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

AK 75: Brawurowe Akcje Armii Krajowej, by Wojciech Konigsberg. 2017. Znak Horyzont, Krakow

Armia Krajowa: Assassinations, Intelligence Gathering, Sabotage, Captives Freed, Murdered Poles Avenged

DARING ACTIONS OF THE ARMIA KRAJOWA is the title of this Polish-language book. It is a mini-encyclopedia of the guerrilla Home Army actions–it’s Underground deeds that took place before it came out in open warfare, against the Germans, in Operation Burza (Tempest) and in the Soviet-betrayed Warsaw Uprising. Author Wojciech Konigsberg is an acclaimed historian who specializes in the history of the Armia Krajowa. I largely focus on matters that I have not covered, on the A. K., in my previous reviews.

WOMEN IN THE A. K. (ARMIA KRAJOWA)

Women constituted about 10% of the Home Army. They chiefly served as nurses and liaisons, and some were involved in intelligence. (p. 189).

INSUFFICIENT WEAPONRY FOR THE HOME ARMY

The A. K. suffered from a chronic shortage of weaponry, and, in some units, only about 10% of the guerrillas were armed. (p. 269). Arms were passed around, from man to man, as if they were holy objects. The Home Army eventually captured some arms from the Germans. (p. 308).

This clarifies the “stinginess” of the Polish Underground towards the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. Obviously, the Polish Underground was in no position to give substantially more arms, than they did, to the Jewish ghetto fighters.

ASSASSINATING TOP GERMAN OFFICIALS

The Home Army eliminated a number of high-profile German officials, especially those that were exceptionally cruel. These included Franz Kutschera and (Pawiak Commander) Franz Burkl. (p. 33). For further details, see:

https://www.jewsandpolesdatabase.org/2021/04/14/polish-guerrillas-assassinate-top-nazi-german-officials-efficacy-of-polish-guerrilla-warfare-unknown-unknowable-scale-of-german-murder-of-poles-poles-and-not-only-jews-were-cremated-en-masse-ip/

LIQUIDATING COLLABORATORS

The author discusses the killings of German informants. This included the Jew Joseph Staszauer, a dangerous German confidante responsible for the deaths of several Underground members. (p. 176).

MANIFOLD ACTS OF SABOTAGE

In Action “Bollwerk” near Poznan in February 1942, the Home Army torched a large German warehouse containing feedstuffs and warm clothing intended for the Russian front. (pp. 85-88). The fire was huge.

In another arson (July 1943), the A. K. burned German stores amounting to 1.4 million liters of fuel. (pp. 98-101).  In still another action, the A. K., in May 1944, attacked and burned 5 parked Junkers planes at the Bielany airport near Warsaw. (p. 106).

TIT FOR TAT

The July 1943 German pacification of the village of Michniow was especially brutal: 204 Poles (among them 54 women and 48 children: p. 133) were shot or burned alive for their dedicated service to the Polish guerrillas. (p. 130). The scene was grotesque. The Home Army decided to avenge Michniow with an attack on a German passenger train. The result was 5-8 German dead (according to German sources), and 60-180 Germans dead (according to A. K. sources), with the truth somewhere in between. (p. 133).

FREEING OF CAPTIVE POLES

The Home Army was at times successful in freeing Underground members that had fallen in the hands of the Germans. For instance, in March 1943, a German car was attacked, freeing some 15 captured Poles destined for Pawiak Prison, including one that had been severely tortured. In addition, 11 German policemen were killed. (p. 216).

In another instance (May 1943), the A. K. freed 49 captive A. K. and BCh captives that were being transported, via railway, from a prison in Lublin to Auschwitz. (p. 222).

At times, a prisoner exchange was made with the Germans. In May 1944, the Armia Krajowa took control of the town of Radun (near Lida), capturing German arms and ammunition, and quite a few German gendarmes, police, and Luftwaffe soldiers. These were exchanged for some captive Poles. (pp. 299-301).

JAN PIWNIK “PONURY”

Jan Piwnik “Ponury” was legendary. He was active in the Gory Swietokrzyskie region. He accepted Russians, Georgians, and Jews into his A. K. unit. (p. 131). When he was mortally wounded, his last words were, “Tell my wife and parents that I love them greatly, and that I die like a Pole.” (p. 306).

THE GERMAN TERROR. DO NOT BLAME POLISH GUERRILLA ACTION

The Germans murdered some 3,000 Poles daily. (p. 10). Some commentators have adopted a blame-the-victim approach, arguing that the Polish resistance only provoked German reprisals that otherwise would not have occurred. This is fallacious. Konigsberg points out that most of the Poles murdered by Germans were unrelated either to Polish guerrilla action or to collective German reprisals for guerrilla action. (p. 10). What’s more, Poles were slated for eventual extermination, after the Jews, making guerrilla resistance (or lack of it) a moot issue. (p. 10).

The Germans murdered 37,000 Poles in Pawiak Prison alone. (p. 30). They “pacified” 800 Polish villages. (p. 130).

GERMANS USE TORTURE TO SECURE POLISH COLLABORATORS

Underground members that fell into German hands were tortured. They were often promised an end to the tortures, and freedom, if they would switch sides and collaborate. Sometimes, this happened. (pp. 15-16).

POLISH PARTICIPATION IN THE BAUDIENST WAS INVOLUNTARY

The Germans exploited Poles on a fantastic scale. They sent multitudes of Poles to the Third Reich for forced labor, and used other Poles for forced labor in German-occupied Poland itself. This included various construction projects–service in the BAUDIENST. Poles did their best to avoid the arduous labor in the BAUDIENST, which paid minimally. (p. 237). In April 1943, the Germans, evidently frustrated by many Poles that had deserted, set up a BAUDIENST camp at Kaletnik near Koluszek. The A. K. made a daring raid that freed the 400 captive Poles. (pp. 239-241).

Clearly, Poles had no choice but to serve in the BAUDIENST. So it was in no sense collaborationist. However, in his JUDENJAGD, Jan Grabowski has completely distorted the BAUDIENST, making it out to be an outfit in which Poles voluntarily went along with the Germans when the BAUDIENST was sometimes used to hunt for the Jews.

For a German scholar’s confirmation of these facts on the BAUDIENST, see:

https://www.jewsandpolesdatabase.org/2025/02/17/limited-poles-mired-in-baudienst-little-jew-killing-polish-autonomy/