The German Fifth Column in Poland (9 page)

From an engineer in Łódź:
[26]

“During the last days of August rifles, automatic weapons, hand-grenades, and large quantities of ammunition were found at Łódź, Aleksandrów, Konstantynów, and Tomaszów. A secret wireless receiving and transmitting set was also found.

“
During the evacuation of the Polish population from the frontier districts, and also from the town of Łódź, the German rural population not only fired at and mishandled civilian evacuees, but even attacked military detachments.”

From a Captain in the Polish Calvary:
[27]

“The men who had been entrusted with the role of subversive agents knew Polish well and were well informed as to elements favourable to the Reich.”

From a member of the Tenth Infantry Regiment:
[28]

“Our regiment, after a furious struggle, was surrounded by larger German forces, and surrendered. I decided to get away before being taken prisoner. I succeeded once, but, exhausted by the flight and the necessity to hide in the forest, I was taken by the Germans a second time close to Sochaczew. As I speak German, a gendarme fell into conversation with me and advised me to join the German police. I did not reject this ‘offer’ out of hand, as I wanted to enjoy the greatest possible liberty of movement. My manoeuvre succeeded. I was no longer kept under supervision. One day as I was seated in the courtyard before the gendarme post, thinking out a plan for escape, a car filled with assault troops in uniform suddenly drove in. One of them who appeared to be their commander spoke to my gendarme, then came up to me and said in very good Polish: ‘Greetings, M. Lieutenant.’ I replied: ‘Good day.’ He fell into conversation with me, always in Polish, discussing Poland’s military defeat and trying to persuade me that Poland’s fate was definitely settled. After a time I asked him where he had acquired his perfect knowledge of Polish. He laughed and frankly admitted that he was a German, but of Polish citizenship, that he had been born in Poland and, finally, he had studied at the Polytechnic in Lwów.”

From a Polish Sub-
lieutenant:
[29]

“At Leszno the German population who were Polish citizens (Volksdeutsche) had made preparations in advance to start diversionist activities, and possessed such arms as machine-guns, revolvers, and grenades. Certain Germans, as Dr. Schneider, Veigt, Hausler, and others, fired on the Polish troops and population even before the Polish Army began to retreat, which was on September 3rd, 1939. Veigt, Hausler, and another German whose name I have forgotten, were caught in the act and shot. Many others, Dr. Schneider, for instance, were not disturbed, though they also had fired.”

From a Polish Corporal:
[30]

“In the district of Krotoszyn, from which I come, the majority of the Germans were secretly organized. They began diversionist activities from the very outbreak of the war. I was not called up for army service, and during those first few days I was able to observe what was happening in my neighbourhood. The son of a very rich German agriculturist, a Polish citizen, named Hermann (of Ochlo village) was the chief agitator among these people. Orders relating to espionage came from his house. When military operations came to an end I returned to the district for a time, and learned that my suspicions and those of my neighbours had been justified. As a reward for services rendered Hermann was appointed administrator of the Bielawa estate and of several others also. Of course he is persecuting the Poles.”

From a Polish officer on the Army Staff:
[31]

“During the month of August, 1939, numerous German officers in civilian dress and furnished with passports arrived in Poland. For instance, several dozens of these men arrived in the province of Pomorze. They had been instructed to familiarize themselves with the Polish terrain and to organize subversive activities among the German colonists and members of German organizations.

“
The examination of an agent arrested close to Dębica elicited that the Polish territory was covered with German posts directing and controlling the agents’ activities and forming bases of action for them.”

From a
Lieutenant Colonel on the Polish Army Staff:
[32]

“It is beyond all doubt that the German subversive activity in Pomorze was prepared long in advance, both in regard to the selection of agents, their preparation and training, and in regard to their equipment and the detailing of their plan of campaign. The local organizations of the Deutsche Vereinigung and other German organizations served as bases
for their subversive activity. In several instances that I have been able to verify, this activity was directed by the Lutheran pastor of the district.

“
It was frequently verified in Pomorze that the directors of this activity had been recruited from among Germans who had gone to Germany during the period from March to August, 1939. From the first day of the war they were transported in cars to the rear of the Polish Armies, to the districts they had originated from, where they were put in charge of the subversive activity.”

From a Polish Major:
[33]

“Shortly before the war a certain number of young German suspects arrived in the German minority villages of the district in which our brigade was stationed. These persons devoted themselves to subversive activity (villages of Konstantynów and Henryków, in the neighbourhood of Częstochowa).”

From a Polish Lieutenant:
[34]

“The espionage and subversive activities were directed by the German organizations Deutsche Vereinigung and Jungdeutsche Partei, whose members had gone illegally to Germany, to the region of Riesengebirge. They there participated in a course lasting two weeks and directed by German officers. They were given instruction in the handling of dynamite, the construction of time bombs, and pistol practice. The organization which I knew was divided into groups of five. At its head were men named Jan Fimmel and Köpfchen-Pawlowski, also the latter's wife. Wolff, the German minority deputy to the Sejm, was one of the creators of this organization.”

From
a Polish Lieutenant:
[35]

“A little time before war broke out, in the course of liquidating subversive activity and espionage in the town of Łódź, twenty-four
persons were arrested. They confessed to having made preparations for subversive activities. At the
signal, to be sent out from the Breslau broadcasting station, Die Kameraden von Dr. Eichholz zur Arbeit (Comrades of Dr. Eichholz, to work), they were to blow up railway tracks, bridges, and military objectives, of course according to a plan drawn up beforehand, and were to attempt to master the Łódź Central Post Office and telephone exchange. Forty-five kilogrammes of dynamite were discovered, hidden in food tins bearing the label of the Polish Pudliszki factory, and also in double-bottomed bidons of oil. There were also several dozen ‘Walter’-type revolvers, clock mechanism for bombs, and wireless receiving apparatus of German make. The arrest of the members of this organization occurred in consequence of a code telegram to the leaders, sent from Germany on August 25th, 1939, and reading: ‘Mother dead, buy wreaths.’ Thanks to these timely arrests the acts of sabotage and terrorism which the Germans had planned in the Łódź district did not take place.”

From a Polish Second
Lieutenant:
[36]

“I have not seen one village in the district of Augustów, of Suwałki, or the districts of Białystok province situated close to the German frontier, which did not contain two or three German colonists. Even superficial observation was sufficient to determine that these colonists were working for the German 2nd Bureau. The German youth were especially outstanding in this activity.”

As has already been mentioned, the German agents were transferred to Poland in the following
ways.  Immediately before the war they made their way into the territory to which they were assigned, furnished with passports in good order. (In the event this applied principally to the organizers of subversive activity.)  At the moment of opening of hostilities they were carried in aeroplanes or cars. This latter method was rendered much easier by the mass exodus of the civil population, among whom they were able to move without difficulty. A certain number of agents penetrated into Poland in this way after the Polish front had been broken by the German motorized units which preceded the army.

Depositions from two Polish officers:
[37]

“It would appear from information which we possessed even at the time that parachute descents played a leading part in the German subversive activity in Poland. The parachutists generally descended in the evening, less often at night, and rarely in the daytime also, even while bombs were being dropped…

“
The most numerous groups of subversive agents consisted of parachutists, who were joined by civilians, members of the German minority. The number of parachutists dropped at any one time varied from a few to fifteen.”

From a Polish Colonel:
[38]

“Diversionist activity was carried out with the aid of the local German colonists. This element, as I was able to ascertain in the course of operations, provided the German air force with the following information:

“T
his information was communicated by agreed signs (I found one such sign in the district of Zielonek), by setting fire to various objects (a method largely used to indicate the absence of Polish troops), light signals, and also by wireless apparatus.

“
This activity was carried out principally in the rear of our troops. Its primary object was to provoke panic. Such panic was provoked in the rear of the 8th Infantry Division during the night of September 3/4th, in the district of Szulmierz.”

From a private citizen:
[39]

“I lived at Brześć on the river Bug and I was a carpenter by trade. As Brześć was being subjected to intense bombing from the air I sought refuge in a colony hidden in the Bronna Gora forest. One day, I do not remember the date exactly, we saw, as usual, two German aeroplanes flying at a great height. We noticed that two great parcels appeared to fall from one of them and, a moment later, we saw two parachutes open. We realized that two spies had been dropped, and five men from our colony, armed with whatever came to hand—a forester in particular had a gun—ran towards where the parachutes were dropping. The airmen obviously had not noticed our colony, and had dropped their passengers quite close to the spot where we were watching. We managed to capture them and discovered that they had no documents whatever on them, that they were dressed in civilian clothes, but wore a kind of brassard on the sleeve of their shirt, under the jacket. They were armed with revolvers, which we handed to the police at Bereza Kartuska. In addition each of them had two small hand-grenades, they carried wire-cutters, and one of them had three small phials filled with a liquid.”

From a Polish Colonel:
[40]

“In the vicinity of Rzeszów, close to Lwów, a woman who descended by parachute was arrested. She was a German colonist from a neighbouring village, and it was suspected that she had not been at home for fifteen days.

“
The majority of the parachutists were provided with explosives. They descended principally in the vicinity of the objects they were to blow up. A large number of them were discovered on the banks of the rivers Dunajec, Vistula, and Wisłoka.”

From a Polish Calvary Captain:
[41]

“The Germans practised their subversive activities with extraordinary skill. Far in the rear of our armies they had marked out districts where aeroplanes transporting agents made landings. (I myself saw aeroplanes land in the Garwolin
-
Dęblin sector.) The motorized columns of the German Army made towards these regions.

“
Thus, in our rear or in the vicinity, the Germans got control of our principal lines of communication from the bases, so that the subversive activity could develop efficaciously.”

From a Polish Major:
[42]

“The German information service made use of agents and also, for espionage purposes, of German colonists. Parachutists were dropped in the vicinity of minority settlements, who put them up, facilitated their task, and concealed them.”

From a Polish Reserve Lieutenant:
[43]

“On our road we encountered agents, descended by parachute, who were arrested by the police and the civilian population. Fourteen such were arrested in the vicinity of uncut.”

From a Polish Lieutenant:
[44]

“The subversive agents dropped by parachute at once mixed with the refugees. Thus it was very difficult to discover them.”

From a Polish
Major:
[45]

“Between September I5th and 16th, in the vicinity of Garwolin, I discovered a group of German agents armed with rifles and small machine-guns, who opened fire on my detachment. The night was falling. I managed to surround them and took prisoner eighty-six persons in civilian clothes, carrying arms. Ten of them were Germans from the Reich, who had descended by parachute; the others were Germans from the district of Garwolin.

“
During the following days I ascertained the presence of a large number of agents trying to provoke panic in the rear, for example, by setting fire to haystacks, and also to villages.”

From a Polish Lieutenant of Artillery:
[46]

“I personally saw two individuals who had descended by parachute some fifteen kilometres from the town of Kraśnik, who had been arrested by the local civilian population. One of them had not had time to get free of his parachute; both of them came from Silesia originally.”

From a Polish Captain
attached to Brigade Staff:
[47]

“I myself saw two parachutists descend, equipped with a wireless transmitter.”

From another Polish Captain:
[48]

“On September 4th, 1939, several aeroplanes dropped six men provided with bicycles and automatic pistols in the neighbourhood of Czerwony Bor.”

The subversive agents were disguised both in military uniform (as officers, non-commissioned officers, and privates) and in civilian clothes (as workmen, beggars, priests, members of religious orders, etc.).

Independently of the extended network of shortwave wireless transmitting stations which had been installed before the war broke out, mainly in western Poland, the parachutists were provided with small transmitting and receiving sets. In addition they were provided with bicycles, automatic pistols, rocket-pistols, electric lamps, and explosives.

From a Polish Captain:
[49]

“At six in the morning of September 6th Germans dressed as Polish non-commissioned officers and provided with Polish documents were found near Wielki Radomyśl. They also had a suitcase containing explosive materials.

“
The same evening a car carrying four persons, one of them a woman, was met with at Wielki Radomyśl. They were wearing Polish military greatcoats. As appeared later, these Polish greatcoats covered German uniforms. One of them was betrayed by the collar of his German uniform which showed above his greatcoat. They were arrested by Reserve Lieutenant I.

“
Diversionist agents descended by aeroplane in the neighbourhood of Biłgoraj. They were armed with revolvers and hand-grenades. They were arrested and handed over to the military authorities.”

From a Polish Second Lieutenant:
[50]

“Diversionist activity was organized by the German minority. Its agents were distinguished by yellow collars, piping, buttons of distinctive shape, pullovers, etc.”

From a Polish Calvary Captain:
[51]

“The subversive agents were frequently disguised as soldiers, recruits, etc., of the Polish Army. They were distinguished by some peculiarity in their dress, by a band, a muffler, etc.”

From a Polish Reserve Second Lieutenant:
[52]

“In the district of Łomża a large number of subversive agents disguised as women or priests were arrested. There was general co-operation between the German minority and these agents.”

From a Polish Captain
of the Artillery:
[53]

“The numerous diversionist agents who were captured, and who were almost always shot on the spot, were recruited mainly from among people who during the first day of Polish evacuation from Upper Silesia filtered in among the crowd of refugees. At first they were only civilians; later on diversionist agents dressed in Polish uniforms were captured.

“
On September 9th, 1939, the Germans sent diversionist agents wearing the Nazi brassard into Stopnica in two lorries. This band tore at full speed into the market-place at Stopnica and there dispersed into various houses, then threw a rain of hand-grenades into the neighbouring streets. This band was soon completely wiped out.”

From a Polish Calvary Lieutenant:
[54]

“While making a fighting retreat in the direction of Radomyśl we were attacked by a group of some thirty diversionist agents. Hidden in the undergrowth, they were observing our operations. When attacked by our soldiers they fled into the forest. Two of them were killed. They were dressed in Polish uniform, armed with German Mausers, and light machine-guns of type No. 34, and had small electric lamps with white, red, and green bulbs. No papers whatever were found on them. The local civilian population testified that these agents had descended by parachute about eight o'clock in the evening and immediately after sent up red signals. During air raids on Tarnów on September 4th, 1939, the airmen bombed objectives lit up with powerful electric lamps by spies on the ground. One of the spies was captured in the uniform of a Polish Lieutenant. In the course of the operations the diversionist agents made especial use of red, green, and white electric light signals. When they landed the agents made signals with little luminous red balls which burst after ten to fifteen seconds.”

From a Polish Major:
[55]

“On September 2nd, 1939, at about 11 a.m., two individuals wearing Polish non-commissioned officers’ uniform arrived on motor-bicycles of Polish manufacture at the village of Bukowno, in Olkusz district. They went up to a refugee from German Silesia and, after exchanging a few words with him, shot him with a revolver. The inquiry made on the spot elicited that the victim was an organizer of the Polish population in German Silesia and a fervent Polish patriot, while the assassins were Germans disguised as Polish non-commissioned officers.”

From a Captain attached to the staff of an operational group:
[56]

“Returning during the night of September loth from Ossowiec in the direction of Wysokie Mazowieckie, I noticed a car halted on the road, and in it three officers armed with rifles. They informed me that they belonged to an independently acting cavalry brigade and were going to Białystok, carrying special orders. I asked them about the situation, they answered that it had not changed at all and that I could continue my journey ‘in full security.’ In reality the town of Wysokie Mazowieckie was already on fire, and the German tanks were operating in the immediate neighbourhood. When I had gone some two hundred metres I heard a rifle-shot fired in my direction.”

From a Polish Captain of a Chasseurs Regiment:
[57]

“On September 6th, 1939, two German spies in civilian dress were arrested at the edge of a wood some three kilometres from Tomaszów. They admitted that they were German colonists and had orders to pass themselves off as Polish soldiers evading German capture, taken
prisoner, and now in flight, with the object of getting information about the disposition of Polish troops and informing the Germans.”

From a Polish Infantry Major:
[58]

“The agents dropped from aeroplanes were provided with rocket-pistols, and, by firing rockets of agreed colours, caused either artillery or aerial bombardments.”

From a Polish Lieutenant attached to the staff of
an Infantry Division:
[59]

“Air raids took place in the Poznań areas during the 1st and 2nd September. One aeroplane came down and two German airmen were taken prisoner. The German Second Lieutenant came from Stargard in German Pomerania, and carried instructions and badges for German diversionist agents.

“
During the night of September 1st civilian detachments (Freikorps) attacked the town of Ujście and massacred the Polish population, including women and children. Two spies carrying secret wireless transmitting sets were arrested.

“
The German civilian population attempted to combat our reconnaissance elements, which effectively dealt with this attempt.