[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 141 (Monday, October 3, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: October 3, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
 RECOGNIZING THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF THE POLISH ARMED FORCES DURING WORLD 
                                 WAR II

                                 ______


                        HON. CAROLYN B. MALONEY

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Monday, October 3, 1994

  Mrs. MALONEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to bring to the attention of 
my colleagues an important article written by a constituent of mine, 
Mr. Sigmund Bajak.
  In a year when we celebrate the 50th anniversary of the D-day 
invasion that helped to end World War II, it is important for us to 
remember the contribution others made for the Allied cause. A retired 
Rear Admiral in the United States Naval Reserve, Mr. Bajak brings to 
light the sacrifices made by the Polish armed forces in defeating the 
Nazis.
  I urge all of my colleagues to read this article, and remember all of 
those who stood fast against the Nazis so that democracy could survive.

  Polish Armed Forces Contributions to Allied Victory in World War II

                           [By Sigmund Bajak]

       Introduction: On May 8, 1945, when United States Army 
     General Carl Spaatz, together with his Allied military 
     colleagues, accepted the unconditional surrender of Germany 
     in the Berlin suburb of Karlhorst the Polish Armed Forces 
     numbered about 600,000. Of this total, 180,000 Polish 
     soldiers were part of the 400,000-strong Soviet Army which 
     conquered Berlin. The remainder of the Polish Forces served 
     throughout the western front with the Allies.
       In addition to regular Polish Forces, hundreds of thousands 
     of Poles fought in the Polish underground armies in Poland as 
     well as in the occupied countries of Europe. In Poland itself 
     there were four different underground armies numbering about 
     500,000 partisans of both sexes and all ages. They were: the 
     Home Army, Peasant Battalions, the Peoples Army and the 
     National Armed Forces.
       Son of Poland Pope John Paul II, on the 10th anniversary of 
     his pontificate, said, ``In World War II, on every front, 
     Poles shed their blood for independence. Polish independence 
     cannot be measured in geopolitical terms, but only according 
     to authentic criteria of national sovereignty in its own 
     nation.''
       It is necessary to elaborate on the participation of Poles 
     in World War II, if only in the briefest terms, to truly 
     understand Polish contributions to Allied victory. What 
     follows is a partial review of the efforts of Poles, in and 
     out of uniform, as they fought from 1939 to 1945 for their 
     independence and for the Allied cause.


                         poland--september 1939

       Westerplatte (Located in the Baltic Port of Gdansk--a Free 
     City): At 4 AM on September 1, 1939 the German battleship 
     Schleswig-Holstein  opened fire on the small Polish military 
     transit depot, at Westerplatte. Major Henryk Sucharski, and 
     his force of about 170 men held their ground for 7 days 
     against overwhelming numbers of German ground troops before 
     being forced to surrender. General Eberhadt, Commander of the 
     German forces in Gdansk, refused to accept the Major's sword 
     because of the uncommon bravery shown by the Polish garrison. 
     The sword was later taken away from the Major at a German 
     prison camp.
       Bzura River Counteroffensive (The Bzura River lies on a 
     path Leczyca-Lowicz-Sochaczew, and joins the Vistula at 
     Wyszogrod): On the evening of September 9, 1939, General 
     Tadeusz Kutrzeba and his Polish Army of Poznan, located in 
     northwest Poland, attacked the 4th, 8th and 10th German 
     armies as they progressed eastward toward Warsaw. Kutrzeba 
     was successful in delaying the Germans for two days before 
     the Wermacht overwhelmed his forces. Kutrzeba's effort gave 
     the Polish Warsaw and Lublin Armies time for reorganization 
     after the initial German offensive.
       The Hel Peninsula (Located between the Bay of Gdansk and 
     the Baltic Sea): Polish Admiral Jozef Unrug, a Pole of German 
     heritage, did not surrender his command, located on the Hel 
     peninsula, until October 2, 1939 four days after Warsaw was 
     forced to capitulate. Before doing so he gave his staff 
     permission to attempt escape by sea to Sweden. During the 
     surrender a German trawler was sunk by one of the Admiral's 
     mines. It's reported that the Admiral always insisted on a 
     translator in the German prison camp because he said he was a 
     Pole.
       Defense of Poland: The defense of Warsaw began on September 
     8, 1939. On the 17th of September the Red Army crossed the 
     eastern borders of Poland and began its march toward Warsaw. 
     Warsaw capitulated on September 28, 1939. German losses were 
     about 45,000 killed and wounded. Poland lost 200,000 or more 
     soldiers killed or wounded. The Germans took some 400,000 
     Polish soldiers prisoner and about 200,000 were taken by the 
     Soviets. Another 85,000 soldiers were interned in Rumania, 
     Hungary, Latvia and Lithuania. Both the victorious Germans 
     and Soviets murdered thousands of Polish prisoners of war. 
     Probably the best known atrocity was the murder of more than 
     15,000 Polish officers and men by the Soviets at Katyn 
     forest.


                           ENIGMA--JULY 1939

       During the period 1933-1938 three Polish mathematician-
     decryptologists managed to construct their version of a 
     German Enigma code machine. These scientists, Messrs. Marian 
     Rejewski, Henryk Zgalski and Jerzy Rozbychi, successfully 
     broke the German code. At the end of July 1939, the Polish 
     General Staff turned over the Polish Enigmas and decoded 
     German ciphers to France and Great Britain. In Britain, 
     operation ``Magic'' made use of the Poles' findings at the 
     Center of Decryptology located in Bletchley. All Enigma and 
     operation ``Magic'' files have not been declassified. Despite 
     this fact, there is no disagreement among historians as to 
     the role the Enigmas, further developed and used by the 
     Allies, had on the outcome of the war.


                  polish army in france--1939 to 1940

       On September 20, 1939, Polish General Wtadystaw Sikorski, 
     who would become the Commander-in-Chief of all Polish Armed 
     forces, was appointed commander of all Polish forces in 
     France by the exiled Polish government in France officially 
     recognized by the Allies on September 30, 1939. On June 5, 
     1940 when the Germans attacked France, Sikorski had an army 
     of about 82,000 soldiers. In view of the military situation 
     in France, Sikorski and Polish President Raczkiewicz flew to 
     London and met with Winston Churchill who was moved by the 
     Poles determination to continue their fight against the 
     enemy. On June 21, 1939 following the French defeat only 
     27,000 Polish officers and men were evacuated to Britain 
     with the President of Poland who was welcomed by King 
     George VI.


     tatra highlands rifle brigade in narvick, norway--spring 1940

       When the Germans attacked Norway on April 9, 1940, the 
     Tatra Brigade was sent to Norway as part of an Allied 
     Expeditionary Force to take back Navik from a strong German 
     force. The attack was successful but in view of the situation 
     in France, the Allies decided to evacuate the Expeditionary 
     Force to Brest and the Tatra Brigade provided cover for the 
     evacuation. Three Polish destroyers, Lightning, Storm and 
     Thunder protected Polish passenger liners, Batory, Sobieski 
     and Chrobry, which were used to transport the Force. Chrobry 
     was sunk on May 16, 1940 in the vicinity of Bodo. The Tatra 
     Brigade reached Brest but was disbanded after France fell. 
     Some members of the Brigade who were able to flee French 
     ports, with great difficulty, reached Scotland to resume the 
     fight.


        carpathian rifle brigade in tobruk, libya--1941 to 1942

       In August 1941 the Brigade, 4,683 strong and under cover of 
     darkness, landed at Tobruk and eventually took up positions 
     at the foot of Ras al-Medauar. Behind Ras al-Medauar were 
     amassed 380 machine guns and another 110 guns of various 
     sizes manned by crack German troops. On December 1, 1941 the 
     Brigade attacked the German positions and at 1000 hours the 
     red and white flag of the Polish Republic flew atop Ras al-
     Medauar. After the blockade of Tobruk, the Brigade took part 
     in the counter-offensive of the British 8th Army. On the 15th 
     of December they broke through the German-Italian lines at El 
     Gazala. On March 24, 1942 the Brigade returned from the front 
     to Egypt.


       polish armed forces on the western front from 1942 to 1945

       General Maczek's Polish First Armored Division: The 1st 
     Polish Armored Division led by General Stanislaw Maczek began 
     organizing in England on February 25, 1942. It was made up of 
     Poles who managed to flee from France, and Polish soldiers 
     repatriated from the Soviets following Polish-Soviet 
     negotiations which took place on July 30, 1941. At the end of 
     July 1944, the Division was in France; it numbered 885 
     officers and about 15,000 men. Maczek and his Poles fought in 
     the Falaise-Chambois-Mont Ormel region, breaking through the 
     1st SS Adolf Hitler Division and the 12th SS Hitlerjugend 
     Division and taking almost 5,000 prisoners including one 
     general and 150 officers.
       On September 28, 1944 the Division crossed the French-
     Belgian border and freed Ypres. Moving northward on October 
     27th they freed Breda, and the village made every member of 
     the Division an honorary citizen. For the next five months 
     the Division guarded the port of Antwerp in Belgium where the 
     Allies shipped war supplies for the European campaign. In 
     April, 1945, the Division was again in combat at the Kusten 
     Canal and on May 4, 1945, participated in the attacks on 
     Wilhelmshaven. The following day the German forces in this 
     area surrendered. The total losses of the First Armored 
     Division were 1,290 dead, 3,803 wounded and 585 missing as it 
     fought for Polish independence and Allied victory.
       Polish Second Corps on the Italian Front--Monte Cassino, 
     Ancona and Bologna: The Polish 2nd Corps was organized in 
     1943 from repatriated Polish soldiers who had been captured 
     by the Soviets in 1939. The Corps was composed of 52,692 
     soldiers led by Polish General Wladyslaw Anders who reported 
     to the British 8th Army Commander General Oliver Leese. 
     General Leese ordered the Poles to take the Monte Cassino 
     complex. The extremely bloody fighting began on May 11, 1944 
     and ended on May 19th when Monte Cassino was taken by the 
     Poles. This forced the Germans to fall back from the Gustav 
     line to the Hitler line of defense. The Polish losses 
     included 4,290 killed, wounded and missing. British Marshal 
     Alexander sent a signal to the Poles which said that if he 
     had the opportunity to choose those he wanted to serve under 
     his command, his choice would be the Poles of the 2nd Corps. 
     The Marshal ended his signal with a salute to deep respect.
       Monte Cassino was only a warmup for the Polish 2nd Corps. 
     The following month, June 15, 1944, the Corps was transferred 
     to the Adriatic front. From that date to the first days of 
     September the Corps advanced, fighting brilliantly, taking 
     Ancona and breaking the northern German defense line near 
     Pesaro. The Poles took about 4,000 German prisoners and more 
     than 300 weapons of all types. They buried nearly 3,000 
     Germans. General Leese congratulated General Anders and his 
     soldiers for conducting a most successful campaign.
       The Polish Corps moved slowly northward during the winter 
     and early spring over difficult mountain terrain and in very 
     bad rainy weather. By April 9th the Corps began its final 
     thrust to Bologna. The way was mined and trapped. There were 
     seven rivers to cross: Senio, Santerno, Sellustra, Sillaro, 
     Giaino, Idice and Svena. On April 15, 1944 at 0600 hours the 
     Poles entered Bologna following the American 5th Army which 
     entered at 0800. The new British 8th Army Commander, General 
     MacCreery, signalled General Anders: ``In your march on the 
     Via Emilia to Bologna you fought the 26th and 1st German 
     armored divisions and four parachute divisions, some of the 
     best in the German Army. In these operations you showed 
     admirable fighting spirit, steadfastness and competence in 
     battle. I send you and all your officers and men my warmest 
     congratulations and expressions of admiration.'' The campaign 
     on the Adriatic side of Italy cost the 2nd Polish Corps 2,200 
     killed, 8,000 wounded and 264 mission.


             polish air force and the air battle of britain

       After the defeat of Poland, much of the Polish Air Force 
     fled to France. During the invasion of France, Poles downed 
     56 German aircraft and damaged another 9. Polish losses were 
     26 killed which included 11 pilots. Following the 
     capitulation of France, 986 officers and 3,217 men of the 
     Polish Air Force managed to escape to England.
       In England, the Polish Air Force was organized into two 
     fighter divisions--the 302 and 303--and two bomber divisions, 
     the 300 and 301. After training conducted by the Royal Air 
     Force (RAF), the Poles contributed to Allied victory in the 
     Battle of Britain during the period August 8, to October 31, 
     1940. The score for Polish pilots was 203 enemy aircraft shot 
     down, 35 probables, and 35 damaged. This was more than 25% of 
     all the German air losses. The Poles lost 33 pilots out of a 
     total of 131 who took part in the battle.


                        polish navy 1939 to 1945

       According to an agreement between Poland and Britain signed 
     on November 19, 1939, what remained of the Polish Navy came 
     under the command of the British Admiralty which also leased 
     the Poles a number of ships. With this arrangement the Polish 
     fleet numbered two cruisers, 10 destroyers, five submarines, 
     30 miscellaneous craft and 47 naval personnel units. The 
     Polish fleet engaged the enemy 665 times sinking seven 
     warships, two submarines, 339 transports and shooting down 20 
     enemy aircraft. Perhaps the most memorable of these 
     engagements took place the night of May 26-27, 1941, when the 
     Polish destroyer Lightning--as part of the 4th British 
     Destroyer Flotilla--sighted and attacked the crippled German 
     battleship Bismarck. The Bismarck was sunk on the morning of 
     May 27th by the British Fleet.
       Polish Navy losses during the war were 404 killed and 191 
     wounded. The fleet lost 13 ships of all types, two submarines 
     and 74,500 tons of shipping.


                  the polish underground 1940 to 1945

       Home Army: The Home Army, otherwise known as the AK (an 
     acronym for ``Armia Krajowa'') was by far the largest 
     partisan organization in occupied Poland. On March 1, 1944, 
     the AK numbered 389,129 soldiers. The Army conducted 1,175 
     recorded actions which included train derailments, burning of 
     trains and the destruction of 38 bridges. In addition, the AK 
     damaged 19,508 railroad cars, destroyed 1,167 containers of 
     gasoline, burned 272 supply warehouses and damaged 4,326 
     vehicles of various types. German supply lines and 
     communication points were constantly under attack. A number 
     of Gestapo jails were broken into and almost 2,000 Gestapo 
     agents were assassinated.
       Peoples Army: The communist dominated Peoples Army was 
     formed on January 1, 1944 and was joined by the Peoples 
     Guards which created a partisan force of about 50,000 
     soldiers. The Army reported more than 1,550 actions which 
     included 774 attacks on enemy transport and communications. 
     There were 220 counterattacks against German terrorist 
     activities and 190 sorties against the German military supply 
     infra-structure. There were 370 battles recorded against the 
     Wehrmacht and the German Security Forces.
       Operation ``Burza'' (Storm): In January 1944, plan Burza 
     was executed. The AK in an effort to reclaim Polish 
     territories attacked retreating German forces and bands of 
     Ukrainian Nationalists alongside the Red Army. At first there 
     was cooperation between the Poles and the Reds. But in less 
     than three weeks of Operation Burza AK General Okulicki was 
     forced to disband the AK because he had no choice. The Red 
     Army disarmed the Poles and sent some to the Polish Army in 
     Wolyn and interned a portion in Vilno. The remainder were 
     arrested and sent to camps in the USSR. About 200,000 members 
     of the Home Army, including some 50,000 soldiers were 
     deported to the east.
       Warsaw Uprising on August 1, 1994: The eastern battle front 
     had moved very close to Warsaw by the summer of 1944. This 
     encouraged the Home Army Command (AK), in concert with the 
     Polish government in exile, to liberate Warsaw by attacking 
     the German occupation forces. An attack was ordered and a 
     catastrophe ensued. Promised supplies from the west by air 
     drop never came. In the east, Stalin's armies, which included 
     General Zygmunt Berling's Polish army, were not allowed by 
     Stalin to cross the Vistula to support the uprising. More 
     than 10,000 insurgents were killed, most of them young men 
     and women. Nearly 7,000 were wounded and 5,000 were missing. 
     More than 188,000 civilians were killed. Hitler personally 
     ordered that survivors vacate the city and that the Germany 
     Army destroy all of Warsaw.


             polish army in the ussr and the eastern front

       Repatriation of Polish Army: When Hitler attacked the USSR 
     in June 1941 Stalin found himself on the side of the Allies. 
     This opened the door to diplomatic relations between Poland 
     and the Soviets. On July 30, 1941, an agreement was reached 
     between the Poles and the Soviets with the help of British. 
     General Sikorski met Stalin in Moscow December 3rd and 4th 
     and discussed the repatriation of Polish prisoners of war in 
     the custody of the Soviets and the freeing of Polish 
     civilians.
       From January 13 to 25, 1942, the Polish Army was 
     transferred from the various Soviet prison camps to southern 
     asiatic republics in the USSR. Polish prisoners were held in 
     far away Soviet camps under extremely difficult conditions. 
     Thousands of Poles died in captivity. An accounting of Poles 
     held prisoner was almost impossible and research concerning 
     those that never returned from captivity continues to this 
     day. Finally, by the summer of 1942 the Poles were evacuated 
     to Persia in two groups. The final count was 115,742 persons. 
     There were 78,470 soldiers and 32,272 civilians which 
     included 12,733 war orphans.
       The repatriated Polish officers and men evacuated to Persia 
     under the leadership of General Anders formed the 2nd Polish 
     Corps which fought so well on the Italian front.
       Polish Army in the USSR: In April of the following year, 
     the Poles in London and the Soviets broke off diplomatic 
     relations. For Poles who had not managed to leave the USSR 
     with General Anders this was another opportunity to fight the 
     Germans. In May 1943 the 1st Polish Infantry Division was 
     formed in Sielce under the leadership of Colonel Zygmunt 
     Berling. By October 1943 the formation was large enough to be 
     designated the 1st Polish Army Corps.
       The baptism of battle for the 1st Polish Infantry occurred 
     in the area of Lenino. Action against strong German forces 
     began on October 12, 1943. The Poles showed a great will to 
     fight and inflicted heavy losses on the enemy. More than 
     1,500 Germans were killed and 329 taken prisoner. The Poles 
     lost 502 killed, 1,776 wounded and 663 missing.
       The 1st Polish Army Corps by March 1944 had grown to the 
     1st Polish Army commanded by newly promoted, General Zygmunt 
     Berling. At the end of April, the Poles joined Soviet armies 
     at the White Russian (Belorussian) front.
       Three Polish Armies and Warsaw: In the 1944 Soviet summer 
     offensive the 1st Polish Army marched westward freeing Lublin 
     on July 22, 1944. At this time, in accordance with a decree 
     of the communist-controlled Polish National Freedom Committee 
     in Poland, the 1st Polish Army and the underground Peoples 
     Army were joined into one force under the command of General 
     Michal Rola-Zymierski. Two more Polish armies were formed; 
     The 2nd commanded by General Stanislaw Poptawski and the 3rd 
     under General Karol Swierczewski.
       The armies marched westward and on September 14, 1944 
     General Berling with his 1st Army entered the Praga section 
     of Warsaw located on the east side of the Vistula River. The 
     Warsaw insurgents were still fighting the Germans in Zoliborz 
     and Mokotow on the west side of the Vistula in city proper. 
     The Polish armies remained on the east side of the Vistula 
     until January 1945 when General Berling was relieved of the 
     1st Army command by General Poptawski and the 3rd Army was 
     disbanded. This left General Swierczewski free to take 
     command of Poplawski's 2nd Army.
       From the Vistula to the Oder: On January 14, 1945 the 
     Soviets launched their great offensive from the Vistula to 
     the west. By March the 1st Polish Army reached the Baltic in 
     the vicinity of Kotobrzeg and by the 29th of March the Polish 
     flag flew over Gdansk. The 2nd Polish Army after February 
     operations in the Kutno-Todz area reported to the Soviet 
     commander of the Ukranian front, and then marched westward to 
     take part in the Berlin operation.
       Polish First and Second Armies and Berlin: At the beginning 
     of April 1945 both Polish armies reached a strength of about 
     390,000 soldiers. April 16, 1945, the 1st Army fought its way 
     across the Oder and four days later was in pursuit of 
     retreating German foces. On May 3, 1945 its troops reached 
     the Elbe. The next day they joined with the American 9th Army 
     in the outskirts of Berlin. The 2nd Artillery Brigade, the 
     6th Motorized Battalion and the 1st Infantry Division of the 
     1st Polish Army took part in the conquest of Berlin which 
     took place on May 2, 1945. The Polish flag flew alongside the 
     flag of the USSR over Berlin.
       The 2nd Polish Army spent most of it time fighting the 
     stubborn German ``Mitte'' (Middle) Army which refused to 
     surrender after the fall of Berlin. On May 7, 1945, five days 
     after the fall of Berlin the 2nd Polish Army crossed the 
     border into Czechoslovakia in pursuit of the Mitte Army. On 
     the 11th, the Germans ceased fighting near Prague.


                      polish war losses 1939-1945

       The contributions of the Polish Armed Forces to Allied 
     victory were never well known and are by now mostly 
     forgotten. Poles contributed much as can be seen from the 
     foregoing review. But the Polish nation also lost heavily and 
     suffered terribly while making its contributions and while 
     trying to survive under the oppressor.
       Hitler's aim was to exterminate not only the Jews but also 
     Poles and their entire culture. Of all the Allies who fought, 
     Poland suffered the greatest losses. It is estimated that 
     Poland lost 220 out of every 1000 citizens during the war. By 
     comparison the Soviets lost 124. The number for France was 
     13, Great Britain 8 and the United States 1.4.
       In addition to human losses. Poland suffered enormous 
     material losses which in 1945 were estimated to be near 50 
     billion dollars. There was also the loss of an estimated 43% 
     of all Polish art, national archival material and other 
     historical and cultural treasures.
       Is it appropriate to end this partial review by repeating 
     the words of Pope John Paul II: ``In World War II, on every 
     front, Poles shed their blood for independence. Polish 
     independence cannot be measured in geopolitical terms, but 
     only according to authentic criteria of national sovereignty 
     in its own nation.''
       About the author: Sigmund Bajak is a retired Rear Admiral 
     in the U.S. Naval Reserve who served in World War II, Korea, 
     Berlin Crisis and Vietnam. As a civilian, he spent 30 years 
     as an executive for the National Broadcasting Company in New 
     York rising to a Director's position. At present, he is a 
     doctoral candidate in Polish military history at the 
     University of Warsaw. He is a member of the Polish-American 
     Congress.

                          ____________________