German AB-Aktion in Poland

"On 14 June 1940, 20 people left "in a transport" guarded—it was said—by twice as many Germans, armed to the teeth. The chroniclers of Pawiak do not record this separately, but rather as part of the next, larger deportation. My mother and I despairingly speculated as to where these two terrible "kennels" had gone. Pawiak had not yet heard the name "Palmiry". The regular shots coming from the clearing there eventually attracted the attention of the foresters, and from them — through secret newspapers — Pawiak learned of Palmiry. Two days of hell began on 20 June. Bolts slammed, long lists of names were called into our cells, and maybe three of us were left from the original dozen. The next day, Mieczysław Niedziałkowski was dragged out (...) Everyone on the long lists was taken to the "transport", about 400 people at that time. They were led under the arms of Maciej Rataj, sick, unfit, battered people dragged from their cells, too weak to walk to the truck. The "kennels", filled with SS men and escorted by heavily armed German vehicles, turned right after they left the gate. Pawiak had its ideas about where they were going. The prison was a lot emptier but — as always — not for long."

"These 15 individuals were sentenced to death by the SD summary court. Permission for the execution was granted pursuant to an order by the Commander of the Security Police and SD in the Radom District; it will be carried out by the Commando unit on 28 June 1940."

"In addition, the Katyn massacre almost coincided with the so-called "Aktion A-B" ... in the area under Nazi occupation, where similar people from similar social circles were shot or sent to concentration camps. A high-ranking Soviet official was permanently attached to the SS command in the General Government, and it is difficult to believe that the timing of these two actions was entirely coincidental."

"The Third Reich's authorities began planning the liquidation of the Polish "leadership class" even before they began the war. They had prepared proscription lists, with 80,000 Poles targeted for elimination. Among them were political activists, insurgents from Silesia and Greater Poland, activists from social organizations, teachers, Catholic priests and judges. From the beginning of the occupation these plans were implemented in two ways: mass executions and imprisonment in concentration camps. The former were undertaken by the Security Police's Einsatzgruppen, who entered Poland just behind the Wehrmacht. Once in the country, they were joined by Selbschutz, Polish German units under the direction of the SS. In the course of this "political cleansing", the Germans murdered 50,000. Another 20,000 were taken to concentration camps in April and May 1940."

"The fate of the majority of those imprisoned in Warsaw by Aktion A-B in spring 1940 was settled. June became the month of mass executions, starting on the 14th."

"Most terrifying was the atmosphere, paralyzing thought and will, filled with fear and terror—the shouting of outraged Germans, the cries of beaten prisoners and uncertainty about what tomorrow would bring. New prisoners were brought in every night after interrogation. Often after their names were called in the cells, people were herded into the courtyard, from whence they were taken either to camps or to be shot. Executions began in the shooting range near the ravine at Czechowy Górny, then at the cemetery on Unicky Street, at Rury Świętoduskie, and the Jewish cemetery. Others were taken to the forests near Niemce and Kopopnica. Jews were shot in the Krępiec forest. Most of the time we learned of this from the prisoners in Work Cell 19, who dug the execution pits and buried the bodies. The lists of prisoners to be shot or deported to camps were prepared by the Gestapo under Cramer's supervision and approved by Gestapo commander Müller. Those lists were taken to the Castle, where the transports were organized. A group of Gestapo officers would arrive to collect the prisoners (if they were to be executed, mostly at night), with Gestapo officers from the prison staff also taking part."

"Let no one mourn for me, because I die — not in the field, not in battle, yet still like a soldier — as a Pole for Poland, with her name on my lips, no small honor. Blood spilled on Polish soil will fertilize it, breeding avengers and a free, greater Poland."

"We arrived at Auschwitz around three in the afternoon ... The kapos and SS men herded us into the yard with sticks ... We had to walk up to tables where they took down our personal details, asked about our occupations and issued us numbers on what looked like cards ... Then they began teaching us how to line up for roll call ... The kapos began hitting us with their mallets, seemingly oblivious to where their blows fell. We ran around the yard, completely stunned, terrified, with no idea what was happening and what was expected of us."

"Around 9 p.m., we heard loud commands and orders in the corridor. A moment later the door to cell 43, mine, opened, and I heard a loud voice say "Achtung!" All 37 of us stood at attention in two rows. Names were called out; those called were made to stand in the corridor with their faces to the wall. The rest of us were pale, nervous and unsure of what would happen next. A moment later, a short sentence was read in German and then translated into Polish: For hostile activities against the Germans, you have been sentenced to death by shooting. Afterwards the men were taken to cell 48 and the women to the second floor. The death cell rang out with the national anthem, hymns and military songs all night."

"Gentlemen! I have discussed with my colleague Streckenbach, in the presence of Obergrüppenführer Krüger, this extraordinary-pacification program, the goal of which is the accelerated liquidation of the majority of rebellious politicians and politically suspect individuals in our hands while simultaneously putting an end to traditional Polish criminality. I freely admit that this will result in several thousand Poles losing their lives, mainly from the circle of Polish ideological leaders. All of us, as National Socialists, must commit to making every effort to ensure that no further resistance crystallizes within the Polish nation."

"I got to Auschwitz via a mass operation, known by its perpetrators as "Aktion A-B". It affected tens of thousands in central Poland, in Kraków, Warsaw and Częstochowa. Thousands of young men were taken from their homes or off the streets in June 1940 and taken, as a precaution, to the new concentration camp at Oświęcim"

"On 4 April 1940, I saw about 10 covered German trucks going down the road from Firlej to the barrens. At the time I was leaving my house in a horse-drawn wagon; I returned about three hours later. When I got back I learned from my family and neighbors that gunfire had been heard coming from the barrens, that they had been surrounded by a chain of guard posts, and that a guard had been posted at the yard of each house to prevent people from going out. By the time I returned there was neither gunfire nor guards. Not much later, I saw the same German trucks leave for Radom. I then went to the barrens. The day before I had noticed several freshly dug large holes there. I went to them. They had been filled in and trampled by boots. You could see the marks of their hobnails. Nearby were bone fragments. Later I heard that the Nazis had shot a large group of people from the Chlewiska area."

"During the hot summer days of 1940, rumors began circulating in Kraków that were working on some major construction on the Silesian border, like large barracks or blocks — all surrounded by barbed wire and kept under the tightest secrecy. But even if it had been public, none of us could have grasped what was going on, because the Germans were building Auschwitz."

"In the first half of 1940 the so-called Aktion AB was started, targeting mainly Polish intellectuals. Thousands were shot at Palmiry, the chosen execution site near Warsaw. Among those killed there were Marshal of the Sejm Maciej Rataj; one of the leaders of the Polish socialists, Mieczysław Niedziałkowski; a prominent athlete and gold medalist at the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics, Janusz Kusociński; writer and editor of the first underground magazine in the country, Poland Lives, Witold Hulewicz; Polish Senator :Helena Jaroszewiczowa, and the renowned chess player Dawid Przepiórka."

"In spring 1940 another wave of persecution of Polish intellectuals, called "Aktion A-B" by the Germans, began in all the large cities of the General Government. Governor Hans Frank openly saw this as "a convenient moment" in which the SiPo and SS had to act at a "faster pace" as the West was more concerned at the time with the invasion of Belgium and France than the fate of the Poles."