Józef Użycki

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Józef Janusz Użycki (born December 1, 1932 in Kiertynie, Lviv Oblast , now Ukraine ) is a former Polish lieutenant general and politician of the Polish United Workers' Party (PZPR), who was Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the People's Republic of Poland between 1983 and 1990 . As commander of the Pomeranian Military District, after the imposition of martial law on December 13, 1981 by Wojciech Jaruzelski, he became a member of the WRON Military Council (Wojskowa Rada Ocalenia Narodowego) and was a member until July 21, 1983.

Life

Training to become an officer and promotion to major general

Użycki was deported to Siberia during the Second World War in February 1940 and returned to Poland in 1946. After finishing school he began his training as a cadet in September 1950 at the officers' school of infantry No. 1 Tadeusz Kościuszko in Wroclaw and was promoted to lieutenant in 1950 . Subsequently he found employment as platoon leader and later as deputy company commander in the 4th Infantry Regiment stationed in Kielce .

After graduating from the Karol Świerczewski General Staff Academy between 1954 and 1957 , he first served as chief of staff of the 33rd Mechanized Regiment in Nysa and then from 1959 to 1966 as an operations officer in the staff of the Silesian Military District. After that he was first deputy chief of staff of the 10th Panzer Regiment in Opole and in August 1968 commander of this regiment during Operation Danube , known as the suppression of the Prague Spring by the Warsaw Pact troops . Subsequently, in 1969 he took over the function of chief of staff and deputy commander of the 11th Armored Division Johann III stationed in Żagań . Sobieski , before he graduated from the Military Academy of the General Staff of the Soviet Armed Forces Kliment Yefremovich Voroshilov in Moscow between 1970 and 1973 .

After his return to Poland, Colonel Użycki became commander of the 11th Armored Division on November 22, 1973, succeeding Brigadier General Witold Wereszczyński , who in turn became commander of the Armored Force Officers School (Wyższa Szkoła Oficerska Wojsk Pancernych) in Poznan . During his tenure, which lasted until 1976, he was promoted to Brigadier General in 1974 and replaced in 1976 by Brigadier General Bolesław Matusz . He then became Chief of Staff and Deputy Commander of the Pomeranian Military District (Pomorski Okręg Wojskowy) in Bydgoszcz in 1976 .

On February 26, 1978 he was appointed commander of the Pomeranian Military District to succeed Major General Wojciech Barański . As such, he would also be the commander of the 1st Army in the event of war and was promoted to major general in 1979. In addition, on March 23, 1980, he was also elected a member of the Sejm for the PZPR and was a member of this until August 31, 1985.

Imposition of martial law in 1981 and Chief of the General Staff 1983 to 1990

After the imposition of martial law on December 13, 1981 by Prime Minister Wojciech Jaruzelski, he also became a member of the Military Council of the National Rescue WRON (Wojskowa Rada Ocalenia Narodowego) and was a member of it until July 21, 1983.

On April 1, 1983, Major General Zbigniew Blechman succeeded him as commander of the Pomeranian Military District, while Użycki himself became Deputy Chief of the General Staff for Operations.

After Lieutenant General Florian Siwicki was appointed Minister of Defense by Prime Minister Jaruzelski on November 22, 1983 , he succeeded him as Chief of the General Staff and was thus responsible for the planning and top management of the armed forces. In 1984 he was promoted to lieutenant general. At the same time he served as Deputy Minister of Defense until his replacement by Major General Zdzisław Stelmaszuk on September 22, 1990. As chief of staff, he was co-author of a new Polish defense doctrine presented in 1990.

On October 3, 1991, he officially retired.

Orders and awards

During his long career, Użycki has been honored several times with domestic and foreign medals and awards. One of the most important honors is the order Odrodzenia Polski , which he was awarded as a knight and as a commander . In addition, he received the Cross of Merit of the Republic of Poland in silver and gold.

At foreign medals he received the medal “Strengthening the Brotherhood of Arms” , the medal “30th. Anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945 ” and the medal“ 70 Years of the Armed Forces of the USSR ” .

Publications

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Biuletyn Informacji Publicznej Instytutu Pamięci Narodowej. Retrieved March 22, 2019 .
  2. ↑ Patrizia Hey: The Soviet Poland Policy at the beginning of the 1980s and the imposition of martial law in the People's Republic of Poland. Real Soviet threat or successful bluff? , 2010, p. 330, ISBN 3-64310-771-4
personal data
SURNAME Użycki, Józef
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Użycki, Józef Janusz (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Polish lieutenant general and politician, member of the Sejm
DATE OF BIRTH December 1, 1932
PLACE OF BIRTH Kiertynie, Lviv Oblast , now Ukraine