The Kampinos Group was a partisan formation of the Home Army fighting in the Kampinos Forest during the Warsaw Uprising of 1944.
The Kampinos Group was formed based on the structures of the VIII District of the Warsaw County Subdistrict of the Warsaw District, as well as various units of the Home Army that found themselves in the Kampinos Forest as a result of the Operation Tempest. In August and September 1944, the group tied up significant enemy forces, thereby relieving the besieged Warsaw. Its units fought in 47 battles and skirmishes and temporarily liberated the central and eastern parts of the forest from German occupation, inhabited by several thousand people. Over 900 soldiers of the Kampinos Group also set out to aid the capital, taking part in attacks on the Warszawa Gdańska railway station and in the defense of Żoliborz.
At the end of September 1944, the Kampinos Group attempted to break through to the Świętokrzyskie Mountains. Initially, the Polish formation effectively evaded the German encirclement, but due to command errors, it was surrounded and defeated on September 29 near Jaktorów. However, many Home Army soldiers, including several cohesive units, managed to break out of the encirclement. Some of them continued to fight until January 1945.
Origins
Conspiracy in the Kampinos Forest
Already at the turn of 1939 and 1940, just a few months after the Invasion of Poland, the first cells of the Polish resistance movement began to emerge in the Kampinos Forest area. By mid-1940, most of these groups had subordinated themselves to the Union of Armed Struggle (renamed the Home Army in February 1942). The structures of the Union of Armed Struggle/Home Army from the pre-war areas of Czosnów, , and the eastern part of became part of the VIII Łęgów District of the Warsaw County Subdistrict of the Warsaw District. Thus, the VIII District encompassed the eastern part of the Kampinos Forest and villages scattered on both sides of the Warsaw–Modlin road within its territorial scope. The conditions of underground work in the Łęgów District were significantly influenced by the fact that its southern part belonged territorially to the Warsaw District of the General Government, while the northern part was annexed into the Reich as part of the so-called Zichenau. The border between the Nazi Germany and the General Government was guarded by numerous border guard posts.
The first commander of the VIII District was Lieutenant Andrzej Niedzielski, alias "Andrzej". In September 1941, he was replaced by Captain Józef Krzyczkowski, alias "Szymon". At the turn of 1940 and 1941, (according to other sources only in 1942) in the Warsaw County Subdistrict, the creation of so-called line units began, modeled on the structure of a regular army. The previous organizational structure, based on small underground cells (so-called "fives"), was replaced by a division into squads and platoons, and eventually also into companies and battalions. In the autumn of 1943, the VIII District already had 953 sworn soldiers organized into five infantry companies and three independent platoons (communications, sappers, and gendarmerie). In addition, at the end of 1942, the district command established the Kedyw unit. Initially, it was in the form of a squad, but already in the first half of 1943, it grew to the size of a platoon (about 40 soldiers). Due to the increasing number of "burned" conspirators in the winter of 1943 and 1944, a small partisan unit was organized in the Kampinos Forest area under the command of Second Lieutenant Antoni Frydrych, alias "Parys". Initially, the unit consisted of only a few partisans, but over time its strength grew to about 30 soldiers. The partisans were quartered in makeshift dugouts on the so-called Strzeleckie Łąki near Sieraków, and organizationally, they were subordinate to the commander of the Kedyw of the VIII District.
In the early years of the occupation, the underground activity in the VIII District mainly focused on gathering weapons and ammunition, conducting military training for sworn soldiers, intelligence work, and informational-propaganda activities. Over time, sabotage-diversion actions were also organized, and traitors, informants, and common criminals were punished or eliminated. For almost three years, the VIII District developed its underground activity without significant opposition from the Germans. However, with the increase in the number and activity of conspirators, the number of "leaks" and arrests also increased. Inevitably, there were losses during combat actions. The conditions of underground work deteriorated significantly from June 1943 when a unit of German gendarmerie specialized in combating the resistance movement was quartered in Zaborów. In November 1943, as a result of betrayal by one of the conspirators, dozens of people – soldiers of the VIII District and members of their families – were arrested. Eight residents of Truskaw and Izabelin were then burned alive by Zaborów gendarmes. As a result of the series of arrests, the 1st and 5th companies of the VIII District suffered such heavy losses that it became necessary to merge them into one company. On 28 January 1944, a clandestine weapons depot located in the Opaleń forest fell into the hands of the Germans. Another severe blow was the death of the commander of the Kedyw of the VIII District, Second Lieutenant Marian Grobelny, alias "Macher", and four other soldiers shot by Zaborów gendarmes in an ambush near Sieraków (24 June 1944).
Ultimately, the Germans failed to break or paralyze the structures of the VIII District. On the eve of the Warsaw Uprising, Captain "Szymon" could deploy two infantry battalions with the strength of five frontline companies. Within the district, there were also two platoons of the and structures of the . In July 1944, "Szymon" was additionally assigned two youth platoons led by officer cadets , alias "Murzyn", and Wojciech Pecyński, alias "Polana", which – although composed of young boys from the and Łomianki areas, therefore from the territory of the VIII District – were previously subordinate to the command of the III Dęby District of the Warsaw County Subdistrict (Rembertów). At the same time, preparations for the insurgent action began, including the gathering of weapons and ammunition. However, arming remained the Achilles' heel of the VIII District. "Szymon" stated in his post-war memoirs that after the mobilization in July 1944, there were only about 350–400 armed soldiers in the ranks of the VIII District's units. On the other hand, Edward Bonarowski claimed that the forces of the Łęgów District did not exceed the number of 440 armed soldiers, usually equipped with weapons from the Invasion of Poland.
The plans for a general uprising developed by the Home Army command envisaged that the main task of the VIII District would be to seize the Bielany airfield. This facility was to be captured in cooperation with units of the III District of the Żoliborz Subdistrict. In addition, the VIII District was tasked with seizing the Łomianki factory and workshops in Dziekanów Leśny, taking over transportation means on the Vistula river, and blocking the Modlin road at the . It was also planned that after the arrival of reinforcements from the , offensive actions would be conducted towards Kazuń Nowy.
Arrival of the Stowbtsy-Naliboki Group
During the night of 25/26 July 1944,In his memoirs published in the early 1960s, reported that the Stowbtsy-Naliboki Group stood down in Dziekanów Polski on 24 July 1944, but this is an obvious mistake (). Captain "Szymon" received a message that a several hundred strong unit had stopped in Dziekanów Polski, which soldiers were dressed in uniforms of the pre-war Polish Armed Forces and spoke Polish with a Northern Borderlands dialect. The next day, the commander of the VIII District went to Dziekanów to personally assess the situation. On the spot, he learned that the Stowbtsy-Naliboki Home Army Group had arrived from the Naliboki forest in the Eastern Borderlands. The group consisted of 861 well-armedOn 26 July 1944, the equipment of the Naliboki group included: 7 grenade launchers, 11 medium machine guns, 41 light machine guns, 43 ten-shot rifles, 53 submachine guns, 627 rifles, 137 pistols, 794 grenades, and 195,500 rounds of ammunition. Additionally, the group had 589 horses, 320 saddles, 185 carts, and 8 horse-drawn carts (; ). and battle-hardened partisans, organized into an infantry battalion, a cavalry squadron, a heavy machine gun squadron, and logistical support. It was led by Lieutenant Adolf Pilch, alias "Góra" (a Silent Unseen paratrooper).
The Stowbtsy-Naliboki Group was formed based on the Polish Partisan Unit named after Tadeusz Kościuszko, established in June 1943 in the in the Nowogródek Voivodeship. In the first months of its existence, the unit engaged in intense combat with the Germans, cooperating with Soviet partisans. However, the situation changed dramatically in December 1943 when Soviet partisans deceitfully kidnapped the command of the Polish group and then proceeded to disarm and liquidate subunits without officers. Lieutenant "Góra", who took command of the remnants of the unit, aimed to save the soldiers and provide protection to the Polish population against the terror of the Soviet partisans. With the consent of the command of the , he decided to temporarily cease hostilities with the Germans. This decision allowed "Góra" to rebuild the group and continue the fight against the Soviets. In the summer of 1944, the rapid advances of the Red Army led to the loss of communication with the district command and prevented the group from participating in Operation Ostra Brama. In this situation, Lieutenant "Góra" decided to evacuate his units to central Poland, which also meant breaking the ceasefire with the Germans. During the nearly month-long march, sneaking between the broken German units on the Eastern Front, the group covered a distance of several hundred kilometers, crossing the Neman, Shchara, and Bug rivers along the way. The climax of the journey occurred on July 25 when "Góra's" soldiers, thanks to a clever military ruse, crossed the heavily guarded bridge over the Vistula near Nowy Dwór Mazowiecki without a fight. Ultimately, after midnight on July 26, the Naliboki group, with the knowledge and consent of the Germans, arrived in Dziekanów Polski.
During the march and upon arrival in the Warsaw area, Lieutenant "Góra" unsuccessfully attempted to establish contact with the Home Army command. The conspiratorial circles received the lieutenant and his soldiers with great mistrust. There were probably fears that the presence of a unit accused of collaborating with the Germans on the eve of the planned uprising might hinder cooperation with the Red Army. Initially, the command of the Warsaw County Subdistrict considered forcibly disarming the Naliboki group or buying weapons from its soldiers. On July 27, however, the , through Captain "Szymon", ordered Lieutenant "Góra" to march to the Tuchola Forest in the Gdańsk Pomerania, announcing at the same time that he himself would face a drumhead court-martial for collaboration with the Germans. This order, which later described as "mad and insane", in practice condemned the group to destruction because the Borderland soldiers had no chance of penetrating hundreds of kilometers into German-controlled territory. In this situation, Lieutenant Pilch informed Captain "Szymon" that he could not carry out the Home Army High Command's order. He proposed instead that he and his entire group be placed under his command.