Jan Jagmin-Sadowski (24 April 1895 in

Grójec Grójec is a town in Poland, located in the Masovian Voivodeship, about south of Warsaw. It is the capital of the urban-rural administrative district Grójec and Grójec County. It has 16,674 inhabitants (2017). Grójec surroundings are consid ...

– 5 October 1977 in

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 ...

), was a general 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 ...

, having served in World War I as a member 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 ...

's legions, as well as commanding Polish forces during the invasion of Poland in 1939.

Early life

In the early 20th century, Sadowski studied mechanics at the

Lviv Polytechnic Lviv Polytechnic National University ( ua, Націона́льний університе́т «Льві́вська політе́хніка») is the largest scientific university in Lviv, Ukraine. Since its foundation in 1816, it has bee ...

, and there he got in touch with Polish independence movement. 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' ...

- Revolutionary Fraction, as well as the Polish Rifles and the

Sokół Sokół (, English: Falcon), or in full the Polskie Towarzystwo Gimnastyczne "Sokół" ( en, "Falcon" Polish Gymnastic Society), is the Polish offshoot of the Czech Sokol movement, and the oldest youth movement organization of Poland. Created in ...

movement.

Military career

After the outbreak of World War I, he joined the 1st Legionnaire Rifles Regiment as a volunteer. In 1914, he distinguished himself in battles at Anielin and Łaski, and the next year he fought at Łowiczowek, Konary and Jozefowek. In 1916, as a soldier of the I Brigade of the Polish Legions, he fought in the bloody battle of

Kostiuchnówka Kostyukhnivka (Ukrainian: Костюхнівка, Polish: ''Kostiuchnówka'') is a village in Kamin-Kashyrskyi Raion of Volyn Oblast, Ukraine, but was formerly administered within Manevytskyi Raion. In 1916, it was the site of the Battle of Kos ...

. 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 ...

, Sadowski, together with many other officers, was interned in a prisoner of war camp in

Beniaminów Beniaminów is a village in Poland. It has approximately 190 inhabitants (1998) and is located in the Masovian Voivodship, east of Warsaw, between Legionowo and Nieporęt. Within the village are remnants of a 19th-century fort. In 1917, af ...

. In the Second Polish Republic, Sadowski, then a major, was an instructor at the School of Infantry Officers in Warsaw. In 1919 he entered the Polish Army Headquarters' School in Warsaw, then was sent on a two-year course to Ecole Superieure de Guerre in Paris. After graduation, Sadowski was promoted to colonel and became commandant of the elite 15. "Wolves" Infantry Regiment in

Dęblin Dęblin is a town at the confluence of Vistula and Wieprz rivers, in Lublin Voivodeship, Poland. Dęblin is the part of the agglomeration with adjacent towns of Ryki and Puławy, which altogether has over 100 000 inhabitants. The population o ...

. Later on, in 1931, he was named commandant of the Polish 23rd Infantry Division, stationed in Katowice. On 19 March 1939 Sadowski was promoted to general, and took command of the freshly created

Fortified Area of Silesia The Fortified Area of Silesia ( pl, Obszar Warowny Śląsk) was a set of Second Polish Republic, Polish fortifications, constructed along the interbellum border of Poland and Weimar Republic, Germany in the area of then-divided Upper Silesia. It ...

. During the opening phase of the Second World War, 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 ...

, he was commandant of the ''Operational Group Silesia'', which was part of the Kraków Army. His units were engaged in heavy fights with the advancing

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the '' Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previo ...

, especially in the area of

Mikołów Mikołów (german: Nikolai, szl, Mikołōw) is a town in Silesia, in southern Poland, near the city of Katowice. It borders the Upper Silesian Metropolitan Union, a metropolis with a population of over 2 million, and is within a greater Silesia ...

and

Wyry Wyry (german: Wyrow) is a village in Mikołów County, Silesian Voivodeship, in southern Poland. It is the seat of the gmina (administrative district) called Gmina Wyry. It lies approximately south of Mikołów and south-west of the regional ...

. However, the Germans managed to break through the Polish defences and Sadowski ordered his men to retreat behind the

Przemsza Przemsza (german: Przemsa) is a river in the south of Poland, a tributary of the Vistula. According to one view, it originates at the confluence of the Black ( pl, Czarna) Przemsza and White (''Biała'') Przemsza, between the towns of Mysłowice a ...

. In mid-September 1939

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 ...

reformed the Śląsk Operational Group into Operational Group ''Jagmin''. Sadowski's troops participated in the defence of

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 fought in the area of Kielce and finally, in the

Battle of Tomaszów Lubelski The Battle of Tomaszów Lubelski took place from 18 September to 20 September 1939 near the town of Tomaszów Lubelski. It was the second largest battle

, where they were defeated. Surrendering to the Germans, Sadowski was kept in a POW camp for the duration of the war. In 1946 he returned to Poland, where he was forced to move to the army reserve.

Later life

In 1976 his name once again became famous, when Sadowski, protesting against conferring

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 ...

Leonid Brezhnev Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev; uk, links= no, Леонід Ілліч Брежнєв, . (19 December 1906– 10 November 1982) was a Soviet politician who served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union between 1964 and ...

, together with other war weterans, left his own Virtuti Militari at the

Jasna Góra Monastery The Jasna Góra Monastery ( pl, Jasna Góra , ''Luminous Mount'', hu, Fényes Hegy, lat, Clarus Mons) in Częstochowa, Poland, is a shrine dedicated to the Virgin Mary and one of the country's places of pilgrimage. The image of the Black Mad ...

. He wrote several books, including ''Dzialania Grupy Operacyjnej "Śląsk" 1-3 września 1939 r.'' (''Activities of the Śląsk Operational Group, 1–3 September 1939'').

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jagmin-Sadowski, Jan 1895 births 1977 deaths People from Grójec Polish generals Polish Rifle Squads members Polish military personnel of World War II Lviv Polytechnic alumni Recipients of the Virtuti Militari Polish legionnaires (World War I) Recipients of the Order of Polonia Restituta Officers of the Legion of Honour Burials at Bródno Cemetery