{"id":117512,"date":"2020-04-12T12:26:10","date_gmt":"2020-04-12T16:26:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gunsamerica.com\/digest\/?p=117512"},"modified":"2020-04-12T12:26:10","modified_gmt":"2023-09-06T06:08:10","slug":"operation-kutschera-the-polish-monster-killers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/operation-kutschera-the-polish-monster-killers\/","title":{"rendered":"Operation Kutschera: The Polish Monster Killers & The True Cost of Freedom"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Operation
In early 1944 in front of the SS headquarters building in Warsaw, Polish soldiers used these weapons to assassinate an unrepentant Nazi mass murderer. From left to right are the British Sten, the German P08 Parabellum, the German MP40, and the Polish vis Radom pistol. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Poland suffers from the most regrettably\ncursed geography. Trapped as they are between Germany and the former USSR, the\nPoles found themselves brutalized for generations. During WW2 the Nazis had\ntheir jackboots on the neck of the Polish nation. Throughout it all, however,\nthe Poles fought like lions for their freedom, their land, their people, and\ntheir dignity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Operation
\u201cOperation Heads\u201d was a veiled reference to the skull insignia found on German SS uniforms. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

History calls the overall enterprise \u201cOperation Heads.\u201d This is a sardonic\nallusion to \u201cOperation Little Heads,\u201d itself an oblique\nreference to the Totenkopf \u201cDeath\u2019s Head\u201d insignia that German\nSS soldiers wore on their uniforms. While the Germans unleashed their full fury\nagainst the innocent Polish population, these Nazis also lived in justifiable\nfear of sudden gory death at the hands of patriotic Polish partisans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Monster<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
\"Operation
The offspring of an Austrian gardener, Franz Kutschera matured into a heartless fiend. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Franz Kutschera was born in 1904 in Oberwaltersdorf,\nLower Austria, an area that was then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. He\nwas the son of a professional gardener. After a stint as a cabin boy in the Austro-Hungarian\nNavy, Franz attended machinist\u2019s school but subsequently entered\ntraining to become a gardener like his dad. International geopolitics then took\nthe promising young Austrian in a dark direction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Operation
Kutschera\u2019s fervor for National Socialism earned him friends in high places. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In 1930 Kutschera joined the Austrian\nNazi Party and a year later the Schutzstaffel (SS). The Austrofascist\ngovernment of Engelbert Dollfuss banned the National Socialists in the summer\nof 1933, but Franz Kutschera was a zealot. Facing arrest on numerous occasions\nfor his illegal pro-Nazi activities, his enthusiasm gained the attention of\ncertain like-minded monsters. By 1940 Kutschera was a Brigadefuhrer in the SS.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Operation
Kutschera fought in several theaters and earned a reputation for bloodthirstiness that took him to rarefied levels of Nazi power. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Kutschera took part in the Battle of France as well as the Nazi operations in the Balkans. While fighting Tito\u2019s partisans Kutschera earned a reputation for ruthlessness. After murdering his way through a series of mass killings in the occupied Soviet Union, Kutschera found himself posted in Warsaw.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Operation
By 1944 Kutschera ran in the highest circles of power. Here he is seen on the far right alongside Heinrich Himmler, the leader of the SS. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

By 1943 Kutschera was a Generalmajor der Polizei responsible for maintaining order in occupied Poland. Under his direction, the number of roundups of Polish citizens increased substantially. At a time when Polish partisans were sowing havoc in the German rear areas he published daily lists of Polish citizens to be executed should the partisans attack during certain designated blocks of time. The Poles called him the \u201cButcher of Warsaw.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Lucky Break<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
\"Operation
As is so often the case in wartime, a Polish intelligence specialist named Aleksander Kunicki serendipitously happened to identify Franz Kutschera as he climbed out of an automobile. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The identities of these German SS and\nGestapo commanders were closely guarded secrets. However, in December of 1943\nAleksander Kunicki, the chief of intelligence for the anti-Gestapo unit in\nKedyw, happened to spot Kutschera as he exited his Opel Admiral limousine\noutside the Warsaw SS headquarters. As Kutschera left the vehicle his greatcoat\nswept open far enough for Kunicki to spot his distinctive General Officer rank\ninsignia. The Polish Underground State now had their man.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Operation
Franz Kutschera\u2019s penchant for mass executions of civilians earned him a death sentence. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Kutschera was tried in absentia and\nconvicted of the routine mass murder of civilians in Warsaw. His sentence was\ndeath. The Polish government-in-exile concurred with the decision, and the\ncombat-sabotage unit of the Polish underground in Kedyw was given the mission.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Operation<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
\"Operation
The hit was planned in front of this building, the SS headquarters in Warsaw. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Twelve Polish operators organized to\nassassinate SS Brigadefuhrer Franz Kutschera. There were nine male hitters as\nwell as three female signals specialists. The first attempt went down on 28 January\n1944 but had to be scrubbed when Kutschera failed to leave his home. The second\neffort was planned for the morning of 1 February. Kutschera only lived 150\nmeters from the Warsaw SS headquarters, yet he invariably took his chauffeured\nlimousine to work every day. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Operation
Kutschera prepared for his day oblivious to the chaos that awaited him. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

On this bright Tuesday morning, the dozen Polish operators were in position before Kutschera finished breakfast. As we walk through the op we will use the operator\u2019s code names for ease of description. Polish names can be a mouthful. Please forgive the poor quality of these photos, but it is at times edifying to appreciate the true faces of heroism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Operation
Maria Stypulkowska-Chojecka, codenamed \u201cKama,\u201d alerted her comrades that the target had entered his vehicle for the short drive to SS headquarters. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

At 0909 the female communications specialist Kama signaled that Kutschera was leaving his home. As the target approached SS headquarters, Mis staged an accident with his automobile, immobilizing Kutschera\u2019s limousine. Mis was armed with a P08 Parabellum pistol and a hand grenade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Operation
The unit commander was Bronislaw Pietraszewicz, codenamed \u201cLot.\u201d <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Lot and Kruszynka then approached Kutschera\u2019s disabled vehicle at a trot. The guards outside the SS headquarters building were momentarily stunned. Lot carried a captured German MP40 submachine gun, a Polish vis Radom pistol, and a Filipinka impact-detonated hand grenade. Kruszynka wielded a Sten submachine gun supplied by the Allied OSS along with a grenade of his own. The two men opened fire at near contact range, killing the SS driver and severely wounding Kutschera. Mis then leaped out of his vehicle, drew his 9mm Luger pistol, and shot Kutschera through the head. By now the SS guards had regained their composure, and a fierce firefight ensued.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Operation
Stanislaw Huskowski, codenamed \u201cAli,\u201d had not been issued a firearm. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The remaining Polish operators roared up in a pair of getaway cars to extract the hit team amidst sleeting automatic weapons fire. A Polish operative named Ali carried a briefcase filled with hand grenades and was supposed to deploy the bombs as cover. However, Mr. Murphy is never far away from a complicated military operation of this sort. Ali was unable to disengage the latch on his case, so the grenades remained unused.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Operation
Marian Senger, codenamed \u201cCichy,\u201d was grievously wounded by German return fire. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Cichy, Lot, and Olbrzym were badly\nwounded in the exchange of fire. Lot, the unit commander, was therefore unable\nto give the order to withdraw. As a result, the firefight went on somewhat longer\nthan it should have. Regardless, the entire exchange was still over in about a\nminute and a half. All of the Poles eventually escaped the kill zone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Guns<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
\"Operation
The German MP40 was the world\u2019s first stamped steel, mass-produced submachine gun. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The German MP40 submachine gun became inextricably associated with the German Wehrmacht. Much like the coal-scuttle Stahlhelm, the hobnailed jackboot, and the stielhandgranate potato masher hand grenade, the MP40 was a Nazi icon. This stamped steel SMG represented a truly groundbreaking design.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Operation
The previous MP38 can be distinguished by the long grooves in its receiver and the prominent lightening hole in the magazine well. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Maschinenpistole 40 was designed by Heinrich Vollmer and was a direct evolutionary descendant of the antecedent MP38. Featuring the same basic layout and several common interchangeable components, the MP38 and MP40 differed primarily in the design of their tubular receivers. That of the MP38 was a machined steel tube, where the MP40 receiver was simply pressed out of sheet stock. The two guns can be differentiated at a glance by the longitudinal grooves cut into the MP38 receiver as well as a lightening hole about the size of a dime pressed into the MP38\u2019s magazine well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Operation
The MP40 was prized on both sides of the line. Both the British Sten and German MP40 shared a common 9mm Parabellum round. This MP40 is seen here in the hands of a WW2-era Australian Digger. Mind that trigger finger, mate. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The MP40 was issued to tank crews and Infantry soldiers in leadership roles early in the war. As the conflict ground on, the guns were even issued to soldiers who showed exceptional bravery or combat prowess. Between 1940 and 1945 the Germans produced a bit more than one million copies of the weapon. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Operation
The German MP40 is full auto only, but its placid rate of fire keeps the gun controllable. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

At nearly nine pounds and 32 inches long\nthe MP40 is undeniably bulky. However, its sedate 500rpm rate of fire combined\nwith the gun\u2019s innate mass make it exceptionally controllable. The MP40 remains one\nof my personal favorite subguns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Operation
The British Sten gun was also called the \u201cStench\u201d gun or the \u201cPlumber\u2019s Nightmare.\u201d For all its utilitarian simplicity, however, it was an effective combat tool that saw service throughout the war with Commonwealth troops. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

British Major RV Shepherd and Mr. Harold\nJohn Turpin designed the British Sten in 1941 while working at the Royal Small\nArms Factory at Enfield. The name Sten is a portmanteau of the designer\u2019s final initials\nalong with En for Enfield. A remarkably austere design, the Sten gun cycles at\na leisurely 500rpm and features a mere 47 parts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Operation
The Sten broke down readily without tools and lent itself to undercover operations. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Sten weighs seven pounds and can be\nbroken down into four major components for transport, concealment, or compact\nstowage. In 1942 the Sten gun cost $10 to build. That equates out to around\n$154 today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Rest of the Story<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
\"Operation
After his Polish assassins shot Kutschera in the head they rifled his pockets for important documents. The Butcher of Warsaw was later afforded a Nazi state funeral. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Franz Kutschera died at the scene along\nwith his driver and three SS men. The Germans guarded local hospitals and\nthreatened severe reprisals if any of them rendered medical care to wounded\npartisans. It took several hours and five attempts before the Poles could find\na hospital willing to treat their wounded. Cichy and Lot died of their wounds\nas a result.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Operation
Juno and Sokol leaped from this bridge into the Vistula under withering German fire. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Sokol and Juno were intercepted by pursuing Germans as they crossed the Kierbedz Bridge. After a fierce exchange of fire, both men leaped into the river Vistula below. The Germans later recovered both men\u2019s bodies downstream.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Operation
The body of Zbigniew Gesicki, codenamed \u201cJuno,\u201d was recovered by the Nazis but never formally identified. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Sokol had been shot and carried an ID\ncard that led the Germans back to his family. Juno apparently drowned but\ncarried no unique documentation. The Germans therefore never did accurately\ndetermine his identity, and his family survived the war.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Operation
Kutschera\u2019s funeral in Berlin was widely attended. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The following day the Nazis shot 300\ninnocent Polish civilians in retaliation for the killing. The Germans gave the\nmonster Kutschera a hero\u2019s funeral and dedicated a special train\nto retrieve his body to Berlin for the ceremony. The Warsaw Uprising broke out\nsoon thereafter and claimed the lives of another 200,000 Poles. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Operation
The Polish Scouts youth organization evolved from a paramilitary group that employed children in the bitter fight with the Nazis. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Each year the Polish Scouts, a\ncoeducational children\u2019s leadership and service organization\nconceptually similar to the American Scouting program, formally commemorates\nOperation Kutschera. Unlike American Scouts, however, the Polish version\nevolved from the Gray Ranks, a paramilitary wartime organization wherein older\nchildren carried out sabotage, armed resistance, and assassination missions\nagainst the occupying Germans. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Operation
This poignant memorial commemorates the children who lost their lives fighting the Nazis during World War 2. We modern Americans literally have no idea. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In these days wherein American\npoliticians seem so rabid to squander our blood-won liberties it behooves us\never to remember the true cost of freedom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Operation
We are never more than a generation away from tyranny. These Nazi troopers on duty in Warsaw are armed with an eclectic amalgam of weaponry. From left to right appears to be either a Finnish Suomi KP\/-31 or a Soviet PPD, a pair of Schmeisser MP41\u2019s, and an MP28. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Operation
Though fundamentally dissimilar designs, the British Sten and German MP40 served side by side in the hands of partisans throughout occupied Europe. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Operation
This is a list of Poles scheduled for execution in occupied Warsaw. The Nazis were nothing if not efficient. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Buy and Sell on GunsAmerica!<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/h2>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In early 1944 in front of the SS headquarters building in Warsaw, Polish soldiers assassinated an unrepentant Nazi mass murderer. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":66,"featured_media":117542,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_specdata_upc":"","_specdata_placement":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[257,772],"tags":[132,102,752,636,1323],"featured":[],"hunt365":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-117512","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-historical-guns","8":"category-will-dabbs","9":"tag-buzz","10":"tag-feature-articles","11":"tag-historical-guns","12":"tag-history","13":"tag-world-war-ii"},"yoast_head":"\nOperation Kutschera: The Polish Monster Killers & The True Cost of Freedom<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Operation Kutschera: The Polish Monster Killers & The True Cost of Freedom - Will Dabbs\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" 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However, shooting guns and claiming it was work seemed like a pretty sweet hustle. As a result, Will serendipitously transformed an avocation into a vocation. Raised in the Mississippi Delta, Will flew UH1H, OH58A\\\/C, CH47D and AH1S helicopters operationally as an Army Aviator. He is SCUBA-qualified and has parachuted out of perfectly good airplanes at 3 o'clock in the morning. Will has summited Mount McKinley, Alaska, six times\u2026always at the controls of an Army helicopter, which is the only way sensible folk climb mountains. Will has delivered sixty babies and occasionally wrung human blood out of his socks. He is married to his high school sweetheart and has three awesome adult children. 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