Zygmunt Szendzielarz
Encyclopedia
Zygmunt Szendzielarz was commander of the Polish
5th Wilno
Home Army
Brigade.
(now in Lviv Oblast
), then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, into the family of a railway worker. After graduating from primary school in Lwów, he attended a biological-mathematical gymnasium
in Lwów and then in Stryj. After graduating, he volunteered for the Polish Army and completed Infantry NCO
School in Ostrów Mazowiecka
(1932), then Cavalry NCO School in Grudziądz
. He was promoted to lieutenant and transferred to Wilno, where he assumed command of a squadron in the 4th Uhlan Regiment.
. His unit was attached to the Wilno Cavalry Brigade under General Władysław Anders, part of the Prusy Army
. After retreating from northern Poland, the forces of Gen. Anders fought their way towards the city of Lwów and the Romanian Bridgehead
. However, in the area of Lublin
Szendzielarz's unit was surrounded and suffered heavy losses. Soon afterwards Szendzielarz was taken prisoner of war
by the Soviets
, but he managed to escape to Lwów, where he lived for a short period under a false name. He tried to cross the Hungarian
border to escape from Poland and reach the Polish Army being formed in France, but he failed and finally moved with his family to Wilno.
In Wilno, Szendzielarz started working on various posts under false names. In mid-1943 he joined the Home Army under the nom de guerre Łupaszko, and in August he started organizing his own partisan group in the forests surrounding the city. Soon the unit was joined by local volunteers and the remnants of a unit of Antoni Burzyński "Kmicic", destroyed by Soviet Partisans
and the Wehrmacht
. By September, the unit was 700 men strong and was officially named the V Vilnian Home Army Brigade (V Wileńska Brygada Armii Krajowej).
Łupaszko's unit fought against the German army and SS units in the area of southern Wilno Voivodeship, but was also frequently attacked by the Soviet Partisans paradropped in the area by the Red Army
. In April 1944, Zygmunt Szendzielarz was arrested by the Lithuanian police and handed over to the Gestapo
. Łupaszko was free in the same month under circumstances that remain unclear. In reprisal actions his brigade captured several dozen German officials and sent several threatening letters to Gestapo but it remains unknown if and how these contributed to his release.
On June 23, two squads of his brigade (commanded by "Maks" and "Rakoczy") attacked Lithuanian policemen in Dubingiai
and murdered civilians of the village.
, ordered all six brigades under his command to prepare for Operation Tempest
— a planned all-national rising against the German forces occupying Poland. In what became known as Operation Ostra Brama, Brigade V was to attack the Wilno suburb of Zwierzyniec
in cooperation with advancing units of the 3rd Belorussian Front
. However, Łupaszko, for fear of being arrested with his units by the NKVD
and killed on the spot, disobeyed orders and moved his unit to central Poland. Wilno was liberated by Polish and Soviet forces, and the Polish commander was then arrested by the Soviets and the majority of his men were sent to Gulag
s and sites of detention in the Soviet Union.
It is uncertain why Szendzielarz was not court-martialed for desertion. Probably it was in fact General "Wilk" himself who removed Łupaszko's unit from the Wilno area, due to Łupaszko long having been involved in fighting with Soviet partisans and to Wilk not wanting to provoke the Red Army
. Regardless, after crossing into the Podlasie and Białystok area in October, the brigade continued the struggle against withdrawing Germans in the ranks of the Białystok Home Army Area. After the region was overrun by the Soviets, Łupaszko's unit remained in the forests and he decided to await the outcome of Russo-Polish talks held by the Polish Government in Exile
. Meanwhile the unit was reorganized and captured enough equipment to fully arm 600 men with machine guns and machine pistols.
In September 1945, Zygmunt Szendzielarz moved with a large part of his unit to Gdańsk
-Oliwa
, where he remained underground while preparing his unit for a new partisan offensive against the Soviet-backed communist authorities of Poland. On April 14, 1946, Szendzielarz finally mobilized his unit and headed for the Tuchola Forest
, where he started operations against the forces of the Internal Security Corps, Urząd Bezpieczeństwa and the communist authorities. Łupaszko was hoping that in the spring of 1946 the former Western Allies of Poland would start a new war against the Soviet Union and that the Polish underground units could prove useful in liberating Poland. However, when he realized that no such war was planned he decided to disband his unit. He saw further fight as a waste of blood of his men and decided to retire from open fight against the communists.
After several years underground, he was arrested by the UB
on June 28, 1948, in Osielec near Nowy Targ
. After more than two years of brutal interrogation and torture in Warsaw
's Mokotów Prison
he was sentenced to death on November 2, 1950 by the Soviet-controlled court martial in Warsaw. He was executed on February 8, 1951, together with several other Home Army soldiers. Szendzielarz was 40 years old.
In 1988 Szendzielarz was posthumously promoted to rotmistrz and awarded the Virtuti Militari
, Poland's highest military decoration, by Kazimierz Sabbat
, the President of Poland in exile.
After the fall of the communism, in 1993, Szendzielarz was rehabilitated
and declared innocent of charges which he had been accused of. On 2007 Polish president Lech Kaczyński
posthumously awarded Szendzielarz with the order of Polonia Restituta
.
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...
5th Wilno
Home Army 5th Wilno Brigade
The Home Army 5th Wilno Brigade was a unit of the Polish anti-Nazi resistance organization Home Army, active in the Vilnius Region during World War II...
Home Army
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...
Brigade.
Early life
Szendzielarz was born in StryjStryj
Stryj may refer to:*Stryj, Lublin Voivodeship *Stryi, Ukraine - Stryj in Polish...
(now in Lviv Oblast
Lviv Oblast
Lviv Oblast is an oblast in western Ukraine. The administrative center of the oblast is the city of Lviv.-History:The oblast was created as part of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic on December 4, 1939...
), then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, into the family of a railway worker. After graduating from primary school in Lwów, he attended a biological-mathematical gymnasium
Gymnasium (school)
A gymnasium is a type of school providing secondary education in some parts of Europe, comparable to English grammar schools or sixth form colleges and U.S. college preparatory high schools. The word γυμνάσιον was used in Ancient Greece, meaning a locality for both physical and intellectual...
in Lwów and then in Stryj. After graduating, he volunteered for the Polish Army and completed Infantry NCO
Non-commissioned officer
A non-commissioned officer , called a sub-officer in some countries, is a military officer who has not been given a commission...
School in Ostrów Mazowiecka
Ostrów Mazowiecka
Ostrów Mazowiecka is a town in northeastern Poland with 23,486 inhabitants . Situated in the Masovian Voivodeship , previously in Ostroleka Voivodeship . It is the capital of Ostrów Mazowiecka County....
(1932), then Cavalry NCO School in Grudziądz
Grudziadz
Grudziądz is a city in northern Poland on the Vistula River, with 96 042 inhabitants . Situated in the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship , the city was previously in the Toruń Voivodeship .- History :-Early history:...
. He was promoted to lieutenant and transferred to Wilno, where he assumed command of a squadron in the 4th Uhlan Regiment.
World War II
With his unit he took part in the 1939 September CampaignInvasion of Poland (1939)
The Invasion of Poland, also known as the September Campaign or 1939 Defensive War in Poland and the Poland Campaign in Germany, was an invasion of Poland by Germany, the Soviet Union, and a small Slovak contingent that marked the start of World War II in Europe...
. His unit was attached to the Wilno Cavalry Brigade under General Władysław Anders, part of the Prusy Army
Prusy Army
The Prusy Army was one of the Polish armies to fight during the Invasion of Poland in 1939. Created in the summer of 1939 as the main reserve of the Commander in Chief, it was commanded by Gen. Stefan Dąb-Biernacki. One of the meanings of Prusy in Polish is Prussia, but this name only served as a...
. After retreating from northern Poland, the forces of Gen. Anders fought their way towards the city of Lwów and the Romanian Bridgehead
Romanian Bridgehead
The Romanian Bridgehead was an area in southeastern Poland, now located in Ukraine. During the Polish Defensive War of 1939 , on September 14 the Polish Commander in Chief Marshal of Poland Edward Rydz-Śmigły ordered all Polish troops fighting east of the Vistula to withdraw towards Lwów, and...
. However, in the area of Lublin
Lublin
Lublin is the ninth largest city in Poland. It is the capital of Lublin Voivodeship with a population of 350,392 . Lublin is also the largest Polish city east of the Vistula river...
Szendzielarz's unit was surrounded and suffered heavy losses. Soon afterwards Szendzielarz was taken prisoner of war
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...
by the Soviets
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
, but he managed to escape to Lwów, where he lived for a short period under a false name. He tried to cross the Hungarian
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
border to escape from Poland and reach the Polish Army being formed in France, but he failed and finally moved with his family to Wilno.
In Wilno, Szendzielarz started working on various posts under false names. In mid-1943 he joined the Home Army under the nom de guerre Łupaszko, and in August he started organizing his own partisan group in the forests surrounding the city. Soon the unit was joined by local volunteers and the remnants of a unit of Antoni Burzyński "Kmicic", destroyed by Soviet Partisans
Soviet partisans
The Soviet partisans were members of a resistance movement which fought a guerrilla war against the Axis occupation of the Soviet Union during World War II....
and the Wehrmacht
Wehrmacht
The Wehrmacht – from , to defend and , the might/power) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer , the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe .-Origin and use of the term:...
. By September, the unit was 700 men strong and was officially named the V Vilnian Home Army Brigade (V Wileńska Brygada Armii Krajowej).
Łupaszko's unit fought against the German army and SS units in the area of southern Wilno Voivodeship, but was also frequently attacked by the Soviet Partisans paradropped in the area by the Red Army
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
. In April 1944, Zygmunt Szendzielarz was arrested by the Lithuanian police and handed over to 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...
. Łupaszko was free in the same month under circumstances that remain unclear. In reprisal actions his brigade captured several dozen German officials and sent several threatening letters to Gestapo but it remains unknown if and how these contributed to his release.
On June 23, two squads of his brigade (commanded by "Maks" and "Rakoczy") attacked Lithuanian policemen in Dubingiai
Dubingiai
Dubingiai is a town in Molėtai district in Lithuania. It is situated near Lake Asveja, the longest lake in the country. The town has 260 inhabitants as of 2003.-History:...
and murdered civilians of the village.
Ostra Brama
In August, the commander of all Home Army units in the Wilno area, Gen. Aleksander "Wilk" KrzyżanowskiAleksander Krzyzanowski
Aleksander "Wilk" Krzyżanowski was a Polish officer, major, member of the Polish resistance movement in World War II and Commandant of the Armia Krajowa in the Vilnius Region.- Biography :...
, ordered all six brigades under his command to prepare for Operation Tempest
Operation Tempest
Operation Tempest was a series of uprisings conducted during World War II by the Polish Home Army , the dominant force in the Polish resistance....
— a planned all-national rising against the German forces occupying Poland. In what became known as Operation Ostra Brama, Brigade V was to attack the Wilno suburb of Zwierzyniec
Zwierzyniec
Zwierzyniec is a town on the Wieprz river in the Zamość County, Lublin Voivodeship, Poland. It has 3,324 inhabitants .Zwierzyniec is the northernmost town of the Roztocze National Park. The park comprises some of the last remaining sections of the primordial forest of Central Europe, especially...
in cooperation with advancing units of the 3rd Belorussian Front
3rd Belorussian Front
The 3rd Belorussian Front was a Front of the Soviet Army during the Second World War...
. However, Łupaszko, for fear of being arrested with his units by the NKVD
NKVD
The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs was the public and secret police organization of the Soviet Union that directly executed the rule of power of the Soviets, including political repression, during the era of Joseph Stalin....
and killed on the spot, disobeyed orders and moved his unit to central Poland. Wilno was liberated by Polish and Soviet forces, and the Polish commander was then arrested by the Soviets and the majority of his men were sent to Gulag
Gulag
The Gulag was the government agency that administered the main Soviet forced labor camp systems. While the camps housed a wide range of convicts, from petty criminals to political prisoners, large numbers were convicted by simplified procedures, such as NKVD troikas and other instruments of...
s and sites of detention in the Soviet Union.
It is uncertain why Szendzielarz was not court-martialed for desertion. Probably it was in fact General "Wilk" himself who removed Łupaszko's unit from the Wilno area, due to Łupaszko long having been involved in fighting with Soviet partisans and to Wilk not wanting to provoke the Red Army
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
. Regardless, after crossing into the Podlasie and Białystok area in October, the brigade continued the struggle against withdrawing Germans in the ranks of the Białystok Home Army Area. After the region was overrun by the Soviets, Łupaszko's unit remained in the forests and he decided to await the outcome of Russo-Polish talks held by the Polish Government in Exile
Polish government in Exile
The Polish government-in-exile, formally known as the Government of the Republic of Poland in Exile , was the government in exile of Poland formed in the aftermath of the Invasion of Poland of September 1939, and the subsequent occupation of Poland by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union, which...
. Meanwhile the unit was reorganized and captured enough equipment to fully arm 600 men with machine guns and machine pistols.
After the war
After the governments of the United Kingdom and United States broke the pacts with Poland and accepted the so-called PKWN as the provisional government of Poland, Łupaszka restarted the hostilities - this time against a new oppressor, in the ranks of Wolność i Niezawisłość organization. However, after several successful actions against the NKVD units in the area of Białowieża Forest, it became apparent that such actions would result in a total destruction of his unit.In September 1945, Zygmunt Szendzielarz moved with a large part of his unit to Gdańsk
Gdansk
Gdańsk is a Polish city on the Baltic coast, at the centre of the country's fourth-largest metropolitan area.The city lies on the southern edge of Gdańsk Bay , in a conurbation with the city of Gdynia, spa town of Sopot, and suburban communities, which together form a metropolitan area called the...
-Oliwa
Oliwa
Oliwa, also Oliva is one of the quarters of Gdańsk. From east it borders Przymorze and Żabianka, from the north Sopot and from the south with the districts of Strzyża, VII Dwór and Brętowo, while from the west with Matarnia and Osowa...
, where he remained underground while preparing his unit for a new partisan offensive against the Soviet-backed communist authorities of Poland. On April 14, 1946, Szendzielarz finally mobilized his unit and headed for the Tuchola Forest
Tuchola Forest
The Tuchola Forest is a large forest near the town of Tuchola in northern Poland, and lies between the Brda and Wda Rivers. It contains the Tuchola Forest National Park, which is at the core of the Tuchola Forest Biosphere Reserve, designated by UNESCO in 2010.- Landscape :The area was formed...
, where he started operations against the forces of the Internal Security Corps, Urząd Bezpieczeństwa and the communist authorities. Łupaszko was hoping that in the spring of 1946 the former Western Allies of Poland would start a new war against the Soviet Union and that the Polish underground units could prove useful in liberating Poland. However, when he realized that no such war was planned he decided to disband his unit. He saw further fight as a waste of blood of his men and decided to retire from open fight against the communists.
After several years underground, he was arrested by the UB
Ministry of Public Security of Poland
The Ministry of Public Security of Poland was a Polish communist secret police, intelligence and counter-espionage service operating from 1945 to 1954 under Jakub Berman of the Politburo...
on June 28, 1948, in Osielec near Nowy Targ
Nowy Targ
Nowy Targ is a town in southern Poland with 34,000 inhabitants , and the historical capital of the mountain region . The town is situated in the confluence of the rivers Biały and Czarny Dunajec, in a valley beneath the Gorce Mountains. It's in Nowy Targ County, Lesser Poland Voivodeship...
. After more than two years of brutal interrogation and torture 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...
's Mokotów Prison
Mokotów Prison
Mokotów Prison is a prison in Warsaw's borough of Mokotów, Poland, located at Rakowiecka 37 street. It was built by the Russians in the final years of the foreign Partitions of Poland...
he was sentenced to death on November 2, 1950 by the Soviet-controlled court martial in Warsaw. He was executed on February 8, 1951, together with several other Home Army soldiers. Szendzielarz was 40 years old.
Posthumous
After Łupaszko's death, communist propaganda accused him of all sorts of crimes, from crimes against humanity, robbery and common theft to membership in UPA.In 1988 Szendzielarz was posthumously promoted to rotmistrz and awarded the Virtuti Militari
Virtuti Militari
The Order Wojenny Virtuti Militari is Poland's highest military decoration for heroism and courage in the face of the enemy at war...
, Poland's highest military decoration, by Kazimierz Sabbat
Kazimierz Sabbat
Kazimierz Aleksander Sabbat , was President of Poland in Exile from 8 April 1986 until his death, 19 July 1989, after serving as Prime Minister of the Polish Government in Exile.-Early life:...
, the President of Poland in exile.
After the fall of the communism, in 1993, Szendzielarz was rehabilitated
Rehabilitation (Soviet)
Rehabilitation in the context of the former Soviet Union, and the Post-Soviet states, was the restoration of a person who was criminally prosecuted without due basis, to the state of acquittal...
and declared innocent of charges which he had been accused of. On 2007 Polish president Lech Kaczyński
Lech Kaczynski
Lech Aleksander Kaczyński was Polish lawyer and politician who served as the President of Poland from 2005 until 2010 and as Mayor of Warsaw from 2002 until 22 December 2005. Before he became a president, he was also a member of the party Prawo i Sprawiedliwość...
posthumously awarded Szendzielarz with the order of Polonia Restituta
Polonia Restituta
The Order of Polonia Restituta is one of Poland's highest Orders. The Order can be conferred for outstanding achievements in the fields of education, science, sport, culture, art, economics, defense of the country, social work, civil service, or for furthering good relations between countries...
.
Honours and awards
- 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...
, V class; for participation in the September 1939 campaign - Cross of Valour (January 1944)
- Gold Cross, 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...
(June 25, 1988) in recognition of outstanding deeds during the war - Grand Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta, awarded by Polish President Lech KaczynskiLech KaczynskiLech Aleksander Kaczyński was Polish lawyer and politician who served as the President of Poland from 2005 until 2010 and as Mayor of Warsaw from 2002 until 22 December 2005. Before he became a president, he was also a member of the party Prawo i Sprawiedliwość...
, November 11, 2007