Bronisław Bohatyrewicz of Ostoja[1] (24 February 1870 – 9 April 1940) was a Polish military commander and a general of the Polish Army. Murdered during the Katyn massacre, Bohatyrewicz was one of the Generals whose bodies were identified by forensic scientists of the Katyn Commission during the 1943 exhumation.
Bronisław Bohatyrewicz | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 24 February 1870 Grodno, Grodno Governorate |
| Died | 9 April 1940 (aged 70) Katyn, Soviet Union |
| Allegiance | Poland |
| Rank | Brigadier General |
Life
edit
Born 24 February or 24 April 1870 (sources differ)[2] in Grodno, in a noble family being part of the Clan of Ostoja, Bohatyrewicz joined the Imperial Russian Army, where he received officers training.[2] In September 1918 he joined the Polish Army. He started as the commanding officer of Belarusian self-defence units in Grodno during the opening stages of the Russian Civil War and then the Polish-Bolshevik War.[3] Successful in the battle of Grodno, in 1919 he became the commander of the Polish 81st Infantry Regiment. After the war he continued his career in the army and received further training in the Higher War School in Warsaw. Between 1923 and 1926 he commanded the infantry units of the Polish 18th Infantry Division and the following year he was promoted to the rank of generał brygady and retired from active duty.[2]
Katyn
editAfter the Polish Defensive War of 1939 Bohatyrewicz was arrested by the NKVD[4] and imprisoned in Kozelsk[5][6] in the Soviet Union. He was murdered in Katyn in the spring of 1940, aged seventy, during the Katyń massacre.[7][8] Among the Katyn victims were 14 Polish generals including Leon Billewicz, Xawery Czernicki (admiral), Stanisław Haller, Aleksander Kowalewski, Henryk Minkiewicz, Kazimierz Orlik-Łukoski, Konstanty Plisowski, Rudolf Prich (murdered in Lviv), Franciszek Sikorski, Leonard Skierski, Piotr Skuratowicz, Mieczysław Smorawiński and Alojzy Wir-Konas (promoted posthumously).[9]
Honours and awards
edit- Silver Cross of the Order of Virtuti Militari
- Cross of Valour - four times
- Silver Cross of Merit
- Merit Cross for Forces in Central Lithuanian
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ Minakowski
- ^ a b c Anna Cienciala (ed.), Katyn A Crime Without Punishment Yale, 2007 ISBN 978-0-300-10851-4. Page 386.
- ^ Гарадзенцам пакажуць фільм «Катынь» Archived 2011-07-17 at the Wayback Machine: Ён нарадзіўся ў Гродне ў беларускай шляхецкай сям’і, у 1918‑1919 гадах арганізаваў і ўзначаліў аддзел мясцовай самаабароны, які потым быў пераўтвораны ў нацыянальную беларуска‑літоўскую дывізію. (Nasha Niva)
- ^ Stanoslaw Swianiewicz In the Shadow of Katyn Witold, 2004 ISBN 1-894255-16-X Page 233
- ^ J.K.Zawodny Death in the Forest Notre Dame, 1962 Page 145
- ^ The Crime of Katyn Polish Cultural Foundation, 1989 ISBN 0-85065-190-5 Page 18
- ^ J.K.Zawodny Death in the Forest Notre Dame, 1962 Page 23
- ^ Allen Paul Katyn Naval Institute, 1996 ISBN 1-55750-670-1 Page 208
- ^ Andrzej Leszek Szcześniak, ed. (1989). Katyń; lista ofiar i zaginionych jeńców obozów Kozielsk, Ostaszków, Starobielsk. Warsaw, Alfa. p. 366. ISBN 978-83-7001-294-6.; Moszyński, Adam, ed. (1989). Lista katyńska; jeńcy obozów Kozielsk, Ostaszków, Starobielsk i zaginieni w Rosji Sowieckiej. Warsaw, Polskie Towarzystwo Historyczne. p. 336. ISBN 978-83-85028-81-9.; Tucholski, Jędrzej (1991). Mord w Katyniu; Kozielsk, Ostaszków, Starobielsk: lista ofiar. Warsaw, Pax. p. 987. ISBN 978-83-211-1408-8.; Banaszek, Kazimierz (2000). Kawalerowie Orderu Virtuti Militari w mogiłach katyńskich. Roman, Wanda Krystyna; Sawicki, Zdzisław. Warsaw, Chapter of the Virtuti Militari War Medal & RYTM. p. 351. ISBN 978-83-87893-79-8.; Maria Skrzyńska-Pławińska, ed. (1995). Rozstrzelani w Katyniu; alfabetyczny spis 4410 jeńców polskich z Kozielska rozstrzelanych w kwietniu-maju 1940, według źródeł sowieckich, polskich i niemieckich. Stanisław Maria Jankowski. Warsaw, Karta. p. 286. ISBN 978-83-86713-11-0.; Skrzyńska-Pławińska, Maria, ed. (1996). Rozstrzelani w Charkowie; alfabetyczny spis 3739 jeńców polskich ze Starobielska rozstrzelanych w kwietniu-maju 1940, według źródeł sowieckich i polskich. Porytskaya, Ileana. Warsaw, Karta. p. 245. ISBN 978-83-86713-12-7.; Skrzyńska-Pławińska, Maria, ed. (1997). Rozstrzelani w Twerze; alfabetyczny spis 6314 jeńców polskich z Ostaszkowa rozstrzelanych w kwietniu-maju 1940 i pogrzebanych w Miednoje, według źródeł sowieckich i polskich. Porytskaya, Ileana. Warsaw, Karta. p. 344. ISBN 978-83-86713-18-9.