The Jewish Victims of Armed Violence in Podhale (1945–1947)
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Karolina Panz “Why did they, who had suffered so much and endured, had to die?” The Jewish victims of armed violence in Podhale (1945–1947) I can’t ind the title of a memory about you with a hand torn from darkness step on fragments of faces soft friendly proiles frozen into a hard contour Zbigniew Herbert (Three poems by heart, translated from the Polish by John and Bogdana Carpenter) For the last ten years I have lived in Podhale, a region at the foothills of the Tatra Mountains, researching the fate of the Jewish population of the town of Nowy Targ during the Holocaust. A small number of survivors returned to the town in 1945 in an attempt to rebuild there their Jewish way of life. In a short time, a number of them were killed. What I had found researching the circumstances of their deaths enabled me to grasp the actual scope of anti-Jewish violence in Podhale between 1945 and 1947 – a time when the region witnessed a major escalation of the ight – launched by the communist authorities – against members of the partisan unit ‘Błyskawica’ led by Józef Kuraś, nom de guerre ‘Ogień’. The most striking element of my indings was the way in which the Jewish victims of those violent acts were referred to: they remained anonymous and were described in mass terms. Their deaths were, and still are, rationalised with the stereotype of ‘Judaeo-Communism’.1 In my paper, I wish to challenge this approach by focusing 1 The article “Kto walczy z ‘Ogniem’” by Andrzej Gwiazda is a typical example of such thinking (www.niezalezna.pl, access 15 April 2015). A similar strain can be found in the writ- ings of Bolesław Dereń. (idem, Józef Kuraś „Ogień” partyzant Podhala, Warsaw: Muzeum Hi- storii Polskiego Ruchu Ludowego, 2004, p. 184) or the IPN historian, Maciej Korkuć (idem, “Horror podmalowany,” www.tygodnik.onet.pl, access 15 April 2015). A notable exception in this context is the work of Julian Kwiek, particularly his most recent paper (idem, “Zabójstwa ludności żydowskiej w Krakowskiem w latach 1945–1947. Fakty i mity,” Kwartalnik Historii Żydów 4 (2013): 679–695). Karolina Panz, “Why did they, who had suffered so much… 149 on the victims of those crimes – by restoring their identities and retracing their steps wherever it is possible. Murder for robbery The irst documented murder of Jews in Podhale after the war was committed on 11 May 1945. The chief of the Nowy Targ County’s [powiat] police2 – sent to his superiors a notice regarding “Murders for Robbery by N.N. [unidentiied] perpetrators”: I report that, on 11 V 1945 around 10 p.m., four unidentiied individuals armed with (automatic) guns entered the home of Andrzej Ostachowski, a farmer from the village of Maniowy, Nowy Targ County, with whom the- re were Jews, namely 1) Wilhelm Reich, 2) Karaś Leon, 3) Boruch Fejfe, 4) Kałman Miler. After entering the room where the aforementioned jews3 were, the individuals shouted in loud voices “hands up,” then demanded that they [the Jews – transl.] hand over all money, such as dollars and the like, and parcels they had on them. After taking the money and suitcases, the individuals ordered them to follow them outside. Reich, along with another jew, however, declared that they would not leave, so the bandits started iring inside the room, killing two jews. Then the others went out into Ostachowski’s yard, where they were likewise shot and killed. The bodies of those murdered have remained at the crime scene. Having com- mitted the criminal act, the bandits, unrecognised by anyone, led in an unknown direction.4 The Investigation Division of the County Department of the Citizens’ Militia [Powiatowa Komenda Milicji Obywatelskiej, PKMO] in Nowy Targ investigated the case.5 In a short time, the identities of the victims were established more accurately.6 Wilhelm Reich (born in Odrowąż, 15 July 1904), a resident of the village of Maniowy, was a farmer. He had a wife, Cila; his son Moritz was born in 1940.7 2 The oficial name of the state police, formed in 1944, was ‘Citizens’ Militia’ (Milicja Oby- watelska, MO) – transl. 3 Here and hereafter written in lower-case to agree with original spelling in citations – transl. 4 Archiwum Instytutu Pamięci Narodowej Oddział w Krakowie [Archive of the Kraków Branch of the Institute of National Remembrance, later: AIPN Kr], 0125/181, ile 16, Pismo PKMO w Nowym Targu do szefa Wydziału Śledczego przy WKMO w Krakowie [Letter of the County Cit- izens’ Militia Department, PKMO] in Nowy Targ to the chief of the Investigation Bureau in the Provincial Department of the Citizens’ Militia [WKMO] in Kraków, 12 May 1945, p. 485. 5 AIPN Kr, 056/1/1, On-site report no. 6, The Investigation Bureau in the Provincial De- partment of the WKMO in Kraków, 25 May 1945, p. 15. 6 AIPN Kr, 0125/181, ile 16, Letter of the PKMO in Nowy Targ to the chief of the Investiga- tion Bureau of the WKMO in Kraków, 12 May 1945, p. 487. 7 Archiwum Narodowe w Krakowie [The National Archive in Kraków, later: ANKr], 29/208/4, Register of the Jewish residents of Nowy Targ County, 1940/1941, n.p. 150 Studies Baruch Feit (b. 18 March 1911), son of Josef (a local peddler) and Genandla; during the war, he and his parents were deported from Czarny Dunajec to the Nowy Targ ghetto. Baruch had worked in a sawmill in Czarny Dunajec.8 Various documents I have analised, have led me to believe that ‘Kałman Miller’ mentioned in the report was in fact Chaim Blauder (b. 5 April 1913), who lived in Czarny Dunajec with his wife, Rosa, and his small daughter, Amalia, born in late 1941. He worked in the sawmill. One of the sawmill’s employees, a Pole, remembered Blauder standing at the gate of the sawmill and parting with his wife and child on the day Jews were deported from Czarny Dunajec.9 Blauder himself stayed behind, because he was an excellent stableman. Another Polish sawmill worker testiied after the war, “as far as I know, he had survived until the end of the war, but was later shot and killed by partisans who operated in the Podhale region after the war.”10 The murder is mentioned in a brief passage in Józef ‘Ogień’ Kuraś’s journal, a copy of which is kept in the Archive of the Institute of National Remembrance: “23 June, 4 jews [sic] were executed in Maniowy. Lew [Jan Goleniowski – K.P.], Boguś [Bogusław ‘Herkules’ Szokalski], Kruk [Kazimierz Kuraś]. Five pairs of shoes and some undergarments were seized.”11 Notably, the date mentioned in the excerpt is different from the one indicated in the police report. The date “June 23” (rather than May 11) appears for the irst time in a summary record chronicling activities of the band of ‘Ogień’ from 11 April 1945 until February 1947.12 It is not known which came irst, the journal or the summary. For this reason, I do not consider the alleged journal of Kuraś a reliable source for the reconstruction of events in postwar Podhale. In regard to the murder in Maniowy, Bolesław Dereń cites the account of Władysław Kordeczka, alias ‘Brzytwa’,13 which contains information that the men were killed because they were most likely PPR members with ties to the [Citizens’] Militia who were gathering intelligence on partisans.14 This seems 8 Ibidem. 9 AIPN Kr, Okręgowa Komisja Ścigania Zbrodni przeciwko Narodowi Polskiemu [District Commission for the Prosecution of Crimes against the Polish Nation, later: OKŚZpNP] in Kraków, S31/12/Zn, Zeznania Stefana Maciaszka [Testimony of Stefan Maciaszek, 9 Decem- ber 1975, p. 65. 10 Ibidem, Zeznania Franciszka Harbuta [Testimony of Franciszek Harbut], 28 September 1971, p. 37. I was not able to ind any information about the fourth victim, Leon Karaś, born 17 April 1911 r. in Czarny Dunajec (AIPN Kr, 0125/181, ile 16, Letter of the PKMO in Nowy Targ to the chief of the Investigation Bureau in the WKMO in Kraków, 12 May 1945, p. 48. 11 AIPN Kr, 06/1/14, A copy of the journal that was found in ‘Ogień’s’ military satchel, 21 February 1947, p. 9. 12 AIPN Kr, 06/1/2, Historia działalności „Ognia” [Account of ‘Ogień’s’ activities], presum- ably March 1947, p. 44 13 Władysław Kordeczka alias ‘Błyskawica’ a member of the First Company of the AK Partisan Unit ‘Błyskawica’, subordinate of Józef ‘Ogień’ Kuraś. 14 Dereń, Józef Kuraś „Ogień”…, p. 235. Karolina Panz, “Why did they, who had suffered so much… 151 highly improbable, considering that all four were Jews from the Podhale region and lived there during the occupation and returned there from the camps after the war.15 “It would do no harm to chase away Jewish colonies” The renowned pre-war resort town of Rabka attracted visitors from all over the country, of whom Jewish patrons constituted a substantial proportion. About ive hundred Jews lived there permanently. During the war the SS set up a notorious police training school in Rabka.16 Nearly half of the residents of the town accepted so-called ‘Goralenvolk cards’ during the occupation.17 It was them whom Władysław Krzeptowski addressed in his speech concerning this joyous time of driving back the ancient enemies from Podhale. He delivered it on 30 August 1942, the very day, when the deportation of Jews from Nowy Targ County was being carried out.18 In February 1945, only a few weeks after the war had ended, a plan was developed to set up a health and care center for Jewish children in Rabka.