Alojzy Wir-Konas

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Alojzy Wir-Konas (1894-1940) was a Polish military commander and a Colonel of the Polish Army. Divisional commander during the Invasion of Poland, he was murdered in the Katyn massacre.

Alojzy Konas joined the Polish Legions during the Great War. About that time he adopted the nom de guerre of Wir (Polish for whirlwind), which later became a part of his surname. After the Oath Crisis he was drafted into the Austro-Hungarian Army and sent to the Italian front, where he fought with distinction in shock battalion near Cordolezzo. After the war, in November of 1918 he joined the Polish Army and steadily advanced through its ranks.

Between 1924 and 1930 he commanded the Pińsk-based Polish 84th Infantry Regiment. Promoted to the rank of Colonel, until August of 1939 he commanded the infantry units of the Polish 21st Mountain Infantry Division. During the Invasion of Poland in 1939 he was the commanding officer of the Polish 38th Infantry Division, formed of reserve units between Tarnów and Kraków. Due to the fast pace of the German advance, the division entered combat on September 9, before it could be fully mobilized. From September 11, it was attached to the improvised Małopolska Army and was withdrawing towards the Romanian Bridgehead. Under the leadership of Gen. Kazimierz Sosnkowski, Wir-Konas commanded his division in the battle of Sądowa Wisznia, in which he managed to defeat the much stronger German 2nd Mountain Division. However, shortly before reaching Lwów, the unit became bogged down in the battle of Janów of September 17. Despite offering heavy resistance, only a single regiment managed to break through enemy lines and reach the besieged city. After the capitulation of Lwów to the Soviet Union on September 22, 1939, Alojzy Wir-Konas was arrested by the NKVD and imprisoned in the Starobielsk concentration camp. He was murdered in the Katyn massacre in April of 1940. For his wartime service he was posthumously promoted to the rank of General.