Franciszek Przysiężniak
Encyclopedia
Krasnystaw
Krasnystaw is a town in eastern Poland with 19,615 inhabitants . Situated in the Lublin Voivodeship , previously in Chelm Voivodeship . It is the capital of Krasnystaw County....
, died September 30, 1975 in Jarosław) - was a lieutenant in the Polish Army, an officer of anti-communist resistance groups National Military Organization
National Military Organization
Narodowa Organizacja Wojskowa was one of the Polish resistance movements in World War II. Created in 1939, it did not agree to merge with the Service for Poland's Victory /Union of Armed Struggle /Armia Krajowa but recognized the Polish government in exile. Politically related to the National Party...
(NOW) and National Military Union
National Military Union
Narodowe Zjednoczenie Wojskowe was a Polish anti-Communist organization, founded in November 1944, after collapse of the Warsaw Uprising. It was among the largest and strongest resistance organizations established in the Soviet-controlled Poland in mid- and late 1940s...
(NZW).
Przysiężniak finished the Volhynia
Volhynia
Volhynia, Volynia, or Volyn is a historic region in western Ukraine located between the rivers Prypiat and Southern Bug River, to the north of Galicia and Podolia; the region is named for the former city of Volyn or Velyn, said to have been located on the Southern Bug River, whose name may come...
n School for Reserve Cadets of Artillery in Włodzimierz Wołyński in 1938. He then began his military service in the 16th Pomeranian Regiment of Light Artillery in Grudziądz
Grudziadz
Grudziądz is a city in northern Poland on the Vistula River, with 96 042 inhabitants . Situated in the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship , the city was previously in the Toruń Voivodeship .- History :-Early history:...
. He took part in the Polish defensive war in 1939, against the Nazi invaders. On September 28, 1939, he was captured by the Germans at Tomaszów Lubelski
Tomaszów Lubelski
Tomaszów Lubelski is a town in south-eastern Poland with 20,261 inhabitants . Situated in the Lublin Voivodeship , previously in Zamość Voivodeship . It is the capital of Tomaszów Lubelski County.-History:...
, but on his way to the POW camp he managed to escape. In 1942 he joined the National Military Organization and was made the commander of its units in the Krasnystaw
Krasnystaw
Krasnystaw is a town in eastern Poland with 19,615 inhabitants . Situated in the Lublin Voivodeship , previously in Chelm Voivodeship . It is the capital of Krasnystaw County....
county. He headed a unit that specialized in diversion
Feint
Feint is a French term that entered English from the discipline of fencing. Feints are maneuvers designed to distract or mislead, done by giving the impression that a certain maneuver will take place, while in fact another, or even none, will...
and sabotage
Sabotage
Sabotage is a deliberate action aimed at weakening another entity through subversion, obstruction, disruption, or destruction. In a workplace setting, sabotage is the conscious withdrawal of efficiency generally directed at causing some change in workplace conditions. One who engages in sabotage is...
which later the merger with the Home Army (AK-NOW). Eventually, he was promoted to the rank of major.
During World War II, the partisan unit led by "Father John", which operated in the region of Janów Forests was one of the best armed units of the Polish anti-Nazi underground. On June 14, 1944, under his leadership it took part in one of the largest battles between German forces and Polish partisans, at Porytowe Wzgorze
Battle of Porytowe Wzgórze
The Battle of Porytowe Wzgórze took place on June 14, 1944, between Polish and Russian partisans and Nazi German forces. It was the largest battle between underground anti-Nazi resistance and German occupation forces in occupied Europe....
which was part of the Sturmwind I operation carried out by the Nazis.
After the Red Army
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
entered Poland he was forced to go into hiding. On April 1945 in Kuryłówka his wife, Janina Przysiężniak Jaga, who was seven months pregnant was murdered, with a shot to the back of the head, by the communist secret police
Ministry of Public Security of Poland
The Ministry of Public Security of Poland was a Polish communist secret police, intelligence and counter-espionage service operating from 1945 to 1954 under Jakub Berman of the Politburo...
(UB). As a result he organized a group of anti-communist fighters
Cursed soldiers
The cursed soldiers is a name applied to a variety of Polish resistance movements formed in the later stages of World War II and afterwards. Created by some members of the Polish Secret State, these clandestine organizations continued their armed struggle against the Stalinist government of Poland...
in the "San" region. On the 7th of May this unit fought in one of the largest battles between Soviet NKVD
NKVD
The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs was the public and secret police organization of the Soviet Union that directly executed the rule of power of the Soviets, including political repression, during the era of Joseph Stalin....
and the Polish underground, the Battle of Kuryłówka, in which 57 NKVD soldiers were killed and their operational group dispersed. In the fall of 1945 he moved to Pomerania
Pomerania
Pomerania is a historical region on the south shore of the Baltic Sea. Divided between Germany and Poland, it stretches roughly from the Recknitz River near Stralsund in the West, via the Oder River delta near Szczecin, to the mouth of the Vistula River near Gdańsk in the East...
where he was made the commander of all NZW units in Brodnica
Brodnica
Brodnica is a town in northern Poland with 27,400 inhabitants . Previously part of Toruń Voivodeship [a province], from 1975 to 1998, Brodnica has been situated in the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship since 1999...
and Wąbrzeźno
Wabrzezno
Wąbrzeźno is a town in Poland, in the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship, about 35 km northeast of Toruń. It is the capital of the Wąbrzeźno County...
counties. He was arrested on May 15, 1946 and sentenced to four years in prison. He was released during the Amnesty of 1947
Amnesty of 1947
The Amnesty of 1947 in Poland was an amnesty directed at soldiers and activists of the Polish anti-communist underground, issued by the authorities of People's Republic of Poland. The law on amnesty was passed by the Polish Sejm on February 22, 1947. The actual purpose of the amnesty was the...
, but a year later arrested again. This time his sentence was 15 years in prison. He was released again on December 24, 1954.
He was a recipient of the Silver Cross of the Virtuti Militari
Virtuti Militari
The Order Wojenny Virtuti Militari is Poland's highest military decoration for heroism and courage in the face of the enemy at war...
.