Wawelberg Group
Encyclopedia
Second Polish Republic
The Second Polish Republic, Second Commonwealth of Poland or interwar Poland refers to Poland between the two world wars; a period in Polish history in which Poland was restored as an independent state. Officially known as the Republic of Poland or the Commonwealth of Poland , the Polish state was...
special-forces
Special forces
Special forces, or special operations forces are terms used to describe elite military tactical teams trained to perform high-risk dangerous missions that conventional units cannot perform...
unit. The group began the Third Silesian Uprising
Silesian Uprisings
The Silesian Uprisings were a series of three armed uprisings of the Poles and Polish Silesians of Upper Silesia, from 1919–1921, against German rule; the resistance hoped to break away from Germany in order to join the Second Polish Republic, which had been established in the wake of World War I...
on May 2/3, 1921 by blowing up seven rail bridges linking Upper Silesia
Upper Silesia
Upper Silesia is the southeastern part of the historical and geographical region of Silesia. Since the 9th century, Upper Silesia has been part of Greater Moravia, the Duchy of Bohemia, the Piast Kingdom of Poland, again of the Lands of the Bohemian Crown and the Holy Roman Empire, as well as of...
with the rest of Germany
Weimar Republic
The Weimar Republic is the name given by historians to the parliamentary republic established in 1919 in Germany to replace the imperial form of government...
.
Origins
The Wawelberg Group was organized by the Polish General StaffGeneral Staff of the Polish Army
Sztab Generalny Wojska Polskiego Sztab Generalny Wojska Polskiego Sztab Generalny Wojska Polskiego (Polish General Staff also "General Staff of the Polish Armed Forces"; is Poland's highest unit of military organization...
's Section II (Intelligence) as the "Destruction Office" in the waning days of 1920 (see History of Polish intelligence services
History of Polish Intelligence Services
This article covers the history of Polish intelligence services dating back to the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.-Commonwealth:Though the first official Polish government service entrusted with espionage, intelligence and counter-intelligence was not formed until 1918, Poland and later the...
) as rumors flew that the Inter-Allied Plebiscite Commission would grant almost all of Upper Silesia to Germany. Prompted by the rumors, the Polish Military Organization of Upper Silesia
Polish Military Organization of Upper Silesia
Polish Military Organization of the Upper Silesia was a secret military organization formed in February 1919 in Upper Silesia. It was involved in the three Silesian Uprisings, although officially it was disbanded after the Second Uprising...
, which actively cooperated with the Polish Army, had begun forming a small, highly-specialized unit which would come to be called the Wawelberg Group.
The Destruction Office took the "Wawelberg" name from the nom de guerre of its commander, Captain Tadeusz Puszczyński
Tadeusz Puszczynski
Tadeusz Puszczyński was a Polish military intelligence officer who commanded the Polish General Staff's Destruction Group during the Third Silesian Uprising.-Biography:Tadeusz Puszczyński was born on February 2, 1895, in the village of Józinki near Piotrków...
— "Konrad Wawelberg." Puszczyński was a graduate of the Warsaw Polytechnic and had served in the World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
Polish Legions
Polish Legions in World War I
Polish Legions was the name of Polish armed forces created in August 1914 in Galicia. Thanks to the efforts of KSSN and the Polish members of the Austrian parliament, the unit became an independent formation of the Austro-Hungarian Army...
and in the Polish Military Organization. He had also participated in the 1920 Second Silesian Uprising. His crucial task was to find the right people and carry out acts of sabotage
Sabotage
Sabotage is a deliberate action aimed at weakening another entity through subversion, obstruction, disruption, or destruction. In a workplace setting, sabotage is the conscious withdrawal of efficiency generally directed at causing some change in workplace conditions. One who engages in sabotage is...
in the rear of the German positions. All the men in the Wawelberg Group had to be skilled combat engineers
Combat engineering
A combat engineer, also called pioneer or sapper in many armies, is a soldier who performs a variety of construction and demolition tasks under combat conditions...
with extensive knowledge of explosives.
The Group
The Group's deputy commander was Lt. Edmund CharaszkiewiczEdmund Charaszkiewicz
Edmund Kalikst Eugeniusz Charaszkiewicz was a Polish military intelligence officer who specialized in clandestine warfare. Between the World Wars, he helped establish Poland's interbellum borders in conflicts over territory with Poland's neighbors....
. Puszczyński recruited, from among his soldiers, two officer cadet
Officer Cadet
Officer cadet is a rank held by military and merchant navy cadets during their training to become commissioned officers and merchant navy officers, respectively. The term officer trainee is used interchangeably in some countries...
s (podchorąży), the brothers Tadeusz and Janusz Meissner
Janusz Meissner
Janusz Meissner was a Polish Air Force pilot, journalist and author.-Life:...
. All four men would later be decorated with the Virtuti Militari
Virtuti Militari
The Order Wojenny Virtuti Militari is Poland's highest military decoration for heroism and courage in the face of the enemy at war...
, 5th class, on June 27, 1922. Puszczyński divided his men into four teams — A, G, U and N. These designations came from the initial letters of the Polish phrase Akcja Główna Unieruchomienia Niemców ("Main Operation to Immobilize the Germans"). All the agents were armed, wore civilian clothes, and were provided with money.
The men of the Wawelberg Group knew that, to overcome German military superiority in the area, they had to cut the rail and telegraph links between Upper Silesia and Germany. Therefore the teams were deployed about the western part of Upper Silesia, ready to attack. Team G, 13 men commanded by Lt. Włodzimierz Dąbrowski, was deployed near Gogolin
Gogolin
Gogolin is a town in Poland, in Opole Voivodeship, in Krapkowice County. It has 6,116 inhabitants .-External links:*...
and ordered to watch the rail line between Krapkowice
Krapkowice
Krapkowice is a town in south-western Poland with 17,840 inhabitants , situated in the Opole Voivodeship, straddling both banks of the Oder River at the point where it joins with the Osobłoga. It is the regional capital of Krapkowice County....
and Prudnik
Prudnik
Prudnik is a town in Poland, located in the southern part of Opole Voivodeship. Its population numbers 26,400 inhabitants . It is the capital of Prudnik County.- Education :* * * II Liceum Ogólnokształcące w Prudniku...
. Team U, 10 men commanded by Lt. Edmund Charaszkiewicz
Edmund Charaszkiewicz
Edmund Kalikst Eugeniusz Charaszkiewicz was a Polish military intelligence officer who specialized in clandestine warfare. Between the World Wars, he helped establish Poland's interbellum borders in conflicts over territory with Poland's neighbors....
, was deployed on the border between Głubczyce and Prudnik counties, to keep an eye on the rail lines Głogówek – Racławice Śląskie – Prudnik, and Głubczyce– Racławice Śląskie.
Puszczyński — "Wawelberg" — himself, with a small team (including former German Army
German Army (German Empire)
The German Army was the name given the combined land forces of the German Empire, also known as the National Army , Imperial Army or Imperial German Army. The term "Deutsches Heer" is also used for the modern German Army, the land component of the German Bundeswehr...
sapper
Sapper
A sapper, pioneer or combat engineer is a combatant soldier who performs a wide variety of combat engineering duties, typically including, but not limited to, bridge-building, laying or clearing minefields, demolitions, field defences, general construction and building, as well as road and airfield...
Wiktor Wiechaczek
Wiktor Wiechaczek
Wiktor Wiechaczek was a Polish soldier, who participated in the Silesian Uprisings. Born on 10 October 1879 in Ruda Śląska, Wiechaczek was a Polish patriot, living in Upper Silesia, which then belonged to Germany. In 1913 he took part in a strike in the Pawel coal mine, for which he was fired...
and miner and explosives expert Herman Jurzyca), deployed in the deep rear of the German positions, at the village of Szczepanowice
Szczepanowice
Szczepanowice is a district of Opole, Poland.-History:Szczepanowice was first mentioned as a settlement in the first half of the 13th century — in 1254 as Sczepanowicz, and in 1278 as Sczepanowice.At the opening of the Third Silesian Uprising , the town's railroad bridge was one of seven that...
, some five kilometers west of Opole
Opole
Opole is a city in southern Poland on the Oder River . It has a population of 125,992 and is the capital of the Upper Silesia, Opole Voivodeship and, also the seat of Opole County...
(since 1936, it is a district of Opole). Their task was to blow up the crucial 200-meter-long Oder River rail bridge.
Operation "Bridges"
The Poles' plan, Akcja Mosty (Operation "Bridges"), was implemented on the night of May 2/3, 1921. Puszczyński and his men, equipped with some 320 kilograms of explosives, after initial difficulties managed to destroy a span of the Szczepanowice bridge. The other groups also succeeded in their objectives. Altogether the Poles managed to destroy seven rail bridges at such places as SzczepanowiceSzczepanowice
Szczepanowice is a district of Opole, Poland.-History:Szczepanowice was first mentioned as a settlement in the first half of the 13th century — in 1254 as Sczepanowicz, and in 1278 as Sczepanowice.At the opening of the Third Silesian Uprising , the town's railroad bridge was one of seven that...
, Kluczbork
Kluczbork
Kluczbork is a town in southwestern Poland with 26,670 inhabitants , situated in the Opole Voivodeship. It is the capital of Kluczbork County and an important railroad junction. In Kluczbork the major rail line from Katowice splits into two directions - westwards to Wroclaw and northwards to Poznań...
, Kędzierzyn-Koźle
Kedzierzyn-Kozle
Kędzierzyn-Koźle is the capital city of Kędzierzyn-Koźle County, Silesia, Poland. Kędzierzyn-Koźle is a place of a major river port, has rail connections with all major cities of Poland and serves western outskirts of the Upper Silesian Metropolitan Union....
, Głogówek and Świętochłowice.
The blowing up of the bridges initiated the Third Silesian Uprising, the greatest and best-organized of the three. The Germans, taken by surprise, needed time to repair their severed communications and to transport their troops, and the Poles took advantage of the situation. All the major rail lines leading to Upper Silesia (such as the Wroclaw
Wroclaw
Wrocław , situated on the River Oder , is the main city of southwestern Poland.Wrocław was the historical capital of Silesia and is today the capital of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship. Over the centuries, the city has been part of either Poland, Bohemia, Austria, Prussia, or Germany, but since 1945...
– Opole
Opole
Opole is a city in southern Poland on the Oder River . It has a population of 125,992 and is the capital of the Upper Silesia, Opole Voivodeship and, also the seat of Opole County...
– Katowice
Katowice
Katowice is a city in Silesia in southern Poland, on the Kłodnica and Rawa rivers . Katowice is located in the Silesian Highlands, about north of the Silesian Beskids and about southeast of the Sudetes Mountains.It is the central district of the Upper Silesian Metropolis, with a population of 2...
, and the Nysa
Nysa
- People :*Nysa , daughter of Laodice IV and Antiochus, wife of Pharnaces I of Pontus* Nysa of Cappadocia, daughter of Pharnaces I of Pontus and Nysa, wife of Ariarathes V of Cappadocia and mother Ariarathes VI of Cappadocia...
– Kędzierzyn-Koźle
Kedzierzyn-Kozle
Kędzierzyn-Koźle is the capital city of Kędzierzyn-Koźle County, Silesia, Poland. Kędzierzyn-Koźle is a place of a major river port, has rail connections with all major cities of Poland and serves western outskirts of the Upper Silesian Metropolitan Union....
) had been immobilized. Two German military rail transports had also been destroyed.
Aftermath
After the operation, most of the Polish agents managed to withdraw to SosnowiecSosnowiec
Sosnowiec is a city in Zagłębie Dąbrowskie in southern Poland, near Katowice. It is one of the central districts of the Upper Silesian Metropolitan Union - a metropolis with a combined population of over two million people located in the Silesian Highlands, on the Brynica river .It is situated in...
, which due to its proximity to the border was the main base of Polish operations. The Germans captured an unknown number of the men who had blown up the bridge at the village of Dobra; they were imprisoned for a few weeks at Opole. Also caught, near Głubczyce, were two Poles who were trying to make their way to Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
, but the Germans did not know their identity and released them.
The Germans announced, in the June 18, 1921 Amts-Blatt der Königlichen Regierung zu Oppeln (Official Gazette of the Opole District), a reward of 10,000 Reichsmarks for information about the perpetrators of the attacks.
See also
- Upper Silesia plebisciteUpper Silesia plebisciteThe Upper Silesia plebiscite was a border referendum mandated by the Versailles Treaty and carried out in March 1921 to determine a section of the border between Weimar Germany and Poland. The region was ethnically mixed, chiefly among Germans, Poles and Silesians. According to prewar statistics,...
- Tadeusz PuszczyńskiTadeusz PuszczynskiTadeusz Puszczyński was a Polish military intelligence officer who commanded the Polish General Staff's Destruction Group during the Third Silesian Uprising.-Biography:Tadeusz Puszczyński was born on February 2, 1895, in the village of Józinki near Piotrków...
- Edmund CharaszkiewiczEdmund CharaszkiewiczEdmund Kalikst Eugeniusz Charaszkiewicz was a Polish military intelligence officer who specialized in clandestine warfare. Between the World Wars, he helped establish Poland's interbellum borders in conflicts over territory with Poland's neighbors....
- Janusz MeissnerJanusz MeissnerJanusz Meissner was a Polish Air Force pilot, journalist and author.-Life:...