Lieutenant Colonel Jan Włodarkiewicz (28 May 190019 March 1942; ; noms de guerre ''Damian'', ''Darwicz'' and ''Odważny'') was a Polish soldier, an officer 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 ...

and a freedom fighter 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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. He is notable as the first commander of the

Wachlarz Wachlarz (, '' folding fan'') was a Polish World War II resistance organization formed by the Armia Krajowa for sabotage duties behind the German Eastern Front, outside of the Polish borders. Its commanders were Lieutenant Colonel Jan Włodarki ...

, the first secret service formed by an underground resistance organization in occupied Europe. Jan Włodarkiewicz was born on 28 May 1900 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 officiall ...

. A graduate of the prestigious ''

Stanisław Staszic Stanisław Wawrzyniec Staszic (baptised 6 November 1755 – 20 January 1826) was a leading figure in the Polish Enlightenment: a Catholic priest, philosopher, geologist, writer, poet, translator and statesman. A physiocrat, monist, pan-Slavis ...

'' gymnasium in Warsaw, in his youth Włodarkiewicz took part in several anti-tsarist youth organizations. After the outbreak of

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 joined the clandestine Polish Military Organization, where he received basic military training. After the war he remained in the

and since 1918 served in all conflicts Poland fought in. Initially in the Nieśwież-based Polish 27th Uhlan Regiment, in 1929 he was assigned to the staff of the 9th Independent Cavalry brigade in Baranowicze. After his successful service there, in 1930 he was assigned to the Centre for Cavalry Training in Grudziądz. In 1935 he was promoted to rotmistrz (captain of cavalry). Since then until the outbreak of

he served in the Polish General Staff as an officer officially responsible for the training of reserve Polish cavalry units. In reality, he served in the ''Special Command'' entitled with organization of partisan warfare, diversion and railroad sabotage of the 2nd Department of the Polish General Staff. After the outbreak of the Polish Defensive War of 1939 he was ordered to supervise the creation of various reserve cavalry units in the Cavalry Reserve Centre in

Garwolin Garwolin is a town on the Wilga river in eastern Poland, capital of Garwolin County, situated in the southeast part of the Garwolin plateau in Masovian Voivodeship, 62 km southeast of Warsaw, 100 km northwest of Lublin. As of December ...

. On September 15 he formed a cavalry squadron out of marauders and left-overs from various units. Together with the unit, he joined the Polish 41st Infantry Division and fought in the ranks of the

Lublin Army Lublin Army ( pl, Armia Lublin) was an improvised Polish Army created on September 4, 1939 from the Warsaw Armoured Motorized Brigade and various smaller units concentrated around the cities of Lublin, Sandomierz and upper Vistula river. It was com ...

. For his merits he was promoted to major and managed to survive the defeat together with his unit. After the Polish defeat in the battle of Kock, which ended the Polish campaign, he initially wanted to break through besieged Warsaw and then, after its fall, to Hungary or Romania. However, the Soviet-German cooperation prevented him from getting close to the border and on October 15, 10 days after the last major Polish unit capitulated to the Germans, he disbanded the unit under his command in the village of Mrozy. Włodarkiewicz and most of his men hid their weapons and broke through to

. There in November 1939 Włodarkiewicz met his wartime companion and deputy, Witold Pilecki. Together they formed the

Secret Polish Army Tajna Armia Polska, TAP (Secret Polish Army) was a Resistance movement founded in November 1939 in German-occupied Poland, which was active in the areas of the Warsaw, Podlasie, Kielce and Lublin Voivodships. Founders were: * Lieutenant Colonel ...

, one of the first

resistance movement A resistance movement is an organized effort by some portion of the civil population of a country to withstand the legally established government or an occupying power and to disrupt civil order and stability. It may seek to achieve its objectives ...

s in Poland and the occupied Europe. In 1940 the organization melted into a larger merger of resistance groups, the Confederation of the Nation and Włodarkiewicz assumed the military command over the latter organization's forces. In summer of that year he met with

Stefan Rowecki Stefan Paweł Rowecki (pseudonym: ''Grot'', "Spearhead", hence the alternate name, Stefan Grot-Rowecki; 25 December 1895 – 2 August 1944) was a Polish general, journalist and the leader of the Armia Krajowa. He was murdered by the Gestapo in ...

, the commander of

Związek Walki Zbrojnej 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 Struggl ...

(ZWZ), the predecessor of

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 ...

. Together they formed the

, a separate organization entitled with sabotage and intelligence between the pre-war Polish eastern border and the German Eastern Front. Włodarkiewicz was named the commander of the organization and in September 1941 he joined the ZWZ. Awarded to Lieutenant Colonel, in March 1942 he left for

Lwów Lviv ( uk, Львів) is the largest city in Western Ukraine, western Ukraine, and the List of cities in Ukraine, seventh-largest in Ukraine, with a population of . It serves as the administrative centre of Lviv Oblast and Lviv Raion, and is o ...

, where he planned to visit the local network of the 1st Sector of the Wachlarz. However, shortly after his arrival, on 19 March 1942 he died in unknown circumstances.

References

* Cezary Chlebowski, Wachlarz, Warszawa 1990 * Cezary Chlebowski, Zagłada IV Odcinka, Warszawa 1987 * Kazimierz Malinowski, Tajna Armia Polska, Znak, Konfederacja Zbrojna, Warszawa 1986. {{DEFAULTSORT:Wlodarkiewicz, Jan 1900 births 1942 deaths Military personnel from Warsaw Polish military personnel of World War II Polish Army officers Polish resistance members of World War II