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At this time, the Bielski partisans were subservient to the Soviets, and supplied fifty men for the operation. Prior to this, the Bielskis and other partisan detachments had friendly relations with the
local Polish army, sharing meals and even games of chess. This relationship was eclipsed by the larger goals of Stalin and his NKVD
My father and the rest of the cavalry narrowly avoided the Soviet dragnet. They were guarding the edge of the forest that day, mindful of the frequent German patrols. They collected a few
stragglers who had been lucky enough to escape the ambush. The fate of their partisan comrades became painfully clear. Soon after, Jozef’s cavalry platoon was securing a local village when Soviet partisans appeared
on horseback. The Poles withdrew from sight, allowing the enemy to approach. The Soviets were surrounded, disarmed and searched. Jozef found a shocking document in the possession of the Commissar: “Copy #7 of a secret
order detailing the planned betrayal of the Home Army as directed by General Ponomarenko and General Platanow. With chilling matter-of-factness, it states that any Poles who resist “must be shot on the spot.”
Indeed, my father’s discovery proved that the skirmishes and killings in the region were not isolated events. They were the culmination of Soviet policy, dictated at the highest echelons. Correspondingly, the local
Home Army’s new plan for survival required total war against Soviet partisans as well as The Nazis.
The winter of 1943-44 was a desperate time for the Stolpce group. The Soviets openly targeted the families of Home Army members. Entire villages were ruthlessly erased. But the Polish partisans
responded with an influx of new recruits, and their new commander, Adolph Pilch, provided courageous and wise leadership. Jozef’s young sister, Helena, also joined the partisans in the forest. After victories at
Stalingrad and Kursk, the Red Army seized the initiative and surged westward towards Berlin. My father’s unit used the confusion of the German retreat to move their army to the Kampinos forest near Warsaw. They fought
many actions in Kampinos while coordinating efforts as part of the Warsaw uprising. In the aftermath of the uprising, they attacked the infamous SS RONA - Kaminsky brigade on two successive evenings. The raids caused
such destruction that afterward the Kaminsky brigade ceased to exist as a unit. My father led his squadron on the second night of these attacks, in the town of Marianow. The attack was swift, destructive, and
overwhelming, calling to mind Jozef’s new nom de guerre. The SS men were hit by Lawina, the “Avalanche.”
Throughout the war, my father’s Home Army units fought in over two-hundred successful engagements. He was shot twice in combat, yet never faltered in his struggle for Poland.
Only after his third injury and unavoidable capture in late 1944 did my father’s tireless service come to an end. By that time the Allied victory in Europe was imminent.
After his liberation by British forces, Jozef Niedzwiecki would emigrate to America. He arrived carrying with him the Virtuti Militari, Poland’s highest military decoration.
The heroic struggles of Zgrupowanie Stolpeckie, the Soviet betrayal and the discovery of the “secret order” remain largely unknown, due to four decades of Communist
suppression and false accounts by Soviet partisans.
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