Rethinking Jewish Resisters’ Attacks on German Targets in Kraków
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.32030/KRZY.2025.09Keywords:
Holocaust, Jews, Jews in Kraków, HeChalutz HaLochem, guerrilla, Kraków, Poland, Germany, PPRAbstract
This paper offers a broader look at the 22 December 1942 attacks against German targets in Kraków that was carried out by two Jewish underground groups, HeChalutz HaLochem (Combat Pioneer) and Iskra (Spark). The 22 December attacks were a unique operation both in terms of their timing and modus operandi. They took place while other Jewish groups were yet to be established or were even debating whether to focus on rescue or resistance. The attacks were the most significant assault against the Germans in Kraków, which otherwise was mostly quiet during the occupation years. This study addresses those attacks as an urban guerrilla operation which required special efforts to gain mobility and probably could not have happened without logistic support by Polish supporters. By attacking the Germans from the rear, the Jewish guerrilla commanders in Kraków displayed creative thinking, flexibility, surprise, and initiative.
References
Aksamitowski Andrzej: Polski wysiłek zbrojny: jesień 1939 – wiosna 1942 = Polish military effort: autumn 1939 – spring 1943. Departament Systemu Obronnego Ministerstwa
Obrony Narodowej, Wojskowy Instytut Historyczny Akademii Obrony Narodowej. Warszawa 2003
Albeh Chawa (ed.): Dr. Jehuda Ohrenstein (Idek): His Zionist Vision and Activity. Private Press. Kiryat Arba 2001 [Hebrew]
Asprey B. Robert: War in the Shadows: The Guerilla in History. Doubleday. New York 1975
Bauer Yehuda: “Jewish Resistance: A Myth or Reality.” In: Rethinking the Holocaust. Yale University Press. New Haven and London 2001, pp. 119–42
Bauminger Arieh: The Fighters of the Cracow (Kraków) Ghetto. Keter. Jerusalem 1986
Bednarek Monika, Gawron Edyta, Jeżowski Grzegorz, Zbroja Barbara, Zimmerer Katarzyna: Kraków – czas okupacji 1939–1945. Muzeum Historyczne Miasta Krakowa. Kraków 2012
Bieberstein Aleksander: Zagłada Żydów w Krakowie. Wydawnictwo Literackie. 2nd ed. Kraków 2001
Boyle Mark: Human Geography: A Concise Introduction. John Wiley and Sons. Chichester 2015
Carmi Aharon, Haim Frimmer: From That Blaze. Testimonies of Members of ZZB. Hakibbutz Hameuchad. Tel Aviv 1961
Carter-White Richard: “Towards a Spatial Historiography of the Holocaust: Resistance, Film, and the Prisoner Uprising at Sobibor Death Camp.” Political Geography 2013, Vol. 33, pp. 21–30
Chwalba Andrzej: “A Divided City”. In: Unwanted Capital.
Architecture and Urban Planning in Kraków During the German Occupation of 1939–1945. Kraków 2022
Cohen-Klinberg Shoshana: “About Abraham Liebowicz.” In: I am a Jew. Abraham Liebowicz. Laban: A Ghetto Fighter in Cracow. Ed. Yechazkel Raban. Ghetto Fighters’ House. Tel Aviv 1985, pp. 82–85
Cole Tim: “Geographies of Ghettoization; Absences, Presences, and Boundaries.” In: Hitler’s Geographies: The Spatialities of the Third Reich. Eds. Paolo Giaccaria, Claudio Minca. Chicago University Press. Chicago 2016, pp. 267–281
Cole Tim, Alberto Giordano: “Geographies of Holocaust Rescue: Spatial Patterns and Social Geographies of Jewish Rescue in Budapest, 1944.” Journal of Historical Geography 2021, No. 7, pp. 63–72
Cresswell Tim: “Place Out of Place. Geography, Ideology and Transgression.” PhD Diss., University of Wisconsin-Madison. Madison 1992
Cupples Julie: “Resistance.” in: International Encyclopedia of Geography. Vol. 1. Ed. Rob Kitchin and Nigel Thrift. Elsevier. Amsterdam 2009, pp. 370–375
De Certeau Michel: The Practice of Everyday Life. University of California Press. Berkeley 1984
Dranger Beni: “The Struggle of the Jewish Underground’s Fighters as a Role Model for Our Struggle to Establish the State.” Speech, Netanya, 31 August 2015
Dränger Shimshon [Szymshon]: Hechalutz Halochem. Organ of the Chalutz Underground Movement in Occupied Cracow, August–October 1943. Ghetto Fighters’ House. Acco 2005
Dränger-Davidson Gusta: Justina’s Diary. Ghetto Fighters’ House. Acco 2005
Dreiblat Yoel: “Lag BaOmer: Yoel Dreiblatt Speech in Lag BaOmer in Hadera in 1936.” In: HaTnua HaChalutzit
BeAgudat HaNoar HaIwri Akiba. Ed. Moshe Zinger. Beit Yehoshua. Tel Aviv 1939, pp. 121–126
Ethington J. Philip: “Placing the Past: ‘Groundwork’ for a Spatial Theory of History, Rethinking History.” Journal of Theory and Practice 2027, Vol. 11, No. 4, pp. 465–493
Folman-Raban Chawa: Lo Nifradeti MiHem. Ghetto Fighters’ House. Tel Aviv 1997
Gawron Edyta: “Zagłada (1939–1945).” In: Not Only Kroke: The History of the Jews of Kraków. Eds. Edyta Gawron, Michał Galas. Wydawnictwo Literackie. Kraków 2022, pp. 363–364
Giordano Alberto, Knowles Kelly: Geographies of the Holocaust. In: Geographies of the Holocaust. Eds. Anne Kelly Knowles, Tim Cole, Alberto Giordano. Indiana University Press. Bloomington 2014, pp. 12–33
Gutman Israel: “Youth and Resistance Movements in Historical Perspective” (Israel Gutman Talks to Daniel Blatman). Yad Vashem Studies 1993, No. 23, pp. 1–49
Harkabi Yehoshafat (ed.): On Guerrilla Warfare. The Ministry of Defence. Tel Aviv 1971
Jarkowska-Natkaniec Alicja: Wymuszna wspólpraca czy zdrada? Wokół przypadków kolaboracji Żydów w okupowanym Krakowie. Universitas. Kraków 2018
Jaskot B. Paul, Tim Cole: “Afterword.” In: Geographies of the Holocaust. Eds. Anne Kelly Knowles, Tim Cole, Alberto Giordano. Indiana University Press. Bloomington 2014, pp. 301–307
Kękuś-Pietrzak Krystyna: Historia mojej rodziny z ostatniego roku przed wywiezieniem moich rodziców do obozu koncentracyjnego w Oświęcimiu. 19 October 1987. Courtesy of Jerzy Kękuś
Kirby Dick: IRA Terror on Britain’s Streets 1939–1940: The Wartime Bombing Campaign and Hitler Connection. Pen & Sword. Barnsley. Yorkshire–Philadelphia 2021
Kochanski Halik: Resistance. The Underground War Against Hitler, 1939–1945. Liveright. New York 2022
Korkuć Maciej: “Trudne warunki i silny nacisk niemiecki.” In: Polska Partia Robotnicza, Gwardia Ludowa / Armia Ludowa na ziemiach polskich 1942–1944/1945. Eds. Krzysztof Kaczmarski and Mariusz Krzysztofiński. Instytut Pamięci Narodowej. Rzeszów 2013, pp. 63–95
Kotarba Ryszard. Żydzi Krakowa w dobie zagłady (ZAL/KL Plaszow). Instytut Pamięci Narodowej. Kraków 2022
Kovner Abba: A Missive to HaShomer HaTzair Partisans. Moreshet. Tel Aviv 2002
Kuper Rivka: Resisi Zichronot. Massua. Degania B 2004
Laqueur Walter: Guerrilla Warfare. A Historical and Critical Study. Little Brown. Boston 1976
Marighella Carlos: “From the ‘Minimanual.’” In: The Guerrilla Reader: A Historical Anthology. Ed. Walter Laqueur.
Temple University Press. Philadelphia 1977, pp. 219–228
Marighella Carlos: Minimanual of the Urban Guerrilla. Foreign Languages Press. Utrecht 2016
Matusak Piotr: “The Resistant Movement in Poland.” In: Polish Resistance Movement in Poland and Abroad 1939–1945. Ed. Stanisław Okęcki. PWN. Warszawa 1987, pp. 106–107
Michman Dan: “Jewish Fighting During the Holocaust.” Dapim 1995, Vol. 12, pp. 7–41
Mroczka Ludwik: Krakowianie. Szkice do portretu zbiorowego w dobie industrialnej transformacji 1890–1939. Akademia Pedagogiczna im. Komisji Edukacji Narodowej w Krakowie. Kraków 1999
Nowak Anna: “Mieszkanie w ‘leśnym’ pałacu.” Renowacje 1999, August, pp. 90–105
Peled Yael: 1993. Jewish Cracow 1939–1945: Resistance, Underground, Struggle. Ghetto Fighters’ House. Tel Aviv 1993
Perlis Rivka: The Pioneering Zionist Youth Movement in Nazi-Occupied Poland. Ghetto Fighters’ House. Tel Aviv 1987
Pile Steve, Keith Michael (eds.): Geographies of Resistance. Routledge. London 1997
Piper Franciszek, Irena Strzelecka (eds.): Księga pamięci. Transporty Polaków do KL Auschwitz z Krakowa i innych miejscowości Polski południowej. 1940–1944. Vol. 3. Państwowe Muzeum Auschwitz-Birkenau. Warszawa 2002
Przygoński Antoni: Akcje zbrojne GL – Warszawa 1942. Książka i Wiedza. Warszawa 1976
Rączy Elżbieta: Zagłada Żydów w dystrykcie krakowskim w latach 1939–1945. Instytut Pamięci Narodowej. Rzeszów 2014
Rocznik Polskiego Przemysłu i Handlu = Directory of Maufacturers & Merchants of Poland. 6th ed. Polska Spółka Wydawnictw Informacyjnych. Warszawa 1938
Rufeisen-Schipper Helea: Farewell to Mila 18. Ghetto Fighters’ House. Tel Aviv 1990
Rydiger Monika: “Usurping by the City Sky: Oppression by Design.” In: Unwanted Capital: Architecture and Urban Planning in Kraków During the German Occupation of 1939–1945. Ed. Jacek Purchla. International Cultural Center in Kraków. Kraków 2022, pp. 14–18
Schwartzbart A: “The Jewish Hospital in Kraków.” In: Sefer Kraka [Book of Kraków]. Eds. Aryeh Bauminger, Meir Busak, Natan M. Gelber. Mercaz Harav Kook. Jerusalem 1959, pp. 324–325
Shalev Ziva: Tosia. Tosia Altman Leader of Hashomer Hatzair Movement and the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. Moreshet. Tel Aviv 1992
Shavid Eliezer: “The Moral and Existential Dilemmas of the Armed Resistance in the Ghetto.” In: Shimshon Dranger’s HeChalutz HaLochem. Ed. Michal Oppenheimer. Ghetto Fighters’ House. Acco 2006, pp. 287–332
Skotnicki Aleksander B.: Szpital Gminy Wyznaniowej Żydowskiej w Krakowie 1866–1941. Stradomskie Centrum Dialogu. Kraków 2013.
Steigbügel Max: “Events in Cracow in the Days of Holocaust.”
Massuah. A Yearbook on the Holocaust and Heroism 1983, No. 11, pp. 147–151
Stone Dan: “Holocaust Spaces.” In: Hitler’s Geographies: The Spatialities of the Third Reich. Eds. Paolo Giaccaria, Claudio Minca. Chicago University Press. Chicago 2016, pp. 45–62
Sturdy Colls Caroline: Holocaust Archaeologies: Approaches and Future Directions. Springer. London 2015
Sturdy Colls Caroline: “Uncovering a Painful Past: Archeology and the Holocaust.” Conservation and MGMT of Archeological Sites 2015, Vol. 17, No. 1, pp. 38–55
Swałtek-Niewińska Dagmara: “Powiat Bocheński.” In: Dalej jest noc. Losy Żydów w wybranych powiatach okupowanej Polski. Eds. Barbara Engelking, Jan Grabowski. Stowarzyszenie Centrum Badań nad Zagładą Żydów. Warszawa 2018, pp. 523–642
Tec Nechama: “Jewish Resistance: Facts, Omissions, and Distortions.” In: Jewish Resistance Against the Nazis. Ed. Patrick
Henry. Catholic University of America Press. Washington D.C. 2014, pp. 40–70
Tenenbaum-Tamaroff Mordechai: Pages from the Fire. Hakibbutz Hameuchad. Jerusalem 1985
Tovy Tal: Guerrilla and the War Against It. The Military Heritage of Mao. Carmel. Jerusalem 2010 [Hebrew]
Tse-tung Mao: Basic Tactics. Translated by Stuart R. Schram.
Frederick Praeger. New York 1966
Tse-tung Mao: On Guerrilla Warfare. Translated by Samuel B. Griffith. University of Illinois Press. Champaign 2000
Urzędowy spis: lekarzy, lekarzy dentystów, felczerów, pielęgniarek, położnych, uprawnionych i samodzielnych techników dentystycznych oraz wykazy: aptek, szpitali, ubezpieczalni społecz., ośrodków zdrowia, przychodni samodzielnych, oraz centrali i filii Państwowego Zakładu Higieny. Ministerstwo Opieki Społecznej. Warszawa 1939
Van Creveld Martin: Technology and War: From 2000 B.C. to the Present. The Free Press. New York 1989
Wajs Josef: “Keta MeParshiot HaShoah (Portion of the Holocaust Episodes).” Haboker 1947, 22 August [Hebrew], p. 4
Withers J. Charles: “Place and the Spatial Turn in Geography and in History.” Journal of the History of Ideas 2009, Vol. 70, No. 4, pp. 637–658
Wolf Yoel: And Resin for Hotra: A Prophecy Fulfilled. Private Press. Jerusalem 2005.
Yaari-Wald Moshe: “Gola Mire: Anti-Nazi Fighter.” In: Rzeszów Jews: Memorial Book. Ed. Moshe Yaari-Wald.
Rzeszower Societies in Israel and U.S.A. Tel Aviv 1967, pp. 340–341
Yechieli Baruch: Akiva. The Growth and Development of a General Zionist Youth Movement and Fighting During the Years of the Holocaust. Hakibbutz Hameuchad. Tel Aviv 1988
Zając Józef: Toczyły się boje. Czytelnik. Warszawa 1965
Zedong [Tse-Tung] Mao: Collected Writings of Chairman Mao. Vol. 1. Politics and Tactics. Norte Press. El Paso 2009
Zimmerer Katarzyna: Zamordowany świat. Losy Żydów w Krakowie 1939–1945. Wydawnictwo Literackie. Kraków 2004
Zimmerer Katarzyna: Kronika zamordowanego świata. Żydzi w Krakowie w czasie okupacji niemieckiej. Wydawnictwo Literackie. Kraków 2017
Zohar Eran: “Jewish Resistance Group in the Nowy Wiśnicz Area: A New Approach.” Holocaust Studies 2024, Vol. 30, No. 2, pp. 248–289
Zuckerman Yitzak (Antek): Those Seven Days, 1939–1946. Hakibbutz Hameuchad. Bet Lochamei Hagetaot 1990
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Eran Zohar
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
See more at Copyright & Licensing tab.
