Bio

Antoni Johann Guzy was from Bielsko (then within the Second Polish Republic; formerly known by the German name Bielitz). Academic and historical summaries describe him as a Polish citizen of German nationality/part of the ethnic German minority in interwar Poland.

He worked as a locksmith. Sources state that he became unemployed in 1938 and joined the Gewerkschaft Deutscher Arbeiter, an organization linked in some reporting to employment placement in Germany. Polish historical writing links the sabotage networks active in late August 1939 to German intelligence structures, including Abwehr-directed groups operating from Wrocław (Breslau).

A reconstruction of his movements on 28 August 1939 appears in Polish sources based on archival and interrogation materials. These accounts describe Guzy meeting an associate named Neumann/Neuman and traveling via Kraków before proceeding to Tarnów with suitcases containing explosive devices.

Murder Story

On the night of 28 August 1939, a time bomb exploded at Tarnów Główny railway station in Tarnów, Poland, at 23:18. The blast occurred in the station area described in sources as the luggage facility/waiting hall complex. Many later summaries report 20 fatalities and about 35 injured, while other documented figures differ across contemporary and archival records.

Polish historical research notes that the next-day police report listed 14 dead and 38 wounded (including seriously wounded), and that court records later contained a figure of 22 deaths. These discrepancies are repeatedly noted in academic and local historical summaries as part of the difficulty of reconstructing complete casualty totals from the period.

Sources state that Guzy left suitcases containing explosive devices at the station and remained in the area around the time of the detonation. A Tarnów city historical summary and other accounts indicate that he was identified and detained soon after the explosion, and that interrogation materials include a statement of regret.

The physical damage is described in multiple sources as severe, with parts of the station complex destroyed and a significant portion of the building affected. Accounts also state that the number of casualties could have been higher due to timing factors involving train movements shortly before the explosion.

Regarding legal outcome and later fate, sources converge on detention and questioning, including a detailed statement given on 1 September 1939. After the German invasion began, Polish accounts state he was transported east from the Tarnów area; his subsequent fate is described as unknown, with one academic summary stating he was most likely killed later by escorts.