“Barabasz” and the Jews. From the History of the “Wybraniecki” Detachment
Zagłada Żydów. Studia i Materiały, No. 7 (2011), pages: 63-122
Publication date: 2011-12-10
Abstract
The article demonstrates hitherto undescribed events from the history of the Home Army partisan detachment “Wybraniecki”, which was famous in the Kielce region. It was under command of the legendary Marian Sołtysiak (nom de guerre “Barabasz”), who was at the same time the commanding officer of the Kielce Home Army Sabotage Directorate [Kedyw]. Initially, the detachment was a seven-person strong sabotage group. In June 1943 it already had a few dozen members and was quartered in a forest camp. In spring 1944 it was transformed into a partisan detachment, which belonged to the 4th Infantry Regiment of the Home Army Legions and which participated in the Tempest Operation. The events described in the article took place between the fall of 1943 and spring of 1944, when the detachment’s squads quartered in a few separate places and met from time to time during the concentrations ordered by the commandant. At that time some Jews in hiding were murdered. Among those shot were: the group kept in hiding by the Pole Stefan Sawa (posthumously decorated with the Righteous among the Nations medal) in a cottage near Daleszyce, Michał Ferenc – Zajączków commune clerk, Roman Olizarowski “Pomsta” – a “Wybraniecki” detachment soldier, who was liquidated after the discovery of his Jewish origin, Izaak Grynbaum from Chęciny and about three Jews hiding in bunkers near Mosty. After the war the following people stood trial: Edward Skrobot, Józef Molenda, Władysław Dziewiór, Mieczysław Szumielewicz and Marian Sołtysiak. The authors reconstruct the facts of those executions, discuss the motivations of the perpetrators and analyze them against the background of the functioning of the underground judiciary, and call into question the validity of some of its sentences. They also discuss the methods and line of defense of the accused ex-partisans.
Keywords
Home Army, the Kielce Sabotage Directorate, the Kielce Region, Marian Sołtysiak “Barabasz,” “Wybranieccy,” Jews;, murders
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
Other articles by the same auhtor(s)
- Alina Skibińska, Jakub Petelewicz, Participation of Poles in crimes against Jews in the Świętokrzyski region , Zagłada Żydów. Studia i Materiały: No. 1 (2005)
- Alina Skibińska, Joanna Tokarska-Bakir, “Barabasz” and the Jews: From the history of the “Wybraniecki” Home Army Partisan Detachment , Zagłada Żydów. Studia i Materiały: No. Holocaust Studies and Materials (2013)
- Joanna Tokarska-Bakir, The Killing Compartments. On Jan Grabowski’s book, "Na posterunku. Udział polskiej policji granatowej i kryminalnej w zagładzie Żydów" , Zagłada Żydów. Studia i Materiały: No. 16 (2020)
- Alina Skibinska, Everyday Life of the Kozienice Jews under the German Occupation , Zagłada Żydów. Studia i Materiały: No. 3 (2007)
- Alina Skibinska, Dariusz Libionka, “I swear to fight for a free and mighty Poland, carry out the orders of my superiors, so help me God.” Jews in the Home Army. An episode ..) , Zagłada Żydów. Studia i Materiały: No. 4 (2008)
- Dariusz Libionka, Alina Skibińska, “I swear to fight for a free and mighty Poland, carry out the orders of my superiors, so help me God.”Jews in the Home Army. An Episode from Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski , Zagłada Żydów. Studia i Materiały: 2008: Holocaust Studies and Materials
- Joanna Tokarska-Bakir, The unrighteous righteous, the righteous unrighteous , Zagłada Żydów. Studia i Materiały: No. 4 (2008)
- Alina Skibinska, “People Said Horrible Things About What Was Happening There”. Two Holocaust Testimonies – Adam Ulrich’s from Zakrzówek and Stanisław Ż(Rz)emiński’s from Łuków , Zagłada Żydów. Studia i Materiały: No. 13 (2017)
- Joanna Tokarska-Bakir, Logic of Evasion. On the Protocol of Joseph Tenenbaum’s Audience with Primate August Hlond on 3 June 1946 , Zagłada Żydów. Studia i Materiały: No. 14 (2018)
- Alina Skibińska, Jerzy Mazurek, “Barwy Białe” on the Way to Help the Fighting Warsaw: Home Army Crimes against the Jews , Zagłada Żydów. Studia i Materiały: No. 7 (2011)