Bronislaw Pieracki
Encyclopedia
Bronisław Wilhelm Pieracki (28 May 1895 in Gorlice
- 15 June 1934 in Warsaw
) was a Polish
military officer and politician. As member of Polish Legions in World War I
, Pieracki took part in the Polish-Ukrainian War
(1918–1919) and he later supported the 1926 May Coup of Józef Piłsudski. Pieracki was a deputy to Polish Sejm
from Non-partisan Block of Cooperation with the Government in 1928 and afterwards deputy of Chief of Staff.
He was a minister of internal affairs from 27 May 1931 to the time of his death in 1934 and posthumously awarded Poland's highest civilian and military decoration, the Order of the White Eagle.
On 15 June 1934, Pieracki was assassinated by a Ukrainian nationalist from the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists
. His death gave the Sanacja
government an excuse to the creation of the Bereza Kartuska Detention Camp, which was established only two days after Pieracki's assassination. The first detainees were almost the whole leadership of the Polish nationalist National Radical Camp (ONR) arrested on July 6–7, 1934, although ONR had no connection with Pieracki's assassination whatsoever.
Stepan Bandera
and Mykola Lebed
were also sentenced to death for the assassination. The state would commute the sentences to life imprisonment but Lebed would escape when the Germans invaded Poland in 1939.
Eventually, a total of 176 members of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists
(OUN) were detained at the camp. Not a single death was reported among them in spite of draconian living conditions.
Gorlice
Gorlice is a city and an urban municipality in south eastern Poland with around 29,500 inhabitants . It is situated south east of Kraków and south of Tarnów between Jasło and Nowy Sącz in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship , previously in Nowy Sącz Voivodeship...
- 15 June 1934 in Warsaw
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
) was a Polish
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
military officer and politician. As member of Polish Legions in World War I
Polish Legions in World War I
Polish Legions was the name of Polish armed forces created in August 1914 in Galicia. Thanks to the efforts of KSSN and the Polish members of the Austrian parliament, the unit became an independent formation of the Austro-Hungarian Army...
, Pieracki took part in the Polish-Ukrainian War
Polish-Ukrainian War
The Polish–Ukrainian War of 1918 and 1919 was a conflict between the forces of the Second Polish Republic and West Ukrainian People's Republic for the control over Eastern Galicia after the dissolution of Austria-Hungary.-Background:...
(1918–1919) and he later supported the 1926 May Coup of Józef Piłsudski. Pieracki was a deputy to Polish Sejm
Sejm
The Sejm is the lower house of the Polish parliament. The Sejm is made up of 460 deputies, or Poseł in Polish . It is elected by universal ballot and is presided over by a speaker called the Marshal of the Sejm ....
from Non-partisan Block of Cooperation with the Government in 1928 and afterwards deputy of Chief of Staff.
He was a minister of internal affairs from 27 May 1931 to the time of his death in 1934 and posthumously awarded Poland's highest civilian and military decoration, the Order of the White Eagle.
On 15 June 1934, Pieracki was assassinated by a Ukrainian nationalist from the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists
Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists
The Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists is a Ukrainian political organization which as a movement originally was created in 1929 in Western Ukraine . The OUN accepted violence as an acceptable tool in the fight against foreign and domestic enemies particularly Poland and Russia...
. His death gave the Sanacja
Sanacja
Sanation was a Polish political movement that came to power after Józef Piłsudski's May 1926 Coup d'État. Sanation took its name from his watchword—the moral "sanation" of the Polish body politic...
government an excuse to the creation of the Bereza Kartuska Detention Camp, which was established only two days after Pieracki's assassination. The first detainees were almost the whole leadership of the Polish nationalist National Radical Camp (ONR) arrested on July 6–7, 1934, although ONR had no connection with Pieracki's assassination whatsoever.
Stepan Bandera
Stepan Bandera
Stepan Andriyovych Bandera was a Ukrainian politician and one of the leaders of Ukrainian national movement in Western Ukraine , who headed the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists...
and Mykola Lebed
Mykola Lebed
Mykola Lebed , also known as Maksym Ruban, Marko or Yevhen Skyrba, was a Ukrainian political activist, Ukrainian nationalist and guerrilla fighter. He was among those tried, convicted, and imprisoned for the murder, in 1936, of Polish Interior Minister Bronislaw Pieracki. The court sentenced him to...
were also sentenced to death for the assassination. The state would commute the sentences to life imprisonment but Lebed would escape when the Germans invaded Poland in 1939.
Eventually, a total of 176 members of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists
Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists
The Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists is a Ukrainian political organization which as a movement originally was created in 1929 in Western Ukraine . The OUN accepted violence as an acceptable tool in the fight against foreign and domestic enemies particularly Poland and Russia...
(OUN) were detained at the camp. Not a single death was reported among them in spite of draconian living conditions.
Honours and awards
- Order of White Eagle
- Order of Polonia Restituta
- Silver Cross of the Virtuti MilitariVirtuti MilitariThe Order Wojenny Virtuti Militari is Poland's highest military decoration for heroism and courage in the face of the enemy at war...
- Cross of Valour - four times
- Gold Cross of Merit
- Order of the Cross of the EagleOrder of the Cross of the EagleThe Order of the Cross of the Eagle was instituted in 1928 by the Estonian Defence League to commemorate the tenth anniversary of Estonian independence. It was adopted as a state order in 1936.The Order of the Cross of the Eagle is bestowed to give recognition for military services and services...
Class I (Estonia, 1934)