The disbandment of Osa–Kosa 30 refers to the arrest by the Gestapo of dozens of soldiers from the Organization of Special Combat Actions (Osa–Kosa 30), who had gathered on 5 June 1943 for the wedding of a comrade in Warsaw's St. Alexander's Church. On 12 July 1943, the chief of staff of Osa–Kosa 30, Lieutenant , codenamed Wiktor, who had attempted to reconstruct the unit, was also arrested. These events forced the command of the Home Army to dissolve the unit.
The arrested soldiers were either killed or disappeared without a trace. The breakup of Osa–Kosa 30 was one of the most devastating blows dealt to the Polish Underground State by the German security apparatus. The identity of the informant who enabled the Gestapo to infiltrate the unit remains unresolved to this day.
Origins
Established in May 1942, the Organization of Special Combat Actions (Osa) was a task force under the command of the Chief Commander of the Home Army, executing combat operations on his direct orders. Its area of operation encompassed the entire General Government and, since December 1942, also included pre-war German territories and Polish lands annexed to the Reich. Osa was entrusted with tasks of special significance, such as the elimination of high-ranking Nazi dignitaries and particularly cruel representatives of the occupying apparatus, as well as conducting "major diversion" operations. For this reason, the unit employed extensive means of secrecy and remained separate from other structures of the Home Army.
At the beginning of 1943, Osa was incorporated into the structures of Kedyw, and its name was simultaneously changed to Kosa 30.In Polish historiography, the unit is usually referred to by the dual name Osa–Kosa 30 (). However, the unit retained its existing structure, nearly unchanged personnel composition, and a high degree of autonomy.
Osa–Kosa 30 existed for over a year. During this period, its soldiers conducted a series of combat actions in the areas of the General Government and the Third Reich. One of these was an unsuccessful attempt to assassinate on 20 April 1943 in Kraków the Higher SS and Police Leader, SS-Obergruppenführer Friedrich-Wilhelm Krüger, as well as bomb attacks in Berlin and Wrocław.
"Bust" in St. Alexander's Church
On Saturday, 5 June 1943, at 12:00 PM, a wedding took place at St. Alexander's Church in Warsaw's Three Crosses Square for Lieutenant , codenamed Marynarz, an officer of Osa–Kosa 30, using the cover name Ludwik Raczyński,Lieutenant of the Polish Navy Mieczysław Uniejewski, codenames Matros, Marynarz, Bogusław Marynarz, fought in the September campaign, after which he ended up in German captivity. In May 1942, he escaped from Oflag II-C. He then joined the ranks of Osa–Kosa 30, taking command of one of the three patrols in its Warsaw unit (). and Teofila Suchanek, the sister of a soldier from this unit (daughter of the painter ). Approximately 25 soldiers from the unit attended the ceremony, including Lieutenant Jan Papieski, codenamed Jerzy (first deputy commander), Aleksandra Sokal, codenamed Władka (staff liaison), as well as Andrzej Jankowski, codenamed Jędrek, and Tadeusz Battek, codenamed Góral (soldiers from the Kraków center,The Organization of Special Combat Actions was divided into three centers/combat teams: the Warsaw team, the Kraków team, and the Zagra-Lin team, which conducted sabotage operations in the territory of the Third Reich (). participants in the assassination attempt on Krüger). Relatives of the couple, civilian wedding guests, and a large group of onlookers were also present.
The participation of so many soldiers in the ceremony represented a severe violation of basic conspiracy principles. Many years after the war, it emerged that even the boys from the church choir were aware that an "important person from the underground" would be at the wedding. Nevertheless, the commander of Osa–Kosa 30, Colonel , codenamed Philips, approved the organization of the event. As a result, on June 5, only a few members of the unit were absent from the church.Among those absent were: Lieutenant Colonel , codenamed Philips (commander), Lieutenant , codenamed Wiktor (chief of staff, second deputy commander), Second Lieutenant , codenamed Jurek (commander of the Warsaw center), Lieutenant , codenamed Felek (commander of the Kraków center), Lieutenant , codenamed Rayski (head of the intelligence unit) along with his liaison Irena Klimesz, codenamed Bogna, and Stanisław Gustaw Jaster, codenamed Hel. All members of the Zagra-Lin team also avoided arrest (; ).
At the end of the ceremony, after the couple had moved away from the altar, the Germans surrounded the church with significant forces, and according to some sources, they also surrounded Three Crosses Square and the entrances to nearby streets. The newlyweds were detained in the sacristy, and the other guests were called to exit the temple, where waiting trucks had already been prepared. The surprised soldiers of Osa–Kosa 30 did not resist. The enemy's advantage was too great, and moreover, it could not be ruled out that the wedding guests were victims of a random roundup, which had become a daily occurrence in occupied Warsaw and did not spare churches either. Many conspirators had well-forged documents, so they might have hoped to escape from the Germans.
A total of 89 people were detained. Two members of the unit, Stefan Smarzyński, codenamed Balon, and Antoni Suchanek, codenamed Andrzejek (the bride's brother), avoided arrest by leaving the church just before the ceremony began to buy photographic film. According to some sources, several unidentified individuals reportedly hid in the church's basement and near the coffin and catafalque in the corner after the Germans burst in.
The detained newlyweds and the entire wedding party were taken directly to Pawiak. There, the Germans conducted a quick selection, after which 33 individuals were released, deemed not to be connected to the underground (mainly older individuals and mothers with small children). The remaining 56 detainees were placed in cells.
Shortly afterward, events occurred that revealed the Gestapo's operation was not random. – a prisoner and chronicler of Pawiak – recalled that after a few days, some of the prisoners arrested at St. Alexander's Church were successively taken to the prison yard. At the same time, a man hiding behind a window frame was waiting in the interrogation room. This man, "of average height, slim, with dark skin and dark hair", pointed out to the Germans individuals connected to the underground.One of the arrested soldiers of Osa–Kosa 30, Andrzej Komierowski, codenamed Andrzej, described these events somewhat differently. In a message sent from Pawiak, he informed that during the confrontation, the informant was in one of the side rooms and remained hidden behind a frosted glass door. Andrzej had no doubts that the traitor knew the members of the unit well (). In a letter sent in 1971 to the magazine Polityka, Leon Wanat, however, questioned the information contained in the message, pointing out, among other things, that the interrogation room was isolated from other prison spaces and that there were no glass doors at Pawiak (). Following this identification, another group of detainees was released.
Additional information about the events was provided in a report dated 9 June 1943 prepared for SS-Obergruppenführer Krüger. It revealed that the aim of the German operation was not so much to eliminate Osa–Kosa 30 as to capture those responsible for the assassination attempts on Krüger and the Berlin Friedrichstraße station. German intelligence had previously obtained information that on June 5 at 12:00 PM, a wedding would take place at St. Alexander's Church involving important figures from the Polish underground, including the perpetrators of the mentioned actions., who did not have access to this report, hypothesized that the encirclement of the St. Alexander's Church by the Germans was improvised, possibly initiated by an informant who recognized one or more persons sought by the security police among the wedding guests. The report did not disclose the informant's identity, only stating that he was connected to those arrested and was secretly brought to Pawiak, where, during the confrontation, he identified three individuals: Mieczysław Uniejewski, Aleksandra Sokal, and Krystyna Milli, codenamed Krysia. Additionally, a notebook was found with the last individual, the entries of which led the Germans to Tadeusz Battek. A counterintelligence operation was launched against him, utilizing the fact that his father was in a German prisoner of war camp. Similar actions were also taken against the other perpetrator of the assassination attempt on Krüger, Andrzej Jankowski; in this case, however, they played on his radically anti-communist beliefs. Ultimately, the Gestapo's efforts were completely successful – both young soldiers revealed all their underground connections to the Germans.
The arrest of the wedding participants reverberated throughout occupied Warsaw.
Arrest of Wiktor
The security breach at St. Alexander's Church resulted in the dismantling of the Warsaw unit of Osa–Kosa 30. However, Lieutenant , codenamed Wiktor, chief of the unit's inner staff, made an attempt to rebuild it based on soldiers who had managed to avoid arrest.
On 12 July 1943, Wiktor arranged a meeting with one of the surviving soldiers, Stanisław Gustaw Jaster, codenamed Hel. The meeting took place around 6:00 PM near the corner of and streets. At some point, a German police car pulled up to where Wiktor and Hel were talking. Both Poles were dragged into the vehicle, which immediately sped off in the direction of the Gestapo headquarters at 25 . The witness to this event was reportedly the adjutant of the Home Army Commander-in-Chief, Captain , codenamed Szymon, who was scheduled to meet Wiktor at the same time.
Sources provide conflicting information about the exact course of the arrest. In his memoirs titled Cichy front (Silent Front), states that Wiktor first greeted Szymon at the Aperitif café on Nowogrodzka Street, where they had arranged to meet, and then went for his conversation with Hel, assuring that it would only take about 15 minutes. In contrast, according to Szymon's account, contained in Emil Kumor's memoirs (Wycinek z historii jednego życia [Excerpt from the History of One Life]), Wiktor arrived at the meeting point at 5:45 PM, after which he asked the owner of the café, Klemens Zakrzewski, to inform Szymon to wait for him a little longer. Ten minutes later, Szymon, who was walking with Kazimierz Gorzkowski, turning from Jerusalem Avenue onto Krucza Street, reportedly saw a Gestapo car driving along Nowogrodzka Street. Shortly after, he saw Wiktor and Hel standing against a wall under German guard. Szymon immediately informed the Home Army Commander-in-Chief, General Stefan Rowecki, codenamed Grot, about the incident. However, Daria Czarnecka points out that Captain Krzywicki's account contains several questionable details. From the location he indicated, he could not have seen the German car. It is also impossible that he could have reported the incident to Grot, as Grot had been arrested by the Germans 12 days earlier.
Aftermath
The surviving soldiers of Osa–Kosa 30 claimed that the Home Army had made some preparations to rescue their captured comrades. However, the planned operation never took place because the Germans did not transport the detainees to the Gestapo headquarters on Szuch Avenue for interrogation. Instead, they conducted the investigation directly at Pawiak. It is said that the commander of the Sicherheitsdienst and Sicherheitspolizei for the Warsaw District, SS-Obersturmbannführer Ludwig Hahn, personally participated in the interrogations.