Wacław Micuta
Encyclopedia
Geneva
Geneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...
) was a Polish economist, functionary of the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
and a soldier – participant in the Polish September Campaign and a commander of one of two Polish tanks (captured from the Germans) in the Warsaw Uprising
Warsaw Uprising
The Warsaw Uprising was a major World War II operation by the Polish resistance Home Army , to liberate Warsaw from Nazi Germany. The rebellion was timed to coincide with the Soviet Union's Red Army approaching the eastern suburbs of the city and the retreat of German forces...
with the rank of first lieutenant.
Life
Kresy
The Polish term Kresy refers to a land considered by Poles as historical eastern provinces of their country. Today, it makes western Ukraine, western Belarus, as well as eastern Lithuania, with such major cities, as Lviv, Vilnius, and Hrodna. This territory belonged to the Polish-Lithuanian...
in St. Petersburg, Russia. In 1922 his family moved to Poznań
Poznan
Poznań is a city on the Warta river in west-central Poland, with a population of 556,022 in June 2009. It is among the oldest cities in Poland, and was one of the most important centres in the early Polish state, whose first rulers were buried at Poznań's cathedral. It is sometimes claimed to be...
where he finished secondary school and studied economics. He was also active in the scouts movement. He finished his military enlistment in Włodzimierz Wołyński with a rank of second lieutenant
Podporucznik
Podporucznik is a rank of the Polish Army, roughly equivalent to the military rank of the Second Lieutenant in the armed forces of other countries....
. After finishing his studies in June 1939 he became the secretary to the voivode of the Autonomous Silesian Voivodeship
Autonomous Silesian Voivodeship
The Silesian Voivodeship was an autonomous province of the interwar Second Polish Republic. It consisted of territory which came into Polish possession as a result of the 1921 Upper Silesia plebiscite, the Geneva Conventions, three Upper Silesian Uprisings, and the eventual partition of Upper...
, Michał Grażyński although he held this position only briefly, due to the beginning of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
Mobilized, he took part in the Polish September Campaign of 1939, fighting, among others, at the Battle of Bzura. On 19 September, during an attack on German positions in Laski he suffered a serious wound to his right hand. Subsequently he was captured and sent to a German POW
Prisoner of war
A prisoner of war or enemy prisoner of war is a person, whether civilian or combatant, who is held in custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict...
camp from which he escaped in 1940 and came to 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...
.
There he was brought into the Polish underground by Jan Nowak-Jeziorański
Jan Nowak-Jezioranski
Jan Nowak-Jeziorański was a Polish journalist, writer, politician, social worker and patriot. He served during the Second World War as one of the most notable resistance fighters of the Home Army...
. At first he was the adjutant
Adjutant
Adjutant is a military rank or appointment. In some armies, including most English-speaking ones, it is an officer who assists a more senior officer, while in other armies, especially Francophone ones, it is an NCO , normally corresponding roughly to a Staff Sergeant or Warrant Officer.An Adjutant...
of Major Jan Włodarkiewicz, however, in September 1940 he became one of the instructors of the Szare Szeregi
Szare Szeregi
"Gray Ranks" was a codename for the underground Polish Scouting Association 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 resistance operations of the Polish...
. After 1941 he continued his instructions in Lwów until July 1942 when he was arrested by the Gestapo
Gestapo
The Gestapo was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. Beginning on 20 April 1934, it was under the administration of the SS leader Heinrich Himmler in his position as Chief of German Police...
. During the interrogations he was tortured although he did not confess to anything nor did he give up any of his co-conspirators. Due to efforts made by his friends on his behalf he was freed after several months. He returned to conspiratorial activity and was promoted to the rank of first lieutenant.
In the summer of 1944 Micuta came back to Warsaw where he became an officer for special tasks of Armia Krajowa
Armia Krajowa
The Armia Krajowa , or Home Army, was the dominant Polish resistance movement in World War II German-occupied Poland. It was formed in February 1942 from the Związek Walki Zbrojnej . Over the next two years, it absorbed most other Polish underground forces...
's Scouting battalion "Zośka
Batalion Zoska
- Order of battle of the battalion :-Bibliography:*"Pamiętniki żołnierzy baonu Zośka", Nasza Księgarnia, Warsaw 1986 ISBN 83-10-08703-9....
". During the Warsaw Uprising
Warsaw Uprising
The Warsaw Uprising was a major World War II operation by the Polish resistance Home Army , to liberate Warsaw from Nazi Germany. The rebellion was timed to coincide with the Soviet Union's Red Army approaching the eastern suburbs of the city and the retreat of German forces...
the battalion captured two German Panther tank
Panther tank
Panther is the common name of a medium tank fielded by Nazi Germany in World War II that served from mid-1943 to the end of the European war in 1945. It was intended as a counter to the T-34, and to replace the Panzer III and Panzer IV; while never replacing the latter, it served alongside it as...
s and Micuta was made the commander of a newly formed armored platoon
Platoon
A platoon is a military unit typically composed of two to four sections or squads and containing 16 to 50 soldiers. Platoons are organized into a company, which typically consists of three, four or five platoons. A platoon is typically the smallest military unit led by a commissioned officer—the...
(one of its kind on the insurgents side in the uprising) which fought in the Wola
Wola
Wola is a district in western Warsaw, Poland, formerly the village of Wielka Wola, incorporated into Warsaw in 1916. An industrial area with traditions reaching back to the early 19th century, it is slowly changing into an office and residential district...
section of Warsaw. Wacław Micuta was the actual commander of one of the captured tanks which was nicknamed "Magda" and used it in an action which liberated the Gęsiówka
Gesiówka
Gęsiówka , was a Nazi concentration camp in Warsaw, Poland.- History of Gęsiówka :Before the war, Gęsiówka was a military prison of the Polish Army on Gęsia Street . Beginning in 1939, after the German occupation of Poland, it became a re-education camp of the German security police...
concentration camp. This action freed around 350 Polish, as well as Greek, Hungarian and French Jews. One of the freed inmates, Henryk Lederman
Henryk Lederman
Henryk Lederman, - Cadet officer of the Polish Army, participant in the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising and the Warsaw Uprising....
organized a battalion composed of the liberated Jews which he presented to Micuta. This unit fought under Micuta for the remainder of the uprising and according to Micuta: "They fought like mad...I think only three of them survived"
On 11 August the Polish insurgents had to abandon the captured tanks which by that time had been heavily damaged and evacuated Wola for Warsaw's Old Town
Warsaw Old Town
Warsaw's Old Town is the oldest historic district of the city. It is bounded by Wybrzeże Gdańskie, along the bank of the Vistula, and by Grodzka, Mostowa and Podwale Streets. It is one of Warsaw's most prominent tourist attractions....
through the sewers. In further fighting during the Uprising, Micuta was wounded in his left lung but after a short stay at the insurgent's hospital he returned to the battle, later taking part in the fighting in the Czerniaków
Czerniaków
Czerniaków is a neighbourhood of the city of Warsaw, located within the borough of Mokotów, between the escarpment of the Vistula river and the river itself....
and Śródmieście
Warszawa-Sródmiescie
Śródmieście is the central borough of the city of Warsaw. The best known neighborhoods in the borough are the Old Town and New Town ....
districts. During the Uprising he was promoted to the rank of captain.
Postwar
After the war Micuta decided to keep his activities with the Armia Krajowa secret from the Communist authorities who were prosecuting AK's former members. He worked in ZakopaneZakopane
Zakopane , is a town in southern Poland. It lies in the southern part of the Podhale region at the foot of the Tatra Mountains. From 1975 to 1998 it was in of Nowy Sącz Province, but since 1999 it has been in Lesser Poland Province. It had a population of about 28,000 as of 2004. Zakopane is a...
and Łódź as a driving instructor. From 1946 he worked in the Ministry of Central Planning. In 1948 he managed to obtain permission to travel with his family to Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
where he decided to stay. He began working for the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe
United Nations Economic Commission for Europe
The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe was established in 1947 to encourage economic cooperation among its member states. It is one of five regional commissions under the administrative direction of United Nations headquarters. It has 56 member states, and reports to the UN Economic and...
and afterwards in other UN commissions. His tasks included compiling economic data and writing economic reports about Poland and other countries of the Eastern Bloc
Eastern bloc
The term Eastern Bloc or Communist Bloc refers to the former communist states of Eastern and Central Europe, generally the Soviet Union and the countries of the Warsaw Pact...
. In 1960 he volunteered to take part in a UN peace mission
Peacekeeping
Peacekeeping is an activity that aims to create the conditions for lasting peace. It is distinguished from both peacebuilding and peacemaking....
to the war-torn Belgian Congo
Belgian Congo
The Belgian Congo was the formal title of present-day Democratic Republic of the Congo between King Leopold II's formal relinquishment of his personal control over the state to Belgium on 15 November 1908, and Congolese independence on 30 June 1960.-Congo Free State, 1884–1908:Until the latter...
. He also participated in other missions in Rwanda
Rwanda
Rwanda or , officially the Republic of Rwanda , is a country in central and eastern Africa with a population of approximately 11.4 million . Rwanda is located a few degrees south of the Equator, and is bordered by Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo...
and Burundi
Burundi
Burundi , officially the Republic of Burundi , is a landlocked country in the Great Lakes region of Eastern Africa bordered by Rwanda to the north, Tanzania to the east and south, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west. Its capital is Bujumbura...
. Between 1965 and 1968 he was the vice president of UN's Development Program for Europe. He served as UN's representative in the Republic of Chad. In 1971 he served as Deputy Director of Operations for UN's Division on Narcotic Drugs.
After retiring in 1976, Micuta continued his activism on behalf of developing countries. He was also a pioneer in and a tireless supporter of renewable energy
Renewable energy
Renewable energy is energy which comes from natural resources such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides, and geothermal heat, which are renewable . About 16% of global final energy consumption comes from renewables, with 10% coming from traditional biomass, which is mainly used for heating, and 3.4% from...
and the founder of Renewable Energies Development Institute in Geneva
Geneva
Geneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...
. While working for institute he developed a low cost fuel efficient stove which could be easily constructed and used in poor countries.
He was the author of numerous professional publications and a laureates of a number of awards. He was active in the Organization of Poles in Switzerland and in organizations concerned with Polish-Jewish relations. In February 2000 he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel
Lieutenant colonel
Lieutenant colonel is a rank of commissioned officer in the armies and most marine forces and some air forces of the world, typically ranking above a major and below a colonel. The rank of lieutenant colonel is often shortened to simply "colonel" in conversation and in unofficial correspondence...
of the Polish Armed Forces
Polish Armed Forces
Siły Zbrojne Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej are the national defense forces of Poland...
on inactive duty.
He died on 21 September 2008 in Geneva.
Awards
For his part in the Polish September Campaign, Micuta received the Cross of ValourKrzyz Walecznych
The Cross of Valor is a Polish military decoration. It was first introduced by the Council for Defense of the State on 11 August 1920. It is awarded to an individual who "has demonstrated deeds of valor and courage on the field of battle." It may be awarded to the same person up to four times...
and the Order of Virtuti Militari. He was awarded a second Virtuti Militari for his part in the Warsaw Uprising
Warsaw Uprising
The Warsaw Uprising was a major World War II operation by the Polish resistance Home Army , to liberate Warsaw from Nazi Germany. The rebellion was timed to coincide with the Soviet Union's Red Army approaching the eastern suburbs of the city and the retreat of German forces...
. On 10 April 2007 he was awarded the Commander's Cross with Star of the Order of Polonia Restituta.