Jerzy Bordziłowski (russian: Юрий Вячеславович Бордзиловский; 16 November 1900 – 5 April 1983) was a Polish and

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

military officer and communist politician.

Biography

Born in

Ostrów Mazowiecka Ostrów Mazowiecka is a town in eastern Poland with 23,486 inhabitants (2004). Situated in the Masovian Voivodeship (since 1999), previously in Ostrołęka Voivodeship (1975–1998). It is the capital of Ostrów Mazowiecka County. History Ost ...

to a Polish doctor serving in the

Russian Imperial Army The Imperial Russian Army (russian: Ру́сская импера́торская а́рмия, tr. ) was the armed land force of the Russian Empire, active from around 1721 to the Russian Revolution of 1917. In the early 1850s, the Russian A ...

, he spent his childhood in Kherson. In 1919 he joined the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian language, Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist R ...

and fought against Poland during the Polish-Bolshevist War and in the

Russian Civil War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Russian Civil War , partof = the Russian Revolution and the aftermath of World War I , image = , caption = Clockwise from top left: {{flatlist, *Soldiers ...

. After the outbreak of

Nazi-Soviet War The Eastern Front of World War II was a theatre of conflict between the European Axis powers against the Soviet Union (USSR), Poland and other Allies, which encompassed Central Europe, Eastern Europe, Northeast Europe ( Baltics), and So ...

he was promoted to the rank of Colonel and became the chief inspector of engineers and sappers of the 21st Army. He took part in the

Battle of Stalingrad The Battle of Stalingrad (23 August 19422 February 1943) was a major battle on the Eastern Front of World War II where Nazi Germany and its allies unsuccessfully fought the Soviet Union for control of the city of Stalingrad (later re ...

and in September 1942 was promoted to the rank of General and became the deputy commanding officer of the

Voronezh Front The 1st Ukrainian Front ( Russian: Пéрвый Украи́нский фронт), previously the Voronezh Front ( Russian: Воронежский Фронт) was a major formation of the Soviet Army during World War II, being equivalent to ...

. On 24 September 1944 he was dispatched by his Soviet superiors to join the

Polish Army The Land Forces () are the land forces of the Polish Armed Forces. They currently contain some 62,000 active personnel and form many components of the European Union and NATO deployments around the world. Poland's recorded military history str ...

along with a number of high-ranking Soviet officers of Polish extraction. He commanded all engineering troops of the First Polish Army. Shortly after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

ended, on 11 July 1945, he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant General, and became the head of engineering troops of the Polish Armed Forces. In that capacity he was also the president of

Legia Warsaw Legia Warszawa (), commonly referred to as Legia Warsaw or simply Legia, is a professional football club based in Warsaw, Poland. Legia is the most successful Polish football club in history, winning record 15 Ekstraklasa champions titles, a ...

sports club. On 23 March 1954 he became the

Chief of General Staff The Chief of the General Staff (CGS) is a post in many armed forces ( militaries), the head of the military staff. List * Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (United States) * Chief of the General Staff (Abkhazia) * Chief of General Staff (Af ...

and deputy Minister of National Defence. In that capacity he was responsible for the bloody quelling of the Poznań 1956 protests. Between 1952 and 1956 he was also briefly a member of the façade

Sejm The Sejm (English: , Polish: ), officially known as the Sejm of the Republic of Poland ( Polish: ''Sejm Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej''), is the lower house of the bicameral parliament of Poland. The Sejm has been the highest governing body of ...

. In March 1968 he was recalled back to the USSR and spent the remainder of his career at various high-ranking posts in the

Soviet Army uk, Радянська армія , image = File:Communist star with golden border and red rims.svg , alt = , caption = Emblem of the Soviet Army , start_date ...

. He died 5 April 1983 in Moscow and was buried at the

Kuntsevo Cemetery The Kuntsevo Cemetery (russian: Ку́нцевское кла́дбище, kúntsevkoye kládbishche) is a cemetery servicing Kuntsevo, Moscow. It is located on the bank of the Setun River, to the south of the Mozhaisk Highway (the continuation ...

References

1900 births 1983 deaths People from Ostrów Mazowiecka People from Łomża Governorate Soviet colonel generals Soviet military personnel of the Russian Civil War People of the Polish–Soviet War Soviet military personnel of World War II Polish military personnel of World War II Soviet officers in Polish Army 1943-1968 Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union alumni Grand Crosses of the Order of Polonia Restituta Recipients of the Order of Lenin Recipients of the Silver Cross of the Virtuti Militari Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner Recipients of the Order of Bogdan Khmelnitsky (Soviet Union), 1st class Recipients of the Order of Kutuzov, 2nd class Recipients of the Order of the Cross of Grunwald, 3rd class Recipients of the Gold Cross of Merit (Poland) Recipients of the Cross of Valour (Poland) Recipients of the Order of the Banner of Work Soviet people of Polish descent Burials at Kuntsevo Cemetery {{soviet-bio-stub