The history of Przemyśl - part III.
During World War II Przemyśl found itself under a double occupation by the German and Soviet troops. From the very first days of September 1939, Przemyśl was attacked from the air. The air-raids culminated in the bombing of the town on 7 September, which resulted in the destruction of the Primary School for Girls in ulica Konarskiego, and on 8 September, which set fire to the shopping centre “Pasaż Gansa” in ulica Mickiewicza.
Road bridge across the San river after having been blown up, September 1939 - photograph from “Tysiąc lat Przemyśla”.
On 13 September 1939 General Kazimierz Sosnkowski arrived in Przemyśl, where he co-ordinated the preparations for the defence of the town, with which he subsequently charged Lieutenant Colonel Matuszek. After seizing the town on 15 September 1939, the Germans designated Władysław Baldini as town president and interned as hostages some of the councillors, town government officers and other Polish members of the local community. The authority over the town and the adjoining area was exercised by the Town Command headed by General Streccius. On 15 September, the Greek Catholic Bishop J. Kocyłowski and dr W. Zahajkiewicz were invited to the meeting with Adolf Hitler in the environs of Jarosław. Hitler arrived by plane, and the purpose of his visit was to explore the possibilities of appointing a Ukrainian government in the area east of the San river. On the same day, the Germans invited Wincenty Witos to attend the talks concerning the formation of the Polish government. Witos refused and on 16 September was interned in the building of the Court of Justice in Jarosław. On 22 September 1939 an official communiqué was issued which defined the San river as a demarcation line between the German and Soviet troops. On the 27 September in the district of Zasanie the Germans appointed new town authorities and designated as mayor dr Grzegorz Łuczakowski, a judge of Ukrainian nationality. At the same time they displaced Jews and Communists to the area across the river, and on 28 September they handed over the district east of the San river to the Soviet army. This situation continued until 28 June 1941, i.e. until the moment the German troops captured the Soviet occupation zone. When the town was under the Soviet occupation, on 29 September 1939, it was visited by the Communist officials, one of them being Nikita Khrushchev, then a member of the Wartime Council of the Ukrainian Front, who had a photograph of himself taken, with the destroyed bridge in the background.
West of the San river: A. Hitler in the environs of Przemyśl (15 September 1939) - photograph from the collection of the Instytut Kresów Wschodnich w Przemyślu.
East of the San river: N. Khrushchev in Przemyśl (29 September 1939) - photograph from the collection of the Instytut Kresów Wschodnich w Przemyślu.
From the very beginning of the war the town’s population suffered losses. As early as 28 September 1939, in the district of Zielonka German soldiers killed Wojciech Machała and his daughter, as they would not reveal where some Polish soldiers had hidden. On 28 September Ukrainian nationalists committed their first genocidal crimes on the Polish population: a forester, Stanisław Wojtowicz, and his son were killed and his lodge in Kruhel Wielki was burnt down. Polish soldiers, withdrawing individually or in small groups, were also attacked by Ukrainian nationalists, an example being the incident in the village of Buszkowice, where five Polish soldiers were killed. Under the Soviet occupation, a St Felicia nun, sister Maria Mazur was arrested by the NKVD on 30 June 1940 because she had given help to the men crossing the river to travel West and join the Polish army units, which were being formed there. On 20 June 1942 one thousand men were transported to the forced labour camp in Janów, near Lwów, this being the beginning of the mass extermination of the Jewish population by the Germans. On 15 July 1942 a Jewish ghetto was formed in Przemyśl; it was subsequently closed, following which further extermination continued. The progressing annihilation of the Jewish population by the Germans was met with help given to the Jews by the Roman Catholics. The German authorities were approached by the representatives of Ordinary Bishop, Franciszek Barda, attempting to intervene. From July 1942 to July 1944 assistance to Jews was provided secretly by Polish underground organisations. The District Command of the Home Army, the District Representation of the Government and, from September 1943, the local representation of the “Żegota” Regional Council for the Assistance to Jews, all provided false identity cards and food, assisted individual people and institutions giving shelter to Jews and protected them against informers. However, the main contribution to the saving of the Jews was made by individual people and religious orders. This can be illustrated by the Polish families of: Piotr Janowski, who sheltered 18 Jewish people, Józef Wojdylak (9 people) or Edward Saluk (8 people); sisters of the Order of Sacred Heart shielded 12 people. This activity was often dearly paid for not only by adults but also by children. Sources quote an example of a Polish family of eight, all of whom were shot for sheltering one Jewish child. During the first public execution in Przemyśl, which took place on 6 September 1943, Michał Kruk and several other people were executed for the assistance they had rendered to the Jews. Altogether, in the town and its closest environs 415 Jews (these including 60 children) were saved, in return for which the Germans killed 568 people of Polish nationality.
Przemyśl: view of the destroyed tenement houses near ulica Jagiellońska - photograph from the collection of the Instytut Kresów Wschodnich w Przemyślu.
Przemyśl : ulica Kopernika - execution of Michał Kruk and several other people, performed by the Germans as punishment for aiding the Jews - photograph from the collection of Instytut Kresów Wschodnich w Przemyślu.
Alongside the German and Soviet administrations, there existed an underground structure of Polish authorities. Under the Soviet occupation the District Command of the Armed Combat Union was established, while in the German occupation zone first the District Command of the Service to Poland’s Victory was set up, which was transformed in 1940 into the District Command of the Armed Combat Union and, in 1942, in the District Command of the Home Army subordinated to the Regional headquarters in Cracow. In 1943 the civil administration was reconstructed and it functioned in the form of the District and Town Representative of the Government of the Republic of Poland for Przemyśl.Alongside the German and Soviet administrations, there existed an underground structure of Polish authorities. Under the Soviet occupation the District Command of the Armed Combat Union was established, while in the German occupation zone first the District Command of the Service to Poland’s Victory was set up, which was transformed in 1940 into the District Command of the Armed Combat Union and, in 1942, in the District Command of the Home Army subordinated to the Regional headquarters in Cracow. In 1943 the civil administration was reconstructed and it functioned in the form of the District and Town Representative of the Government of the Republic of Poland for Przemyśl. Przemyśl had never laid down its arms and from the beginning of the German occupation, the town’s population, particularly the young people, continued the fight. Besides the organisations already mentioned, there also existed: the “Grey Hosts” Scouting Units, Students’ Independent Secret Organisation, Peasant Battalions and the “Kedyw” sabotage units of the Home Army. Many of the town’s citizens fought on other battlefields, outside Poland. These included the soldiers of the units formed in the West as well as of the 2nd Polish Corps and of the 1st and 2nd Armies of the Polish People’s Army established in the Soviet Union. A citizen of Przemyśl, 2nd Lieutenant Kazimierz Gurbiel commanded the patrol which first reached the top of Monte Cassino on 18 May 1944. Likewise, platoon leader Kazimierz Grzejek was among the first Polish soldiers to reach the coast of the Baltic Sea on 8 march 1945.
Destroyed area in ulica Jagiellońska (currently a vacant space) and a wooden bridge built by the Germans - photograph from the collection of the Instytut Kresów Wschodnich w Przemyślu.
Roman Catholic Cathedral on fire, June 1941 - photograph from the collection of the Instytut Kresów Wschodnich w Przemyślu.
Przemyśl, ulica Słowackiego, under the German occupation - photograph from the collection of the Instytut Kresów Wschodnich w Przemyślu.
Przemyśl, ulica Franciszkańska, June 1941- photograph from the collection of the Instytut Kresów Wschodnich w Przemyślu.
For several days in July 1944 in the area of Przemyśl the German and Soviet troops engaged, following which the Germans left the town. At the beginning of 1945 the town had the population of 28,144 these including:
22 173 Roman Catholics (78,8%)
5 372 Greek Catholics (19,1%)
415 Jews (1,5%)
284 representatives of other denominations (0,6%).
The war sill going on in the west of the country, the Ukrainian Uprising Army (“UPA”) launched an attack on the town and killed the wounded soldiers and sick civilians in the hospital in ulica Słowackiego. On 30 May 1945 Soviet soldiers killed a priest, Jan Dolata and Ludwik Cienciała on the precincts of the Salesian church. Altogether, during World War II Przemyśl lost 35,188 lives (57%). This pushed the development of the town backward by half a century. It took 38 years to make up for these losses and the town’s population reached the same number as before the war only in 1983. The lives lost during the war included 17,961 Jews and 17,227 Poles. The policies exercised by the Germans and the Soviets involved the extermination of the local population and replacing it with the foreign element. Within 2 years the Soviets exterminated 11,562 inhabitants of Przemyśl of Polish nationality and replaced them with 4,852 Soviets. On the other hand, within 5 years the Germans displaced and murdered 5,665 Poles and almost the entire local Jewish population, simultaneously implanting here 2,035 Germans. The local intelligentsia of Polish nationality was most severely affected under the Soviet occupation. Among the exterminated were: Lieutenant Colonel Jan Matuszek, who had commanded the defence of the town in 1939 and was subsequently interned, Colonel Jan Bokszczanin, commander of the 10th Regiment of Heavy Artillery, Lieutenant Colonel Mieczysław Sokół-Szachin, commandant of the town, Lieutenant Colonel Father Józef Panaś, retired dean of the 10th Corps Command and a participant of the defence of Przemyśl in 1918, major Father Stanisław Kontek, chaplain of the Przemyśl garrison, and approximately 150 other officers of the Przemyśl garrison. Besides army officers, the exterminated also included Civil Servants: District Governor Adam Remiszewski, the last President of the town Władysław Baldini and magistrates and justices of the Regional Court. Among other intellectuals annihilated by the Soviets were a distinguished scientist, dr Walery Kramarz, and an industrialist and publisher, Tadeusz Bystrzycki. During the war 1,568 buildings (40%) were destroyed, some of which were of historical value (e.g. the Roman Catholic Cathedral, Benedictine Sisters’ Convent, the old synagogue from the 16th century); damage was also inflicted on factories and monuments.
The character of the town changed distinctly: what had been an economic, administrative and cultural centre became a small borderland town. A noticeable change, especially in the fields of housing and population development, occurred after 1975, when Przemyśl became the seat of province authorities.
Designed by: © P.Jaroszczak - Przemyśl 2000