Brigadier General Bolesław Jerzy Roja (4 April 1876 − 27 May 1940) was an officer of the

Polish Legions in World War I The Polish Legions () was a name of the Polish military force (the first active Polish army in generations) established in August 1914 in Galicia (Central Europe), Galicia soon after World War I erupted between the opposing alliances of the Trip ...

, a general, and a politician 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 ...

, recipient of some of the highest Polish military awards including

Virtuti Militari The War Order of Virtuti Militari (Latin: ''"For Military Virtue"'', ) is Poland's highest military decoration for heroism and courage in the face of the enemy at war. It was established in 1792 by the last King of Poland Stanislaus II of Poland, ...

. He opposed

Józef Piłsudski Józef Klemens Piłsudski (; 5 December 1867 – 12 May 1935) was a Polish statesman who served as the Chief of State (Poland), Chief of State (1918–1922) and first Marshal of Poland (from 1920). In the aftermath of World War I, he beca ...

and his

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 in the 1920s. After 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 ...

in 1939 he was arrested and murdered by the

Nazis Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

Sachsenhausen concentration camp Sachsenhausen () or Sachsenhausen-Oranienburg was a German Nazi concentration camp in Oranienburg, Germany, used from 1936 until April 1945, shortly before the defeat of Nazi Germany in May later that year. It mainly held political prisoners t ...

Life

Roja was born on 4 April 1876 in the village of Bryńce Zagórne near Żydaczów, Austrian Galicia to a family of forester Józef Roja and Maria ''

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

'' Trzcińska. He graduated from the

Austro-Hungarian Army The Austro-Hungarian Army, also known as the Imperial and Royal Army,; was the principal ground force of Austria-Hungary from 1867 to 1918. It consisted of three organisations: the Common Army (, recruited from all parts of Austria-Hungary), ...

Cadet School in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

. In 1899 he was promoted to Second Lieutenant, and served with the 36th Land Defence Regiment (k.k. ''Landwehr Infanterie Regiment'' Nr. 36) in Kolomyja. In 1905, due to poor health, he was transferred to army reserve. Roja cooperated with Austro-Hungarian intelligence. For a time, he studied law and medicine at

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 ...

, and work as a civil servant in

Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...

.B.W.
Bolesław Roja
''Bitwa Warszawska.pl'', 2010 Starostwo Powiatowe w Wołominie. After the outbreak of

World War I 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 ...

, Roja joined Polish Legions. He was a close coworker of

, but after the

Oath crisis The Oath crisis (; German language, German: ''Eidkrise'') was a World War I political conflict between the Imperial German Army command and the Józef Piłsudski-led Polish Legions in World War I, Polish Legions. Initially supporting the Central P ...

, he left the Legions and rejoined the Austro-Hungarian Army. In early 1918, he served in

Graz Graz () is the capital of the Austrian Federal states of Austria, federal state of Styria and the List of cities and towns in Austria, second-largest city in Austria, after Vienna. On 1 January 2025, Graz had a population of 306,068 (343,461 inc ...

, returning to Kraków after several months. Bolesław Roja immediately got involved in Polish patriotic activities. In late October 1918 he took over former Austrian Military Command in Kraków, and, on 1 November, the Regency Council, in recognition of his outstanding services, promoted him to the rank of

Generał brygady Brigadier general ( Polish: ''generał brygady'' , abbreviated ''gen. bryg.'') is the lowest grade for generals in the Polish Army (both in the land forces and in the Polish Air Force). Depending on the context, it is equivalent to both the moder ...

and named him commandant of Kraków garrison. Roja's promotion was soon confirmed by Polish Commander-in-chief, Jozef Pilsudski.

Second Polish Republic

Between February and August 1919, Roja commanded the Polish 2nd Legions Infantry Division, fighting for the return of Poland's sovereignty against the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

in present-day

Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...

(see the

Polish–Soviet War The Polish–Soviet War (14 February 1919 – 18 March 1921) was fought primarily between the Second Polish Republic and the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, following World War I and the Russian Revolution. After the collapse ...

). On 8 August 1919, his unit captured

Minsk Minsk (, ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach (Berezina), Svislach and the now subterranean Nyamiha, Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the administra ...

, after which Roja was transferred to the command of the garrison of

Kielce Kielce (; ) is a city in south-central Poland and the capital of the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship. In 2021, it had 192,468 inhabitants. The city is in the middle of the Świętokrzyskie Mountains (Holy Cross Mountains), on the banks of the Silnic ...

. In March 1920 he commanded Polish Army in

Pomerelia Pomerelia, also known as Eastern Pomerania, Vistula Pomerania, and also before World War II as Polish Pomerania, is a historical sub-region of Pomerania on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea in northern Poland. Gdańsk Pomerania is largely c ...

(''Okręg Generalny VIII

Toruń Toruń is a city on the Vistula River in north-central Poland and a World Heritage Sites of Poland, UNESCO World Heritage Site. Its population was 196,935 as of December 2021. Previously, it was the capital of the Toruń Voivodeship (1975–199 ...

''),Dariusz Krakowiak (8 November 2011)
Bolesław Roja
(in) ''Józef Piłsudski i jego czasy''. . and in August 1920, he was commandant of

Narew The Narew (; ; or ) is a 499-kilometre (310 mi) river primarily in north-eastern Poland. It is a tributary of the river Vistula. The Narew is one of Europe's few braided rivers, the term relating to the twisted channels resembling braided h ...

Operational Group of the Polish Northern Front. Roja was skeptical about Polish victory in the war against Soviet Russia. In July 1920, when the Red Army reached the suburbs of

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

, he planned to declare independence of Pomerelia, and sign a separatist peace with the Soviets. Due to his defeatist approach and involvement in politics, he was in late August 1920 demoted from his position. On 20 September, Roja was transferred to reserve until 1922. In the late 1920s, Roja frequently criticized Józef Piłsudski and his

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 ...

government. In 1928 he was elected to the

Sejm The Sejm (), officially known as the Sejm of the Republic of Poland (), is the lower house of the bicameralism, bicameral parliament of Poland. The Sejm has been the highest governing body of the Third Polish Republic since the Polish People' ...

as member of '' Stronnictwo Chłopskie'' peasant party. He was chief deputy of Military Commission of the Parliament, and in December 1929 he resigned from the Sejm. In August 1930, Roja wrote an open letter to Pilsudski, but the document was confiscated by the censorship before its official release. In 1937, upon an order of General Tadeusz Kasprzycki, Roja was interned at a psychiatric ward of the Kraków's military hospital. Roja did not fight in the

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 ...

. In late 1939, he became involved in charity activities of the Polish Red Cross. In March 1940, Roja was arrested by the Germans and placed in the infamous Pawiak prison in Warsaw. In May 1940 he was transferred to

, where he was murdered on 27 May 1940.

Awards and honors

* Silver Cross of

.Dziennik Rozkazów (192
Dekrety i Rozkazy Naczelnego Wodza
( DjVu format, direct download) J. Pilsudski, m.p. R. 3, nr 1. ''Silesian Digital Library''. Katowice. *

Cross of Independence Cross of Independence () was the second highest Polish military decoration between World Wars I and II. It was awarded to individuals who had fought actively for the independence of Poland, and was released in three classes. History The Cr ...

. * Cross of Valour, four times.

Promotions

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

, November 2, 1918, * General dywizji – 1922.

Life

Second Polish Republic

Awards and honors

Promotions

See also

Notes and references

Further reading