Franciszek Przysiężniak (nom de guerre "Ojciec Jan", "Father John") (September 22, 1909 in the village of Krupe, near

Krasnystaw Krasnystaw is a town in southeastern Poland with 18,630 inhabitants (31 December 2019). It is the capital of Krasnystaw County in the Lublin Voivodeship. The town is famous for its beer festival called ''Chmielaki'' ( means hops, hop), and for i ...

– September 30, 1975 in

Jarosław Jarosław (; , ; ; ) is a town in southeastern Poland, situated on the San (river), San River. The town had 35,475 inhabitants in 2023. It is the capital of Jarosław County in the Subcarpathian Voivodeship. History Jarosław is located in the ...

) - was a lieutenant 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 ...

, an officer of anti-communist resistance groups National Military Organization (NOW) and National Military Union (NZW). Przysiężniak finished the

Volhynia Volhynia or Volynia ( ; see #Names and etymology, below) is a historic region in Central and Eastern Europe, between southeastern Poland, southwestern Belarus, and northwestern Ukraine. The borders of the region are not clearly defined, but in ...

n School for Reserve Cadets of Artillery in Włodzimierz Wołyński in 1938. He then began his military service in the 16th Pomeranian Regiment of Light Artillery in

Grudziądz Grudziądz (, ) is a city in northern Poland, with 92,552 inhabitants (2021). Located on the Vistula River, it lies within the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship and is the fourth-largest city in its province. Grudziądz is one of the oldest citie ...

. He took part 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 1939, against the Nazi invaders. On September 28, 1939, he was captured by the Germans at

Tomaszów Lubelski Tomaszów Lubelski is a town in south-eastern Poland with 19,365 inhabitants (2017). Situated in the Lublin Voivodeship, near Roztocze National Park, it is the capital of Tomaszów Lubelski County. History The town was founded at the end of the ...

, but on his way to the POW camp he managed to escape. In 1942 he joined the National Military Organization and was made the commander of its units in the

county. He headed a unit that specialized in

diversion Diversion, Diversions, or The Diversion may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Diversion'' (film), a 1980 British television film adapted into the 1987 movie ''Fatal Attraction'' * ''Diversion'' (play), a 1927 work by John Van Druten * '' T ...

and

sabotage Sabotage is a deliberate action aimed at weakening a polity, government, effort, or organization through subversion, obstruction, demoralization (warfare), demoralization, destabilization, divide and rule, division, social disruption, disrupti ...

which later the merger with 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 ...

(AK-NOW). Eventually, he was promoted to the rank of major. During World War II, the partisan unit led by "Father John", which operated in the region of Janów Forests was one of the best armed units of the Polish anti-Nazi underground. On June 14, 1944, under his leadership it took part in one of the largest battles between German forces and Polish partisans, at Porytowe Wzgorze which was part of the Sturmwind I operation carried out by the Nazis. After 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 ...

entered Poland he was forced to go into hiding. In April 1945 in Kuryłówka his wife, Janina Przysiężniak Jaga, who was seven months pregnant was murdered, with a shot to the back of the head, by the communist secret police (UB). As a result, he organized a group of anti-communist fighters in the "San" region. On 7 May this unit fought in one of the largest battles between 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 ...

and the Polish underground, the Battle of Kuryłówka,IPN, "Wystawa „Żołnierze wyklęci. Antykomunistyczne podziemie na Rzeszowszczyźnie po 1944 roku" (Exhibition: Cursed Soldiers. Anti-communist underground in the Rzeszow region after 1944)

in which 57 NKVD soldiers were killed and their operational group dispersed. In the fall of 1945 he moved to

Pomerania Pomerania ( ; ; ; ) is a historical region on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea in Central Europe, split between Poland and Germany. The central and eastern part belongs to the West Pomeranian Voivodeship, West Pomeranian, Pomeranian Voivod ...

where he was made the commander of all NZW units in Brodnica and Wąbrzeźno counties. He was arrested on May 15, 1946, and sentenced to four years in prison. He was released during the Amnesty of 1947, but a year later arrested again. This time his sentence was 15 years in prison. He was released again on December 24, 1954. He was a recipient of the Silver Cross of the

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, ...

.Lista nazwisk osób odznaczonych Orderem VIRTUTI MILITARI (List of persons decorated with the Order Virtuti Militari

/ref>

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Przysiezniak, Franciszek 1909 births 1975 deaths People from Krasnystaw County People from Lublin Governorate Cursed soldiers Polish soldiers Polish anti-communists Recipients of the Silver Cross of the Virtuti Militari Polish prisoners and detainees Home Army members Polish prisoners of war People detained by the Polish Ministry of Public Security