Wawelberg Group
2 The Group
German train derailed by the Poles at Kdzierzyn-Kole
The Wawelberg Group (Polish: Grupa Wawelberg),
also known as the Konrad Wawelberg Destruction
Group (Polish: Grupa Destrukcyjna Konrada Wawelber-
ga), was a Polish special-forces unit. The group began the
Third Silesian Uprising on May 2/3, 1921 by blowing up
seven rail bridges linking Upper Silesia with the rest of
Germany.
1 Origins
The Wawelberg Group was organized by the Polish Gen-
eral Sta's Section II (Intelligence) as the Destruction
Oce in the waning days of 1920 (see History of Pol-
ish intelligence services[1] ) as rumors ew that the Inter-
Allied Plebiscite Commission would grant almost all of
Upper Silesia to Germany. Prompted by the rumors, the
Polish Military Organization of Upper Silesia, which ac-
tively cooperated with the Polish Army, had begun form-
ing a small, highly specialized unit which would come to
be called the Wawelberg Group.
The Destruction Oce took the Wawelberg name from
the nom de guerre of its commander, Captain Tadeusz
Puszczyski Konrad Wawelberg.[2] Puszczyski was
a graduate of the Warsaw Polytechnic and had served in
the World War I Polish Legions[3] and in the Polish Mil-
itary Organization. He had also participated in the 1920
Second Silesian Uprising. His crucial task was to nd
the right people and carry out acts of sabotage in the rear
of the German positions. All the men in the Wawelberg
Group had to be skilled combat engineers with extensive
knowledge of explosives.
The Groups deputy commander was Lt. Edmund Cha-
raszkiewicz. Puszczyski recruited, from among his
soldiers, two ocer cadets (podchory), the brothers
Tadeusz and Janusz Meissner. All four men would later
be decorated with the Virtuti Militari,[4][5] 5th class, on
June 27, 1922.[6] Puszczyski divided his men into four
teams A, G, U and N. These designations came from
the initial letters of the Polish phrase Akcja Gwna
Unieruchomienia Niemcw (Main Operation to Immo-
bilize the Germans).[7] All the agents were armed, wore
civilian clothes, and were provided with money.[5]
The men of the Wawelberg Group knew that, to over-
come German military superiority in the area, they had
to cut the rail and telegraph links between Upper Silesia
and Germany. Therefore the teams were deployed about
the western part of Upper Silesia, ready to attack. Team
G, 13 men commanded by Lt. Wodzimierz Dbrowski,
was deployed near Gogolin and ordered to watch the rail
line between Krapkowice and Prudnik.[7] Team U, 10
men commanded by Lt. Edmund Charaszkiewicz, was
deployed on the border between Gubczyce and Prud-
nik counties, to keep an eye on the rail lines Gogwek
Racawice lskie Prudnik, and Gubczyce Racaw-
ice lskie.[7]
Puszczyski Wawelberg himself, with a small
team (including former German Army sapper Wiktor
Wiechaczek and miner and explosives expert Herman Ju-
rzyca), deployed in the deep rear of the German positions,
at the village of Szczepanowice (German: Sczepanowitz),
some ve kilometers west of Opole (since 1936, it is a
district of Opole). Their task was to blow up the crucial
200-meter-long Oder River rail bridge.[8]
3 Operation Bridges
The Poles plan, Akcja Mosty (Operation Bridges),
was implemented on the night of May 2/3, 1921.[8]
Puszczyski and his men, equipped with some 320 kilo-
grams of explosives, after initial diculties managed to
destroy a span of the Szczepanowice bridge. The other
groups also succeeded in their objectives. Altogether
the Poles managed to destroy seven rail bridges at such
places as Szczepanowice, Kluczbork, Kdzierzyn-Kole,
Gogwek and witochowice.[9]
The blowing up of the bridges initiated the Third Silesian
1
2 8 EXTERNAL LINKS

Uprising, the greatest and best-organized of the three. 7 References

The Germans, taken by surprise, needed time to re-
pair their severed communications and to transport their
troops, and the Poles took advantage of the situation.
All the major rail lines leading to Upper Silesia (such
as the Wroclaw Opole Katowice, and the Nysa
Kdzierzyn-Kole) had been immobilized. Two German
military rail transports had also been destroyed.[7]
4 Aftermath
After the operation, most of the Polish agents managed
to withdraw to Sosnowiec, which due to its proximity to
the border was the main base of Polish operations.[5] The
Germans captured an unknown number of the men who
had blown up the bridge at the village of Dobra; they were
imprisoned for a few weeks at Opole.[7] Also caught, near
Gubczyce, were two Poles who were trying to make their
way to Czechoslovakia, but the Germans did not know
their identity and released them.[7]
The Germans announced, in the June 18, 1921 Amts-Blatt
der Kniglichen Regierung zu Oppeln (Ocial Gazette of
the Opole District), a reward of 10,000 Reichsmarks for
information about the perpetrators of the attacks.
5 See also
Janusz Meissner, Wspomnienia pilota - Jak dzi
pamitam (Memoirs of a Pilot: As I Remember It
Today), vol. 1, Krakw, Wydawnictwo Literackie,
1985.
Ks. dr Zygmunt Nabzdyk, "Plebiscyt i Trzecie Pow-
stanie lskie na ziemi prudnickiej", Ziemia Prud-
nicka magazine, 2001.
Mieczysaw Wrzosek, Powstacze dziaania zbrojne
w 1921 w opolskiej czci Grnego lska, Instytut
lski w Opolu, Opole, 1981.
Zyta Zarzycka, Polskie dziaania specjalne na
Grnym lsku, 1919-1921, Warszawa, MON,
1989.
Encyklopedia powsta lskich, Instytut lski w
Opolu, Opole, 1982.
Zdzislaw P. Wesolowski, The Order of the Virtuti
Militari and Its Cavaliers, 17921992, Miami, Hall-
mark Press, 1992, ISBN 0-934527-00-9.
8 External links
Photograph of the destroyed bridge in Szczepanow-
ice

Upper Silesia plebiscite Another photo of the Szczepanowice bridge

Tadeusz Puszczyski

Edmund Charaszkiewicz

Janusz Meissner

6 Notes
[1] (Polish)

[2] (Polish)

[3] (Polish)

[4] Index of Surnames Polish Order of the Virtuti Militari Re-

cipients (1792-1992) (English)

[5] (Polish)

[6] Wesolowski, pp. 231, 296, 319.

[7] (Polish)

[8] (Polish)

[9] (Polish)
 3

9 Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

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Wawelberg Group Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wawelberg_Group?oldid=774278572 Contributors: Matthead, MistToys, Pi-
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