78 years ago, soldiers from Kedyw - a dedicated Polish special operations unit - carried out a successful assasination of Franz Kutschera, SS and Reich's Police Chief, known as the "Butcher of Warsaw". Kutschera's mission in occupied Warsaw was to spread terror in the city and discredit Poland's underground resistance in the eyes of the civilians. He was sentenced to death by a "Special Court" of the Polish Underground State. He was shot in Aleje Ujazdowskie, one of the city's most prominent boulevards.
On Tuesday, Feb. 1, Poland marked the 78th anniversary of Operation Kutschera - the successful assassination of the SS commander and head of police for the Warsaw district, Franz Kutschera.
This special action was a part of the larger Operation Heads - the code name of a series of executions of Nazi officials by the Polish Resistance.
SS-Brigadeführer Franz Kutschera was sent to Warsaw in 1943 to quash Poland's underground resistance to Nazi-German occupation. He quickly earned a nickname "Butcher of Warsaw" for ordering a long series of street roundups and executions of civilians.
As a result, a "Special Court" of the Polish Underground State sentenced him to death. He was executed in an ambush on his limousine close to his home at Aleje Ujazdowskie.
According to historians, Kutschera's assassination came as a great shock to the Germans, who suspected it was carried out by a special military unit trained in Britain and dropped behind enemy lines. All Home Army soldiers who carried out the mission had been trained in conspiracy.
Four executioners were wounded in the shootout, two of which died a few days later, whereas two others were surrounded in their getaway car at the Kierbedź Bridge. They jumped into the Vistula river and were shot at. Their bodies were later found by the Germans. It turned out one of them had a gunshot wound, while the other drowned.
Źródło: TVN24 News in English, PAP
Źródło zdjęcia głównego: Bundesarchiv