Henryk Minkiewicz (19 January 1880 – 9 April 1940) was a Polish

socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the ...

politician and a

general A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED ...

of the

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 ...

. Former commander of the

Border Defence Corps The Border Protection Corps ( pl, Korpus Ochrony Pogranicza, KOP) was a military formation of the Second Polish Republic that was created in 1924 to defend the country's eastern borders against armed Soviet incursions and local bandits. Other ...

, he was among the Polish officers murdered in the Katyń massacre.; ; ; ; ; ;

Life

Henryk Minkiewicz was born on 19 January 1880Editor Anna Cienciala ''Katyn A Crime Without Punishment'' Yale, 2007 Page 400 in

Suwałki Suwałki ( lt, Suvalkai; yi, סואוואַלק) is a city in northeastern Poland with a population of 69,206 (2021). It is the capital of Suwałki County and one of the most important centers of commerce in the Podlaskie Voivodeship. Suwałki ...

, then in the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

. After graduating from

Marijampolė Gymnasium Marijampolė Rygiškių Jonas Gymnasium ( lt, Marijampolės Rygiškių Jono gimnazija) is a secondary school in Marijampolė, Lithuania. It is named after Rygiškių Jonas, one of the pen names of linguist Jonas Jablonskis who was one of the gymn ...

, he was admitted to the Imperial University of

Sankt Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

, where he studied biology and geography. However, in 1898 he became a member of the

Polish Socialist Party The Polish Socialist Party ( pl, Polska Partia Socjalistyczna, PPS) is a socialist political party in Poland. It was one of the most important parties in Poland from its inception in 1892 until its merger with the communist Polish Workers' ...

(PPS) and in 1902 he had to flee to

Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...

, then in Austro-Hungarian Galicia, in order to avoid arrest by the Okhrana. There he joined the Medical Faculty of the Jagiellonian University and, simultaneously, Faculty of painting at the

Academy of Fine Arts The following is a list of notable art schools. Accredited non-profit art and design colleges * Adelaide Central School of Art * Alberta College of Art and Design * Art Academy of Cincinnati * Art Center College of Design * The Art Institute ...

. In 1904 he finally left the studies and devoted himself entirely to politics. A close friend of

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 ...

, Minkiewicz entered the Central Committee of the PPS. He was also an active member of various paramilitary organizations, including the Organizacja Bojowa of the PPS-Revolutionary Faction, the Związek Walki Czynnej and the Związek Strzelecki. During his duty in terrorist Armed Organization, in 1909, together with

Kazimierz Pużak Kazimierz Pużak (1883–1950) was a Polish socialist politician of the interwar period. Active in the Polish Socialist Party, he was one of the leaders of the Polish Secret State and Polish resistance, sentenced by the Soviets in the infamo ...

Minkiewicz was in the execution squad to murder the Tsarist secret police agent and provocateur Edmund Taranowicz.

Fight for independence

After the outbreak of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, Minkiewicz joined the 2nd Brigade of the Polish Legions. Initially in the rank of '' porucznik'' and a commanding officer of a company, with time he was promoted to the rank of Lt. Colonel and became the commanding officer of the 3rd Infantry Regiment. During the battle of Kostiuchówka, on 6 July 1916 he was wounded in action and taken prisoner by the Russians. Officially a Russian citizen serving in enemy formations, he risked being executed for high treason. However, Minkiewicz managed to escape captivity and, after the

Oath Crisis The Oath crisis ( pl, Kryzys przysięgowy) was a World War I political conflict between the Imperial German Army command and the Józef Piłsudski-led Polish Legions. Initially supporting the Central Powers against Imperial Russia, Piłsudski ...

of 1917, joined the Polnische Wehrmacht, where he was promoted to the rank of

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 ...

. A commander of an infantry brigade and then the garrison of

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 officia ...

, in November 1918 he headed the action of disarmament of soldiers of the

Central Powers The Central Powers, also known as the Central Empires,german: Mittelmächte; hu, Központi hatalmak; tr, İttifak Devletleri / ; bg, Централни сили, translit=Tsentralni sili was one of the two main coalitions that fought in ...

in the city. Joining the

as one of the first high-ranking officers, he initially served as a commander of an

Operational Group {{Unreferenced, date=October 2008 Operational Group ( pl, Grupa Operacyjna, abbreviated GO) was the highest level of tactical division of the Polish Army before and during World War II and the invasion of Poland. It was corps-sized, although variou ...

during the Polish-Ukrainian War. Promoted to the rank of

generał brygady Generał brygady (, literally ''General of a brigade'', abbreviated gen. bryg.) is the lowest grade for generals in the Polish Army (both in the Land Forces and in the Polish Air Force). Depending on the context, it is equivalent to both the mod ...

on 1 July 1919, he became the commanding officer of the Polish 2nd Legions Infantry Division, with which he fought in the Polish-Bolshevik War. Soon before the victorious battle of Warsaw, on 25 July 1920, he became the deputy military governor of

and deputy commander of

Franciszek Latinik Franciszek Ksawery Latinik (17 July 1864 – 29 August 1949) was a Polish military officer, Colonel of Austro-Hungarian Army and Major General of the Polish Army. Graduate of the General Staff Academy in Vienna, from 1914 he was a commander of th ...

's 1st Army. After the war, in 1924 he was promoted to the rank of

generał dywizji Divisional general is a general officer rank who commands an army division. The rank originates from the French (Revolutionary) System, and is used by a number of countries. The rank is above a brigade general, and normally below an army corps ...

and became the first commanding officer of the newly formed

. Although quite successful as its commander, he became conflicted with

and on 7 May 1929 he was dismissed. Although officially in active service, he was left without assignment and settled in a small villa in the village of Jamno near

Brześć Litewski Brest ( be, Брэст / Берасьце, Bieraście, ; russian: Брест, ; uk, Берестя, Berestia; lt, Brasta; pl, Brześć; yi, בריסק, Brisk), formerly Brest-Litovsk (russian: Брест-Литовск, lit=Lithuanian Br ...

(modern Brest, Belarus). In 1934 he was officially retired.

Katyn

During the Polish Defensive War of 1939, his wife Maria née Markowska was killed by Soviet bombardment. Soon afterwards Minkiewicz was arrested by the

NKVD The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (russian: Наро́дный комиссариа́т вну́тренних дел, Naródnyy komissariát vnútrennikh del, ), abbreviated NKVD ( ), was the interior ministry of the Soviet Union. ...

Stanoslaw Swianiewicz ''In the Shadow of Katyn'' Witold, 2004 Page 233 and imprisoned in

Kozielsk :''"Kozielsk" is also the Polish name for the Russian town of Kozelsk.'' Kozielsk is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Kuczbork-Osada, within Żuromin County, Masovian Voivodeship, in north-central Poland. It lies approximately e ...

concentration camp.J.K.Zawodny ''Death in the Forest'' Notre Dame, 1962 Page 143''The Crime of Katyn'' Polish Cultural Foundation, 1989 Page 18 As one of the highest-ranking officers in Soviet captivity,''The Crime of Katyn'' Polish Cultural Foundation, 1989 Page 22 he served as the representative of all the inmates. On 7 April 1940, together with the fourth transport of Polish officers,''The Crime of Katyn'' Polish Cultural Foundation, 1989 Page 60 he was transported to the Katyn woods and murdered, probably on 9 April 1940, aged sixty. Among the Katyn victims were 14 Polish generals including Leon Billewicz,

Bronisław Bohatyrewicz Bronisław Bohatyrewicz of Ostoja (1870–1940) was a Polish military commander and a general of the Polish Army. Murdered during the Katyn massacre, Bohatyrewicz was one of the Generals whose bodies were identified by forensic scientists of the ...

, Xawery Czernicki (admiral), Stanisław Haller, Aleksander Kowalewski, Alojzy Wir-Konas,

Kazimierz Orlik-Łukoski Kazimierz Orlik-Łukoski (13 September 1890 – 1940) was a Polish military commander and one of the Generals of the Polish Army murdered by the Soviet Union in the Katyń massacre of 1940. Life He was born Kazimierz Łukoski in 1890, in the vill ...

Konstanty Plisowski Konstanty Plisowski of Odrowąż (8 June 1890 – 1940) was a Polish general and military commander. He was the Commander in the battle of Jazłowiec and the battle of Brześć Litewski. He was murdered on Stalin's orders in the Katyn massacre. ...

Rudolf Prich Rudolf Prich (6 August 1881 – 1940)Indeks Represjonowanych - Rudolf Pri ...

(murdered in

Lviv Lviv ( uk, Львів) is the largest city in western Ukraine, and the seventh-largest in Ukraine, with a population of . It serves as the administrative centre of Lviv Oblast and Lviv Raion, and is one of the main cultural centres of Ukrain ...

), Franciszek Sikorski, Leonard Skierski, Piotr Skuratowicz, and Mieczysław Smorawiński.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Minkiewicz 1880 births 1940 deaths People from Suwałki People from Suwałki Governorate Polish generals Polish Socialist Party politicians Combat Organization of the Polish Socialist Party members Katyn massacre victims Polish legionnaires (World War I) Polish military personnel killed in World War II Polish Army officers Polish people of the Polish–Soviet War Polish people who died in Soviet detention Polish people who died in prison custody Polish prisoners of war World War II prisoners of war held by the Soviet Union Executed people from Podlaskie Voivodeship