Mieczysław Kawalec (

noms de guerre A ''nom de guerre'' (, 'war name') is a pseudonym chosen by someone to use when they are involved in a particular activity, especially fighting in a war. In ''ancien régime'' France it would be adopted by each new recruit (or assigned to them by ...

"Iza", "Zbik", "Psarski", "Stanislawski"), born in 1916 in the village of

Trzciana, Rzeszów County Trzciana is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Świlcza, within Rzeszów County, Subcarpathian Voivodeship, in south-eastern Poland. It lies approximately west of Świlcza and west of the regional capital Rzeszów Rzeszów ( , ...

, was a Polish resistance fighter. In the late 1930s, he graduated from the Law Department at

Lwów University The Ivan Franko National University of Lviv (named after Ivan Franko, ) is a state-sponsored university in Lviv, Ukraine. Since 1940 the university is named after Ukrainian poet Ivan Franko. The university is the oldest institution of highe ...

, and took the job of an assistant there. During the

Polish September Campaign 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 Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany, the Slovak Republic, and the Soviet ...

, he fought in the defence of

Lwów 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 ...

, and in 1940 he joined the Rzeszów District of

Union of Armed Struggle The Union of Armed StruggleThus rendered in Norman Davies, ''God's Playground: A History of Poland'', vol. II, p. 464. (; ZWZ), also translated as the Union for Armed Struggle, Association of Armed Struggle, and Association for Armed Struggle ...

(ZWZ) (later

Armia Krajowa 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 ...

). From 1945, he was the commander of the Rzeszów District of the anti-Communist organization,

Freedom and Independence Freedom and Independence Association (, or WiN) was a Polish underground anticommunist organisation founded on September 2, 1945, and active until 1952. Political goals and realities The main purpose of its activity was to prevent Soviet dominat ...

(WiN). Later, Kawalec moved to

Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...

, joining the Department of Information and Propaganda of the 4th Headquarters of WiN, under

Łukasz Ciepliński Łukasz Ciepliński (; 26 November 1913 – 1 March 1951) was a Polish soldier who fought in the Polish anti-Nazi and anti-communist resistance movements. He used various aliases: ''Pług'', ''Ostrowski'', ''Ludwik'', ''Grzmot'', and ''Bogdan' ...

and Adam Lazarowicz. Due to betrayal, he was arrested on 1 February 1948 in

Poronin Poronin , is a village in southern Poland; from 1999 it formed part of Tatra County of the Lesser Poland Voivodeship (it was previously in Nowy Sącz Voivodeship from 1975 to 1998). It lies approximately north-east of Zakopane and south of the r ...

and transported to the

Mokotów Prison Mokotów Prison (, also known as ''Rakowiecka Prison'') is a prison in Warsaw's borough of Mokotów, Poland, located at 37 Rakowiecka Street. It was built by the Russians in the final years of the foreign Partitions of Poland. During the Nazi Ge ...

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 ...

. Tortured during the investigation, in October 1950 he was sentenced to death four times. Kawalec was executed by a shot in the head on 1 March 1951. His body was buried in an unknown location.

References

WiN , Freedom and Independence - A Historical Brief
by Dr. Janusz Marek Kurtyka, Ph.D., Instytut Pamięci Narodowej, IPN, Poland. {{DEFAULTSORT:Kawalec, Mieczyslaw 1916 births 1951 deaths People from Rzeszów County People from the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria Cursed soldiers killed in action Executed Polish people Executed military personnel People executed by the Polish People's Republic by firearm Executed people from Subcarpathian Voivodeship

See also

References