Against the Opposition of the russian Soldiers of Expedition
SOUTH-EAST AFTER 1944
HUNGARY
Both the Chief Commander of the Polish Armed Forces, General Kazimierz Sosnkowski, and the commander of the AK, General Tadeusz Komorowski "Bór" counted on the anticipation that diplomatic relations with the USSR would not be established until the russian troops entered Poland. They besides feared that the Russian's attitude towards the Akts's “Burza” troops appearing within the Action could be hostile. Therefore, at the end of 1943, they predicted the request for an earlier creation of a fresh secret organization whose separate command structure would stay hidden. Her commandant in South-East Area III was appointed erstwhile Chief of Staff of the Area Command, Colonel Felix Janson. He did not uncover himself during the action “Burza” and after taking command of the Area Command he utilized the nickname “Rajgras”.
The fresh organization is called Independence, in short, No. In the first days of August 1944, Colonel E. Janson – inactive as chief of staff – issued orders to destruct the structure of the AK Area office staff, already depleted, among others, by arresting intelligence chiefs (Colonel Henryk Pohoski) and counterintelligence (cf. Jerzy Polaczek).
Printed magazines ceased to appear; only the territory Government Delegate issued a duplicate regular paper until early 1945. By mid-year, however, radio communications with London had been operational; Lieutenant Julian Stefan Wiktor was the head of the Operations Communications Branch, and Lieutenant R. Wiszniowski was the commander of the Radio Branch.
The command of the Lviv territory – after the departure to Żytomierz the colonel Stefan Czerwiński – was taken over by his deputy colonel Franciszek Rekucki "Bak", who in the organization “No” accepted the nickname “Topor”, and the chief of staff after the arrested predecessor was Major Bolesław Tomaszewski “Warta”. Both were already known to russian counterintelligence, so in agreement with the colonel. Jansonem departed in late August 1944 to Rzeszów, transferring there the command center to the forest wards of the District, which passed on to this area. Both of them besides formally retained their positions, and in their place was appointed Major Anatol Sawicki "Młota" as Mr. Commander, formerly Chief of the Inspectorate of Bebrek, and as P.O. Chief of Staff – Major Alfons Jabłoński "Council". The structure of the staff, which now included 3 branches, was besides changed. 4 Districts (instead of the erstwhile five) were organized in Lviv alone, and 2 Inspectorates (Bóbrka and Jagielloński Gródek). Until the end of 1944, the BIP of the Lviv territory issued the weekly magazine “Lwowski Informator”, in the form of typescripts.
From the Stanislaus territory office ‘No’ worked until his arrest in February 1945. Captain-in-Chief Dr. Władysław Herman "Globus", "Kudak", and initially 3 Inspectorates: Stry, Kolomya and the strongest Drohobych, especially the Sambor Oblast. For a short time, irregularly, 4 magazines were published in Lviv, Drohobych, and Sambor.
Although the Tarnopol “No” territory Command existed until the end of 1945, small is known about it. The territory commanders were: Major Bronisław Zawadzki "Soroka" until his arrest in December 1944, followed by Captain Bronisław Zeglin "Ordon". 3 magazines were published here in 1945, but no copies were preserved.
The “No” National Military Organization, acting in principle, after the “Burza” action, was a structure of large autonomy, although the commandant of its Malopolska territory East, cf. Bernard Grżacz “Mark” served as the manager of the organizational study in the office of the Lviv territory “No”. The office of the NOW territory Command have long since been in existence, as it was broken by arrests in late May 1943. The only 1 who avoided arrest at the time was the propaganda manager, Zbigniew Nowosad, but shortly after the action “Burza” left for Jarosław to make contact with the central management of the National organization and NOW. His place in Lviv was taken by Jerzy Wojdyła “Górniak”, who managed to recreate the active structures of the department and launch the follow-up of the SN-NOW “Polish Word”.
The satirical “Swizdroł” besides went out irregularly, and in early 1945 “Soldier of large Poland”. At the end of January 1945, a group of NOW soldiers led by Lt. B. Grzyżacz ‘Mark’, in the absence of funds for the organization, carried out a successful operation for the “Gastronom” store in Lviv, but among its participants was an NKVD agent and later all were arrested. In early March 1945, NOW suffered a severe loss, the russian raid surrounded the forest ward under the Brzozdow, south of Lviv. Almost everyone died in the fight; 2 were captured, and only 1 of the soldiers managed to break through and survive.
Soldiers from territory XIV of the South-East NSZ mostly switched to the AK in May 1943 about the activities of the others, as well as about the destiny of their commander, who was Lieutenant Major of the NSZ Wojciech Stefankiewicz "Gromski", no news. Among another military organizations, the russian “second” business of the russian remnant group of the Convention of independency Organisations (KON) of Colonel Jan Sokołowski “Trzaski” remained outside the structures of the AK- “No”. However, J. Sokolovski rapidly left Lviv, and the group did not show any activity but for the release by mid-1945 (twice a week) of the "Communication", edited by Jadwiga Tokarewska "Teresa". Kon soldiers, like NSZ troops, did not participate in the action “Burza”.
Since the Soviets entered east Małopolska, russian counterintelligence (Smiersz) and NKWD began tracking AK-‘No’ soldiers with agents. After short trials, they were then taken to camps deep into the USSR. Between 31 July 1944 and the end of 1945, the counterintelligence arrested about 130 officers and Private AK and ‘No’, almost all in Lviv alone, including commanders arrested in Żytomierz. They were imprisoned in camps interned in Kharkiv, Riazana, Diagilev and another smaller camps and remained there until 1947-1948. Colonel H. Pohoski and deputy commander of forest troops of the 14th P.K., Serb Captain Dragan Sotirović, managed to escape from this 130-person group in Lviv. Among all interned lions, these were a minority. Then any of the Lviv soldiers, mainly captured in Rzeszów, were besides in internment camps in Borowicz and Stalinogorsk.
Parallel (from 31 July 1944 until the end of 1948) arrests of AK- “No” soldiers throughout Area III carried out the NKVD. Among another things, in February 1945, Colonel Felix Janson was arrested. They were arrested frequently in large groups (up to 40 people), by the NKVD Military Courts (or the NKVD Railway Branch), mainly in Lviv, Drohobych and Czortków, but besides in another towns.
The first specified collective trial took place in Lviv on 21 January 1945 and afraid 20 members of the territory Government Delegation. Among others, among others, on 20 August, a group of respective soldiers of Kediv territory of Lviv was judged. From Sambor, 40 people were tried in Lviv on 23 August, and on 22 September in 2 groups were put before the NKVD Court of 30 arrested in connection with the detection in June 1945 at the Lviv Radio Station of the Area Command. Others were judged in smaller groups. In relation to any judgments were handed down by the alleged "court triples" (Societies of the Soviets). The penalties applied ranged from 6-7 to 10 years of post-work camps for women and minors (Irovistel-Trudowog Lagier), and for men up to 15-20 years of katorgi, later up to 25 years. There were besides death sentences, but they were almost usually converted to catorgy. Only 2 executions are known, both on soldiers “No” from Lviv. A large part of the convicts were released in 1947-48 (mostly women), but many remained in the camps or in the administratively ordered "lifetime" exiles until the end of 1955 and longer.
As of mid-May 1945, russian prosecutors began conducting talks in prisons to choice those of the prisoners accused of participating in the AK (about ‘No’ they were not said) who could witness in the prepared process of ‘sixteen’ with Gen. Leopold Okulicki ‘The Bear’. On May 25, 1945, respective elected people were transported to Moscow to Łubianka and to Butyrek, and they were “worked” there to prepare them to testify. Area III agreed to attest according to russian script five. Those who filed the trial received low sentences: Colonel Felix Janson – 5 years old, and Captain In Herman and Commander of the Stryj Inspectorate, Captain Zdzisław Kuźmiński (Pacak) – after 3 years, but were released after a year. On the another hand, those who refused and refused to carry out the roles imposed upon them received until the death punishment (cf. Grzyżacz).
All convicted in Lviv, before being taken to camps, were held in a transitional camp (penressylnka) at Peltevna Street. In spring and summer, AK's conspiracy structures began to prepare mass escape from this camp through the canals In the city, “melins” and papers were organized The escape took place on 14 November 1945. It managed to escape 16 or 18 prisoners, alternatively by accident. The last 1 was stuck in the well of the hatch into the canal and was amazed by the caretaker. 3 days later, it escaped, besides through the sewers, 3 more prisoners brought to work in the city.
In January 1945, in Lviv, and somewhat earlier in the Drhobytsky, Samborski and Gródecki districts, the NKWD conducted mass arrests in the framework of the action "state verification" (gosprovierka), i.e. a review in terms of political loyalty of people who survived the German occupation. This many group besides included AK-‘No’ soldiers; no evidence was held against them, but only suspicion of conspiracy activity. respective 1000 suspects of “unloyality” were taken to a checking camp – filtering (Proviral-Filtracyonnyj Łagier) in Krasnodon and arrested outside of Lviv to Kamienska and Szacht in Donbasa. These were the worst of the camps: hard work in primitive, wet hard coal mines at the same time conducting investigations caused death from illness in just over half a year or in cases up to 20% of prisoners was about the percent of losses among the camp during 10 years of stay.
The arrests of erstwhile AK-‘No’ soldiers from Area III took place besides after their return to Poland, with any being handed over to russian authorities and judged in the USSR. A separate case was the case of Lvov's officer Kediv, Major Piotr Szewczyk, a abroad courier “No” arrested in Warsaw in November 1945.
Polish society, especially the villagers, including “No” soldiers, besides suffered losses due to UPA attacks, which was mentioned earlier. During the period of the alleged second russian occupation, the villages of Tarnopolskie Voivodeship were peculiarly affected, especially in the first months of 1945. Young men were incorporated into the “people” Polish Army (Berlin), while Ukrainians fled in UPA before being recruited into the Red Army. As a result, Polish villages were almost defenceless and UPA reinforced. Only in February 1945, over a 1000 Poles were murdered in the territory of Tarnopolszczyzna, and the number of burnt villages exceeded 50.
However, as early as January 1945, Polish inhabitants of the area began organizing defences. 74 people died in Latacz in Borszczów on 16 January, and 60 were injured, but serious casualties were besides suffered by attackers.
In February there were besides defensive fights: from 5 out of 6 of that period in the robbery of the 600-man UPA branch on Barysz in the Buchacki area. Losing over 100 dead and 100 wounded in defence of the village center, respective twelve attackers were killed. At the same time, an 800-man UPA raided the Red Garden in Zaleszczycka area; the fight lasted 10 hours, Poles organized by the company commander ‘No’, Bronisław Stachurski, lost 48 killed and 24 wounded, but the losses of UPA amounted to about 100 killed and wounded.
At the same time, 48 people were killed and 36 were injured in Hleszczaw in the area of trembowelski, attacked by a 500-man UPA, but 20 attackers were besides killed by Ukrainians who were friendly to Poles. About 10 hours were besides fought in Boryczówka in the same district; here Poles were supported by russian troops. A 600-man UPA division with ckm-s invaded the Mill in the Trembowel area, where self-defense was well organized; Poles lost 70 dead and 100 wounded, but Ukrainians 50 to 60. 5 Roman Catholic priests were killed in these robberies.
Poles were subjected to cruel and elaborate torture before they died. ...
Defending themselves from UPA, Poles joined the alleged Istrebitielne battalions, led by russian officers, but inactive delivering weapons for combat. These battalions took part in the defence of many villages.
Forest branches, which from the area of the Lviv territory passed in the first half of August behind San – companies: Captain Zenon Kubski "Lecha" and Lieutenant Tomasz Matyszewski "Ćwikła", from the group in Mościska, and 1st company Samborska chor. Adam Ekiert “Pograta”, under the general command of Captain Witold Szredzki “Sulima”, together 200-300 soldiers, at the call of General T. Komorowski “Bora” set off on 16 August for the Warsaw rescue.
However, these troops only reached Sarzyna and Rudnik over San, where they were surrounded by russian troops who demanded their disarmament. Most of the soldiers managed to escape, even carrying a weapon, but officers from 6 companies of 26 BC and a illness were arrested. Adam Ekiert, who were then interned. A group of Lieutenant Mieczysław Szymański "Paproci" left Mościsk separately, which came to Kock, and from Lviv 1 company 26 of Lt. Józef Bissa "Wenceslas" which, being close Lublin, learned about the fall of the Warsaw Uprising and returned to Rzeszów.
Meanwhile, in the first days of September 1944, they arrived from Lviv to Jarosław, Colonel Rekucki ‘Topor’, Commandant of the Lviv territory ‘No’, and Major Tomaszewski, Chief of Staff of the District, and in agreement with the Commander of the Area, Colonel Janson ‘Carmen’, they began organizing a group of Lviv forest troops ‘Warta’ in Rzeszów. 4 battalions were formed: “A” under Lieutenant Louis Kurtycz “Mazurkiewicz”, formerly commandant of the Mościska circuit; “B” - Captain Julian Bistroń “Goddamby”, Chief of Lubaczów Circuit; “C” – Captain in Szredzki “Sulima” and “D” rtm. Vladimir Białoszewicz “Dana”. In view of the constant influx from outside Sanu of both forest troops and individual soldiers, “Warta” troops rapidly reached the state of up to 1,500 soldiers All of them were accommodated in Polish villages in quadrilateral areas between Rzeżajski, Rzeszów, Brzozów and the San River, frequently changing accommodation locations.
As a consequence of the reorganization, the "B" Battalion was shortly converted into the "L" (Lubczów) "No", straight subordinate to the "Warty" Command; its commandants were Lieutenant Tadeusz Żelechowski "Ring", silent, and then Captain Edward Bashniak "Robert", "Orlicz". After the reorganization from the battalion, only 2 companies remained. In the Oblast, the magazine “Slights” was published. The soldiers of the ‘L’ circuit cast in the territory police stations of the Civic Militia until they came out.
The “Warta” group was fundamentally prepared to possibly go to Lwów's rescue if the city was yet granted to Poland (it was inactive thought to be so) and the Ukrainians tried to master it. Ochraniano besides Polish villages before UPA, besides fighting with russian troops. But there were no major fights.
On December 15, 1944, soldiers of the company "D14′′ under the command of Wachm. Feliks Maziarski “Szofera” conducted a bold and successful recovery action from the Brzozów prison of respective local soldiers “No”, including the Circuit Commander, Major Andrzej Wanica. The stock was carried out without losses.
On 5 March 1945, in Ujady, he was accidentally captured by russian soldiers company commander "D14′′, Captain Dragan Sotirović "Drazi", erstwhile jumping through a window from the surrounded home suffered a leg injury. Unrecognized and claiming to be a French officer, local soldiers “No” released from the infirmary in Rzeszów.
In March 1945, he arrived at the “burnt” troops in Lviv, Lieutenant of War Władysław Sledzinski “Nemo” from the office of the Lviv territory “No” and headed the branch of intelligence and propaganda “Warty”. He started by publishing “Information Reports” for the “Warty” Command, then besides under his direction the magazine “Information and Propaganda Service”.
On 15 April 1945, Colonel Jan Rzepecki, ‘No’ Commandant after the arrest of General Leopold Okulicki, requested the Chief Leader to dissolve ‘No’ and to make a fresh organisation for it – the Armed Forces Delegation – and on 7 May he obtained acceptance for this initiative. As a result, the colonel of the “Topor” in Kraków, having received instructions from Colonel Rzepecki, convened a briefing of the commanders of the “Warty” bars, at which he announced and ordered to prepare the dissolution of the “Warty” troops. This happened on 1 July 1945, and on that date orders and promotion and honours applications were signed and thanks for the service to the well-deserved soldiers of "Warty" and to civilians for their cooperation.
At the end of August 1945, the “Warty” archive was buried in 1 of the houses in Gniewczyń Łańcutka. They were besides found there in 1995, erstwhile the last of the participants of the action was inactive alive.
In Lviv, the organization “No” had yet existed, but there besides the colonel “Topor” handed over on 20 May 1945 orders from Colonel Jan Rzepecki to liquidate “No”. In September, specified an order was issued by Colonel J.W. Vladika, Area Commander after the arrest of Colonel E Janson. The commanders of Lviv, and with them the soldiers “No” began to leave Lviv and east Małopolska, but this continued until November-December 1945.
Soldiers of the “Warty” troops after the dissolution of this structure began to decision to the western areas of Lower Silesia. Colonel Franciszek Rekucki stayed inactive in Krakow and intended to retreat from the conspiracy work. Colonel Bolesław Tomaszewski arrived in Lower Silesia to Karpacz, followed by most of the officers "Warty". The Armed Forces Delegation was just dissolved, but on September 2, 1945 a fresh “Freedom and Independence” (WiN) organization was organized in Warsaw, which was primarily aimed at political and social-educational goals.
This news arrived in Jeleniogórskie and in September the WiN territory based in Jelenia Góra was established here, which was part of the confederate WiN Area; the territory management was composed of "Warty" officers.
Following the withdrawal in October of Colonel Franciszek Rekucki, the president of the territory was Colonel Bolesław Tomaszewski, and the management included Major Włodzimierz Białoszewicz as head of organizational and information department and Lieutenant Władysław Szleński, head of propaganda department 3 Regions were organized: confederate in Jelenia Góra (Mjr Witold Szredzki, then Captain Louis Kurtycz), Central in Legnica (Mjr Edward Bashniak) and Northern in Żarach (Capt. Jan Lewicki, then Major Szredzki).
In the District, activities aimed at both the outside – propaganda-witting and for the organisation itself – information-intelligence were carried out; the armed activity had a minimum scope.
In June 1946, due to the placement of an agent in the vicinity of Major. The Szredzki UB arrested 62 people, operating in or in contact with the District, completely breaking up the WiN structure in this area. Many of those who avoided arrest in June 1946 were captured 3 years later.
Arrested, including Colonel Bolesław Tomaszewski, were transported to Wrocław to the Provincial Public safety Office, where they were interviewed; Józef Rozański himself came to investigate. A trial of the main defendants took place before the Military territory Court in Wrocław on 2-3 January 1947. Colonel B. Tomaszewski and Major W Szredzki were sentenced to death penalty, converted to 15 years in prison; they remained for 8 to 12 years.
Meanwhile, from the first days of November to mid-December 1945, officers of the decommissioned territory of Lviv ‘No’ arrived from outside Sanu, without losing communication. Among them were Major Anatol Sawicki, p.o. Commandant of the Lviv District, and Captain Marian Jędrzejewski, informally commander of the city. Having established contact with the management of the confederate WiN area and possibly with the Main Management Board, they received approval to organize the Extraterritorial territory of Lviv WiN.
Major Anatol Sawicki “The Hammer”, “Cybulski”, “Kowalski” took over the territory headquarters, organizing 7-8 staff. He was subject to ‘City’ (or ‘Garnizon’) and 2 Inspectorates: ‘Beaver’ and ‘Jagielloński Gródek’. specified an organisational structure was due to the request to preserve identity. Regardless of their current place of residence, the fresh organization wanted to focus people in the same units as they were previously in the AK and ‘No’.
This was besides a certain safeguard against penetration in organizational ranks of UB agents and at the same time strengthened common trust of people acquainted with erstwhile activities. 3 or 4 districts were created in the ‘Message’ of Captain Franciszek Garwol ‘Karas’, ‘Tarnopolski’ and with 5 divisions; the East ‘Kluczbork’ with Chief ‘Two’ (perhaps this was unknown to AK pchor Stanislaw Kruszelnicki?) and 4 regions, including 2 ‘Rural’; the South ‘Zakopzone’ with Commander Lieutenant Siegfried Szynalski ‘Tryk’, ‘Kulas’. There's no apparent Western territory case.
The overall population of "City" was around 1,000 people, and the full Extraterritorial territory could number up to 3 thousand.
In January and February 1946, promotion and honour applications were collected, with promotions and honours being granted retroactively on 15 December 1945, signing them on 20 March 1946.
The promotion and decoration orders were signed by the last commandant of the South-East Area ‘No’, Colonel Vladyk; it is not known if he was a associate of the WiN, he surely did not belong to the structures of the Extraterritorial District. He arrived in Krakow in October 1945 with respective co-workers from Lviv ‘No’, primarily with him was the manager of conspiracy communication, Emilia Maleczyńska, who drove the Lviv archive, then to the threat of arrests burned.
The Extraterritorial territory was more military than the Jeleniogórski District; the task of the organization was, among another things, to collect weapons.
The arrests of members of the Extraterritorial territory began from October 1947 and continued until April of the following year. At the end of 1948, officers from Area Command reached: In respective trials, respective death sentences were passed in Wroclaw and Warsaw at the hearings held from November 1948 to February 1950, which were then converted into a long-term prison – in the case of Marian Jędrzejewski – originally for life. During the investigation, Colonel Anatol Sawicki died tragically.
Special thanks to Mr Jerzy Hungarian author of this text for agreeing to its usage in our pages.
(Title and abbreviations from the editorial board).
Kazimierz Wierzyński
For the Moscow trial
Accuse us all, not just sixteen,
Judge the dead in the grave, they are the culprits,
Judge the skeleton, which of the war remained the city,
When you and the devil got along, traitors.
And charge liberty, no word known to you,
This eternal superstition that always divides us,
Take the full Polish country, lock him in a cell
And get him into the courtroom under a ploy.
And though you shall compose the conviction in your dark places at the bottom
In the Kreblin region, to uncover him to the ace,
And he who is free to guess,
That we're not the criminals in this room, but you are.
We will accept your verdict. He can't let you down.
Polish memory and long generations of memories,
Because whatever happens erstwhile the planet changes,
Your unchanging force and rape and hatred.
But who is free and thinks he will drive distant from his sight
The ghast of your caves, the swampy of your vapour,
He's wandering due to the fact that Moscow's planet has fallen to the judge,
Free in combat he left, the oppressor backed them.
He judged himself with disgrace and condemned himself.
Fleeing from reason, a mad tribunal,
And with the devil I made peace on the Polish graves
And he will be condemned on earth and heaven.
WHEN...
As has happened more than erstwhile in history, despite tragic experiences, the Poles and Ukrainians could not communicate at the time of the threat, at the time of the election. past again gave us a cruel bloody lesson: we had common enemies, and we could not combine our efforts. Thus, as enemies of the russian Union they were later sent to the same Russian camps by the aquifers and uppers.
Is there so a request and sense to talk of bitter historical truth? It is due to the fact that the fact can free us from the nightmare of the past and give us hope. And this is what this issue of LWOWSKIE KOTOKAŃ serves, in which we mentioned respective times about attempts to agree on the Polish and Ukrainian underground. besides late, unfortunately.
It is said that past does not admit the word – if it were. But, nevertheless, if 2 of our nations could communicate? possibly it's worth considering...
"Lvivian Meetings" Bożena Rafalska
by Aleksander Szumański “Lwowskie Meetings”