Living torpedoes
Encyclopedia
Living torpedoes was a social and military phenomenon which began in the Second Polish Republic
Second Polish Republic
The Second Polish Republic, Second Commonwealth of Poland or interwar Poland refers to Poland between the two world wars; a period in Polish history in which Poland was restored as an independent state. Officially known as the Republic of Poland or the Commonwealth of Poland , the Polish state was...

 in mid-1939, when the threat from Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...

 became real. The idea for creating the human torpedo
Human torpedo
Human torpedoes or manned torpedoes are a type of rideable submarine used as secret naval weapons in World War II. The basic design is still in use today; they are a type of diver propulsion vehicle....

 unit was very similar to the famous Japanese kamikaze
Kamikaze
The were suicide attacks by military aviators from the Empire of Japan against Allied naval vessels in the closing stages of the Pacific campaign of World War II, designed to destroy as many warships as possible....

 pilots — males and females willing to sacrifice their lives to defend their homeland. It is a matter of debate among military historians whether there were any real plans for the creation of such suicidal units, or whether it was purely a matter of propaganda
Propaganda
Propaganda is a form of communication that is aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position so as to benefit oneself or one's group....

.

It all started on May 5, 1939, when Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...

 officially demanded the Free City of Danzig
Free City of Danzig
The Free City of Danzig was a semi-autonomous city-state that existed between 1920 and 1939, consisting of the Baltic Sea port of Danzig and surrounding areas....

 and the Polish Corridor
Polish Corridor
The Polish Corridor , also known as Danzig Corridor, Corridor to the Sea or Gdańsk Corridor, was a territory located in the region of Pomerelia , which provided the Second Republic of Poland with access to the Baltic Sea, thus dividing the bulk of Germany from the province of East...

. A day after Hitler’s speech, the Polish daily Ilustrowany Kurier Codzienny
Ilustrowany Kurier Codzienny
Ilustrowany Kurier Codzienny was a Polish daily as well as a publishing house, founded in 1910 in Kraków by Marian Dąbrowski...

from Kraków
Kraków
Kraków also Krakow, or Cracow , is the second largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in the Lesser Poland region, the city dates back to the 7th century. Kraków has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Polish academic, cultural, and artistic life...

 published a letter written by a man from Warsaw
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...

 named Władysław Bożyczko and also signed by his relatives, the brothers Edward and Leon Lutostański. Bożyczko together with the Lutostański brothers appealed to the Poles, asking them to sacrifice their lives. Also, as early as spring 1937 a man from Katowice
Katowice
Katowice is a city in Silesia in southern Poland, on the Kłodnica and Rawa rivers . Katowice is located in the Silesian Highlands, about north of the Silesian Beskids and about southeast of the Sudetes Mountains.It is the central district of the Upper Silesian Metropolis, with a population of 2...

, Stanisław Chojecki, had written a letter to Edward Rydz-Śmigły, offering a similar ultimate sacrifice.

The appeal quickly spread all over the country, trumpeted by other newspapers and radio. Copies of several papers which published it have been preserved to this day; in some of them there are names and photographs of some of those who applied. The search for volunteers turned into a popular patriotic movement which lasted until the first day of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 — September 1, 1939, the day the German invasion of Poland began. It is now difficult to estimate how many people volunteered; most probably there were as many as 4700 men and some 150 women (3000 names are documented, as the Polish Navy
Polish Navy
The Marynarka Wojenna Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej - MW RP Polish Navy, is the branch of Republic of Poland Armed Forces responsible for naval operations...

 issued special IDs for volunteers, signed by Commodore Eugeniusz Poplawski). The first people took their oaths on June 29, 1939.

It is not exactly known what the Polish Army was going to use these people for. Presumably, they were supposed to man underwater human torpedo
Human torpedo
Human torpedoes or manned torpedoes are a type of rideable submarine used as secret naval weapons in World War II. The basic design is still in use today; they are a type of diver propulsion vehicle....

es, aimed at the destruction of German warships. Most probably, the Polish Army did not have the necessary equipment, but reportedly in the summer of 1939 in Gdynia
Gdynia
Gdynia is a city in the Pomeranian Voivodeship of Poland and an important seaport of Gdańsk Bay on the south coast of the Baltic Sea.Located in Kashubia in Eastern Pomerania, Gdynia is part of a conurbation with the spa town of Sopot, the city of Gdańsk and suburban communities, which together...

, 83 selected volunteers were shown a special short movie about torpedoes manned by humans. An officer of the Navy who was present stated that Poland had 16 such torpedoes; they were eight meters long and weighed 420 kilograms. However, none of the volunteers ever saw these torpedoes. Some other volunteers were trained as glider pilots and parachute jumpers.

Also, at that time the Polish Navy created a Bureau of Living Torpedoes, which suggests that the idea was treated seriously. According to one of the volunteers, Marian Kamiński from Poznań
Poznan
Poznań is a city on the Warta river in west-central Poland, with a population of 556,022 in June 2009. It is among the oldest cities in Poland, and was one of the most important centres in the early Polish state, whose first rulers were buried at Poznań's cathedral. It is sometimes claimed to be...

, who saw the movie, Navy officers told him to return to Gdynia on October 12, 1939, for a two-month training course. The course never started — as Germany attacked Poland on September 1, 1939 — but some of the volunteers had by then been drafted into another special ops unit for sabotage and operations behind enemy lines.

Letters from volunteers

In the spring and summer of 1939, numerous letters from those willing to sacrifice their lives for Poland were printed in the newspapers. Here are excerpts from those letters:
  • Ilustrowany Kurier Codzienny
    Ilustrowany Kurier Codzienny
    Ilustrowany Kurier Codzienny was a Polish daily as well as a publishing house, founded in 1910 in Kraków by Marian Dąbrowski...

     May 27, 1939: "There is a constant flow of letters to our office, sent by those who want to volunteer. There are so many of them, that it is impossible to present all names. At the same time, plenty of those volunteers have asked us not to present their names, as they are not searching for fame. So far more than 1000 applied, in recent days we have had 311 letters, including 23 from women".
  • Ilustrowany Kurier Codzienny May 27, 1939: "Miss A.B. from Zakopane
    Zakopane
    Zakopane , is a town in southern Poland. It lies in the southern part of the Podhale region at the foot of the Tatra Mountains. From 1975 to 1998 it was in of Nowy Sącz Province, but since 1999 it has been in Lesser Poland Province. It had a population of about 28,000 as of 2004. Zakopane is a...

    . I have seen a war
    World War I
    World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

    , I served for 5 months by the frontline, also served in 1919 and 1920-21. I was one of the youngest Legionnaires, and now, when it is necessary, I am sacrificing my life",
  • Ilustrowany Kurier Codzienny May 27, 1939: "A retired man from Lwow. I am free now, I can do whatever I want with myself. I am 60, I am not able to march with a carbine for a long time, but I am feeling good enough to learn how to operate a torpedo and thus saving at least one young life",
  • Ilustrowany Kurier Codzienny May 27, 1939: "40-year old lady named Z.B. from Brzesko
    Brzesko
    Brzesko is a town in southern Poland, in Lesser Poland Voivodeship. It lies approximately west of Tarnów and east of the regional capital Kraków. Since Polish administrative reorganization , Brzesko has been the administrative capital of Brzesko County in Lesser Poland Voivodeship...

    . I want to emphasize that I already have a volunteer son in the Navy, second son is also going to the army. I am requesting immediate addition of my name to the list of volunteers",
  • Ilustrowany Kurier Codzienny May 27, 1939: "Maksymilian K. from Lwow. I am Jewish, I love my fatherland, so I am volunteering to the death battalion",
  • Kurier Poranny
    Kurier Poranny
    Kurier Poranny can refer to one of the following Polish newspapers:*Kurier Poranny *Kurier Poranny...

     June 20, 1939: "Among huge number of volunteers for the living torpedoes, there is a German
    Germany
    Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

     man, named Karol Lange, who is a farmer living in the Bydgoszcz county. He had been a member of a German organization, but withdrew from it, because, as he says, it is impossible for him to be a loyal citizen of Poland and a member of such organization at the same time".
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