Józef Unrug
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Józef Unrug | |
|---|---|
| Life |  Wiceadmirał |
| Born | October 7, 1884 Brandenburg, Germany |
| Died | February 28, 1973 Lailly-en-Val, France |
| Career | |
| In service since: | 1907 |
| Notable assignments: | C-i-C of the Polish Navy |
| Major wars and battles: | World War I, Polish-Soviet War, Invasion of Poland (1939) |
| Medals | |
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Vice Admiral Józef Unrug (1884-1973) was a German-born Polish naval officer who helped reestablish Poland's Navy after World War I. During the opening stages of World War II, he served as the Polish Navy's commander.
[edit] Biography
Józef Michał Hubert Unrug was born October 7, 1884, in Brandenburg into the Germanized family of Tadeusz Unrug, a major-general in the Prussian Army. After graduating from gymnasium in Dresden, Unrug completed Navy School in 1907 and began service in the German Navy. During World War I he commanded a U-Boot, earning promotion to the command of a submarine flotilla.
After Poland regained independence, Unrug left Germany and volunteered for the Polish Army. Soon afterward he was transferred to the nascent Polish Navy, where he served as chief of the Hydrographic Division and then as commanding officer of a submarine flotilla. One of the most skilled officers in the Polish Navy, Unrug was quickly promoted to Rear Admiral. Despite his problems with the Polish language, in 1925 he became commander of the Polish Navy.
During the 1939 invasion of Poland, Unrug executed his plan of strategic withdrawal of the Polish Navy's major vessels to Great Britain ("Operation Peking"). At the same time, he commanded all Polish submersibles to lay naval mine fields in the Bay of Gdańsk ("Plan Worek"). After that, these vessels either escaped to Great Britain or were interned in neutral countries.
Despite having thus lost control of the Navy, Unrug remained commander of land forces defending Pomerania against German aggression. However, on October 1, 1939, after both Warsaw and Modlin had capitulated, Admiral Unrug decided that further defense of the isolated Hel Peninsula was pointless, and the following day all units under his command capitulated.
Józef Unrug spent the rest of the World War II in various German POW camps, including Oflag II-C in Woldenberg, Oflag XVIII-C in Spittal, Stalag X-B in Sandbostel, Oflag IV-C (Colditz Castle) and finally Oflag VII-A Murnau. In the latter camp he was the eldest-ranking officer and the commander of the Polish soldiers interned there. The Germans tried to woo Unrug by bringing old Kaiserliche Marine buddies and high Nazi officials to visit him with the intention of making him switch sides. Unrug responded by refusing to speak German, saying that he had forgotten that language in September 1939. To the irritation of the Germans Unrug would always insist having a translator present, even though he spoke German fluently. Unrug's spirit and unbowing attitude proved to be an inspiration to his fellow prisoners.
After liberation in 1945, Unrug went to the United Kingdom, where he served in the Polish Army in the West and took part in its liquidation. After the Allies withdrew support for the Polish government, Unrug remained in exile in Great Britain, and then in France. He died February 28, 1973 in a Polish Veterans Hospital in Lailly-en-Val near Beaugency, at the age of 88. On March 5 of the same year he was buried in a chapel of Branicki family palace in Montresor. In 1976 a stone tablet commemorating Admiral Unrug was erected in Oksywie and his ashes were returned to Poland.
