LETTER

Stanislaw Broniewski's life enters into history, but it becomes a signpost for us all, said the premier of Poland, Jerzy Buzek, during a funeral service in St. John's cathedral in Warsaw. The head of the President's administrative center read out President Alexander Kwasniewski's list. He wrote, among other things, that the common denominator of Broniewski's entire life was his service to the country and "Poland owes him the highest gratitude". In the President's opinion, also worthy of the utmost respect is Stanislaw Broniewski's attempt of uniting the Polish Scouting together once more. Numerous representatives from the Polish government, scouts, as well as residents from Warsaw took part in the mass celebrated by the Polish primate Jozef Glemp, in a tightly crowded cathedral.

Stanislaw Broniewski was a member of the Polish Scouting Association from 1928. During the war, Broniewski and Florian Marciniak set up the underground scouting organization "Grey Ranks". Marciniak becomes the first leader of the organization. He gets arrested by the Gestapo in May 1943 and dies in a concentration camp in February 1944. Broniewski becomes the second leader of The Grey Ranks in 1943, and he performs this function until after the fall of the Warsaw Uprising, when he enters into German captivity. Apart from his purely scouting oriented educational involvement, he was also engaged in divertive actions such as the famous action "Under the Arsenal", aimed against the occupants. He took place in many other actions, fought in the Warsaw Uprising and entered the prisoners of war camp after the uprising. He comes back into the country in 1946, where he joins the scouting efforts of the Polish Scouting Organization (ZHP). During the difficult times after the war he was building an ethos for the Grey Ranks and fighting to restore scouting to its proper state. He never accepted the changes that were introduced into scouting by the leaders of the governing communists. After the regaining of their independence in 1989, he tries with all his heart to unite the scouting movement in Poland, as well as joining together the Polish Scouting Association with the Scouting Association of the Polish Republic, but all in vain. He becomes the chairman of the Protection Council in Remembrance of Battle and Suffering, takes on the function of president of the Chief Council of the Association of Grey Ranks and is the leader of the National Committee for the Revival of ZHP. He was the author of books such as The Gray Ranks, Under the Arsenal, Action under the Arsenal and With All My Life, dedicated to the last war and to the scouting battles against the Hitlerian occupants. He also wrote the biography of the Grey Ranks' first chief, Florian Marciniak.

Because my clandestine family tree begins and ends in the Grey Ranks, which were considered a reserve section of the Polish Army, I would like to share with the readers some memories and a short history of the Grey Ranks. In Montreal there are a few worthy warriors from the times of World War II having in their "genealogies" scouting organizations. They fought in various guerillas of the Polish Home Army, took part in the "Kedyw" actions (Direction of Sabotage), and in the Polish Uprising in the divisions of the Home Army. They wrote a great testimony of their battle against the occupants. An example can be Andrzej Wolski, a known Polish activist and author of such books as The Celestine Action, Door without a doorknob, as well as Slow Death. It is nonetheless not the same league and I will not write about their history, but I hope that one of them decides to share his testimony with the readers of the newspaper and write an equally good article.

In the Montreal circle of former soldiers of the Home Army, we are two of the youngest in age and both from Krakow, whose fighting was limited to the Grey Ranks. It is, apart from me, Jurek Dunski, treasurer of the Polish Home Army's branch in Montreal. For this reason, in the next part of this article I will concentrate merely on the Grey Divisions and will lean towards my own memories as well as a book by scout leader Stanislaw Porebski The Krakow Grey Ranks, published in 1985 by the Scouting Publishing House of the Krakow ZHP.

The scouting movement on Polish soil started developing as early as 1911, on the basis of English scouting knowledge; however it quickly became a genuinely Polish educational system for young people. Today, scouting has become a part of our culture. In the past, its achievements are known in the field of education, development of social initiatives, leader formation as well the advancement of tourism and country knowledge. It is hard to imagine anyone not listening to scouting stories and songs in their youth.

During the war the scouts proved themselves on many battlefields and amid all the army divisions. Already in August 1939, within the framework of Military Emergency, the scouts played the role of bicycle couriers and supplying recruitment cards; they operated the telephones and stood unarmed guard near public places. After the January 1st German invasion on Poland, they served sanitary points, secured scout member lists as well as standards, books and camp equipment, which were often in school bunkers occupied by the German army. After the fall of Warsaw in September 1939, the pre-war leadership of the Polish Scouting Association took the decision to enter scouting into the conspiracy under the name of Grey Ranks. From the very beginning of its appointment, the goal of the Grey Ranks was a patriotic education of children. During the times of war it was believed to be linked to full engagement in battle with the occupants. The scouting sermon sounded something like this: "I have a sincere will to serve God and Poland all my life, a willingness to help my neighbor and be obedient to the law of the Grey Ranks. I swear to serve the Grey Ranks, protect government secrets, and not withdraw from sacrificing my own life".
The education program reached three main points: "Today" is the clandestine battle fought with the occupants, "Tomorrow" is the clandestine battle in the divisions of the revived army, "The day after tomorrow" is the rebuilding of the Polish Republic.

There was a powerful oath and challenging program for youth starting at age 11. It is important to mention here that there was an attempt to move the organizational section to "Zawisza" (children from ages 11-14), "Fighting schools" (youth from ages 14-17), as well as "Battling Groups" which were over the age of 17. In practice this section was never tightly sustained. The work in "Zawisza", to which I belonged, was led in groups and troops and war functions included propaganda action, colportage, small sabotage, as well as preparation for duties outside the war front, for example, mail service, gluing posters...etc.

I remember a personal event, which ended in "immense humiliation". I was riding on a tramway and my schoolbag was packed with the Home Army's literature: "Wiadomosci" as well as the scouting "Przeglad Polski Mlodych". The tramway is stopped at Franciszkanska Street and passengers are evacuated for control and revision. Round-ups in Krakow were very common. A German policeman enters with a shout into the tramway. I ask shyly if I have to evacuate as well. He looks at me and my schoolbag, shorts, shoes called "wooden clogs" and gestures his hand with disregard. You can stay. I was the only passenger in an empty tramway when the conductor continued to go forward. I thought I would weep from embarrassment. I was nearly in the same place another time when I witnessed the flight of a young boy not much older than myself, from a police round-up. He was running away in the alley of Plants toward Wawel, shooting back with a small weapon. Running behind him and shooting at him were policemen and German soldiers. I saw traces of blood on the ground; he must have been wounded but he never got caught, despite immediate revision of all Polish buildings. To this day I have no idea who he was.

Fighting schools on the other hand took care, among other things, of the military education at the regular soldier level (despite my young age I received this schooling as well), non-commissioned courses, small sabotage, interview, etc. The Battling Groups were a different matter; they were distraction courses, crossing over to the "Kedyw", to guerilla divisions and for armed battle. In 1942 the Battling Groups were subject to the Home Army. Some examples could be the famous scout battalions "Zoska" and "Parasol", which were the covered up sections of the Home Army, even if they were made up of scouts. We must not forget that the Grey Ranks represented an element of the Underground Nation and were tied most importantly with the Home Army on every level of authority. The Chief Commander of the Home Army in his order number 129 from 16.03.1942 decided that: "Members of the Grey Ranks, which enter into a clandestine group, will be enrolled as soldiers without regards to age.

I must at this point suggest a new book for the interested reader: The Polish Underground Nation published in Poland in 1999 by the Association of Soldiers of the Home Army, RYTM Publishing House. For those who prefer a shorter English version and have access to the internet, I recommend the site of the Circle of Former Soldiers of the Home Army in Montreal:
http://www.citinet.net/ak

The underground activity in Krakow was perhaps harder than in other regions of the country. From the very beginning of the occupation, the Germans created an atmosphere of fear and terror in Krakow. Because Krakow was the capital city of the so-called General Gubernator and German headquarters the city was filled with civilian soldiers and a few in their uniforms. Alone, the garrison of fighters counted over 25 000 soldiers. It was calculated that every fifth walking civilian on the streets of Krakow was German. Despite such a situation, in the summer of 1940, the Grey Ranks organized a scout's camp under the tents with a Polish flag hanging on the flagpole, near the village of Tyniec. The camp was well organized and no one broke in. Because there was a lot of bravery during this action these types of events were quickly banned. They continued their expeditions to the hills near Krakow, in which I took part. They taught us how to use maps, walk using a compass and other scouting duties. It was exactly like the peaceful days, with maybe the only exceptions being that we couldn't sing really loud and were not allowed to make big camp fires.

Scout meetings and schooling took place in private apartments, and we were to be extremely careful. I found out only after the war that in the building in which I lived, near Radziwillowska Street, were Officer Cadet Training Units, a group from the Grey Ranks, about which I had no idea until the end. My meetings were usually held near Zielona Street.

The Germans must have suspected something because there was an investigation of the building, but nobody got arrested. I had at that time, for a few days, a schooling handgun without ammunitions under the bed, but when the Germans saw my mother (my father was in a prisoners of war camp) with two children (me and my younger sister), they continued on their way without looking anywhere. I remember to this day how frightened I was.

Unfortunately, the scouts did not escape the arrests and this destroyed the stability of the clandestine work. In Krakow, larger arrests were already taking place in the summer of 1941, and the subsequent in 1942 and 1943. The most dramatic was the arrest of nearly the entire troop "Ali-cja".

Amongst 50 boys and 12 girls, almost all the boys and two girls were arrested. 40 of the arrested boys and one girl lost their lives in street executions, concentration camps and prisons. On every occasion of dead break, small or large, it was necessary to put on hold the activity, and terminate contact for some time. This was occasionally tied with the need to change the address of a location, or even leaving the home for a while. The waves of arrests did not influence the later development of the scouting movement, whose peak took place in Krakow in 1943. New circumstances created a summer offensive from the Red Army: action "Storm" in the area of Tarnow, and most of all the Warsaw Uprising, which seemed to weaken the scouting activity in Krakow in 1944.

The first person in command of the Grey Ranks for the entire country of Poland became Florian Marciniak, and after his arrest it was Stanislaw Broniewski. Following the Warsaw uprising, Broniewski went into German captivity and his place was taken over by Leon Marszalek, aka Jan, who organized the Main Quarter in Krakow because Warsaw was in rumbles. In the beginning of 1945 a decision was taken to dismantle the Grey Ranks.

Because the names of several members of the Krakow troops were given to the new rulers of Poland, we were forced to a so-called "appearing" before the Liquidating Commission of the former Home Army. Once more memories overtake my thoughts.

I remember like it was today, when we were called on 15.10.1945 for a meeting on the Krakow Planty near Basztowa Street, where the Liquidating Commission had its quarters. The scouts positioned themselves; there were also some "forest divisions". The air shook with gunshots. Every one who was in possession of a gun, and had to unload it because they came up with a list of weapons, tired to shoot out the ammunition into the air so as not to give it back. After the appearance of the communist authority I was given the soldier's rank of caporal as well as a first class food ration card. I walked very proud and boasted all around me. The caporal rank was later changed in favor of an older shooter by the "Verification Commission of Polish Home Army Affairs" because I didn't have my non-commissioned course. During my studies they started making my life more difficult; after my studies I was slowed down in my career, which led me to land in Montreal.

Immediately after the end of the war, there were already instances in the Polish Scouting Association where knowledge acquired during the war schooling was very useful. During a summer scout's camps in Krakow, I was one of the many who were "prepared" to fulfill the night watch with a shotgun and sharp ammunition.

Going back to the Grey Ranks, it is important to emphasize the fact they were the only scouting organization in all of Europe which took on underground activity and battle with Germans. This organization did not look for members, but many were motivated and tried to make their way into it. On the other hand, if we looked at Grey Divisions as an army during the war, it was a voluntary army without remuneration or political affiliation.

We numbered about 9 000 in the entire country, organized in 20 Scouting Groups. It lasted for over 5 years but I hope that scouting during the war entered into history and left an outstanding legend of the people and deeds of the Grey Ranks.

The leader of the Home Army and the leader of the Warsaw Uprising, General Tadeusz Bor-Komorowski in a call to scouts and guides in Poland wrote: "Every time I think of the work of scouts and guides in Poland, I always think about it with the outmost admiration. They not only carried out their work wonderfully in the organizational-educational section of the Polish youth, as well as during the sanitary service, first aid, colportage of underground press and small anti-German sabotage, but they also acquired themselves a great card in history for organizing the Home Army and its battles. Scouting divisions took part in the Warsaw Uprising and they fought a great battle. I believe that scouts were of great assistance to Poland. Their ideology based on Christian values, serving God and the Nation, their most noble chivalry, and the educational method of the scouting organization passed the test of the great trial".