Count Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...

Adolf Bniński (21 August 1884 – 8 July 1942) was a Polish agricultural, conservative and royalist activist. He was Voivode of Poznań from 1923 to 1928 and a member of the

Senate of Poland The Senate () is the upper house of the Parliament of Poland, Polish parliament, the lower house being the Sejm of the Republic of Poland, Sejm. The history of the Polish Senate stretches back over 500 years; it was one of the first constituent ...

in the

Second Polish Republic 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 7 October 1918 and 6 October 1939. The state was established in the final stage of World War I ...

. In the aftermath of the

German invasion of Poland The invasion of Poland, also known as the September Campaign, Polish Campaign, and Polish Defensive War of 1939 (1 September – 6 October 1939), was a joint attack on the Second Polish Republic, Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany, the Slovak R ...

he was the Government Delegate for Poland for the Polish territories annexed by Nazi Germany.The Germans arrested him in July 1941, and he was killed in 1942.

Biography

Count Adolf Bniński was born on 21 August 1884 in Kosowo. He studied agriculture at the

Jagiellonian University The Jagiellonian University (, UJ) is a public research university in Kraków, Poland. Founded in 1364 by Casimir III the Great, King Casimir III the Great, it is the oldest university in Poland and one of the List of oldest universities in con ...

, as well as at the German universities in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

and Halle. He inherited significant agricultural lands, and he was a notable agricultural activist in

Greater Poland Greater Poland, often known by its Polish name Wielkopolska (; ), is a Polish Polish historical regions, historical region of west-central Poland. Its chief and largest city is Poznań followed by Kalisz, the oldest city in Poland. The bound ...

. In 1918, he became a functionary of the reborn Polish state, first as a commissar for the

Łódź Łódź is a city in central Poland and a former industrial centre. It is the capital of Łódź Voivodeship, and is located south-west of Warsaw. Łódź has a population of 655,279, making it the country's List of cities and towns in Polan ...

region in 1918, then from 1919 to 1920 as a

starost Starosta or starost (Cyrillic: ''старост/а'', Latin: ''capitaneus'', ) is a community elder in some Slavic lands. The Slavic root of "starost" translates as "senior". Since the Middle Ages, it has designated an official in a leadersh ...

of the Środa County and from 1923 to 1928 he was the voivode of Poznań. In the political arena, Bniński supported conservative and pro-monarchy views. In the Polish presidential election of 1926, he was the presidential candidate of the

Popular National Union Związek Ludowo-Narodowy (ZLN; ) was a Polish political party aligned with the National Democracy political movement during the Second Polish Republic, gathering together right-wing politicians with conservative and nationalist opinions. Between ...

(Związek Ludowo-Narodowy), but he lost to

Ignacy Mościcki Ignacy Mościcki (; 1 December 1867 – 2 October 1946) was a Polish chemist and politician who was the country's president from 1926 to 1939. He was the longest serving president in Polish history. Mościcki was the President of Poland when Ge ...

. In 1935, despite his opposition to the

sanacja Sanation (, ) was a Polish political movement that emerged in the interwar period, prior to Józef Piłsudski's May Coup (Poland), May 1926 ''Coup d'État'', and gained influence following the coup. In 1928, its political activists went on to fo ...

regime, he joined the

senate of Poland The Senate () is the upper house of the Parliament of Poland, Polish parliament, the lower house being the Sejm of the Republic of Poland, Sejm. The history of the Polish Senate stretches back over 500 years; it was one of the first constituent ...

, and was a senator until 1938. After the

he joined the

Polish Underground State The Polish Underground State (, also known as the Polish Secret State) was a single political and military entity formed by the union of resistance organizations in occupied Poland that were loyal to the Government of the Republic of Poland ...

. In July 1940 he was chosen to be the Government Delegate for Poland for the Polish territories annexed by Nazi Germany although he did not receive the official nomination from general

Władysław Sikorski Władysław Eugeniusz Sikorski (; 20 May 18814 July 1943) was a Polish military and political leader. Before World War I, Sikorski established and participated in several underground organizations that promoted the cause of Polish independenc ...

until December 3. Bniński was arrested by then Germans in July 1941, for refusing to express support for a joint Polish-German anti-

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

declaration. He was imprisoned in

Poznań Poznań ( ) is a city on the Warta, River Warta in west Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business center and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint John's ...

and tortured and executed on the nights of 7 to 8 July 1942. The exact circumstances of the disposal of his body are unknown; according to

Zbigniew Mieczkowski Zbigniew () is a Polish masculine given name, originally Zbygniew . This West Slavic name is derived from the Polish elements ''Zby-'' (from ''zbyć, zbyć się, or pozbyć się'', meaning "to dispel", "to get rid of") and ''gniew'', meaning "ange ...

he could have even been fed to wild animals (

lion The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large Felidae, cat of the genus ''Panthera'', native to Sub-Saharan Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body (biology), body; a short, rounded head; round ears; and a dark, hairy tuft at the ...

s). Interview with Zbigniew Mieczkowski
Wymazani przez historię
, rp.pl, 28-07-2008 It was not until 10 October 1942 that

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

's Foreign Ministry retroactively issued a

death penalty Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence ordering that an offender be punished in s ...

for Bniński. His position as Delegate was taken by Leon Mikołajczyk. In 1995 he was

posthumously Posthumous may refer to: * Posthumous award, an award, prize or medal granted after the recipient's death * Posthumous publication, publishing of creative work after the author's death * Posthumous (album), ''Posthumous'' (album), by Warne Marsh, 1 ...

awarded the Order of the White Eagle.

Notes

References

Short bio
("ulica Adolfa Bnińskiego")

External links

Photo
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bninski, Adolf 1884 births 1942 deaths People from Gostyń County People from the Province of Posen Popular National Union politicians Senators of the Second Polish Republic (1935–1938) Jagiellonian University alumni Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich alumni University of Halle alumni Polish monarchists Polish torture victims Polish people executed by Nazi Germany Executed people from Greater Poland Voivodeship Recipients of the Order of the White Eagle (Poland) Members of Akcja Katolicka Government delegates for Poland Polish counts of the Kingdom of Prussia

Biography

Notes

References

Further reading

External links