Kazimierz Orlik-Łukoski (13 September 1890 – 1940) was a Polish military commander and one of the Generals 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 ...

murdered by the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

in the Katyń massacre of 1940.

Life

He was born Kazimierz Łukoski in 1890, in the village of

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 ...

near

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 ...

, in the Siedlce Governorate of 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. ...

(in the

Masovian Voivodeship The Masovian Voivodeship, also known as the Mazovia Province ( pl, województwo mazowieckie ) is a voivodeship (province) in east-central Poland, with its capital located in the city of Warsaw, which also serves as the capital of the country. Th ...

of present-day

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

). After graduating from Wróblewski's School 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 ...

in 1910, he moved to

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, where he graduated from the School of Agriculture in 1914. During his studies in the capital of

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

, he became involved in the Drużyny Strzeleckie para-military organization and adopted the nom de guerre of ''Orlik'' (Polish for

lesser spotted eagle The lesser spotted eagle (''Clanga pomarina'') is a large Eastern European bird of prey. Like all typical eagles, it belongs to the family Accipitridae. The typical eagles are often united with the buteos, sea eagles, and other more heavy-set Acc ...

), which later formed a part of his surname. At 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 ...

he joined the Polish Legions and became one of its officers. Initially a commanding officer of a battalion of the 3rd Infantry Regiment, he went on to command a battalion in the 2nd Infantry Regiment. Wounded during the battle of Husiatyn of 20 June 1916, he was withdrawn to rear duties. Prior to 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 he joined the Polnische Wehrmacht, where he became an adjutant to General

Felix von Barth Felix may refer to: * Felix (name), people and fictional characters with the name Places * Arabia Felix is the ancient Latin name of Yemen * Felix, Spain, a municipality of the province Almería, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, ...

and the inspector of training. However, after the crisis he returned to the 2nd Regiment, with which he fought the

battle of Rarańcza The Battle of Rarańcza was fought between Polish Legionnaires, and Austria-Hungary, from February 15 to 16, 1918, near Rarańcza in Bukovina, and ended with a Polish victory. Background The Brest-Litovsk Treaty, which was being negotiated ...

and crossed the lines to Imperial Russian held part of Ukraine. There the brigade melted into the Allied Polish 2nd Corps. Orlik-Łukoski became the commanding officer of the Polish 14th Rifle Regiment within the

Polish 4th Rifle Division The Polish 4th Rifle Division ( pl, 4. Dywizja Strzelców Polskich, russian: Полская 4-я Стрелковая Дивизия) was a Polish military unit, forming, together with the Polish 5th Rifle Division of the Blue Army, the only part ...

under Lucjan Żeligowski. After the

battle of Kaniów Battle of Kaniv, or Battle of Kaniów took place during World War I on the night of 10–11 May 1918, near Kaniv, Ukraine ( uk, Канів, pl, Kaniów) between Polish and German army troops. The fighting pitted the Polish II Corps in Russia ( ...

, in which the Corps capitulated, Orlik-Łukoski broke through the Austrian lines to Kiev, where he became the commander of the recruitment office. A successful commander in the fights around Kuban against the Reds during the

Russian Civil War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Russian Civil War , partof = the Russian Revolution and the aftermath of World War I , image = , caption = Clockwise from top left: {{flatlist, *Soldiers ...

, he went on to command the 2nd Rifle Regiment and then became the chief of staff of the 4th Division. As part of the

Józef Haller Józef Haller von Hallenburg (13 August 1873 – 4 June 1960) was a lieutenant general of the Polish Army, a legionary in the Polish Legions, harcmistrz (the highest Scouting instructor rank in Poland), the president of the Polish Scouti ...

's Blue Army, in March 1919 Kazimierz Orlik-Łukoski left Odessa for France, where he became the commander of the Polish 48th Infantry Regiment, with which he returned to Poland. Initially in garrison duties in Sosnowiec, Orlik-Łukoski's unit was then moved to

Pomerania Pomerania ( pl, Pomorze; german: Pommern; Kashubian: ''Pòmòrskô''; sv, Pommern) is a historical region on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea in Central Europe, split between Poland and Germany. The western part of Pomerania belongs to ...

, at that time being taken over from Germany, and then to the fronts of the Polish-Bolshevik War. During the Kiev Offensive Łukoski became the commander of the Polish 21st Infantry Brigade. Shortly before the cease-fire he became the commanding officer of the 22nd Brigade, after which he was attached to the Polish 12th Infantry Division stationed in

Tarnopol Ternópil ( uk, Тернопіль, Ternopil' ; pl, Tarnopol; yi, טאַרנאָפּל, Tarnopl, or ; he, טארנופול (טַרְנוֹפּוֹל), Tarnopol; german: Tarnopol) is a city in the west of Ukraine. Administratively, Ternopi ...

(modern Ternopil, Ukraine). At that post he served until August 1925. Then he commanded the Bydgoszcz-based Polish 15th Infantry Division (until March 1927) and the Stanisławów-based

Polish 11th Infantry Division The 11th Carpathian Infantry Division (Polish ''11 Karpacka Dywizja Piechoty''), was a tactical unit of the Polish Army in the interbellum period, which fought in the Invasion of Poland in 1939. Elements of the unit would go on to serve in the Poli ...

. Between 1929 and 1930 he received military training at the Ecole Superieure de Guerre in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

and the Higher War School in

, and then returned to his previous post in the 11th Division. During 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 ...

of 1939, Kazimierz Orlik-Łukoski's unit became the core of the newly formed Jasło Operational Group within the

Karpaty Army Karpaty Army ( pl, Armia Karpaty, , Carpathian Army) was formed on 11 July 1939 under Major General Kazimierz Fabrycy after Nazi Germany created a puppet state of Slovakia and the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia was proclaimed after the events ...

. Captured by the

Soviets Soviet people ( rus, сове́тский наро́д, r=sovyétsky naród), or citizens of the USSR ( rus, гра́ждане СССР, grázhdanye SSSR), was an umbrella demonym for the population of the Soviet Union. Nationality policy in ...

, he was interned in 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. ...

(the Soviet secret police)

concentration camp Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simpl ...

in Starobielsk and then murdered in

Kharkov Kharkiv ( uk, Ха́рків, ), also known as Kharkov (russian: Харькoв, ), is the second-largest city and municipality in Ukraine.

in the spring of 1940, during the

Katyn massacre The Katyn massacre, "Katyń crime"; russian: link=yes, Катынская резня ''Katynskaya reznya'', "Katyn massacre", or russian: link=no, Катынский расстрел, ''Katynsky rasstrel'', "Katyn execution" was a series of m ...

, aged forty-nine.; ; ; ; ; ;

References

Kazimierz Orlik-Łukoski, at Generals.dk
{{DEFAULTSORT:Orlik-Lukoski, Kazimierz 1890 births 1940 deaths People from Siedlce Governorate Polish generals Polish legionnaires (World War I) Polnische Wehrmacht personnel Polish Auxiliary Corps personnel Blue Army (Poland) personnel Polish people of the Polish–Soviet War Polish people of World War II Polish military personnel killed in World War II Katyn massacre victims Prisoners who died in Soviet detention Polish people who died in prison custody Polish prisoners and detainees Polish prisoners of war World War II prisoners of war held by the Soviet Union Executed people from Masovian Voivodeship People from Garwolin County