Waclaw Przezdziecki
Encyclopedia
Wacław Przeździecki was a Polish military commander and Brigadier General of the Polish Army. During the Invasion of Poland
in 1939, he was the commanding officer of the reserve Wołkowysk Cavalry Brigade that fought in the battle of Grodno
.
Wacław Jan Przeździecki was born July 15, 1883 in Leśmierz
near Łęczyca, to a family of old Polish gentry
of Pierzchała Coat of Arms, deprived of all their property by the Russian authorities after the January Uprising
. In 1903 he graduated from the Higher Trade School in Łódź, after which he joined the Technological Institute in Kharkov (modern Kharkiv, Ukraine). In 1904 he was relegated from the institute for being a member of a secret Polish resistance organisation. The only school to accept him was a military college in Kazan
, from which he graduated in 1906. Przeździecki then joined the Imperial Russian Army
and served as an adjutant in the officers school and the 260th Infantry Regiment stationed in Batum.
In 1913 he was promoted to the rank of Captain. During the Great War
he served with distinction in the first line as the company and then battalion commander. After receiving a heavy wound in Prussia
, he was declared ineligible for service and dismissed. After the February Revolution
he joined various Polish organisations in Russia, including the Central Polish Military Committee (NPKW), and fought in the ranks of the 1st Polish Corps
during the Russian Civil War
. In 1918 he returned to Poland and joined the renascent Polish Army. As the commanding officer of the Polish 12th Infantry Division
he fought in the Polish-Bolshevik War. After the Peace of Riga
he remained in service at various staff posts. In 1926 he became the commanding officer of the Polish 21st Mountain Infantry Division
and the following year he was promoted to the rank of Brigadier General
. Retired in 1936, he settled in a small villa in Natolin
, several kilometres to the south of Warsaw
.
During the Invasion of Poland
in 1939, he returned to active service and took part in formation of various reserve and improvised units for the German and then Soviet fronts. As the commanding officer of the Wołkowysk Cavalry Brigade he took part in the battle of Grodno
, one of the most important Polish-Soviet battles of the war. After the battle he crossed the border with Lithuania
, where he was interned with his soldiers. In 1940 however, after the Baltic States
were annexed by the Soviet Union
he was arrested by the NKVD
and sent to the Kozielsk camp. Soon afterwards he was transferred to Lubyanka
prison, where he was offered to lead a Polish army created as an ally of the Soviet Union. When he refused and relied his reaction on the decision of the Polish Government in Exile
, he was transferred to a special NKVD detention centre in Gryazovets
.
After the Sikorski-Mayski Agreement
he was released from the prison and allowed to join the Polish II Corps
, with which he moved to Persia, Iraq
and finally to the Palestine
. There he was found too closely related to the pre-war Sanacja
regime to be eligible for further service in the army and dismissed from active service. After the war he remained in exile and in 1947 moved to Great Britain, where he settled in Penley
. Wacław Przeździecki died there June 29, 1964.
Among the most notable of his military decorations were the Silver Cross of the Virtuti Militari
, Commander's Cross of the Polonia Restituta
, Cross of Independence
(Krzyż Niepodległości), and the Cross of Valour (Krzyż Walecznych), three times.
Invasion of Poland (1939)
The Invasion of Poland, also known as the September Campaign or 1939 Defensive War in Poland and the Poland Campaign in Germany, was an invasion of Poland by Germany, the Soviet Union, and a small Slovak contingent that marked the start of World War II in Europe...
in 1939, he was the commanding officer of the reserve Wołkowysk Cavalry Brigade that fought in the battle of Grodno
Battle of Grodno (1939)
The Battle of Grodno took place between 21 September and 24 September 1939, during the Soviet invasion of Poland. It was fought between improvised Polish units under Gen...
.
Wacław Jan Przeździecki was born July 15, 1883 in Leśmierz
Lesmierz
Leśmierz is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Ozorków, within Zgierz County, Łódź Voivodeship, in central Poland. It lies approximately north of Ozorków, north-west of Zgierz, and north-west of the regional capital Łódź....
near Łęczyca, to a family of old Polish gentry
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...
of Pierzchała Coat of Arms, deprived of all their property by the Russian authorities after the January Uprising
January Uprising
The January Uprising was an uprising in the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth against the Russian Empire...
. In 1903 he graduated from the Higher Trade School in Łódź, after which he joined the Technological Institute in Kharkov (modern Kharkiv, Ukraine). In 1904 he was relegated from the institute for being a member of a secret Polish resistance organisation. The only school to accept him was a military college in Kazan
Kazan
Kazan is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Tatarstan, Russia. With a population of 1,143,546 , it is the eighth most populous city in Russia. Kazan lies at the confluence of the Volga and Kazanka Rivers in European Russia. In April 2009, the Russian Patent Office granted Kazan the...
, from which he graduated in 1906. Przeździecki then joined 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 served as an adjutant in the officers school and the 260th Infantry Regiment stationed in Batum.
In 1913 he was promoted to the rank of Captain. During the Great War
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...
he served with distinction in the first line as the company and then battalion commander. After receiving a heavy wound in Prussia
Prussia
Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...
, he was declared ineligible for service and dismissed. After the February Revolution
February Revolution
The February Revolution of 1917 was the first of two revolutions in Russia in 1917. Centered around the then capital Petrograd in March . Its immediate result was the abdication of Tsar Nicholas II, the end of the Romanov dynasty, and the end of the Russian Empire...
he joined various Polish organisations in Russia, including the Central Polish Military Committee (NPKW), and fought in the ranks of the 1st Polish Corps
Polish I Corps in Russia
Polish I Corps in Russia was a Polish military formation formed in Belarus, in August 1917 in the aftermath of the Russian Revolution of 1917, from soldiers of Polish origin serving in the Russian Army...
during the Russian Civil War
Russian Civil War
The Russian Civil War was a multi-party war that occurred within the former Russian Empire after the Russian provisional government collapsed to the Soviets, under the domination of the Bolshevik party. Soviet forces first assumed power in Petrograd The Russian Civil War (1917–1923) was a...
. In 1918 he returned to Poland and joined the renascent Polish Army. As the commanding officer of the Polish 12th Infantry Division
Polish 12th Infantry Division
Polish 12th Kresy Infantry Division , was a tactical unit of the Polish Army in the interbellum period, which was stationed in Tarnopol...
he fought in the Polish-Bolshevik War. After the Peace of Riga
Peace of Riga
The Peace of Riga, also known as the Treaty of Riga; was signed in Riga on 18 March 1921, between Poland, Soviet Russia and Soviet Ukraine. The treaty ended the Polish-Soviet War....
he remained in service at various staff posts. In 1926 he became the commanding officer of the Polish 21st Mountain Infantry Division
Polish 21st Mountain Infantry Division
The 21st Mountain Infantry Division was a pre-war unit of the Polish Army. It was one of two mountain infantry divisions of Poland to take part in the Polish Defensive War of 1939. Currently its traditions are continued by Polish 21st Podhale Rifles Brigade. Until 1939 the unit was commanded by...
and the following year he was promoted to the rank of Brigadier General
Brigadier General
Brigadier general is a senior rank in the armed forces. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries, usually sitting between the ranks of colonel and major general. When appointed to a field command, a brigadier general is typically in command of a brigade consisting of around 4,000...
. Retired in 1936, he settled in a small villa in Natolin
Natolin
Natolin is a historic park and nature reserve on the southern edge of Warsaw, Poland. "Natolin" is also the name of a neighborhood located to the west of the park — a part of Warsaw's southernmost Ursynów district....
, several kilometres to the south of 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...
.
During the Invasion of Poland
Invasion of Poland (1939)
The Invasion of Poland, also known as the September Campaign or 1939 Defensive War in Poland and the Poland Campaign in Germany, was an invasion of Poland by Germany, the Soviet Union, and a small Slovak contingent that marked the start of World War II in Europe...
in 1939, he returned to active service and took part in formation of various reserve and improvised units for the German and then Soviet fronts. As the commanding officer of the Wołkowysk Cavalry Brigade he took part in the battle of Grodno
Battle of Grodno (1939)
The Battle of Grodno took place between 21 September and 24 September 1939, during the Soviet invasion of Poland. It was fought between improvised Polish units under Gen...
, one of the most important Polish-Soviet battles of the war. After the battle he crossed the border with Lithuania
Lithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
, where he was interned with his soldiers. In 1940 however, after the Baltic States
Baltic states
The term Baltic states refers to the Baltic territories which gained independence from the Russian Empire in the wake of World War I: primarily the contiguous trio of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania ; Finland also fell within the scope of the term after initially gaining independence in the 1920s.The...
were annexed by the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
he was arrested 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....
and sent to the Kozielsk camp. Soon afterwards he was transferred to Lubyanka
Lubyanka (KGB)
The Lubyanka is the popular name for the headquarters of the KGB and affiliated prison on Lubyanka Square in Moscow. It is a large building with a facade of yellow brick, designed by Alexander V...
prison, where he was offered to lead a Polish army created as an ally of the Soviet Union. When he refused and relied his reaction on the decision of the Polish Government in Exile
Polish government in Exile
The Polish government-in-exile, formally known as the Government of the Republic of Poland in Exile , was the government in exile of Poland formed in the aftermath of the Invasion of Poland of September 1939, and the subsequent occupation of Poland by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union, which...
, he was transferred to a special NKVD detention centre in Gryazovets
Gryazovets
Gryazovets is a town and the administrative center of Gryazovetsky District of Vologda Oblast, Russia. Municipally, it is incorporated as Gryazovetskoe Urban Settlement in Gryazovetsky Municipal District. Population: -History:...
.
After the Sikorski-Mayski Agreement
Sikorski-Mayski Agreement
The Sikorski–Mayski Agreement was a treaty between the Soviet Union and Poland signed in London on 30 July 1941. Its name was coined after the two most notable signatories: Polish Prime Minister Władysław Sikorski and Soviet Ambassador to the United Kingdom Ivan Mayski.- Details :After signing...
he was released from the prison and allowed to join the Polish II Corps
Polish II Corps
Polish II Corps , 1943–1947, was a major tactical and operational unit of the Polish Armed Forces in the West during World War II. It was commanded by Lieutenant General Władysław Anders and by the end of 1945 it had grown to well over 100,000 soldiers....
, with which he moved to Persia, Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
and finally to the Palestine
Palestine
Palestine is a conventional name, among others, used to describe the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands....
. There he was found too closely related to the pre-war Sanacja
Sanacja
Sanation was a Polish political movement that came to power after Józef Piłsudski's May 1926 Coup d'État. Sanation took its name from his watchword—the moral "sanation" of the Polish body politic...
regime to be eligible for further service in the army and dismissed from active service. After the war he remained in exile and in 1947 moved to Great Britain, where he settled in Penley
Penley
Penley is a village in the County Borough of Wrexham, in Wales close to the border with Shropshire, EnglandThe village was, until 1974, in an exclave of the ancient county of Flintshire known as Maelor Saesneg. , sometimes called "Flintshire Detached", which was administered from Overton-on-Dee...
. Wacław Przeździecki died there June 29, 1964.
Among the most notable of his military decorations were 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...
, Commander's Cross of the Polonia Restituta
Polonia Restituta
The Order of Polonia Restituta is one of Poland's highest Orders. The Order can be conferred for outstanding achievements in the fields of education, science, sport, culture, art, economics, defense of the country, social work, civil service, or for furthering good relations between countries...
, Cross of Independence
Cross of Independence
Cross of Independence was one of the highest Polish military decorations between World Wars I and II. It was awarded to individuals who had "fought heroically for the independence of Poland," and was released in three versions.- History :...
(Krzyż Niepodległości), and the Cross of Valour (Krzyż Walecznych), three times.