Grzegorz Korczyński

General Grzegorz Korczyński

Grzegorz Korczyński , born Stefan Jan Kilanowicz (born June 17, 1915 in Warsaw ; † October 22, 1971 in Algiers ) was a lieutenant general of the Polish People's Army (Ludowe Wojsko Polskie) , diplomat and politician of the Polish United Workers' Party ( Polska Zjednoczona Partia Robotnicza ) in of the People's Republic of Poland , who acted as Vice-Minister for National Defense between 1965 and 1971 and as such was in command of the army units that were used to suppress the workers' uprising. After that he was ambassador to Algeria for a few months until his death in 1971 .

Life

After attending school, Grzegorz Korczyński worked as a worker in Warsaw and had been an active member of the socialist youth organization Życie since 1935 . In 1937 he traveled to Spain , where he was a member of the XIII. International Brigade in the International Brigades fought on the Republic's side . After the fall of the Second Spanish Republic, he went to France in 1939 , where between 1940 and 1942 he was a member of the Polish section of the French Communist Party PCF ( Parti communiste français ) in the communist resistance movement ( Résistance ) . He then returned to Poland and was involved in Lublin in the underground movements Volksgarde GL ( Gwardia Ludowa ) and Volksarmee AL ( Armia Ludowa ) . From July 1944 he took over leading positions in the public security apparatus and dealt with the organization of the citizens' militia ( Milicja Obywatelska ) in Lublin and Warsaw.

After the end of the Second World War , Korczyński became brigadier general (Generał brygady) and deputy commander of the operational group in Operation Vistula in 1947, the forced resettlement of ethnic Ukrainians , Bojken and Lemken from the south-east of the People's Republic of Poland and the eastern parts of today's Lesser Poland and Lublin Voivodeships in 1947 to the north and west of the state territory (the so-called " reclaimed areas "). He worked for the Ministry of Public Security MBP ( Ministerstwo Bezpieczeństwa Publicznego ) . He was arrested on May 21, 1950 and sentenced on May 22, 1954 to life imprisonment for the murder of the Jewish population and the arrest of Władysław Gomułka . On December 24, 1954, life imprisonment was converted to 15 years imprisonment by a ruling by the Supreme Court before he was released from prison in April 1956 during the political thaw .

Subsequently, at the end of December 1956, Grzegorz Korczyński succeeded Colonel Fiodor Tichonowicz Wiedmied as Chief of Staff II for the Military Intelligence Service in the Polish General Staff (Zarząd II Sztabu Generalnego Wojska Polskiego) . He held this post until October 1965 and was then replaced by General Tadeusz Jedynak . In 1957 he was fully rehabilitated and returned to the Polish People's Army as a Brigadier General. At the 2nd party congress of the PZPR (March 10-19, 1959) he was elected a member of the Central Committee (ZK), to which he belonged until his death. On May 15, 1961 he became a member of the Sejm for the PZPR in the third legislative period and represented constituency no. 44 Radzyń Podlaski until his death on October 22, 1971 . Within the PZPR, alongside Mieczysław Moczar , Franciszek Szlachcic , Teodor Kufel , Jan Czapla , Mieczysław Róg-Świostek , Tadeusz Pietrzak and Colonel Marian Janic, he was one of the leading politicians of the partisans (Partyzanci) . During this time he was a member of the Presidium of the PZPR Group from May 15, 1961 to October 22, 1971 and from May 15, 1961 to March 31, 1965, initially a member of the Committee on National Defense and then between June 24th 1965 and October 22, 1971 member of the Committee on Internal Affairs.

In 1965 Korczyński became Deputy Minister for National Defense and held this post until his death. At the same time he acted as chief inspector of territorial defense and was promoted to lieutenant general (Generał broni) in 1968 . In December 1970 he was the commander of the army units that were used to suppress the workers' uprising. At the beginning of 1971 he was dismissed as Deputy Minister for National Defense and Chief Inspector of Territorial Defense for health reasons and sent as ambassador to Algeria , where he died under unclear circumstances.

For his many years of service he received the Virtuti Militari , the Order of Polonia Restituta , the Cross of Merit of the Republic of Poland and numerous other awards from the People's Republic of Poland. He was also awarded the Order of Lenin by the Soviet Union , the jubilee medal “In memory of the 100th birthday of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin” , the medal “Victory over Germany” , the medal “For the liberation of Warsaw” , the medal “30 years of the Soviet Army and Navy “As well as medals and awards from other friendly states. After his death, he was buried in the Powązki military cemetery in Warsaw.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Tomasz Łabuszewski, Kazimierz Krajewski: - - - Rzecz o dowolności dowodów zbrodni . 2006, ISSN  1641-9561 , p. 95 (Polish, gov.pl [PDF]).

Web links

• Entry on the Sejm's homepage