Major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

Wacław Kopisto a.k.a. Wacław Jaworski, ''

nom 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, ''ancien régime'' Kingdom of France, France it would be adopted by each n ...

'' Kra (8 February 1911 – 23 February 1993) was an officer of 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 ...

interwar Poland 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. ...

infantry Infantry, or infantryman are a type of soldier who specialize in ground combat, typically fighting dismounted. Historically the term was used to describe foot soldiers, i.e. those who march and fight on foot. In modern usage, the term broadl ...

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 ...

, and an underground soldier of the elite Polish ''

Cichociemni The Silent Unseen ( Polish: ''Cichociemni'', ) were elite special-operations paratroopers of the Polish Army in exile, created in Great Britain during World War II to operate in occupied Poland (''Cichociemni Spadochroniarze Armii Krajowej''). K ...

'' unit (the Silent Unseen) during the

occupation of Poland Occupation commonly refers to: *Occupation (human activity), or job, one's role in society, often a regular activity performed for payment *Occupation (protest), political demonstration by holding public or symbolic spaces *Military occupation, th ...

in World War II.

Military career

In 1934–35 Kopisto attended the '' Podchorąży'' military academy in

Tarnopol Ternopil, known until 1944 mostly as Tarnopol, is a city in western Ukraine, located on the banks of the Seret (river), Seret River. Ternopil is one of the major cities of Western Ukraine and the historical regions of Galicia (Central Europe ...

. In 1939 he fought in the

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 Sovie ...

defending Poland around the town of Podkarpacie. Following Poland's defeat by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union, he escaped to Hungary, then to France, and finally Great Britain, where he became a

Polish Armed Forces in the West The Polish Armed Forces in the West () refers to the Polish Armed Forces, Polish military formations formed to fight alongside the Allies of World War II, Western Allies against Nazi Germany and its Axis powers, allies during World War II. Poli ...

parachutist Parachuting and skydiving are methods of descending from a high point in an atmosphere to the ground or ocean surface with the aid of gravity, involving the control of speed during the descent using a parachute or multiple parachutes. For hu ...

. He was deployed back to Poland on the night of 2 September 1942 in the area of

Grójec Grójec is a town in eastern Poland, located in the Masovian Voivodeship, about south of Warsaw. It is the capital of the urban-rural administrative district Grójec and Grójec County. It has 16,674 inhabitants (2017). Grójec surroundings ...

. Kopisto took part in several spectacular military actions in

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 ...

against the occupying German forces as well as the

collaborationist Wartime collaboration is cooperation with the enemy against one's country of citizenship in wartime. As historian Gerhard Hirschfeld says, it "is as old as war and the occupation of foreign territory". The term ''collaborator'' dates to the 19th ...

units of the UPA. On 20 January 1943 he was involved in the rescue of Polish

prisoners of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of war for a ...

from '' Wachlarz'' of the

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 ...

who were being held and tortured at the Pińsk prison. The first platoon of ''Cichociemni'' rescuers drove undetected through the prison gate in an

Opel Opel Automobile GmbH (), usually shortened to Opel, is a German automobile manufacturer which has been a subsidiary of Stellantis since 16 January 2021. It was owned by the American automaker General Motors from 1929 until 2017 and the PSA Gr ...

car, while dressed in the '' SS'' uniforms and shouting at the guards in German. Once inside the compound, they shot the commandant who refused to cooperate. They opened the prison cells and released the inmates who were loaded onto a lorry they had requisitioned and they drove away ten minutes before the German reinforcements arrived. Two days later, on 22 January 1943 the ''SS'' executed 30 local civilian hostages in retaliation. Kopisto served as commander of Kedyw in the

Łuck Lutsk (, ; see below for other names) is a city on the Styr River in northwestern Ukraine. It is the administrative center of Volyn Oblast and the administrative center of Lutsk Raion within the oblast. Lutsk has a population of A city wit ...

Inspectorate, and organized Polish self-defence in Wołyń. He was captured by the Soviets in 1944 and sentenced to death, commuted to 10 years in Siberian lagers at

Kolyma Kolyma (, ) or Kolyma Krai () is a historical region in the Russian Far East that includes the basin of Kolyma River and the northern shores of the Sea of Okhotsk, as well as the Kolyma Mountains (the watershed of the two). It is bounded to ...

and

Magadan Magadan ( rus, Магадан, p=məɡɐˈdan) is a Port of Magadan, port types of inhabited localities in Russia, town and the administrative centre of Magadan Oblast, Russia. The city is located on the isthmus of the Staritsky Peninsula by the ...

. He returned to Poland in 1955, and settled in

Rzeszów Rzeszów ( , ) is the largest city in southeastern Poland. It is located on both sides of the Wisłok River in the heartland of the Sandomierz Basin. Rzeszów is the capital of the Subcarpathian Voivodeship and the county seat, seat of Rzeszów C ...

. Wacław Kopisto died on 23 February 1993 and is buried in Rzeszów.

Recognition

Kopisto was awarded the 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, ...

and twice the Cross of Valour (''Krzyż Walecznych''). He received a posthumous promotion to Major. His biography titled ''Major Wacław Kopisto – Cichociemny Oficer AK Sybirak'', written by Krzysztof A. Tochman, was published in Poland by ''Libra'' in 2010. Kopisto was also the subject of a 1989 film documentary ''Cichociemni'', about the Polish parachuters of World War II, made by Marek Widarski for WWFD ''Czołówka''.

Forged ''Cichociemni'' claims by others

Martin Gray (born Mieczysław Grajewski), wrote in his 1971 autobiography ''For Those I Loved'' that he had participated in the raid on Pińsk prison. Doubt had been cast on a number of claims in the book, including whether he was a survivor of

Treblinka Treblinka () was the second-deadliest extermination camp to be built and operated by Nazi Germany in Occupation of Poland (1939–1945), occupied Poland during World War II. It was in a forest north-east of Warsaw, south of the Treblinka, ...

Gitta Sereny Gitta Sereny, CBE (13 March 192114 June 2012) was an Austrian-British biographer, historian, and investigative journalist who became known for her interviews and profiles of infamous figures, including Mary Bell, who was convicted in 1968 of ...

. "The Men Who Whitewash Hitler" ''

New Statesman ''The New Statesman'' (known from 1931 to 1964 as the ''New Statesman and Nation'') is a British political and cultural news magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first c ...

'', Vol. 98, No. 2537, 2 November 1979, pp. 670–73. and when Kopisto was shown a wartime photograph of Gray in 1990, he said he had never met Gray during the war, nor had a man resembling the photograph of him ever belonged to their unit:

For the first time in my life I saw Martin Gray in a 1945 photo, which was published in March 1990 in
Przekrój ''Przekrój'' (; ''Cross-section'') was the oldest Polish weekly newsmagazine in operation, established in 1945 in Kraków. After temporary closure in 2013, it was bought by photographer Tomasz Niewiadomski and subsequently relaunched in December ...
magazine ... There were only sixteen of us participating in the 1943 Pińsk raid, and he was not among us.Jacek Stachiewicz interview with Major Wacław Kopisto (2 August 1990)
"Kim jest Martin Gray?" (Who is Martin Gray)
''Nowiny Rzeszowskie'' (''The Rzeszów News'' daily), Nr 163, 1990, p. 9 of scanned document, Scribd Inc. ''Also at:'' Polish daily ''Nowiny Rzeszowskie''
DJVU Lizardtech viewer. Nr 162-183.
''Podkarpacka'' Digital Library.

Bibliography

Brief selection of popular books about ''

'' published mainly in the Polish language: * Marek Celt (pen name of Tadeusz Chciuk-Celt), ''By parachute to Warsaw'', London : Dorothy Crip and Co Ltd, 1945, * Józef Gabriel Zabielski, ''Pierwszy skok '', Publisher: Holborn, 1946, * Various authors, Jerzy Iranek-Osmecki (trans.), ''Drogi cichociemnych'', London: "Veritas", England, 1954, * Piwonski, ''Cichociemni'', Warszawa: ''Żółty Tygrys'' (the Yellow Tiger), 1957 (UC 74 A4 1957) * Maurycy Gordon, ''Cichociemni'', Poland: Ministerstwo Obrony Narodowej, 1958 * Cezary Chlebowski, ''Pozdrówcie Góry Świętokrzyskie'', Warszawa, Iskry 1968 (first edition) * Jędrzej Tucholski, ''Cichociemni'', Warszawa: "Pax", 1984. * Przemysław Bystrzycki, ''Znak cichociemnych'', Warszawa 1985. * Jan Szatsznajder, ''Cichociemni. Z Polski do Polski'', Wrocław: Krajowa Agencja Wydawnicza 1985. * Alfred Paczkowski, ''Ankieta cichociemnego.'' Warszawa: Instytut Wydawniczy Pax, 1987. * Cezary Chlebowski, ''Reportaż z tamtych dni. Warszawa'', Krajowa Agencja Wydawnicza, 1988. * Various authors, ''Drogi cichociemnych'', Warszawa 1993, reprint. * Hubert Królikowski, ''Wojskowa Formacja Specjalna GROM im. Cichociemnych Spadochroniarzy Armii Krajowej 1990–2000'', Gdańsk 2001. (Chapter: "Tobie Ojczyzno - Cichociemni")Selected bibliography: Cichociemni, at Grom.mil.pl
/ref>

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kopisto, Waclaw 1911 births 1993 deaths Home Army officers Cichociemni Recipients of the Cross of Valour (Poland) Recipients of the Virtuti Militari People from Khmelnytskyi Oblast