Henryk Iwański (1902-1978), nom de guerre Bystry, was a member of the

Polish resistance during World War II The Polish resistance movement in World War II (''Polski ruch oporu w czasie II wojny światowej''), with the Polish Home Army at its forefront, was the largest underground resistance movement in all of occupied Europe, covering both German a ...

. He is known for leading one of the most daring actions of the

Armia Krajowa 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) e ...

(Home Army) in support of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, however later research cast doubts on the veracity of his claims. For his assistance to the

Polish Jews The history of the Jews in Poland dates back at least 1,000 years. For centuries, Poland was home to the largest and most significant Ashkenazi Jewish community in the world. Poland was a principal center of Jewish culture, because of the l ...

Iwański was bestowed the title of the Righteous Among the Nations by

Yad Vashem Yad Vashem ( he, יָד וַשֵׁם; literally, "a memorial and a name") is Israel's official memorial to the victims of the Holocaust. It is dedicated to preserving the memory of the Jews who were murdered; honoring Jews who fought against th ...

in Jerusalem in 1964.Henryk Iwański
– his activity to save Jews' lives during the

Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; ...

, at

website

Life

Before the

Second World War 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 opposi ...

Henryk had reached the rank of

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

in the Polish Army. Soon after

Nazi Germany invaded 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 ...

and began the

, Henryk was instrumental in the founding of the

Żydowski Związek Wojskowy Żydowski Związek Wojskowy (ŻZW, Polish for ''Jewish Military Union,'' yi, יידישע מיליטערישע פֿאראייניקונג) was an underground resistance organization operating during World War II in the area of the Warsaw Gh ...

(Jewish Military Union). Together with the rest of his family he dedicated himself to support the Jews, working through the Polish resistance (

). Iwański was one of the AK members dealing with the Jews, providing them with arms, ammunition, and instructional materials smuggled through the sewers or in carts that brought lime and cement into the ghetto. "…heavy casualties were sustained by the ZZW, losing many of its leading fighters. Apfelbaum and Rodal were mortally wounded in fighting that raged on April 27 and 28. Iwanski's brother, Edvard, fell in Muranowska Square, his son, Roman was mortally wounded, and Iwanski himself was wounded during those days." Zbigniew, another son of Henryk fought on Karmelicka Street and died on May 3, 1943, escorting a group of Jews out of the ghetto. After being wounded, Iwański was brought from the ghetto, escorted by a group of Polish and Jewish fighters, among them Ber Mark, who later wrote a book about the Uprising. Nonetheless, Iwański returned to the ghetto at least once more, bringing another set of ammunition and supplies. This was one of several actions of the Polish resistance providing assistance to the Jews in the ghetto. In 1963, for his actions Iwański was awarded the Silver Cross of

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 ...

, one of Poland's highest

military decoration Military awards and decorations are distinctions given as a mark of honor for military heroism, meritorious or outstanding service or achievement. DoD Manual 1348.33, 2010, Vol. 3 A decoration is often a medal consisting of a ribbon and a meda ...

s for valor. Soon later, in 1964, with his wife Wiktoria he was decorated with the medal of Righteous Among the Nations.

Controversy

Recent questions concerning inconsistencies regarding the nature and extent of Iwanski's support for the Jewish underground have been raised. Examinations of Israeli and Polish archives have brought allegations that Iwanski exaggerated his war time activities, had made anti-Semitic and anti-Israeli radio and television broadcasts, and as an informant of Polish secret police had spied on Nazi hunter

Simon Wiesenthal Simon Wiesenthal (31 December 190820 September 2005) was a Jewish Austrian Holocaust survivor, Nazi hunter, and writer. He studied architecture and was living in Lwów at the outbreak of World War II. He survived the Janowska concentration ...

as an informant against the Jewish Historical Institute . The Polish-Israeli authors of a 2011 book on the Jewish Military Union (ŻZW),

Dariusz Libionka Dariusz Marian Libionka (born on 25 June 1963 in Bielsko-Biała) is a Polish historian affiliated with the Institute of National Remembrance in Lublin. Libionka graduated from the Catholic University of Lublin (KUL) and the School for Social Scienc ...

and Laurence Weinbaum, suggest that Iwański's story of heroism in the ghetto revolt is a fabrication and that he did not even have any male children. They point out that Iwański succeeded in convincing visiting journalists from abroad, most notably Chaja Lazar and Dan Kurzman, of the veracity of his story which is one of the reasons it gained credence and tremendous popularity.

Notes

References

The International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation

Life

Controversy

See also

Notes

References

Further reading