Operation N
Operation N (, where "N" stands for the Polish word "Niemcy," "Germany") was a complex of sabotage, subversion and black-propaganda activities carried out by the Polish resistance against Nazi German occupation forces during World War II, from April 1941 to April 1944. These activities were organized by Office N, which in October 1941 was transformed into an Autonomous Sub-Department N of the Bureau of Information and Propaganda of the Armed Resistance, later of the Home Army. It was headed by Tadeusz Żenczykowski (codename Kania). Operation N constituted part of a psychological-warfare campaign against the German occupation. It produced German-language newspapers and leaflets, ostensibly distributed by German anti-Nazi groups. Structure Autonomous Sub-Department N comprised five sections: organization, studies, subversive actions, editing, distribution of publications. Work was carried on with extraordinary precision. The studies section collected special information about the history and geography of Germany, especially about the German language, its dialects, jargons used by various milieus and professional circles, terms used in state administration, about politics, the economy, and opinions current in the army, among the civilian population, etc. On that basis, thousands of leaflets, pamphlets and periodicals of various political persuasions were produced, from communist to monarchist, as well as satirical and religious periodicals. In order to act efficiently, there were necessary appropriate local agencies, a set of secret printing houses, printing machines, documentation, files. About 700-950 persons participated in the Action N (editors, translators, printers, couriers and distributors), including boy scouts of Szare Szeregi. About 20,000-30,000 copies of various publications were distributed per month (newspapers, periodicals, leaflets, etc.). In total, during 1942–1944 over 1 million copies of various publications and propaganda materials. Aims That action was aimed at confusion, moral pressure and undermining the morale of Germans. Because of that, there were edited and distributed various publications, addressed for civilian citizens of Third Reich, for German soldiers, for Volksdeutsche, officers of occupational administration. Among periodicals, the following titles were published regularly: Der Soldat (Engl.: Soldier), published by turns with a monthly Der Frontkämpfer (Engl.. The Front Combatant) - both the periodicals suggested the existence of a wide anti-Nazi opposition inside the German army; an alleged conspiracy organisation was to include circles of the body of generals and higher officers of the army. Der Hammer (Engl.: Hammer), and Der Durchbruch (Engl.The Breakthrough) - monthlies addressed for Germans of social-democratic and left-wing views. Der Klabautermann (Engl.: ship ghost, affecting seamen with misfortune) - a satirical periodical. Die Ostwache (Engl.: Guard in the East) - addressed for German occupational administration in the East. Die Zukunft (Engl.: The Future) - a periodical for Polish Volksdeutsche, under a bilingual title. Kennst Du die Wahrheit? (Engl.: Do You Know the Truth?) - a periodical addressed for Germans from the prewar area of the Third Reich and also for the Volksdeutsche in occupied Poland. Apart from that, two counterfeit issues of the Polish-language so-called the Goniec Krakowski daily () were published, and on 21 March 1943, 10,000 copies of a counterfeit issue of a similar daily