Fighting Warsaw, the Story of the Polish Underground State, 1939-1945copy.pdf

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Warsaw
The Story of the Polish Underground State
I
939^945
Stefan Korbonski
The last Chief of the Polish
Wartime Underground
TRANS LA TED FROM THE ORIGINAL POLISH
BY F. B. CZARNOMSKI
George Allen & Unwin Ltd
RUSKIN HOUSE
MUSEUM STREET LONDON
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PREFACE
The difference between the Polish Underground Movement which
existed during the last war and at the beginning of the anti-Soviet
resistance and similar movements in other countries consists not
so much in its having been the largest and the most active but,
primarily, in its having achieved the form of a real underground
state.
In a country, invaded by German divisions and terrorized by
the omnipotent Gestapo, among a population which was deci­
mated by mass executions and deported, in thousands, to con­
centration camps, and under such limitations as censorship of
letters, travel restrictions and curfews — a real underground
government was set up, with ministries and territorial administra­
tion, a parliament, holding regular sessions, an army of 300,000
men, organised in regiments and divisions, with underground
courts, passing sentences Tn the name of Republic', a secret edu­
cation system and many other underground bodies. While the
military side of this underground movement is fairly well known
to the Anglo-Saxon world, owing, in the first place, to the fact
that the underground military activities were part of the military
actions of the Allies, the political and civil organisation and acti­
vities of this movement are generally unknown. Unknown, also,
is the underground struggle of the ordinary man against the occu­
pier, the struggle of millions of ordinary people, who without
belonging formally to any secret organisation took part in under­
ground action, zealously carrying out all orders and instructions
of the Underground Directorate of Civil Resistance. I have tried
to fill this gap in my book which, while speaking mostly of adven­
tures and experiences of my friends and myself, also gives a com­
plete picture of the entire organisation of the activities, strategy
and tactics of the Polish Underground. I am also writing about
various people and events, both sad and humorous, in a word,
about everything which made the everyday life and the climate
of the Underground and especially of the heroic capital, Warsaw.
1 am writing candidly about everything, as 1 think that reminis-
ht'mi.
n
VI
IN THE NAME OF THE REPUBLIC
cences are valuable only if sincere. I have tried to show not only
the light but also the darker sides, as I believe that the magnificent
and durable values of the Polish Underground in the past do not
need glorification and are not afraid of truth.
The Anglo-Saxon reader will find in these reminiscences of
mine one thing which is new to him. It is the role which the magic
word 'London' played in the Polish Underground Movement. He
will find it almost on every page of my book. For it was indeed
towards that city that the attention of millions of people was
directed, when, concealed by the darkness of the night, they were
putting on the earphones, risking their lives in order to listen to
the free radio. For them, too, as for the inhabitants of the British
Isles, the voice of Big Ben became the voice of hope and encou­
ragement. It was towards that city that the underground couriers
directed their steps in order to obtain instructions from the Polish
government in exile. It is from London that orders and recom­
mendations were sent to Poland. And there was no greater joy
for our underground radio-operators, whose fight to maintain
contact with the free world occupies a large part of my book, than
the signal: 'London hears you and is ready to work with you. . . /
STEFAN KORBONSK.I
CONTENTS
PREFACE
I
II
III
IV
V
VI
VII
VIII
IX
X
P A
> J E
7
60
The Birth of the Polish Underground State
Radio Contacts between London and Warsaw
Underground Courts of Justice
Efforts to Maintain Liaison
Directorate of Civil Resistance
'Swit', The Secret of The Commander-in-Chief
Civil Resistance
The Death of Joey
Liquor! Liquor! Liquor!
^
' ^5
145
166
200
2 14
236
245
253
265
276
286
296
302
3i 4
3I 6
319
350
406
4i 5
435
46 2
The Jews under The Occupation?
XI
P.P.R.~Mhe Paid Lackeys of Russia
XII
XIII
XIV
XV
XVI
XVII
XVIII
XIX
XX
XXI
XXII
Elew Men and New Tasks
Unity in Struggle
Emissary "Salamander'
Blows at Liaison
A Meeting with the Man from Minsk
A Slip-Up in The Directorate of Civil Resistance
A Game of Hide and Seek
The Warsaw Rising-^
The End of German Occupation
The Beginnings of Soviet Occupation
The Final Months of the Polish Underground State
XXIII
In the Clutches of the Security Police
CHAPTER I
The Birth of the
Polish Underground State
Warsaw, October, 1939
By the middle of Oetober I had already been baek in Warsaw
for some days. I had been eaptured by the Russians near
Vladimir Volynski, but I eseaped from the transport, and hav­
ing found my wife in Kovel, by walking part of the way and
by getting lifts in a horse-drawn eart, we sueeeeded in reach­
ing our home. I was still completely off my balance, I was
still unable to live down the frightful experiences of the past
few weeks, but I already felt safer, because I was back among
my own people, in my old home. I walked about Warsaw and
viewed the familiar landmarks, but felt that both the city and
I myself lived in a different world. At first sight everything
looked as it had before, but it was somehow different, sub­
merged in the strange atmosphere of a city in mourning.
Through the dense veil of dust its lovely features were hardly
visible. No trace of its former elegance and gaiety remained.
Everything was shabby and drab now; the crippled houses,
with empty and blackened window-frames stood like rows of
blind people. Everywhere lay masses of broken glass, that
first victim of war. It screeched underfoot and got on one's
nerves. The sidewalk slabs of concrete bore symmetrical pat­
terns left by the explosions. The people too were somehow
different, but I was not surprised, for I had seen that already
on the other, the Soviet side. That appearance might be called
protective, for it was assumed as a protection against the pry­
ing enemy. The ideal colour scheme was that of the houses

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