Jan Kryst (6 April 1922 – 22 May 1943) was a Polish

scout Scout may refer to: Youth movement *Scout (Scouting), a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement ** Scouts (The Scout Association), section for 10-14 year olds in the United Kingdom ** Scouts BSA, sect ...

and a member of the Polish anti-Nazi resistance. He fought for the

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 ...

and volunteered for a revenge attack at the

Café Adria Café Adria was an entertainment complex and nightclub in Warsaw, which included an American bar, café, dance hall, restaurant and winter garden. It started operating in 1930 and during the 1930s it was also used as a location for filmmaking ...

where he fatally shot several members of the

Gestapo The (, ), Syllabic abbreviation, abbreviated Gestapo (), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of F ...

before being killed himself.

Biography

Kryst was born in Modlin, Poland, and raised in Warsaw's

Wola Wola () is a district in western Warsaw, Poland. An industrial area with traditions reaching back to the early 19th century, it underwent a transformation into a major financial district, featuring various landmarks and some of the tallest offi ...

district. His father was a worker and a member of the Fighting Organization of the

Polish Socialist Party The Polish Socialist Party (, PPS) is a democratic socialist political party in Poland. It was one of the most significant parties in Poland from its founding in 1892 until its forced merger with the communist Polish Workers' Party to form ...

. Kryst graduated from a technical school before the war. He was also a member of the

Polish Scouting Association The Polish Scouting and Guiding Association (, ZHP) is the coeducational Polish Scouting organization recognized by the World Organization of the Scout Movement and the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts. It was founded in 1918 an ...

. In September 1939, Kryst participated as a volunteer in the defense of Warsaw. During the

German occupation German-occupied Europe, or Nazi-occupied Europe, refers to the sovereign countries of Europe which were wholly or partly militarily occupied and civil-occupied, including puppet states, by the (armed forces) and the government of Nazi Germany at ...

, he joined the Home Army (AK) as a soldier of the Wola Subdistrict, and was a member of 304 platoon. In 1943, he learned that he would soon die of

pulmonary tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

, which he had been suffering from for a long time. In view of this, he approached Captain "Chuchro" – the commander of the Warsaw District

Kedyw ''Kedyw'' (, partial acronym of ''Kierownictwo Dywersji'' ("Directorate of Sabotage") was a Polish resistance movement in World War II, Polish World War II Home Army unit that conducted active and passive sabotage, propaganda and armed operations ...

– with a request to order an action for him, even one in which he would have no chance of survival. "Chuchro" ordered Kryst to carry out an assassination on 22 May on

officers at the

, on Moniuszki Street 10, which was restricted to Germans. At the time, the Kedyw in Warsaw was carrying out a series of assassinations of German Gestapo and SS henchmen in revenge for the torture of Polish prisoners. On the same day, another Kedyw fighter, Andrzej Góral "Tomasz", carried out a successful assassination on Ewald Lange in front of the Apollo cinema on

Three Crosses Square Three Crosses Square ( ), also known as Triple Cross Square, is an urban square and a road junction in the central district of Warsaw, Poland. It lies on the Royal Route and links Nowy Świat (New World) Street, to the north, with Ujazdów A ...

. Kryst arrived at the restaurant in the evening around 7:00 p.m. Two Home Army men were there for the purpose of covering his retreat: Jerzy Tabęcki "Lasso" and anonymous "Blondyn". When the lights in the room went out before the musical performance, Kryst fired at five Gestapo officers sitting at one table. He then retreated toward the exit while shooting at the surrounding Germans. One of them came up behind him and hit him in the back with a chair. Kryst lost his balance and was lynched by the Germans. More Gestapo arrived on the scene and held the Polish employees of Adria hostage until 5 a.m. After a brief investigation, Kryst was recognized as a Jewish fugitive from the ghetto. No direct repression was undertaken, although historian mentions that Kryst's friend Stanisław Czarnota was arrested in direct relation to the Adria assault. The AK later reported that Kryst managed to kill a captain and two Gestapo lieutenants. According to a German memo, two Gestapo officials, a corporal and a wounded SS man were shot dead. In 2023, historian Wojciech Königsberg established the names of the Germans killed by Kryst. They were Kriegsverwaltungs-Inspektor (War Administration Inspector) Karl Thüring (born 6 December 1904 in

Wiesbaden Wiesbaden (; ) is the capital of the German state of Hesse, and the second-largest Hessian city after Frankfurt am Main. With around 283,000 inhabitants, it is List of cities in Germany by population, Germany's 24th-largest city. Wiesbaden form ...

), Zahlmeister (Paymaster) Heinz Grünberg (born 10 July 1902 in

Magdeburg Magdeburg (; ) is the Capital city, capital of the Germany, German States of Germany, state Saxony-Anhalt. The city is on the Elbe river. Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor, Otto I, the first Holy Roman Emperor and founder of the Archbishopric of Mag ...

) and Obergefreiter (Senior Corporal) of Artillery Josef Kohlbauer (born 31 July 1921 in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

). SS-Hauptsturmführer (Captain) Otto Söldner (born 4 June 1895 in ) died in Germany several weeks later, on 9 July 1943, as a result of the wounds he had sustained.

Commemoration

Jan Kryst's action was made public by the

Polish Underground The Polish Underground State (, also known as the Polish Secret State) was a single political and military entity formed by the union of resistance organizations in occupied Poland that were loyal to the Government of the Republic of Poland ...

. In the " Information Bulletin" the following information appeared: In 1943, the

Bureau of Information and Propaganda The Bureau of Information and Propaganda of the Headquarters of Związek Walki Zbrojnej, later of Armia Krajowa ( - in short: ''BIP''), a conspiracy department created in spring 1940 during the German occupation of Poland, inside the Związek Wa ...

of the

Headquarters published a book by , entitled ''Polska karząca'' (), which was dedicated to Kryst. During 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 ...

on 8 August 1944, a plaque was unveiled in Adria dedicated to "Alan". In 1961, one of the streets in Warsaw's Wola district was named after Jan Kryst. In 1995, a plaque commemorating Kryst's action was unveiled on the building that used to house

. The émigré poet Kazimierz Wierzyński mentioned Kryst in his poem dedicated to the dissolution of the Home Army:

References

Bibliography

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kryst, Jan Military personnel from Warsaw People from Nowy Dwór Mazowiecki County Home Army members Polish Scouts and Guides 1922 births 1943 deaths Polish September Campaign participants Polish artisans Resistance members killed by Nazi Germany Polish military personnel killed in World War II