Mieczysław Kawalec (

noms de guerre A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name ( orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individu ...

"Iza", "Zbik", "Psarski", "Stanislawski"), born in 1916 in the village of Trzciana, Rzeszów County, was a Polish resistance fighter. In the late 1930s, he graduated from the Law Department at

Lwów University The University of Lviv ( uk, Львівський університет, Lvivskyi universytet; pl, Uniwersytet Lwowski; german: Universität Lemberg, briefly known as the ''Theresianum'' in the early 19th century), presently the Ivan Franko Na ...

, and took the job of an assistant there. During the

Polish 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 ...

, he fought in the defence of

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 Ukraine ...

, and in 1940 he joined the Rzeszów District of

Union of Armed Struggle Związek Walki Zbrojnej ( abbreviation: ''ZWZ''; Union of Armed Struggle;Thus rendered in Norman Davies, ''God's Playground: A History of Poland'', vol. II, p. 464. also translated as ''Union for Armed Struggle'', ''Association of Armed Strug ...

(ZWZ) (later

Armia Krajowa The Home Army ( pl, Armia Krajowa, abbreviated AK; ) was the dominant resistance movement in German-occupied Poland during World War II. The Home Army was formed in February 1942 from the earlier Związek Walki Zbrojnej (Armed Resistance) esta ...

). From 1945, he was the commander of the Rzeszów District of the anti-Communist organization,

Freedom and Independence Freedom and Independence Association ( pl, Zrzeszenie Wolność i Niezawisłość, or WiN) was a Polish underground anticommunist organisation founded on September 2, 1945 and active until 1952. Political goals and realities The main purpose of it ...

(WiN). Later, Kawalec moved to

Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...

, joining the Department of Information and Propaganda of the 4th Headquarters of WiN, under

Łukasz Ciepliński Łukasz Ciepliński [] (26 November 1913 – 1 March 1951) was a Polish soldier who fought in the Polish Polish resistance movement in World War II, anti-Nazi and Cursed soldiers, anti-communist resistance movements. He used various aliases: ''P ...

and

Adam Lazarowicz Major Adam Lazarowicz (noms de guerre "Klamra", "Pomorski", "Zygmunt", "Jadzik", "Aleksander", 1902 – 1 March 1951) was a Polish military officer who played a prominent role in the Polish resistance movement in the German-occupied Poland in th ...

. Due to betrayal, he was arrested on 1 February 1948 in

Poronin Poronin , is a village in southern Poland situated in Tatra County of the Lesser Poland Voivodeship since 1999 (it was previously in Nowy Sącz Voivodeship from 1975-1998). It lies approximately north-east of Zakopane and south of the regional ...

and transported to the

Mokotów Prison Mokotów Prison ( pl, Więzienie mokotowskie, also known as ''Rakowiecka Prison'') is a prison in Warsaw's borough of Mokotów, Poland, located at 37 Rakowiecka Street. It was built by the Russians in the final years of the foreign Partitions of ...

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 ...

. Tortured during the investigation, in October 1950 he was sentenced to death four times. Kawalec was executed by a shot in the head on 1 March 1951. His body was buried in an unknown location.

References

WiN , Freedom and Independence - A Historical Brief
by Dr. Janusz Marek Kurtyka, Ph.D., Instytut Pamięci Narodowej, IPN, Poland. {{DEFAULTSORT:Kawalec, Mieczyslaw 1916 births 1951 deaths People from Rzeszów County People from the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria People executed by the Polish People's Republic Nonpersons in the Eastern Bloc Cursed soldiers killed in action Executed Polish people Executed military personnel People executed by Poland by firearm Executed people from Podkarpackie Voivodeship

See also

References