Jerzy Jan Antoni Ziętek (10 June 1901 in

Gleiwitz Gliwice (; , ) is a city in Upper Silesia, in southern Poland. The city is located in the Silesian Highlands, on the Kłodnica river (a tributary of the Oder River, Oder). It lies approximately 25 km west from Katowice, the regional capital ...

– 20 November 1985 in

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 ...

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 ...

) was a Polish

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

and

general A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

. A Silesian Insurrectionist in his youth, during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

he joined the Polish armed forces in the

USSR The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

and later became an important politician representing Silesia in the

People's Republic of Poland The Polish People's Republic (1952–1989), formerly the Republic of Poland (1947–1952), and also often simply known as Poland, was a country in Central Europe that existed as the predecessor of the modern-day democratic Republic of Poland. ...

Biography

Jerzy Ziętek was born in the city of Gleiwitz,

Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

(

), in the

German Empire The German Empire (),; ; World Book, Inc. ''The World Book dictionary, Volume 1''. World Book, Inc., 2003. p. 572. States that Deutsches Reich translates as "German Realm" and was a former official name of Germany. also referred to as Imperia ...

. He was active in various Polish cultural movements, for which he was discharged from gymnasium in 1919 and passed his ''

matura or its translated terms (''mature'', ''matur'', , , , , ', ) is a Latin name for the secondary school exit exam or "maturity diploma" in various European countries, including Albania, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech ...

'' exams in front of the provisional Polish commission in

Bytom Bytom (Polish pronunciation: ; Silesian language, Silesian: ''Bytōm, Bytōń'', ) is a city in Upper Silesia, in southern Poland. Located in the Silesian Voivodeship, the city is 7 km northwest of Katowice, the regional capital. It is one ...

. Ziętek was the advocate of Silesian independence and in the aftermath of 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 ...

he participated actively in the

Silesian Uprisings The Silesian Uprisings (; ; ) were a series of three uprisings from August 1919 to July 1921 in Upper Silesia, which was part of the Weimar Republic at the time. Ethnic Polish and Polish-Silesian insurrectionists, seeking to have the area tran ...

(1919-1921) against the

Germans Germans (, ) are the natives or inhabitants of Germany, or sometimes more broadly any people who are of German descent or native speakers of the German language. The Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany, constitution of Germany, imple ...

. In 1920 he was introduced to

Polish Military Organization The Polish Military Organisation, PMO (, POW) was a secret military organization that was formed during World War I (1914–1918). Józef Piłsudski founded the group in August 1914. It adopted the name ''POW'' in November 1914 and aimed to gathe ...

. In the third Silesian Uprising (1921), he battled in the 8th Company of the 3rd Gliwice battalion. At first, he was commander of a

platoon A platoon is a Military organization, military unit typically composed of two to four squads, Section (military unit), sections, or patrols. Platoon organization varies depending on the country and the Military branch, branch, but a platoon can ...

, and later of the entire

company A company, abbreviated as co., is a Legal personality, legal entity representing an association of legal people, whether Natural person, natural, Juridical person, juridical or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members ...

. On more occasions he was involved in direct fighting, in Łabędy, Stare Koźle, Januszkowice and Sławięcice. He was also involved in organizing the

plebiscite A referendum, plebiscite, or ballot measure is a direct vote by the electorate (rather than their representatives) on a proposal, law, or political issue. A referendum may be either binding (resulting in the adoption of a new policy) or adv ...

in Silesia, under the guidance of the

League of Nations The League of Nations (LN or LoN; , SdN) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920), Paris Peace ...

, which eventually determined to award most of Silesia to 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 ...

. Nonetheless Ziętek in his memoirs was disappointed with the results of the peace agreement that was pushed through by the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

: "Everywhere, our struggle for freedom was met with disdain, especially by British politicians.

Lloyd George David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor (17 January 1863 – 26 March 1945) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1916 to 1922. A Liberal Party (United Kingdom), Liberal Party politician from Wales, he was known for leadi ...

was the most infamous of them all, having said that you can not give a

watch A watch is a timepiece carried or worn by a person. It is designed to maintain a consistent movement despite the motions caused by the person's activities. A wristwatch is worn around the wrist, attached by a watch strap or another type of ...

to a

monkey Monkey is a common name that may refer to most mammals of the infraorder Simiiformes, also known as simians. Traditionally, all animals in the group now known as simians are counted as monkeys except the apes. Thus monkeys, in that sense, co ...

because the animal will break it, implying that the watch was Silesia and the monkey Poland" From 1922 until 1939 he was a

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

of Radzionków and took part in the autonomous government of Silesia and from 1930 to 1935 he was a deputy for the Polish parliament (

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' ...

) from the

Nonpartisan Bloc for Cooperation with the Government The Nonpartisan Bloc for Cooperation with the Government (, ; abbreviated ''BBWR'') was a "non-political" organization in the interwar Second Polish Republic, in 1928–35. It was closely affiliated with Józef Piłsudski and his Sanation moveme ...

(BBWR) party. In 1939, after the Germans invaded Poland he fled the

Nazi 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 ...

s and found himself in the Polish areas annexed by the Soviet Union, (which joined the Germans in their invasion). In the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

he decided to cooperate with the Polish nationalists. In 1943 he enrolled in the Union of Polish Nationalists and joined 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 ...

, where he had the rank of

pułkownik (; ) is a military rank used mostly in Slavic peoples, Slavic-speaking countries which corresponds to a colonel in English-speaking states, ''coronel'' in Spanish and Portuguese-speaking states and ''oberst'' in several German-speaking and Scan ...

(colonel) and was the vice-commander of the Polish 3rd Infantry Division. In 1945 he became a member of the communist controlled Polish Workers Party (PPR), which later became the

Polish United Workers' Party The Polish United Workers' Party (, ), commonly abbreviated to PZPR, was the communist party which ruled the Polish People's Republic as a one-party state from 1948 to 1989. The PZPR had led two other legally permitted subordinate minor parti ...

(PZPR). In his political career, which lasted from 1945 until 1985, he occupied a number of different positions. First as the vice- voivod of the Silesian-Dąbrowa Voivodeship, from 1950 its first representative and from 1964 the leader of the

voivodeship sejmik A voivodeship sejmik (), also known as a provincial or regional assembly, is the regional-level elected legislature for each of the sixteen voivodeships of Poland. Machnikowski et al., p. 21 Sejmiks are elected to five-year terms, decided during ...

. In 1973 he became the voivod himself until 1975. He was also a representative in the Polish

from 1947 until 1952 and from 1957 until 1985. From 1961 to 1969 he was the chairman of the Sejm Commission of Building and Communal Economy. From 1963 to 1980 he was a member of the

Polish Council of State The Council of State of the Polish People's Republic, Republic of Poland () was introduced by the Small Constitution of 1947 as an organ of executive (government), executive power. The Council of State consisted of the President of Poland, Presid ...

and from 1980 to 1985 one of its four deputy chairmen. From 1949 until the end of his life he was the vice-president of Society of Fighters for Freedom. In 1959 the People's Republic of Poland awarded him the

Order of the Builders of People's Poland Order of the Builders of People's Poland () was the highestORDER BUDOWNICZYCH POLSKI LUDOWEJ ...

. In 1971, at the 30th anniversary of the Third Silesian Uprising, he was also promoted 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 ...

. In 1977 he received honorary

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

diploma from Silesian Universitybr>
In 1946 he wrote his

memoir A memoir (; , ) is any nonfiction narrative writing based on the author's personal memories. The assertions made in the work are thus understood to be factual. While memoir has historically been defined as a subcategory of biography or autob ...

s about the times of Silesian Uprisings: ''"Powstańczy Szlak – rozważania powstańcze"'' (Insurgence trail - thoughts on uprising). His life was also the basis of the 1979 movie by Antoni Halor: ''Man with the cane'' (Człowiek z laską). He was responsible for creation of the Silesian Park,

Silesian Stadium The Silesian Stadium (; Polish: ) is a sport stadium located on the premises of Silesian Park in Chorzów, Poland. The stadium has a fully covered capacity of 54,378, after refurbishment completed in October 2017. The stadium hosted many Poland ...

, Katowice Rondo and many other buildings important for the region. There are monuments to him in the Park as well as on the Katowice Rondo (which is named after him). He is also the patron of Silesian School of Management in Katowice. The ''

Gazeta Wyborcza (; ''The Electoral Gazette'' in English) is a Polish nationwide daily newspaper based in Warsaw, Poland. It was launched on 8 May 1989 on the basis of the Polish Round Table Agreement and as a press organ of the Solidarity (Polish trade union), t ...

'' named him as the second-most important

Silesia Silesia (see names #Etymology, below) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Silesia, Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at 8, ...

n person in the 20th century, coming second to

Wojciech Korfanty Wojciech Korfanty (; born Adalbert Korfanty; 20 April 1873 – 17 August 1939) was a Polish activist, journalist and politician, who served as a member of the German parliaments, the Reichstag and the Prussian Landtag, and later, in the Poli ...

and before director Kazimierz Kutz. He died on November 20, 1985, in Katowice.

Awards and decorations

POL Order Budowniczych Polski Ludowej BAR

Order of the Builders of People's Poland Order of the Builders of People's Poland () was the highestORDER BUDOWNICZYCH POLSKI LUDOWEJ ...

(1959) *

Order of the Banner of Labour The Order of the Banner of Labour () was a governmental award in Poland during the 20th-century era of the Polish People's Republic, a former Marxist-Leninist state. The order was established by the Sejm (a chamber of the Polish parliament) on 2 ...

, 1st Class * POL Polonia Restituta Komandorski ZG BAR

Commander's Cross with Star of the

Order of Polonia Restituta The Order of Polonia Restituta (, ) is a Polish state decoration, state Order (decoration), order established 4 February 1921. It is conferred on both military and civilians as well as on alien (law), foreigners for outstanding achievements in ...

* Order of the Cross of Grunwald, 3rd Class (24 April 1946) * POL Polonia Restituta Oficerski BAR

Officer's Cross of the

(22 July 1953) * POL Polonia Restituta Kawalerski BAR

Knight's Cross of the

Silver Cross of

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, ...

* Golden Cross of Merit (18 January 1946) * Silesian Uprising Cross (1947) * Silver Cross of Merit * Bronze Cross of Merit (19 January 1928) * Cross on the Silesian Ribbon of Valor and Merit, 1st Class * Medal of the 30th Anniversary of People's Poland (1974) * POL Medal 40-lecia Polski Ludowej BAR

Medal of the 40th Anniversary of People's Poland * Rodło Medal (posthumously, 1985) * POL Medal 10-lecia Polski Ludowej BAR

Medal of the 10th Anniversary of People's Poland (1954) * Golden Medal of Merit for National Defence * Silver Medal of Merit for National Defence * Bronze Medal of Merit for National Defence * Medal of the National Education Commission (1973) * Golden Janek Krasicki Decoration * Badge of the 1000th Anniversary of the Polish State (1966) * Ordre national du Merite Chevalier ribbon

Ordre national du Merite Chevalier ribbon

Chevalier of

Ordre national du Mérite The (; ) is a French order of merit with membership awarded by the President of the French Republic, founded on 3 December 1963 by President Charles de Gaulle. The reason for the order's establishment was twofold: to replace the large number of ...

(France, 1967)''Visit of the President of France to Poland'', „Trybuna Robotnicza”, nr 213, 7 September 1967, pages. 1–2. * TCH Rad rude zastavy BAR

Order of the Red Banner (Czechoslovakia) * SU Order of the Red Banner of Labour ribbon

Order of the Red Banner of Labour The Order of the Red Banner of Labour () was an order of the Soviet Union established to honour great deeds and services to the Soviet state and society in the fields of production, science, culture, literature, the arts, education, sports ...

(USSR, 1968)

References

*
Entry in
PWN Encyklopedia *
Entry in

WIEM Encyklopedia WIEM Encyklopedia (full name in - "Great Interactive Multimedia Encyclopedia"; in Polish, ''wiem'' also means 'I know') is a Polish Internet encyclopedia. The encyclopedia was based on the first printed edition was released in mid-1990s (with Vo ...

*
Biography
*
Biography

Biography

Awards and decorations

References

Further reading