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==Aftermath== |
==Aftermath== |
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For fifty years, Lazarowicz’s name was [[ |
For fifty years, Lazarowicz’s name was [[Polish historiography|expunged from all books]] by the Communist government of the [[People's Republic of Poland]]. In [[1992]], after the collapse of the Communist system, the Military Court of the Warsaw District issued a decree which voided the 1951 sentence. A tablet commemorating Lazarowicz can be found on the school in Gumniska, also since [[1993]] there has been a street named after him in Dębica. |
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==See also== |
==See also== |
Revision as of 02:28, 29 September 2007
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Major Adam Lazarowicz (noms de guerre “Klamra”, “Pomorski”, ‘’Zygmunt’’, ‘’Jadzik’’, “Aleksander’”, 1902-1945) was a Polish soldier. He was an officer of the Polish Army in the interbellum Second Polish Republic, then served in Sluzba Zwyciestwu Polsce, Zwiazek Walki Zbrojnej and the Home Army. After World War Two, Lazarowicz remained in hiding and become a member of the anti-Communist organization Wolnosc i Niezawislosc. He was the deputy of Lukasz Cieplinski’s 4th Department of WiN. He died on March 1, 1951 in the infamous Communist Mokotów Prison in Warsaw.
Early years
Adam was born in 1902 in the village of Berezowica Mala (near Zbaraz, now Ukraine) to Franciszek Lazarowicz and Wanda nee Ojak.
At the age of 17, Lazarowicz joined the Polish Army, in 1919 he fought the Ukrainians in Volhynia during the Polish-Ukrainian War. Then he took part in the Polish-Soviet War and was wounded during the battle of Ostrołęka. After the conflict, he graduated from a Gymnasium in Jasło, and later from the History Department of Krakow’s renowned Jagiellonian University.
Due to an unknown sickness, Lazarowicz was dismissed from the Army and took up the job of a teacher in a school in the village of Gumniska, a few kilometers from Dębica. However, he remained in reserve, and in 1936 was promoted to Colonel.
World War Two
1939 Campaign
During the Polish September Campaign Lazarowicz volunteered again, and he became military commandant of the town of Dębica. When Dębica’s garrison withdrew to the east he joined troops fighting Germans in the area of Rawa Ruska. In October 1939, after the hostilities ended, he returned to Gumniska where organized an underground elementary school.
Anti-German Resistance
In 1940 Lazarowicz became engaged in the anti-German Sluzba Zwyciestwu Polsce organization, then joined Zwiazek Walki Zbrojnej. Later, he was promoted to commander of Dębica (“Deser”) District of the Home Army (Armia Krajowa) and remained on this post until spring of 1944. He was a skillful organizer, under his leadership the Home Army in Dębica and vicinity thrived and due to his decision, headquarters of the District were moved from dangerous Dębica to the relatively safe village of Gumniska. The Germans never found out about it.
Lazarowicz’s work was highly appreciated by the Regional Command of the Home Army in Rzeszów. He organized 10 outposts of the organization, in several locations of the Dębica County (e.g. in Pilzno and Ropczyce). Due to his efforts, Dębica District of the Home Army was regarded as the best organized of the whole Rzeszów Command.
In 1943 Lazarowicz was promoted to Captain, then to Major. A year later, together with his men he worked out the German Army firing ground at the village of Blizna, where V-2 rockets were tested (see also Home Army and V1 and V2). In the spring of 1944 he became inspector deputy of the Rzeszów Inspectorate of the Home Army, and during the Operation Tempest, he was commander of Dębica’s 5th Mounted Rifles Regiment of the Home Army, which numbered some 1200 soldiers.
In February of 1944 Lazarowicz’s men organized an unsuccessful attack on a train carrying Hans Frank. As a reprisal, the Germans shot 54 Poles, a monument commemorating this event is located by the rail track in Dębica.
After World War Two
In late 1944, when the area of Dębica was captured by the Red Army, the Soviets awarded Lazarowicz the Red Star Order, as a gesture of appreciation of his efforts. However, he refused to accept it and in February 1945 moved to Rzeszów where he became commander of the Rzeszow District of Wolnosc i Niezawislosc, an anti-communist Polish underground organization. Later on, Lazarowicz moved to Wrocław, organizing the WiN in these parts. In December of 1946 he became deputy of Łukasz Ciepliński.
Arrest and execution
Lazarowicz was arrested by the Urząd Bezpieczeństwa (Polish secret police) in Żnin on December 5, 1947. After a brutal investigation, he was transported to Warsaw and placed in the Mokotów Prison. In October of 1950 he was sentenced to 4 deaths and 30 years of imprisonment. His execution took place on March 1, 1951.
Aftermath
For fifty years, Lazarowicz’s name was expunged from all books by the Communist government of the People's Republic of Poland. In 1992, after the collapse of the Communist system, the Military Court of the Warsaw District issued a decree which voided the 1951 sentence. A tablet commemorating Lazarowicz can be found on the school in Gumniska, also since 1993 there has been a street named after him in Dębica.
See also
References
- Template:Pl icon Wojciech Trębacz, Losy Polaków - historia rodziny Lazarowiczów, Nowe Życie, 11/2001
- Template:Pl icon Elżbieta Jakimek-Zapart, Bez walki i przemocy, IPN Kraków
- Template:Pl icon Zrzeszenie "Wolność i Niezawisłość" (WiN)
- Template:Pl icon Zbigniew Lazarowicz, Mord na Mokotowie, Nasz Dziennik, 03.03.2003
- Template:Pl icon Major Adam Lazarowicz, official page of gmina Dębica
- Template:Pl icon Ostatni Żołnierze Niepodległej Polski "wyklęci" i przemilczani żołnierze niepodległościowego i antykomunistycznego podziemia, from the introduction of a book „Żołnierze Wyklęci – Antykomunistyczne Podziemie Zbrojne po 1944 roku”, Oficyna Wydawnicza Volumen, Warszawa 2002