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The Doomed Soldiers. Polish Underground Soldiers 1944-1963 - The Untold Story.
Jozef J. Niedzwiecki, "Szary", "Lawina" 1919-1989
- The Stalin's Secret Order.
Above: Jozef Niedzwiecki (1919-1989), nom
deguerre "Lawina", "Szary". In 1939,
at age twenty, Jozef Niedzwiecki was a member of the KOP (Korpus Ochrony
Pogranicza - Boarder Security Corps; Polish Patriot: military) from Iwieniec,
a small borderland city only sixteen miles from Minsk [then Russia, presently
Belarus]. His unit took part in several skirmishes with the invading Germans
near the Czech border until the end of organized resistance. When he returned
home to northeast Poland it had been occupied by the Soviet Union. As the
NKVD [NKD/NKVD/NKWD - Narodnyi Komitet Vnutriennykh Del - People's
Commissariat for Internal Affairs (Soviet Communist: secret police)] was
initiating arrests and deportations, Polish patriots, including Jozef and his
brother Jan Niedzwiecki, were beginning the formation of an underground
resistance. While
walking together on a road near Iwieniec, Jozef and Jan were surrounded and
arrested by the NKVD. They had been betrayed and denounced as former military
and as enemies of the new regime. They were imprisoned in the NKVD prison in
Minsk and began enduring daily interrogations and beatings. Subtle psychology
was also used to try and find the size and form of the conspiracy. For
months they continued their refusal to cooperate. Their stubborness proved to
be their salvation as they were still being held when Germany attacked Russia
on June 22nd, 1941. As the Soviets retreated in chaos, prisoners were hastily
driven on a forced march eastward. With panic and confusion all around;
Jozef, Jan and another man seized an opportunity and escaped. They were
able to walk back to Iwieniec cross country, surviving by eating raw
vegetables found in fields along the way. They then rejoined the growing
conspiracy. By 1943 the underground was well organized and incorporated into
the Home Army as "Zgrupowanie Stolpeckie" [(Eng.- Belarus hybrid,
Group Stolpce; Polish Patriot: military, stationed in Stolpce, Poland, now
Belarus and called Stoupcy)]. Niedzwiecki
was in the 27th cavalry under Zdzislaw Nurkiewicz, and became a squadron
leader. They initiated many actions against the German occupiers. These were
characteristically very well planned and successful, with low losses of AK
men. During the "Iwieniec uprising" of June 19, 1943, they
destroyed the German garrison, killed over one hundred, and siezed a large
cache of weapons, with only three AK men lost. The successful attack freed
prisoners and headed off a proposed roundup of men by the German authority.
One of the three men killed was Jan Niedzwiecki, killed by a grenade while
storming the Waffen-SS Panzergrenadieren.
A field Holy Mass of the "Stolpce"
Home Army partisan unit. Zdzislaw Nurkiewicz nom de guerre "Noc" is
seen on the white horse. During
this time Soviet partisans were also increasing in the Naliboki region.
Although much greater in number, the Soviets did not match the Poles in
successful actions against the Germans. Their reputation with the local
population was poor, with numerous cases of robbery, rape, and murder. Despite
this, commanders of the Home Army were instructed by leadership in London and
Warsaw to combine efforts with the Soviet partisans against the "common
enemy" of Nazi Germany. The Soviet leadership, however, was secretly
undermining the Poles. NKVD operatives were passing information to the
Gestapo on where to find AK members, and during joint actions the Soviets
would sometimes withdraw and expose the Polish troops to German ambush. Spies
infiltrated the AK units.
A field Holy Mass of the "Stolpce"
Home Army partisan unit. Towards
the end of 1943, Soviet General Ponomarenko proposed to Stalin a plan to
eliminate all patriotic Polish Units in the region. It was the same devious
ploy that had worked in the Wilno area, when Polish partisans were surrounded
and murdered after being lured to a "friendly" meeting. Several
partisan detachments were sent the secret order. At this time, the Bielski
Brothers' camp, subject of the movie "Defiance", was subservient to
the Soviets. They sent about fifty men for this action. Prior to this, the
Bielskis and other partisan detachments had friendly relations with the local
Polish army, sharing meals and even games of chess. This relationship was
eclipsed by the larger goals of Stalin and his NKVD.
Adolf Pilch (center) and his men from the
"Stolpce" Home Army unit. Pilch was a member of the famous
"Cichociemni" commando unit and was awarded Poland's highest medal
for valor, the "Virituti Militari"/ On
December 1st, 1943, near Niestorowicze, the leadership of the AK met with the
Soviet Partisans at the request of Soviet General "Dubov". Upon
arrival the Poles were surrounded and disarmed. The officers were arrested
and taken away. Some were flown to Moscow for trial, the others were never
seen alive again. The Soviets then launched surprise attacks on the nearby
Polish camps. When some
of the Poles resisted they were shot. Some were first beaten and tortured,
their bodies found with ears and fingers cut off. The other captured soldiers
were forced into Soviet units. Seeing that the Poles were not easily becoming
faithful Communists, the Russians began liquidating them, often shooting them
in the back while traveling through the forest. Dozens of these Poles escaped
as soon as possible and made their way back to the remnants of the AK.
Riflemen of the "Stolpce" Home Army
unit. The
ranking officer not captured was Adolf Pilch. He soon linked up with Zdzislaw
Nurkiewicz and most of the cavalry (who had not gone to the meeting) and they
began gathering the scattered AK men. The
situation for them was desperate. They had lost their leaders, many men, and
most of their weapons. They were now being pursued by two enemies, and the
NKVD was now openly targeting their relatives. Entire families were murdered
and several small villages completely wiped out.
[Translation
Below] Strictly
secret (classified) Copy No.
7 Battle
Order To: Commanding Officers and Commissars Partisan
Stalin Brigade, 30 November, 1943.
1500 hr. To carry
out an order of the chief of staff of the partisan formations at the supreme
headquarters of the Red Army, Gen. Lt. Ponomarenko and the authorized main
headquarters of the partisan movement at the headquarters of the chif of
staff as ruled by C.P(6) W.B. Baranovitz District, Mat. Gen. Platanov. On the
first day of December, 1943, exactly at 7a.m., in all areas and inhabited
parts of the district begin to disarm all members and groups of the Polish
[partisan] legion. All taken
arms and printed evidence to be recorded.
Disarmed members and groups to be delivered to the Polish cap named
Mklaszewski, in the vicinity of Nesterowich village, township of Iwieniec. Should
there be any resistance on the part of the Polish partisans they must be shot
on the spot. From the
moment of receiving this order it should be immediately dispatched, in
strictly classified letters, to the operating areas of your Groups,
Companies, and Platoons, for the execution of this order. REPEAT: Order to be kept in strict secrecy. The leaders and commanding officers will be
responsible for keeping this scret. COMMANDER
“STALIN” BRIGADE Col. Gulewicz COMMISSAR
“STALIN” BRIGADE Lt. Col. Muranov CHIEF OF
STAFF “STALIN” BRIGADE Lt. Col. Karpov Typed 10
copies: No. 1 For
the Records No. 2 and
3 Group “Bolshevik” No. 4 and
5 [Group] “Suvorov” No.
6 [Group] “Tshapayev” No. 8
[Group] “Budienny No. 9
[Group] “Ryzak” No. 10
[Group] “October Revolution” Round
Seal – Brigade “Stalin” --- Ironically,
orders from Warsaw by radio broadcast were still instructing the men to
report themselves to the local Soviets for joint actions. A few days later
Jozef Niedzwiecki's squadron captured members of the "Stalin
brigade" after surrounding them. On a Russian officer Niedzwiecki
discovered a copy of the "secret order" detailing the planned
betrayal. They now had proof of Stalin's intentions for the Polish Home Army.
Above: Lieutenant General Panteleimon
Ponomarenko, First Secretary of the Communist Party of Belarus.
Above: Major Vassily Chernishev
"Platon", Commanding Officer of the Soviet Partisan Units.
Above: Colonel Grigory Sidoruk
"Dubov", Deputy Commandant of the II Concentration of the Soviet
Partisans' Iwieniec Units.
Above: Major Pavel Gulevich, Commanding Officer of the Soviet
"Stalin" Brigade.
Above: Major Sylvester Klutchko, Commanding
Officer of the Soviet "Frunze" Brigade. When the
local German authority realized what had occurred, they sent envoys proposing
an alliance with the Poles against the Russians. This was unacceptable to
Pilch and the Polish men, but in their desperate struggle for survival they
struck a modified agreement; a temporary ceasefire against the Germans in
exchange for weapons. The Germans then left caches of supplies in locations
where the Poles could aquire them. This agreement saved the Polish resistance
and many family members in the region, but proved costly for their
reputation. For the next 45 years of Communist control, Pilch and his men
were labeled as "Nazi collaborators" and "fascists". In
some literature this label still occurs to this day. Some accounts by Soviet
partisans, not wishing to own up to their actions, put the blame for the
events of December 1st squarely on the victimized Poles, saying that the AK
had been "killing Jews", or had been "working for the
Germans". These claims are disproven easily. The Soviet archives show
that the betrayal of the AK was a plan from the highest level for political
purposes. Milaszewski's men had not only had friendly relations with Tuvia
Bielski, but had a record of warning the local Jewish ghettos about German
plans, as well as helping individual Jews escape. The Home army had orders to
treat all ethnic groups well. They launched many attacks against the Germans,
with such success that the local Nazi command accepted the temporary
ceasefire. During
the winter of 1943-1944 the Polish partisans had a large influx of new men
and quickly regained their strength and size. They began inflicting heavy
losses on the Soviet partisan brigades. As the Russian front moved West, the
group vacated the region and headed South. They used the chaos of the German
retreat to move their army of about nine hundred all the way to Kampinos
forest near Warsaw. The group
now became part of "Grupa Kampinos" [The Kampinos Group] and fought
many battles against the Germans before, during, and after the Warsaw
uprising. On the night of September 3rd, 1944, Niedzwiecki lead his unit in a
surprise attack on the infamous SS RONA (Russkaya Osvoboditelnaya Narodnaya
Armiya; Eng., Russian National Liberation Army; Russian Nazi: paramilitary),
also known as the "Kaminsky Brigade". The attack, in the town of
Marianow, destroyed the brigade to such an extent that it completely ceased
to exist as a unit. Over two hundred SS men were killed or injured with only
one AK man lost. The previous night Adolph Pilch had destroyed the other camp
of SS RONA in the village of Truskaw with similar results. At the
end of September, the Kampinos group came under heavy attack near Zyrardow.
Niedzwiecki was commanding his men in a defensive line when he was hit by a
bomb blast and knocked unconcious. The next morning he and the young aid who
stayed with him were captured by Wehrmacht troops and became prisoners of
war. Niedzwiecki ended up interred in Stalag XB until it was liberated by the
British. It was
beyond belief to Niedzwiecki and his fellow AK men to see all their hardship
and sacrifice result in Poland ceded to the treacherous Communists. Because
of his many interactions with the NKVD and Soviet partisans, Niedzwiecki was
compelled to cut all ties with family who remained in Poland, for their safety.
His beloved home near the Niemen river and Naliboki forest ceased to be a
part of Poland. The men
of Zgupowanie Stolpeckie/Grupa Kampinos fought in over two hundred successful
battles. Their list of accomplishments is a testament to the Polish character
and the bravery of the Home Army. Joseph
Niedzwiecki had lead his men in numerous engagements against two enemies, and
had survived arrest, torture, and two bullet wounds before being injured for
a third time at Zyrardow. He was
awarded the Virtuti Militari, Poland's highest medal for valor. He lived
briefly in England before settling in the United States. Many men from his
unit who remained in Poland, like Zdzislaw Nurkiewicz, were persecuted and
arrested. Many were killed after the war by the new regime, punished for
their patriotism and loyalty. This story
was contributed by John Nurt. http://www.doomedsoldiers.com/ |
