Józef Unrug (; 7 October 1884 – 28 February 1973) was a Polish
admiral
Admiral is one of the highest ranks in some navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force, and is above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet ...
who helped reestablish Poland's navy after
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
. During the opening stages of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
, he served as the
Polish Navy's commander-in-chief. As a German
POW, he refused all German offers to change sides and was incarcerated in several
Oflags, including
Colditz Castle
Castle Colditz (or ''Schloss Colditz'' in German) is a Renaissance castle in the town of Colditz near Leipzig, Dresden and Chemnitz in the state of Saxony in Germany. The castle is between the towns of Hartha and Grimma on a hill spur over the ...
. He stayed in exile after the war in the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...
,
Morocco
Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to A ...
and
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
where he died and was buried. In September 2018 he was posthumously promoted in the rank of
Admiral of the fleet by the
President of Poland
The president of Poland ( pl, Prezydent RP), officially the president of the Republic of Poland ( pl, Prezydent Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej), is the head of state of Poland. Their rights and obligations are determined in the Constitution of Pola ...
. After 45 years his remains, along with those of his wife Zofia, were exhumed from
Montrésor and taken in October 2018 to his final resting place in
Gdynia
Gdynia ( ; ; german: Gdingen (currently), (1939–1945); csb, Gdiniô, , , ) is a city in northern Poland and a seaport on the Baltic Sea coast. With a population of 243,918, it is the 12th-largest city in Poland and the second-largest in th ...
, Poland.
Naval officer
Józef Michał Hubert Unrug was born in
Brandenburg an der Havel
Brandenburg an der Havel () is a town in Brandenburg, Germany, which served as the capital of the Margraviate of Brandenburg until it was replaced by Berlin in 1417.
With a population of 72,040 (as of 2020), it is located on the banks of the ...
into a noble family of
Prussia
Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an e ...
n and
Polish descent. He was the son of Thaddäus Gustav von Unruh, a
Generalmajor
is the Germanic variant of major general, used in a number of Central and Northern European countries.
Austria
Belgium
Denmark
is the second lowest general officer rank in the Royal Danish Army and Royal Danish Air Force. As a two-s ...
in the
Prussian Army
The Royal Prussian Army (1701–1919, german: Königlich Preußische Armee) served as the army of the Kingdom of Prussia. It became vital to the development of Brandenburg-Prussia as a European power.
The Prussian Army had its roots in the co ...
. His aristocratic family was extremely wealthy and he grew up as very much a member of the elite.
After graduating from the ''
gymnasium'' in
Dresden
Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label= Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth ...
, Unrug completed naval college in 1907 and began his service in the
Imperial German Navy
The Imperial German Navy or the Imperial Navy () was the navy of the German Empire, which existed between 1871 and 1919. It grew out of the small Prussian Navy (from 1867 the North German Federal Navy), which was mainly for coast defence. Wilhel ...
. The major intellectual influence on the Imperial German Navy from the 1890s onward was the 1890 book ''
The Influence of Sea Power upon History'' by the American historian
Alfred Thayer Mahan
Alfred Thayer Mahan (; September 27, 1840 – December 1, 1914) was a United States naval officer and historian, whom John Keegan called "the most important American strategist of the nineteenth century." His book '' The Influence of Sea Powe ...
. German Emperor Wilhelm II had read it and enthusiastically embraced the book's message that whatever nation had the most powerful "blue water navy" would dominate all of the world's oceans and would always be the world's greatest power. Starting in 1898, the German Navy was transformed from a "green water navy" meant to operate in the North Sea and the Baltic Sea into a "blue water navy" meant to dominate all of the world's seas as it was believed that sea power always equaled world power in accordance with Mahan's theories. Mahan's theories about sea power and world power remained the dominant intellectual basis of all German naval thinking right up to 1945 as ''The Influence of Sea Power Upon History'' became the "Bible" of the German navy. In common with all other German naval officers, Unrug had to read Mahan's book as part of his officer's education.
Unrug was a romantic who was disenchanted with modern Germany and came to see in the Poles the sort of romanticism and passion that he found missing in Germany. Unrug grew up speaking German, but he was of partially Polish descent on his father's side. During
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
, he commanded a
U-boat
U-boats were naval submarines operated by Germany, particularly in the First and Second World Wars. Although at times they were efficient fleet weapons against enemy naval warships, they were most effectively used in an economic warfare ro ...
, and was promoted to command the training-submarine half-
flotilla
A flotilla (from Spanish, meaning a small ''flota'' ( fleet) of ships), or naval flotilla, is a formation of small warships that may be part of a larger fleet.
Composition
A flotilla is usually composed of a homogeneous group of the same clas ...
. In 1914, he was a lieutenant commander in the Imperial German Navy in command of a submarine, but he was distrusted by the senior command and was assigned to training duties in the Baltic instead of a combat command. The Polish historian Władysław Szarski described Unrug as an aloof man who few knew well, but was very "serious" about his duties and was "extremely just and principled".
Career
In 1919, after
Poland regained independence, Unrug left Germany and volunteered for the
Polish Armed Forces
The Armed Forces of the Republic of Poland ( pl, Siły Zbrojne Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej, abbreviated ''SZ RP''; popularly called ''Wojsko Polskie'' in Poland, abbreviated ''WP''—roughly, the "Polish Military") are the national armed forces of ...
. Soon afterwards, he was transferred to the nascent
Polish Navy, where he served as chief of the
Hydrographic Division and then as commanding officer of a
submarine
A submarine (or sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability. The term is also sometimes used historically or colloquially to refer to remotely op ...
flotilla. Out of his pocket, the wealthy Unrug purchased the hydrographic ship which became ORP ''Pomorzanin'' for the new navy.
To establish the maritime frontiers of the newly reestablished Polish state required a ship to perform shipped surveys and to make maps.
Unrug's purchase of the ship, which was needed urgently at the time, won him many allies in the ''Marynarka''.
One of the most skilled officers in the Polish Navy, Unrug was quickly promoted to
Counter Admiral. In 1924, he came into conflict with Admiral
Kazimierz Porębski
Kazimierz Porębski (November 15, 1872 – January 21, 1933) was a Polish career naval officer who rose to the position of admiral within the Imperial Russian Navy, and was subsequently the first commander-in-chief of the inter-war Polish Navy.
Bi ...
and was put on a paid leave for a year.
In 1925, Porębski had to resign in a scandal after he was discovered taking bribes. Overcoming his limitations in the
Polish language
Polish (Polish: ''język polski'', , ''polszczyzna'' or simply ''polski'', ) is a West Slavic language of the Lechitic group written in the Latin script. It is spoken primarily in Poland and serves as the native language of the Poles. In ad ...
, he became Commander of the Fleet of the Polish Navy in 1925. Unrug's task as commander of the ''Marynarka'' was largely to train officers for the nascent force. Unrug was respected, but not loved as he imposed a very strict discipline. The ''Marynarka'' in the interwar period tended to favor the Mahanian concept of a fleet strong enough to dominate the Baltic, which would allow ships from Poland's ally France to enter the Baltic and deliver supplies to Poland. However, the vast cost of buying warships caused successive governments in Warsaw to balk at the immense expenditure that this would entail and to reject the "green water navy" plans of the ''Marynarka''. This was all the more so as the Franco-Polish alliance of 1921 committed France to go automatically go to war if Poland were attacked, which would mean that Poland in a sense could "borrow" the services of the French Navy which was expected to enter the Baltic to ensure that French supplies would reach Poland. In the late 1920s, the ''Sanation'' regime had decided to buy a force of 9 mine-laying submarines with the intention of protecting Poland's coastline. However, as Poland lacked sufficient funds to buy submarines, a loan from France was necessary, and the French made extending the loan conditional upon the Poles buying also buying two destroyers. In this way, the ''Marynarka'' acquired two destroyers despite the doubts of Marshal
Józef Piłsudski
Józef Klemens Piłsudski (; 5 December 1867 – 12 May 1935) was a Polish statesman who served as the Naczelnik państwa, Chief of State (1918–1922) and Marshal of Poland, First Marshal of Second Polish Republic, Poland (from 1920). He was ...
, Poland's de facto leader, about the need for the two destroyers. The ''Marynarka'' ended up with the two French-built destroyers, ORP ''Wicher'' and the ORP ''Burza'' together with the French-built submarines ''Wilk'', ''Żbik'', and ''Ryś''.
Unrug and Admiral
Jerzy Świrski
Jerzy Włodzimierz Świrski (5 April 1882, Kalisz – 12 June 1959, London) was a Polish vice admiral and officer in the Russian Imperial Navy and later the Polish Navy. As Chief of the Polish Naval Command (1925-1947), he was a member of an e ...
were often at odds with Marshal Piłsudski who was opposed to what he called their "grandiose" plans for a vast Polish fleet. Unrug and Świrski wanted Poland to have at least a
"green water navy" that would dominate the Baltic and ultimately aimed for a "
blue water navy" capable of reaching out into the North Sea and the Atlantic. Despite Piłsudski's opposition to greater naval expenditure, after much lobbying by Unrug, the ''Marynarka'' acquired two French-built destroyers and three submarines between 1930 and 1932. Piłsudski himself favored a "
brown water navy
The term brown-water navy or riverine navy refers in its broadest sense to any naval force capable of military operations in littoral zone waters. The term originated in the United States Navy during the American Civil War, when it referred t ...
" for Poland as he wanted the ''Marynarka'' to be equipped only with riverine gunboats and coastal patrol boats. A turn to navalism in Poland started in August 1930 when the German cabinet minister
Gottfried Treviranus delivered a belligerent speech in Berlin advocating that Germany take all back all of the lands lost to Poland under the Treaty of Versailles by any means necessary including war. In response, various civic groups in Poland started a public subscription campaign to raise enough money to buy a submarine to be named ''The Answer to Treviranus''. By 1935, enough money had been raised to buy a submarine from a Dutch shipyard, which entered the ''Marynarka'' under the name ''Orzeł''. The fund-raising effort to buy the submarine put navalism into the mainstream of Polish politics in the 1930s.
The Polish historian Jacek Lubecki noted that the "prodigious" increase in naval spending took place despite Piłsudski's doubts, which he attributed to the decay of the ''Sanation'' regime as Piłsudski's mental facilities declined. Piłsudski had created a very "personalistic" dictatorship with power concentrated into his hands, and with his mental decline the regime was plunged into "chaos", leading to a very haphazard and confusing decision-making process, which allowed Admiral Unrug to press successfully for greater naval spending over Piłsudski's doubts. Lubecki argued the money spent on the ''Marynarka'' was "squandered" as he contended that money spent on buying expensive destroyers and submarines would have been better spent on building up a motorized tank and anti-tank forces for the Army instead. A force of considerable assistance to the ''Marynarka'' was the Maritime and Colonial League, a society made up of people influenced by Mahan who believed that building a "blue water navy" would make Poland into a world power and allow Poland to acquire a colonial empire in Asia and Africa. Apart from advocating navalism, the Maritime and Colonial League was also supportive of the ''Sanation'' regime at a time when the Great Depression had damaged the popularity of the regime.
In 1932, Unrug and Commander
Tadeusz Morgenstern-Podjazd were summoned to a meeting with Piłsudski and were ordered to send the destroyer ORP ''Wicher'' under command of Morgenstern-Podjazd into the Free City of Danzig (modern Gdańsk, Poland). The cruise of the ''Wicher'' resulted in the
Danzig crisis
The Free City of Danzig (german: Freie Stadt Danzig; pl, Wolne Miasto Gdańsk; csb, Wòlny Gard Gduńsk) was a city-state under the protection of the League of Nations between 1920 and 1939, consisting of the Baltic Sea port of Danzig (now Gda ...
of 1932, the successful resolution of which did much to raise the prestige of the ''Marynarka'' in Poland. In the aftermath of the Danzig crisis with the successful use of
gunboat diplomacy
In international politics, the term gunboat diplomacy refers to the pursuit of foreign policy objectives with the aid of conspicuous displays of naval power, implying or constituting a direct threat of warfare should terms not be agreeable to ...
, Piłsudski approved a six-year expansion plan for the navy, ordering two
''Grom-''class destroyers and two
''Orzeł''-class submarines. The principal problem with Polish defense spending was the far greater size of the German economy-for example, the total Polish defense spending in the five years 1934-1939 for the Army, Navy and Air Force combined amounted to just one-tenth of the Luftwaffe's budget for the year 1939. As such, no matter how much money was devoted to the ''Marynarka'', the ''Kriegsmarine'' would always be the greater force, making the plans for a "green water navy" capable of dominating the Baltic impractical. Despite the economical problems, in 1936 it was announced in Polish newspapers that the ''Marynarka'' was committed to a "maximum plan" of buying two battleships that would cost 70, 000, 000 zlotys each plus two heavy cruisers. By 1938, Polish newspapers were reporting that the "maximum plan" now envisioned a fleet of 3 battleships, 1 aircraft carrier, 2 heavy cruisers, 12 destroyers, 24 torpedo boats, 24 submarines, 16 minesweepers and 1 mine-layer. The "maximum plan" which went well beyond Poland's economic capacity at the time was a "fantasy", and in practice the ''Marynarka'' had to settle in 1938 for a construction plan of two destroyers, two submarines, four minesweepers and seven motor torpedo boats. Reflecting the economic problems caused by the Great Depression, the ''Sanation'' regime planned to raise part of the necessary funds to pay for the scaled down "maximum plan" via public subscription.
At the beginning of the Danzig crisis in May 1939, Unrug shifted the two naval rifle battalions assigned to defend
Gdynia
Gdynia ( ; ; german: Gdingen (currently), (1939–1945); csb, Gdiniô, , , ) is a city in northern Poland and a seaport on the Baltic Sea coast. With a population of 243,918, it is the 12th-largest city in Poland and the second-largest in th ...
to building field works in the Polish Corridor. In the summer of 1939, Unrug was appointed commander of the Coastal Region Defense and relocated from Gdynia to the strategic
Hel Peninsula
Hel Peninsula (; pl, Mierzeja Helska, Półwysep Helski; csb, Hélskô Sztremlëzna; german: Halbinsel Hela or ''Putziger Nehrung'') is a sand bar peninsula in northern Poland separating the Bay of Puck from the open Baltic Sea. It is l ...
. General Sir
Adrian Carton de Wiart
Lieutenant-General Sir Adrian Paul Ghislain Carton de Wiart, (; 5 May 1880 – 5 June 1963) was a British Army officer born of Belgian and Irish parents. He was awarded the Victoria Cross, the highest military decoration awarded for valour "i ...
, the chief of the British military mission to Poland, believed that the disparity in size between the ''Kriegsmarine'' and the ''Marynarka'' made it advisable for the latter to have as much of its fleet out of the Baltic before a possible war started and to be based in British ports. This was the origin of "
Operation Peking
The Peking Plan"Peking" was one contemporary spelling for the city now spelled 'Beijing' in English. In modern Polish the name is written as "Pekin". Some modern Polish works refer to the "Pekin Plan". The original orders used the spelling " ...
". Marshal
Edward Rydz-Śmigły
Marshal Edward Rydz-Śmigły (11 March 1886 – 2 December 1941; nom de guerre ''Śmigły, Tarłowski, Adam Zawisza''), also called Edward Śmigły-Rydz, was a Polish politician, statesman, Marshal of Poland and Commander-in-Chief of Poland ...
was initially opposed to Carton de Wiart's suggestion but ultimately decided to accept it. Rydz-Śmigły believed if the Danzig crisis led to a war, it would be possible for France and Britain to supply arms to Poland via Romania and as such control of the Baltic was not necessary. Rydz-Śmigły ordered Unrug to make the necessary preparations to move the Polish fleet out of the Baltic. On 26 August 1939, the day after the signing of the Anglo-Polish alliance, Unrug issued the captains of all of the Polish destroyers, except the ''Wicher'' which had engine problems, with sealed envelopes with orders not to open them until the message "Execute Peking" was received. On 29 August 1939, Unrug issued the order "execute Peking", which led the captains to open the envelopes containing the message to sail for Britain within three hours of opening the envelopes.
World War II
During the 1939
invasion of Poland
The invasion of Poland (1 September – 6 October 1939) was a joint attack on the Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union which marked the beginning of World War II. The German invasion began on 1 September 1939, one week af ...
, Unrug executed his plan of strategically withdrawing the Polish Navy's major vessels to the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...
("
Operation Peking
The Peking Plan"Peking" was one contemporary spelling for the city now spelled 'Beijing' in English. In modern Polish the name is written as "Pekin". Some modern Polish works refer to the "Pekin Plan". The original orders used the spelling " ...
"). At the same time, he got all Polish submersibles to lay
naval mine
A naval mine is a self-contained explosive device placed in water to damage or destroy surface ships or submarines. Unlike depth charges, mines are deposited and left to wait until they are triggered by the approach of, or contact with, an ...
s in the
Bay of Gdańsk
A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a gulf, sea, sound, or bight. A cove is a small, circular bay with a nar ...
("''
Plan Worek''"). Following that operation, these vessels either escaped to the United Kingdom or sought refuge in neutral countries. Another plan Unrug had developed was Operation Rurka for the mine-layer ''Gryf'' to lay a minefield off the Hel peninsula, but he decided to wait until the war started. On 1 September 1939, Germany invaded Poland and Unrug gave the orders for Rurka. The ''Gryf'' was not ready until 12 hours after receiving the order and by the time she put to sea, she was spotted by German aircraft and was sunk. Unrug has been widely criticized for waiting until Germany invaded to launch Operation Rurka, but Szarski has defended him, saying that laying mines in the waters that ships had to cross to enter and leave the Free City of Danzig could have been presented by Germany as a ''casus belli''.
Despite having effectively given up control of Poland's naval vessels, Unrug remained in command of multiple military units, which he tasked with protecting the
Polish Corridor
The Polish Corridor (german: Polnischer Korridor; pl, Pomorze, Polski Korytarz), also known as the Danzig Corridor, Corridor to the Sea or Gdańsk Corridor, was a territory located in the region of Pomerelia (Pomeranian Voivodeship, easter ...
from German attacks. Polish opposition to the advancing Germans was described as "fierce" and the Wehrmacht did not reach the headland connecting the Hel to the mainland until 9 September 1939. Unrug had about 2,000 men under his control in the Hel. The narrow Hel peninsula was a natural defensive barrier as there were limited avenues of attack for a force advancing onto the peninsula and in addition the peninsula had been partially fortified starting in 1936. The campaign started on 11 September 1939 when the Wehrmacht's 207th Infantry Division took the village of Władysławowo, cutting the Hel off from the mainland. The 207th Infantry Division began to march up the Hel while the Poles staged a slow fighting retreat. The forests and sand dunes of the Hel aided the defenders. At the narrowest part of the Hel between the villages of
Chałupy
Chałupy ( csb, Chalëpë or Chałëpë, german: Ceynowa or Ziegenhagen) is a Seaside resort and a Polish village with conditions favorable for windsurfing and kitesurfing, in Gmina Władysławowo. It is situated between Władysławowo and K ...
and
Kuźnica, only one company at a time could advance, which allowed the Poles during the course of fierce fighting to halt successive German attempts to advance up the peninsula despite the latter having two battleships, the
''Schleswig-Holstein'' and the
''Schliesen'', together with a destroyer flotilla and the Luftwaffe, providing fire support. Conditions for the Polish defenders on the Hel were hellish as the Luftwaffe bombed them incessantly while the powerful guns of the ''Schleswig-Holstein'' and the ''Schliesen'' pounded them constantly.
On 20 September 1939,
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Germany from 1933 until his death in 1945. He rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, becoming the chancellor in 1933 and the ...
arrived at the Kasino hotel in Zoppot (modern
Sopot
Sopot is a seaside resort city in Pomerelia on the southern coast of the Baltic Sea in northern Poland, with a population of approximately 40,000. It is located in Pomeranian Voivodeship, and has the status of the county, being the smallest ci ...
) on the other side of the Bay of Danzig to watch the spectacular sight of the two battleships blasting away with their 11-inch guns to hammer the Polish defenders on the Hel. A popular story has that Unrug forbade his gunners who wanted to fire at the Kasino hotel because it would be dishonorable to kill a head of state.
But there are no documents supporting this story and Szarski has pointed out that it is not clear if Unrug actually knew that Hitler was staying at the Kasino hotel.
Furthermore, under international law the hotel was considered a civilian facility, which would make shooting at it a war crime.
The Polish coastal artillery struck back, managing to damage the ''Schleswig-Holstein'' and the destroyer ''Leberecht Maas''. The heavy bombardments provoked a brief mutiny among some of the soldiers on the Hel who wanted to surrender, which was put down by Unrug. The mutineers were not professional soldiers or sailors, but rather local reservists who had been called up just before the war, and many of whom could see their homes across the bay.
Unrug did not execute any of the mutineers, through under Polish military law he was obliged to.
The morale of some of the other Polish defenders helped as Unrug discovered on 30 September when he visited the Lasowski battery at the tip of the Hel whose gunners demanded to fight on to the bitter end, prompting Unrug to break down in tears, saying he had never seen braver men. The news from the Lasowksi battery commander and the other battery commanders was less encouraging as Unrug was informed that the batteries were almost out of artillery shells while the supply of food had been almost exhausted. On the same day, the Poles had exploded a cache of buried explosives, which nearly severed the Hel and turned the upper part of it into an island.
The explosion had temporarily halted the German advance.
On 1 October 1939, however, after both
Warsaw
Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officiall ...
and
Modlin had capitulated, Admiral Unrug decided that further defense of the isolated
Hel Peninsula
Hel Peninsula (; pl, Mierzeja Helska, Półwysep Helski; csb, Hélskô Sztremlëzna; german: Halbinsel Hela or ''Putziger Nehrung'') is a sand bar peninsula in northern Poland separating the Bay of Puck from the open Baltic Sea. It is l ...
was pointless, and the following day all units under his command capitulated. Unrug later gave as his reasons for surrendering that his forces were almost out of artillery shells and that he felt the civilians living in the coastal fishing villages had suffered enough. The decision to surrender was painful for him, but he took a certain pride that his forces in the Hel peninsula were one of the last Polish units in Poland to surrender. After sending men out under a white flag to negotiate a ceasefire, Unrug ordered all sensitive documents be burned, allowed those who wished to try to escape across the Baltic the chance to do so, and declared that he would go into captivity with his men. At the Kasino Hotel, Unrug's representatives signed the instrument of surrender late on the night of 1 October 1939.
Unrug spent the rest of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
in various
German POW camps, including
Fort Srebrna Góra
Fort Srebrna Góra or Srebrnogórska Fortress (german: Festung Silberberg, lit. Silver Mountain Fort) is a former military fort, now a monument and a museum, located in the town of Srebrna Góra (lit. Silver Mountain), Lower Silesian Voivodeship, ...
,
Oflag II-C
Oflag II-C Woldenburg was a German World War II prisoner-of-war camp located about from the town of Woldenberg, Brandenburg (now Dobiegniew, western Poland). The camp housed Polish officers and orderlies and had an area of with 25 brick huts ...
in
Woldenberg,
Oflag XVIII-C in
Spittal,
Stalag X-B
Stalag X-B was a World War II German prisoner-of-war camp located near Sandbostel in Lower Saxony in north-western Germany. Between 1939 and 1945 several hundred thousand POW's of 55 nations passed through the camp. Due to the bad conditions i ...
in
Sandbostel
Sandbostel is a municipality in Lower Saxony (''Niedersachsen'') in northwestern Germany, 43 km north-east of Bremen, 60 km west of Hamburg. It is part of the Samtgemeinde Selsingen. In 2013, it had 830 inhabitants.
History
Sandbostel ...
,
Oflag IV-C
Oflag IV-C, often referred to by its location at Colditz Castle, overlooking Colditz, Saxony, was one of the most noted German Army prisoner-of-war camps for captured enemy officers during World War II; ''Oflag'' is a shortening of ''Offiziersl ...
(
Colditz
Colditz () is a small town in the district of Leipzig, in Saxony, Germany. It is best known for Colditz Castle, the site of the Oflag IV-C POW camp for officers in World War II.
Geography
Colditz is situated in the Leipzig Bay, southeast of th ...
Castle), and finally
Oflag VII-A Murnau
Oflag VII-A Murnau was a German Army prisoner-of-war camp for Polish Army officers during World War II. It was located north of the Bavarian town of Murnau am Staffelsee.
Camp history
The camp was created in September 1939. It consisted of an ...
. In
Oflag VII-A Murnau
Oflag VII-A Murnau was a German Army prisoner-of-war camp for Polish Army officers during World War II. It was located north of the Bavarian town of Murnau am Staffelsee.
Camp history
The camp was created in September 1939. It consisted of an ...
, Unrug was the highest-ranking officer and commander of the Polish soldiers interned there as prisoners of war. The Germans treated Unrug with great respect, on account of him having previously been a German officer, by bringing former Imperial German Navy friends to visit him with the intention of making him switch sides. Unrug responded by refusing to speak
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ge ...
, saying that he had forgotten that language in September 1939. To the irritation of the Germans, Unrug would always insist on having a translator present or communicating in French, when speaking with the Germans, even though he was a native German speaker. Unrug was greatly insulted by the attempt to have him switch sides, which made him identify with Poland even more. As a POW, Unrug had a relatively privileged life, being allowed his own bathroom and his batman, which were privileges not normally extended to POWs.
Unrug was considered to be a leader of men who inspired other POWs to look up to him, and this led his captors to fear that he was inspiring escape attempts by the other POWs, thus leading to his frequent moves between various POW facilities.
Unrug's spirit and unbowed attitude proved to be an inspiration to his fellow prisoners. At the Colditz castle, Unrug served as one of the co-leaders of the Polish POWs being held there together with General
Tadeusz Piskor
Tadeusz Ludwik Piskor (1889–1951) was a Polish Army general.
Life and career
Piskor was born on 1 February 1889 in Bór Kunowski. Before World War I, he was a member of Polish pro-independence organizations. During World War I he served in t ...
. General Piskor was the most senior Polish officer held at Colditz, but Unrug was older than him and spoke fluent German, so in practice the two men shared the leadership. The Polish historian
Mieczysław B. Biskupski wrote that Admiral Unrug "...was perhaps not the greatest tactician of the interwar navy, but his conduct in German captivity was the stuff of legend".
Post-war exile
After Poland was taken over by the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...
in 1945, Unrug went to the United Kingdom, where he served with the
Polish Navy in the West and took part in its demobilisation. After the Allies withdrew support from the
Polish government
The Government of Poland takes the form of a unitary parliamentary representative democratic republic, whereby the President is the head of state and the Prime Minister is the head of government. However, its form of government has also been id ...
, Unrug remained in exile, in the United Kingdom, and then moved to
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
. In exile, Unrug worked in a marina in Morocco tending to the care of cutters and in France he worked as a chauffeur.
He died there on 28 February 1973 in the Polish Veterans' care home in
Lailly-en-Val near
Beaugency
Beaugency () is a commune in the Loiret department, Centre-Val de Loire, north-central France. It is located on the Loire river, upriver (northeast) from Blois and downriver from Orléans.
History
11 March 1152 the council of Beaugency annulled ...
, at the age of 88. On 5 March 1973, he was buried in
Montrėsor cemetery. In 1976, a stone tablet commemorating Unrug was unveiled in
Oksywie
Oksywie (german: Oxhöft, csb, Òksëwiô) is a neighbourhood of the city of Gdynia, Pomeranian Voivodeship, northern Poland. Formerly a separate settlement, it is older than Gdynia by several centuries.
Etymology
Both the Polish and then ...
. Unrug had specified in his will that he should not be buried on Polish soil until such time as all the remains of his fellow naval officers and men had been recovered from enemy control.
Exhumation and state funeral
On 24 September 2018
Admiral of the fleet Joseph Unrug and his wife Zofia (died 1980) were exhumed and transferred with a guard of honour at the French port of
Brest for reburial in the Polish port of
Gdynia
Gdynia ( ; ; german: Gdingen (currently), (1939–1945); csb, Gdiniô, , , ) is a city in northern Poland and a seaport on the Baltic Sea coast. With a population of 243,918, it is the 12th-largest city in Poland and the second-largest in th ...
, Poland, after a delay of 45 years. A state funeral was held in
Oksywie
Oksywie (german: Oxhöft, csb, Òksëwiô) is a neighbourhood of the city of Gdynia, Pomeranian Voivodeship, northern Poland. Formerly a separate settlement, it is older than Gdynia by several centuries.
Etymology
Both the Polish and then ...
on 2 October 2018 in the presence of
Andrzej Duda
Andrzej Sebastian Duda (; born 16 May 1972) is a Polish lawyer and politician who has served as president of Poland since 6 August 2015. Before becoming president, Andrzej Duda was a member of Polish Lower House (Sejm) from 2011 to 2014 and th ...
, the President of Poland among other members of the Polish government and leaders of the
Polish Armed Forces
The Armed Forces of the Republic of Poland ( pl, Siły Zbrojne Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej, abbreviated ''SZ RP''; popularly called ''Wojsko Polskie'' in Poland, abbreviated ''WP''—roughly, the "Polish Military") are the national armed forces of ...
. The chief mourner was Christophe Unrug, the admiral's grandson and, by happenstance, the current mayor of
Montrésor in France.
In September 2018, Polish President Andrzej Duda had posthumously promoted
Counter Admiral Joseph Unrug to ''Admiral of the fleet''. The promotion citation was handed to Unrug's family during the funeral at the cemetery.
Honours and awards
:
Gold Cross of the
Virtuti Militari
The War Order of Virtuti Militari ( Latin: ''"For Military Virtue"'', pl, Order Wojenny Virtuti Militari) is Poland's highest military decoration for heroism and courage in the face of the enemy at war. It was created in 1792 by Polish King S ...
:
Polonia Restituta
The Order of Polonia Restituta ( pl, Order Odrodzenia Polski, en, Order of Restored Poland) is a Polish state order established 4 February 1921. It is conferred on both military and civilians as well as on foreigners for outstanding achievemen ...
, Commanders' Cross
:
Gold Cross of Merits with Swords
:
Gold Cross of Merit
The Cross of Merit () is a Polish civil state decoration established on 23 June 1923, to recognize services to the state.
History
At the time of its establishment in 1923, the Cross of Merit was the highest civilian award in Poland. It was awa ...
:
Grand Officer of the
Legion of Honour
The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleo ...
(France)
:
Iron Cross
The Iron Cross (german: link=no, Eisernes Kreuz, , abbreviated EK) was a military decoration in the Kingdom of Prussia, and later in the German Empire (1871–1918) and Nazi Germany (1933–1945). King Frederick William III of Prussia es ...
, First and Second Classes (German Empire)
:
Order of Dannebrog
The Order of the Dannebrog ( da, Dannebrogordenen) is a Danish order of chivalry instituted in 1671 by Christian V. Until 1808, membership in the order was limited to fifty members of noble or royal rank, who formed a single class known ...
(Denmark)
:
Order of the White Elephant
__NOTOC__
The Most Exalted Order of the White Elephant ( th, เครื่องราชอิสริยาภรณ์อันเป็นที่เชิดชูยิ่งช้างเผือก; ) is an order of Thailand. It wa ...
(Siam)
:
Royal Order of the Sword (Sweden)
See also
*
Polish Navy
*
Polish Defensive War
*
Jerzy Świrski
Jerzy Włodzimierz Świrski (5 April 1882, Kalisz – 12 June 1959, London) was a Polish vice admiral and officer in the Russian Imperial Navy and later the Polish Navy. As Chief of the Polish Naval Command (1925-1947), he was a member of an e ...
References
Books and articles
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External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Unrug Jozef
1884 births
1973 deaths
Imperial German Navy personnel of World War I
Grand Officiers of the Légion d'honneur
People from the Province of Brandenburg
People from Brandenburg an der Havel
Polish military personnel of World War II
Polish Navy admirals
Polish people of German descent
Recipients of the Gold Cross of the Virtuti Militari
Commanders of the Order of Polonia Restituta
Recipients of the Cross of Merit with Swords (Poland)
Recipients of the Gold Cross of Merit (Poland)
Order of the Dannebrog
Recipients of the Order of the Sword
Recipients of the Iron Cross (1914), 1st class
Submarine commanders
U-boat commanders (Imperial German Navy)
Polish prisoners of war
World War II prisoners of war held by Germany
Prisoners of Oflag II-C