Stefan Rowecki
Stefan Paweł Rowecki , alias Grot (born December 25, 1895 in Piotrków Trybunalski ; † August 1944 in Sachsenhausen concentration camp ) was division general of the Polish army and leader of the Polish Home Army ( Armia Krajowa ) from 1942 to 1943.
Life
As a youth he was one of the co-organizers of the illegal scouting movement in Congress Poland . During the First World War he fought in the legions of Józef Piłsudskis . After the conflict with the German occupation authorities in 1917, the oath crisis , he was briefly interned.
After gaining independence, he was a member of the new Polish army and fought directly in the Polish-Soviet war . In the interwar period he was also active as a journalist within the military. From 1930 to 1935 he commanded the 55th Infantry Regiment in Leszno , from 1935 to 1938 the Border Guard Corps Brigade Podole , from 1938 to 1939 the 2nd Legion Infantry Division in Kielce .
In June 1939 he was entrusted with the Warsaw motorized tank brigade, with which he also fought against the Germans in the September war. In October of the same year he went underground and in 1940 was appointed commander of the underground forces , the Association for Armed Struggle ( Związek Walki Zbrojnej , ZWZ). After its conversion to the Home Army on February 14, 1942, he became its commander in chief.
On June 30, 1943, he was exposed by the Germans and arrested in an apartment in Warsaw. He was taken to Berlin , where he was tortured by the Gestapo , and then to the Sachsenhausen concentration camp , where he was presumably murdered in early August 1944.
Appreciation
In 1995 Rowecki, considered one of the most capable Polish military leaders of the 20th century, was posthumously awarded the Order of the White Eagle . Since 2005 there has been a monument to him in Warsaw , which was inaugurated in June of the same year by President Lech Kaczyński . There is also a bust of him in Tychy, Upper Silesia .
Web links
- Website about Stefan Rowecki (Polish)
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Rowecki, Stefan |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Rowecki, Stefan Paweł (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Polish military and Commander in Chief of the Home Army |
| DATE OF BIRTH | December 25, 1895 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Piotrków Trybunalski |
| DATE OF DEATH | August 1944 |
| Place of death | Sachsenhausen concentration camp |