George Charles Malcher also known as G.C. Malcher or Jerzy Karol Malcher (11 July 1914 – 21 May 2001) was a writer, historian, and political analyst educated in the field of law at the Jagiellonian University of

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 ...

in the

Interwar Poland The Second Polish Republic, at the time officially known as the Republic of Poland, was a country in Central and Eastern Europe that existed between 1918 and 1939. The state was established on 6 November 1918, before the end of the First World ...

. He is the author of two nominal books about the history of

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

and Polish-Soviet relations under Communist dictatorship: ''Poland's Politicized Army'' (1984), and ''Blank Pages, Soviet Genocide Against the Polish People'' (1993). During the Nazi German

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 af ...

of 1939, Malcher escaped from a POW field hospital and in 1940 joined the

Polish Armed Forces in the West The Polish Armed Forces in the West () refers to the Polish military formations formed to fight alongside the Western Allies against Nazi Germany and its allies during World War II. Polish forces were also raised within Soviet territories; th ...

led by

General Sikorski A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED O ...

. He served under British Command in Great Britain, North Africa and Italy mainly in intelligence services. Following World War II he did not return to new Soviet-controlled Poland and subsequently worked for over 30 years as a high-grade linguist in the British Civil Service in

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English cities on its south coast, Southampton and Portsmouth, Hampshire ...

where he lived. In 1958 George Malcher was awarded Membership of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

in recognition of his service with the U.K. Ministry of Defence.

Life and work

Malcher was born at the onset of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

Upper Silesia Upper Silesia ( pl, Górny Śląsk; szl, Gůrny Ślůnsk, Gōrny Ślōnsk; cs, Horní Slezsko; german: Oberschlesien; Silesian German: ; la, Silesia Superior) is the southeastern part of the historical and geographical region of Silesia, locate ...

. He studied law and administration in the already sovereign Poland at the Jagiellonian University, and political systems at the School of Political Sciences in Kraków. He arrived in Great Britain after the Dunkirk evacuation of British and French forces during that battle. Decades after World War II, during the birth of Solidarity in Poland which coincided with his retirement, Malcher was again involved in the political struggle for Poland's return to freedom. He died in Hampshire, United Kingdom, aged 86 years, survived by Jadwiga, his wife of 54 years and their three children. George Malcher is the author of two books related to history of wartorn Poland; his ''Poland's Politicized Army'' subtitled ''Communists in uniform'' was published in 1984 by Praeger, New York, U.S.A. and ''Blank Pages, Soviet Genocide Against the Polish People'' was published in the UK in 1993 by Pyrford Press.

Notes and references

{{DEFAULTSORT:Malcher, George Jagiellonian University alumni Polish military personnel of World War II Polish exiles Polish emigrants to the United Kingdom Honorary Members of the Order of the British Empire Historians of Poland 1914 births 2001 deaths 20th-century British historians