Operation Belt ( pl, Akcja Taśma) was one of the large-scale anti-

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

operations of the

Armia Krajowa The Home Army ( pl, Armia Krajowa, abbreviated AK; ) was the dominant resistance movement in German-occupied Poland during World War II. The Home Army was formed in February 1942 from the earlier Związek Walki Zbrojnej (Armed Resistance) e ...

Kedyw ''Kedyw'' (, partial acronym of ''Kierownictwo Dywersji'' ("Directorate of Diversion") was a Polish World War II Home Army unit that conducted active and passive sabotage, propaganda and armed operations against Nazi German forces and collaborat ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. In August 1943, the headquarters of the

ordered Kedyw to prepare an armed action against German border guarding stations on the frontier between the

General Government The General Government (german: Generalgouvernement, pl, Generalne Gubernatorstwo, uk, Генеральна губернія), also referred to as the General Governorate for the Occupied Polish Region (german: Generalgouvernement für die be ...

and the territories annexed by the

Third Reich Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

. By February 1944, 13 German outposts were destroyed with few losses on the Polish side. One of the Poles who died in the operation was the

Boy Scout A Scout (in some countries a Boy Scout, Girl Scout, or Pathfinder) is a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement. Because of the large age and development span, many Scouting associations have split ...

Tadeusz Zawadzki Tadeusz Leon Józef Zawadzki, assumed surname: ''Tadeusz Zieliński'', Pseudonym, alias ''"Kajman"'', ''"Kotwicki"'', ''"Lech Pomarańczowy"'', ''"Tadeusz"'', ''"Zośka"'' (born on January 24, 1921, in Warsaw, died on August 20, 1943, in Sieczychy) ...

, one of the most important personalities of the Polish underground. Zawadzki was killed on 20 August 1943, during an attack on a German border station at the village of Sieczychy, near

Wyszków Wyszków (; yi, ווישקאָוו ''Vishkov'') is a town in eastern Poland with 26,500 inhabitants (2018). It is the capital of Wyszków County in Masovian Voivodeship. History The village of Wyszków was first documented in 1203. It was gr ...

. Operation Belt itself took place in the night of 20–21 August, when seven German stations were destroyed. On 30 August, General Tadeusz Bór-Komorowski ordered to begin preparation of another armed action, Operation Chain (), which was the continuation of ''Belt''. During ''Chain'', which took place in late November 1943, units of the

Home Army The Home Army ( pl, Armia Krajowa, abbreviated AK; ) was the dominant resistance movement in German-occupied Poland during World War II. The Home Army was formed in February 1942 from the earlier Związek Walki Zbrojnej (Armed Resistance) es ...

carried out several similar attacks on German border stations in southern part of occupied Poland. In the autumn of 1943, the Home Army of the

Kraków District Kraków District ''(German: Distrikt Krakau, Polish: Dystrykt krakowski)'' was one of the original four administrative districts set up by Nazi Germany after the German occupation of Poland during the years of 1939–1945. Dean, Martin. “KRAKÓ ...

attacked several German outposts along the border with Slovakia – among others, at Barwinek, Piwniczna, and in the area of

Nowy Targ Nowy Targ (Officially: ''Royal Free city of Nowy Targ'', Yiddish: ''Naymark'', Goral Dialect: ''Miasto'') is a town in southern Poland, in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship. It is located in the Orava-Nowy Targ Basin at the foot of the Gorce Mounta ...

and

Wadowice Wadowice (; ger, Frauenstadt – Wadowitz) is a town in southern Poland, southwest of Kraków with 19,200 inhabitants (2006), situated on the Skawa river, confluence of Vistula, in the eastern part of Silesian Foothills (Pogórze Śląskie). W ...

Footnotes

1943 in Poland 1944 in Poland General Government Military operations involving the Home Army {{World-War-II-stub