Ostap Ortwin (real name Oskar Katzenellenbogen) (born 23 November 1876; murdered in spring 1942 in

Lwów Lviv ( uk, Львів) is the largest city in western Ukraine, and the seventh-largest in Ukraine, with a population of . It serves as the administrative centre of Lviv Oblast and Lviv Raion, and is one of the main cultural centres of Ukrain ...

) was a

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

and

literary critic Literary criticism (or literary studies) is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often influenced by literary theory, which is the philosophical discussion of literature's goals and methods. Th ...

. He was born in Tłumacz, near Stanisławów (now

Ivano-Frankivsk Ivano-Frankivsk ( uk, Іва́но-Франкі́вськ, translit=Iváno-Frankívśk ), formerly Stanyslaviv ( pl, Stanisławów ; german: Stanislau), is a city located in Western Ukraine. It is the administrative centre of Ivano-Frankivsk Obl ...

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian invas ...

). His father, Henryk, was a director and an engineer at a sugar factory, and his mother's name was Maria Jadwiga. In 1899 he finished law studies at the University of Lwów. His thesis adviser was the famous Polish

logician Logic is the study of correct reasoning. It includes both Mathematical logic, formal and informal logic. Formal logic is the science of Validity (logic), deductively valid inferences or of logical truths. It is a formal science investigating h ...

and philosopher Kazimierz Twardowski. He belonged to the Young Poland literary group "Płanetnicy", which met at the house of the poet Maryla Wolska. Wolska was considered to be of the most intriguing characters of the Lwów literary scene, known for his exhaustive knowledge of Polish law as well as a powerful physique and imposing presence . His theatrical critiques were considered highly original and poignant. He was a frequent visitor at the "Kasyno Literackie" ("Literary Casino"), a cultural organization which held discussion nights and balls. Ortwin became widely known after he defended the literary critic and writer Stanisław Brzozowski in court. In 1904 he gave up his law practice in order to focus on poetry and other writing, including theater reviews. In 1905 he became editor for the publishing house ''Polish Bookstore'', owned by Bernard Połoniecki. When

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, ...

broke out he was drafted into the Austrian army where he began service as a private in the 55th Infantry Battalion. Later he was made a lawyer in the military court of Lwów and Ostrawa. He was promoted to the rank of captain, and soon after, major, of the military court of Lwów and in 1922 retired into the reserves. He became the vice president of the Polish Writers' Union in 1920. In 1934 he was made the president of the Lwów Literary Club. He was a member of the Lwów-Warsaw School of Logic. After Lwów was occupied by the Soviets in September 1939, he took part in creating a new literary organization, which gathered writers and poets opposed to communism. Lwów was taken over by

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 1942. Despite offers from his friends to help him escape the

Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; ...

, Ortwin refused to flee or to live in hiding. Sometime in 1942 he was shot in the street by the Nazis. Józef Wittlin, in his essay ''My Lwów'' described him in the following words:

References

* Marek Sołtysik, "Niewygodny Ostap Ortwin" (The Incorrect Ostap Ortwin), Palestra, a Journal of Polish Lawyers
palestra.pl
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ortwin, Ostap 1876 births 1942 deaths Jews from Galicia (Eastern Europe) Polish journalists Polish literary critics Polish theatre critics Golden Laurel of the Polish Academy of Literature Polish Jews who died in the Holocaust People executed by Nazi Germany by firearm Austro-Hungarian military personnel of World War I