GREATER POLAND UPRISING 1918-1919 - selection of biographies

WAWRZYNIAK Władysław Jan Nepomucen


Person
WAWRZYNIAK Władysław Jan Nepomucen
Born
15 V 1890
Died
April 1940
Description
He was born in Antonin near Ostrów Wielkopolski, to the family of Ludwik - a forester in Tokarzewo, and Józefa née Rosińska. He studied law in Munich and in Wrocław. He was president of the Tomasz Zan Society and an activist of the Polish Youth Association (ZET). After completing his studies he worked as a court secretary in Ostrów Wielkopolski. In 1914, he was drafted into the Germany army. In 1915 he was made a second lieutenant. On 16 November 1918, he came for holidays to Ostrów Wielkopolski. The local Poviat People's Council entrusted him with the command of the 2nd company, the so called Ostrów Infantry Regiment. From 25 November of that year, he became the commander of the Border Battalion in Szczypiomo. During the Greater Poland Uprising, he was the commander of the Southern section of the Greater Poland Front, took part in the liberation of Skalmierzyce and Ostrów Wielkopolski and formed the 12th Greater Poland Rifle Regiment (70th Greater Poland Infantry Regiment). In the application for the Order of Virtuti Militari, it was emphasised that W. Wawrzyniak and the battalion which he organised, moved to Kalisz and organised an insurgent unit there. At night of 30/31 December 1918, leading his battalion, he seized Skalmierzyce and, with a firm address, he took a decision on the outbreak of the uprising in Ostrów. He seized Krotoszyn and Zduny. In January 1919 he became the commander of the insurgent Southern Military District. At the end of January and the beginning of February he organised the 12th Greater Poland Rifle Regiment (renamed as the 70th Greater Poland Infantry Regiment). For these deeds, he received the Order of Virtuti Militari of the 5th class (No. 4719). In 1919 he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant by the Supreme People's Council. On 5 May 1919 he was promoted to captain. On 1 June 1919, he took ill on the front. On 1 April 1920 he was promoted to major. From 7 August 1920, he was the commandant of the city of Grudziądz. From 1 July 1921, in the Corps District Command VII in Poznań (until 1 January 1925) he held the post of recruitment head, then head of the first and fifth troop. Then he commanded battalions in the 58th, 57th and 35th infantry regiments. On 30 September 1929, he retired. He settled in Baku, working as a secretary in the Association of Merchants to earn a living. In October 1939, he joined the army as a volunteer. He was assigned to the reserve unit and under unknown circumstances he was taken captive by the Soviets. He was imprisoned in Kozelsk, where from he sent a letter to his wife. He was murdered in Katyn. He was also awarded the Order of the Rebirth of Poland 4 Id., the Cross of Independence and commemorative medals. He was married twice? to Romana Łukanowska née May (divorced) and Marta Matuszewska (died in 1941). He had no children.
Bibliography
Z. Dykci, Władysław Jan Nepomucen (15 V 1890 - April 1940) (in:).Słownik biograficzny powstańców wielkopolskich 1918-1919, ed. A. Czubiński, B. Polak, Poznań 2002, pp. 386-388.
Author of the entry
Bogusław Polak