Władysław Żytkowicz (January 15, 1907 – April 22, 1977) was a Polish soldier and skier.
Biography
Żytkowicz was born in
Zakopane. He was member of the ''SN PTT-1907 Klub Sportowy Kemping Zakopane'', and primarily competed in the B-Class in 1923. As a soldier he took part at the
military patrol demonstration events of the
1928
Events January
* January – British bacteriologist Frederick Griffith reports the results of Griffith's experiment, indirectly proving the existence of DNA.
* January 1 – Eastern Bloc emigration and defection: Boris Bazhanov, J ...
and
1936 Winter Olympics
The 1936 Winter Olympics, officially known as the IV Olympic Winter Games (german: IV. Olympische Winterspiele) and commonly known as Garmisch-Partenkirchen 1936 ( bar, Garmasch-Partakurch 1936), were a winter multi-sport event held from 6 to 16 ...
. The
team of 1928 placed seventh and the
team of 1936 placed ninth.
He placed third at the Polish national championship of
ski jumping from 1927 to 1930 in a row
and participated in the
FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 1929. In 1931 he was national champion of
Nordic combined.
Żytkowicz was an officer in the
Polish Army active in the defense of Poland against the
Nazi German invasion of September 1939, and retreated with the army across the border to neighboring
Romania after the
Soviet Union also
invaded Poland on 17 September as an ally of Germany. He made his way to French-administered Syria, where the Polish forces regrouped as the
Independent Carpathian Brigade, later crossing into
British-administered Palestine when France capitulated to Germany. He saw action at
Tobruk, Libya, and served in the
Italian campaign against Germany as part of the
Polish Second Corps
The Polish II Corps ( pl, Drugi Korpus Wojska Polskiego), 1943–1947, was a major tactical and operational unit of the Polish Armed Forces in the West during World War II. It was commanded by Lieutenant General Władysław Anders and fought wit ...
under General
Władysław Anders.
After the end of hostilities, he managed to smuggle his young family out of Soviet-occupied Poland to Italy, and together they were transferred with the Polish Army to England, where he was demobilized. He emigrated with his wife, Stanislawa, and daughters Anna, Maria and Kinga, to
Hartford, Connecticut
Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since the ...
.
External links
Władysław Żytkowicz - Całą zimę chodził w swetrze…
Photo of the Polish military patrol team from 1928
References
1907 births
1977 deaths
Polish military patrol (sport) runners
Polish male ski jumpers
Polish male Nordic combined skiers
Military patrol competitors at the 1928 Winter Olympics
Military patrol competitors at the 1936 Winter Olympics
Olympic biathletes for Poland
Polish Army officers
People from Tatra County
Skiers from Lesser Poland Voivodeship
Skiers from Zakopane
Polish military personnel of World War II
{{Poland-skijumping-bio-stub