Operation Bürkl (''operacja Bürkl''), or the special combat action Bürkl (''specjalna akcja bojowa Bürkl''), was an operation by the Polish resistance conducted on 7 September 1943. It was the second action of

Operation Heads Operation Heads ( pl, Operacja Główki) was the code name for a series of assassinations of Nazi officials by the World War II Polish Resistance. Those targeted for assassination had been sentenced to death by Polish Underground Special Courts ...

, a series of

assassination Assassination is the murder of a prominent or important person, such as a head of state, head of government, politician, world leader, member of a royal family or CEO. The murder of a celebrity, activist, or artist, though they may not have ...

s of notorious SS officers in

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

carried out by the

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 collaborato ...

's special group Agat ("Anti-

Gestapo The (), abbreviated Gestapo (; ), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of Prussia into one organi ...

") between 1943 and 1944, and their first success.

History

The goal of the operation was to "liquidate"

Franz Bürkl Franz may refer to: People * Franz (given name) * Franz (surname) Places * Franz (crater), a lunar crater * Franz, Ontario, a railway junction and unorganized town in Canada * Franz Lake, in the state of Washington, United States – see Fran ...

, a notorious

Sicherheitspolizei The ''Sicherheitspolizei'' ( en, Security Police), often abbreviated as SiPo, was a term used in Germany for security police. In the Nazi era, it referred to the state political and criminal investigation security agencies. It was made up by the ...

NCO who had been sentenced to death by the Polish

Underground court Underground Court ('' pl, Sądy podziemne'') were World War II underground courts in occupied Poland, organized by the Polish government in exile, Polish Government-in-Exile. The courts determined punishments for Polish people, citizens of Polan ...

s for the murder of at least several dozen people. Bürkl was ambushed in broad daylight on the city's main Marszałkowska Street by a group of five young AK partisans armed with

Sten submachine gun The STEN (or Sten gun) is a family of British submachine guns chambered in 9×19mm which were used extensively by British and Commonwealth forces throughout World War II and the Korean War. They had a simple design and very low production cost ...

s and

Filipinka {{Infobox weapon, is_explosive=yes, name=ET wz. 40 , image=Granat Filipinka.jpg , caption=Filipinka in the Museum of the Warsaw Rising , origin=Poland , design_date=1942 , service=1942-1947 , type= Offensive fragmentation , filling=ca. 250g of c ...

hand grenades. The assassins, led by 21-year-old

Jerzy Zborowski Jerzy Eugeniusz Zborowski (''nom de guerre'': Jeremi, Jurek, Jurek Kowalski, Kajman Okularnik, Jurek Żoliborski) was born on 26 July 1922 in Warsaw and died in September 1944 in Warsaw, Poland). He was a Polish Scoutmaster (harcmistrz), scoutin ...

, were recruited for Agat from the underground scouting organization

Szare Szeregi "Gray Ranks" ( pl, Szare Szeregi) was a codename for the underground paramilitary Polish Scouting Association (') during World War II. The wartime organisation was created on 27 September 1939, actively resisted and fought German occupation in ...

. Bürkl and seven other German policemen were killed in the 90-second shoot-out. While the operation resulted in no losses for the resistance, the Nazis killed 20 inmates of

Pawiak prison Pawiak () was a prison built in 1835 in Warsaw, Congress Poland. During the January 1863 Uprising, it served as a transfer camp for Poles sentenced by Imperial Russia to deportation to Siberia. During the World War II German occupation of ...

in a

public execution A public execution is a form of capital punishment which "members of the general public may voluntarily attend." This definition excludes the presence of only a small number of witnesses called upon to assure executive accountability. The purpose ...

in reprisal.Strzembosz (1983), page 343-346.

References

Bibliography

External links

Specjalna operacja bojowa Bürkl

Specjalna operacja bojowa Bürkl
(a different article) {{DEFAULTSORT:Operation Burkl 1943 in Poland Assassinated Nazis Nazis assassinated by Polish resistance Assassinations in Poland History of Warsaw Bürkl Scouting and Guiding in Poland General Government

History

References

Bibliography

See also

External links