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{{Infobox terrorist attack
| title            = Wyszanów massacre
| partof           = the [[Invasion of Poland (1939)]]
| image_upright    = 
| image            = Wyszanów, cmentarz parafialny, mogiła pomordowanych cywilów przez żołnierzy niemieckiego Wehrmachtu we wrześniu 1939 roku(MW).JPG
| caption          = Mass grave of the massacre victims at the cemetery in Wyszanów
| map              = {{location map|Poland
| coordinates = {{Coord|51|22|11|N|18|06|33|E}}
| relief =1
}}
| location         = [[Wyszanów, Łódź Voivodeship|Wyszanów]], [[Poland]]
| coordinates      = {{Coord|51|21|30|N|18|09|41|E|type:event_region:PL|display=inline,title}}
| date             = {{Date start|1939|09|02}}
| time-begin       = 
| time-end         = 
| timezone         = 
| type             = [[Mass murder]]
| fatalities       = 24
| perps            = [[10th Infantry Division (Wehrmacht)|10th Infantry Division]] of the [[Wehrmacht]]
}}
The '''Wyszanów massacre''', which occurred on September 2, 1939, in the village of [[Wyszanów, Łódź Voivodeship|Wyszanów]] was a [[War crimes of the Wehrmacht|war crime committed by the Wehrmacht]] during its [[Invasion of Poland (1939)|invasion of Poland]]. On that day, 22 Poles, mostly elderly people, women, and children, died from bullets, flames, and grenades thrown into the basements. Men from Wyszanów who were able to carry weapons had been deported to [[Nazi Germany|Germany]] the day before, and en route, two of them were killed by guards.

== Prelude ==
[[Wyszanów, Łódź Voivodeship|Wyszanów]] is currently a village situated in [[Wieruszów County]]. Before the [[Second World War]], it was a part of [[Kępno County]] and located approximately 30 kilometers from the then [[Germany–Poland border|Polish-German border]].{{sfn|Galiński|1986|p=45}}

On September 1, 1939, the first day of the [[Invasion of Poland (1939)|German invasion of Poland]], probably around 2 p.m. [[Wehrmacht]] troops entered the village. Wyszanów was occupied without a single shot being fired because there were no units of the [[Polish Armed Forces (Second Polish Republic)|Polish Army]] stationed in the village; only soldiers from the defeated Polish units sneaked through its fences from time to time.{{sfn|Böhler|2009|p=126}}{{sfn|Galiński|1986|p=45}}

Upon entering Wyszanów, the soldiers detained almost all men capable of carrying weapons (approximately 30 people). They were imprisoned in a house opposite the church, where they were joined by a dozen or so Polish [[prisoners of war]]. On September 2 in the morning, the Germans took all the detainees towards [[Podzamcze (Wieruszów)|Podzamcze]]. The men from Wyszanów were then taken to a internment camp near [[Nuremberg]], where they spent several weeks. On the way, near [[Mechnice, Greater Poland Voivodeship|Mechnice]], German guards killed two detainees from Wyszanów – Walenty Kos and Michał Powolny.{{sfn|Galiński|1986|p=45}}

== The massacre ==
=== The course of events ===
The morning of September 2 passed relatively calmly in Wyszanów. However, around noon, a new German unit entered the village. Soon, a violent shooting broke out. Subsequently, the Germans initiated the [[Pacification actions in German-occupied Poland|pacification]] of Wyszanów.{{sfn|Galiński|1986|p=45}} The soldiers went from house to house, setting buildings ablaze and throwing hand grenades into cellars. Most of the village inhabitants were gathered at the local [[inn]].{{sfn|Böhler|2009|p=126–127}} Several people were shot, including Hipolit Stasiak (accused of shooting at German soldiers), and Adam Kałamuk (taken to the local [[Clergy house|parsonage]] and murdered there). Also, Wincenty Wolny from nearby [[Lubczyna, Łódź Voivodeship|Lubczyna]] was killed in unexplained circumstances.{{sfn|Galiński|1986|p=47}}

The most tragic incident occurred on Marcin Szyszka's farm, where 21 women and children had sought refuge in the basement. German soldiers threw hand grenades into the basement, resulting in the immediate death of 13 people, while another three succumbed to their injuries in the hospital.{{efn|A slightly different version of events can be found in [[Szymon Datner]]'s work ''55 days of the Wehrmacht in Poland. Crimes committed against the Polish civilian population in the period September 1 – October 25, 1939''. Datner claimed that the massacre took place in the basement of the "former Wyszanów [[manor house]]", and that German grenades were supposed to kill 11 people there – ten children and an 80-year-old old man. Three more people were to die in hospital (See: Datner (1967), p. 171–172.). These discrepancies result primarily from the fact that Datner based his work on a secondary source – i.e. the account ''[[Johannes Blaskowitz|Von Blaskowitz]] enters [[Kępno]]. Remarks on Germans against the background of memories from 1939'' by Jan Ross (a medicine doctor by profession), written just after the end of the war. However, newer publications describing the pacification of Wyszanów are based on the original testimonies of eyewitnesses to the massacre. See: Galiński (1986), pp. 46–48 and Böhler (2009), p. 126–127.}} The victims included Szyszka's wife and his four children, aged 3 to 12.{{efn|Marcin Szyszka had been deported to [[Nazi Germany|Germany]] a few hours earlier. He learned about the fate of his family only a few weeks later, after returning to Wyszanów. See: Galiński (1986), pp. 46–47.}}{{sfn|Galiński|1986|p=46–47}}

According to Wacław Majchrzak's calculations on September 2, 1939, 22 Poles were murdered in Wyszanów. If two men shot near Mechnice are to be included, the number of victims of the pacification increases to 24.{{sfn|Galiński|1986|p=183, 190–192}} Among those killed were 11 children.{{sfn|Galiński|1986|p=53}} The Germans burned 27 farms, with 12 being completely destroyed and 15 partially damaged.{{sfn|Galiński|1986|p=48}}

=== The cause and the perpetrators ===
Polish historians speculated that the massacre was carried out in revenge for the pro-Polish attitude shown by the inhabitants of Wyszanów during the [[Greater Poland uprising (1918–1919)|Greater Poland uprising of 1918–1919]] or as retaliation for the resistance put up by a handful of Polish soldiers at the [[folwark]] in nearby [[Lubczyna, Łódź Voivodeship|Lubczyna]].{{sfn|Galiński|1986|p=48}}{{sfn|Datner|1967|p=171–172}} However, according to the findings of German historian [[Jochen Böhler]], the massacre in Wyszanów was more likely the result of the "partisan psychosis" prevailing in the ranks of the Wehrmacht at that time. While a German unit was marching through the village, an accidental shooting occurred. No Germans were harmed as a result—there were no Polish soldiers in the village, or even men capable of carrying weapons. However, the nervous and inexperienced soldiers concluded that the shooting was caused by a "partisan attack" and immediately initiated a brutal retaliatory action, targeting defenseless civilians.{{sfn|Böhler|2009|p=126–127}}

For a long time, the German unit that pacified Wyszanów was unknown. Polish historians speculated that it could have been the [[1st SS Panzer Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler|Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler]] regiment.{{sfn|Galiński|1986|p=49}} However, documents obtained by Jochen Böhler reveal that the massacre was committed by soldiers of the 3rd motorized company of the 10th [[Pioneer (military)|Pioneer]] Battalion (''Pionier-Bataillon 10'') from [[Ingolstadt]],{{efn|The battalion was commanded by Captain Bloch. See: Böhler (2009), p. 127.}} part of the [[10th Infantry Division (Wehrmacht)|10th Infantry Division]].{{sfn|Böhler|2011|p=195}}

Sergeant Simmet, the commander of one of the subunits of this unit, was the author of a dramatized report on the fighting in Poland, entitled ''Brückenschlag und Häuserkampf in Ostrówek'' ("Construction of bridges and fighting for buildings in [[Ostrówek, Wieruszów County|Ostrówek]]"). In that document, the pacification of Wyszanów was described as revenge against "Murderers from Wyszanów lurking in windows and ambushes." Simmet wrote, among other things:{{sfn|Böhler|2011|p=195}}

{{quotation|These shady-looking individuals thought they could stop us, pioneers, in our victorious march. They didn't know our slogan: "quickly and ruthlessly." [[International humanitarian law|International law]] provides only the death penalty for [[guerrilla]]s. And very well. We even buried them, although not in a [[Christianity|Christian]] way, because each of them was in a separate [[crematorium]]!}}

Almost simultaneously, soldiers of the 10th Infantry Division also pacified the neighboring [[Torzeniec]] (approximately 4 kilometers east of Wyszanów). On the night of September 1-2, 1939, the 41st Infantry Regiment burned the village and murdered sixteen of its inhabitants. The next day, eighteen more men from Torzeniec and three prisoners of war were shot, bringing the total number of pacification victims to 37.{{sfn|Galiński|1986|p=49–53}}{{sfn|Böhler|2009|p=122–126}}
{{Main|Torzeniec massacre}}

== Aftermath ==
On September 20, 1939, the victims of the pacification of Wyszanów and Torzeniec were exhumed and buried at the cemetery in Wyszanów.{{sfn|Galiński|1986|p=46, 53}} The remains of 20 victims of the Wyszanów massacre were buried there. The bodies of Walenty Kos and Michał Powolny, as well as Stefania Kanicka and Łucja-Helena Wróbel (who died of wounds) were buried in the cemetery in [[Mechnice, Greater Poland Voivodeship|Mechnice]].{{sfn|Galiński|1986|p=183, 190–192}}

== Notes ==
{{notes}}

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== Bibliography ==
* {{Cite book |last=Böhler|first=Jochen|author-link=Jochen Böhler|title=Zbrodnie Wehrmachtu w Polsce|trans-title=Wehrmacht crimes in Poland|date=2009|location=Kraków|publisher=Wydawnictwo "Znak"|isbn = 978-83-240-1225-1|language=pl}}
* {{Cite book |last=Böhler|first=Jochen|title=Najazd 1939. Niemcy przeciw Polsce|trans-title=Invasion 1939. Germany against Poland|date=2011|location=Kraków|publisher=Wydawnictwo "Znak"|isbn = 978-83-240-1808-6|language=pl}}
* {{Cite book |last=Datner|first=Szymon|author-link=Szymon Datner|title=55 dni Wehrmachtu w Polsce. Zbrodnie dokonane na polskiej ludności cywilnej w okresie 1.IX – 25.X. 1939 r|trans-title=55 days of the Wehrmacht in Poland. Crimes committed against the Polish civilian population in the period September 1 – October 25, 1939|date=1967|location=Warszawa|publisher=Wydawnictwo MON|language=pl}}
* {{Cite book |editor1-last=Galiński|editor1-first=Antoni|title=Zbrodnie Wehrmachtu w Wielkopolsce w okresie zarządu wojskowego (1 września – 25 października 1939)|trans-title=Wehrmacht crimes in Greater Poland during the military administration period (September 1 – October 25, 1939)|date=1986|location=Kalisz|publisher=OKBZH w Łodzi – Instytut Pamięci Narodowej|language=pl}}

{{Massacres of Poles}}

[[Category:Nazi war crimes in Poland]]
[[Category:Invasion of Poland]]
[[Category:Massacres committed by Nazi Germany]]
[[Category:World War II massacres of Poles]]