Sonderaktion Krakau was an action by the Hitlerite occupiers in Krakow, aimed at liquidating the city's intellectuals.
The action was held on November 6, 1939 at the Jagiellonian University. A total of 183 professors were detained.
Professors are invited to a "lecture" of the German SS officer Bruno Müller in room 56 of the Collegium Novum. By chance, other listeners are also present at the lecture, including three lecturers from the Krakow Academy of Economics. They were told in the auditorium that they were arrested for their hostile mood towards the occupier and for opening the academic year without the permission of the new authorities.
At the same time, in another auditorium of the University, 21 professors of the Mining Academy of Krakow were gathered on another occasion, and they were also arrested.
The group of 183 academics was transferred first to the prison in Krakow and later to the Sachsenhausen concentration camp. Due to the harsh conditions and humiliation, several of Poland's most famous scientists died in December and January.
The subsequent protests among the world scientific community and the advocacy of Benito Mussolini forced the authorities to release from the camp 101 intellectuals over the age of 40. Many of them also died soon after their release.
On November 9, 1939, a second action was carried out, during which 120 representatives of Krakow's intelligentsia were arrested - teachers, lawyers, deputies, clergymen, etc. After an initial stint in a Krakow prison, the group was sent to the Auschwitz concentration camp.