Attack on the NKVD Camp in Rembertów

NKVD camp

On July 26, 1944, the Soviet sponsored

In his book, Rising '44 (2004), Norman Davies writes, "A man who passed through Rembertów described the conditions. They were not to be compared to the relative luxury at Sandbostel or Murnau" and throughout the winter of 1944–1945, "prisoners were frequently held in the open, without shelter, in a compound surrounded by barbed wire (...) According to the reports, when locals enquired about the suffering prisoners, who were clearly visible from a nearby road, they were told that the compound contained Volksdeutsche and Nazis".^[7]

On March 25, 1945, the first rail transport of Polish soldiers left Rembertów for

In April and May 1945, the NKVD brought more prisoners to the camp including General

The number of prisoners released in the attack vary from 466 in NKVD reports, 800 in Home Army reports and 1,400 in other historical analyses. On the morning of Sunday, May 21, 1945, Soviet troops, supported by aircraft, combed the area around Rembertów in search of the escapees. On that day, twenty-seven escapees, mostly German soldiers who did not know where to go, were recaptured. In the following days, approximately fifty escapees were caught and some summarily executed. Lavrentiy Beria in Moscow ordered a special investigation; dismissed the commander of the Rembertów camp and closed the camp; and ordered a review of all such camps. On May 21, 1995, a monument to commemorate the camp and the attack was unveiled in Rembertów. The text of the tablet on the monument reads:

W miejscu tym na terenie dawnej fabryki "Pocisk" znajdowały się obozy od września 1941 do początku 1944 - hitlerowski obóz pracy jeńców sowieckich - komando stalag 333 - od lipca 1944 do września 1944 - hitlerowski obóz pracy dla więźniów polskich - od września 1944 do lipca 1945 sowiecki obóz specjalny NKWD nr 10. Żołnierzom oddziału partyzanckiego Armii Krajowej Obozu "Mewa - Kamień" Mińsk Mazowiecki który pod dowództwem ppor. Edwarda Wasilewskiego "Wichury" nocą z 20 na 21 maja 1945 roku rozbił obóz specjalny NKWD nr 10 w Rembertowie. Z obozu uwolniono ponad 500 więźniów akcja ta przerwała zsyłkę więźniów na wschód. Więźniom obozu NKWD nr 10 w Rembertowie żołnierzom i działaczom Polskiego Państwa Podziemnego represjonowanym i mordowanym których szczątki spoczywają na terenie dawnej fabryki amunicji "Pocisk" i na obszarach sowieckiego imperium.

English translation:

In this place, on the grounds of the former factory "Pocisk" the following camps were located: from September 1941 until the beginning of 1944, a Nazi labor camp for Soviet prisoners of war, Komando Stalag 333; from July 1944 until September 1944, a Nazi labor camp for Polish prisoners; from September 1944 until July 1945, Soviet NKVD special camp No.10. (The monument is dedicated to) the soldiers of the partisan unit of the Home Army from Camp "Mewa-Kamień", Mińsk Mazowiecki, who under the command of 2nd Lieutenant Edward Wasilewski "Wichura", overran the special NKVD camp No.10 in Rembertów on the night of 20/21 May 1945. Over 500 prisoners were freed from the camp and this action interrupted the deportation of the prisoners to the East. (This monument is dedicated to) prisoners of the NKVD camp No.10 in Rembertów, soldiers and activists of the Polish Underground State, repressed and murdered, whose remains lay on the grounds of former factory "Pocisk" and in the lands of the Soviet empire.

See also

• Soviet repressions of Polish citizens (1939-1946)
• Raids on communist prisons in Poland (1944-1946)
• Cursed soldiers
• Battle of Kurylowka
• Raid on Kielce Prison

References