch)

WARSAW UPRISING: The Forgotten Soldiers of World War II
CNN Classroom Edition - Educator Guide (Grades 7-12)

A GERMAN SOLDIER'S PERSPECTIVE OF THE WARSAW UPRISING 1944
by Wlodzimierz Nowak and Angelika Kuzniak 23-08-2004
(reprinted on Polish Greatness.com website)

Muzeum Powstania Warszawskiego

Remembering the Warsaw Uprising
by Maciej Siekierski
Military History On Line

The Warsaw Uprising
by Lukasz Pajewski
Info Poland - Poland in the Classroom

The Warsaw Uprising
Polish American Journal.com
Dedicated to the Preservation, Promotion, and Continuance
of Polish American Culture

The Kampinos Group
by Ezy.Ryder

Warsaw Uprising
by Polish Greatness.com (the website)

BOOKS ABOUT WARSAW UPRISING 1944

NOTHING BUT HONOUR
The Story of the Warsaw Uprising 1944
by Janusz Kazimierz Zawodny

THE WARSAW UPRISING OF 1944
by Wlodzimierz Borodziej and Barbara Harshav

That the Nightingale Return: Memoir of the Polish
Resistance, the Warsaw Uprising,
and German POW Camps
by Leokadia Rowinska

A Memoir of the Warsaw Uprising
by Miron Bialoszewski, and Madeline Levine

To Hope Or Die: From Warsaw Uprising
to Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp and After, Memoirs of a Survivor
by Edmund Szybicki

Lack of Outside Support during the Warsaw Uprising
by Frederic P. Miller, Agnes F. Vandome, and John McBrewster

Military History of the Warsaw Uprising
by Frederic P. Miller, Agnes F. Vandome, and John McBrewster

Destroy Warsaw! Hitler's Punishment, Stalin's Revenge
by Andrew Borowiec

Airlift to Warsaw: The Rising of 1944
by Neil D. Orpen

Rising: The Battle for Warsaw
by Norman Davies

The Warsaw Rising of 1944
by Jan Ciechanowski

Poland Alone: Britain, SOE and the
Collapse of the Polish Resistance 1944
by Jonathan Walker

Krystyna: The Tragedy of Polish Resistance
by Simon Wiesenthal

Women Heroes of World War II: 26 stories of Espionage,
Sabotage, Resistance and Rescue
By Kathryn J. Atwood

The Civilian Population and the Warsaw Uprising of 1944
by Joanna K. Hanson

When God Looked the Other Way: An Odyssey of War, Exile and Redemption
by Wesley Adamczyk

RECOMMENDED VIDEOS ABOUT WARSAW UPRISING

JAN JÓZEF LIPSKI - The Warsaw Uprising (00:06:00m)

ANDRZEJ WAJDA - Warsaw Uprising in the film Kanal (00:03:40m)

BEST FILM ABOUT WARSAW UPRISING
Kanał

Scene from film "Kanal"

Warsaw Uprising 1944: October 6 The Aftermath

2011-10-06T00:05:00.060-04:00

(9/9) The Warsaw Uprising (Powstanie Warszawskie) (00:01:28m)

After the Poles had evacuated Warsaw the Germans in defiance of the terms of the capitulation agreement, began a wholesale destruction of the city. German Command dispatched special teams of German engineers dispersed throughout Warsaw, setting fires, and systematically destroyed buildings. Demolition squads of flamethrowers and explosive experts set about their task to obliterate the very existence of Warsaw, building by building, block by block. Nothing was overlooked - historical monuments, the Polish national archives, libraries and musuems and their priceless manuscripts and collections, palaces - the very cultural heritage of a people was blasted into oblivion, gone forever. Nothing was left to show that there used to be a great cosmopolitan city here - but just a pile of rubble and ashes. According to the Germans, the area was slated to become a military transit station.

Warsaw 1944: A Necropolis (00:04:15m)

Meanwhile, Stalin's Red Army remained poised across the banks of the Vistula River observing the macabre destruction being carried out. In the rest of Poland, Soviet NKVD agents were hunting down Polish insurgents and executing them; many other Poles were deported to Russian gulags.

At the end of German operation, Warsaw's public losses were estimated as follows:

10,455 Buildings
923 Historical Buildings (94% of Warsaw)

25 Churches
Monuments

14 Libraries

The National Library
81 elementary schools
64 high schools
Warsaw University
Polytechnic

Over 516,000 individual pieces of art were looted by German armies including 2,800 paintings by European painters,11,000 paintings by Polish painters, 1,400 sculptures, 75,000 manuscripts, 25,000 maps, 90,000 books of which 20,000 were printed before the year 1800, and hundreds of thousands of other invaluable artistic and historical artifacts. Among the many priceless paintings destroyed was the painting of "Virgin and Child with Saint John the Baptist and St. Stanislaw" painted by Palma il Giovane. The painting was once looted by Napoleon but returned to Warsaw in the 1820s.

The exact amount of losses to private and public property, including cultural and scientific artifacts was quite considerable. It was not until the late 1940s that efforts were made to estimate the total value of damages - it came to US$30 billion. (In 2004, the President of Warsaw and subsequently President of Poland, appointed an historical commission to review the evaluation and estimated losses to have been at least US$31.5 billion, however these estimates were increased in to $45 billion in 2004 and to $54.6 billion in 2005.)

The Warsaw Uprising was the most tragic battle of World War II. Over 18,000 Polish insurgents were killed or missing in action, over 5,000 wounded, 15,000 sent to POW camps. (However other sources mention that 60,000 AK soldiers were killed during the Uprising.)
Over 200,000 Polish civilians died in the 63 days of battle, and about 700,000 were expelled from Warsaw, and 55,000 sent to concentration camps, including 13,000 to Auschwitz. About 3,400 insurgents chose to go underground and continue to fight. Berling's Polish Army suffered 5,660 casualties KIA, MIA, or WIA.

German casualties were about 10,000 KIA, 7,000 MIA, and 9,000 WIA. Up to 2,000 Germans were captured and taken prisoners by the Polish insurgents. German material losses were: three airplanes (two outside Warsaw in Kampinos forest ), 310 tanks, self-propelled artillery, armored cars, 4 rocket launchers, 22 artillery pieces (caliber 75mm), and 340 trucks and cars.

By January 1945 about 85% of the buildings had been destroyed: 10% damages were sustained as a result of the September 1939 campaign and other combat; 15% during the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising (which had taken place in April 1943); 25% during the Uprising, and 35% due to systematic German actions after the Uprising.

General Dwight Eisenhower, Commander of the Allied Forces in Europe, visited Warsaw in 1945 and was so moved by the scene of utter destruction that he stated, “I have seen many towns destroyed, but nowhere have I been faced with such destruction.”

Poland had lost a staggering 38 per cent of its national assets whereas France and Britain lost only 1.5 % and 0.8% respectively. Moreover, Poland lost vast regions of their country including two great cultural centers of Wilno and Lwow.

Despite the so-called "liberation" of Poland by Soviet troops on January 17, 1945, Poland, the 4th largest Ally, had really lost the war, betrayed by Britain, the United States, and the Soviet Union.

ROYAL CASTLE DESTROYED (above photo & aerial view)

Powstanie Warszawskie 1944 (The Warsaw Uprising 1944) (00:03:06m)

Warsaw Uprising 1944: October 5 POLAND GOES INTO CAPTIVITY

2011-10-05T00:05:00.013-04:00

Tribute Warsaw Uprising 1944 (00:03:22m)

For the second day insurgents have been laying down their armaments and surrendering to the Germans. At about 9:00 this morning the remainder of Polish regiments began leaving Warsaw. The 72nd Infantry Regiment of the AK under the command of Lt. Col. Jan Szczurek-Cergowski “Slawbor” left the district of southern Srodmiescie marching along the pre-determined exit routes - Sniadeckich, 6-go Sierpnia, Sucha and Filtrowa Streets.

They were followed by members of the Home Army Headquarters, the Command of the 10th Infantry Division, and the National Armed Forces "Sokol" group under the command of Col. Spirydion Koizewski "Topor" as well as the 36th Infantry Regiment under the command of Major Stanislaw Blaszczak "Rog" from northern Srodmiescie. Also falling into line were staff members of the Warsaw District of the Corps and the 28th Infantry division and the Municipal Headquarters marching along Zelazna, Aleje Jerozolimska and Grojecka Streets. The 15th Infantry Regiment under the command of Lt. Col Franciszek Rataj "Pawel" was the last group to leave Warsaw - the route they took was along Grzybowska, Chlodna and Wolska Streets. A covering battalion under the command of Lt. Col. Franciszek Pacek “Mscislaw” will remain in Warsaw for the next few days and will be expected to lay down arms only on October 9th, 1944.

German soldiers directed the columns of insurgents to Ozarow from where they were boarded onto freight trrains and transported to Stalag 334 at Lamsdorf (Lambinowice) in Slask Opolski. Once having arrived the insurgents will be registered and sent to POW camps in Germany and Austria.

Home Army Commander-in-Chief General Tadeusz Komorowski “Bor” and five generals: Tadeusz Pelczynski “Grzegorz”, Antoni Chrusciel “Monter”, Tadeusz Kossakowski “Krystynek”, Kazimierz Sawicki “Prut” and Albin Skroczyński “Laszcz” were taken into captivity along with 11,668 soldiers exclusively from the Srodmiescie district. Meanwhile, General Leopold Okulicki “Niedzwiadek” has left the city together with the civilians. Thenceforth Okulicki has been put in charge of further underground activity.

(L) General Bor

The remaining civilians were forced to leave the city, although there are reports that many of them have decided not to leave and be sent to POW camps. Among them are a few insurgents who have been designated by the Home Army to remain and continue the struggle. At least 55,000 civilians will end up in concentration camps, and be categorized as "criminals" by the German Nazi authorities. An additional 150,000 will be transported to Germany for forced labor.

During the two-month Uprising approximately 13,000 Warsaw residents were rounded up and arrested by German troops and deported to Auschwitz concentration camp. Polish prisoners comprised of government officials, professors, physicians, artists, blue-collar workers, pregnant women, the elderly, the sick and injured. Many were transferred to labor camps in Germany and worked to death. About 550,000 Polish residents from Warsaw were deported to Durchgangslager 121 (Dulag 121) in addition to 100,000 civilians from outlying areas. In the months of August, September and October approximately 650,000 Poles had passed through the Pruszkow transit camp.

Pruszkow transit camp

The Uprising, which was encouraged by Stalin, had given the Polish people renewed hope that Poland would soon be liberated. British and American promises for military assistance convinced the Poles to continue fighting to the very bitter end. However, unbeknowst to Prime Minister Mikolajczyk, Churchill and Roosevelt had already ceded Polish territory to Stalin at the Teheran Conference a year before. For 63 days the Poles fought in vain, waiting for help that would never arrive. A tragedy more brutal than capitulation was the relevation that the Allies aided and abeted Stalin's chicanery. In a final coup de grace, Prime Minister Churchill sent an official letter today to Polish Prime Minister Mikolajczyk. The following is an excerpt:

Prime Minister Mikolajczyk

"My Dear Excellency, I received with deep sorrow your letter telling me that resistance had ceased in Warsaw. As you know, we were anxious to do everything in our power to bring assistance to General Komorowski’s forces and nothing but insuperable difficulties of weather and geography prevented our assistance being more effective."

Warsaw Uprising 1944: October 4 NOT YET IS POLAND LOST!!!

2011-10-04T00:05:00.004-04:00

Warsaw Uprising. The End (00:00:52sec)

It has been 63 days days of long and bitter struggle for the Polish people, days marked by despair and hope, pain and suffering and constant battle against a hated enemy. It has all come to an end. Early this morning Polish regiments congregated near the Technical University in Warsaw in preparation for a "trial surrender". Barricades that had been there before had been "symbolically" removed yesterday. The Company commander issued his final orders and gave his last speech as the soldiers listened intently, and then at the end, they sang the national anthem, "Not Yet Is Poland Lost ". Their voices rang out across the square with such power - clearly indicating that while the Polish people have surrendered they have not by any means been defeated. Finally at the command of "Attention" the soldiers burst into cheers and shouts of "Long live our beloved Polish Republic"!!!

Polish National Anthem (00:02:51m)

General and Commander-in-Chief of the Home Army Tadeusz Komorowski “Bor” signed the last cable to the Polish Government in exile in London, which will be dispatched tomorrow morning. General Bor and General von dem Bach met each other today and despite the conclusion of negotiations, General von dem Bach continued to pressure Bor for additional concessions. He demanded that General Bor issue an order to all regiments of the AK, in addition to those located outside Warsaw, to "cease underground activities against German forces". Moreover he insisted that Polish Communist insurgents be excluded from the protection of the Geneva Convention in regard to treatment of prisoners of war. In both cases, General Bor adamantly refused to comply.

General Bor surrenders to General von dem Bach Zelewski

Left: General Tadeusz Komorowski "Bor"

At 9:00 am the first Home Army units to leave Warsaw was the 21st Infantry Regiment under the command of Lt. Col. Stanlislaw Kaminski "Daniel". They were among the troops that fought so bravely in Srodmiescie South. They marched along Sniadeckich, 6-go Sierpnia, Such and Filtrowa Streets and were closely followed by other companies, marching four abreast.

Among them were old and young men as well as women, each clad in spruced up uniforms or civvies and immaculately groomed. Each wore the white and red armbands of the AK, or the Polish eagle on their caps. Many wore military decorations pinned to their lapels, and many sported their weapons which were meticulously cleaned and gleaming.

German officers and soldiers lined each side of the street. In a most unexpected gesture, they lowered their weapons and watched the retreat in silence. A few German soldiers saluted as a show of respect.

The rest of the regiments will be leaving Warsaw tomorrow morning and according to the Capitulation Act they will surrender their armaments and ammunition. Soldiers of the 21st and 72nd infantry regiments of the Home Army have already deposited their guns and ammunition on the corner of Wspolna and Marszalkowska Street; the 36th infantry regiment in Napoleona Square, and the 15th infantry regiment in Grzybowski Square.

While the Polish regiments were preparing for surrender, SS officer Bronislav Kaminski was court-martialled today by the German military court. He and his entire staff were sentenced to death and shot by a German firing squad. The event was reported by German Command, however in an effort to avoid reprisals from the men of SS STRONA the Germans stated that Kaminski was assassinated by the Polish Armia Krajowa. Kaminski was the notorious commander of the SS Sturmbrigade RONA which participated with the SS Dirlewanger and SS Reinfarth in the bloody massacres at Wola and Ochota in early August. In just a few days they slaughtered 40,000 to 100,000 Polish men, women, and children. It was one of the bloodiest of massacres during the war.

Warsaws' underground newspapers published and distributed their last issues today: Dziennik Radiowy, Robotnik, Wiadomości Powstańcze and No. 102 of the Biuletyn Informacyjny. Polish underground radio aired their last broadcasts today, including the famous "Blyskawica" radio station. Jan Georgica Grzegorzewicz" took the microphone at Blyskawica today mentioning only the technical parameters of the station, and its working conditions. At 7:30 pm Jan broadcast the Warszawianka song in farewell, and at the end destroyed the transmitter with a hammer.

Warszawianka (00:02:00m)

Warsaw Uprising 1944: October 3 General Bor's Farewell Address to Soldiers of Fighting Warsaw

2011-10-03T00:05:00.342-04:00

SOLDIERS OF FREEDOM- Home Army-Armia Krajowa (00:02:25m)

General Komorowski "Bor"

Polish Command conducted final briefings for officers and assemblies for soldiers today. A farewell order was read aloud to the troops by General Antoni Chrusciel "Monter", the Home Army Warsaw Corps Commander. Office matters were concluded and distinctions and promotions conferred. Sources indicate that Polish Command has entrusted a few of their soldiers with the task of concealing an undisclosed number of armaments as well as important documents.

General Tadeusz Komorowski "Bor" Commander of the Polish Armed Forces delivered an address to his soldiers for the last time. His farewell message was poignant yet unwaveringly optimistic for a future independent Polish State. Here is his message translated into English.

Soldiers of Fighting Warsaw! The heroic deeds of Polish soldiers which constitute two months of fighting in Warsaw are proofs, however full of horror, of our desire for freedom — our strongest desire. Our battle in the capital, in the face of death and destruction, stands in the forefront of famous deeds of Polish soldiers during this war. They will be a lasting memorial to our spirit and love of freedom. Although we were not able to gain a military victory over our enemy (since the general situation in our country was not favourable to our endeavour), those two months of fighting for every foot of Warsaw’s streets and walls have fulfilled a political and ideological goal. Our struggle will influence the fate of our nation, since it is a contribution without equal in its heroism and sacrifice to the defence of our independence.

Today, when the enemy’s technical superiority has forced us into the central sector of our city — the only sector still under our control — when the city’s ruins are crowded with soldiers and the heroic civilian population, suffering from unbearable conditions of living on the battlefield, when we have not enough of even the most primitive food, and when there is virtually no chance of defeating the enemy, we have to confront the problem of complete destruction of the population by the enemy and the chance of having most of the fighting soldiers and hundreds of thousands of the civilian population buried under the ruins. I have decided to call a halt to the fighting.

I thank all the soldiers for their military bearing that never wavered under the most difficult conditions.
I pay homage to the dead for their suffering and sacrifice.

I want to express the admiration and gratitude of the fighting units to the population, and their affection for it. I would also like to ask their forgiveness for the transgressions, which no doubt occurred more than once in the course of this long fight.

During the cease-fire discussion I have done my best to assure our soldiers of all the rights due to them, to create the best possible living conditions and care for the civilian population so that they might be spared as much as possible of the suffering caused by the war.

I hereby ask of all soldiers, my very dear comrades during these two months of fighting, whose will to fight was unbroken to the last moment, to obey in good order all commands that will be issued as a consequence of our decision to stop fighting.

The civilian population is to obey all evacuation orders issued by me, the commanding officer of the city and the civilian administration. With faith in the final victory of our just cause, believing in our beloved, great and happy country, we will continue to be the soldiers and citizens of Free Poland, pledging allegiance to the flag of the Republic.

Komorowski
Lieutenant-General
Commander-in-Chief, Home Army

Early this morning the Polish insurgents started pulling down barricades closest to the German lines, as per the terms stipulated by the Capitulation Agreement. Thousands of Varsovians have evacuated the city. Columns of civilians moved slowly along three thoroughfares: Sniadeckich and 6-go Sierpnia Streets towards Filtrowa Street - along Zelazna and Aleje Jerozolimskie Streets towards Grojecka Street, and along Grzybowska and Chlodna Streets towards Wolska Street.

Amid feelings of bitterness and anguish there was also a very palpable sense of elation among the insurgents, that despite the unavoidable outcome, the Poles have a sense of duty well done. With heads held high and marching briskly in unison were 15,378 insurgents, among whom were 922 officers and 2,000 women. Along the streets, every now and then, civilians would fall to their knees as the columns of insurgents passed by them. It was deeply moving and almost shocking to witness this expression of reverence for the insurgents, an act which in Poland is reserved only for the Holy Sacrement.

They fought as free men and women for 63 days, and now they are going into German captivity. About 15,000 Poles will be sent to the transition camp in Pruszkow and transported to POW camps in Germany. Others will be sent to remote areas of Poland. About 5,000 wounded soldiers will be sent to hospitals. In the two-month battle about 17,000 insurgents were killed and over 200,000 civilians murdered by the Germans.

Polish Soldiers In Pruszkow Transit Camp

In accordance with the provisions of the Capitulation Agreement, a Polish military contingent will remain in Warsaw for the next several days to maintain order. Three armed AK companies have been selected, consisting of about 300 soldiers from the "Kilinski" battalion, and about 120 soldiers from the “Milosz” battalion.

German radio broadcast a report today declaring that "after weeks of fierce fighting which has led to the almost total destruction of the city, the remaining rebels, deserted by all their Allies, have given up and surrendered." Concurrently the last issue of Biuletyn Informacyjny, the insurgents' daily newspaper, published an article stating that “nobody in Poland, or in Warsaw, or in the world, can...say that we (surrendered) too early.” For 63 days the Poles fought courageously.

I have fought the good fight,

I have finished the course,

I have kept the faith.

2 Timothy 4:7

Warsaw Uprising 1944: October 2 POLISH HOME ARMY SURRENDERS

2011-10-02T00:05:00.011-04:00

SIGNING OF CAPITULATION!!

From left seated: Col.. Dipl. Kazimierz Iranek-Osmecki "Macarius", General Erich von dem Bach-Zelewski, Lt.-Col. Dipl. Zygmunt Dobrowolski, "Zyndram."

For a second day the truce was in force from 5:00 a.m. By 7:00 p.m About 16 thousand civilians have evacuated Warsaw. But even after two days of evacuation, still over 80% of civilians still remain in the district of Srodmiescie. Sources indicate that many Varsavians, civilians as well as insurgents, remain hidden in bunkers throughout the city, fearful of arrest and imprisonment in German camps, or execution.

Polish-German negotiations at the headquarters of General von dem Bach in Ozarow have gone on all day. The plenipotentiary of the Germans was represented by SS Obergruppenführer and Police General von dem Bach, Commander of the Warsaw area, and plenipotentiaries representing the Home Army were Col. Kazimierz Iranek Osmecki (Jarecki), and Lt.-Col. Zygmunt Dobrowolski (Zyndram), the latter who were authorized such powers by Lieutenant-General Komorowski (Bor), Commander-in-Chief of the Home Army

The most important provisions of the agreement concern the situation of the Insurgents, as well as those those taken captive since August 1st, 1944. They have been granted the rights as those guaranteed by the Geneva Convention of August 27, 1939 concerning the treatment of prisoners of war. The insurgents will not bear responsibility for their military and political activities before the rising; Home Army troops must lay down their weapons on the 4th and 5th of October; civilians evacuated from Warsaw will not suffer any consequences for their work in civilian authorities and administration. The terms of the capitulation were drafted in a document and signed by Kazimierz, Bach and Dobrowolski.

(8/9) The Warsaw Uprising (Powstanie Warszawskie) (00:01:03m)

Capitulation Document

1. On October 2nd, 1944, at 20:00 hours German time (21:00 hours Polish time) armed hostilities between the Polish forces fighting in the area of the city of Warsaw and the German forces shall cease.

The term Polish Fighting Forces to cover all Polish formations subject tactically to the Commander of the Home Army during the period of struggle from 1.8.44 [Aug. 1, 1944] down to the day of the signature of this agreement. Throughout the rest of this agreement these forces will be called "Forces of the Home Army."

2. The soldiers of the above specified Polish forces shall lay down their arms within the time determined in section two of this present agreement and shall proceed in compact formations with their Commanders to the assembly points. The places where arms are to be laid down and the assembly points will be established in detail in supplementary notices. The officers shall be entitled to retain side-arms.

3. At the same time the Home Army shall hand over to the German authorities all German soldiers taken prisoner and all persons of German nationality interned by the Polish authorities.

4. To assure order and security in the area of the city of Warsaw special units shall be appointed by the Commander of the Home Army. These units will be free from the immediate obligation to lay down their arms, and will remain in the city until the fulfillment of their charge. The German Command has the right to check the numerical size of these units.

5. From the moment of laying down their arms the soldiers of the Home Army are entitled to the rights of the Geneva Convention dated 27.8.29 [August 27, 1929], concerning the treatment of prisoners of war. Soldiers of the Home Army taken prisoner in the area of the city of Warsaw in the course of the struggle which began on August 1st, 1944, shall enjoy the same rights.

6. Those non-combatant persons accompanying the. Home Army, within the meaning of article 81 of the Geneva Convention on the treatment of prisoners of war without distinction of sex, are entitled to the rights of prisoners of war. This affects in particular women workers an the staff and liaison, those giving help to soldiers, personnel of the information and press services, war correspondents, etc.

7. In applying the terms of the Geneva Convention on the treatment of prisoners of war; officers' ranks recognized by the Command of the Home Army shall be accepted. Papers operative under a pseudonym shall be sufficient evidence of membership of the Home Army. The true surnames will be supplied for the information of the German military authorities.

Members of the Home Army who have lost their papers will be identified by a Commission of the Home Army, which will be appointed. Such commissions will be set up as required by the Home Army Command.

The terms of this present article also apply to persons indicated in article 6.

8. Persons being prisoners of war in the sense of the aforesaid articles shall not be persecuted for their military or political activities either during the period of struggle in Warsaw or in the preceding period, even if they had been discharged from prisoner of war camps. Any violations of German legal regulations as, in particular, failure to register as officers, previous escape from prisoner-of-war camps, illegal sojourn in Poland, etc., shall not entail punishment.

9. In regard to the civilian population who were in the city of Warsaw during the period of struggle, collective responsibility shall not be applied.

No person who was in Warsaw during the period of struggle shall be persecuted for functioning in time of war in the organization of administrative or judiciary authorities, in the security and public welfare services and in social and charitable institutions, or for cooperating in the battles and in military propaganda.

Members of the above specified authorities and organizations shall not be persecuted even for political activities prior to the rising.

10. The evacuation of the civilian population from the city of Warsaw which the German Command has demanded shall be carried out at such a time and in such a manner as shall save the population superfluous suffering. The evacuation of objects of artistic, cultural or sacred value shall be facilitated. The German Command will take steps to protect such public and private property as remains in the city.

The details of the evacuation will be regulated by a separate agreement.

1. The Home Army Command binds itself to remove the barricades, first and foremost those situated nearest to the German lines, on October 3rd, 1944, beginning at 7:00 hours German time (8:00 hours Polish time).

2. The Home Army Command will deliver to the German lines all German prisoners of war, and also, so far as is possible, all German civilian internees to representatives of the German armed forces on this same day of October 2nd, 1944, by 24:00 hours German time (1:00 a.m. on October 3rd, Polish time) at the latest.

3. If the removal of the barricades is not begun at the time appointed, the German Command reserves the right to denounce this present agreement on October 3rd, 1944, beginning at 12:00 hours German time (13:00 hours Polish time), and the denunciation shall come into effect in two hours from the moment of handing the letter denouncing the agreement to the Polish lines.

4. The Home Army Command binds itself to lead one regiment, or three battalions from different regiments, out of Warsaw to lay down arms on October 4th, 1944. The crossing of the German lines by the head of these forces must follow on October 4th at 9:00 hours German time (10:00 hours Polish time).

5. The remaining forces of the Home Army, with the exception of the units specified in section one, clause 4 of this present agreement, shall leave Warsaw to lay down arms on October 5th, 1944.

6. Forces of the Home Army shall march out of the Polish line with weapons, but without ammunition, by the following routes:

(a) From City Centre South: the 2nd infantry regiment, via Śniadecki, August 6th, Sucha, and Filtrowa Streets.

(b) From City Centre North: (1) the 37th infantry regiment via Napoleon Square, Sikorski Avenue (Reichstrasse) and Grójecka Street (Radomstrasse); (2) the 15th infantry regiment via Grzybowska Street, Chłodna Street (Eisgrubenstrasse) and Wolska Street (Litzmannstädterstrasse).

7. The following forces of the Home Army shall remain in the city:

(a) For duties connected with the preservation of order, three infantry companies armed with pistols, automatic pistols and rifles;

(b) For guarding and handing over three regimental magazines with ammunition and equipment, thirty armed persons, as above;

8. The evacuation of the wounded and sick soldiers of the Home Army, as also of medical material, will be determined by the Medical Head of the German forces in consultation with the Medical Head of the Home Army. Regulations of the same nature for the evacuation of medical personnel's families will follow.

9. Soldiers of the Home Army shall be recognized by a white and red arm-band or pennons; or a Polish eagle, irrespective of whether they wear any kind of uniform or civilian clothing.

10. The agreeing parties confirm that transport, accommodation, guard and care of the prisoners of war shall remain solely within the control of the German armed forces (Deutsche Wehrmacht).

The German party guarantees that these tasks in regard to soldiers of the Home Army will not be entrusted to formations of foreign nationalities.

11. Women who are prisoners of war within the terms of section one, clause 6, will be accommodated in prisoner of war camps corresponding to officers' camps (Oflag) or other ranks' camps (Stalag) respectively.

The ranks of junior commander, commander, senior commander and inspector are regarded as women's officer ranks.

At their own desire women prisoners-of-war may be treated like the remaining population of Warsaw.

12. The German military authorities will immediately inform the Kriegsgefangenenhilfe der Y.M.C.A. in the town of Sagan of the location and number of the Home Army soldiers and accompanying persons accommodated in prisoners-of-war camps.

13. For technical help in carrying out this present agreement S.S. Obergruppenführer and General of Police von dem Bach shall have three Polish officers at his disposition.

III

In the event of the terms of this present agreement being violated, those who are found guilty will be held responsible.

Signed:
General von dem Bach
Col. Iranek Kazimierz
Col. Dobrowolski

The agreement on cessation of hostilities in Warsaw was signed at 9:00 pm tonight marking an end to all military operations in Warsaw. After 63 days of the most brutal, bloody fighting, all hostilities ceased at 8:00 pm. today. Sources indicate that up until 7:30 pm General Bor's radio station had been broadcasting messages to the allies asking for "immediate assistance". The broadcast was monitored by Polish receiving stations in London and was barely audible. It said, "Hello, Warsaw speaking...We are still fighting, Warsaw....Warsaw is not yet defeated...This town of one million people is being wiped out....We have given more than we could....Give us immediate assistance!! This assistance is due to us!!....We are today the conscience of the world...We....have confidence and are still waiting for your help. We were called "the inspiration of the fighting nations and the inspiration of the world....We, as a nation, have a right to live. We demand that right!!........"

General Tadeusz Komorowski "Bor" surrendered to General von dem Bach, while the Home Army prepares to lay down its weapons. Throughout the ordeal, Polish insurgents fought courageously despite overwhelming odds. Polish men, women and even children joined the underground by the thousands. They supplied vital intelligence information to the allies, and succeeded in conducting thousands of sabotage missions on German supply routes, as well as plots to assassinate many top-level SS and Gestapo officials, including that of Franz Kutschera, SS Police Chief of Warsaw who ambushed and gunned down by Polish fighters in February this year. Despite their horrendous suffering and hardship, and their tremendous courage in battles, surrender to the Germans is a bitter and cruel defeat to Poles who had hoped to regain Polish sovereignty and independence after five years of the most brutal oppression by the Nazi occupiers.

Anthony Eden, British Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs announced today that General Sosnkowski was removed from his post as Commander in Chief of the Polish Armed Forces, and confirmed that the Polish Government appointed General Komorowski "Bor" to fill the position.

Sosnowski has been widely criticized by British authorities (and the Soviet government) for an announcement published in a Polish weekly newspaper called Dziennik Polski (Polish Daily) on September 1st, 1944. The story has been picked up by British newspapers and has spread around the world.

Kazimierz Sosnkowski

Warsaw is not waiting for empty words of praise, for expressions of recognition, not for assurances of sympathy. Warsaw is waiting … Warsaw is waiting … for weapons and ammunition."

To add insult to injury Eden remarked that the appointment of General "Bor" was "unfortunate" because the Polish Communist Committee of National Liberation considers General Tadeusz Komorowski Bor "a criminal". Meanwhile the British Minister of Information has been invited to speak with the Governors of the BBC. At issue is the implementation of British policy that will give less emphasis in future news bulletins concerning Polish political difficulties.

Warsaw Uprising 1944: October 1 Thousand of Civilians Evacuate Warsaw

2011-10-01T00:05:00.003-04:00

(6/9) The Warsaw Uprising (Powstanie Warszawskie) (00:01:29m)

A truce was in effect today from 5:00 am to 7:00 pm in accordance with the agreement reached yesterday between members of the Polish Delegation and German Command. Thousands of Polish civilians were evacuated along designated exits. Sources indicate that many insurgents have disguised themselves as civilians in a desperate effort to evade capture. They have managed to blend in during the evacuation and are planning to return to underground units to continue the fight against the Germans. After the end of today's truce, the Germans resumed bombing the Srodmiescie district with increased ferocity. Another truce will be in effect tomorrow for continued evacuation of civilians.

German Rocket Launchers Fire Upon Warsaw September 1944

The situation is hopeless. After the collapse of Mokotow and Zoliborz districts the grim reality is setting in that the allies are not going to provide any realistic assistance whatsoever. Polish Home Command and the Delegates of the Polish Government have decided to continue the capitulation talks. General Tadeusz Komorowski "Bor" had appointed a delegation to conduct negotiations comprising of Col. Kazimierz Iranek-Osmcki "Heller", Lt. Col. Zygmunt Dobrowolski "Zyndram", Lt. Col. Franciszek Herman "Boguslawski", and their interpreter, Captain Alfred Korczynski "Sas". During the night the Polish delegation, in consultation with General Antoni Chrusciel "Monter" drafted an agreement on cessation of hostilities in Warsaw that is to serve as the basis for negotiations with the Germans.

General von dem Bach

Major Kazimierz Szternal

Negotiations are extremely tense. At one point a tough Polish combat officer, AK Major Kazimierz Szternal confronted the General von dem Bach, the German Commander of Warsaw and said, “You, the nation which gave Goethe and Schiller to the world, have tried through terror to take away from us the rights of existence and freedom”. The German general merely shrugged and said, "This is War."

The last air drop for Warsaw that was scheduled for tomorrow has been cancelled by Soviet authorities. The mission was scrapped because the Soviet government claims that all the Warsaw partisans have already evacuated the city. This is clearly untrue as there are still thousands of insurgents throughout the city. In any case, any allied assistance provided at this point in time would be too late. There is no reaction from British or American authorities.

Stalin Cancels Air Drop

General Bor has broadcast a special radio message to the Armia Krajowa (AK) declaring that “Fighting in Warsaw no longer has any chance of success, and I have decided to terminate it.” He nominated General Okulicki as his successor, the next commander of the AK. Bor ordered Polish troops that all efforts must now be focused on the defence of the population. He also announced that immediately after the cease-fire, he will negotiate a surrender.

While this news did not come as a surprise to Poles, it is nonetheless a reality that bears heavily on Polish hopes for liberation. Despite General Bor's decision, the AK rank and file are adamantly opposed to capitulation. Reports indicate that entire Polish units are refusing to surrender. An AK officer, second lieutenant, and shoemaker by profession, reacted to the news with violent protest. He was reported to have grabbed a revolver and shouted that he would "not allow anybody to surrender" His commanding officer, Colonel Zywiciel handed him his own revolver saying, "Then you have to start with me and shoot me, because I am responsible for conveying that order to my soldiers" The lieutenant did not shoot him but broke down into incomprehensible sobs. Some insurgents have committed suicide to avoid being taken into German captivity. During the truce barely 8,000 Poles had evacuated Srodmiescie. However the Germans claim that the number of civilians evacuated were about 200,000 to 250,000.