Kraków Uprising (1944)

The Red Army was pushing the Wehrmacht towards the west, and the headquarters of AK decided to launch Operation Tempest (Plan Burza): a series of local uprisings, whose purpose was to seize control of cities and areas where German forces were preparing their defence against the Soviet Red Army, so that Polish underground civilian authorities could take power before the arrival of the Soviets.

According to professor Andrzej Chwalba from Kraków's Jagiellonian University, AK planners wanted to start the uprising most probably on 10 October 1944 (earlier dates had also been considered).

It is very likely that the occupation authorities knew about a possible uprising, and on 3 September 1944 Hans Frank appealed to the “proud Archbishop of Kraków” to halt the plans.

Norman Davies in his book "Rising '44" writes about events that took place at the beginning of August 1944: "Meanwhile in Cracow, the authorities of the General Government reacted by ordering a preemptive round-up of young men, similar to the one that had misfired the previous week in Warsaw.

On this occasion, the Gestapo took no chances (...) At 10 Tyniec street, they broke in, but failed to find the twenty-four-year-old Underground actor and aspirant priest, who was praying on his knees (...) When they left, a young woman guided the fugitive to the archbishop's palace.