Rear Admiral Xawery Stanisław Czernicki (1882–1940) was a Polish engineer, military commander and one of the highest-ranking officers of the Polish Navy. Considered one of the founders of Polish Navy's logistical services, he was murdered by the

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...

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. ...

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 ...

Life

Xawery Czernicki was born on 16 October 1882Editor Anna Cienciala ''Katyn A Crime Without Punishment'' Yale, 2007 Page 388 in a szlachta family in the village of Giedejki (Giedeikiai) in the

Oshmyansky Uyezd Oshmyansky Uyezd (''Ошмянский уезд'') was one of the seven subdivisions of the Vilna Governorate of the Russian Empire. It was situated in the southern part of the governorate. Its administrative centre was Ashmyany (''Oshmyany''). D ...

of the

Vilna Governorate The Vilna Governorate (1795–1915; also known as Lithuania-Vilnius Governorate from 1801 until 1840; russian: Виленская губерния, ''Vilenskaya guberniya'', lt, Vilniaus gubernija, pl, gubernia wileńska) or Government of V ...

(present-day

Ashmyany District Ashmyany District ( be, Ашмянскі раён) is a district in Grodno Region of Belarus. The administrative center is Ashmyany. Notable residents * Jazep Hermanovich (1890, Halshany - 1978), Belarusian Eastern Catholic priest, writer, poe ...

. After graduating from a local gymnasium in 1901, Czernicki joined the Imperial Naval Engineering School in

Kronstadt Kronstadt (russian: Кроншта́дт, Kronshtadt ), also spelled Kronshtadt, Cronstadt or Kronštádt (from german: link=no, Krone for " crown" and ''Stadt'' for "city") is a Russian port city in Kronshtadtsky District of the federal city ...

. In 1905 he graduated from the shipbuilding faculty and joined the Russian Navy in the basic officer's rank of

michman ( rus, мичман, p=ˈmʲit͡ɕmən, ) is a rank used by the Russian Navy and a number of former communist states. The rank is a non-commissioned officer's and is equivalent to in armies and air forces. Within NATO forces, the rank is rate ...

. The following year he was admitted as the second lieutenant (later

first lieutenant First lieutenant is a commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces; in some forces, it is an appointment. The rank of lieutenant has different meanings in different military formations, but in most forces it is sub-divided into a ...

) and served as an engineer in the

St. 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 ...

naval base. In 1910 he became the head of a small naval shipyard in

Sretensk Sretensk ( rus, Сретенск, p=ˈsrʲetʲɪnsk) is a town and the administrative center of Sretensky District in Zabaykalsky Krai, Russia, located on the right bank of the Shilka River (Amur basin), east of Chita, the administrative cent ...

(on the

Shilka River The Shilka (; Evenki: Силькари, Sil'kari; bua, Шилкэ, ''Shilke''; mn, Шилка, ''Shilka''; zh, 石勒喀) is a river in Zabaykalsky Krai, (Dauria) south-eastern Russia. It has a length of , and has a drainage basin of .

Amur The Amur (russian: река́ Аму́р, ), or Heilong Jiang (, "Black Dragon River", ), is the world's tenth longest river, forming the border between the Russian Far East and Northeastern China ( Inner Manchuria). The Amur proper is long, ...

basin), where he authored several

river monitor River monitors are military craft designed to patrol rivers. They are normally the largest of all riverine warships in river flotillas, and mount the heaviest weapons. The name originated from the US Navy's , which made her first appearance in ...

s. Until 1914 he also served as a deputy engineer and then lead engineer of the ''Gangut''-class battleships ''Sevastopol'' and ''Petropavlovsk''. Promoted in 1913 to the rank of captain, until the end 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 ...

Czernicki served as the lead hull designer in the naval shipyard in Reval (modern

Tallinn Tallinn () is the most populous and capital city of Estonia. Situated on a bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, Tallinn has a population of 437,811 (as of 2022) and administratively lies in the Harju '' ...

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

). In 1917 he was promoted to navy lieutenant colonel and the following year he resigned his post. In 1919 he returned to

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 ...

and volunteered for the Polish Navy. He was admitted as the chief of Technical Services of the

Vistula The Vistula (; pl, Wisła, ) is the longest river in Poland and the ninth-longest river in Europe, at in length. The drainage basin, reaching into three other nations, covers , of which is in Poland. The Vistula rises at Barania Góra in ...

n Flotilla, the first unit of the newly reborn Polish naval forces, created even before Poland regained its Baltic shore. During the Polish-Bolshevik War Czernicki served as the commanding officer of the

Modlin Fortress Modlin Fortress ( pl, Twierdza Modlin) is one of the largest 19th-century fortresses in Poland. It is located in the town of Nowy Dwór Mazowiecki in district Modlin on the Narew river, approximately 50 kilometers north of Warsaw. It was o ...

inland naval base. In 1925 he became the head of a commission supervising the construction of

Gdynia Gdynia ( ; ; german: Gdingen (currently), (1939–1945); csb, Gdiniô, , , ) is a city in northern Poland and a seaport on the Baltic Sea coast. With a population of 243,918, it is the 12th-largest city in Poland and the second-largest in th ...

naval base and the following year he also started to head a commission supervising the construction of ORP ''Burza'', ORP ''Wicher'', ORP ''Wilk'', ORP ''Ryś'' and ORP ''Żbik'' in France. Promoted to the rank of ''Komandor'', he returned to Poland in 1932 and became the Chief of Services and the Deputy Commander of the Chief of Polish Navy in the Ministry of Military Affairs. In 1938 he was again promoted, this time to the rank of rear admiral. FlotyllaPinsk

World War II

After 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 ...

in 1939, Czernicki was evacuated from Gdynia to

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 ...

and then eastwards to the area of

Pińsk Pinsk ( be, Пі́нск; russian: Пи́нск ; Polish: Pińsk; ) is a city located in the Brest Region of Belarus, in the Polesia region, at the confluence of the Pina River and the Pripyat River. The region was known as the Marsh of Pins ...

and Brodów. There, in the village of Deraźny, he was ambushed by the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army ( Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, afte ...

with a group of Polish Navy officers, after 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, ...

joined

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

in the

. Transported to Równe (modern Rivne, Ukraine), the officers were arrested by the

and sent to various prisons and camps in the USSR. Czernicki, after a brief stay in Talitsa, was transferred to the NKVD special camp of Kozelsk.J.K.Zawodny ''Death in the Forest'' Notre Dame, 1962 Page 145 He was murdered in the spring of 1940, aged fifty-seven, in what became known as the

. After the fall on the Soviet Union in 1989, Xawery Czernicki became one of the patrons of the Polish Navy. He is the name-sake of the Polish Navy Depot (1993), the ORP ''Kontradmirał Xawery Czernicki'' logistical ship (2001) and the X. Czernicki's Grand Prix prize, awarded every year during the Balt-Military-Expo in Gdańsk.

Honours and awards

Polonia Restituta (4th Class - Officer's Cross) * POL Złoty Krzyż Zasługi BAR

Cross of Merit (1st Class - Gold Cross) * Commemorative Medal for War of 1919-1921 Ribbon

Commemorative Medal for War 1918-1921 * Order Orla Bialego Ribbon

10 Years of Independence Commemorative Medal * Legion Honneur Officier ribbon

Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

(France, 4th Class - Officier) * Order of Saint Anna ribbon bar

Order of St. Anna The Imperial Order of Saint Anna (russian: Орден Святой Анны; also "Order of Saint Anne" or "Order of Saint Ann") was a Holstein ducal and then Russian imperial order of chivalry. It was established by Karl Friedrich, Duke of Holst ...

(Russia) * Order of Saint Stanislaus Ribbon

Order of Saint Stanislaus (Russia) * SWE Royal Order of the Sword - Commander BAR

Order of the Sword The Royal Order of the Sword (officially: ''Royal Order of the Sword''; Swedish: ''Kungliga Svärdsorden'') is a Swedish order of chivalry and military decoration created by King Frederick I of Sweden on February 23, 1748, together with the ...

(Sweden, 3rd Class - Commander)

References

External links

*
Portrait in oil on canvas
Polish Navy *
detailed biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Czernicki, Xawery 1882 births 1940 deaths People from Ashmyany District People from Oshmyansky Uyezd People from the Russian Empire of Polish descent Polish Navy admirals Imperial Russian Navy personnel Polish people of World War I Russian military personnel of World War I Polish people of the Polish–Soviet War Polish military personnel killed in World War II Recipients of the Order of St. Anna Officers of the Order of Polonia Restituta Recipients of the Gold Cross of Merit (Poland) Commanders of the Order of the Sword Officiers of the Légion d'honneur Recipients of the Order of Saint Stanislaus (Russian) Katyn massacre victims