The Third Silesian Uprising

GAZETA WYBORCZA

Włodzimierz Kalicki May 2, 2005

At dawn, a strike paralyzes Upper Silesia. All industrial plants are at a standstill. The resolution on the strike and on the start of the third Silesian uprising at night was made the day before yesterday at a secret meeting of representatives of Polish political groups, trade unions, and the leadership of the military conspiracy. Wojciech Korfanty, the Polish plebiscite commissioner and undisputed leader of the Silesian Poles, secretly learned that day that the Inter-Allied Commission overseeing the plebiscite decided to allocate most of the disputed territories to Germany.

Factory sirens wail, church bells ring. Polish Silesians snatch yesterday’s issue of “Goniec Śląski,” the press organ of the Polish Plebiscite Commission, from each other’s hands. They furiously comment on the newspaper’s information about the resolution of German industrialists, who allegedly decided that if Upper Silesia was awarded to Poland, they would destroy all the factories and mines there.

Although the political decision to start the uprising was made at the meeting of the leadership of the civilian and military conspiracy the day before yesterday, although the sworn insurgents have been extracting weapons from hiding places for over 20 hours and secretly moving them to the concentration areas of the strike units, the formal order to start the armed struggle must be signed by Wojciech Korfanty. Late in the morning, Lieutenant Colonel Maciej Count Mielżyński, the chief commander of the military conspiracy in Silesia, leaves his office in the gloomy building of the Lomnitz Hotel in Bytom. The hotel houses the headquarters of the Polish Plebiscite Defense Command, and Polish politicians reside there. Lt. Col. Mielżyński carries a briefcase with the most important document in his long military career – the order to start the uprising. Following the colonel are the head of the insurgent staff Major Stanisław Rostworowski and the first operations officer Lt. Remigiusz Count Grocholski.

Lt. Col. Mielżyński, accompanied by officers, enters the spacious office of Wojciech Korfanty. Besides the host, he finds one of Korfanty’s friends and closest collaborators, lawyer Konstanty Wolny, there. For a long moment, the gentlemen consider how the political situation will change after the outbreak of the fighting. Finally, Lt. Col. Mielżyński opens the briefcase and hands the text of the order for signature. But the weight of responsibility unexpectedly paralyzes Korfanty. With a pen in hand, he freezes over the sheet of paper. Surprised, Lt. Col. Mielżyński, who knows very well that there is no turning back, orders Maj. Rostworowski and Lt. Grocholski to submit a detailed report on the preparations for the fight. Korfanty continues to stare, paralyzed, at the order sheet. The unbearable silence is broken by Konstanty Wolny: “Wojtek, since you said a, say b too!”

Korfanty signs. An hour later, he telegraphs to Prime Minister Wincenty Witos: “In view of the situation and the immense bitterness of the people, I am unable to fulfill my primary task any longer, namely maintaining order and peace in the plebiscite area. For this reason, I hereby resign from the office of plebiscite commissioner, emphasizing that any efforts to reverse my decision will be futile.” By resigning from the position authorized by Warsaw, Korfanty politically shields the authorities of the Republic.

But the Polish government wants to avoid armed confrontation at all costs. Politicians and military officials believe that the uprising is poorly prepared and that starting the fight risks intervention by the German army.

A phone call from Warsaw to the Lomnitz Hotel. Prime Minister Wincenty Witos conveys to Korfanty the official position taken by the government at today’s secret meeting: “The government categorically opposed the start of the uprising.” Korfanty, who has already overcome the moment of hesitation over the order sheet, firmly tells the Prime Minister that the uprising cannot be called off. He is not moved even by Witos’s argument that the head of state, Józef Piłsudski, is also against the fight.

Just before 7 p.m., Korfanty telegraphs Witos once again. He conveys the favorable information that the commander-in-chief of the inter-allied forces in Silesia, the French General Gratier, apparently has nothing against the armed action of the Poles. Besides, Korfanty asks for confirmation of his resignation from the position of plebiscite commissioner.

Korfanty’s telegram lands on the table where the ministers are deliberating. Arguments and disputes erupt frequently. Representing the National Workers’ Party, Jan Jankowski demands that the government support the armed action in Silesia, but the ministers ultimately adopt a resolution calling on Korfanty to prevent the uprising. Prime Minister Witos leaves for his office and calls Korfanty. “I am a slave to events,” he hears from him. Witos returns to the government meeting room. In this situation, the ministers vote to undertake a diplomatic action supporting the uprising.

And the insurgents are already gathering. Unsworn Silesians come with them, demanding weapons. In three or four hours, they will go into battle, but in many secret concentration points, the atmosphere resembles Sunday picnics. Volunteers light bonfires, sing songs. Officers struggle to impose military order.

Meanwhile, small sabotage groups of the Polish conspiracy’s Destruction Units Command begin Operation “Bridges.” The future of the uprising depends on its success. The goal is to destroy the bridges on the Oder and thus cut off the German forces on the right bank from supplies and support from deep within Germany. The key is the 200-meter-long bridge in Szczepanowice near Opole. The command of the operation in Szczepanowice is personally taken by the head of the Destruction Units, Captain Tadeusz Puszczyński “Wawelberg.” After dark, from under the floors of the Damboniów and Biasów barns, the saboteurs extract fuses, detonators, and 320 kg of powerful explosive material – melinite. Enough to blow up two granite, three-meter-thick bridge pillars.

But sapper Wiktor Wiechaczek unexpectedly discovers that the several-meter-long slow-burning Bickford fuse is almost entirely soaked. What to do? There is not enough fuse for two charges. “Wawelberg” decides that at least one pillar must be blown up, but properly, using all 320 kg of melinite. But how? An explosion of such a large amount of melinite initiated by a single detonator may scatter the mine before the entire explosive material is detonated. And then it will end not with the collapse of the span, but with a spectacular but harmless firework. Wiechaczek, a former German army sapper, constructs a special detonator on the spot in the barn. He places the entire supply of several hundred mercury fulminate detonators in a tin can and packs an additional 10 kg of melinite. It should work. There is only one problem – even the slightest jolt will cause the detonators and the detonator to explode.

“Wawelberg’s” unit sneaks towards the bridge in the dark. Everyone prays that Wiechaczek, carrying the detonator, does not trip or sneeze. A quarter of an hour before midnight, the saboteurs mine the central pillar of the bridge. They attach 50-kilogram boxes of melinite to it, and in the middle, Wiechaczek’s tin with mercury fulminate.

As Wiechaczek finishes attaching the dry section of the fuse in the dark, the phone rings on the desk of the commander of the insurgent forces, Col. Mielżyński. From Warsaw. Col. Bogusław Miedziński, on the orders of the Chief of the General Staff, Gen. Władysław Sikorski, tries to force the cancellation of the uprising.

“I am unable to stop the armed uprising,” replies Lt. Col. Mielżyński.

Under the bridge in Szczepanowice, Wiechaczek lights the fuse. At that moment, the patrol guarding the bridge raises the alarm. The Poles jump into the bushes. A moment of waiting and – nothing. Silence. “Wawelberg,” along with Wiechaczek and 18-year-old miner Herman Jurzyca, a participant in both previous uprisings, return to the pillar. Half a meter from the detonator, the fuse went out. “Wawelberg” and Wiechaczek withdraw, Jurzyca lights the fuse stub once more and runs as fast as he can. A powerful explosion. The large span majestically collapses to the ground.