The military action of the Home Army during the rebellion in the camp of Treblinka II in August 1943 – a pre-research survey

Abstract

The article presents the relationship of the Home Army with the question of Jews during the Second World War on the example of the issues connected to a particular place: the Treblinka II extermination camp which claimed around 800,000 Jewish lives. Due to the vast number of victims, the reactions and attitudes of the representatives of the Polish underground Home Army in the face of this tragedy appear extremely interesting, especially in response to the rebellion of Jewish prisoners in 1943. The author has attempted to present the armed participation of the underground in this rebellion and all the problems related to the study of this topic resulting mainly from post-war manipulation, distortion, and even forgery and missing documentation. Although the article is of an investigative nature – that is a preliminary familiarization with the issues discussed, and does not claim to be an exhaustive study – it has been possible to select a certain group of documents that indicate that the participation of the Home Army in the rebellion, specifically the Home Army High Command’s Kedyw division, was a fact, thanks mainly to an analysis of various types of materials (developed sources and archival materials) that have been confronted with each other. However, this issue requires further study.