| Stanisław Tatar | |
|---|---|
| Born | October 2, 1896 Biórków Wielki, then in Russian Empire |
| Died | December 16, 1980 (aged 84) Warsaw, Poland |
| Other names | nom de guerre Tabor |
| Citizenship | Polish |
| Occupation | Army General |
| Known for | Armia Krajowa commander |
Stanisław Tatar (nom de guerre Tabor; 1896–1980) was a Polish general and one of the commanders of Polish resistance movement Armia Krajowa during World War II.[1] In the communist Poland, he was arrested and falsely accused of conspiracy against the Party by the Stalinist secret police (Urząd Bezpieczeństwa). Subsequently, Tatar was sentenced to life imprisonment in the so called Trial of the Generals, but released from prison during Polish October of 1956.
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Stanisław Tatar was born 2 October 1896. During the Great War In 1915 he was conscripted to the tsarist Russian Army. In 1917 he was transferred to the 1st Polish Corps formed in Russia. Together with the remnants of his unit in November 1918 he joined the renascent Polish Army.[1]
During the interbellum he remained in the military. Having finished numerous officer courses, in 1934 he became one of the tutors of artillery tactics at the Higher War School (Wyższa Szkoła Wojenna) in Warsaw. He held that post until 1938.
During the Invasion of Poland he served at various posts, including the command over a military detachment named after him. After the Polish defeat he evaded being captured by the Germans and Soviets and joined the newly-formed Związek Walki Zbrojnej (ZWZ), the biggest resistance organisation, that eventually transformed itself into the Home Army. From 1940 to 1943 he served as the head of the 3rd detachment (Operational) of the general staff. After 1943 he also served as the deputy chief of staff of the entire Home Army. Among his most notable achievements was creation of the plans for Operation Tempest.
In 1944, shortly before the Warsaw Uprising, he was transferred to London, where he assumed the post of deputy commander in chief for home matters. After the end of World War II in 1945 he became the commander of artillery of the 1st Polish Corps in the United Kingdom. After it was disbanded in 1947 he settled in UK.
In July 1947 Tatar organized the transfer to Poland from the London-based Polish government-in-exile of the treasury of the prewar Fund of National Defense (Fundusz Obrony Narodowej, FON). The new Polish government promised to use it to help the veterans. The shipment consisted of gold bars (350 kg) and $2.5 million in gold and silver coins. The 10 metal containers where brought to Warsaw on the 3rd and 13th of July by Col. Leon Szwajcer i Pola Landau-Leder from the embasy.[2] Most of it however, was subsequently stolen and split among the stalinist dignitaries and security forces of Jakub Berman, without leaving a paper trail.[3][4] Unlike most of his fellow generals of the Polish Army, Stanisław Tatar was not deprived of the Polish citizenship by the Soviet-backed communist authorities of Poland and in 1949 was allowed to legally return to his homeland.
Upon his arrival to Warsaw however, he was arrested by the Soviet NKVD, imprisoned and charged with espionage. As a victim of the Generals' Trial (show trial) of 1951 he was sentenced to life imprisonment and imprisoned in Wronki Prison. After Joseph Stalin's death and the start of a period of liberalisation in Poland in 1956 he was released from prison and rehabilitated. Tatar died in 1980.