“Barwy Białe” on their Way to Aid Fighting Warsaw. The Crimes of the Home Army against the Jews
“Barwy Białe” on their Way to Aid Fighting Warsaw. The Crimes of the Home Army against the Jews
Author(s): Alina Skibińska, Jerzy MazurekSubject(s): History
Published by: Stowarzyszenie Centrum Badań nad Zagładą Żydów & IFiS PAN
Keywords: Jews; Home Army; the Kielce Region; the Opatów District; “Barwy Białe” detachment; the Radom-Kielce Sabotage Directorate (Kedyw); Goździelin; Lisów; Siekierno; Kazimierz Olchowik; “Zawisza;” 2nd “Pogoń” Division of the Home Army Legions; August decree
Summary/Abstract: The soldiers of “Barwy Białe” partisan detachment of the Home Army established in late 1943 in the Opatów District participated in at least several murders of Jews – the murders in Goździelin, Lisów and Siekierno forests are documented. The last crime was committed on 16 or 17 August 1944, when the detachment (at that time a part of the 2nd Infantry Division) was marching to aid fighting Warsaw (as part of Operation Tempest). While stationed in Siekierno, the detachment’s commanding officer Kazimierz Olchowik “Zawisza” issued an order to execute a large group of Jews (30–58 people) living in the nearby forest after their escape from a labor camp in Skarżysko-Kamienna. After World War II most participants of the murders were tried and punished. No punishment, however, was imposed on the detachment’s commanding officer Kazimierz Olchowik, nor the sergeant, who went by the alias of “Bolrok” – the two men chiefly responsible for the murder in the Siekierno forests.
Journal: Holocaust Studies and Materials
- Issue Year: 2013
- Issue No: 3
- Page Range: 433-480
- Page Count: 48
- Language: English
- Content File-PDF