Franciszek Niepokólczycki alias Teodor, Szubert, Franek, Żejmian, Halny (27 October 1900 – 11 June 1974) was a

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge o ...

Polish Army The Land Forces () are the land forces of the Polish Armed Forces. They currently contain some 62,000 active personnel and form many components of the European Union and NATO deployments around the world. Poland's recorded military history stre ...

. During

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 vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, commander of the

Union of Retaliation Union of Retaliation (Polish:''Związek Odwetu'' or ''Z.O.'') was a Polish World War II resistance organization established on 20 April 1940. It was created by General Stefan Rowecki, head of the Armed Resistance, as that organization's branch ded ...

, officer of the

Union of Armed Struggle Związek Walki Zbrojnej ( abbreviation: ''ZWZ''; Union of Armed Struggle;Thus rendered in Norman Davies, ''God's Playground: A History of Poland'', vol. II, p. 464. also translated as ''Union for Armed Struggle'', ''Association of Armed Strug ...

and the

Kedyw ''Kedyw'' (, partial acronym of ''Kierownictwo Dywersji'' ("Directorate of Diversion") was a Polish World War II Home Army unit that conducted active and passive sabotage, propaganda and armed operations against Nazi German forces and collabora ...

Home Army The Home Army ( pl, Armia Krajowa, abbreviated AK; ) was the dominant resistance movement in German-occupied Poland during World War II. The Home Army was formed in February 1942 from the earlier Związek Walki Zbrojnej (Armed Resistance) est ...

. President of the

Freedom and Independence Freedom and Independence Association ( pl, Zrzeszenie Wolność i Niezawisłość, or WiN) was a Polish underground anticommunist organisation founded on September 2, 1945 and active until 1952. Political goals and realities The main purpose of it ...

from 1945 to 1946 and

political prisoner A political prisoner is someone imprisoned for their political activity. The political offense is not always the official reason for the prisoner's detention. There is no internationally recognized legal definition of the concept, although n ...

of the Stalinist period.

Biography

From November 1918 on he was a member of

Polish Military Organisation The Polish Military Organisation, PMO ( pl, Polska Organizacja Wojskowa, POW) was a secret military organization which formed during World War I (1914-1918). Józef Piłsudski founded the group in August 1914; it adopted the name ''POW'' in Novem ...

in Zhytomyr. During the Polish-Soviet War in 1920 he fought in irregular units. He served in the Polish Army from 1922 in the 10th

Sapper A sapper, also called a pioneer or combat engineer, is a combatant or soldier who performs a variety of military engineering duties, such as breaching fortifications, demolitions, bridge-building, laying or clearing minefields, preparing ...

Regiment in Przemyśl and in the 3rd Sapper Battalion in

Wilno Vilnius ( , ; see also #Etymology and other names, other names) is the capital and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the munic ...

. He took part in the

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 aft ...

against Nazi invaders as commander of the 60th Sapper Battalion in Army Modlin. After the defeat of Poland he joined the anti-Nazi underground. As early as 27 September 1939 he joined

Service for Poland's Victory Służba Zwycięstwu Polski (''Service for Poland's Victory'', or ''Polish Victory Service'', abbreviated SZP) was the first Polish resistance movement in World War II. It was created by the order of general Juliusz Rómmel on 27 September 1939, w ...

, later transformed into

(ZWZ). In 1940 he was made a leader of a special "Reprisal" unit of ZWZ charged with sabotage and armed struggle. He was a co-organizer of the Directorate of Sabotage and Diversion,

, of the Home Army, and in 1943 he was made the second in command of the unit, after Gen. Emil Fieldorf ("Nil"). He fought in the

Warsaw Uprising The Warsaw Uprising ( pl, powstanie warszawskie; german: Warschauer Aufstand) was a major World War II operation by the Polish underground resistance to liberate Warsaw from German occupation. It occurred in the summer of 1944, and it was led ...

as chief of the Sapper's Section of the 3rd Regiment of AK's Headquarters, with the rank of

. After the surrender of the uprising he was imprisoned and in January 1945 sent to The Woldenberg II C

Oflag An Oflag (from german: Offizierslager) was a type of prisoner of war camp for officers which the German Army established in World War I in accordance with the requirements of the 1899 Hague Convention, and in World War II in accordance with the r ...

. After returning to Poland from his imprisonment he became once again involved in the resistance, this time directed against the new communist authorities. Initially he was the second in command of Col. Antoni Sanojcy of Region "South" of the

Armed Forces Delegation for Poland The Armed Forces Delegation for Poland (''Delegatura Sił Zbrojnych na Kraj'') was a Polish anti-communist resistance organization formed on May 7, 1945, by the Commander-in-Chief of the Polish Armed Forces, General Władysław Anders, as a contin ...

, and later the president of the southern region for the organization

(WiN). As president of WiN he took the step of recognizing the Polish Government in Exile (which by this time was no longer recognized as the official government of Poland by the Allies) as the legitimate governing body and took the decision of expanding the activities of WiN. He made the organization grow and hoped to lead it to a point where eventually it could be made legal. On 22 October 1946 Niepokólczycki was arrested by the Polish secret police ( UB) in Krakow. A year later, in a show trial of WiN leaders he was sentenced to death. This sentence was later changed to life imprisonment. On the wave of political changes in

Polish October Polish October (), also known as October 1956, Polish thaw, or Gomułka's thaw, marked a change in the politics of Poland in the second half of 1956. Some social scientists term it the Polish October Revolution, which was less dramatic than the ...

, on 22 December 1956 released from prison. After being released, he had no problems finding a job and received compensation. However, it was the object of observation by officers of the Security Service. He did not join the Society of Fighters for Freedom and Democracy. From 1958 he was the deputy director of the plant at the Association of Polish Inventors. He was buried in the Roman Catholic cemetery in Brwinów.

Honours and awards

* Order of the White Eagle (15 August 2008, awarded

posthumously Posthumous may refer to: * Posthumous award - an award, prize or medal granted after the recipient's death * Posthumous publication – material published after the author's death * ''Posthumous'' (album), by Warne Marsh, 1987 * ''Posthumous'' (E ...

by President

Lech Kaczynski Lech may refer to: People * Lech (name), a name of Polish origin * Lech, the legendary founder of Poland * Lech (Bohemian prince) Products and organizations * Lech (beer), Polish beer produced by Kompania Piwowarska, in Poznań * Lech Poznań ...

) * Silver 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 St ...

(1944) *

Cross of Independence Cross of Independence ( pl, Krzyż Niepodległości) was second highest Polish military decorations between World Wars I and II. It was awarded to individuals who had fought actively for the independence of Poland, and was released in three cl ...

(1931) * Cross of Valour - four times *

Silver 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 aw ...

(1928)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Niepokolczycki, Franciszek 1900 births 1974 deaths Military personnel from Zhytomyr People from Zhitomirsky Uyezd People from the Russian Empire of Polish descent Polish soldiers Cursed soldiers Home Army members Warsaw Uprising insurgents Recipients of the Silver Cross of the Virtuti Militari Recipients of the Cross of Independence Recipients of the Cross of Valour (Poland) Recipients of the Silver Cross of Merit (Poland) Polish Military Organisation members Polish people of the Polish–Soviet War World War II prisoners of war held by Germany Prisoners of Oflag II-C Recipients of the Order of the White Eagle (Poland) Polish prisoners sentenced to death Prisoners sentenced to death by Poland