Katowice massacre

A memorial for the Polish Boy Scouts who died defending Katowice in September 1939. A number of fallen scouts were victims of the executions of 4 September 1939.
Monument to the Defenders of Katowice, described on the inscription as "Silesian insurgents, Boy and Girl scouts, murdered in 1939 by the Hitlerite invaders, in forests, streets and prisons of Katowice"

The Katowice massacre or the Bloody Monday in Katowice[1] that took place on 4 September 1939 was one of the largest war crimes of the Wehrmacht during its invasion of Poland. On that day, German Wehrmacht soldiers aided by the Freikorps militia executed about 80 of the Polish defenders of the city.[2][3] Those defenders were self-defense militia volunteers, including former Silesian Insurgents, Polish Boy and Girl Scouts, and possibly a number of Polish soldier stragglers from retreating Polish regular forces who joined the militia.[2][3]

  1. ^ Krzyk, Józef (4 September 2019). "Krwawy poniedziałek w Katowicach. 4 września 1939 r. Niemcy na Śląsku zamordowali około 150 osób". Gazeta Wyborcza (in Polish). Retrieved 21 October 2019.
  2. ^ a b Tomasz Sudoł, ZBRODNIE WEHRMACHTU NA JEŃCACH POLSKICH WE WRZEŚNIU 1939 ROKU, Biuro Edukacji Publicznej IPN
  3. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference :3 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).