Zygmunt Graliński
Zygmunt Stanisław Cyprian Graliński (born September 29, 1897 in Łęczyca , Poland ; † September 18, 1940 in the North Atlantic near Rockall ) was a Polish lawyer , civil rights activist , member of parliament in the second term of the Second Polish Republic and the deputy minister for foreign affairs in the Polish government-in-exile during World War II .
Life
Graliński came from a family of intellectuals. He was a cousin of the publicist and politician Stefan Korboński . After graduating from Kharkiv University in 1916, he studied law at the University of Warsaw (1918-1922). In 1925 he received his doctorate in law in Paris . After returning home, he worked in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and taught law at the Free Polish University ( Wolna Wszechnica Polska in Polish ) in Warsaw .
Graliński was the defender of peasant activists in the political trials, including the so-called Brest Trial (1931 in Brest ). He was a member of the Small Farmers' Party ( Polskie Stronnictwo Ludowe PSL "Wyzwolenie" ), chairman of the board of the Powiat Sokołowski County and the city of Siedlce and in the Supreme Council of the Polish People's Party "Piast" . From 1928 to 1930 he held a seat in parliament. Later he was Vice-President of the Supreme Council, a member of the Central Executive Committee and from April 1934 head of the Lublin City Council .
After the invasion of Poland by the Third Reich and the Soviet Union , Graliński went into exile . Upon arrival in France, he was appointed Deputy Foreign Minister of the Polish government-in-exile under Ignacy Mościcki .
On September 13, 1940, Graliński went on board the British ocean liner City of Benares in Liverpool, which was to sail to Quebec and Montreal . He wanted to go on to Ottawa . Five days later, the unarmed, non-escorted ship southwest of Rockall in the North Atlantic was torpedoed by the German submarine U 48 in the middle of the night and sank within 30 minutes. Of the 406 people on board, 248 were killed, most of them women and children. Graliński was also among the fatalities. His body was never recovered.
swell
- Biographical encyclopedia of activists of the peasant movement, Ludowa Spółdzielnia Wydawnicza, Warsaw 1989
- Passenger list of the last voyage of the City of Benares , September 1940
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Graliński, Zygmunt |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Graliński, Zygmunt Stanisław Cyprian (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Polish politician, member of the Sejm |
| DATE OF BIRTH | September 29, 1897 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Łęczyca , Poland |
| DATE OF DEATH | September 18, 1940 |
| Place of death | North Atlantic at Rockall |