Adam Doboszyński's reasoning Expedition in 1936

Adam Doboszyński was born on 11 January 1904 in Kraków, in a landowner's family. Raised in an atmosphere of patriotism and strong national convictions, he graduated from advanced school in Warsaw and then went to engineering studies in France and Germany. He was educated in the field of energy, gaining the title of engineer. Upon his return to Poland, he lived in a household property in Chorowice.

He became active with the national movement, and since 1934 he has been active in the National Party, where he has been entrusted with the function of press and propaganda referee of the Krakow district. He was distinguished by his organizational capacity and his commitment to promoting national ideas, both in urban and agrarian environments.

Doboszyński was the author of many public texts and took part in organizing working structures linked to the national movement. His activity was repeatedly met with the reaction of the authorities – police confiscated materials, interrupted meetings, and Doboszyński himself was supervised. Nevertheless, he continued his political work, gaining the position of a recognizable activist.

Doboszyński made the decision to carry out the alleged “Mash March” in June 1936. As he later testified during the trial, the impulse to act was observations from military exercises, during which he saw deficiencies in the army's weapons. According to him, they pointed to the weakness of state structures.

Additional factors were the signals of police repression against members of the National organization and the preferences of local authorities towards the People's Front. Doboszynski wanted, according to his own words, to conduct a political demonstration against administrative and police repression.

Between 12 and 15 June, he conducted field reconnaissance, visiting, among others, Myślenice, the Lower Massana and Nowy Targ. The final preparations began on 22 June, erstwhile an about 70-man national squad gathered in the forest in Chorowice.

On the night from June 22 to June 23, the ward which Doboszyński commanded moved towards Myślenice. The way of the march was led through the Glogoczów, and participants – including scouts on bicycles – travelled about 20 kilometres. On the way, telephone wires were cut to prevent a fast distress call.

After reaching the city, around 3:30, Doboszynski divided the participants into 3 groups: The first hit the State Police station, where the only officer was disarmed, took over the weapon (14 rifles, 4 revolvers) and demolished the interior of the building. The second group destroyed respective judaic shops. From the goods exported to the market, a stack was created that was set on fire. respective owners were beaten during these actions. The 3rd group tried to set the synagogue on fire – the fire was rapidly extinguished.

After an hr of operation Doboszyński gave the order to retreat. The participants left Myślenice and headed south towards the border with Czechoslovakia. In the following days, the branch was pursued by the State Police and Border Guard. 2 armed skirmishes occurred – 1 killed Józef Palka, the another killed Józef Machno. The another participants were distributed. Doboszyński, despite his ability to escape abroad, decided to stay in Poland. He was arrested on June 30, 1936, in Zawi.

The trial against the participants of the expedition began on 29 May 1937 before the territory Court in Krakow. 49 people were charged. The defence was taken up by well-known lawyers associated with the National Party. The trial ended on June 5, 1937. 36 defendants were convicted (penalty from 6 to 20 months in prison). In 20 cases, the court applied a suspension of enforcement, 11 people were acquitted. The Court of First Instance indicated in the explanatory memorandum that the motivation of the participants was of a political nature, which was considered to be a mitigating circumstance. As a consequence of the appeal, the Court of Appeal waived the suspension of certain penalties and amended the conviction against respective persons.

The leader's trial began on June 14, 1937. He stood before the court as the main organizer of the event. He was attributed 9 charges, including the creation of an armed union, armed robbery, arson and armed robbery. The defence has undertaken to show political motives for the defendant's actions. Doboszyński himself presented his speeches as a manifesto against the sanctioning strategy of power. The jury acquitted the suspect by citing a state of higher necessity. However, the judgement was abrogated by the president of the territory Court, who, due to controversy, directed the case to Lviv.

On February 4, 1938, a fresh trial was held before the Lviv Court. Doboszyński was found guilty of 3 acts: trespasses, armed robbery and illegal possession. He was sentenced to 2 years in prison. As a consequence of the prosecutor's appeal and defence, on September 19, 1938 a final conviction was passed – 4 years in prison. The time of the provisional arrest was included in the sentence. In February 1939, Doboszyński received wellness leave and did not return to prison.

Sanitational authorities of the Second Republic treated the expedition as a serious act of interior destabilisation. The answer was to intensify the activities of the State Police towards national structures, especially in Małopolska. There have been many arrests, searches and restrictions on the activities of the National Party.

The acquittal conviction in the first Doboszyński trial became a direct impulse to liquidate the jury courts in Galicia. This decision was announced by the Ministry of Justice in 1938, considering that the jury mechanics did not warrant impartiality and could lead to emotional-based sentences. The case had a broad media resonance. The pro-government press presented the march as an example of "wild nationalism" and questioned the legalism of nationalists. On the another hand, the media supporting the National organization reported events in a spirit of ideological conflict and heroism.

Trials caused large emotions – for any Doboszyński was an idealist, for others a perpetrator of violence. The explanation differences besides persisted in later historiography. Although the expedition did not lead to major political changes in the short term, it contributed to the permanent tightening of the relation between the sanctioning camp and the national camp. On the 1 hand, it led to the marginalisation of parts of the structures of the National organization in the regions, on the another hand – it strengthened the extremist wing of the national movement, which saw the action as a manifestation of courage and protest.

After leaving jail, Doboszyński participated in the 1939 defensive war. He was taken into German captivity from which he escaped. He later fought in France, and after her fall he moved to Britain. There he conducted a publicist activity, criticizing, among others, the politics of Gen. Sikorski.

In 1946 he returned to Poland. A year later, he was arrested by UB and accused of falsely spying for Germany. In the show trial, he was sentenced to death. The conviction was executed on August 29, 1949 in Warsaw. Doboszyński was buried in an unmarked grave. On April 29, 1989, the ultimate Court yet cleared all postwar charges and posthumously rehabilitated Adam Doboszyński. No temporal remains have been found so far, the symbolic grave is located on the Military Cemetery in Powązki in Warsaw in the “On the Link” Quarter.

Robert Janicki