Spring and summer 1920: the plebiscite campaign and paramilitary groups

A vote was to decide the question of Upper Silesia's affiliation, so in the spring of 1920 the plebiscite campaign gathered pace and was accompanied by increasingly frequent clashes. According to the Institute of National Remembrance, the Germans created numerous paramilitary groups, supported by the German security police, the Sicherheitspolizei, Sipo for short. They terrorised the population, broke up Polish meetings and attacked the premises of Polish organisations.

On 25 April 1920 a Polish rally in Opole was dispersed by the Sipo. Protest rallies were also held that day in many other towns of Upper Silesia, and their participants demanded the abolition of the Sipo. A few days later German paramilitaries attacked the Polish consulate and printing house in Opole. The headquarters of the Polish Plebiscite Commissariat in Bytom, which was housed in the Lomnitz hotel, came under siege, which ended thanks to the intervention of French troops. The IPN places these events at the beginning of May, while other sources give the attack on the hotel as the night of 27 to 28 May.

17 August 1920 in Katowice

The immediate event preceding the uprising was the riots in Katowice. The German press published false news that the Red Army had taken Warsaw, which coincided with the Polish-Soviet war. According to the IPN, the Germans demanded that the plebiscite be cancelled. During the disturbances they wrecked the premises of the Polish plebiscite organisation and the offices of the Gazeta Robotnicza newspaper. French troops intervened and used firearms. Ten attackers were killed at that time, having attacked the residence of the French colonel Blanchard, an inspector of the Commission.

The doctor and plebiscite activist Andrzej Mielęcki tried to help wounded civilians. He was recognised by the Germans and killed. The IPN writes that he was murdered in a cruel manner, while other sources use the word lynched. During the wrecking of the plebiscite premises Dr Henryk Jarczyk was also beaten.

The outbreak of the uprising and its aim

The events in Katowice prompted Wojciech Korfanty to call for another uprising. Its slogan was the abolition of the Sipo, which the Poles judged to be partisan, and the creation of a mixed Polish-German police force. According to the IPN, the Polish Military Organisation of Upper Silesia was this time much better prepared than in 1919. Command was based in Dąbrówka Mała, right by the border with Poland, and the units were again commanded by Alfons Zgrzebniok.

The dates when fighting began differ between the sources. The IPN writes that the insurgents went into action on 18 August. Other sources state that the assault company in Szopienice set off as early as the night of 17 to 18 August, and that the uprising across the whole plebiscite area broke out on the night of 19 to 20 August, after the call by Korfanty, who also announced a general strike.

Where the fighting took place

The immediate destruction of the communications network paralysed the German response. Within a few days the insurgents had taken, among others, Szopienice, Mikołów, Murcki, Hołdunów, Dąbrówka Mała, Janów, Nikiszowiec, Giszowiec, Rozbark, Bogucice, Piekary and the Baildon steelworks. In Pszczyna County more than two thousand insurgents under the command of Stanisław Krzyżowski took the whole county except Pszczyna itself, which was deliberately left untaken. In Rybnik County units under the command of Józef Michalski captured Wodzisław. Bytom, taken by the insurgents, was left by them at the demand of the Allies.

The insurgents did not attack the larger towns in which Allied troops or strong Sipo units were stationed. The IPN writes that they began a blockade of them, so-called cordoning (cernowanie). Fighting took place around Mysłowice, Siemianowice, Królewska Huta and other places. The Polish government did not support the uprising, because the Battle of Warsaw was under way at that time.

The end of the uprising and its consequences

On 24 August 1920 the Inter-Allied Commission ordered the German Sicherheitspolizei to be dissolved. According to other sources it was then decided to end the insurgent operations, which happened on 26 August. In the IPN study the date of the end of the fighting is given as 28 August, with the incorrect year 1921, so we rely on the date from other sources. In place of the Sipo a Plebiscite Police (Abstimmungspolizei, Apo) was introduced, in which half of the officers were Poles and half Germans. The IPN regards this as the achievement of the uprising's aim. The Commission also promised to punish the perpetrators of the anti-Polish attacks, and the Polish side officially dissolved the POW, which in reality carried on operating under another name.

The fighting of the Second Uprising is commemorated by the inscription “KATOWICE 19 VIII 1920” on one of the plaques on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Warsaw. On the monument in Wodzisław Śląski the date 1920 appears. All three uprisings are covered by the Museum of the Silesian Uprisings in Świętochłowice and the Silesian Insurgents' Monument in Katowice. The further history, the plebiscite of March 1921 and the Third Uprising, is described in separate articles.