Rafał Gan-Ganowicz (23 April 1932 – 22 November 2002) was a Polish soldier-in-exile, mercenary, journalist, member of the
National Council of Poland
National Council of Poland ( pl, Rada Narodowa Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej) was a consulting and expert body of the Polish government in exile and Polish president. The first council was formed in December 1939 and was disbanded in July 1941 in pro ...
, and political and social activist, dedicating his life to
anti-communism
Anti-communism is political and ideological opposition to communism. Organized anti-communism developed after the 1917 October Revolution in the Russian Empire, and it reached global dimensions during the Cold War, when the United States and ...
.
Early life
Rafał Gan-Ganowicz was born in Wawer-
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 official ...
on 23 April 1932. His family is descended from
Tatars
The Tatars ()Tatar in the Collins English Dictionary is an umbrella term for different who settled in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in the 16th century. His father served in the
for a time, and later traveled to South America for business, investing in a rubber plantation in Brazil and gold mines in Argentina. His mother was killed in September 1939 during the opening days of the German
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 af ...
. After this, his father moved him and his son from Wawer to the Warsaw district of
Żoliborz
Żoliborz () is one of the northern districts of the city of Warsaw. It is located directly to the north of the City Centre, on the left bank of the Vistula river. It has approximately 50,000 inhabitants and is one of the smallest boroughs of War ...
. They lived here until the
Warsaw Uprising
The Warsaw Uprising ( pl, powstanie warszawskie; german: Warschauer Aufstand) was a major World War II operation by the Polish underground resistance to liberate Warsaw from German occupation. It occurred in the summer of 1944, and it was led ...
took place in August 1944. Leaving to fight in the uprising, his father hid him in a cellar with other children and women, but was killed in the battle, leaving Rafał an orphan at twelve years old.
As an orphaned teenager in post-war Poland, Gan-Ganowicz first experienced the aftermath of the Soviet Red Army's occupation of Poland. Witnessing the Soviet troops abuse of Poles, their looting and their destruction of personal property led him to first develop his anti-communism beliefs. One event that particularly stuck with him was seeing one of his friends, an older boy who had been maimed while fighting in the Warsaw Uprising, thrown down a flight of stairs and called a "bandit" by a communist official.
Around 1948, he had joined an underground anti-communist group of youths who protested and campaigned against the newly established Polish Communist government and the Soviets. They would deface communist propaganda posters, spray anti-communist graffiti, and publish and distribute leaflets critical of the government. At one point, the group was able to steal guns from Police officers. In June 1950, the Polish
Secret Police
Secret police (or political police) are intelligence, security or police agencies that engage in covert operations against a government's political, religious, or social opponents and dissidents. Secret police organizations are characteristic of a ...
started to round up all suspected members of any anti-state groups and Rafał was tipped off by a friend that they were about to arrest him. Fearing being tortured into giving up other members of the group, he boarded a Soviet supply train, hiding in the undercarriage, that was headed for Berlin and escaped Poland.
Western Europe and 'The Polish Guard'
After arriving in Berlin, Gan-Ganowicz wandered around until he could find the western sector. He eventually turned himself over to the American authorities and he was granted political asylum due to his activities in Poland. Like many Polish refugees in the west, he joined the Polish Guard. This was a unit of the U.S. Army that was developed in cooperation with the Polish Government-in-exile for the purpose of guard, technical, and transport duties. He trained as a paratrooper and received the rank of
Second Lieutenant
Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank.
Australia
The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until 1 ...
, being given his beret by General
Władysław Anders
)
, birth_name = Władysław Albert Anders
, birth_date =
, birth_place = Krośniewice-Błonie, Warsaw Governorate, Congress Poland, Russian Empire
, death_date =
, death_place = London, England, United Kingdom
, serviceyear ...
.
Displeased with being stationed in Germany, due to his dislike of Germany for the invasion of Poland, he applied to be stationed in France instead. He had hoped that the unit would act as a commando group used in a
invasion of Eastern Europe in the early days of the Cold War, being dropped behind enemy lines in Poland. He was disappointed that this never happened and he spent most of his time in the unit on guard and patrol duties. After his time in the Polish Guard, he found a job as a teacher in a school for Polish refugees in Paris.
Mercenary activities
While living in Paris, Rafał was motivated by his status as a political refugee, and not an economic one, to use his time in the west not to build a new life for himself, but to fight against communism. In his book, Ganowicz describes job offers he received from Cuban authorities, who tried to attract him by describing enormous wealth gathered by
Ernesto Guevara
Ernesto Che Guevara (; 14 June 1928The date of birth recorded on /upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/78/Ernesto_Guevara_Acta_de_Nacimiento.jpg his birth certificatewas 14 June 1928, although one tertiary source, (Julia Constenla, quoted ...
while fighting as mercenary in
Bolivia
, image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg
, flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center
, flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...
.
The Congo
In the 1960s, he had first started hearing news reports about the ongoing
Congo Crisis
The Congo Crisis (french: Crise congolaise, link=no) was a period of political upheaval and conflict between 1960 and 1965 in the Republic of the Congo (today the Democratic Republic of the Congo). The crisis began almost immediately after ...
, who in 1961 had murderered Congolese independence leader
Patrice Lumumba
Patrice Émery Lumumba (; 2 July 1925 – 17 January 1961) was a Congolese politician and independence leader who served as the first prime minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (then known as the Republic of the Congo) from June ...
with help from the
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian intelligence agency, foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gat ...
, had in 1963 come to power as Prime Minister of the Congo after being in exile in Spain, and was now fighting against the Simba rebels, a nationalist and anti-imperialist group that was being supported by the Soviet Union, China, and Cuba. The rebellion became a key battle in the Cold War, and Tshombe called on western nations to assist him in the war, as well as European mercenaries to help his army. Rafał soon travelled to the Congo Embassy in Brussels and volunteered to fight, motivated by his strong anti-communist beliefs.
Yemen
In 1967, Gan-Ganowicz traveled to
Yemen
Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the north and Oman to the northeast an ...
under government contract from the King of Saudi Arabia to train local tribal insurgents on the
Royalist
A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of governm ...
side against the Soviet-backed coalition of
Nasserist
Nasserism ( ) is an Arab nationalist and Arab socialist political ideology based on the thinking of Gamal Abdel Nasser, one of the two principal leaders of the Egyptian Revolution of 1952, and Egypt's second President. Spanning the domestic ...
. Eventually the republican side won and the European mercenaries, including Rafal, were driven out. In Yemen, the unit commanded by Ganowicz managed to shoot down a Soviet assault plane piloted by colonel Kozlov, head of Soviet "military advisors" group in Yemen. Documents found with Kozlov were later used at UN as evidence of Soviet active engagement in the military conflict, which was denied by USSR.
Later life
On November 11, 1989, he was appointed a member of the
National Council of the Republic of Poland
National may refer to:
Common uses
* Nation or country
** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen
Places in the United States
* National, Maryland, ce ...
from France in the eighth term (1989-1991) by President of the Polish Government-in-exile
Ryszard Kaczorowski
Ryszard Kaczorowski, GCMG (; 26 November 1919 – 10 April 2010) was a Polish statesman. From 1989 to 1990, he served as the last President of Poland- in-exile. He succeeded Kazimierz Sabbat, and resigned his post following Poland's regaini ...
.
He died of
lung cancer
Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma (since about 98–99% of all lung cancers are carcinomas), is a malignant lung tumor characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissues of the lung. Lung carcinomas derive from transformed, malign ...
on November 22, 2002, at the age of 70. The funeral took place on November 26, 2002, in Lublin. He was buried in the cemetery in Kalinowszczyzna.
In 2007, president
Lech Kaczyński
Lech Aleksander Kaczyński (; 18 June 194910 April 2010) was a Polish politician who served as the city mayor of Warsaw from 2002 until 2005, and as President of Poland from 2005 until his death in 2010. Before his tenure as president, he pre ...
posthumously awarded Ganowicz the
Order of Polonia Restituta
, image=Polonia Restituta - Commander's Cross pre-1939 w rib.jpg
, image_size=200px
, caption=Commander's Cross of Polonia Restituta
, presenter = the President of Poland
, country =
, type=Five classes
, eligibility=All
, awar ...
"for outstanding services in promoting democratic changes in Poland, for achievements in professional and social work undertaken for the benefit of the country".