The representative of the German occupation authorities, SS-Sturmbannführer Bruno Müller, commanded Jagiellonian University Rector, Professor Tadeusz Lehr-Spławiński to convene a meeting of all the university’s lecturers at the administrative center building in the Collegium Novum.
The meeting of 6 November 1939 turned out to be a trap – after a few-minute speech by Müller, in which he stated that the university had always been the “source of anti-German attitudes”, the professors were arrested. In total, 183 people were detained – mainly scholars associated with the Jagiellonian University, the University of Mining and the Cracow Academy of Commerce, as well as several other people who were then in the building or its surroundings at the time. The arrested were transported to the police prison on Montelupich Street, and then to the barracks on Mazowiecka Street. Several days later, 172 of them (a few people had been released in the meantime) were taken to Wrocław, from where they were transferred to the Sachsenhausen concentration camp located on the outskirts of Oranienburg.
After a few-minute speech by Müller, in which he stated that the university had always been the “source of anti-German attitudes”, the professors were arrested. In total, 183 people were detained – mainly scholars associated with the Jagiellonian University, the University of Mining and the Cracow Academy of Commerce.
The eradication of the Polish intellectual elite
The police action of imprisoning the Cracow professors was part of a broader plan to eradicate Polish elites. The Intelligenzaktion operation, which lasted from the moment the Germans entered Poland in the autumn of 1939, was carried out mainly in the territories incorporated into the Reich. However, actions aimed against the Polish intellectual elites also took place in the General Government, where from the spring of 1940, they were continued under the so-called operation AB.
The events of 6 November were unprecedented. It was no coincidence that they occurred in line with the preparations for the inauguration of the academic year at the Jagiellonian University. Not only the University’s academic staff, but also retired professors came to the appointed meeting, guided by their concern for the fate of the Academy. The imprisonment at the camp was particularly ruinous for the latter. Although the "Cracow group" was not forced to work, as the Stehkommando, they were not allowed to sit down during the working day. Roll calls were especially devastating to the inmates’ health. An extremely cold winter, light camp clothing, hunger and lack of medical treatment also contributed to their poor physical condition.
The police action of imprisoning the Cracow professors was part of a broader plan to eradicate Polish elites. The Intelligenzaktion operation, which lasted from the moment the Germans entered Poland in the autumn of 1939, was carried out mainly in the territories incorporated into the Reich.
Those who did not survive the camp
In February 1940, as a result of international efforts, the German authorities released 101 prisoners over the age of 40. By this time, 12 eminent professors had died of exhaustion. They were: Antoni Meyer – lawyer and mining engineer, Stanisław Estreicher – lawyer, former Rector of the Jagiellonian University, Stefan Bednarski – Russian teacher, Jerzy Smoleński – geographer, Tadeusz Garbowski – zoologist and philosopher, Michał Siedlecki and Feliks Rogoziński – zoologists, Kazimierz Kostanecki – anatomist, Ignacy Chrzanowski – literary historian, Adam Różański and Władysław Takliński – engineers, Antoni Hoborski – mathematician.
The next five died shortly after returning to Cracow: Antoni Wilk – astronomer, Jan Nowak – geologist, Stefan Kołaczkowski – literary historian, Jan Włodek – agronomist, Franciszek Bossowski – lawyer.
Although the "Cracow group" was not forced to work, as the Stehkommando, they were not allowed to sit down during the working day. Roll calls were especially devastating to the inmates’ health. An extremely cold winter, light camp clothing, hunger and lack of medical treatment also contributed to their poor physical condition.
The elderly Professor Leon Sternbach, classical philologist and Byzantinist, who was not released because of his Jewish descent, died in February 1940. A further two Jewish scholars, Wiktor Ormicki – geographer and Joachim Metallmann – philosopher, were separated from the group of academics and murdered in KL Mauthausen-Gusen and KL Buchenwald. The others, who were mostly transferred to KL Dachau, were gradually released. The last victim of Sonderaktion Krakau left the German concentration camp in October 1941.