Zdzisław Karos (died February 23, 1982) was a senior

sergeant Sergeant (abbreviated to Sgt. and capitalized when used as a named person's title) is a rank in many uniformed organizations, principally military and policing forces. The alternative spelling, ''serjeant'', is used in The Rifles and other uni ...

Citizens' Militia A militia () is generally an army or some other fighting organization of non-professional soldiers, citizens of a country, or subjects of a state, who may perform military service during a time of need, as opposed to a professional force of r ...

People's Republic of Poland The Polish People's Republic ( pl, Polska Rzeczpospolita Ludowa, PRL) was a country in Central Europe that existed from 1947 to 1989 as the predecessor of the modern Republic of Poland. With a population of approximately 37.9 million nea ...

who served as a guard to the

embassies A diplomatic mission or foreign mission is a group of people from a state or organization present in another state to represent the sending state or organization officially in the receiving or host state. In practice, the phrase usually deno ...

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 ...

and is known as the only certain fatal victim of the generally non-violent ''

Solidarity ''Solidarity'' is an awareness of shared interests, objectives, standards, and sympathies creating a psychological sense of unity of groups or classes. It is based on class collaboration.''Merriam Webster'', http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictio ...

''. On February 23, 1982, Karos was on the way to his workplace. While in a street car he was attacked by two juveniles, who were trying to disarm him. In the fight that followed, Karos was fatally shot by 17-year-old Robert Chechłacz. Both young men who attacked Karos were members of the secret anti-government paramilitary organisation ''Upspring Home Army - Second Company'', led by a Roman Catholic

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...

Sylwester Zych, named after the Polish ''

Home Army 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 ...

'' and protesting against

martial law Martial law is the imposition of direct military control of normal civil functions or suspension of civil law by a government, especially in response to an emergency where civil forces are overwhelmed, or in an occupied territory. Use Marti ...

. Robert Chechłacz, was sentenced to 25 years in prison and was pardoned and freed in 1989. Sylwester Zych was convicted of helping the attackers and sentenced to 6 years in

prison A prison, also known as a jail, gaol (dated, standard English, Australian, and historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention center (or detention centre outside the US), correction center, correc ...

. He subsequently served the entire term and died in 1989 under unexplained suspicious circumstances. Zdzisław Karos was survived by two children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Karos, Zdzislaw Year of birth missing 1982 deaths Deaths by firearm in Poland Male murder victims Polish police officers People murdered in Poland