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

As I Remember: Polish Home Army in the Konecki and Nowogrodek Regions 1939-1945, by Bojomir Tworzyanski. 2009. B. J. Tworzyanski Ltd., Markham, Ontario

Guerrilla Combat Action: The Experiences of an Armia Krajowa Polish Guerrilla

This memoir recounts the wartime acts of the author. He fought in the 1939 defensive war, and afterwards switched to guerrilla warfare.

The Gestapo that occupied Radom, unable to find Tworzyanski, arrested his mother, and threatened her with death if he was not found. (p. 219). [Guerrillas do not tell their relatives their whereabouts. So if the relatives break down under Gestapo tortures, they will have nothing to say. The Germans arrested the relatives of guerrillas out of spite.]  The Gestapo eventually murdered Tworzyanski’s mother. (p. 38). Tworzyanski, his cover blown, was forced to relocate from Konskie (south-central Poland) to the Nowogrodek region (northeastern Poland). (p. 225).

RAMPANT BANDITRY

After the Germans suddenly invaded their erstwhile Soviet ally in June 1941, there was a remnant, on formerly Soviet-occupied territory, that consisted of Soviet soldiers, Jews, and Communist sympathizers. These people formed bandit bands that plundered the local villages. (p. 46).

POLAND AND HER MINORITIES

Tworzyanski’s experience does not support the notion that Poland’s eastern minorities were necessarily hostile to Poland. The author reports that the A. K. (Armia Krajowa) was well received in Nowogrodek. (p. 53). And, while some Belarussians were pro-Soviet, many others joined the A. K. in the Szczuczyn region. (p. 56).

WHY DIDN’T THE POLISH UNDERGROUND DERAIL ALL THE TRAINS TO THE DEATH CAMPS?

The author’s own acts help answer questions about the efficacy of train de-railings. In the fall of 1943, Tworzyanski’s unit took part in the sabotage of the Lida-Wolkowysk railroad line. They placed some delay-action mines (explosives) on the tracks. Now, the first two cars of German trains were loaded with sandbags in order to thwart any explosions. So the mine went off after the first two German cars had passed. The explosion caused the locomotive to sink deep in the ground, indicating that part of the railroad track itself was destroyed. However, “It took the Germans a few days to clear and repair the tracks.” (p. 70).

Clearly, even if the Polish Underground was able to simultaneously sabotage all the railways leading to the death camps (a tall order to begin with), it would have mattered little. The Germans would have been able to restore service in a matter of days. So much for this specious Jewish accusation.

JAN PIWNIK “PONURY”

Legendary A. K. Commander “Ponury” arrived from the Kielce region, and held many interesting discussions with Tworzyanski. “Ponury’s” bold leadership began in the Nowogrodek area in March 1944. (p. 75). He eventually fell in combat. (p. 111). Tworzyanski “Ostoja” replaced him as Commander.

A SPECTACULAR ATTACK ON A GERMAN BORDER GUARD POST

This took place at a border guardhouse on June 8, 1944 at Jachnowicze. A well-organized Home Army attack there, and nearby location, killed a total of 82 Germans, left 11 wounded, and 32 captured. (p. 96). A. K. losses were just 3 killed and 3 wounded. The Polish guerrilla forces captured, among other items, 91 guns and rifles, 20 pistols, and 20,000 pieces of ammunition from the Germans. (p. 96). There was a subsequent prisoner exchange with the Germans.

THE PERFIDIOUS SOVIETS RE-ENTER POLAND

Operation Burza (Operation Tempest) called for the A. K. to liberate major towns, from the Germans, just before the arrival of the Red Army. Tworzyanski was to be part of the Ostra Brama mission to take Wilno (Vilnius). However, he did not participate in this, as there were many arrests of the A. K. in the Wilno and Nowogrodek regions (p. 133), and Tworzyanski’s unit had to evade the Soviets. (p. 135).