Biuletyn Informacyjny from March 9, 1944, informing about the execution of the death penalty for "killing two citizens of Polish Jewish nationality" by Kedyw.
Kedyw was created on January 22, 1943, from two pre-existing
Armia Krajowa organisations:
Związek Odwetu (Association of Retaliation), and
Wachlarz. Initially, the units were small and town-based. Eventually, as more were formed, some moved into forested areas to begin
partisan warfare. Kedyw organized weapon and munition factories, military schools,
intelligence,
counter-intelligence,
field hospitals and a communication network.[3]
Most members of Kedyw were
Boy Scouts from
Związek Harcerstwa Polskiego and its wartime organisation,
Szare Szeregi. Many of the officers were
cichociemni, who were special agents trained in the
United Kingdom and parachuted into occupied Poland. Selected Kedyw groups (patrole) carried out operations all over occupied Poland. Notable types of operations included:
the sabotaging of railways, bridges and roads
the burning of trains and fuel depots
the destruction or damaging of weapon factories working for the
Wehrmacht
the liberation of hundreds of prisoners and hostages
a famous such operation took place on March 26, 1943 and is known as "
Akcja pod Arsenałem"[4]
executions of Nazi collaborators and traitors sentenced by an underground court
one of them involved
Igo Sym, a Polish actor who had been informing the Germans about Home Army operations
executions of particularly-brutal individuals among the German occupation troops,
Gestapo,
SS and police known as
Operation Heads[5]
those executed included
SS and police General
Franz Kutschera, killed on February 2, 1944, SS-Hauptscharfuhrer August Kretschmann, commandant of the
Gęsiówkaconcentration camp, SS-Rottenführer Ewald Lange,[6] SS-Obersturmführer Herbert Schultz,[7] SS-Oberscharführer
Franz Bürkl and many others (more than 2,000 people). Such individuals were officially sentenced to death for their crimes by the
Polish Underground State court, which was delivered to those individuals. Many could not stand the pressure and returned to the Reich.
executions of individuals from units collaborating with Nazi Germany such as
Ukrainian Auxiliary Police involved in the killing of Poles
In
Lviv, in late February and March 1944, the Ukrainische Hilfspolizei arrested a number of young men of Polish nationality. Many of them were later found dead and their
Identity documents stolen. The
Government Delegation for Poland started negotiations with the
OUN-B. When they failed, Kedyw began an action called "Nieszpory" (Vespers) where 11 policemen were shot in retaliation and the murders of young Poles in Lviv stopped.[8]
Members of Kedyw General Staff during the
Warsaw Uprising: (from left)
Jan Mazurkiewicz, Wacław Chojna, unknown soldier and Stanisław Wierzyński
Prior to the
Warsaw Uprising, most of the Kedyw units in the
Warsaw area were moved into the city and grouped into infantry battalions. Notable among them were "
Zośka", "
Parasol" and "Miotła". After fighting broke out, most of the Kedyw forces joined the
Radosław Group. Kedyw units were among the most successful in the Uprising. The boy scouts not only had more experience than many regular soldiers but also had managed to collect more supplies and arms.[10]
Kedyw units first took part in seizing control of Warsaw's
Wola district. After two days of heavy fighting in the
Powązki Cemetery in which all German attacks were repulsed with heavy casualties, the units withdrew overnight to the city centre and
Starówka (the old town), where they regrouped and defended their sectors until the capitulation of the uprising in October 1944.[10]
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abSowa, Andrzej Leon (2016). Kto wydał wyrok na miasto. Plany operacyjne ZWZ-AK (1940–1944) i sposoby ich realizacji [Who Sentenced the City: Operation Plans ZWZ-AK (1940–1944) and the Methods of Its Realization] (in Polish). Wydawnictwo Literackie.
ISBN978-83-08-06095-7.
Struktura Organizacyjna Armii Krajowej, Marek Ney-Krwawicz w:
Mówią wieki nr 9/1986.