Henryk Iwański
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Henryk Iwański (1902-1978), nom de guerre Bystry, was a member of the Polish resistance during WWII. He is known for leading one of the most daring actions of the Armia Krajowa (Home Army) in support of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. For his assistance to the Polish Jews he is counted among the Righteous Among the Nations.
Before the Second World War Henryk had reached the rank of captain in the Polish Army. Soon after Nazi Germany invaded Poland and began the Holocaust, Henryk was instrumental in the founding of the Żydowski Związek Wojskowy (Jewish Fighting Organization)[1]. Together with the rest of his family he dedicated himself to support the Jews, working through the Polish resistance (Armia Krajowa). Iwański was one of the AK members dealing with the Jews, providing them with arms, ammunition, and instructional materials smuggled through the sewers or in carts that brought lime and cement into the ghetto.
From the very first days of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising the AK maintained contact with the Jewish fighters and tried to support them by providing supplies and launching supportive strikes against the Germans. Some of AK soldiers volunteered to join the fighters in the ghetto from the very first day of the uprising.[2] When one of the commanders of the Jewish units, Dawid Moryc Apfelbaum, sent a message to the AK informing the Poles that he had been wounded, and asking for arms and ammunition, Iwański took an AK unit (Państwowy Korpus Bezpieczeństwa, the Security Corps) through a tunnel into the Ghetto to directly support the Jewish fighters. Among the 18 members of the unit were his brother, Wacław and Henryk’s son, Roman. They entered the ghetto on April 27, 1943, bringing ammunition and other supplies and on the spot they decided to relieve some of the exhausted fighters, engaging the Germans together with the remaining members of the ŻZW on the Muranowski Square. In the fight Wacław was killed; Henryk and his son Roman were seriously wounded, Roman fatally. Zbigniew, another son of Henryk fought on Karmelicka Street and died on May 3, 1943, escorting a group of Jews out of the ghetto. After being wounded, Iwański was brought from the ghetto, escorted by a group of Polish and Jewish fighters, among them Ber Mark, who later wrote a book about the Uprising. Nonetheless, Iwański returned to the ghetto at least once more, bringing another set of ammunition and supplies.[3] [4] [5]
It should be noted that this was one of many actions of the Polish resistance providing assistance to the Jews in the ghetto.[6]
In 1963, for his actions Iwański was awarded the silver Virtuti Militari cross, one of Poland's highest decorations. Later, in 1964, with his wife Wictora he was decorated with the Righteous Among the Nations medal.
[edit] See also
- Jerzy Lawiński
- Henryk Woliński
- Władysław Zajdler
[edit] References
- The International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation
- The Polish Underground State: A Guide to the Underground, 1939-1945" Stefan Korbonski, pages 120-139
[edit] Further reading
- See the list in The Bravest Battle: The Twenty-Eight Days of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, Google Print, p.352
| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| NAME | Iwański, Henryk |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Bystry; Iwanski, Henryk |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | Polish resistance fighter |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 1902 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | |
| DATE OF DEATH | May 3, 1943 |
| PLACE OF DEATH | Warsaw, Poland |
