Zamość uprising

Resistance operation during the Nazi occupation of Poland

Zamość uprising

Part of Polish resistance movement in World War II and Polish-Ukrainian ethnic conflict

Zamość region in Lublin District (brown, upper centre)
| Date| 1942 – 1944

|

Location|

Zamość region (Lublin District, General Government)

Result|  Polish victory
Belligerents

Germany

* Ukrainian Auxiliary Police
* Galicia Division

Ukrainian Insurgent Army|

Polish resistance:

* Home Army
* Peasants' Battalions
* People's Guard

Supported by:

Soviet partisans
Commanders and leaders

* Stanisław Basaj
* Jerzy Mara-Meÿer
* Konrad Bartoszewski
* Franciszek Krakiewicz
* Franciszek Bartłomowicz
* Grzegorz Korczyński
* Antoni Paleń
* Umer Achmołła Atamanow
* Wasyl Wołodin
* Ignatius Zytkowski

The Zamość uprising comprised World War II partisan operations, 1942–1944, by the Polish resistance (primarily the Home Army and Peasant Battalions) against Germany's Generalplan-Ost forced expulsion of Poles from the Zamość region (Zamojszczyzna) and the region's colonization by German settlers.[1]

The Polish defense of the Zamość region was one of Poland's largest resistance operations of World War II.[1][2]

## German atrocities

[edit]

Main article: Ethnic cleansing of Zamojszczyzna by Nazi Germany

Expulsion of Poles from villages in Zamość region by SS, December 1942

In 1942, as part of Generalplan Ost, the Zamość region, with its fertile black soil, in the General Government, was chosen for further German colonisation.[3][4] In fact the Zamość region expulsions and colonization can be considered the beginning of the large-scale implementation of the Generalplan Ost.[5] The city itself was to be renamed "Himmlerstadt" (Himmler City), later changed to Pflugstadt (Plow City), which was to symbolise the German "plow" that was to "plow the East".[3] The German occupiers had planned the relocation of at least 60,000 ethnic Germans to the area before the end of 1943. An initial "test trial" expulsion was performed in November 1941, and the whole operation ended in anti-partisan pacification operations combined with expulsions in June–July 1943 which were codenamed Wehrwolf Action I and II.

Over 110,000 Polish people from approximately 300 villages were expelled to make room for German (and to a lesser extent, Ukrainian) settlers as part of Nazi plans for establishment of German colonies in the conquered territories (Generalplan Ost).[3][5][6][7] In the Warsaw or Lublin area some villagers were resettled, but about 50,000 of those expelled were sent as forced labour to Germany while others were sent to the Nazi concentration camps never to return.[3] Some villages were simply razed and the inhabitants murdered.[3][4]

4,454 Polish children were kidnapped by German authorities from their parents for potential Germanisation.[1][3][7][8][9] Only 800 of them were found and sent back to Poland after World War II.

## Polish resistance

[edit]

Further information: Polish resistance in World War II

Monument to Polish Home Army insurgents, Biłgoraj

Local people resisted the action with great determination;[3] they escaped into forests, organised self-defence, helped people who were expelled, and bribed kidnapped children out of German hands.[1] Units of Polish resistance (primarily of Armia Krajowa and Bataliony Chłopskie) as well as elements of Soviet partisans and the Soviet-created Gwardia Ludowa helped to evacuate Polish civilians and assaulted German colonists and forces in the region.[10] In December 1942 one of the first large partisan battles of World War II occurred in the region. The resistance forces numbered several thousand forest fighters. The first phase of the resistance took place from December 1942 to February 1943; the Germans then lessened their activities for a few months but counter-attacked in June, with major anti-partisan actions and terror directed against the civilian population (Aktion Wehrwolf).[11]

After several battles between the partisans and the German units (the most notable being the battles of Wojda, Róża, Zaboreczno, Długi Kąt, Lasowce and Hrubieszów as well as the Battle of Osuchy),[11] the Germans had to halt the action and in the end very few German settlers were brought to the area.[12] Until the middle of 1943, the Germans managed to settle 9,000 colonists, and an additional 4,000 until the end of 1943. The increasing harassment from the partisans meant that the Germans began to lose the control of the region in the spring of 1943.[11]

Home Army monument, Zamość

In the first half of 1944, Polish civilians and the Polish resistance were also attacked by Ukrainian units of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (see massacres of Poles in Volhynia). Nonetheless, by the summer of 1944 the Polish partisans, based in the large forests of the region, had taken control of most of the countryside, limiting German control to the major towns.[11] In the summer of 1944 Germans again initiated major anti-partisan operations (Sturmwind I and Sturmwind II) which resulted in the battle of Osuchy (one of the largest battles between the Polish resistance and Nazi Germany), with the insurgents sustaining heavy casualties.[13] However, soon afterwards, in July, the remaining Polish units took part in the nationwide Operation Tempest and managed to liberate several towns and villages in the Zamość region. The Germans, pressured by the advancing Red Army, were forced to abandon the region.

## Remembrance

[edit]

Several monuments, museums and cemeteries have been raised in the area over time. In the People's Republic of Poland the actions of the Soviet-sponsored and created Gwardia Ludowa and Armia Ludowa entities were emphasized at the expense of those of the other resistance. A recent Polish documentary dedicated to the uprising has been recognized in the New York Festivals of 2008 with a bronze medal.[14][15][16]

## See also

[edit]

* Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany
* Ethnic cleansing of Zamojszczyzna by Nazi Germany
* Operation Tannenberg
* Pacifications of villages in German-occupied Poland
* Nazi crimes against the Polish nation

## Notes

[edit]

1. ^ a b c d Poprzeczny 2004, p. 182.
2. ^ Armia Krajowa Archived 2014-05-12 at the Wayback Machine at Encyklopedia PWN. Last accessed on 14 March 2008. (in Polish)
3. ^ a b c d e f g "Zamosc Ghetto" at DeathCamps.org. Last retrieved on March 16, 2008
4. ^ a b Joseph Poprzeczny, Odilo Globocnik, Hitler's Man in the East, McFarland, 2004, ISBN 0-7864-1625-4, pp. 110–111.
5. ^ a b Poprzeczny 2004, p. 181.
6. ^ Norman Davies, God's Playground: A History of Poland, Columbia University Press, 2005, Google Print, p.338
7. ^ a b Tadeusz Piotrowski, Poland's Holocaust, McFarland & Company, 1997, ISBN 0-7864-0371-3. Google Print, p.22
8. ^ Zygmunt Mańkowski; Tadeusz Pieronek; Andrzej Friszke; Thomas Urban (panel discussion), "Polacy wypędzeni Archived 2015-10-18 at the Wayback Machine", Biuletyn IPN, nr5 (40) May 2004 / Bulletin of the Institute of National Remembrance (Biuletyn Instytutu Pamięci Narodowej), issue: 05 / 2004, pages: 628
9. ^ Lukas, Richard C. Did the Children Cry? Hitler's War against Jewish and Polish Children, 1939–1945. Hippocrene Books, New York, 2001
10. ^ Poprzeczny 2004, p. 142.
11. ^ a b c d Poprzeczny 2004, p. 190.
12. ^ Włodzimierz Borodziej, The Warsaw Uprising of 1944, University of Wisconsin Press, 2005, ISBN 0-299-20730-7, Google Print, p. 41
13. ^ Martin Gilbert, Second World War A Complete History, Holt Paperbacks, 2004, ISBN 0-8050-7623-9, Google Print, p. 542
14. ^ "Internetowy Serwis Filmowy - Film Kino DVD Wideo Program tv Repertuar kin Konkursy - Dobra Strona Filmu". Stopklatka.pl. Retrieved 2013-02-08.
15. ^ "Brązowe "Powstanie" - Roztocze - od Kraśnika po Lwów". Roztocze. 2007-10-15. Retrieved 2013-02-08.
16. ^ "TVP na medal - film.gildia.pl - film, newsy, recenzje". film.gildia.pl. Archived from the original on 2012-02-08. Retrieved 2013-02-08.

## References

[edit]

* Joseph Poprzeczny (2004). Odilo Globocnik, Hitler's Man in the East. McFarland. ISBN 0786481463.
* Joseph Poprzeczny, German order, dated 22 November 1943, for the ethnic cleansing of the Zamosc Lands issued by Odilo Globocnik, in Hitler's Man (2004).
* Andrzej Jerzy Krukowski, Powstanie Zamojskie 1942–1943 (The Zamość Uprising) at ZSP4Zamosc.edu.pl (in Polish)
* "Bitwa o Zamojszczyznę" (in Polish)
* Zygmunt Puźniak, POWSTANIE ZAMOJSKIE CZY JÓZEFOWSKIE?, Tygodnik Zamojski, 27 luty 2008. (in Polish)
* Janusz Gmitruk, Powstanie Zamojskie, Muzeum Historii Polskiego Ruchu Ludowego, 2003, ISBN 83-87838-69-1
* Jan Grygiel, Związek Walki Zbrojnej i Armia Krajowa w Obwodzie Zamojskim 1939–1944, Polskie Wydawnictwo Naukowe 1985
* Walki oddziałów ZWZ-AK i BCh Inspektoratu Zamojskiego w latach wojny 1939–1944, Związek Żołnierzy Armii Krajowej Okręg Zamość 1990

* v
* t
* e

Polish uprisings

Kingdom of Poland|

* Peasant reaction (1038)
* Lizard Union (1397–1411)
* Prussian Confederation
* Chicken War (1537)
* Danzig rebellion

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth|

| 17th-century|

* Zebrzydowski (1609)
* Khmelnytsky (1648–1657)
* Kostka-Napierski (1651)
* Tyszowce Confederation (1655)
* Lubomirski (1665–1666)

|

18th-century|

* Słuck Confederation
* Radom Confederation
* Bar Confederation
* Targowica Confederation
* Kościuszko Uprising (1794)
* Curonian Uprising
* Warsaw Uprising
* 1794 Greater Poland uprising

|

After the partitions|

* Denisko uprising
* 1806 Greater Poland uprising
* November Uprising (1830–1831)
* 1846 Greater Poland uprising
* Kraków uprising (1846)
* Chochołów Uprising (1846)
* 1846 Galician slaughter
* 1848 Greater Poland uprising
* January Uprising (1863–1864)
* Baikal insurrection 1866
* Revolution of 1905
* Łódź insurrection

Second Republic|

* Battle of Lemberg (1918)
* Greater Poland uprising (1918–1919)
* Sejny Uprising (1919)
* Silesian Uprisings (1919–1921)

World War II|

| Ghetto uprisings|

* Warsaw (1943)
* Białystok (1943)
* Częstochowa (1943)

|

* Czortków (1940)
* Zamość (1942–1944)
* Kraków (1944)
* Lwów (1944)
* Operation Ostra Brama (1944)
* Operation Tempest (1944–1945)

* v
* t
* e

Polish wars and conflicts

General and related|

* Early modern warfare
* History of the Polish Army
* History of Polish intelligence services
* List of wars involving Poland
* Military of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth
* Polish Armed Forces
* Warfare in Medieval Poland

Piast Poland|

* Polish–Veletian War
* Battle of Cedynia
* German–Polish War (1003–1018)
* Bolesław I's intervention in the Kievan succession crisis
* German–Polish War (1028–1031)
* Miecław's Rebellion
* 1072 war against Bohemia
* Siege of Głogów
* 1146 war against Germany
* 1156 war against Germany
* War of the Galician Succession (1205–1245)
* Galicia–Volhynia Wars

Mongol invasions|

* First Mongol invasion of Poland (1240/41)
* Battle of Legnica
* Second Mongol invasion of Poland (1259/60)
* Third Mongol invasion of Poland (1287/88)

Jagiellon Poland|

| Polish–Teutonic wars|

* Teutonic takeover of Danzig (Gdańsk)
* Polish–Teutonic War (1326–1332)
* Battle of Płowce
* Great War
* Battle of Grunwald
* Hunger War (1414)
* Gollub War (1422)
* Polish–Teutonic War (1431–1435)
* Thirteen Years' War
* War of the Priests
* Polish–Teutonic War (1519–1521)

|

* Władysław the White's rebellion
* Lithuanian Civil War (1432–1438)
* Battle of Grotniki
* 1444 war against the Ottomans
* Battle of Varna
* Moldavian campaign (1497–1499)
* Polish–Lithuanian–Muscovite War (1512–1522)
* Battle of Orsha
* Polish–Lithuanian–Muscovite War (1534–1537)
* Ottoman–Tatar Invasion of Lithuania and Poland

Commonwealth|

| Polish–Swedish wars|

* Livonian War
* campaign of Stephen Báthory
* Northern Seven Years' War (1563–1570)
* War against Sigismund
* Battle of Stångebro
* Polish–Swedish War of 1600–1629
* Polish–Swedish War of 1600–1611
* Battle of Kircholm
* Polish–Swedish War of 1617–1618
* Polish–Swedish War of 1621–1625
* Polish–Swedish War of 1626–1629
* Northern War of 1655–1660
* The Deluge
* Great Northern War

|

* Danzig rebellion
* Battle of Lubieszów
* Siege of Danzig (1577)
* War of the Polish Succession (1587–1588)
* Battle of Byczyna
* 1589 Tatar Invasion
* Kosiński uprising
* 1593 Tatar Invasion
* Nalyvaiko Uprising
* Moldavian Magnate Wars
* Polish–Russian War of 1609–1618
* Battle of Kłuszyn
* Zebrzydowski rebellion
* Thirty Years' War
* Battle of Humenné

Polish–Ottoman wars|

* Moldavian campaign (1497–1499)
* Polish–Ottoman War of 1620–1621
* Battle of Chocim (1621)
* Polish–Ottoman War of 1633–1634
* Polish–Cossack–Tatar War (1666–1671)
* Polish–Ottoman War of 1672–1676
* Battle of Chocim (1673)
* Great Turkish War
* War of the Holy League 1683–1699
* Battle of Vienna

* 1624 Tatar Invasion
* Zhmaylo uprising
* Fedorovych uprising
* Smolensk War
* Siege of Smolensk (1632–1633)
* Pavlyuk uprising
* Ostryanyn uprising
* 1644 Tatar Invasion
* Khmelnytsky Uprising
* Battle of Berestechko
* Russo–Polish War of 1654–1667
* War of the Polish Succession
* War of the Bar Confederation
* Polish–Russian War of 1792
* Kościuszko Uprising

Poland partitioned|

* Denisko uprising
* Napoleonic Wars
* Peninsular War
* War of the Fourth Coalition
* Prussian campaign
* War of the Fifth Coalition
* Austro-Polish War
* War of the Sixth Coalition
* French invasion of Russia
* Greater Poland uprising (1848)
* November Uprising
* January Uprising
* World War I
* fighting in Poland on the Eastern Front

Second Republic|

* Polish–Ukrainian War
* Greater Poland uprising (1918–1919)
* Polish–Czechoslovak War
* First Silesian Uprising
* Polish–Soviet War
* Battle of Warsaw
* Kiev offensive
* Second Silesian Uprising
* Polish–Lithuanian War
* Third Silesian Uprising

World War II in Poland|

* World War II
* Eastern Front
* Invasion of Poland
* Polish history,  resistance, and contributions during World War II

Ghetto uprisings|

* Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
* Białystok Ghetto uprising
* Częstochowa Ghetto uprising

* Italian Campaign
* Operation Tempest
* Operation Ostra Brama
* Lwów uprising
* Warsaw Uprising

People's Republic|

* Racibórz Conflict
* Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia

Third Republic|

* War in Afghanistan
* Operation Uphold Democracy
* Iraq War
* 2003 invasion of Iraq
* Occupation of Iraq
* Russian invasion of Ukraine
* Military aid to Ukraine

* v
* t
* e

Home Army

Main articles
Polish resistance movement in World War II
Polish Underground State

* v
* t
* e

Operations

Uprisings and battles|

* Warsaw Uprising
* Zamość uprising
* Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
* Lwów uprising
* Murowana Oszmianka
* Osuchy
* Ostra Brama
* Tempest

Underground, field,
and espionage|

* Arsenal
* Heads
* Kutschera
* Project Big Ben
* Bürkl
* Most III
* Operation Belt
* V-1 and V-2
* Wieniec

Propaganda|

* Biuletyn Informacyjny
* Operation N
* Operation Antyk

Directorates|

* Civil Resistance
* Covert Resistance
* Underground Resistance

Political|

* Republic of Pińczów

* v
* t
* e

Personnel, emblems and decorations

Commanders|

* Michał Karaszewicz-Tokarzewski
* Stefan Rowecki
* Tadeusz Bór-Komorowski
* Leopold Okulicki

Senior officers and
prominent members|

* J. Aleksandrowicz
* J.Arkusz
* K. K. Baczyński
* W. Bartoszewski
* J. Batory
* R. Białous
* S. Bittner
* F. Błażej
* A. Bohdziewicz
* J. Bokszczanin
* S. Braun
* T. Gajcy
* H. Lederman
* S. Jankowski
* S. Karpiel
* K. Kierzkowski
* B. Kostrzewska
* H. Krahelska
* A. Krzyżanowski
* L. Kulej
* J. J. Lerski
* J. Mazurkiewicz
* W. Micuta
* K. Moczarski
* A. Nadolski
* T. Pełczyński
* A. Pilch
* W. Pilecki
* R. Reiff
* Z. Romanowiczowa
* Z. Rumel
* J. Rutkowski
* D. Smoleński
* A. Stelmachowski
* R. Syski
* J. Szczepański
* Z. Szendzielarz
* A. Szklarski
* H. Szwarc
* E. Umińska
* J. Zabłocki
* A. Zakrzewska
* W. Zalewski
* J. Zamoyski
* T. Zawadzki
* T. Żenczykowski
* M. Żuławski
* T. Żychiewicz

Membership lists|

* Armia Krajowa members
* Warsaw Uprising insurgents

Emblems and
decorations|

* Armia Krajowa Cross
* Kotwica
* Krzyż Powstania Warszawskiego

* v
* t
* e

Units, affiliates, and predecessors

Headquarters and Directorates|

* Information and Propaganda
* Kedyw
* Civil Resistance
* Covert Resistance
* Underground Resistance

Combat units|

* 2nd Legions Infantry Division
* 27th Volhynian Division
* 104th Company of Syndicalists
* Battalion Parasol
* Battalion Zośka
* Żaglowiec Group
* Żbik Group
* Żmija Group
* Żniwiarz Group
* Żyrafa Group

Territorial commands|

* Białystok District
* Białystok Inspectorate
* Warsaw District
* I Śródmieście
* Żoliborz
* III Wola
* IV Ochota
* V Mokotów
* VI Praga
* VII Warsaw suburbs

Other|

* Błyskawica radiostation
* Little Andrews (Jędrusie)
* Underground Police (PKB)
* Secret Military Printing Works (TWZW)
* Silent Unseen (Cichociemni)
* Wachlarz

Predecessors|

* Service for Poland's Victory (SZP)
* Union of Armed Struggle (ZWZ)

Affiliates|

* Peasants' Battalions (BCh)
* Confederation of the Nation (KN)
* Leśni (Forest Soldiers)
* National Military Association (NOW) (split)
* National Armed Forces (NSZ-AK) (faction)
* Camp of Fighting Poland (OPW)
* Grey Ranks (Szare Szeregi - Boy Scouts)
* Secret Polish Army (TAP)
* Socialist Party People's Guard (GL-WRN)
* Union of Retaliation (ZO)

Successors|

* Independence (NIE)
* Freedom and Independence (WiN)

* v
* t
* e

Opponents and rivals

Opponents|

* Nazi Germany
* Ukrainian Insurgent Army
* Ukrainian Auxiliary Police
* Lithuanian Security Police
* Lithuanian Territorial Defense Force

Rivals|

* AL Armia Ludowa (People's Army)
* Soviet partisans

Related articles
The Holocaust in Poland
Warsaw Uprising
Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template