Battalion Zośka

Battalion Zośka

Battalion Zośka soldiers during the Warsaw Uprising 5 August 1944 in Gęsiówka. The men are dressed in stolen German uniforms and armed with confiscated German weapons. From left: Wojciech Omyła "Wojtek", Juliusz Bogdan Deczkowski "Laudański" and Tadeusz Milewski "Ćwik". Milewski was killed on the same day. Omyla was killed several days later on 8 August 1944.
Active 1944
Allegiance Polish Underground
Branch Armia Krajowa (Home Army)
Type Underground and urban warfare
Engagements Warsaw Uprising
Insignia
Emblem

Batalion Zośka (pronounced Zoshka; Sophie in Polish) was a Scouting battalion of the Polish resistance movement organisation - Home Army (Armia Krajowa or "AK") during World War II. It mainly consisted of members of the Szare Szeregi paramilitary Boy Scouts.[1] It was formed in late August 1943. A part of the Radosław Group, the battalion played a major role in the Warsaw Uprising of 1944.[2]

Zośka was named after Tadeusz Zawadzki, who used the name as his pseudonym during the AK's early days. He was killed during a partisan action.

Liberation of the concentration camp "Gęsiówka"

Zośka fighters liberated prisoners of the concentration camp Gęsiówka in the August 1944. The 383 able-bodied prisoners (including 348 Jews),[3] both men and women who were left in Gęsiówka to assist with the destruction of the evidence of mass murder, were rescued from certain death. Most of these survivors joined the Zośka unit and fought in the Warsaw uprising.[2]

Captured German Panther tank – armored platoon of batalion Zośka under command of Wacław Micuta 
Prisoners of Gęsiówka and the Zośka fighters after the liberation of the camp in August 1944 

Other famous Home Army battalions were: Miotła, Czata, Pięść, and Batalion Parasol. Between 1944 and 1956, all of the former members of Batalion Zośka were incarcerated in the Soviet NKVD prisons.[4]

Commanding officers during the Warsaw Uprising

Notable Battalion fighters

References

  1. ↑ Aleksander Kamiński: Zośka i Parasol : opowieść o niektórych ludziach i niektórych akcjach dwóch batalionów harcerskich. Warsaw: Iskry, 2009. ISBN 978-83-244-0091-1.
  2. 1 2 Batalion Zośka (Internet Archive) (Polish)
  3. ↑ "Pamiętniki żołnierzy baonu Zośka", Nasza Księgarnia, Warsaw 1986 ISBN 83-10-08703-9.
  4. ↑ Żołnierze Batalionu Armii Krajowej "Zośka" represjonowani w latach 1944-1956 ", Instytut Pamięci Narodowej, Warsaw 2008, ISBN 978-83-60464-92-2

Bibliography

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