Major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

Edward Karol Gött-Getyński, or Get-Getyński '' nom-de-guerre'' Sosnowiecki (January 4, 1898 – January 25, 1943) was a Major of Artillery in 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 ...

during the

interwar period 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 ( ...

, and the underground resistance fighter during the Nazi German

occupation of Poland Occupation commonly refers to: *Occupation (human activity), or job, one's role in society, often a regular activity performed for payment *Occupation (protest), political demonstration by holding public or symbolic spaces *Military occupation, th ...

. He was shot dead at the

Auschwitz concentration camp Auschwitz, or Oświęcim, was a complex of over 40 Nazi concentration camps, concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany, occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) d ...

following the discovery of his clandestine work.

Military service

Gött-Getyński came from

Brody Brody (, ; ; ; ) is a city in Zolochiv Raion, Lviv Oblast, Zolochiv Raion, Lviv Oblast, western Ukraine. It is located in the valley of the upper Styr, Styr River, approximately northeast of the oblast capital, Lviv. Brody hosts the administrati ...

in the partitioned Poland. As an army officer, he took part in the defense of Lwów 1918-1919 (wounded twice) and 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 ...

(1919–1921, also wounded twice). In 1928, he served with the 6th Heavy Artillery Regiment in Lwów (now

Lviv Lviv ( or ; ; ; see #Names and symbols, below for other names) is the largest city in western Ukraine, as well as the List of cities in Ukraine, fifth-largest city in Ukraine, with a population of It serves as the administrative centre of ...

, Ukraine), and four years later, with the Headquarters of the 23 Infantry Division from

Upper Silesia Upper Silesia ( ; ; ; ; Silesian German: ; ) is the southeastern part of the historical and geographical region of Silesia, located today mostly in Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic. The area is predominantly known for its heav ...

Katowice Katowice (, ) is the capital city of the Silesian Voivodeship in southern Poland and the central city of the Katowice urban area. As of 2021, Katowice has an official population of 286,960, and a resident population estimate of around 315,000. K ...

. His last military post before World War II was Squadron Commander at the Volyn Cadet School for Artillery Reserve Officers (''Wołyńska Szkoła Podchorążych Rezerwy Artylerii'') in Włodzimierz Wołyński. Immediately before the German attack on Poland, he was drafted into the Pomerania Army Staff of Gen.

Władysław Bortnowski Władysław Bortnowski (12 November 1891 – 21 November 1966) was a Polish historian, military commander and one of the highest ranking generals of the Polish Army, generals of the Polish Army. He is most famous for commanding the Pomorze Army ...

Work in the resistance

Getyński was one of the leaders of the

Polish resistance movement in World War II In Poland, the Resistance during World War II, resistance movement during World War II was led by the Home Army. The Polish resistance is notable among others for disrupting German supply lines to the Eastern Front (World War II), Eastern Front ...

. In 1940–1941 he took part in the sabotage of railway networks utilised by the advancing German forces. In mid 1941 Getyński organized the first combat unit of the Tatra Confederation called Mountain Division (''Dywizja Górska'') in Podhale, under the leadership of Augustyn Suski from the Confederation. His underground work ended at the beginning of 1942 with the arrest of Tatra leaders resulting from infiltration by the

Gestapo The (, ), Syllabic abbreviation, abbreviated Gestapo (), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of F ...

agent '' SS-

Oberscharführer __NOTOC__ ''Oberscharführer'' (, ) was a Nazi Party paramilitary rank that existed between 1932 and 1945. ''Oberscharführer'' was first used as a rank of the ''Sturmabteilung'' (SA) and was created due to an expansion of the enlisted positions ...

'' Heinz Wegner (a.k.a. Stanisław Wegner-Romanowski). Major Get-Getynski was arrested on 2 February 1942 and taken to

Auschwitz Auschwitz, or Oświęcim, was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It consisted of Auschw ...

(prisoner # 29693) where despite torture and suffering he committed himself to leading underground activities against the Germans. As a result of this he faced a firing squad and was executed on 25 January 1943.

References

* Włodzimierz Wnuk, ''Walka Podziemna Na Szcytach'', Instytut Wydawniczy "Pax", 1980 (1st ed. 1958), Warsaw. Pages 71, 77, 213, 214, photograph facing page 193 {{DEFAULTSORT:Gott-Getynski, Edward Polish Army officers Polish resistance members of World War II 1898 births 1943 deaths People from Brody Polish people who died in Auschwitz concentration camp Military personnel who died in Nazi concentration camps Resistance members who died in Nazi concentration camps Recipients of the commemorative badge Orlęta

Military service

Work in the resistance

See also

References