Certification PAL Brigade Dubois soldier

[StefanM]

Interesting new addition—a certificate awarded to partisan in PAL Brigade Dubois. I don't have much information about this unit but I am hoping someone might be able to add to the little I do have:

PAL Brigade Dubois was formed under the command of Janusz Cezary Ketling-Szemley (1915-1979), code-names; "Arpad", "Olgierd", "Kettling", "Janusz".

Cezary Janusz Kesling-Szemley was an important figure in the left-wing underground resistance in Warsaw, and from 1939 belonged to the secret organization - Polskiej Ludowej Akcji Niepodległościowej (PLAN) or the Polish Peoples Action for Independence. Kesling-Szemley was later awarded "The Cross of Valour" in 1943 and seems to have been tried and sentenced to death in absentia by the AK for dealing with the Gestapo over a prisoner exchange, although it has been suggested that Home Army put him on trial before a military court because of the assistance he had rendered to the ŻZW by helping supply arms into the Warsaw Ghetto for ŻZW during the Uprising 1943. Any death sentence was obviously not carried out as he died in 1979.

Cezary Janusz Kesling-Szemley "Arpad"
Photo and bio on Warsaw Rising website


"Arpad" is mentioned in the recent book, Flags Over the Warsaw Ghetto: The Untold Story of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising By Moshe Arens published by Gefen Publishing House (1 Nov 2011) ISBN: 978-9652295279.

The "flags" in the book title refers to the red and white Polish national flag and the ZZW (Zionist) blue and white flag that the ghetto fighters were reported to have raised over Muranowska Square during the uprising.

However in the much earlier book (1964) And We Are Not Saved by David Wdowinski who was one of the original founders of the Jewish Military Union (Zydowski Zwiazek Wojskowy, ZZW) in 1942 he does not mention there being TWO flags—only that of the blue and white flag over the ZZW Muranowska 7/9 street headquarter building.

[Krakow1]

What is also said in his bio is that the legendary Warsaw underground fighters : "Zoska", "Rudy", "Alek" had left the "Plan" Organisation in late 1939. I guess they have seen what this guy was really about.
This guy was given a death sentence for sending two anonymous letters to Gestapo: he tried to exchange some AK soldiers for a prisoner that Gestapo had in custody. The suggestion that AK would have given him a death sentence for providing weapons to the Jewish resistance is simply absurd.
Also no one has heard of the "St Dubois" because like many communist "Brigades" it existed only on paper, however they came out of woodwork in 1946 to reap rewards.

[Krakow1]

Oh, and one more thing: title of this thread is : Polish Resistance in WW2 (Armia Krajowa) so PAL is definately out of place in this thread.

[StefanM]

I am interested to learn that Cezary Janusz Kesling-Szemley commanded the non-existent PAL Brigade Stanisław Dubois ...thank you for this information. Although Stanisław Dubois certainly did exist, he was an active socialist who formed the Red Scouts (Czerwone Harcerstwo Towarzystwa Uniwersytetu Robotniczego) . Dubois was co conspirator with Witold PIlecki in Auschwitz resistance until he was executed in 1942. It seems quite plausible that a PAL brigade would be named after such a person...if one ever existed.

There is a reference in THE WARSAW GHETTO UPRISING AND THE POLES (THE UNTOLD STORY) by The Polish Educational
Foundation in North America, Toronto. 2011 page 119:

In addition, two organizations, part of the AK—the Polish People’s Independence Action (PLAN [Polska Ludowa Akcja Niepodległościowa, the armed section of the Democratic Party in the Polish underground]) and the Security Corps (KB [Korpus Bezbieczeństwa, a kind of military police responsible for security within the Home Army])—gave the Jewish Military Union (ZZW [ŻZW–Żydowski Związek Walki]), an independent Jewish resistance group, aid in acquiring arms and ammunition.

So maybe my post is in the correct thread for the AK after all

But, as for whether my post is in the right or wrong thread then I guess any posts related to other resistance organistions such as:

Antyfaszystowska Organizacja Bojowa
Armia Ludowa
Bataliony Chłopskie
Brygada Swiętokrzyska
Gwardia Ludowa
Gwardia Ludowa WRN
Leśni
Narodowa Organizacja Wojskowa
Narodowe Siły Zbrojne
Obóz Polski Wałczącej
Państwowy Korpus Bezpieczeństwa
Polska Armia Ludowa
Szare Szeregi
Związek Odwetu
Związek Walki Zbrojnej
Żydowska Organizacja Bojowa
Związek Organizacji Wojsk

would also be in the wrong by being in the "Polish Resistance" thread.... so what are we to do?

Maybe it will be easier to get the Sub-forum title changed from "Polish Resistance in WW2 (Armia Krajowa) to "Polish Resistance in WW2" then it will cover all forms of resistance in Poland rather than AK as it is clear that the AK was not the only resistance organisation in Poland.

[Krakow1]

Cezary Janusz Kesling Szemley never commanded anything prior to 1939, I am not sure if he even went through military service. So lets see no military experience, but commanding a Brigade? Sure looks pretty in that uniform.....
He worked for Ministry of Justice.
As far as what to do:
NSZ
Brygada Swietokrzyska
Szare Szeregi--- AK cadre
ZWZ- prior to AK
Not sure what You mean by Lesni ? it means woodsmen
They are all related one way or other to AK

However:
AL
BCH
GL
these are communist.
That is the difference.

[StefanM]

Cezary Janusz Kesling Szemley never commanded anything prior to 1939, I am not sure if he even went through military service. So lets see no military experience, but commanding a Brigade? Sure looks pretty in that uniform.....
He worked for Ministry of Justice.
As far as what to do:
NSZ
Brygada Swietokrzyska
Szare Szeregi--- AK cadre
ZWZ- prior to AK
Not sure what You mean by Lesni ? it means woodsmen
They are all related one way or other to AK

However:
AL
BCH
GL
these are communist.
That is the difference.

Please see my update:

There is a reference in THE WARSAW GHETTO UPRISING AND THE POLES (THE UNTOLD STORY) by The Polish Educational Foundation in North America, Toronto. 2001 see page 119:

"...In addition, two organizations, part of the AK—the Polish People’s Independence Action (PLAN [Polska Ludowa Akcja Niepodległościowa, the armed section of the Democratic Party in the Polish underground]) and the Security Corps (KB [Korpus Bezbieczeństwa, a kind of military police responsible for security within the Home Army])—gave the Jewish Military Union (ZZW [ŻZW–Żydowski Związek Walki]), an independent Jewish resistance group, aid in acquiring arms and ammunition."

So this clears up your point as to whether my post should be in in an "AK" thread. It clearly does belong.

As you imply there were clearly communist and non-communist resistance movements operating in Poland during WW2 most of whom had different political agendas and that includes those between the NSZ and the AK and AL, BCH and GL. However the moot point is that they were all Polish underground resistance organisations—communist or not.

ps. Leśni ludzie, anti-German partisan groups operating in forests of occupied Poland
NSZ and Brygada Swietokrzyska remained independent of AK and not related to AK they had completely different political stance to AK.

[StefanM]

From:

Civil War in Poland 1942-1948 Studies in Russia and East Europe by Professor Anita J. Prazmowska, pub: Palgrave Macmillan (29 July 2004) ISBN: 978-0333982129

"....In November 1939 a radical section of the pre-war PPS coalesced around Stanislaw Dubois. By April 1940 this group published its own newspaper which took the name Barykada Wolności (Barricade of Freedom), hence the name ‘Baykadowcy’ (Barricaders) given to this section. In addition to maintaining links with the peasant movement Dubois concentrated on building links with the workers, forming cells in the main industrial towns.

In November 1940 the Barricaders formed military organizations based in large industrial complexes. These then became the basis of a group which in September 1941 took the name Polish Socialists. In May 1941 the Barricaders published their first declarations. Their political programme was radical, anticipating left-wing unity and the creation of a post-war order based on the rule of the toiling masses.

Unlike the anti-Soviet stance of the PPS–WRN the PS was pro-Soviet in its foreign policy but at the same time critical of the Soviet Union’s shortcomings. In a letter conveyed by courier to the PPS in London in October 1941 the PS accused WRN of supporting pre-war members of the Sanacja. They disagreed with the PPS anti-Soviet stance and declared that the Polish–Soviet disagreements had to be resolved. At the same time the PS stated its unambiguous opposition to Bolshevik methods."

Update Brygadę im. St. Dubois (PLAN) from : EDWARD CZEMIER: BRYGADA SYNDYKALISTYCZNA (RELACJA DOWÓDCY)

......W Śródmieściu syndykaliści walczyli w różnych oddziałach, wszakże po ustabilizowaniu się sytuacji w tym rejonie walk, stopniowo skupiali się przy Centralnym Komitecie Ludowym (CKL), który w niepełnym składzie podjął działalność w oparciu o d-two Polskiej Armii Ludowej (siła zbrojna CKL) i wchodzącą w jej skład należącą do niej Brygadę im. St. Dubois (PLAN). Pierwsze numery Biuletynu CKL ukazały się dzięki pomocy technicznej adiutanta i zarazem oficera prasowego tej Brygady, a to dzięki wyszukaniu sprawnej drukarki przy ul. Siennej i zdobyciu farby oraz odpowiedniej ilości papieru.

..........Na początku reprezentowali nieformalnie ZSP w CKL'u adw. Władysław Domino (ps. Stojan) i Marcelina Grabowska (ps. Ewa), a SOW'ę występujący pod przybranym nazwiskiem Mikołaj Hryniuk (ps. Marek) oraz ppor. Edward Wołonciej (ps. Czemier), uprzednio walczący w kompanii „Grażyna” Baonu Gustaw-Harnaś AK przy zdobywaniu Poczty Głównej na Pl. Napoleona (dziś Plac Powstańców). SPD reprezentował R. Miller (przedpowstańczy przewodniczący CKL) i Andrzej Klimowicz, PPS-lewicę P. Gajewski i J. Salcewicz, PLAN C. Szemley-Ketling.

"Brygadę im. St. Dubois (PLAN)" and "PLAN C. Szemley-Ketling"; it would seem the PAL Brigade St. Dubois did in fact exist and took part in the Warsaw Rising alongside the Warsaw "Downtown" syndicalists (Śródmieściu syndykaliści)... ZSP or Związek Syndykalistów Polskich i Syndykalistyczna Organizacja „Wolność” groups I had not heard about before. Small in numbers and left-wing but still active resistance fighters in the Rising against the German occupiers.

[Krakow1]

Lesni ludzie was a term applied to anyone in the woods that was resisting: whether Germans or soviets/communist.
So anyone can fall into that category. Also I have not heard that term since my high school days in Krakow.
Small in numbers, when I think of "Brigade" in military terms that is a huge amount of people. But the communist/leftist were famous for making "Brigades' ,"Battalions" that consisted of few personel and really got in the way. You should try to read one of my favorite authors Sergiusz Piasecki " Pamietnik Oficera Armi Czerwonej" it sums their "Brigades" and their "Missions"
That book however needs to be read in Polish, I am not aware of a translation...not sure if it could be translated.
This Brigade was nothing that mattered, other than they got in the way, and Kesling Szemley got lucky, for what he did he should have been executed.

[StefanM]

Lesni ludzie was a term applied to anyone in the woods that was resisting: whether Germans or soviets/communist.
So anyone can fall into that category. Also I have not heard that term since my high school days in Krakow.
Small in numbers, when I think of "Brigade" in military terms that is a huge amount of people. But the communist/leftist were famous for making "Brigades' ,"Battalions" that consisted of few personel and really got in the way. You should try to read one of my favorite authors Sergiusz Piasecki " Pamietnik Oficera Armi Czerwonej" it sums their "Brigades" and their "Missions"
That book however needs to be read in Polish, I am not aware of a translation...not sure if it could be translated.
This Brigade was nothing that mattered, other than they got in the way, and Kesling Szemley got lucky, for what he did he should have been executed.

Indeed the numbers we are agreed were small however your interpretation of their usefulness in the Rising cannot be anything other than conjecture... one could of argue ad infinitum over the usefulness of the participation of any of the various units including AK and NSZ fighting in the Rising given the inevitability of the outcome—an outcome that Gen. Anders had foreseen and tried in vain to stop before the fatal decision was taken in Warsaw.


Leśni (short for Leśni ludzie, Polish for "the men from the forests") is one of the informal names applied to the anti-German partisan groups operating in occupied Poland during World War II. The groups were formed mostly by people who for various reasons could not operate from settlements they lived in and had to retreat to the forests. Contrary to most of the organised groups of resistance, with the Armia Krajowa being the most notable, the forest people formed a sort of a standing army as opposed to regular partisan units that gathered shortly before an action and then retreated to their homes.

[StefanM]

104th Company of Syndicalists of some 350 men commanded by Lieutenant Kazimierz Puczyński (nom de guerre Wronski), became the one of the best-equipped Polish units in the area of the Old Town. It participated in capture of the PASTA skyscraper and in fighting around Warsaw’s Royal Castle. 104th Company organised the defence of the Old Town, including St. John’s Cathedral during which 104th Company suffered 50% losses.

104th Company of Syndicalists

Below: A memorial tablet in Warsaw, located near the Krasiński Palace, which was captured by soldiers of the 104 Company of Syndicalists on August 2, 1944.



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