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Suicide weapons
Living torpedoes
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Living torpedoes

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Living torpedoes (Polish: Żywe torpedy; also Straceńcy ("the Desperates" or "the Lost")) was a social and military phenomenon that began in the Poland in mid-1939, when the threat from Nazi Germany became evident. The idea for creating a human torpedo unit was very similar to the famous Japanese kamikaze and kaiten pilots—people willing to sacrifice their lives to defend their homeland. It is a matter of debate among military historians whether there were any plans for the actual use in combat of such suicidal units, or whether it was purely a matter of propaganda.

Recruitment

As early as spring 1937 a man from Katowice, Stanisław Chojecki, had written a letter to Polish Commander-in-chief, Edward Rydz-Śmigły, offering to make the ultimate sacrifice for Poland. On May 5, 1939, Adolf Hitler officially demanded the Free City of Danzig and the Polish Corridor be turned over to Germany. A day after Hitler’s speech, the Polish daily newspaper, Ilustrowany Kurier Codzienny—from Kraków, published a letter similar to Chojecki's written by a man from Warsaw named Władysław Bożyczko. This letter was also signed by Bożyczko's cousins—the brothers Edward and Leon Lutostański. The letter appealed to all Poles to be willing to sacrifice their lives for their country.

The appeal quickly spread throughout the country, trumpeted by other newspapers and radio. Copies of several papers that published the plea have been preserved. In a few of them there are names and photographs of some of those who applied. The search for volunteers turned into a popular patriotic movement that lasted until September 1, 1939 (the first day of World War II)—when the German invasion of Poland began. It is now difficult to estimate how many people volunteered. There may have been as many as 4700 men and 150 women. 3000 names have been documented, as the Polish Navy issued special IDs for their volunteers, signed by Commodore Eugeniusz Poplawski. The first suicide volunteers took their oaths on June 29, 1939.

Volunteers and planned uses

It is not exactly known what the Polish Army was going to use these people for. Presumably, they were supposed to man underwater human torpedoes, aimed at the destruction of German warships. Probably at that time, the Polish military forces did not have the necessary equipment to fulfill the needs of the Navy's plan. Reportedly, however, in the summer of 1939 in Gdynia, 83 selected volunteers were shown a short movie about torpedoes manned by humans. An officer of the Navy who was present stated that Poland had 16 such torpedoes; they were eight meters long and weighed 420 kg (930 lb) None of the volunteers, however, ever saw any of these torpedoes.

Some others from this group of volunteers were trained as glider pilots and parachute jumpers. The Polish Navy did, at this time, create a Bureau of Living Torpedoes that suggested the idea was being treated seriously. According to one of the volunteers, Marian Kamiński from Poznań (who viewed the movie), Navy officers told him he was to return to Gdynia on October 12, 1939, for a two-month training course. The course never started, as Germany attacked Poland on September 1. However, some other suicide volunteers by then had been drafted into another special ops unit tasked with training for sabotage and operations behind enemy lines.

On Tuesday, June 13, 1939, Ilustrowany Kurier Codzienny published a list of volunteers, adding that new names were added to it on daily basis. In several previous issues of the paper, other lists were published, with hundreds of names altogether. Among people presented in the June 13 issue are such names, as Tadeusz Gierat from Wola Duchacka, Krakow, who wrote: "My life belongs to you, my homeland", or Emilia Konopnicka from Tarnopol, who wrote: "My father died in the war, and my Polish honor tells me to apply". Bolesław Sobczyk from Gdynia wrote: "At any given moment I am willing to give my life for Poland", while J.F. from Trembowla wrote: "I am over 50 years old, and I think that people like me are the best candidates". Among volunteers there also was a group of coal miners from Nowa Wieś in Polish Upper Silesia.

Letters from volunteers

In the spring and summer of 1939, numerous letters from those willing to sacrifice their lives for Poland were printed in the newspapers. Following are select excerpts from the letters received.

From Ilustrowany Kurier Codzienny:

  • May 27, 1939: "There is a constant flow of letters to our office, sent by those who want to volunteer. There are so many of them, that it is impossible to present all names. At the same time, plenty of those volunteers have asked us not to present their names, as they are not searching for fame. So far more than 1000 applied, in recent days we have had 311 letters, including 23 from women".
  • May 27, 1939: "Miss A.B. from Zakopane. I have seen a war, I served for 5 months by the frontline, also served in 1919 and 1920-21. I was one of the youngest Legionnaires, and now, when it is necessary, I am sacrificing my life",
  • May 27, 1939: "A retired man from Lwow. I am free now, I can do whatever I want with myself. I am 60, I am not able to march with a carbine for a long time, but I am feeling good enough to learn how to operate a torpedo and thus saving at least one young life",
  • May 27, 1939: "40-year old lady named Z.B. from Brzesko. I want to emphasize that I already have a volunteer son in the Navy, second son is also going to the army. I am requesting immediate addition of my name to the list of volunteers",
  • May 27, 1939: "Maksymilian K. from Lwow. I am Jewish, I love my fatherland, so I am volunteering to the death battalion",

From Kurier Poranny:

  • June 20, 1939: "Among huge number of volunteers for the living torpedoes, there is a German man, named Karol Lange, who is a farmer living in the Bydgoszcz county. He had been a member of a German organization, but withdrew from it, because, as he says, it is impossible for him to be a loyal citizen of Poland and a member of such organization at the same time".

See also


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