Aleksander Jeljaszewicz, known as "Sasza" (22 March 1902 – 18 August 1978)Aleksander Miśkiewicz

Tygodnik Wileńszczyzny, 3 - 9 sierpnia 2006 r. nr 31 (wydanie internetowe nr 308) was a Major in 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 stret ...

. He was the commander of the last Tatar/Islamic unit in the Polish military.

Early life

An ethnic— Polish (Lipka) Tatar, Jeljaszewicz was born in

Vilna Vilnius ( , ; see also other names) is the capital and largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the municipality of Vilnius). The population of Vilnius's functional u ...

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. ...

, the son of Jan (John), a captain in the

Russian Imperial Army The Imperial Russian Army (russian: Ру́сская импера́торская а́рмия, tr. ) was the armed land force of the Russian Empire, active from around 1721 to the Russian Revolution of 1917. In the early 1850s, the Russian Ar ...

. Between 1912 and 1919 he was a student at Corps of

Cadet A cadet is an officer trainee or candidate. The term is frequently used to refer to those training to become an officer in the military, often a person who is a junior trainee. Its meaning may vary between countries which can include youths in ...

s in

Pskov Pskov ( rus, Псков, a=pskov-ru.ogg, p=pskof; see also names in other languages) is a city in northwestern Russia and the administrative center of Pskov Oblast, located about east of the Estonian border, on the Velikaya River. Population ...

, and later in

Kiev Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...

. Evacuated to Turkey and Yugoslavia, he finished officers' school as a cavalry officer in 1923. In 1924 and 1925, he was serving in the

Serb The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are the most numerous South Slavic ethnic group native to the Balkans in Southeastern Europe, who share a common Serbian ancestry, culture, history and language. The majority of Serbs live in their na ...

border guards' unit, only to return to Poland in 1925.

In the Polish Army

The same year, he joined the Polish military and was sent to the Cavalry Officers' School in Grudziadz. He became a professional (soldier) officer in 1928 in the "Zaniemieńskich" ("Beyond

Niemen River The Neman, Nioman, Nemunas or MemelTo bankside nations of the present: Lithuanian: be, Нёман, , ; russian: Неман, ''Neman''; past: ger, Memel (where touching Prussia only, otherwise Nieman); lv, Nemuna; et, Neemen; pl, Niemen; ...

") 4th Regiment of

Uhlans Uhlans (; ; ; ; ) were a type of light cavalry, primarily armed with a lance. While first appearing in the cavalry of Lithuania and then Poland, Uhlans were quickly adopted by the mounted forces of other countries, including France, Russia, Pr ...

in Vilnius

garrison A garrison (from the French ''garnison'', itself from the verb ''garnir'', "to equip") is any body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it. The term now often applies to certain facilities that constitute a mil ...

. In 1938, he was transferred to the 13th Regiment of Wilno Uhlans "Wileńskich" ("From Vilnius") in Nowa Wilejka (at present part of Vilnius), where he was the commander of the 1st Tatar Squadron (1 Szwadron Tatarski). The last mounted Tatar unit in the history of the Polish military. In 1939, he participated in the

September Campaign 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 after ...

September Campaign

In the first days of September, the 13th Regiment of Wilno Uhlans "Wileńskich" fought near Piotrkow; next, it crossed 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 ...

near

Maciejowice Maciejowice is a village in Garwolin County, Masovian Voivodeship, in east-central Poland. It is the seat of the gmina (administrative district) called Gmina Maciejowice. It lies in northeastern corner of historic Lesser Poland, approximately so ...

. Near Maciejowice on the 9 or 10 September, the Tatar squadron executed the last charge against German

infantry Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and marine i ...

. The charge has become a symbol of the closing of the chapter in the history of the Polish military: the end of the last Islamic/Tatar unit. Soon after, 13th Regiment of Wilno Uhlans was dispersed by the enemy during fighting near the village of

Suchowola Suchowola (; lt, Suchovola, be, Сухаволя ''Suchavolja'') is a town in north-eastern Poland in Sokółka County, located on both banks of the Olszanka River. It is situated in the Podlaskie Voivodeship (since 1999), having previously be ...

near

Lublin Lublin is the ninth-largest city in Poland and the second-largest city of historical Lesser Poland. It is the capital and the center of Lublin Voivodeship with a population of 336,339 (December 2021). Lublin is the largest Polish city east of t ...

. Jeljaszewicz together with the few of his men who have not been dispersed tried to reach the

Romanian Bridgehead __NOTOC__ The Romanian Bridgehead ( pl, Przedmoście rumuńskie; ro, Capul de pod român) was an area in southeastern Poland that is now located in Ukraine. During the invasion of Poland in 1939 at the start of the Second World War), the Polish ...

, but was stopped, and spent the rest of the war in a German

oflag An Oflag (from german: Offizierslager) was a type of prisoner of war camp for officers which the German Army established in World War I in accordance with the requirements of the 1899 Hague Convention, and in World War II in accordance with the r ...

After war

He came back to Poland and lived in Gdańsk. He worked in PZU. He was an active member of the local Tatar community paving the way for people like Professor

Selim Chazbijewicz Selim Chazbijewicz (born 17 November 1955 in Gdańsk) is a Polish political scientist, columnist, and poet. Between 2017 and 2023, he served as an ambassador to Kazakhstan. Life Selim Chazbijewicz was born in 1957 in Gdańsk to a family of ...

("Mirza Selim Juszenski-- Chazbijewicz" last part the clan name or the coat—of—arms' name), the main historian of the

Polish Tatars The Lipka Tatars (Lipka – refers to '' Lithuania'', also known as Lithuanian Tatars; later also – Polish Tatars, Polish-Lithuanian Tatars, ''Lipkowie'', ''Lipcani'', ''Muślimi'', ''Lietuvos totoriai'') are a Turkic ethnic group who origi ...

. He died in

Gdańsk Gdańsk ( , also ; ; csb, Gduńsk;Stefan Ramułt, ''Słownik języka pomorskiego, czyli kaszubskiego'', Kraków 1893, Gdańsk 2003, ISBN 83-87408-64-6. , Johann Georg Theodor Grässe, ''Orbis latinus oder Verzeichniss der lateinischen Benen ...

, and was buried in the Islamic Tatar Cemetery 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 ...

Other Polish non-Christian World War Two soldiers

Dawid Moryc Apfelbaum Dawid Moryc Apfelbaum (some sources give Mieczysław or Mordechaj as his second name, and Appelbaum as his surname), ''nom de guerre'' "Kowal" ("Blacksmith") (?-4/28/1943) was allegedly an officer in the Polish Army and a commander of the Jewish ...

Baruch Steinberg Baruch or Boruch Steinberg (17 December 1897–after 9 April 1940) was a Polish rabbi and military officer. He was Chief Rabbi of the Polish Army during German invasion of Poland and Soviet invasion of Poland in 1939 and was murdered by the Soviet ...

* Mieczyslaw Norwid-Neugebauer

References