Leonard Skierski was a Polish

Poland

Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

 military officer and a general of the Imperial Russian Army

Imperial Russian Army

The Imperial Russian Army was the land armed force of the Russian Empire, active from around 1721 to the Russian Revolution of 1917. In the early 1850s, the Russian army consisted of around 938,731 regular soldiers and 245,850 irregulars . Until the time of military reform of Dmitry Milyutin in...

 and then the Polish Army. A veteran of World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

 and the Polish-Bolshevik War, he was one of fourteen Polish generals to be murdered by the 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....

 in the Katyn massacre

Katyn massacre

The Katyn massacre, also known as the Katyn Forest massacre , was a mass execution of Polish nationals carried out by the People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs , the Soviet secret police, in April and May 1940. The massacre was prompted by Lavrentiy Beria's proposal to execute all members of...

 of 1940.

Biography

Leonard Skierski was born in Stopnica

Stopnica

Stopnica is a village in Busko County, Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, in south-central Poland. It is the seat of the gmina called Gmina Stopnica. It lies approximately east of Busko-Zdrój and south-east of the regional capital Kielce...

 near Kielce

Kielce

Kielce ) is a city in central Poland with 204,891 inhabitants . It is also the capital city of the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship since 1999, previously in Kielce Voivodeship...

 in the Russian-held part of Poland

Partitions of Poland

The Partitions of Poland or Partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth took place in the second half of the 18th century and ended the existence of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, resulting in the elimination of sovereign Poland for 123 years...

, into an old Polish szlachta

Szlachta

The szlachta was a legally privileged noble class with origins in the Kingdom of Poland. It gained considerable institutional privileges during the 1333-1370 reign of Casimir the Great. In 1413, following a series of tentative personal unions between the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Kingdom of...

 Calvinist family of Skierski of Puchała coat of arms. His parents were Henryk Skierski and Helena née Hassman. His younger brother Stefan Skierski became the superintendent (bishop

Bishop

A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...

) of the Polish Reformed Church

Polish Reformed Church

The Polish Reformed Church, officially called the Evangelical Reformed Church in the republic of Poland is a historic Protestant church in Poland established in the 16th century, still in existence today.-Structure and organisation:An internal census showed that in 2004 the Polish Reformed Church...

.

Early in his youth Skierski graduated from a philological school in Kielce and joined the Cadet Corps

Cadet Corps (Russia)

The Cadet Corps is an admissions-based all boys military academy which prepared boys to become commissioned officers. Boys between the ages of 8 and 15 were enrolled. It was founded in Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire in 1731 by Tsarina Anne. The term of education was seven years...

 in Voronezh

Voronezh

Voronezh is a city in southwestern Russia, the administrative center of Voronezh Oblast. It is located on both sides of the Voronezh River, away from where it flows into the Don. It is an operating center of the Southeastern Railway , as well as the center of the Don Highway...

. As a Protestant, Skierski was not a subject to severe laws concerning Polish Catholics serving in the Russian Army

Imperial Russian Army

The Imperial Russian Army was the land armed force of the Russian Empire, active from around 1721 to the Russian Revolution of 1917. In the early 1850s, the Russian army consisted of around 938,731 regular soldiers and 245,850 irregulars . Until the time of military reform of Dmitry Milyutin in...

. Because of that he could advance through the ranks of the Russian Army and decided to become an officer. On September 1, 1884 he joined the Mikhailov's College of Artillery in Saint Petersburg

Saint Petersburg

Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...

. In 1887 he graduated in the rank of Second Lieutenant

Second Lieutenant

Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces.- United Kingdom and Commonwealth :The rank second lieutenant was introduced throughout the British Army in 1871 to replace the rank of ensign , although it had long been used in the Royal Artillery, Royal...

 (leytenant) and started his service in the 3rd Guards Artillery Brigade. He quickly rose through the ranks and ended up as a commander of an artillery command in the rank of Colonel

Colonel

Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...

 (since 1906).

With his unit he took part in the opening stages of World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

. Already in February 1915 he was promoted to the rank of Major General

Major General

Major general or major-general is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. A major general is a high-ranking officer, normally subordinate to the rank of lieutenant general and senior to the ranks of brigadier and brigadier general...

 and at that time he became the highest-ranking Pole in Russian armed forces. He continued his service at various posts. Since May 1917 he served as the inspector of artillery of the Russian 5th Corps. Following the outbreak of the Russian Revolution, Skierski created the Society of Polish Soldiers of the 5th Corps. His organization helped to create and fund the Polish Army in the East, a three-division strong force fighting on the side of the Entente

Allies of World War I

The Entente Powers were the countries at war with the Central Powers during World War I. The members of the Triple Entente were the United Kingdom, France, and the Russian Empire; Italy entered the war on their side in 1915...

 alongside Russia and France.

Arrested by the Bolsheviks, he managed to escape to the Ukraine

Ukraine

Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...

, where he joined the forces of Eugeniusz de Henning-Michaelis. After Austria-Hungary

Austria-Hungary

Austria-Hungary , more formally known as the Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen, was a constitutional monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in...

 surrounded most of Michaelis' 3rd Polish Corps and disarmed it, Skierski yet again evaded imprisonment and fled to the countryside, where he took part in partisan operations against the Reds

Reds

Reds is a 1981 American epic film that was co-written, produced, directed by and starred Warren Beatty. It centers on the life and career of John Reed, the revolutionary communist, journalist, and writer who chronicled the Russian Revolution in his book Ten Days that Shook the World...

. It was not until 1919 that he finally crossed the Polish lines.

On May 15, 1919 he joined the Polish Army. As the Polish armed forces were lacking high-ranking officers, he was instantly promoted to the rank of Lieutenant General

Lieutenant General

Lieutenant General is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages where the title of Lieutenant General was held by the second in command on the battlefield, who was normally subordinate to a Captain General....

 . Already on May 30 Skierski was assigned to the 7th Infantry Division stationed in Silesia

Silesia

Silesia is a historical region of Central Europe located mostly in Poland, with smaller parts also in the Czech Republic, and Germany.Silesia is rich in mineral and natural resources, and includes several important industrial areas. Silesia's largest city and historical capital is Wrocław...

 during the Silesian Uprising. The unit saw no service and after the cessation of hostilities on that front on August 10 Skierski became the commander of the 1st Rifle Division of Gen. Józef Haller de Hallenburg

Józef Haller de Hallenburg

Józef Haller de Hallenburg was a Lieutenant General of the Polish Army, legionary in Polish Legions, harcmistrz , the President of The Polish Scouting and Guiding Association , political and social activist, Stanisław Haller de Hallenburg's cousin.Haller was born in Jurczyce...

's Blue Army. His unit took part in heavy fights in 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...

 during the final stages of the Polish-Ukrainian War

Polish-Ukrainian War

The Polish–Ukrainian War of 1918 and 1919 was a conflict between the forces of the Second Polish Republic and West Ukrainian People's Republic for the control over Eastern Galicia after the dissolution of Austria-Hungary.-Background:...

. On September 15 of the same year his unit was fully integrated with the Polish command scheme and renamed to 13th Infantry Division.

During his early days in Polish service Skierski became known as a skilled and flexible commander of infantry units, he was also highly popular among his troops. Because of that, Polish commander in chief Józef Piłsudski started to use Skierski in the most important sectors of the Polish front of the Polish-Bolshevik War. In December 1919 Skierski was withdrawn from the front and assigned to the battle-hardened 4th Infantry Division

4th Infantry Division (Poland)

The Polish 4th Infantry Division was created following Polish independence after the end of World War I. The division participated in the Polish-Ukrainian War in 1919...

. In the spring of 1920 his unit took part in the successful Kiev Offensive

Kiev Offensive

The 1920 Kiev Offensive , sometimes considered to have started the Soviet-Polish War, was an attempt by the newly re-emerged Poland, led by Józef Piłsudski, to seize central and eastern Ukraine, torn in the warring among various factions, both domestic and foreign, from Soviet control.The stated...

, in which the Polish forces broke the Bolshevik lines and reached the city of Kiev

Kiev

Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....

. Since May 21, Skierski was assigned the command over a separate Operational Group

Operational Group

Operational Group was the highest level of tactical division of the Polish Army before and during World War II and the Invasion of Poland. It was corps-sized, although various Operational Groups varied in size....

 (Corps) within Gen. Stanisław Szeptycki's North-Eastern Front.

On July 7, in the wake of a new Soviet offensive, Leonard Skierski became the commander of the 4th Army. He managed to withdraw his unit under heavy pressure from numerically-superior enemy and regroup it, only to take part in the Battle of Warsaw

Battle of Warsaw

Battle of Warsaw can refer to:* Siege of Warsaw , Warsaw retaken by Poles from Swedes on June 30, 1656, during The Deluge* Battle of Warsaw , battle outside the city on July 18-July 20, 1656, during The Deluge, following which Warsaw is captured by Swedes for the second time* Battle of Warsaw ,...

 in mid-August. His army, though composed of units that have been in front-line service for months, became the spearhead of the Polish counter-offensive from the area of lower Wieprz river. In a matter of weeks Skierski managed to push the enemy back and reach the line of the Słucz River.

In late 1920 a cease fire agreement had been signed and in February 1921 Skierski had his grade confirmed. Following the demobilisation he remained in active service and became the inspector of the 3rd Army Inspectorate in Toruń

Torun

Toruń is an ancient city in northern Poland, on the Vistula River. Its population is more than 205,934 as of June 2009. Toruń is one of the oldest cities in Poland. The medieval old town of Toruń is the birthplace of the astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus....

. Although not a supporter of Józef Piłsudski, he was seen by the Marshal of Poland

Marshal of Poland

Marshal of Poland is the highest rank in the Polish Army. It has been granted to only six officers. At present, this rank is equivalent to a Field Marshal or General of the Army in other NATO armies.-History:...

 as one of the most skilled Polish officers. Following Piłsudski's May Coup d'Etat in 1927 Skierski was attached to the Warsaw

Warsaw

Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...

-based General Inspectorate of the Armed Forces, where he became one of the closest collaborators of Piłsudski. On December 31, 1931 he was promoted to the rank of generał dywizji and retired from active service.

After the Soviet invasion of Poland in 1939

Soviet invasion of Poland (1939)

The 1939 Soviet invasion of Poland was a Soviet military operation that started without a formal declaration of war on 17 September 1939, during the early stages of World War II. Sixteen days after Nazi Germany invaded Poland from the west, the Soviet Union did so from the east...

, despite having retired, he was arrested together with thousands of other Polish military personnel. He was held in Starobielsk. In 1940 he would become one of many victims of the Katyn massacre

Katyn massacre

The Katyn massacre, also known as the Katyn Forest massacre , was a mass execution of Polish nationals carried out by the People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs , the Soviet secret police, in April and May 1940. The massacre was prompted by Lavrentiy Beria's proposal to execute all members of...

.