Tarnów rail station bomb attack

Tarnów rail station bomb attack occurred in the night of August 28, 1939, when a time bomb planted by a German agent exploded, killing 20 innocent people and wounding 35.

Monday, August 28, 1939, was a usual day in Tarnów , then town of 40,000 in southern Poland. Trains would come and go from the busy main rail station Tarnów Glówny, with thousands of travelers, including numerous soldiers, who were dispatched to their units, as international situation was worsening day by day. The daily routine, however, was changed at 11:18 p.m., when a time bomb left by a German saboteur exploded in the luggage hall. Twenty people died and it is argued that World War II was started here.

The saboteur, who planted the bomb, a man named Antoni Guzy, was a member of German ethnic minority from Bielsko-Biała. He left two suitcases packed with explosives in the luggage hall and went to a platform, waiting for a night Luxtorpeda train from Krynica, via Tarnów, to Kraków, which, according to the schedule, was leaving at 11:02 p.m. Most probably, Guzy had no idea when the bomb would explode, as he drank a bottle of beer at the station restaurant, and then took a slow walk around the place in anticipation of his train. When the explosion happened, the saboteur, together with other people, ran away in panic. Reportedly, his German principals wanted him to die in the attack.

As the result of the explosion, 20 persons died and additional 35 were wounded. Number of victims would have been much higher, had it not been for a stopping train from Kraków, which arrived 8 minutes late. Also, a few minutes before the attack, a military transport with numerous soldiers had left the Tarnów station. Approximately one-third of the station building was destroyed, rail workers and policemen searched for victims in the rubble for hours.

Antoni Guzy was the son of a German mother and a Polish father. His father died during World War I, and in 1938 Guzy, a locksmith by profession, became unemployed. In search of a job, he joined Gewerkschaft Deutscher Arbeiter - an organization, which helped find employment in Germany. Probably members of this office convinced him to the idea of the attack.

It is impossible to recreate all details of the attack. Guzy, who was from Bielsko-Biała, met there at 11:30 a.m. a man from Skoczów named Neuman, who was a member of a German saboteur organization. Together, they went by rail to Kraków, leaving Bielsko-Biała station at 12:13 p.m. In Kraków they drank coffee, and later took two heavy suitcases, waiting at a station's luggage office. According to Guzy’s deposition, Neuman told him to leave both cases at the Tarnów station and return to Kraków, where he would be waiting.

In Tarnow, Guzy left the luggage, drank a beer and walked around the station. His relaxed behavior was very unusual, as the clock in the bomb was ticking and it would explode at any time. Probably Guzy had no idea about it, and Neuman was hoping that the saboteur would die, as this would mean getting rid of a witness.

Shortly before 11, Guzy bought a 7 Złoty ticket to Kraków, the train was to leave two minutes after 11 p.m., but it was delayed. After the explosion, caught by the railroad police, he was ID’ed and released. Caught again near the station, he was recognized as the man who had left the suitcases. During the interrogation he said that he felt sorry about what had happened, and that he had never received any money. Guzy’s subsequent fate is unknown.

=Sources=
* http://www.gazetawyborcza.pl/1,75480,2887486.html pl icon
* http://www.tarnow.pl/historia/taka/1.php pl icon
* http://www.diapozytyw.pl/pl/site/slady_i_judaica/tarnow pl icon
* http://www.go-tarnow.com/english/worth_seeing/tarnow-history.html en icon
* http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwtwo/countdown_390829_tue_04.shtml en icon

External links

* [http://www.tarnow.pl/galeria/galeria_dworzec/index.php Photos of the station after the attack, taken in the morning on Tuesday, August 29, 1939]

ee also

* Gleiwitz incident
* Selbstschutz