Członkowie Komendy Głównej SZP-ZWZ-AK więźniami KL Auschwitz

Abstract

In October 1939, on the territory of the Polish Republic occupied by Hitler’s Germany, two organisational structures, whose objectives to be realised were clearly defined, confronted each other - on the one hand, the network of the Polish Underground State being created and continuously expanded, with its armed forces: Armed Service to Poland (SZP) - Armed Fighting Union (ZWZ) - Home Army (AK), and on the other, the German occupation administrative apparatus, with its police units and special services. The fundamental goal of the Polish Underground State was to defend and protect the national substance, and to win back independent statehood. Whereas, the fundamental objective of the actions of the opposite side was to eradicate the Polish elite regardless of its beliefs or political orientation, pursuant to the idea expressed by Adolf Hitler on October 2, 1939 “...Poles can have only one master, and it can be the German, therefore, representatives of the Polish intelligentsia have to be killed. It sounds brutal, but such is the rule of life...” A special position in implementing the aforementioned objectives was taken by the police and a system of different types of camps inextricably connected with it. The Nazi decision-making bodies were fully aware of the fact that no matter what the occupation policy was going to be it would be confronted by the Polish organised underground movement. The total number of police force to implement the given tasks and in the General Gouvemment subordinate to the Chief Commandant of SS and Police (Höherer SS und Polizeiführer) is estimated of 50 to 60 thousand policemen. Besides a general terror afflicting the whole Polish society the operations of the German special services were targeted at the liquidation of the commanders of the Home Army. The purpose of the article was to present the fate of the members of the Main Command (KG) of ZWZ-AK after their arrest and to focus on their stay in Auschwitz. It needs to be emphasised that KG ZWZ-AK, as a conspiratory apparatus was extremely well organised and developed, which grew constantly from a group of several persons who on September 27, 1939 undertook organisation activities, to 1195 officers, officer trainees, and non commissioned officers in February 1944. There should be added an unspecific number of privates, ca. 2000-3000 so that approximately 3000-4000 people were members of KG ZWZ-AK. During the period from March 1941 to February 1944 KG ZWZ-AK lost 457 killed and 1001 imprisoned persons. It can be justifiably assumed that the losses of KG ZWZ-AK were over 1500 soldiers, however exact calculations are not possible in this case. The highest KG commanding officers were put under arrest, namely General Stefan Rowecki, pseudonym “Grot”, the Chief Commander of the Home Army; Chief of Staff Colonel Certified Janusz Albrecht, pseudonym “Wojciech”, two Commanders of Unit II; Lieutenant-Colonel Certified Wacław Berka, pseudonym “Brodowicz”, Lieutenant-Colonel Certified Marian Drobik, pseudonym “Dzięcioł”; reserve major Tadeusz Kruk-Strzelecki, the first BIP Flead, pseudonym “Dyrektor”. Those numerous arrests of the members of KG ZWZ-AK resulted in placing some of them in concentration camps. As found in half-yearly reports, there were 317 officers and soldiers of the Home Army there. The present research does not allow making any definite statements about the exact number of KG ZWZ-AK members who were imprisoned in Auschwitz. The analysed data refer to the managing staff and include 30 people. One may put forward a hypothesis that probably a majority of those 317 soldiers placed in concentration camps became the victims of Auschwitz. The scope of the article embraced the description of the fate of those members of KG ZWZ-AK who had some special decision- making competence. In this case it was the level of the head of the department, which should be treated as the lowest commanding link. Only in two cases I did not obey the rule. The structure of KG ZWZ-AK imposed the way of presentation the subject matter. The fate of the KG members was presented in agreement with their official membership. The published article is a tribute to the memory of all the arrested and murdered members of KG SZP- ZWZ-AK.