Aleksander Krzyżanowski ''

nom de guerre A ''nom de guerre'' (, 'war name') is a pseudonym chosen by someone to use when they are involved in a particular activity, especially fighting in a war. In Ancien régime, ''ancien régime'' Kingdom of France, France it would be adopted by each n ...

'' "Wilk" (18 February 1895 – 29 September 1951) was an

artillery Artillery consists of ranged weapons that launch Ammunition, munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during sieges, and l ...

colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

of the

Polish Army The Land Forces () are the Army, land forces of the Polish Armed Forces. They currently contain some 110,000 active personnel and form many components of the European Union and NATO deployments around the world. Poland's recorded military histor ...

, officer of the Service for Poland's Victory, Union of Armed Struggle, commander of the Vilnius District of the

Home Army The Home Army (, ; 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) established in the ...

political prisoner A political prisoner is someone imprisoned for their political activity. The political offense is not always the official reason for the prisoner's detention. There is no internationally recognized legal definition of the concept, although ...

of the

Stalinist Stalinism (, ) is the totalitarian means of governing and Marxist–Leninist policies implemented in the Soviet Union (USSR) from 1927 to 1953 by dictator Joseph Stalin and in Soviet satellite states between 1944 and 1953. Stalinism in ...

period. In 1994 he was posthumously promoted to the rank of brigade general.

World War I

Aleksander Krzyżanowski was born in

Bryansk Bryansk (, ) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Bryansk Oblast, Russia, situated on the Desna (river), Desna River, southwest of Moscow. It has a population of 379,152 at the 2021 census. Bryans ...

and was conscripted into the

Russian Army The Russian Ground Forces (), also known as the Russian Army in English, are the Army, land forces of the Russian Armed Forces. The primary responsibilities of the Russian Ground Forces are the protection of the state borders, combat on land, ...

during the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, where he specialized in

Second Polish Republic

Polish-Soviet War

After Poland regained independence in 1918 he joined the Polish military, and took part in the Polish-Soviet War where he distinguished himself in 1919 receiving the

Krzyż Walecznych The Cross of Valour () is a Polish military decoration. It was introduced by the Council of National Defense (Poland), Council of National Defense on 11 August 1920. It is awarded to an individual who "has demonstrated deeds of valour and courage ...

medal, and in January 1920 he took part in the heavy fighting at the Battle of Daugavpils.

Interwar

During the

interwar In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period, also known as the interbellum (), lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days) – from the end of World War I (WWI) to the beginning of World War II ( ...

period 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 ...

he further continued his military career.

World War II

Polish Defence War of 1939

At the time of the Nazi invasion of Poland (1 September 1939) he was commanding the 26th Regiment of Light Artillery, of the 26th Infantry Division, part of the Poznań Army under general Tadeusz Kutrzeba. His unit was destroyed during the

Battle of the Bzura The Battle of the Bzura (or the Battle of Kutno) was both the largest battle and Polish counter-attack of the German invasion of Poland and was fought from 9 to 19 September.''The Second World War: An Illustrated History '', Putnam, 1975, Goog ...

Resistance

Soon after occupation he organized a partisan unit at

Świętokrzyskie Mountains The Świętokrzyskie Mountains (, ), often anglicized to Holy Cross Mountains, are a mountain range in central Poland, near the city of Kielce. The mountain range comprises several lesser ranges, the highest of which is Łysogóry (literally ...

, however, after this unit was defeated by the Germans, he went to Warsaw by late October, joining the first Polish resistance organization, the Service for Poland's Victory. In November, he was assigned to

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...

, which was at the time occupied by the Soviet Union according to the

Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact The Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, officially the Treaty of Non-Aggression between Germany and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, and also known as the Hitler–Stalin Pact and the Nazi–Soviet Pact, was a non-aggression pact between Nazi Ge ...

. The SZP was transformed into Związek Walki Zbrojnej. When in April 1941 Soviet

NKVD The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (, ), abbreviated as NKVD (; ), was the interior ministry and secret police of the Soviet Union from 1934 to 1946. The agency was formed to succeed the Joint State Political Directorate (OGPU) se ...

arrested the commander of the ZWP in the Vilnius region, general Nikodem Sulik, Krzyżanowski ''de facto'' replaced him, with his position being officially confirmed by general Stefan Rowecki in August. In 1942 ZWP was transformed into

Armia Krajowa The Home Army (, ; 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) established in the ...

(AK). Krzyżanowski attempted to build a larger anti-German coalition, hence opening negotiations with representatives of the Lithuanian and Belarusian resistance, which were fruitless, also issuing explicit orders that no ethnic group, including Jews, should be mistreated. He also opened negotiations with the representatives of the Lithuanian and Belarusian resistance but they were fruitless. The negotiations with the Soviets initially led nowhere as well. The Soviet Union ultimately aimed to regain the control of the area it had in 1939 from Germany and

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...

's aim to ensure that an independent Poland would never reemerge in the postwar period. The relationship between the Soviets and Sikorski's

Polish government in exile The Polish government-in-exile, officially known as the Government of the Republic of Poland in exile (), was the government in exile A government-in-exile (GiE) is a political group that claims to be the legitimate government of a sovere ...

, formally a commanding force of the AK, was strained at best, especially in the wake of the evidence of the mass execution of the Polish POW officers by the Soviets at Katyn which was discovered in 1943. Aleksander Krzyzanowski

As Soviet partisans were ordered to liquidate Polish Home Army units, so the local AK commanders considered the Soviets as just another enemy. Tadeusz Piotrowski, ''Poland's Holocaust'', McFarland & Company, 1997,
Google Print, p.88 p.89 p.90
/ref> As ordered by Moscow on 22 June 1943, the Soviet partisans in Poland started an open fight both against the German forces as well as the local Polish partisans.

Collaboration with the Germans

In January and February 1944, in the wake of the massive assault by the Soviet paramilitary against the Polish AK resistance units Krzyżanowski conducted a series of negotiations with the Germans. In the aftermath of talks with Seidler for Rosenfield of the Nazi German Security Service near Wilejka and Julian Christiansen, the Chief of the Vilnius

Abwehr The (German language, German for ''resistance'' or ''defence'', though the word usually means ''counterintelligence'' in a military context) ) was the German military intelligence , military-intelligence service for the ''Reichswehr'' and the ...

, cooperation between Germans and the AK was agreed upon in the area of Krzyżanowski's units' operation and, according to the report of the local Nazi official:

"three sizeable Polish detachments came over to our side and initially also fought well."

While Krzyżanowski refused to sign an explicit agreement on cooperation, the secret arrangement was made that the AK would "capture" the armaments and provisions left to them by Germans. As a result, the AK units in the area were re-supplied. The Germans pulled off their mobilization plans locally (leaving the territory for the AK's mobilization campaign) and largely withdrew. The German spies and agents were spared by the AK members and no AK members were executed by Germans in their reprisals against the local population. However any such arrangements were purely tactical, in contrast to the ideological collaboration as shown by the

Vichy regime Vichy France (; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was a French rump state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II, established as a result of the French capitulation after the defeat against ...

in France, the

Quisling regime The Quisling regime, or Quisling government are common names used to refer to the Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy, collaboration government led by Vidkun Quisling in German occupation of Norway, German-occupied Norway during th ...

in Norway or closer to the region, the

Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists The Organisation of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN; ) was a Ukrainian nationalist organization established on February 2, 1929 in Vienna, uniting the Ukrainian Military Organization with smaller, mainly youth, radical nationalist right-wing groups. ...

. The Poles' main motivation was to gain intelligence on German morale, preparedness and to acquire some badly needed weapons.Review
by

John Radzilowski John Radzilowski (born 1965) is an American historian, and author of numerous books and articles in the modern history of Poland and in the history of Polish-Americans. He is a professor of history at the University of Alaska Southeast. Caree ...

of Yaffa Eliach's '' There Once Was a World: A 900-Year Chronicle of the Shtetl of Eishyshok'',

Journal of Genocide Research The ''Journal of Genocide Research'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal covering studies of genocide. Established in 1999, for the first six years it was not peer-reviewed. Since December 2005, it is the official journal of the Interna ...

, vol. 1, no. 2 (June 1999), City University of New York. There are no known joint Polish-German actions, with the German attempts to turn the Poles toward fighting exclusively against the Soviets being unsuccessful. The collaboration of local commanders with the Germans was atypical, Joseph Rothschild, Nancy Merriwether Wingfield, ''Return to Diversity: A Political History of East Central Europe Since World War II'', p. 55,

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...

US, 1999,
Google Books preview.
''Quote:'' "the Polish Home Army was by and large untainted by collaboration." and condemned by AK High Command.

Fighting with the Lithuanians

In May 1944 Polish resistance units were attacked by the

Lithuanian Territorial Defense Force The Lithuanian Territorial Defense Force (; , LVR) was a short-lived Lithuanian volunteer military unit created in spring 1944, during the last year of the German occupation of Lithuania during World War II, German occupation of Lithuania in World ...

under General Povilas Plechavičius. Krzyżanowski attempted to negotiate, but Plechavičius demanded that AK and all Polish partisans were to retreat from the

Vilnius region Vilnius Region is the territory in present-day Lithuania and Belarus that was originally inhabited by ethnic Baltic tribes and was a part of Lithuania proper, but came under East Slavic and Polish cultural influences over time. The territory ...

or accept Lithuanian sovereignty over that territory. Henryk Piskunowicz, ''Działalnośc zbrojna Armi Krajowej na Wileńszczyśnie w latach 1942-1944'' in Krzyżanowski would not agree to such a withdrawal and the fighting escalated, eventually culminating in the Polish victory over the Lithuanian collaborationist forces in the

battle of Murowana Oszmianka The Battle of Murowana Oszmianka of 13–14 May 1944 was the largest clash between the Polish resistance movement in World War II, Polish resistance movement organization Home Army (Armia Krajowa, AK) and the Lithuanian Territorial Defense Force ...

of May 13-May 14. After that battle Krzyżanowski attempted to resume negotiations but was ignored by the Lithuanian side. The increasing hostilities culminated in June, when Lithuanian pro-Nazi Lithuanian Security Police forces, which had recently suffered a loss of several members in a skirmish with AK, massacred 37 Polish civilians in Glinciszki, a village known to support the Polish partisans. Krzyżanowski ordered his forces to increase the activity against the Lithuanians in retribution and, according to the accounts published in Lithuania, his forces conducted a multitude of actions against the Lithuanian civil population. Arūnas Bubnys
''Armija Krajova Rytų Lietuvoje''
(Armia Krajowa in Eastern Lithuania). "Atgimimas", 9 June 1989, No. 22 (35)
/ref> Vilnijos draugija. '' ttp://www.voruta.lt/archyvas/105/750 Kodėl negalima sakyti tiesos apie Armiją krajovą ?' (Why the truth about Armia Krajowa cannot be said?), „XXI amžius“ No.61(1264), 18 August 2004 It is unclear whether he was aware of the Dubingiai incident, in which an AK unit massacred a number of Lithuanian civilians (the estimated number of victims vary between 27 and close to a hundred or more). Although the Armia Krajowa's actions are still controversial in Lithuania, a Lithuanian historian Arunas Bubnys has stated that there were no mass murders by the AK (the only exception being Dubingiai), but that the AK was guilty only of some war crimes against individuals or selected families. He also noted that accusations of genocide or widespread activities by the AK are false and have underlying political motives, including to counteract accusations of widespread German-Lithuanian collaboration and crimes committed by units such as the Lithuanian Security Police.

Operation Tempest

Beginning in the spring of 1944, the Polish underground was preparing for

Operation Tempest file:Akcja_burza_1944.png, 210px, right Operation Tempest or Operation Burza (, sometimes referred to in English as "Operation Storm") was a series of uprisings conducted during World War II against occupying German forces by the Polish Home Arm ...

, which was designed to cause a large scale uprising behind the German lines to prevent the Soviet takeover of the territory by establishing a local Polish administration before the Soviet's arrival, as a sign to the entire world that the

commanded significant Polish forces. Operation Tempest would also support the Soviet Eastern Front offensive. In June Krzyżanowski and his subordinates prepared Operation Ostra Brama. On 2 July 1944, he gave orders to begin the operation on the 7 July, although because of the Soviet quick advance the operation was put into effect one day early (on 6 July). A Krzyzanowski Powazki

Largely in the effect of the German-AK relationship in the area, only a third of the available AK force took part in the operation against the Nazis. Ultimately, the Polish forces had to cooperate with the Soviets to secure

Wilno Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...

. After the Poles and Soviets defeated the Germans on 17 July 1944, Polish officers, including Krzyżanowski, who had been invited to a debriefing with the Soviets, were arrested and imprisoned.Piotrowski, op.cit
p.99

After World War II

Krzyżanowski was in prison until 1947. In August 1947 he escaped but was quickly re-arrested when he approached a Polish official who worked for the

Polish communists Communism in Poland can trace its origins to the late 19th century: the Marxist First Proletariat party was founded in 1882. Rosa Luxemburg (1871–1919) of the Social Democracy of the Kingdom of Poland and Lithuania (''Socjaldemokracja Króle ...

. He was repatriated to Poland in October 1947. He did not support any secret resistance against the Soviets, like

Freedom and Independence Freedom and Independence Association (, or WiN) was a Polish underground anticommunist organisation founded on September 2, 1945, and active until 1952. Political goals and realities The main purpose of its activity was to prevent Soviet dominat ...

, arguing that it was pointless in the face of Soviet numerical superiority and the Western betrayal, but he remained in contact with many of his former subordinates. He was however still viewed as a danger to the state by the Polish communist regime and was arrested in 1948 by the secret police,

Urząd Bezpieczeństwa The Ministry of Public Security (), was the secret police, intelligence and counter-espionage agency operating in the Polish People's Republic. From 1945 to 1954 it was known as the Security Office (, UB), and from 1956 to 1990 as the Security ...

. In prison, his health deteriorated, and he died from

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

on 29 September 1951.

Posthumous

He was buried in an unmarked grave, but in the wake of destalinization in 1957, his body was exhumed and buried in the Powązki Military Cemetery. In 1994 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 ...

promoted to the rank of brigade general.

Notes and references

Sources
Short biography