Disbandment of Osa–Kosa 30
The disbandment of Osa–Kosa 30 refers to the arrest by the Gestapo of dozens of soldiers from the Organization of Special Combat Actions (Osa–Kosa 30), who had gathered on 5 June 1943 for the wedding of a comrade in Warsaw's St. Alexander's Church.
On 12 July 1943, the chief of staff of Osa–Kosa 30, Lieutenant Mieczysław Kudelski [pl], codenamed Wiktor, who had attempted to reconstruct the unit, was also arrested.
Its area of operation encompassed the entire General Government and, since December 1942, also included pre-war German territories and Polish lands annexed to the Reich.
[1] Osa was entrusted with tasks of special significance, such as the elimination of high-ranking Nazi dignitaries and particularly cruel representatives of the occupying apparatus, as well as conducting "major diversion" operations.
One of these was an unsuccessful attempt to assassinate on 20 April 1943 in Kraków the Higher SS and Police Leader, SS-Obergruppenführer Friedrich-Wilhelm Krüger, as well as bomb attacks in Berlin and Wrocław.
The enemy's advantage was too great, and moreover, it could not be ruled out that the wedding guests were victims of a random roundup, which had become a daily occurrence in occupied Warsaw and did not spare churches either.
[22] German intelligence had previously obtained information that on June 5 at 12:00 PM, a wedding would take place at St. Alexander's Church involving important figures from the Polish underground, including the perpetrators of the mentioned actions.
[f][23] The report did not disclose the informant's identity, only stating that he was connected to those arrested and was secretly brought to Pawiak, where, during the confrontation, he identified three individuals: Mieczysław Uniejewski, Aleksandra Sokal, and Krystyna Milli, codenamed Krysia.
Similar actions were also taken against the other perpetrator of the assassination attempt on Krüger, Andrzej Jankowski; in this case, however, they played on his radically anti-communist beliefs.
However, Lieutenant Mieczysław Kudelski [pl], codenamed Wiktor, chief of the unit's inner staff, made an attempt to rebuild it based on soldiers who had managed to avoid arrest.
The witness to this event was reportedly the adjutant of the Home Army Commander-in-Chief, Captain Ryszard Jamontt-Krzywicki [pl], codenamed Szymon, who was scheduled to meet Wiktor at the same time.
[42] Ten surviving soldiers were incorporated into the Motor 30 unit under the command of Lieutenant Roman Kiźny [pl], codenamed Pola.
A detailed investigation into the "infiltration" at St. Alexander's Church was personally ordered by the Commander of the Home Army, General Stefan Rowecki, codenamed Grot.
[48] An extensive and emotional debate was sparked by the memoirs of Aleksander Kunicki [pl], codenamed Rayski, published in 1968 under the title Cichy front.
The courier Irena Klimesz, codenamed Bogna, testified that he exhibited great interest in the command of the unit and the network of its contact points.
[51] It was he who reportedly revealed to the Germans the participants of the wedding ceremony, identified those detained at Pawiak, and later set a trap for Lieutenant Wiktor.
[52] Kunicki concluded as follows: "The traitor and Gestapo informant Stanisław Jaster, codenamed Hel, was sentenced to death by the court of the Home Army.
[i] It was shown that Kunicki and Kumor, whose authority as distinguished Home Army officers legitimized the accusations against Jaster, did not actually participate in the investigation conducted in his case and obtained all information – through third parties – from the deceased Captain Ryszard Jamontt-Krzywicki.
[60] Furthermore, preserved German documents not only do not provide any evidence to support the claim of a staged escape but indicate that an intensive manhunt was launched against the escapees, and their names were entered into the books of wanted persons.
[61] The defenders of Hel emphasized that although he was a member of the Military Organization Union established in Auschwitz by Lieutenant Witold Pilecki and had extensive contacts in the Warsaw underground, his alleged treachery did not result in any arrests in the camp resistance movement or in other Home Army units in the capital, aside from Osa–Kosa 30.
[58] They pointed out that Jaster did not match the description of an informant from Pawiak,[62] and aside from the words of Kunicki and Kumor, no evidence confirms that Home Army counterintelligence conducted an investigation into him or that the case was considered by a Military Special Court.
[58] Finally, Janusz Kwiatkowski, codenamed Zaruta – a Home Army soldier and acquaintance of Hel – claimed he was an eyewitness to his escape from the Gestapo car on 12 July 1943.
[66] Despite numerous appeals, the World Association of Home Army Soldiers and other institutions and organizations long refused to grant Stanisław Jaster official rehabilitation.
[67] Only on 25 September 2019 was he posthumously awarded the Knight's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta by the decision of the President of Poland, Andrzej Duda.
[70] During the debate regarding the alleged betrayal of Stanisław Jaster, alternative hypotheses were also presented concerning the identity of the informant who facilitated the infiltration of the unit by the Germans.
Irena Klimesz, codenamed Bogna, suggested that the "leak" at St. Alexander's Church may have been caused by a report made by a jealous female friend of the groom.
