POLAND IN THE SECOND WORLD WAR 345Boy Scouts Association (ZHP) put its members at the disposal of the AK, and
formed its own clandestine troops known as the Szare Szeregi (the Grey
Ranks).^32
For a long time, the achievements of the Resistance were of necessity rather
modest. With illegal assembly or the possession of arms punishable by instant
death, the utmost caution was required. Even so, trains were derailed. Enemy
convoys were ambushed. Prisoners were rescued from their Nazi guards.
National art treasures were spirited to safety. A tablet commemorating the
'great German astronomer', Nikolaus Koppernick, was unscrewed from his
statue in Warsaw. Patriotic Polish music found its way on to the German radio.
Polish workers in German factories were persuaded to work even more slowly
than usual. The underground press flourished, both in Polish and, for propa-
ganda purposes, in German. All the main Polish universities, in Warsaw,
Cracow, Lwow, and Wilno, officially closed by the authorities, restarted on a
private, conspiratorial basis. The 'Secret Teaching Organization' (TON) built
up an amazing network of clandestine classes, which eventually undertook the
education of a million children. Valuable military intelligence, including details
of the VI and V2 rockets, was passed to the Western Allies.^33 Even in the camps,
resistance cells circulated banned information and planned escapes and inci-
dents. By the end of 1942., the Resistance felt able to answer terror with terror.
On 8 October 1942, AK sappers destroyed the main marshalling yards in
Warsaw. On 24 October, the GL bombed the Wehrmacbt's 'Cafe Club' in
Warsaw, in response to the public execution of fifty of their members. On 30
December, at Wojda near ZamoSC, a BCh company led the first armed challenge
to the pacification programme. In January 1943, the AK formed the
Diversionary Directorate (Kedyw) which in the following months sprung four
Gestapo prisoners, and on 8 August conducted a colossal bank-raid in Warsaw.
By the autumn of that year, open confrontations with German units were com-
mon in the countryside. Huge areas in the hills and forests, such as the 'Republic
of Pinczow' near Cracow, were entirely cleared of enemy troops. With news of
the German defeat at Stalingrad, preparations were made for a decisive show-
down in conjunction with the advancing Red Army.
The Jewish Resistance Movement had still less room for manoeuvre.
Confined in the reservations from the earliest days of the war, the Jews had lit-
tle chance to collect weapons or to collude with their non-Jewish colleagues.
The Polish 'Council of Assistance for Jews' (RPZ), created by the AK in
September 1942, had equally restricted opportunities. Some 100,000 people
were helped to escape the Final Solution.^34 Even so, at least two main Jewish
military groups did exist, the 'Jewish Battle Organization' (ZOB) and the
'Jewish Military Union' (WWZ); and they resisted with desperate heroism.
Their hour of martyrdom started on 19 April 1943 when the final attempt to liq-
uidate the remaining inhabitants of the Warsaw Ghetto was met by force. The
SS-infantrymen commanded by Brigadenfuebrer Jurgen Stroop were driven
back by gunfire from windows and barricades. The uneven battle lasted for