User:Dreamcatcher25/Skłoby massacre

The Skłoby massacre was a Nazi war crime perpetrated by the Ordnungspolizei and other German formations in the village of Skłoby within occupied Poland. On April 11, 1940, the village was completely burned; 265 male residents were murdered. This atrocity was a retaliatory act against the civilian population following an unsuccessful German attempt to dismantle the Detached Unit of the Polish Army led by Maj. Henryk Dobrzański.

Background
Skłoby, situated at the edge of the Kielce–Końskie forest complex, was a village with approximately 400 households and around a thousand inhabitants before the massacre. The village, due to poor soil quality and small farm sizes, faced poverty, leading much of its population to seek employment outside of agriculture.

On March 14, 1940, less than five kilometers away in the village of Hucisko, a Detached Unit of the Polish Army led by Maj. Henryk Dobrzański, pseudonym Hubal, established its base. Though the unit did not directly lodge in Skłoby, the village provided extensive support. Residents gathered provisions for soldiers and horses, and several men volunteered to join the unit. However, increased German informer activity and patrols in the area were soon observed.

On March 30, 1940, SS and Ordnungspolizei units initiated an extensive search for the Hubal unit. However, their attack on Hucisko resulting in a severe defeat. After the battle, the Hubal men retreated to the village of Szałas, 25 kilometers away, where on April 1, they repelled another German assault. Eventually, Hubal, though partially dispersing the unit, successfully led his soldiers out of the area under manhunt.

The failed attempts to dismantle the Polish unit tarnished the prestige of the SS and police authorities. As a result, the Higher SS and Police Leader in the General Government (HSSPF "Ost"), SS-Obergruppenführer Friedrich Wilhelm Krüger, ordered a large-scale pacification action. The operation targeted villages in the vicinity of the previous operational area of Hubal's unit. The intention was to retaliate against the civilian population, erasing the impression of defeat incurred by prior struggles against Hubal. Within less than two weeks, 31 villages in the pre-war Końskie, Kielce, and Opoczno counties experienced various forms of repression. Four villages were entirely razed, while in the fifth, most structures were destroyed. The Nazi forces killed 712 Polish civilians, including two women and six children.

The massacre
Soon after the battle in Hucisko, Ignacy Czerwonka, a sołtys (the village head) of Skłoby, was summoned to the Gendarmerie post in Chlewiska, where he was ordered to prepare a list of residents who cooperated with Hubal and his soldiers. However, after consulting local teacher, Czerwonka refused to prepare a list, arguing that the entire population helped Polish soldiers. Soon, rumors began to reach the inhabitants that "the Germans would burn Skłoby". However, they didn't cause significant concern among the inhabitants.

Aftermath
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Perpetrators
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