Edward Gött-Getyński
Major Edward Karol Gött-Getyński, or Get-Getyński nom-de-guerre Sosnowiecki (January 4, 1898 – January 25, 1943) was a Major of Artillery in the Polish Army during the interwar period, and the underground resistance fighter during the Nazi German occupation of Poland. He was shot dead at the Auschwitz concentration camp following the discovery of his clandestine work.[1][2]
Edward Gött-Getyński | |
|---|---|
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| Born | January 4, 1898 |
| Died | January 25, 1943 (aged 45) |
| Nationality | Polish |
| Other names | Nom-de-guerre Sosnowiecki |
| Occupation | Army Major |
| Known for | Underground Mountain Division at Tatra Confederation |
Military service
Gött-Getyński came from Brody in the partitioned Poland. As an army officer, he took part in the defense of Lwów 1918-1919 (wounded twice) and the Polish–Soviet War (1919–1921, also wounded twice). In 1928, he served with the 6th Heavy Artillery Regiment in Lwów (now Lviv, Ukraine), and four years later, with the Headquarters of the 23 Infantry Division from Upper Silesia in Katowice. His last military post before World War II was Squadron Commander at the Volyn Cadet School for Artillery Reserve Officers (Wołyńska Szkoła Podchorążych Rezerwy Artylerii) in Włodzimierz Wołyński. Immediately before the German attack on Poland, he was drafted into the Pomerania Army Staff of Gen. Władysław Bortnowski.
Work in the resistance
Getyński was one of the leaders of the Polish resistance movement in World War II. In 1940–1941 he took part in the sabotage of railway networks utilised by the advancing German forces. In mid 1941 Getyński organized the first combat unit of the Tatra Confederation called Mountain Division (Dywizja Górska) in Podhale, under the leadership of Augustyn Suski from the Confederation.[3] His underground work ended at the beginning of 1942 with the arrest of Tatra leaders resulting from infiltration by the Gestapo agent Wegner-Romanowski. Major Get-Getynski was arrested on 2 February 1942 and taken to Auschwitz (prisoner # 29693) where despite torture and suffering he committed himself to leading underground activities against the Germans. As a result of this he faced a firing squad and was executed on the 25th of January 1943.[4]
References
- Urszula Perkowska. "Augustyn Suski (1907–1942)" (PDF 392.5 KB). ALMA MATER, No.79. Jagiellonian University, Kraków. Retrieved April 22, 2012.
- "Konfederacja Tatrzańska (with biographies and photographs)". Tadeusz Popek Konfederat Tatrzański. Retrieved April 24, 2012.
- Stanislaw Newcourt-Nowodworski. "The Polish Underground Movement (1939-1945)" (PDF 716.1 KB). Black Propaganda during WW2. Symposium organized by PUMST at the Polish Institute and Sikorski Museum in London on 22 Nov 2004 on the occasion of the 60th Anniversary of the Warsaw Rising 1944. p. 4. Retrieved April 22, 2012.
- "Historia rodziny Apostołów". Lista świadków historii (in Polish). Stowarzyszenie Auschwitz Memento. Archived from the original on 2015-01-23. Retrieved April 21, 2012.
- Włodzimierz Wnuk, Walka Podziemna Na Szcytach, Instytut Wydawniczy "Pax", 1980 (1st ed. 1958), Warsaw. Pages 71, 77, 213, 214, photograph facing page 193