The death battalion in Poznań consisted of criminals, outcasts and political enemies. He caused disciplinary problems from the beginning. However, young Poland needed every soldier. Even if he was a villain.
After the victorious uprising, the Greater Poland army began to expand its states. They were no longer just volunteers, insurgents, and ideologists. Men from conscription, as well as veterans of the Great War, who served in the Kaiser's army, began to wear boots. These were often regretted; communist views were extremely popular in Germany at the turn of 1918-1919. From time to time riots broke out there and there were more attempts to seize power by the people.
It is therefore not surprising that discipline has been broken in the newly formed army. Many soldiers did not accept the commanders sent by Warsaw. Dissatisfaction grew, subordinates refused to obey orders and started brawls, and drunkenness was spreading. The rules were disregarded by both the privates and the command staff. The local press rumbled:
Every keen observer must experience such sad impressions, observing the behavior and manners of some of ours, especially those of young officers in theaters, cafes, in the closer circles, clubs at receptions, parties, and also on the street. In this type of individuals, the lack of often elementary rules of education, intelligence, and an excess of arrogance and stupidity, especially under the influence of overused alcohol, etc., is most clearly visible.
A bunch of troublemakers
In the reports that landed in the command of the Greater Poland Army, accusations of drunkenness, brawls, thefts and robberies were often repeated. Gen. Józef Dowbor-Muśnicki noted that " you can see too much free time and too much money all the military have, who spend long hours on drinking wine alone or with women of light manners , and not infrequently with German women ”. Finally, he gave the order to put an end to such dissension:
[…] insufficient communication between officers and soldiers outside the working hours; sitting too long in casinos over a glass; wasting expensive time and money in cafes and confectioneries, and merry feasts with women even at the front, at a time when Polish blood is spilling everywhere. They are said to take part in these games along with junior officers and senior commanders. […]
In submitting officers for promotion and approval in their ranks, I am by no means intended to create a caste of entertaining and idle panicists. [...] I warn [...] that I will not stop at strict measures until the unsuitable units are immediately expelled from the army, as I have already done in one of the regiments.
The Poznań death battalion was formed by order of General Józef Dowbor-Muśnicki.
Dowbor-Muśnicki did not want to aggravate the situation. He did not introduce any radical restrictions. He decided to separate the greatest rogues from the "healthy" part of the army. As Witold Bereś and Krzysztof Burnetko write in the book “Mgnienia. Tales from 1918-1920 ”:
[...] gathers the troublemakers from all divisions into one division only so that the Bolshevik plague - as he explains - does not spread over the entire army, and the general ostentatiously relinquishes command of this unit. […]
For Dowbor, such a unit is also a convenient way of sending political opponents. Among others, the poet, satirist, lieutenant Roman Wilkanowicz, and left-wing sailors from Białoszyński's company come here. Wilkanowicz becomes the chief of staff of that battalion.
All this is ruled by Lieutenant Colonel Feliks Józefowicz, a former tsarist officer, now nearly seventy years old. He loves to put everyone to the drill at dawn on the roll-call square and hit the rebellious with a big stick. He acquired such habits in the tsarist army.
Death Battalion
The unit consisted of 10 officers, 8 cadets, 94 non-commissioned officers and 395 privates, of whom three companies were formed. Although formally the commander was Lt. Józefowicz, it was in fact commanded by Lieutenant Jan Kalinowski. The unit received a banner with a silver and white thread embroidered with the inscription:"Volunteer Unit from the Grand Duchy of Poznań". They were dressed in the uniforms of the infantry of the Wielkopolska Army, and on the rims of their corners they pinned the corpse heads worn by the German assault troops during World War I.
The text is based on the latest book by Witold Bereś and Krzysztof Burnetko, “Mgnienia. Tales from the years 1918-1920 ″, published by the Municipal Publishing House of Posiania.
Dowbor-Muśnicki planned from the very beginning to send the unit outside Greater Poland. He was confirmed in the rightness of this plan during the oath that the soldiers were to take. On April 17, 1919, the battalion was assembled in Bernardyński Square. The content of the rota was prepared for this occasion, but the audience did not necessarily like it. In "Mgnienia. Tales from 1918-1920 ”you can read:
It is true that few rebels attach importance to the oath, but when there is a demand to obey the Supreme People's Council and General Dowbor-Muśnicki, there is silence. Soldiers only repeat that they will be faithful to their homeland. In fact, malicious shouts are here and there:
- We will not swear to Mrs. Kalamajska!
Pani Kałamajska is the mocking name of the National Democratic Party headquarters of the Supreme People's Council in the Department Store owned by the merchant Stefan Kałamajski (haberdashery and haberdashery!) at the square, which will be called Wilhelmowski until June.
In this situation, it was officially and for the sake of peace and quiet that the oath had taken place and the soldiers were packed onto the train.
Beat the Jew!
The Greater Poland armies and the 1st and 3rd Corps of the Blue Army, created in France, became famous for their anti-Semitism and numerous pogroms and murders. The National Democracy had considerable influence in both armies, so the extreme views of the soldiers and the command should not come as a surprise. Although officially the generals expressed the opinion that "every citizen of the Polish state, whatever his nationality or religion, should show appropriate respect and kindness", they turned a blind eye to all kinds of excesses, often defending the soldiers with the claim that "the entire Jewish proletariat supports the Bolsheviks" .
Although the "volunteers" from the battalion did not intend to swear allegiance to the Supreme People's Council, their views were quite similar to those of the majority in the Council. Ba! They even turned them into actions:
When they drive through Łódź, they cause anti-Semitic excesses and smash Jewish chackers. Because during the stop they went to a ham, where they drank so much alcohol and felt so bad that they accused the owner of trying to poison the soldiers and beat him badly.
The soldiers of Wielkopolska shared anti-Semitic views with their colleagues from the Blue Army (in the photo, Polish troops in France welcome General Józef Haller in July 1918.
Later, they repeatedly committed similar acts. Especially when they found themselves in the Vilnius Region. There they met allies in the form of soldiers from legionary regiments. After conquering the city, the legionaries brutally treated the inhabitants of the Mosaic faith. The hunt for Jews began. Witold Bereś and Krzysztof Burnetko quote a description of bloody lynchings:
For example, they break into an apartment rented by the literary critic Samuel Niger, editor of the Vilnius monthly Di Naje Velt (Nowy Świat), together with Leib Jaff and Josef Reiter, journalists of the Vilnius newspaper Lecte Najes. ”), And then they shoot Reiter without trial, and the other two are beaten and taken away in an unknown direction.
On the same day, April 19, soldiers dragged from the houses of Icchak Rubinstein, one of the highest rabbis of the city, and Dr. Cemach Szabad, the superior of the commune. Then, to the accompaniment of insults, spitting and nudging, also from ordinary, elegantly dressed townspeople, drove both Jews along the streets to the garden and announced that they would be shot . At the last moment, they were released thanks to the intervention of one of the officers. […]
The city was finally taken over after three days of street fighting in which 33 people were killed.
At that time, 65 Jews were also killed. Among them were four women and eight men in their 50s. Eight Jews were led three kilometers to the outskirts of Vilnius, where they were shot without any trial or investigation. Others were killed in their own homes.
Find out more:The price of independence. How many Poles died fighting for the borders of the Second Polish Republic?
Beat the Bolshevik!
Legionary divisions fought for Vilnius primarily with the regiments of the Western Rifle Division, composed of Poles supporting the revolution of the proletariat. The city was captured on April 21. The Reds, however, did not intend to give up and began preparations to regain the Lithuanian capital.
From April 25, two battalions of the 1st Legions Infantry Regiment defended the approaches to the city. In heavy battles near Niemierz and Fabjaniszki, the regiment suffered heavy losses:seven killed, 26 wounded and 16 missing. Before midnight on April 29, 1919, soldiers from Greater Poland changed the legionnaires on the front line. Soon after, at 2.30 am, the infantry of probably the Polish 5th Revolutionary Vilnius Regiment started their attack.
He has already manned the position near Shishkininkai, a small village near Vilnius. There are no machine guns, and the Russians will be able to push the Poles in the morning and they will reach the suburbs of Vilnius again, but the people of Poznań are fighting so hard and effectively that they delay the Bolshevik attack until reinforcements arrive from the city center. All these units will form a group that can already reject the Soviets, and Vilnius will be saved at the turn of April and May 1919.
Greater Poland insurgents.
Even less is known about the later fights of the Poznań death battalion. According to fragmentary information, he was subordinated to the 6th infantry regiment of the legions with which he fought at Mejszagołami and Malatow.
During the entire period of the fighting, the soldiers caused many problems. They committed theft, rape, drunkenness, lynching and desertion. The measure changed itself when, at the beginning of July 1919, one of the companies decided to go over to the Bolshevik side. The rebellion was suppressed, and on August 31, the unit was disbanded. The soldiers, escorted by the gendarmes, were sent back to Poznań. Most ended up in jail.
The sailors, incorporated by Dowbor-Muśnicki into the battalion due to left-wing views, and who had previously fought in the Greater Poland Uprising, volunteered to fight for Silesia. They took part in the Third Silesian Uprising, serving in the seamen's assault unit commanded by Lt. Robert Oszek. Their armored car "Korfanty" was decorated with images of skulls and crossbones, and a black flag was fluttering on the roof.
The text is based on the latest book by Witold Bereś and Krzysztof Burnetko, 'Mgnienia. Opowieści z lat 1918-1920 ”, published by the Municipal Publishing House Posienia.