The 2nd Legions Home Army Infantry Division “Pogon” (Polish: 2 Dywizja Piechoty Legionow AK "Pogon", 2 DP Leg. AK) was a unit of the Polish

Home Army The Home Army (, ; abbreviated AK) was the dominant resistance movement in German-occupied Poland during World War II. The Home Army was formed in February 1942 from the earlier Związek Walki Zbrojnej (Armed Resistance) established in the ...

(AK), created in 1944 in the Home Army District

Radom Radom is a city in east-central Poland, located approximately south of the capital, Warsaw. It is situated on the Mleczna River in the Masovian Voivodeship. Radom is the fifteenth-largest city in Poland and the second-largest in its province w ...

Kielce Kielce (; ) is a city in south-central Poland and the capital of the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship. In 2021, it had 192,468 inhabitants. The city is in the middle of the Świętokrzyskie Mountains (Holy Cross Mountains), on the banks of the Silnic ...

. Creation of the division was based on a September 1942 order of the AK headquarters, which stated that in the future

Operation Tempest file:Akcja_burza_1944.png, 210px, right Operation Tempest or Operation Burza (, sometimes referred to in English as "Operation Storm") was a series of uprisings conducted during World War II against occupying German forces by the Polish Home Arm ...

, the Home Army units were to be named after pre-September 1939 units of the

Polish Armed Forces The Armed Forces of the Republic of Poland (, ; abbreviated SZ RP), also called the Polish Armed Forces and popularly called in Poland (, roughly "the Polish Military"—abbreviated ''WP''), are the national Military, armed forces of the Poland, ...

. Therefore, the Second Legions Home Army Infantry Division was based on and named after the

2nd Legions Infantry Division Polish 2nd Legions Infantry Division (''2. Dywizja Piechoty Legionów'') was a tactical unit of the Polish Army between the World Wars. Formed on February 21, 1919, in the towns of Zegrze and Jablonna near Warsaw, and composed mostly of veterans of ...

, which until the

Invasion of Poland The invasion of Poland, also known as the September Campaign, Polish Campaign, and Polish Defensive War of 1939 (1 September – 6 October 1939), was a joint attack on the Second Polish Republic, Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany, the Slovak R ...

had its headquarters in Kielce.

Structure

The Division was commanded by Colonel Antoni Zolkiewski (

nom de guerre A ''nom de guerre'' (, 'war name') is a pseudonym chosen by someone to use when they are involved in a particular activity, especially fighting in a war. In Ancien régime, ''ancien régime'' Kingdom of France, France it would be adopted by each n ...

“Lin”), while his chief of staff was Captain Michal Mandziara “Siwy”. The Second Legions Home Army Infantry Division “Pogon” consisted of the following subunits: * 2nd Legions Infantry Regiment of the Home Army, under Major Antoni Wiktorowski “Kruk, * 3rd Legions Infantry Regiment of the Home Army, under Major Stanislaw Poreda “Swiatek”, * 4th Legions Infantry Regiment of the Home Army, under Major Jozef Wlodarczyk “Wyrwa”, * reconnaissance squadron, under

rittmeister Rittmaster () is usually a commissioned officer military rank used in a few armies, usually equivalent to Captain. Historically it has been used in Germany, Austria-Hungary, Scandinavia, and some other countries. A is typically in charge of a s ...

Karol Wickenhagen “Pobog”, * platoon of military police under Colonel Dionizy Medrzycki “Reder”, * divisional services.

Operation Tempest

In mid-August 1944, when the Division concentrated for the

, it had 3,075 soldiers, with 1,107 serving in the largest subunit, the 2nd Legions Infantry Regiment. On August 20, the Division, concentrated near

Przysucha Przysucha is a town in south-central Poland. Located in historic Lesser Poland, it is part of the Masovian Voivodeship, about southwest of Warsaw and west of Radom. It is the capital of Przysucha County, and the town 6,762 inhabitants (2004). ...

, set off towards

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

, to fight in the

Warsaw Uprising The Warsaw Uprising (; ), sometimes referred to as the August Uprising (), or the Battle of Warsaw, was a major World War II operation by the Polish resistance movement in World War II, Polish underground resistance to liberate Warsaw from ...

. Since this turned out to be impossible, as the route northwards was blocked by strong German units, on August 23 the Division headed towards Checiny, planning to capture

. On August 26, it fought the

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the German Army (1935–1945), ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmac ...

in the village of Dziebaldow. In September 1944, it took part in a number of skirmishes and battles. On October 8, 1944, following the order of headquarters of the Home Army District Radom - Kielce, the division was disbanded due to deteriorating general situation, shortage of food and autumn conditions. After this order, its subunits acted independently, fighting the Wehrmacht until late autumn 1944.

Murder of Jews

The "Wybraniecki" unit, commanded by Marian Sołtysiak ("Barabasz") which was part of the 4th Legions Infantry Regiment, murdered hiding Jews and their helpers on a number of occasions. In order to purge their own ranks of Jews in hiding, the unit examined the genitalia of members, executing on the basis of

circumcision Circumcision is a procedure that removes the foreskin from the human penis. In the most common form of the operation, the foreskin is extended with forceps, then a circumcision device may be placed, after which the foreskin is excised. T ...

.https://www.academia.edu/8619787/Barabasz_and_the_Jews?email_work_card=title Holocaust Studies and Materials, “Barabasz” and the Jews: From the history of the “Wybraniecki” Home Army Partisan Detachment, Alina Skibińska and Joanna Tokarska-Bakir

Structure

Operation Tempest

Murder of Jews

References

Further reading