The German Fifth Column in Poland (16 page)
Read The German Fifth Column in Poland Online
Authors: Aleksandra Miesak Rohde
A
t Chełmno, a town on the right bank of the Vistula and opposite Świecie, I saw ten of these individuals brought in to the
starosta
; three or four of them were carrying document cases of black moleskin. Once more they were minority Germans of the district who had been caught cutting telephone or telegraph wires or making signals to German aeroplanes, which flew over the district in groups and at such frequent intervals that there were not less than three air raid warnings in an hour and a half. While a search was being carried out at the houses of some of these minority Germans, detailed plans of the country had been discovered.
T
he
starosta
of Chełmno told me that a German aeroplane had been forced down at Toruń, and that its observer had been recognized as a “minority man” who had gone to Germany some months before to do military service. He believed that the same thing had occurred at Bydgoszcz, and he thought, apparently with good reason, that these two cases were not isolated. Naturally the roads which I had to take led at times past railway junctions, barracks, electric power stations, and farms occupying a strategic position. The German aeroplanes seemed to manoeuvre as though they were above a country which they knew well, and dropped their high explosives or incendiary bombs upon objectives so precisely that it is reasonable to suppose that the pilots knew the country or possessed very detailed maps.
D
uring the night of September 2 to 3 my car was rescued from a breakdown by the owner of a large farm in the environs of Lipno. He invited me to go and rest for a while at his farm. He told me that in the morning of September he had caught a minority German who lived in the area just as the man was trying to cut telephone wires, and that he had handed him over to the military authorities. So that individuals belonging to the German minority were not merely pursuing their malevolent tasks only in the zone of military operations. It is true that the German airmen turned even areas far removed from the front into scenes of destruction.
O
bviously I was not personally able to verify the majority of the facts cited above, but they have been related to me by people worthy of trust, who had sometimes been eyewitnesses. They may quite justly be regarded as the logical end and realization of the preparatory activity of “the times of peace.”
R. CHAULET.
WARSAW.
September 5, 1939.
[1]
Apart from the Geneva Convention relating to Upper Silesia, finally settled in 1922, and valid only for a period of fifteen years.
[2]
Polish White Book
(Hutchinson & Co.), pp. 20-21.
[3]
Ibid., p. 40
[4]
1 It may be added that whilst Dr. Goebbels' propaganda charged Poland at the beginning of the German occupation with having “murdered” 2,000 Germans in Western Poland, in the following months the figures gradually rose to 5,800, 32,000, 58,000, and in the spring of 1940, even to 65,000!
[5]
This little village of German colonists, hundreds of miles from German territory, kept its name throughout the period of Polish sovereignty.
[6]
Even the semi-official Italian
Popolo di Roma
of April 10, 1940, stresses that the military defeat of the Polish Army was contributed to by the activities of the German minority, co-operating with Gestapo agents and the German espionage. It would be difficult to find a more convincing testimony!
[7]
See Appendix One.
[8]
Hearing of this charge he returned after a time to defend his honour and was arrested by the Germans together with his wife and son, who was quite a youth. He was kept prisoner for some time and then had a pretence of a trial (by court martial, I believe). The charges mentioned were brought against him and upheld, although he produced evidence that he had strictly carried out official orders. He was condemned to death and finally shot after having been treated in a shameful and humiliating way, so that he constantly begged to have the judgment carried out immediately. The fate of his wife and son remained for some time doubtful. Just before leaving Bydgoszcz I was told that the wife had been released, but the son was still in prison. Another version was that he had been shot, but I never learned what had actually happened to him,
[9]
Deposition No. 512.
[10]
First-Class Soldier of Tank Division, R. J., Deposition No. 485.
[11]
Engineer K. P., Deposition No. 30.
[12]
J. P., Lieutenant, Deposition No. 31.
[13]
Father X.Y., Deposition No. 40.
[14]
Lieutenant J. S. of the cavalry brigade, Deposition No. 14.
[15]
F. A. (a foreigner), Deposition No. 51.
[16]
See Appendix One.
[17]
Statement No. 315.
[18]
Major J. Z., Deposition No. 4.
[19]
Lieutenant S. W., aide-de-camp to a commander in the Polish 7
th
Army Corps, Deposition No. 407.
[20]
Lieutenant D. M., Infantry Regiment, Deposition No. 281.
[21]
Private N. F., Deposition No. 80.
[22]
Lieutenant Colonel
G., of Army General Staff, Deposition No. 6.
[23]
Second Lieutenant Z., Deposition No. 7.
[24]
Lieutenant Colonel
G., on Staff of an Army Corps, Deposition No. 10.
[25]
Infantry Lieutenant K., attached to Divisional General Staff, Deposition No. 350.
[26]
Engineer Ch., from Łódź, Deposition No. 102.
[27]
Cavalry Captain R., Deposition No. 43.
[28]
I. R., Tenth Infantry Regiment, Deposition No. 21.
[29]
Sub-lieutenant T. T., Deposition No. 9.
[30]
Corporal S. Z., Deposition No. 2.
[31]
Lieutenant Colonel
G., attached to Army Staff, Deposition No. 305.
[32]
Lieutenant Colonel
R., of Army Staff, 2nd Bureau, Deposition No. 89.
[33]
Major L., Deposition No. 310.
[34]
Lieutenant of Infantry, B., Deposition No. 343.
[35]
Lieutenant of Infantry, B., attached to General Staff of 10
th
Army Corps, Deposition No. 377.
[36]
Second Lieutenant
of Cavalry, D., Deposition No. 11.
[37]
Depositions of Lieutenant Colonel C. and Second Lieutenant S.
[38]
Colonel S., Deposition No. 425.
[39]
M. Jean S., Deposition No. 71.
[40]
Colonel G., Deposition No. 500.
[41]
Cavalry Captain R., Deposition No. 494.
[42]
Infantry Major W., Deposition No. 450.
[43]
Reserve Lieutenant M., Deposition No. 104.
[44]
Lieutenant P., Deposition No. 18.
[45]
Major M., Deposition No. 87.
[46]
Lieutenant of Artillery, Battery Commander K., Deposition No. 39.
[47]
Captain S., attached to a Brigade Staff, Deposition No. 12.
[48]
Captain M., Deposition No. 497
[49]
Captain G., Deposition No. 280.
[50]
Second Lieutenant T. S., Light Artillery, Deposition No. 185.
[51]
Cavalry Captain R., attached to a Brigade Staff, Deposition No. 393.
[52]
Reserve Second Lieutenant R., Deposition No. 134.
[53]
Captain of Artillery, L. F., Deposition No. 236.
[54]
Cavalry Lieutenant I. A., 2nd Light Cavalry Regiment, Deposition No. 392.
[55]
Dr. G., Major, Deposition No. 107.
[56]
Captain M., attached to the staff of an operational group, Deposition No. 110.
[57]
Captain T. S., 45th Chasseurs Regiment, Deposition No. 334.
[58]
Infantry Major W., Deposition No. 29.
[59]
Lieutenant Z. Z., attached to staff of Infantry Division 14, Deposition No. 288.
[60]
Lieutenant Z., 1st Artillery Regiment, Deposition No. 410.
[61]
Lieutenant S., 27th Regiment of Lancers, Deposition No. 352.
[62]
Sub-lieutenant R. T., Deposition No. 499.
[63]
Sub-lieutenant N. 0., Deposition No. 273.
[64]
Lieutenant Colonel G., attached to Army General Staff, Deposition No. 203.
[65]
Lieutenant Colonel R., attached to Army General Staff, Deposition No. 24.
[66]
Sub-lieutenant J., Deposition No.25.
[67]
Captain A. E., 42nd Infantry Regiment, Deposition No. 412.
[68]
Artillery Captain Ch., Deposition No. 339.
[69]
Temporary Officer B. P., Platoon Commander, 60th Infantry Regiment, Deposition No. 468.
[70]
Pilot Second Lieutenant M. Z., Deposition No. 115.
[71]
Captain S. K., Pilot Observer, Deposition No. 257.
[72]
Infantry Sub-lieutenant A. F., Deposition No. 404.
[73]
Captain W. K., Police Inquiry Board at Puck, Deposition No. 413.
[74]
Lieutenant Colonel R., attached to Army General Staff, Deposition No. 24.
[75]
Lieutenant Colonel S., attached to Army General Staff, Deposition No. 59.
[76]
Lieutenant C., Deposition No. 83.
[77]
Sub-lieutenant of Artillery, H., Deposition No. 87.
[78]
Infantry Lieutenant B., attached to a Divisional Staff, Deposition No. 14.
[79]
Infantry Sub-lieutenant B., Deposition No. 108.
[80]
Cavalry Lieutenant Z., Deposition No. 414.
[81]
Second Lieutenant of Infantry, B., Deposition No. 213.
[82]
Cavalry Lieutenant W., Deposition No. 214.
[83]
Major (Dr.) J., Deposition No. 203,
[84]
Lieutenant G. D., Pomorze Cavalry Brigade, Deposition No. 69.
[85]
Second Lieutenant of Artillery, H., Deposition No. 60.
[86]
Infantry Second Lieutenant K., Deposition No. 130.
[87]
Reserve Sub-lieutenant C., Deposition No. 131.
[88]
Lieutenant Colonel P., attached to a Divisional General Staff, Deposition No. 36.
[89]
Sub-lieutenant W., in Military Police, Deposition No. 444.
[90]
Sub-lieutenant E. H. N., Deposition No. 207.
[91]
Lieutenant W. C., of 81st Armoured Group, Deposition No. 40.
[92]
Sub-lieutenant E. R, Deposition No. 433.
[93]
Second Li
eutenant of Infantry, S. F. C., Deposition No. 467.
[94]
E. H., Deposition No. 34.
[95]
Colonel R. D., Deposition No. 34.
[96]
Major S. F., Deposition No. 70.
[97]
F. C., Deposition No. 32.
[98]
T. W., Deposition No. 31.
[99]
Second Lieutenant of Cavalry, J. Z., Deposition No. 88.
[100]
Second Lieutenant of Infantry, R., Deposition No. 215.
[101]
Second Lieutenant of Infantry, J., Deposition No. 210.
[102]
Second Lieutenant of Infantry, Platoon Commander, Deposition No. 316.
[103]
Dr. J. B., Deposition No, 72.
[104]
Lieutenant Colonel K., attached to the Army General Staff, Deposition No. 109.
[105]
Major R., Deposition No. 118.
[106]
Engineer Ch. B., Deposition No. 91.
[107]
Lieutenant Colonel K., commanding an infantry regiment, Deposition No. 92.
[108]
Lieutenant Colonel G., attached to Army General Staff, Deposition No. 93.
[109]
Captain M., Deposition No. 94.
[110]
Captain K., Divisional General Staff, Deposition No. 105.
[111]
Lieutenant of Sappers, K., Deposition No. 106.
[112]
Lieutenant S., Deposition No. 12.
[113]
Lieutenant Colonel F., attached to Army General Staff, Deposition No. 13.
[114]
Lieutenant Colonel G., of Army General Staff, Deposition No. 54.
[115]
Reserve Second Lieutenant S., Deposition No. 15.
[116]
“Die unsagbaren Opfer die in dieser Provinz von allen bei Beginn des Krieges gebracht worden sind um wertvolles deutsches Volkstum ins Reich zuruckführen, bezeugen welchen Heldentums unser Volk in diesem Kriege fähig ist.” (Völkischer Beobachter.
December 3, 1939.)
