View source for Grey Ranks

{{for|the story-telling game based on the Gray Ranks|Grey Ranks (role-playing game)}} 
{{Short description|Codename for the underground paramilitary Polish Scouting Association during World War II}}
{{needs more references|date=February 2023}}
{{use mdy dates|date=April 2014}}
{{Infobox militant organization
| name             = Grey Ranks
| logo             = Szare Szeregi-lilijka.gif
| caption          = 
| native_name      = Szare Szeregi
| native_name_lang = pl
| other_name       = 
| leader           = [[Florian Marciniak]]
| foundation       = 
| dates            = {{Start date|1939|09|27}}–{{End date|1945|01|18}} 
| dissolved        = 
| merger           = 
| split            = 
| predecessor      = [[Polish Scouting and Guiding Association|ZHP]]
| merged           = 
| successor        = ZMP-OH
| country          = [[General government]]
| allegiance       = [[Polish Underground State]]
| motives          = [[Anti-fascism]]
| area             = 
| headquarters     = 
| newspaper        = 
| ideology         = 
| position         = 
| slogan           =
| crimes           = 
| attacks          = 
| status           = 
| size             = 
| revenue          = 
| financing        = 
| partof           = 
| allies           = 
| opponents        =
| battles          = {{Plainlist|
* [[Operation Tempest]]
* [[Warsaw Uprising]]
}}
| flag             =
}}
[[File:Polish Boy Scouts fighting in the Warsaw Uprising.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Polish Boy Scouts fighting in the [[Warsaw Uprising]]]]

'''Grey Ranks''' ({{langx|pl|Szare Szeregi}}) was a [[codename]] for the underground paramilitary [[Polish Scouting Association]] ({{lang|pl|Związek Harcerstwa Polskiego}}) during [[World War II]].

The wartime organisation was created on 27 September 1939, actively resisted and fought German occupation in [[Warsaw]] until 18 January 1945, and contributed to the [[Polish resistance movement in World War II|resistance operations]] of the [[Polish Underground State]]. Some of its members ({{lang|pl|Grupy Szturmowe}} – Assault Groups) were among the [[Home Army]]'s best-trained troops.{{cn|date=March 2022}}

Though formally independent, the Grey Ranks worked closely with the [[Government Delegation for Poland]] and Home Army Headquarters. The Grey Ranks had {{Interlanguage link multi|Gray Ranks Headquarters{{!}}their own headquarters|pl|3=Główna Kwatera Szarych Szeregów "Pasieka"}} known under the cryptonym {{lang|pl|Pasieka}} ([[bee yard]]) staffed by the [[List of Chief Scouts of the Polish Scouting and Guiding Association|Chief Scout of Grey Ranks]] plus three to five deputies in the rank of {{lang|pl|Harcmistrz}} ([[Scoutmaster]]).

== Overview ==
{{Polish Underground State sidebar |expanded=Military}}

Since its organization in 1916, scouts from the [[Polish Scouting and Guiding Association]] ({{lang|pl|Związek Harcerstwa Polskiego}} (ZHP)) had taken an active part in all the conflicts Poland was engaged in around this time: [[Greater Poland Uprising (1918–1919)|Great Poland Uprising]], [[Polish-Bolshevik War]], [[Silesian Uprisings]], and the [[Polish–Ukrainian War]]. After the German [[Invasion of Poland (1939)|Invasion of Poland]] in 1939, the Nazis recognized the ZHP as a threat. Polish Scouts and Guides were branded as criminals and banned.<ref name="polishresistance">{{Cite web |last=Suchcitz |first=Andrzej |title=The Grey Ranks (1939-1945) |url=http://www.polishresistance-ak.org/21%20Article.htm |website=polishresistance-ak.org |publisher=London Branch of the Polish Home Army Ex-Servicemen Association |access-date=January 24, 2005 |archive-date=January 25, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230125223213/http://www.polishresistance-ak.org/21%20Article.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Under the leadership of [[Florian Marciniak]], the ZHP carried on as a clandestine organization. The wartime Scouts evolved into the paramilitary {{lang|pl|Szare Szeregi}} (Grey Ranks), reporting up through the [[Polish Secret State|Polish underground state]] and the Home Army [[Polish resistance movement in World War II|resistance organization]].{{cn|date=April 2014}}

The codename {{lang|pl|Szare Szeregi}} was adopted in 1940. It was first used by underground scouting in [[Poznań]]. The name was coined after an early action of the Polish Scouting Association, in which boy scouts distributed [[propaganda]] [[Leaflet (information)|leaflets]] among Germans from [[Lithuania]], [[Latvia]] and [[Estonia]] who had settled in the homes of Poles expelled to the [[General Government]]. To create confusion, the leaflets had been signed [[SS]] — later expanded to {{lang|pl|Szare Szeregi}}, a name that came to be adopted by the entire organization.{{cn|date=April 2014}}

Older Scouts carried out sabotage, armed resistance, and assassinations. The Girl Guides formed auxiliary units working as nurses, liaisons and munition carriers. Younger Scouts were involved in so-called [[minor sabotage]] under the auspice of the [[Wawer]] organization, which included dropping [[Leaflet (information)|leaflets]] or painting the ''[[kotwica]]'' sign on the walls. During [[Operation Tempest]], and especially during the [[Warsaw Uprising]], the Scouts participated in the fighting, and several {{lang|pl|Szare Szeregi}} units were some of the most effective in combat. The Grey Ranks also included the [[White Couriers]], who, between late fall 1939 and mid-1940, helped smuggle many persons out of Soviet-occupied southeastern Poland into [[Hungary]].{{cn|date=April 2014}}

In 1940, the [[Katyn massacre|Soviet Union executed]] most of the Boy Scouts held at [[Ostashkov]] prison.{{cn|date=April 2014}}

In 1945 the ZHP restored its former name and returned to public existence. However, the communist authorities of Poland pressured the organization to become a member of the [[Pioneer Movement]] and eventually it was banned in 1949. The only existing part of the pre-war ZHP during the years of the Communist regime was the '''ZHP pgK''' ('ZHP abroad', consisting of Polish Scouts from the USA, UK, Canada, Australia, Argentina, France and Sweden). {{cn|date=April 2014}}

== Principles ==
The Grey Ranks followed the prewar principles of the Polish Scouting Association: service to the people and country, and education and improvement of their skills. In addition to the prewar oath, the following line was added:{{cn|date=April 2014}}

:"I pledge to you that I shall serve with the Grey Ranks, safeguard the secrets of the organization, obey orders, and not hesitate to sacrifice my life."

In addition to the [[Scouting]] moral code, the Grey Ranks also followed a basic three-step path of action. The program was nicknamed {{lang|pl|Dziś - jutro - pojutrze}} (Today - tomorrow - the day after):{{cn|date=April 2014}}
* Today – struggle for Poland's independence
* Tomorrow – prepare for an all-national uprising and the liberation of Poland
* The Day After – prepare to rebuild Poland after the war

== Structure ==
The Grey Ranks' structure was based on the prewar structure of the Polish Scouting Association, modified to suit the new circumstances of occupation and repression. The basic unit was the troop ({{lang|pl|drużyna}}), comprising some 20 boys or girls. Each troop was composed of several squads ({{lang|pl|zastępy}}), each {{lang|pl|zastęp}} comprising 7 persons. Several troops from a specified area (city district, village or town) formed a district ({{lang|pl|hufiec}}), which in turn formed part of a region ({{lang|pl|chorągiew}} — {{literally}} a banner or standard). During World War II, the several units were referred to by their own code-names:
* banner ({{lang|pl|chorągiew}}) – {{lang|pl|ul}} (beehive)
* district ({{lang|pl|hufiec}}) – {{lang|pl|rój}} (swarm)
* troop ({{lang|pl|drużyna}}) – {{lang|pl|rodzina}} (family)
* squad ({{lang|pl|zastęp}}) – {{lang|pl|pszczoły}} (bees)

The {{Interlanguage link multi|Gray Ranks Headquarters{{!}}headquarters of the Gray Ranks|pl|3=Główna Kwatera Szarych Szeregów "Pasieka"}} were code-named [[Bee Yard]] ({{lang|pl|Pasieka}}), headed by the commander (''[[List of Chief Scouts of the Polish Scouting and Guiding Association|Naczelnik]]''). The Grey Ranks' successive commanders were:{{cn|date=April 2014}}
* [[Florian Marciniak]] (27 September 1939 – 6 May 1943)
* [[Stanisław Broniewski]] ("Orsza"; 12 May 1943 – 3 October 1944)
* [[Leon Marszałek]] (3 October 1944 – 18 January 1945)

At the apogee of the Grey Ranks' strength, Headquarters commanded 20 banners. To control the movement, the area of prewar Poland was divided into departments, each supervising several banners:{{cn|date=April 2014}}
* Western Department ({{lang|pl|Wydział Zachodni}}, ''Z'') – areas annexed by Nazi Germany:
** [[Pomerania]]n banner – ''ul "Lina"'' (beehive ''Line'')
** [[Greater Poland|Greater Polish]] – ul "Przemysław" (beehive ''[[Przemyśl|Przemysław]]'')
** [[Łódź]] – ul "Kominy" (beehive ''Chimneys'')
** [[Zagłębie Dąbrowskie|Zagłębie]] – ul "Barbara" (beehive ''[[Saint Barbara|Barbara]]'')
** [[Silesia]]n – ul "Huta" (beehive ''Steel mill'')
An additional banner was formed in the [[General Government]] and commanded all the scouts from [[Greater Poland]] expelled from their homes by the Germans (ul "Chrobry" - beehive ''[[Boleslaw Chrobry|Chrobry]]'').
* Eastern Department (''Wydział Wschodni'', ''W'') – eastern [[voivodeships of Poland]]
** [[Białystok]] – ul "Biały" (beehive ''White'')
** [[Wilno]] – ul "Brama" (beehive ''[[Ostra Brama|Gate]]'')
** [[Polesie]] – ul "Błota" (beehive ''[[Pripiat Marshes|Marshes]]'')
** [[Nowogródek]] – ul "Las" (beehive ''Forest'')
** [[Volhynia|Wołyń]] – ul "Gleba" (beehive ''[[chernozem|Soil]]'')

An additional banner was formed for scouts expelled from their homes to the [[General Government]] (''ul Złoty'' – "Gold beehive").{{cn|date=April 2014}}{{cn|date=April 2014}}
* Central Poland Department (''Wydział Polski Centralnej'', ''C'')
** Warsaw – ul "Wisła" (beehive ''[[Vistula]]'')
** [[Masovia]]n – ul "Puszcza" (beehive ''[[Kampinos Forest|Wilderness]]'')
** [[Radom]] – ul "Rady" (beehive ''Councils'')
** [[Lublin]] – ul "Zboże" (beehive ''Grain'')
* Southern Poland Department (''Wydział Polski Południowej'', ''P'')
** [[Kielce]] – ul "Skała" (beehive ''[[Świętokrzyskie Mountains|Rock]]'')
** [[Częstochowa]] – ul "Warta" (beehive ''[[Warta]]'')
** [[Kraków]] – ul "Smok" (beehive ''[[Smok Wawelski|Dragon]]'')
* [[Lwów]] – ul "Lew" (beehive ''Lion'')

Coordination among the departments and beehives was directed by inspectors subordinate to the Headquarters: [[Eugeniusz Stasiecki]], [[Edward Zurn]] and [[Kazimierz Grenda]].{{cn|date=April 2014}}

== Ranks by age ==
[[File:Polish Underground Symbol on Pilot Monument.jpg|thumb|The ''[[Kotwica]]'' sign, painted by Grey Ranks on pedestal of the 1932 Warsaw [[Aviator Monument (Warsaw)|Aviator Monument]]]]

As of 1 May 1944, the Grey Ranks numbered 8,359 members. Initially, only older scouts (Senior Scouts, Senior Guides, Rovers and Rangers), aged 17 and up, were admitted. Soon, however, younger children were admitted, and in 1942 a new structure was adopted, based largely on the prewar structure of the [[Polish Scouting Association]].{{cn|date=April 2014}}

=== ''Zawisza'' ===
[[File:Jan Kilinski Monument in Warsaw (2).jpg|thumb|[[Jan Kiliński]] statue]]
[[File:03 Harcerska Poczta Polowa Zawiszacy.jpg|thumb|Postmen during the Warsaw Uprising]]
[[File:Monument to "Mały Powstaniec" ("Little partisan") in Warsaw.png|left|thumb|Monument to Mały Powstaniec (Little partisan) in [[Warsaw]], erected to commemorate all the children that fought and fell in the Warsaw Uprising]]

''Zawisza'' (plural ''Zawiszacy'') was a group of the youngest [[Związek Harcerstwa Polskiego|Scouts]] of the [[Szare Szeregi]].{{cn|date=April 2014}}

Troops organised for children between 12 and 14 years of age were code-named ''Zawisza'', after [[Zawisza Czarny]], a [[History of Poland in the Middle Ages|medieval Polish]] knight and diplomat. The troops did not take part in active resistance. Instead, the children were prepared for auxiliary service for the upcoming [[Akcja Burza|all-national uprising]] and taught in [[Underground Education in Poland During World War II|secret schools]] for their future duties in liberated Poland. Among the best-known auxiliary troops formed by the ''Zawiszacy'' was the [[Harcerska Poczta Polowa|Scouting Postal Service]] organised during the [[Warsaw Uprising]].{{cn|date=April 2014}}

=== Combat Schools ===
The Combat Schools (''Bojowe Szkoły'') comprised youngsters aged 15 to 17. They took part in "[[minor sabotage|small-sabotage]]" operations. These included propaganda operations directed at the Poles, German civilians and German military units. The best-known operations were:{{cn|date=April 2014}}
* Operation Wawer-Palmiry – a major propaganda campaign which included painting patriotic and anti-German slogans on walls (see also ''[[kotwica]]''); distribution of leaflets, posters stickers, and fake issues of supposed German newspapers; intercepting German propaganda megaphones and using them to spread Polish propaganda; destroying German flags and other symbols; disrupting German events by setting off fire alarms; and, last but not least, [[stink bomb|stink-bombing]] German-operated [[movie theater]]s. Probably the best-known action was the removal of a German-language plaque that had been attached by the Germans to the [[Nicolaus Copernicus Monument in Warsaw]], claiming the astronomer for the German nation.
* [[Operation N]] – the distribution of propaganda newspapers and leaflets among German soldiers stationed in Poland.
* Operation ''WISS'' (''Wywiad – Informacja Szarych Szeregów'', Grey Ranks Intelligence)—an operation on behalf of Home Army intelligence, in which Combat Schools groups carried out surveillance of German military units and their movements. The information that was gathered was passed on to the Allies. The operation provided the Allies with complete lists of German units, their insignia and approximate complements, including units down to [[battalion]] size.

Other famous operations included marking street lamps as ''[[Nur für Deutsche]]'' (Only for Germans), implying that those who hanged people would themselves be hanged (from street lamps). Other operations occurred after the Germans began destroying [[monument]]s to Polish national heroes and historical personalities. These included a monument to [[Jan Kiliński]], leader of an 18th-century Warsaw uprising against the Russians during the [[Kościuszko Uprising]]. The Germans dismantled the monument and placed it in the cellars of the former National Museum, for delivery to a German steel mill. The scouts were notified of where the monument was hidden and overnight marked the walls of the former museum, "People of Warsaw! I am here. Kiliński".{{cn|date=April 2014}}

As part of their secret training, the Combat Schools boys and girls prepared for service with the Home Army as members of commanders' troops, communication units, and reconnaissance units. During the [[Warsaw Uprising]], Combat Schools units in Warsaw's [[Warszawa-Śródmieście|Downtown]] District formed a [[company (military unit)|company]]; in other districts, they formed [[platoon]]s.{{cn|date=April 2014}}

=== Assault groups ===
[[File:Harcerska Poczta Polowa Zawiszacy listonoszki.jpg|thumb|Girl-guide postal workers during [[Warsaw Uprising]]]]

The Assault Groups ({{lang|pl|Grupy Szturmowe}}), comprising youngsters aged 17 and up, were directly subordinate to the [[Home Army]]'s ''[[KeDyw]]'' (Directorate of Diversion). The groups trained at secret [[Non-commissioned officer|NCO]] schools and officer schools for commanders of motorised and engineering units. Most members also studied at [[Underground Education in Poland During World War II|underground universities]], to gain the knowledge necessary to reconstruct Poland after the war. The best-known NCO schools included Warsaw's [[Agricola (school)|Agricola]].{{cn|date=April 2014}}

The assault groups took part in "major sabotage", including armed struggle against the occupiers. The assault groups formed the backbone of the Home Army's special troops. They liberated prisoners from German prisons and transports, blew up railroad bridges, carried out executions ordered by [[special courts]], and fought pitched battles against German forces.

The assault groups in Warsaw were organised into several battalions, including the famous {{lang|pl|Baszta}}, ''[[Battalion Zośka|Zośka]]'', "''[[Battalion Parasol|Parasol]]''" and {{lang|pl|Wigry}}, which later took part in the [[Warsaw Uprising]] and were among the most notable and successful units on the Polish side. Other units, mainly in the [[Jodla|Radom-Kielce]] area, joined the [[Detached Unit of the Polish Army|partisan]] units operating in the forests of the [[Świętokrzyskie Mountains]].{{cn|date=April 2014}}

== Assault-group operations ==
[[File:Gesiowka.jpg|thumb|''[[Gęsiówka]]'' inmates and "''Zośka''"-battalion assault-group soldiers after the camp's liberation]]

Notable assault-group operations included:{{cn|date=April 2014}}
* [[Operation Arsenal]] (March 26, 1943), the liberation of the gravely wounded [[Jan Bytnar]] and 24 other prisoners from a [[Gestapo]] convoy
* [[Operation Schultz]] (May 6, 1943), the assassination of SS-[[Obersturmführer]] [[Herbert Schultz]]
* [[Operation Lange]] (May 22, 1943), the assassination of SS-[[Rottenführer]] [[Ewald Lange]]
* [[Operation Belt]] (August 1943 – February 1944), the destruction of thirteen German border outposts
* [[Operation Bürkl]] (September 7, 1943), the assassination of SS-[[Oberscharführer]] [[Franz Bürkl]]
* [[Operation Kutschera]] (February 2, 1944), the assassination of [[SS and Police Leader]] [[Franz Kutschera]]
* Storming and liberation of [[Gęsiówka]] [[concentration camp]] in Warsaw (August 5, 1944)

== See also ==
{{Portal|Scouting}}
* [[Children in the military]]
* ''[[Czarne Szeregi]]''
* [[Mury]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
{{commons category|Szare Szeregi}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20061231005432/http://wilk.wpk.p.lodz.pl/~whatfor/szare_szeregi.htm Szare Szeregi]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20091203124019/http://www.169.zhr.pl/historia_harcerstwa/akcje/akcje.htm Details of Szare Szeregi most daring underground operations]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070627221729/http://wilk.wpk.p.lodz.pl/~whatfor/baszta.htm Szare szeregi - Batalion "Baszta"]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20090201045320/http://208wdhiz.home.pl/parasol/index.htm Batalion Parasol]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060430214435/http://wilk.wpk.p.lodz.pl/~whatfor/baon_zoska.htm Batalion Zośka]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070227200358/http://wilk.wpk.p.lodz.pl/~whatfor/ The Heros of II World War]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070221090902/http://www.rej.edu.pl/historia/ Historia Gimnazjum i Liceum im. Mikołaja Reja jednej z siedzib Szarych Szeregów i żołnierzy AK]
* [https://www.flickr.com/photos/jack_1962/5124786304/in/photostream/ Series of pictures of the Szare Szeregi monument in Kashuby, Ontario, Canada]


{{Scouting in Poland}}
{{Armia Krajowa}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Units and formations of the Home Army]]
[[Category:Military units and formations of the Warsaw Uprising]]
[[Category:Scouting and Guiding in Poland]]
[[Category:Polish underground organisations during World War II]]
[[Category:Polish resistance during World War II]]