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

The Service: The Memoirs of General Reinhard Gehlen. 1972. World Publishing, New York

Gehlen Polish Underground. The Nazi German Enemy Appreciated the Sophistication of Polish Partisan Warfare

Nowadays, there are complaints about Polish guerrilla warfare by some Jews, in that Poles dwell on their “heroic narrative” instead of beating their breasts with regards to their presumed past wrongs towards Jews. Other self-appointed critics suggest that Polish guerrilla resistance was just romantic adventurism and futile bloodletting, and that it otherwise had no military significance. None other than the Nazi German enemy sets the record straight.

THE VALUE AND SIGNIFICANCE OF POLISH GUERRILLA WARFARE

Major-General Reinhard Gehlen was in charge of German military intelligence on the Eastern front. He knew what he was talking about, and gave unstinting credit to the Polish Underground movement as follows:

“To give substance to my claim, I telephoned Schellenberg and asked him if Himmler would be interested in a detailed study of the rise and fall of the Polish underground resistance, to see if we could learn anything from the Polish experience that might be of use to us in the ordeal we might well be about to face. Schellenberg phoned me back not long afterward to confirm that this was a subject which would particularly interest Himmler. Over the next eight days I completed on the basis of our documents a very bulky study on the Polish resistance.” (p. 11. Emphasis added).

Notice, from Gehlen’s statement quoted above that, far from being some kind of romantic adventurism, the Polish underground movement was, 1) A valuable potential lesson for contemplated German guerrilla resistance, 2) Good enough to study in detail, by the very head of German military intelligence, over an eight-day period, 3) Worthy of being brought to the attention of the very highest levels of the Nazi German leadership (Himmler). Here are some details from the Gehlen report on Polish guerrilla warfare:

https://kuryerpolski.us/en/Page/View/raport-gehlena

Oddly enough, Gehlen did not make use of this information. In fact, no significant German guerrilla movement developed after the defeat of the Third Reich (a few tales about the misunderstood Werwolf notwithstanding). The author is conspicuously silent about this matter. Was his silence for military reasons or was it for political reasons? (Note that, soon after the War, the victorious western Allies made Gehlen a major figure in anti-Soviet intelligence).

GEHLEN POLISH UNDERGROUND. RUSSIAN IMPERIALISM AND THE LEGACY OF WWII

In many ways, the USSR was the main winner of WWII. Gehlen concludes with this sage comment, “As a result of World War II, the Soviets realized nearly all of the czars’ dreams of expansion.” (p. 336).

He adds that, “National Socialism and Communism always did overlap at their extremes. I once suggested we adopt as our slogan, ‘Fight the Red fascism,’ but found little support.” (p. 287).

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ADDENDUM

Historian Perry Biddiscombe attests to the efficacy of Polish guerrillas in German eyes. He writes, “…certain SS leaders were also inspired by several of the more expansive underground movements that proliferated during the Second World War. In fact, a special top-secret SS unit was formed in order to study these movements in detail, and specialists from this unit were sent to observe the Warsaw Rising in 1944, apparently in conjunction with the Abwehr and the Warsaw Gestapo. The Polish Home Army [ARMIA KRAJOWA] was considered a revolutionary movement par excellence…”(pp. 12-13)(emphasis added). He adds that, “In early 1945, Gehlen ordered preparation of a full-scale study investigating the construction of an anti-Soviet underground, using the Polish Home Army as a structural model.” (p. 95).

[From: Biddiscombe. 1998. Werwolf! University of Toronto Press, Toronto, Buffalo]