Śladami żołnierzy Obwodu Jędrzejowskiego Armii Krajowej 1939-1956

Cz. 1: Konspiracja na Karolówce

Abstract

Following the Footsteps of the Soldiers of the Jędrzejów District of the Home Army in the Years 1939-1956. Part 1: The Conspiracy in Karolówka
The family of Przemysław Janoff (Janów), a forester and administrator of the forests and goods of the landowner Górski family, has lived since 1936 in Motkowice, a small town located 14 km east of Jędrzejów. The forest lodge Karolówka became a center of underground activity during the German occupation. Przemysław Janoff, codename „Stary”, together with his son Sergiusz, codename „Set”, soldiers of the Union of Armed Struggle, and later of the Home Army, acted in the intelligence, sabotage and reception of airdrop. They also organized transfers, stored weapons, and conducted radio monitoring. In the forest lodge, secret classes were organized and people sought by the Gestapo were protected. An unknown part of the family’s activity was the action of helping Jews by creating the first link of the „chain of life”. The Janoff family hid Jews from the Jędrzejów ghetto, who, after a short stay in hiding, were later transported to safe places. The aid campaign for the Jewish doctor Hirsch Beer in Jędrzejów was the only one mentioned in historical literature. Since 1943 Sergiusz Janoff „Set” carried out the underground tasks together with Andrzej Ropelewski, codename „Karaś”, and in 1944, when participating in the armed actions of a sabotage group, he met with brothers Wesołowski - Leszek, codename „Strzała” and Wiesiek, codename „Orzeł”, guerillas from the „Barabasz” and later the „Spaleni” group. Common experiences made young people friends for the rest of their lives. The basic thread of the article is the story of four friends shown against the background of the underground and armed activities of the poviat level of the Home Army. Mentioning the details of the biographies of the protagonists and many other characters aims to convey the realities of the underground everyday life and the atmosphere of the German occupation. A study of the characters, attitudes and choices of Home Army soldiers during the war gives rise to reflection on their fate in post-war Poland. This article is therefore a fragment of a larger undertaking and aims at initiating a cycle of publications. Unknown facts and those already described which required verification were examined on the basis of new historical sources and re-analysis of the already known ones.