Jan Karol Wasiewicz (6 January 1911 – 9 November 1976) was an interwar

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...

football player. Wasiewicz was a midfielder both in

Pogoń Lwów LKS Pogoń Lwów is a former Polish professional sports club which was located in Lwów, Lwów Voivodeship (now Lviv in Ukraine), and existed from 1904 until the outbreak of World War II in 1939. It was the second oldest Polish football club beh ...

(one of the best teams of interwar Poland), and the Polish National Team. His career started in 1926 in another Lwów team – RKS. Then he moved to Lechia Lwów and in 1933 to Pogoń. In the last team, he played in the Polish Soccer League in the years 1933–1939, representing Pogoń in 102 games and scoring 3 goals. In the Polish National Team, Wasiewicz took part in 11 games, scoring 3 goals. He was part of Poland's squad for the 1936 Summer Olympics. He was also a reserve team player during the

1938 FIFA World Cup The 1938 FIFA World Cup was the third edition of the World Cup, the quadrennial international football championship for senior men's national teams and was held in France from 4 June until 19 June 1938. Italy defended its title in the final, bea ...

, but did not go to France. Most probably, he would have played in the legendary game Poland –

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

5-6 (5 June 1938, Strasbourg, France), had it not been for an injury. At the last minute, Wasiewicz was replaced by Ewald Dytko. Wasiewicz fought in the

Invasion of Poland 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 aft ...

. After Poland's defeat, he escaped to

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the ...

. From there, moved to France and then to England, where he fought in General Stanisław Maczek's

First Polish Armoured Division The Polish 1st Armoured Division ( Polish ''1 Dywizja Pancerna'') was an armoured division of the Polish Armed Forces in the West during World War II. Created in February 1942 at Duns in Scotland, it was commanded by Major General Stanisła ...

. In late 1944 and early 1945, he fought in France,

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

and

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, in a famous 1st Polish Infantry Battalion "Bloody Shirts". In recognition of extraordinary service, Wasiewicz was honored with highest orders, including the Belgian

Order of Léopold The Order of Leopold ( nl, Leopoldsorde, french: Ordre de Léopold, ) is one of the three current Belgian national honorary orders of knighthood. It is the oldest and highest order of Belgium and is named in honour of its founder, King Leo ...

. Until 1946, he served in the occupation forces in Germany. Then he moved to England, and in 1949 to Argentina, where he died.

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