Marian Stanisław Chodacki (July 15, 1898,

Nowy Sącz Nowy Sącz (; ; ; ; ) is a city in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship of southern Poland. It is the district capital of Nowy Sącz County as a separate administrative unit. With a population of 83,116 as of 2021, it is the largest city in the Beskid S ...

– June 26, 1975, New York City) was a Polish diplomat, intelligence officer,

certified Certification is part of testing, inspection and certification and the provision by an independent body of written assurance (a certificate) that the product, service or system in question meets specific requirements. It is the formal attestatio ...

colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), 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 colon ...

of the

Polish Army The Land Forces () are the Army, land forces of the Polish Armed Forces. They currently contain some 110,000 active personnel and form many components of the European Union and NATO deployments around the world. Poland's recorded military histor ...

, and executive director of the Józef Piłsudski Institute of America.Biogram na stronie Instytutu Józefa Piłsudskiego w Nowym Jorku
/ref> Jacek Majchrowski, ''Kto był kim w drugiej Rzeczypospolitej'', Warszawa: BGW, 1994.

Youth and military service

He received a law degree from the

University of Warsaw The University of Warsaw (, ) is a public university, public research university in Warsaw, Poland. Established on November 19, 1816, it is the largest institution of higher learning in the country, offering 37 different fields of study as well ...

. Stanisław Mikos, ''Działalność Komisariatu Generalnego Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej w Wolnym Mieście Gdańsku 1920–1939'', Warszawa: Państwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe, 1971 From 1912 to 1914, Chodacki belonged to the

Riflemen's Association The Polish Riflemen's Association, known as ''Związek Strzelecki'' (in the plural, ''Związki Strzeleckie''), was an organization formed in great numbers prior to World War I. One of the better known associations, ''Strzelec'' (Rifleman), was a ...

. During

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, he served in the Polish Legions and afterwards continued serving in the Polish Army. On June 1, 1921, he began serving in the Highest Evaluating Commission with the 34th Infantry Regiment in

Biała Podlaska Biała Podlaska (; ) is a city in the Lublin Voivodeship in eastern Poland with 56,498 inhabitants It is the capital of Biała Podlaska County, although the city is not part of the county (it constitutes a separate city county). The city lies on ...

. In May 1922, Chodacki was made a lieutenant with retroactive seniority from June 1, 1919. Chodacki completed studies at the Higher Military Academy in

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

from 1922 to 1924. Upon completing his studies in March 1924, he was promoted to the rank of captain with retroactive seniority from July 1, 1923. In October of the following year, he was transferred to the Second Branch of the General Staff of the Polish Army in Warsaw. During his studies and service with the General Staff, he officially remained officer of the 21st Infantry Regiment "Dzieci Warszawy" ("Warsaw's Children"). In 1927, he was appointed as a military ''

attaché In diplomacy, an attaché () is a person who is assigned ("to be attached") to the diplomatic or administrative staff of a higher placed person or another service or agency. Although a loanword from French, in English the word is not modified ac ...

'' to Finland and Sweden. On November 1, 1931, he was attached to the 67th Infantry Regiment in

Brodnica Brodnica () is a town in northern Poland with 28,574 inhabitants . It is the seat of Brodnica County in the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship. The nearby Brodnica Landscape Park, a protected area, gets its name from Brodnica. History The first r ...

and gained practical leadership experience as the head of a riflemen's company. On December 10, 1932, Chodacki was assigned to the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs for a period of six months. Following this assignment, he was simultaneously transferred from active duty to the reserves and from the 21st Infantry Regiment to the 30th Infantry Regiment (''30 Pułk Strzelców Kaniowskich'') in Warsaw.

Diplomatic service

Chodacki was assigned ministerial adviser in the Political Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In October, 1935, he became ''

chargé d'affaires A (), plural ''chargés d'affaires'', often shortened to ''chargé'' (French) and sometimes in colloquial English to ''charge-D'', is a diplomat who serves as an embassy's chief of mission in the absence of the ambassador. The term is Frenc ...

'' in the Polish mission to

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

. He was a confidant of

Józef Beck Józef Beck (; 4 October 1894 – 5 June 1944) was a Polish statesman who served the Second Republic of Poland as a diplomat and military officer. A close associate of Józef Piłsudski, Beck is most famous for being Polish foreign minister in ...

, the foreign minister, who considered Chodacki the best politician among the officers transferred from military service to diplomacy. In December of 1936, Chodacki assumed the office of the Commissioner General of the Republic of Poland in the

Free City of Gdańsk Free may refer to: Concept * Freedom, the ability to act or change without constraint or restriction * Emancipate, attaining civil and political rights or equality * Free (''gratis''), free of charge * Gratis versus libre, the difference betw ...

. During his term of office, he attained the rank of authorized minister (''minister pełnomocny'') and special envoy (''poseł nadzwyczajny''). His uncompromising attitude as General Commissioner united quarreling Polish organizations in Gdańsk. Polish policy toward the Gdańsk did not change under Chodacki, and policy was continuously marked by strong opposition to Nazification of the city. As Commissioner, Chodacki often intervened in the defense of Poles, whose health and lives were frequently endangered. During Chodacki's service as Commissioner, the work of Polish Intelligence was intensified and employees of the Commissariat collected information about the military preparations in Gdańsk. In August 1939, Chodacki paid a customary visit to the battleship ''Schleswig-Holstein''.Chodacki thus described this moment in his memoirs: ''It was perhaps the toughest moment of my life, that walk under the barrels of heavy ship cannons, and then a glass of champagne in the accompaniment of those snotty officers' mocking smirks.'' (''Była to chyba najcięższa chwila mojego życia, to przejście dwukrotne pod lufami ciężkich dział okrętowych, a potem kieliszek szampana przy akompaniamencie drwiących uśmieszków smarkatych oficerków.'') quoted in: G. Danielewicz ''W kręgu Polonii gdańskiej'' Gdańsk 1996, , quoted after
Strona domowa Waldemara Matlana
On September 1, 1939, Germans arrested Chodacki and other employees of the Polish Commissariat. As the result of protests by the previously-expelled

Carl Jacob Burckhardt Carl Jacob Burckhardt (September 10, 1891 – March 3, 1974) was a Swiss diplomat and historian. His career alternated between periods of academic historical research and diplomatic postings; the most prominent of the latter were League of Natio ...

, High Commissioner of the League of Nations in Gdańsk, the Germans released Chodacki and others over the Lithuanian border on September 5.

Second World War and aftermath

During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Chodacki was a soldier of the

Polish Armed Forces The Armed Forces of the Republic of Poland (, ; abbreviated SZ RP), also called the Polish Armed Forces and popularly called in Poland (, roughly "the Polish Military"—abbreviated ''WP''), are the national Military, armed forces of the Poland, ...

in France and Great Britain. He was, however, quickly transferred to the Polish Consulate in New York City, and—on September 1, 1943—became the head of the secret Estezet service. In the final years of the war, he served as a Polish liaison officer within the ranks of the American

Office of Strategic Services The Office of Strategic Services (OSS) was the first intelligence agency of the United States, formed during World War II. The OSS was formed as an agency of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) to coordinate espionage activities behind enemy lines ...

. After the war, Chodacki worked at the Józef Piłsudski Institute in New York City. He ultimately served as the institute's executive director from 1949 to 1951.

Commemoration

On March 11, 2019, by decision number 491 of the Polish

Minister of National Defense A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divided ...

, Marian Chodacki was posthumously promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel.

Orders and awards

* Silver Cross of the Military Order of Virtuti Militari * Independence Medal * Cross of Valour (three times) *

Silver Cross of Merit Silver is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag () and atomic number 47. A soft, whitish-gray, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, and reflectivity of any metal. ...

* Knight's Cross of the Légion d'honneur

Works (Polish)

* ''Dzienniki Personalne Ministerstwa Spraw Wojskowych''. * ''Roczniki oficerskie 1923, 1924, 1928 i 1932''.

References

External links

*
Archiwum Majora Mariana Chodackiego w zbiorach Instytutu Józefa Piłsudskiego
*
Major Marian Chodacki Collection at the Józef Piłsudski Institute of America
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chodacki, Marian Diplomats of the Second Polish Republic Recipients of the Virtuti Militari Recipients of the Cross of Valour (Poland) Recipients of the Cross of Merit (Poland) Polish Army officers Polish intelligence officers 1898 births 1975 deaths People from Nowy Sącz Individuals associated with the Józef Piłsudski Institute of America Polish military attachés Polish emigrants to the United States Polish recipients of the Legion of Honour