Operation Arsenal
1943 escape of Jan Bytnar from Nazi German imprisonment / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Operation Arsenal (Polish: Akcja pod Arsenałem), code name: "Meksyk II", was the first major operation by the Gray Ranks, Polish Underground formation during the Nazi German occupation of Poland.[1] It took place on March 26, 1943 in Warsaw. Its name was coined after the Warsaw Arsenal, in front of which the action took place. The plan was to free the troop leader Jan Bytnar "Rudy", who was arrested together with his father by the Gestapo. The operation was executed by 28 scouts led by Warsaw Standard Commander Stanisław Broniewski "Orsza". The initiator and the commander of the "Attack Group" was Tadeusz Zawadzki "Zośka".[2]
You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in Polish. (December 2021) Click [show] for important translation instructions.
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Operation Arsenal | |||||||
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Part of World War II | |||||||
Długa Street where the Operation Arsenal took place | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Gray Ranks | Nazi Germany | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Stanisław Broniewski Tadeusz Zawadzki | Unknown, probably none | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
28 men | ~15-20 men | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
2 dead 1 captured (subsequently executed) 140 Polish and Jewish hostages killed in reprisal |
4 killed 9 wounded |
The successfully conducted operation led to the release of Jan Bytnar and 24 other prisoners, including another Storm Group troop leader, Henryk Ostrowski "Henryk", and 6 women, in an attack on the prison van that was taking the inmates from Pawiak Prison to Gestapo Headquarters at Szucha Avenue. Bytnar himself died four days later on account of injuries sustained due to German torture. Both of his interrogators, identified as Hubert Schulz and Ewald Lange, were assassinated by Szare Szeregi within two months.[3]
The Operation was presented in a 1978 Polish film Akcja pod Arsenałem[4] and in a 2014 Polish film Stones for the Rampart based on Aleksander Kamiński's novel of the same name.[5]