Polish-Jewish Relations: 1,300 Keyword-Phrase-Indexed Book Reviews (by Jan Peczkis)

Medical Care in the Unit of Henryk Dobrzanski aka “Hubal”, by Donata Syryjczyk. 2012

The Striking Degree of Practical Polish Support for Hubal’s Unit

This is a review of an article published in MILITARY PHARMACY AND MEDICINE 2:42-48. Rather than focusing on guerrilla combat itself, this article examines the logistics of maintaining an army in secret. There was much involved!

POLAND WILL NOT TAMELY SUBMIT TO NAZI GERMAN RULE

The author comments on how Hubal refused to lay down his arms after Poland’s defeat in the 1939 Defensive War, “Major Dobrzański, a born cavalryman, an outstanding soldier, a sportsman with numerous prizes won at equestrian events, member of the Polish Olympic team at the Amsterdam Olympics in 1928, turned out to be a rebellious man.” (p. 43).

Author Syryjczyk suggests that, strictly speaking, Hubal’s outfit was not a guerilla unit, but rather a regular army unit, as Hubal never took off his uniform. Perhaps this is a matter of semantics, as Hubal’s unit had contact with, and the support of, the newly-formed Polish underground movement, including the SZP [Służba Zwycięstwu Polski – Service to Polish Victory]. (p. 43). In any case, Hubal’s was an irregular force, persisting for many months after the surrender of Poland’s regular military forces.

THE RIGORS OF GUERRILLA LIFE

Syryjczyk writes, “He did not promise an easy life, he talked about the dire living conditions, about the danger facing them each day, the severe discipline in the unit. He immediately sent home those who were too young of physically weak. The unit accepted people of different social stature, peasants, workers, intelligentsia (including secondary school graduates) and freelancers.” (p. 44).

LOCALS’ SUPPORT FOR HUBAL AND HIS MEN

The wounded and very ill were spirited away to local hospitals, from where they were transferred to private homes to recuperate out of sight of the German occupation authorities. Catholic nuns played an instrumental role in this process, risking their lives. (p. 46).

Now consider the acquisition of provisions, an essential component of guerrilla warfare. The author writes, “The population of all the villages in the Świętokrzyskie region received the unit with curiosity and sympathy, sharing their meager resources with it, providing the men with food, maps, compasses and dressing the wounded. The most important task was to feed the men and their horses. Hubal ordered that the village population be paid market prices for the food and feed given to the unit, so the peasants frequently volunteered to bring various food products for the soldiers.” (p. 44). The fact that Hubal paid the villagers for the provisions refutes the “all guerrillas are bandits” myth. This myth that was invented in order to rationalize the Communist GL-AL banditry by falsely equating GL-AL conduct with the conduct of non-Communist guerrilla movements.

For more on the fact that non-Communist Polish guerrillas did not resort to banditry in order to secure provisions, see:

https://www.jewsandpolesdatabase.org/2019/11/04/betrayers-liquidation-very-difficult-bukalska/

https://www.jewsandpolesdatabase.org/2019/11/04/antisemitism-silenced-polish-rescuers-a-myth-ozarowski/

SIGNIFICANCE OF HUBAL

The author comments, “The Major quickly created a strong military unit (of 300 men in March 1940), which, he hoped, would hit the Germans at the right time and inspire others to do the same.” (p. 44).

Here is how Syryjczyk assesses this historical figure, “It was here [Kielce district] that the unit of Major Henryk Dobrzański, aka “Hubal”, later called the last soldier of the II Republic or the first guerilla of the Second World War, endured longest, fighting in the area between the Spała Forests and the Świętokrzyskie Mountains until late spring 1940.” (p. 43).

For more on the Hubalczycy, see:

https://www.jewsandpolesdatabase.org/2020/10/05/diary-of-the-last-living-hubal-soldier-later-in-nazi-german-concentration-camps-jewish-sonderkommandos-last-minute-non-jews-killed-too-ziolkowska-boehm/