Such raids have never experienced a complex in the Police before. In just 14 minutes, the crew of over 200 British aircraft dropped 1,6,000 storm bombs. The key to the German army was almost completely destroyed by a synthetic gasoline factory. We couldn't have done it without the National Army's help.
At 3 o'clock in the night, the air around the mill vibrated. The base murmur of hundreds of engines has put German anti-aircraft defence on its feet. However, there were so many planes that the cast of cannons could not do much. As it later turned out, on January 13, 1945, 218 dense bombers Avro Lancaster and respective de Havilland Mosquito machines arrived over the Police. Within little than a 4th of an hour, British crews dropped 1.6 1000 storm bombs on the buildings. A powerful complex caught fire. Nearly 200 buildings were turned into persine, another fewer 100 suffered more or little serious damage. For the Germans, the raid was a real blow. The Police plant produced synthetic gasoline. And this already battered Hitler's army needed air.
Carbon gas
Germany in the 1930s. The army grows in the eyes, more tanks and airplanes leave the arms plant halls, Hitler, on the another hand, is making increasingly bold plans to conquer Europe. But 1 thing is bothering him. In order to wage a large-scale war, a steady supply of immense amounts of fuel is needed. Meanwhile, Germany lacks oil deposits. The solution was synthetic gasoline.
Technology of its acquisition in the early 20th century was developed by chemist Friedrich Bergius from the vicinity of Wrocław. In the privacy of the laboratory, he conducted a process of hydrogenation of coal, for which he received the Nobel Prize. Soon, the first plants were set up in Germany to produce synthetic fuel on an industrial scale. How did they work? In simplification – coal went to peculiar mills where it was crushed and mixed with solvents. The process was accompanied by massive force and a temperature of 500°C. The liquid thus obtained was further treated and subsequently distilled. In this way, fuel was created to power tanks or aircraft.
And that's why Hitler, erstwhile he came to power, set the manufacture to grow rapidly. The fresh plant was created in Police, which was then within the limits of the Reich. As Jan Matura, historian and investigator of the past of Western Pomerania, noted in his publications, this location was decided by respective factors: the proximity of the sea, the shipping routes on the Oder and the railway line, which could be delivered efficiently coal from Silesia. It besides turned out that there was a ship fuel regeneration plant in the vicinity of the town. It was based on it in 1937 that the construction of a completely fresh mill began. The Hydrarierwerke Pölitz grew rapidly. The complex yet occupied an area of 1.5 1000 hectares, of which 200 were a compact building, consisting of halls, warehouses, petrol tanks and office buildings. "Police were among the top German synthetic fuel combination companies – this is where most of the synthetic gasoline for Luftwaffe was produced," says Matura. The plant peaked in 1944. It produced 60,000 tons of fuel per month. "This figure accounted for 20 percent of the full production of the 3rd Reich," says Matura. small wonder, then, that at the beginning of the war the complex He was targeted by the Allies..
Air photograph of bombed hydrogenation facilities in Pölitz in 1945.
Execution in 2 minutes
The first bombings of the British mill continued in 1940. However, the harm was small. Moreover, in response, Germany increased the anti-aircraft shield of the complex. Around Police, they deployed extra batteries, built shelters, yet set up a balloon dam that was intended to impede enemy aircraft operations. However, the Allies did not give up. Soon, too. The National Army came to their aid..
First, the HYDRIERWERKE Pölitz network under the code name ‘Stragan’ was directed to work. However, the Germans were able to track and break it. any agents paid for it with their lives. Those who survived joined another group called Lombard. A peculiar team, operating under the code name “Baltic”, was separated from it. It was headed by Bernard Kaczmarek “Herzos”. And it was his subordinates who were to play the first violin in the Akowski Operation Synthesis.
Conspirators, using, among others, the aid of forced workers, managed to carry out a thorough diagnosis of the factory. Copies of papers and plans went to the Allies who could begin preparations for further raids. These. began on April 20, 1944 and were repeated all fewer weeks. full bombs fell on the police complex as many as 11 times. Poles from the 300th Bomb Squadron “Ziemi Mazowieckia” besides took part in the last action. As a consequence of the Allied strokes, Germany was forced to gradually reduce production, yet in March 1945 to abandon it completely. Soon, the workers of the mill and the soldiers protecting it escaped the Red Army coming from the east.
Polish underground However, she could not rather enjoy the unquestionable success. In April 1944, the Germans managed to track down any of the agents. There's been detention. And while Kaczmarek himself managed to avoid arrest, his most crucial co-workers went under the key. shortly they were transported to Berlin, where they were tried. The proceeding took place before the People's Court. “Of course, the defendants did not have the right to choose a lawyer, and they did not even see each another until the hearing. The proceeding itself lasted a fewer minutes and the defendants had no right to vote" – described Paweł Knap and Christian Sowiński, authors of the work on the activity of the Polish underground in the vicinity of Szczecin. Death sentences were executed on the afternoon of April 20, 1945. On that day, the Germans lost 27 people, spending about 2 minutes each. erstwhile the guillotine worked in Brandenburg-Görden prison, the fates of the 3rd Reich were yet settled. Red Army standing on Berlin's fences, and the center of the city was covered with missiles of russian artillery. In 10 days Adolf Hitler would commit suicide.
By the end of April, the Red Army besides entered the Police. It was already clear at the time that the city would fall to Poland. However, the Soviets requested the authorities in Warsaw to temporarily exclude it from Polish jurisdiction. “The remnants of Hydrarwerke were treated as a “trophy” object by the Russians, and already in June, involving local Germans, began dismantling it,” says Matura. The remnants of equipment that survived the bombings were taken inside the USSR. Today, there is simply a teaching way on the site of erstwhile establishments. The remains of the complex can be visited through 1 of the local associations. The erstwhile mill is besides a base of bats.
During my writing I used: Jan Matura, Chemistry on War Services, “Old Szczecin Lovers Yearbook” 2008, No. 3; Paweł Knap Christian Sowiński, Around the Akcj “Synthesis”. Polish intelligence activities towards the synthetic gasoline mill in Police (1941-1945) [in:] Conference “From Westerplatte to Nuremberg. planet War II in Modern Historiography, Museumism and Education, Sztutowo 2009; Paweł Knap, Wicki, Szmichowska, Sulewski... Participants of Polish intelligence actions preceding Operation Synthesis and their destiny [in:] Police over the centuries, Police 2011; Łukasz Socha, Gasoline from coal, police.sedinum.pl (accessed 8 January 2024)
