Józef Unrug
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Józef Unrug (; 7 October 1884 – 28 February 1973) was a German and Polish
admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in many navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force. Admiral is ranked above vice admiral and below admiral of ...
who helped establish Poland's navy after
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 ...
. During the opening stages of
World War II 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 served as the
Polish Navy The Polish Navy (; often abbreviated to ) is the Navy, naval military branch , branch of the Polish Armed Forces. The Polish Navy consists of 46 ships and about 12,000 commissioned and enlisted personnel. The traditional ship prefix in the Polish ...
's commander-in-chief. As a German
POW POW is "prisoner of war", a person, whether civilian or combatant, who is held in custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict. POW or pow may also refer to: Music * P.O.W (Bullet for My Valentine song), "P.O.W" (Bull ...
, he refused all German offers to change sides and was incarcerated in several Oflags, including
Colditz Castle Colditz Castle (or ''Schloss Colditz'' in German) is a Renaissance architecture, Renaissance castle in the town of Colditz near Leipzig, Dresden and Chemnitz in the States of Germany, state of Saxony in Germany. The castle is between the towns o ...
. He stayed in exile after the war in the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
,
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and
France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
where he died and was buried. In September 2018 he was posthumously promoted in the rank of
vice admiral Vice admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, usually equivalent to lieutenant general and air marshal. A vice admiral is typically senior to a rear admiral and junior to an admiral. Australia In the Royal Australian Navy, the rank of Vice ...
by the
President of Poland The president of Poland ( ), officially the president of the Republic of Poland (), is the head of state of Poland. His or her prerogatives and duties are determined in the Constitution of Poland. The president jointly exercises the executive ...
. After 45 years his remains, along with those of his wife Zofia, were exhumed from
Montrésor Montrésor () is a commune in the Indre-et-Loire department, Centre-Val de Loire, France. It is a member of Les Plus Beaux Villages de France (The Most Beautiful Villages of France) Association. Geography The village lies on the right bank of ...
and taken in October 2018 to his final resting place in
Gdynia Gdynia is a city in northern Poland and a seaport on the Baltic Sea coast. With an estimated population of 257,000, it is the List of cities in Poland, 12th-largest city in Poland and the second-largest in the Pomeranian Voivodeship after Gdańsk ...
, Poland.


Naval officer

Józef Michał Hubert Unrug was born in
Brandenburg an der Havel Brandenburg an der Havel (; ) is a town in Brandenburg, Germany, which served as the capital of the Margraviate of Brandenburg until it was replaced by Berlin in 1417. With a population of 72,040 (as of 2020), it is located on the banks of the ...
into a noble family of
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, ...
n and
Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Polish people, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken * Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin ...
descent. He was the son of Thaddäus Gustav von Unruh, a
Generalmajor is the Germanic languages, Germanic variant of major general, used in a number of Central Europe, Central and Northern European countries. Austria Belgium Denmark is the second lowest general officer rank in the Royal Danish Army and R ...
in the Prussian Army. His aristocratic family was extremely wealthy and he grew up as very much a member of the elite. After graduating from the '' gymnasium'' in
Dresden Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...
, Unrug completed naval college in 1907 and began his service in the
Imperial German Navy The Imperial German Navy or the ''Kaiserliche Marine'' (Imperial Navy) was the navy of the German Empire, which existed between 1871 and 1919. It grew out of the small Prussian Navy (from 1867 the North German Federal Navy), which was mainly for ...
. The major intellectual influence on the Imperial German Navy from the 1890s onward was the 1890 book ''
The Influence of Sea Power upon History ''The Influence of Sea Power upon History: 1660–1783'' is a history of naval warfare published in 1890 by the American naval officer and historian Alfred Thayer Mahan. It details the role of sea power during the seventeenth and eighteenth cen ...
'' by the American historian
Alfred Thayer Mahan Alfred Thayer Mahan (; September 27, 1840 – December 1, 1914) was a United States Navy officer and historian whom John Keegan called "the most important American strategist of the nineteenth century." His 1890 book '' The Influence of Sea Pow ...
. German emperor Wilhelm II had read it and enthusiastically embraced the book's message that whichever nation had the most powerful "blue water navy" would dominate all of the world's oceans and would always be the world's greatest power. Starting in 1898, the German Navy was transformed from a "green water navy" meant to operate in the North Sea and the Baltic Sea into a "blue water navy" meant to dominate all of the world's seas. Mahan's theories about sea power and world power remained the dominant intellectual basis of all German naval thinking right up to 1945, and ''The Influence of Sea Power Upon History'' became the "Bible" of the German navy. In common with all other German naval officers, Unrug had to read Mahan's book as part of his officer's education. Unrug was a romantic who was disenchanted with modern Germany and came to see in the Poles the sort of romanticism and passion that he found missing in Germany. Unrug grew up speaking German, but he was of partially Polish descent on his father's side. During
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 ...
, he commanded a
U-boat U-boats are Submarine#Military, naval submarines operated by Germany, including during the World War I, First and Second World Wars. The term is an Anglicization#Loanwords, anglicized form of the German word , a shortening of (), though the G ...
, and was promoted to command the training-submarine half-
flotilla A flotilla (from Spanish, meaning a small ''flota'' ( fleet) of ships), or naval flotilla, is a formation of small warships that may be part of a larger fleet. Composition A flotilla is usually composed of a homogeneous group of the same cla ...
. In 1914, he was a lieutenant commander in the Imperial German Navy in command of a submarine, but he was distrusted by the senior command and was assigned to training duties in the Baltic instead of a combat command. The Polish historian Władysław Szarski described Unrug as an aloof man who few knew well, but was very "serious" about his duties and was "extremely just and principled".


Career

In 1919, after Poland regained independence, Unrug left Germany and volunteered for the
Polish Armed Forces The Armed Forces of the Republic of Poland (, ; abbreviated SZ RP), also called the Polish Armed Forces and popularly called in Poland (, roughly "the Polish Military"—abbreviated ''WP''), are the national Military, armed forces of the Poland, ...
. Soon afterwards, he was transferred to the nascent
Polish Navy The Polish Navy (; often abbreviated to ) is the Navy, naval military branch , branch of the Polish Armed Forces. The Polish Navy consists of 46 ships and about 12,000 commissioned and enlisted personnel. The traditional ship prefix in the Polish ...
, where he served as chief of the Hydrographic Division and then as commanding officer of a
submarine A submarine (often shortened to sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. (It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability.) The term "submarine" is also sometimes used historically or infor ...
flotilla. Out of his pocket, the wealthy Unrug purchased the hydrographic ship which became ORP ''Pomorzanin'' for the new navy. To establish the maritime frontiers of the newly reestablished Polish state required a ship to perform shipped surveys and to make maps. Unrug's purchase of the ship, which was needed urgently at the time, won him many allies in the ''Marynarka'' (Polish Navy). One of the most skilled officers in the Polish Navy, Unrug was quickly promoted to
Counter Admiral Counter admiral is a military rank used for high-ranking officers in several navies around the world, though the rank is not used in the English-speaking world, where its equivalent rank is rear admiral. The term derives from the French . Dependi ...
. In 1924, he came into conflict with Admiral
Kazimierz Porębski Kazimierz Porębski (November 15, 1872 – January 21, 1933) was a Polish career naval officer who rose to the position of admiral within the Imperial Russian Navy and was subsequently the first commander-in-chief of the inter-war Polish Navy. Bi ...
and was put on a paid leave for a year. In 1925, Porębski had to resign in a scandal after he was discovered taking bribes. Overcoming his limitations in the
Polish language Polish (, , or simply , ) is a West Slavic languages, West Slavic language of the Lechitic languages, Lechitic subgroup, within the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family, and is written in the Latin script. It is primarily spo ...
, he became Commander of the Fleet of the Polish Navy in 1925. Unrug's task as commander of the ''Marynarka'' was largely to train officers for the nascent force. Unrug was respected, but not loved as he imposed a very strict discipline. The ''Marynarka'' in the interwar period tended to favor the Mahanian concept of a fleet strong enough to dominate the Baltic, which would allow ships from Poland's ally France to enter the Baltic and deliver supplies to Poland. However, the vast cost of buying warships caused successive governments in Warsaw to balk at the immense expenditure that this would entail and to reject the "green water navy" plans of the ''Marynarka''. This was all the more so as the Franco-Polish alliance of 1921 committed France to go automatically go to war if Poland were attacked, which would mean that Poland in a sense could "borrow" the services of the French Navy which was expected to enter the Baltic to ensure that French supplies would reach Poland. In the late 1920s, the ''Sanation'' regime had decided to buy a force of 9 mine-laying submarines with the intention of protecting Poland's coastline. However, as Poland lacked sufficient funds to buy submarines, a loan from France was necessary, and the French made extending the loan conditional upon the Poles also buying two destroyers. In this way, the ''Marynarka'' acquired two destroyers despite the doubts of Marshal
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 ...
, Poland's de facto leader, about the need for the two destroyers. The ''Marynarka'' ended up with the two French-built destroyers, ORP ''Wicher'' and the ORP ''Burza'' together with the French-built submarines ''Wilk'', ''Żbik'', and ''Ryś''. Unrug and Admiral
Jerzy Świrski Jerzy Włodzimierz Świrski (5 April 1882, in Kalisz – 12 June 1959, in London) was a Polish rear admiral and officer in the Russian Imperial Navy and later the Polish Navy. As Chief of the Polish Naval Command (1925-1947), he was a member of an ...
were often at odds with Marshal Piłsudski who was opposed to what he called their "grandiose" plans for a vast Polish fleet. Unrug and Świrski wanted Poland to have at least a "green water navy" that would dominate the Baltic and ultimately aimed for a "
blue water navy A blue-water navy is a maritime force capable of operating globally, essentially across the deep waters of open oceans. While definitions of what actually constitutes such a force vary, there is a requirement for the ability to exercise sea co ...
" capable of reaching out into the North Sea and the Atlantic. Despite Piłsudski's opposition to greater naval expenditure, after much lobbying by Unrug, the ''Marynarka'' acquired two French-built destroyers and three submarines between 1930 and 1932. Piłsudski himself favored a " brown water navy" for Poland as he wanted the ''Marynarka'' to be equipped only with riverine gunboats and coastal patrol boats. A turn to navalism in Poland started in August 1930 when the German cabinet minister Gottfried Treviranus delivered a belligerent speech in Berlin advocating that Germany take all back all of the lands lost to Poland under the Treaty of Versailles by any means necessary including war. In response, various civic groups in Poland started a public subscription campaign to raise enough money to buy a submarine to be named ''The Answer to Treviranus''. By 1935, enough money had been raised to buy a submarine from a Dutch shipyard, which entered the ''Marynarka'' under the name ''Orzeł''. The fund-raising effort to buy the submarine put navalism into the mainstream of Polish politics in the 1930s. The Polish historian Jacek Lubecki noted that the "prodigious" increase in naval spending took place despite Piłsudski's doubts, which he attributed to the decay of the ''Sanation'' regime as Piłsudski's mental facilities declined. Piłsudski had created a very "personalistic" dictatorship with power concentrated into his hands, and with his mental decline the regime was plunged into "chaos", leading to a very haphazard and confusing decision-making process, which allowed Admiral Unrug to press successfully for greater naval spending over Piłsudski's doubts. Lubecki argued the money spent on the ''Marynarka'' was "squandered" as he contended that money spent on buying expensive destroyers and submarines would have been better spent on building up a motorized tank and anti-tank forces for the Army instead. A force of considerable assistance to the ''Marynarka'' was the Maritime and Colonial League, a society made up of people influenced by Mahan who believed that building a "blue water navy" would make Poland into a world power and allow Poland to acquire a colonial empire in Asia and Africa. Apart from advocating navalism, the Maritime and Colonial League was also supportive of the ''Sanation'' regime at a time when the Great Depression had damaged the popularity of the regime. In 1932, Unrug and Commander Tadeusz Morgenstern-Podjazd were summoned to a meeting with Piłsudski and were ordered to send the destroyer ORP ''Wicher'' under command of Morgenstern-Podjazd into the Free City of Danzig (modern Gdańsk, Poland). The cruise of the ''Wicher'' resulted in the
Danzig crisis The Danzig crisis was an important prelude to World War II. The crisis lasted from March 1939 until the outbreak of war on 1 September 1939. The crisis began when tensions escalated between Nazi Germany and the Second Polish Republic over the Fr ...
of 1932, the successful resolution of which did much to raise the prestige of the ''Marynarka'' in Poland. In the aftermath of the Danzig crisis with the successful use of
gunboat diplomacy Gunboat diplomacy is the pursuit of foreign policy objectives with the aid of conspicuous displays of naval power, implying or constituting a direct threat of warfare should terms not be agreeable to the superior force. The term originated in ...
, Piłsudski approved a six-year expansion plan for the navy, ordering two ''Grom-''class destroyers and two ''Orzeł''-class submarines. The principal problem with Polish defense spending was the far greater size of the German economy-for example, the total Polish defense spending in the five years 1934-1939 for the Army, Navy and Air Force combined amounted to just one-tenth of the Luftwaffe's budget for the year 1939. As such, no matter how much money was devoted to the ''Marynarka'', the ''Kriegsmarine'' would always be the greater force, making the plans for a "green water navy" capable of dominating the Baltic impractical. Despite the economical problems, in 1936 it was announced in Polish newspapers that the ''Marynarka'' was committed to a "maximum plan" of buying two battleships that would cost 70, 000, 000 zlotys each plus two heavy cruisers. By 1938, Polish newspapers were reporting that the "maximum plan" now envisioned a fleet of 3 battleships, 1 aircraft carrier, 2 heavy cruisers, 12 destroyers, 24 torpedo boats, 24 submarines, 16 minesweepers and 1 mine-layer. The "maximum plan" which went well beyond Poland's economic capacity at the time was a "fantasy", and in practice the ''Marynarka'' had to settle in 1938 for a construction plan of two destroyers, two submarines, four minesweepers and seven motor torpedo boats. Reflecting the economic problems caused by the Great Depression, the ''Sanation'' regime planned to raise part of the necessary funds to pay for the scaled down "maximum plan" via public subscription. At the beginning of the Danzig crisis in May 1939, Unrug shifted the two naval rifle battalions assigned to defend
Gdynia Gdynia is a city in northern Poland and a seaport on the Baltic Sea coast. With an estimated population of 257,000, it is the List of cities in Poland, 12th-largest city in Poland and the second-largest in the Pomeranian Voivodeship after Gdańsk ...
to building field works in the Polish Corridor. In the summer of 1939, Unrug was appointed commander of the Coastal Region Defense and relocated from Gdynia to the strategic
Hel Peninsula Hel Peninsula (; ; ; or ''Putziger Nehrung'') is a sand bar peninsula in northern Poland separating the Bay of Puck from the open Baltic Sea. It is located in Puck County of the Pomeranian Voivodeship. Name The name of the peninsula ...
. General Sir Adrian Carton de Wiart, the chief of the British military mission to Poland, believed that the disparity in size between the ''Kriegsmarine'' and the ''Marynarka'' made it advisable for the latter to have as much of its fleet out of the Baltic before a possible war started and to be based in British ports. This was the origin of " Operation Peking". Marshal
Edward Rydz-Śmigły Marshal Edward Śmigły-Rydz also called Edward Rydz-Śmigły, (11 March 1886 – 2 December 1941) was a Polish people, Polish politician, statesman, Marshal of Poland and Commander-in-Chief of Poland's armed forces, as well as a painter and ...
was initially opposed to Carton de Wiart's suggestion but ultimately decided to accept it. Rydz-Śmigły believed if the Danzig crisis led to a war, it would be possible for France and Britain to supply arms to Poland via Romania and as such control of the Baltic was not necessary. Rydz-Śmigły ordered Unrug to make the necessary preparations to move the Polish fleet out of the Baltic. On 26 August 1939, the day after the signing of the Anglo-Polish alliance, Unrug issued the captains of all of the Polish destroyers, except the ''Wicher'' which had engine problems, with sealed envelopes with orders not to open them until the message "Execute Peking" was received. On 29 August 1939, Unrug issued the order "execute Peking", which led the captains to open the envelopes containing the message to sail for Britain within three hours of opening the envelopes.


World War II

During the 1939
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 ...
, Unrug executed his plan of strategically withdrawing the Polish Navy's major vessels to the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
(" Operation Peking"). At the same time, he got all Polish submersibles to lay
naval mine A naval mine is a self-contained explosive weapon placed in water to damage or destroy surface ships or submarines. Similar to anti-personnel mine, anti-personnel and other land mines, and unlike purpose launched naval depth charges, they are ...
s in the
Bay of Gdańsk A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a ''gulf'', ''sea'', ''sound'', or ''bight''. A ''cove'' is a small, ci ...
("'' Plan Worek''"). Following that operation, these vessels either escaped to the United Kingdom or sought refuge in neutral countries. Another plan Unrug had developed was Operation Rurka for the mine-layer ''Gryf'' to lay a minefield off the Hel peninsula, but he decided to wait until the war started. On 1 September 1939, Germany invaded Poland and Unrug gave the orders for Rurka. The ''Gryf'' was not ready until 12 hours after receiving the order and by the time she put to sea, she was spotted by German aircraft and was sunk. Unrug has been widely criticized for waiting until Germany invaded to launch Operation Rurka, but Szarski has defended him, saying that laying mines in the waters that ships had to cross to enter and leave the Free City of Danzig could have been presented by Germany as a ''casus belli''. Despite having effectively given up control of Poland's naval vessels, Unrug remained in command of multiple military units, which he tasked with protecting the
Polish Corridor The Polish Corridor (; ), also known as the Pomeranian Corridor, was a territory located in the region of Pomerelia (Pomeranian Voivodeship, Eastern Pomerania), which provided the Second Polish Republic with access to the Baltic Sea, thus d ...
from German attacks. Polish opposition to the advancing Germans was described as "fierce" and the Wehrmacht did not reach the headland connecting the Hel to the mainland until 9 September 1939. Unrug had about 2,000 men under his control in the Hel. The narrow Hel peninsula was a natural defensive barrier as there were limited avenues of attack for a force advancing onto the peninsula and in addition the peninsula had been partially fortified starting in 1936. The campaign started on 11 September 1939 when the Wehrmacht's 207th Infantry Division took the village of Władysławowo, cutting the Hel off from the mainland. The 207th Infantry Division began to march up the Hel while the Poles staged a slow fighting retreat. The forests and sand dunes of the Hel aided the defenders. At the narrowest part of the Hel between the villages of
Chałupy Chałupy (, ) is a seaside resort and a Polish village with conditions favorable for windsurfing and kitesurfing, in Gmina Władysławowo. It is situated between Władysławowo and Kuźnica on the Hel Peninsula on the southern Baltic Sea in Puck ...
and Kuźnica, only one company at a time could advance, which allowed the Poles during the course of fierce fighting to halt successive German attempts to advance up the peninsula despite the latter having two battleships, the ''Schleswig-Holstein'' and the ''Schliesen'', together with a destroyer flotilla and the Luftwaffe, providing fire support. Conditions for the Polish defenders on the Hel were hellish as the Luftwaffe bombed them incessantly while the powerful guns of the ''Schleswig-Holstein'' and the ''Schliesen'' pounded them constantly. On 20 September 1939,
Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...
arrived at the Kasino hotel in Zoppot (modern
Sopot Sopot (; or ) is a seaside resort city in Pomerelia on the southern coast of the Baltic Sea in northern Poland, with a population of approximately 40,000. It is located in Pomeranian Voivodeship, Pomerania Province and has the City with powiat ri ...
) on the other side of the Bay of Danzig to watch the spectacular sight of the two battleships blasting away with their 11-inch guns to hammer the Polish defenders on the Hel. A popular story has that Unrug forbade his gunners who wanted to fire at the Kasino hotel because it would be dishonorable to kill a head of state. But there are no documents supporting this story and Szarski has pointed out that it is not clear if Unrug actually knew that Hitler was staying at the Kasino hotel. Furthermore, under international law the hotel was considered a civilian facility, which would make shooting at it a war crime. The Polish coastal artillery struck back, managing to damage the ''Schleswig-Holstein'' and the destroyer ''Leberecht Maas''. The heavy bombardments provoked a brief mutiny among some of the soldiers on the Hel who wanted to surrender, which was put down by Unrug. The mutineers were not professional soldiers or sailors, but rather local reservists who had been called up just before the war, and many of whom could see their homes across the bay. Unrug did not execute any of the mutineers, through under Polish military law he was obliged to. The morale of some of the other Polish defenders helped as Unrug discovered on 30 September when he visited the Lasowski battery at the tip of the Hel whose gunners demanded to fight on to the bitter end, prompting Unrug to break down in tears, saying he had never seen braver men. The news from the Lasowski battery commander and the other battery commanders was less encouraging as Unrug was informed that the batteries were almost out of artillery shells while the supply of food had been almost exhausted. On the same day, the Poles had exploded a cache of buried explosives, which nearly severed the Hel and turned the upper part of it into an island. The explosion had temporarily halted the German advance. On 1 October 1939, however, after both
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 ...
and Modlin had capitulated, Admiral Unrug decided that further defense of the isolated
Hel Peninsula Hel Peninsula (; ; ; or ''Putziger Nehrung'') is a sand bar peninsula in northern Poland separating the Bay of Puck from the open Baltic Sea. It is located in Puck County of the Pomeranian Voivodeship. Name The name of the peninsula ...
was pointless, and the following day all units under his command capitulated. Unrug later gave as his reasons for surrendering that his forces were almost out of artillery shells and that he felt the civilians living in the coastal fishing villages had suffered enough. The decision to surrender was painful for him, but he took a certain pride that his forces in the Hel peninsula were one of the last Polish units in Poland to surrender. After sending men out under a white flag to negotiate a ceasefire, Unrug ordered all sensitive documents be burned, allowed those who wished to try to escape across the Baltic the chance to do so, and declared that he would go into captivity with his men. At the Kasino Hotel, Unrug's representatives signed the instrument of surrender late on the night of 1 October 1939. Unrug spent the rest of
World War II 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 ...
in various German POW camps, including
Fort Srebrna Góra Fort Srebrna Góra or Srebrnogórska Fortress (, , lit. Silver Mountain Fort) is a former military fort, now a monument and a museum, located in the village of Srebrna Góra, Lower Silesian Voivodeship, Srebrna Góra (lit. Silver Mountain), Lower ...
,
Oflag II-C Oflag II-C Woldenburg was a German World War II prisoner-of-war camp located about from the town of Woldenberg, Brandenburg (now Dobiegniew, western Poland). The camp housed Polish officers and orderlies and had an area of with 25 brick huts fo ...
in Woldenberg, Oflag XVIII-C in Spittal,
Stalag X-B Stalag X-B was a World War II Nazi Germany, German prisoner-of-war camp located near Sandbostel in Lower Saxony in north-western Germany. Between 1939 and 1945 several hundred thousand POWs of 55 nations passed through the camp. Due to the bad co ...
in
Sandbostel Sandbostel is a municipality in Lower Saxony (''Niedersachsen'') in northwestern Germany, 43 km north-east of Bremen, 60 km west of Hamburg. It is part of the Samtgemeinde Selsingen. In 2024, it had 799 inhabitants. https://www.statis ...
,
Oflag IV-C Oflag IV-C, generally known as Colditz Castle, was a prominent German Army prisoner-of-war camp for captured Allied officers during World War II. Located in Colditz, Saxony, the camp operated within the medieval Colditz Castle, which overlooks th ...
(
Colditz Colditz () is a small town in the district of Leipzig (district), Leipzig, in Saxony, Germany. It is best known for Colditz Castle, the site of the Oflag IV-C prisoner-of-war camp, POW camp for officers in World War II. Geography Colditz is situa ...
Castle), and finally
Oflag VII-A Murnau Oflag VII-A Murnau was a German Army prisoner-of-war camp for Polish Army officers during World War II. It was located north of the Bavarian town of Murnau am Staffelsee. Camp history The camp was created in September 1939. It consisted of an e ...
. In
Oflag VII-A Murnau Oflag VII-A Murnau was a German Army prisoner-of-war camp for Polish Army officers during World War II. It was located north of the Bavarian town of Murnau am Staffelsee. Camp history The camp was created in September 1939. It consisted of an e ...
, Unrug was the highest-ranking officer and commander of the Polish soldiers interned there as prisoners of war. The Germans treated Unrug with great respect, on account of him having previously been a German officer, by bringing former Imperial German Navy friends to visit him with the intention of making him switch sides. Unrug responded by refusing to speak
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...
, saying that he had forgotten that language in September 1939. To the irritation of the Germans, Unrug would always insist on having a translator present or communicating in French, when speaking with the Germans, even though he was a native German speaker. Unrug was greatly insulted by the attempt to have him switch sides, which made him identify with Poland even more. As a POW, Unrug had a relatively privileged life, being allowed his own bathroom and his batman, which were privileges not normally extended to POWs. Unrug was considered to be a leader of men who inspired other POWs to look up to him, and this led his captors to fear that he was inspiring escape attempts by the other POWs, thus leading to his frequent moves between various POW facilities. Unrug's spirit and unbowed attitude proved to be an inspiration to his fellow prisoners. At the Colditz castle, Unrug served as one of the co-leaders of the Polish POWs being held there together with General
Tadeusz Piskor Tadeusz Ludwik Piskor (1889–1951) was a Polish Army general. Life and career Piskor was born on 1 February 1889 in Bór Kunowski. Before World War I, he was a member of Polish pro-independence organizations. During World War I he served in th ...
. General Piskor was the most senior Polish officer held at Colditz, but Unrug was older than him and spoke fluent German, so in practice the two men shared the leadership. The Polish historian
Mieczysław B. Biskupski Mieczysław B. Biskupski is a Polish-American historian and political scientist, with focus on Central European (particularly Polish) history and international relations. He has held professorship appointments at St. John Fisher College, the Univ ...
wrote that Admiral Unrug "...was perhaps not the greatest tactician of the interwar navy, but his conduct in German captivity was the stuff of legend".


Post-war exile

After Poland was taken over by 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 ...
in 1945, Unrug went to the United Kingdom, where he served with the
Polish Navy The Polish Navy (; often abbreviated to ) is the Navy, naval military branch , branch of the Polish Armed Forces. The Polish Navy consists of 46 ships and about 12,000 commissioned and enlisted personnel. The traditional ship prefix in the Polish ...
in the West and took part in its demobilisation. After the Allies withdrew support from the
Polish government The government of Poland takes the form of a Unitary state, unitary semi-presidential republic, semi-presidential Representative democracy, representative democratic republic, whereby the President of Poland, president is the head of state and t ...
, Unrug remained in exile, in the United Kingdom, and then moved to
France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
. In exile, Unrug worked in a marina in Morocco tending to the care of cutters and in France he worked as a chauffeur. He died there on 28 February 1973 in the Polish Veterans' care home in Lailly-en-Val near
Beaugency Beaugency () is a Communes of France, commune in the Loiret Departments of France, department, Centre-Val de Loire, north-central France. It is located on the Loire river, upriver (northeast) from Blois and downriver from Orléans. History Med ...
, at the age of 88. On 5 March 1973, he was buried in Montrėsor cemetery. In 1976, a stone tablet commemorating Unrug was unveiled in
Oksywie Oksywie (, ) is a district of the city of Gdynia, Pomeranian Voivodeship, northern Poland. Formerly a separate settlement, it is older than Gdynia by several centuries. Oksywie is notable as the location of the Polish Naval Academy and one of th ...
. Unrug had specified in his will that he should not be buried on Polish soil until such time as all the remains of his fellow naval officers and men had been recovered from enemy control.


Exhumation and state funeral

On 24 September 2018
Vice admiral Vice admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, usually equivalent to lieutenant general and air marshal. A vice admiral is typically senior to a rear admiral and junior to an admiral. Australia In the Royal Australian Navy, the rank of Vice ...
Joseph Unrug and his wife Zofia (died 1980) were exhumed and transferred with a guard of honour at the French port of Brest for reburial in the Polish port of
Gdynia Gdynia is a city in northern Poland and a seaport on the Baltic Sea coast. With an estimated population of 257,000, it is the List of cities in Poland, 12th-largest city in Poland and the second-largest in the Pomeranian Voivodeship after Gdańsk ...
, Poland, after a delay of 45 years. A state funeral was held in
Oksywie Oksywie (, ) is a district of the city of Gdynia, Pomeranian Voivodeship, northern Poland. Formerly a separate settlement, it is older than Gdynia by several centuries. Oksywie is notable as the location of the Polish Naval Academy and one of th ...
on 2 October 2018 in the presence of
Andrzej Duda Andrzej Sebastian Duda (born 16 May 1972) is a Polish lawyer and politician who has served as the sixth president of Poland since 2015. Before becoming president, he served as a Member of the Sejm from 2011 to 2014 and before becoming Member of ...
, the President of Poland among other members of the Polish government and leaders of the
Polish Armed Forces The Armed Forces of the Republic of Poland (, ; abbreviated SZ RP), also called the Polish Armed Forces and popularly called in Poland (, roughly "the Polish Military"—abbreviated ''WP''), are the national Military, armed forces of the Poland, ...
. The chief mourner was Christophe Unrug, the admiral's grandson and, by happenstance, the current mayor of
Montrésor Montrésor () is a commune in the Indre-et-Loire department, Centre-Val de Loire, France. It is a member of Les Plus Beaux Villages de France (The Most Beautiful Villages of France) Association. Geography The village lies on the right bank of ...
in France. In September 2018, Polish President Andrzej Duda had posthumously promoted
Counter Admiral Counter admiral is a military rank used for high-ranking officers in several navies around the world, though the rank is not used in the English-speaking world, where its equivalent rank is rear admiral. The term derives from the French . Dependi ...
Joseph Unrug to Vice Admiral. The promotion citation was handed to Unrug's family during the funeral at the cemetery.


Promotions

* Leutnant zur See (
Ensign Ensign most often refers to: * Ensign (flag), a flag flown on a vessel to indicate nationality * Ensign (rank), a navy (and former army) officer rank Ensign or The Ensign may also refer to: Places * Ensign, Alberta, Alberta, Canada * Ensign, Ka ...
) - 1907 * Oberleutnant zur See (
Lieutenant, junior grade Lieutenant junior grade is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank used in a number of navies. United States Lieutenant (junior grade), commonly abbreviated as LTJG or, historically, Lt. (j.g.) (as well as variants of both ab ...
) - 1909 * Kapitänleutnant (
Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...
) - 1915 * Kapitan marynarki (
Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...
) - 1919 * Komandor podporucznik ( Lieutenant commander) - 1921 * Komandor porucznik (
Commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank as well as a job title in many army, armies. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countri ...
) - 1923 * Komandor (
Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...
) - 3 May 1926 * Kontradmirał (
Commodore Commodore may refer to: Ranks * Commodore (rank), a naval rank ** Commodore (Royal Navy), in the United Kingdom ** Commodore (India), in India ** Commodore (United States) ** Commodore (Canada) ** Commodore (Finland) ** Commodore (Germany) or ' ...
) - 21 December 1932 * Wiceadmirał (
Rear admiral Rear admiral is a flag officer rank used by English-speaking navies. In most European navies, the equivalent rank is called counter admiral. Rear admiral is usually immediately senior to commodore and immediately below vice admiral. It is ...
) - 2 September 1946 * Admirał floty (
Vice admiral Vice admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, usually equivalent to lieutenant general and air marshal. A vice admiral is typically senior to a rear admiral and junior to an admiral. Australia In the Royal Australian Navy, the rank of Vice ...
) - posthumously, 21 September 2018


Honours and awards

: Golden 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, ...
: Commander's Cross of the
Polonia Restituta The Order of Polonia Restituta (, ) is a Polish state order established 4 February 1921. It is conferred on both military and civilians as well as on foreigners for outstanding achievements in the fields of education, science, sport, culture, ...
: Officer's Cross of the
Polonia Restituta The Order of Polonia Restituta (, ) is a Polish state order established 4 February 1921. It is conferred on both military and civilians as well as on foreigners for outstanding achievements in the fields of education, science, sport, culture, ...
: Gold Cross of Merits with Swords : Gold Cross of Merit : Commemorative Medal for the War of 1918–1921 : Medal of the 10th Anniversary of Regained Independence : Honorary Badge of
Airborne and Antigas Defence League Air and Chemical Defense League (Polish: ''Liga Obrony Powietrznej i Przeciwgazowej'', ''L.O.P.P.'') was a mass Polish paramilitary organization, founded in 1928 as a result of the merger of the ''State Air Defense League'' (Polish: ''Liga Obron ...
: Officer of the
Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...
(France) :
Iron Cross The Iron Cross (, , abbreviated EK) was a military decoration in the Kingdom of Prussia, the German Empire (1871–1918), and Nazi Germany (1933–1945). The design, a black cross pattée with a white or silver outline, was derived from the in ...
, 1st Class (German Empire) :
Iron Cross The Iron Cross (, , abbreviated EK) was a military decoration in the Kingdom of Prussia, the German Empire (1871–1918), and Nazi Germany (1933–1945). The design, a black cross pattée with a white or silver outline, was derived from the in ...
, 2nd Class (German Empire) : Commander of the
Order of Dannebrog The Order of the Dannebrog () is a Danish order of chivalry instituted in 1671 by Christian V. Until 1808, membership in the Order was limited to fifty members of noble or royal rank, who formed a single class known as ''White Knights'' t ...
(Denmark) :
Order of the White Elephant __NOTOC__ The Most Exalted Order of the White Elephant (; ) is an order (decoration), order of Thailand. It was established in 1861 by King Mongkut, Rama IV of the Thailand, Kingdom of Siam. Along with the Order of the Crown of Thailand, it is r ...
(Siam) : Commander Grand Cross Royal Order of the Sword (Sweden) : Commander 1st Class Royal Order of the Sword (Sweden) : Commander Grand Cross
Order of the Three Stars Order of the Three Stars () is the highest civilian order awarded for meritorious service to Latvia. It was established in 1924 in remembrance of the founding of Latvia. Its motto is ''Per aspera ad astra'', meaning "Through hardships towards the ...
(Latvia)


See also

*
Polish Navy The Polish Navy (; often abbreviated to ) is the Navy, naval military branch , branch of the Polish Armed Forces. The Polish Navy consists of 46 ships and about 12,000 commissioned and enlisted personnel. The traditional ship prefix in the Polish ...
* Polish Defensive War *
Jerzy Świrski Jerzy Włodzimierz Świrski (5 April 1882, in Kalisz – 12 June 1959, in London) was a Polish rear admiral and officer in the Russian Imperial Navy and later the Polish Navy. As Chief of the Polish Naval Command (1925-1947), he was a member of an ...


References


Books and articles

* * * * * * * * * * *


External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Unrug Jozef 1884 births 1973 deaths Imperial German Navy personnel of World War I Grand Officers of the Legion of Honour Military personnel from the Province of Brandenburg People from Brandenburg an der Havel Polish military personnel of World War II Polish Navy admirals Polish people of German descent Recipients of the Gold Cross of the Virtuti Militari Commanders of the Order of Polonia Restituta Recipients of the Cross of Merit with Swords (Poland) Recipients of the Gold Cross of Merit (Poland) Order of the Dannebrog Recipients of the Order of the Sword Recipients of the Iron Cross (1914), 1st class Polish submarine commanders U-boat commanders (Imperial German Navy) Polish prisoners of war World War II prisoners of war held by Germany Prisoners of Oflag II-C Military personnel from Brandenburg