Franz KutscheraFranz Kutschera (22 February 1904 – 1 February 1944) was an Austrian Nazi politician, SS-Brigadefuhrer and government official. He held numerous political and administrative offices with the Nazi Party and the Schutzstaffel (SS) both before and after the Anschluss of Austria in 1938. During World War II, he served in France, Yugoslavia, the Soviet Union and, finally, Poland. In 1943, Kutschera was appointed the SS and Police Leader in German-occupied Warsaw.
Operation ArsenalBelligerentsGray RanksGermanyCommanders and leadersStanisław BroniewskiTadeusz Zawadzki Unknown, probably noneStrength 28 men ~15-20 menCasualties and losses 2 dead1 captured (subsequently executed) 140 Polish and Jewish hostages killed in reprisal 4 killed9 woundedThe Operation Arsenal (Polish: Akcja pod Arsenałem), code name: "Meksyk II" (Mexico 2), was the first major operation by the Gray Ranks, Polish Underground formation during the Nazi Germanoccupation of Poland.
Igo SymKarol Juliusz "Igo" Sym (3 July 1896 – 7 March 1941) was a Polish actor and collaborator with Nazi Germany. He was killed in Warsaw by members of the Polish resistance movement. Early careerSym was born in Innsbruck, the son of Anton Sym, a Pole from Niepołomice in Galicia, and his Austrian wife, Julia (née Sepp). During World War I he served in the Austro-Hungarian Army, becoming a lieutenant.
Polish resistance movement in World War IICombatant organizations opposed to Nazi GermanyBelligerents GermanyLithuanian Auxiliary PoliceUkrainian Auxiliary PolicePolish collaboratorsSoviet Union(1939–1941; after 1944 against non-Communists only)Ukrainian Insurgent Army(1943–1945)Polish Underground StateHome ArmyPeasants' BattalionsNational Armed Forcesand others...Supported by:Polish Government-in-ExileWestern AlliesProvisional GovernmentPeople's Guard(1942–1944)People's Army(1944)Supported by:Soviet Union(After 1941; only Communists)Commanders and leadersHans FrankWalter Model †Oskar Dirlewanger E. von dem Bach-ZelewskiFranz Kutschera XRainer StahelHeinz ReinefarthLavrenty BeriaKonstantin RokossovskyIvan SerovRoman ShukhevychDmytro Klyachkivsky †Henryk Dobrzański †M. Karaszewicz-TokarzewskiStefan Rowecki Tadeusz Komorowski (POW)Leopold OkulickiTadeusz Pełczyński (POW)Emil August FieldorfAntoni Chruściel (POW)Franciszek KamińskiIgnacy OziewiczTadeusz Kurcyusz #Stanisław KasznicaWładysław GomułkaBolesław BierutEdward Osóbka-MorawskiBolesław MołojecMarian SpychalskiMichał Rola-ŻymierskiFranciszek JóźwiakStrength 1,080,000 (1944)Polish Underground State650,000 (1944)Polish People's Army~200,000Casualties and losses GermanyUp to 150,000 killed, 6,000 officials assassinated4,326 damaged or destroyed vehicles1/8 of Eastern Front rail transport damaged or destroyedUkrainian Insurgent Army6,000–15,000 killedPolish Underground State~34,000–100,000 killed20,000–50,000 wounded or capturedPolish People's Army~5,000–10,000In Poland, the resistance movement during World War II was led by the Home Army.
Home ArmyWorld War II Polish resistance movementThe Home Army (Polish: Armia Krajowa, pronounced; 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) established in the aftermath of the German and Soviet invasions in September 1939. Over the next two years, the Home Army absorbed most of the other Polish partisans and underground forces.
SabotageSabotage is a deliberate action aimed at weakening a polity, government, effort, or organization through subversion, obstruction, demoralization, destabilization, division, disruption, or destruction. One who engages in sabotage is a saboteur. Saboteurs typically try to conceal their identities because of the consequences of their actions and to avoid invoking legal and organizational requirements for addressing sabotage.
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945), was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies and the Axis powers. Nearly all of the world's countries participated, with many engaging in total war on an unprecedented scale. World War II was the deadliest conflict in history, causing the deaths of 60 to 75 million people, a majority of whom were civilians.
PropagandaCommunication used to influence opinionJames Montgomery Flagg's famous "Uncle Sam" propaganda poster, made during World War IPropaganda is a form of mass communication that is primarily used to influence an audience and persuade them to further an agenda. Propaganda may not be objective and often selectively presents facts to encourage a particular perception, or uses loaded language to produce an emotional rather than a rational response to the information presented.
GęsiówkaGęsiówka (Polish pronunciation: [ɡɛ̃ˈɕufka]) is the colloquial Polish name for a prison that once existed on Gęsia ("Goose") Street in Warsaw, Poland, and which, under German occupation during World War II, became a Nazi concentration camp.
Wartime collaborationWartime collaboration is the voluntary cooperation of local populations, officials or combatants with the enemy against their own state, often for personal gain, ideology or survival. It is widely considered as a form of betrayal and a crime (treason) as it is viewed as a breach of loyalty that compromises the safety of the citizens and sovereignty of the state. As historian Gerhard Hirschfeld says, it "is as old as war and the occupation of foreign territory".
SchutzstaffelGerman Nazi paramilitary organisation (1925–1945)The Schutzstaffel (German:; lit. 'Protection Squadron'; SS; also stylised with SS runes as ᛋᛋ) was a major paramilitary organisation under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany, and later throughout German-occupied Europe during World War II. It began with a small guard unit known as the Saal-Schutz ("Hall Security") made up of party volunteers to provide security for party meetings in Munich.
Nazi GermanyGerman state from 1933 to 1945Nazi Germany, officially the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a totalitarian dictatorship. The Third Reich, meaning "Third Realm" or "Third Empire", referred to the Nazi claim that Nazi Germany was the successor to the Holy Roman Empire (800–1806) and the German Empire (1871–1918).*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.