Zbigniew Blechman

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Division General Zbigniew Blechman (fifth from left)

Zbigniew Blechman (born November 9, 1929 - April 30, 2018 ) was division general of the Polish Armed Forces , who was among other things Deputy Chief of Staff of the United Armed Forces of the Warsaw Pact .

Life

Blechman began as an officer cadet after attending school in 1947, his officer training at the Political Officers School in Łódź and at the Infantry Officer School No. 2 in Jelenia Góra . After completing his training, he was first platoon leader in 1951 and company commander at the transport officers' school in Piła in 1953 . After attending a course at the Academy of the General Staff ( Akademia Sztabu Generalnego ) , he became a lecturer in tactics at the Transport Officer School in 1958 and then studied at the Academy of the General Staff between 1960 and 1963.

After graduating from the General Staff Academy, Blechman became the commander of a battalion of the 27th Mechanized Regiment in Kłodzko in 1963 and was then Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations of the 2nd Mechanized Division in Nysa between 1964 and 1966 , before becoming Chief of Staff and Deputy Commander from 1966 to 1967 of the 6th Mechanized Regiment was in Częstochowa . Subsequently, as Colonel (Pułkownik) as the successor to Colonel Jerzy Piątkowski between 1967 and his replacement by Augustyn Sałagan in 1971, he was commander of the 18th Motorized Rifle Regiment in Wędrzyn and from 1971 to 1972 Chief of Staff and Deputy Commander of the 11th Armored Division in Żagań .

After studying at the Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union in Moscow from 1973 to 1975, Blechman succeeded Brigadier General Tadeusz Stawowiak in 1975 as commander of the 20th Armored Division in Szczecinek and remained in this post until he was replaced by Colonel Zenon Bryk in 1978 During this time, he was promoted to Brigadier General (Generał brygady) in 1977 and developed the division into one of the leading tactical large units of the land forces . In the following years he was Chief of Staff and Deputy Commander of the Pomeranian Military District in Bydgoszcz between 1978 and 1983 , before being promoted to Division General (Generał dywizji) on April 1, 1983 and as successor to Division General Józef Użycki himself Commander of the Pomeranian Pomeranian Military District (ękromor Wojskowy) . He remained in this post until he was replaced by Division General Zbigniew Zalewski on September 23, 1989.

Blechman was a member of the Central Committee of the Polish United Workers' Party ( Polska Zjednoczona Partia Robotnicza - PZPR) from 1986 to 1990 . During this time he was also a member of the National Committee in Memory of the Battle of Tannenberg 1410 , an organization of the Patriotic Movement of National Revival ( Patriotyczny Ruch Odrodzenia Narodowego - PRON) between 1986 and 1989 .

Division General Blechman, who also graduated from a foreign policy course at the Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union, became Deputy Chief of Staff of the United Armed Forces of the Warsaw Pact in 1990 and, after its dissolution in 1991, was at the special disposal of the Defense Minister . May 1991 was retired.

Blechman has received several awards for his many years of military service, including the Medal Siły Zbrojne w Służbie Ojczyzny in gold (1971), the medal "Za zasługi dla obronności kraju" in gold (1976), the Commander's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta (1978) , the Medal Komisji Edukacji Narodowej (1979) and the Order Sztandaru Pracy First Class (1985).

Among other things, he was involved in the revision committee of the Association of Former Generals.

Background literature

  • M. Jędrzejko, ML Krogulski, M. Paszkowski: Generałowie i admirałowie III Rzeczypospolitej , Warsaw 2002
  • Janusz Królikowski: Generałowie i admirałowie Wojska Polskiego 1943-1990 , Toruń 2010, pp. 155–157

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Pogrzeb gen. Zbigniewa Blechmana w Bydgoszczy [zdjęcia ], accessed on July 5, 2018
  2. ^ Three hard-line Polish generals replaced . In: United Press International (UPI), September 6, 1989
  3. ↑ Generałów Club
personal data
SURNAME Blechman, Zbigniew
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Polish major general and politician
DATE OF BIRTH November 9, 1929
DATE OF DEATH April 30, 2018