Florian Siwicki
Birth nameFlorian Siwicki
Born(1925-01-10)10 January 1925
Łuck, Poland (today Ukraine)
Died11 March 2013(2013-03-11) (aged 88)
Warsaw, Poland
Allegiance Poland
Polish People's Republic
Service/branchRed Army, Polish People's Army
Years of service1942–1990
RankGeneral of the army
UnitMotorized infantry (mortar and recoilless rifle)
Commands held8th Infantry Division
2nd Army
Silesian Military District
Chief of General Staff of the Polish Army
Minister of National Defense
Battles/warsWorld War II Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia
Martial law in Poland
AwardsCross of Valour-1944
Partisan Cross-1945
Medal of Victory and Freedom 1945-1946
Medal for the Oder, Neisse and Baltics-1945
Order of the Cross of Grunwald-1983
Medal of the Armed Forces in the Service of the Fatherland-1956
Medal of Merit for National Defence-1968
Order of the Red Banner-1945
Order of the October Revolution-1969
Medal "For the Liberation of Prague"-1946
Medal "For the Liberation of Warsaw"-1946
Medal "For the Victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945"-1946
Medal of the 10th Anniversary of People's Poland-1954
Medal of the 30th Anniversary of People's Poland
Medal of the 40th Anniversary of People's Poland
Other workPolitician

Florian Siwicki (Polish pronunciation: [ˈflɔrjan ɕiˈvit͡skʲi]; 10 January 1925 – 11 March 2013) was a Polish military officer, diplomat and communist politician. He was a generał in the Polish Army and Minister of Defense of Poland from 1983 to 1990.

Military and political career

Son of Elżbieta and Eugeniusz. His father was a non-commissioned officer. In 1930, Eugeniusz Siwicki was transferred to the reserve and moved with his family to village near Rivne. At first, he was the owner of a small, three-hectare farm, and later he was employed as a bookkeeper in the commune office.[1]

In April 1940, his father was arrested by NKVD officers. A month later, Florian and his mother were deported deep into the Soviet Union to the Arkhangelsk region. At the age of 17 he was forced to join the Red Army. From December 1942, he served in the 105 Independent Sapper Battalion, where he became the deputy commander of the platoon. In May 1943 he was in the ranks of the Polish Armed Forces in the USSR. He served in the 1st Tadeusz Kościuszko Infantry Division.[1]

In early 1945, after 5 months of officer training in the Soviet Union, he was commissioned a lieutenant in the Soviet-allied Polish People's Army. He commanded infantry platoons and companies in the East Pomeranian Offensive and the Prague Offensive.

After the war, he continued his military career as an infantry officer and political career as a member and official of the Polish Workers' Party (PPR). In the army he became a "political officer"; he advanced also in the PPR and then the Polish United Workers' Party (PZPR). He was not very close to the Stalinist wing of the party, although dutifully carried out their orders. From 1951 to 1953 he underwent a Command-and-Staff course for Brigade and Division Command at the M. V. Frunze Military Academy in the Soviet Union. Siwicki was later promoted to lieutenant-colonel and commanded an infantry battalion in the Warsaw Military District until 1957. He was promoted to colonel in 1957 and brigadier in 1960. From 1956 to 1959 he was in charge of the Military Intelligence and Police division in the Warsaw Military District. In the course of his career he held a number of senior posts, including military attaché in China from 1959 to 1961, commander of an independent mechanized brigade in the Silesian Military District from 1961 to 1963, commanding officer of the 8th Motorised/Mechanized Infantry Division from 1963 to 1967, commander of the 2nd Polish Army from 1967 to 1972 (including during the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968),[2] commander of the Silesian Military District from 1972 to 1973 and Chief of General Staff of the Polish Army from 1973 to 1983.[3] Siwicki was a long-serving Minister of National Defense in the governments of Wojciech Jaruzelski, Zbigniew Messner, Mieczysław Rakowski and Tadeusz Mazowiecki (from 1983 to 1990 total).[4] In 1972 he became a candidate member of the Politburo of the PZPR, and in 1980 a full member.[5] Siwicki was appointed to the position of Minister of Defense after Jaruzelski stepped down from that post; he also functioned as Jaruzelski's "top deputy on the defense council". In October 1983, Siwicki was awarded with the Order of the Cross of Grunwald, first class, one of his many decorations.[6]

As agreed in the Round Table talks and during subsequent political developments, Siwicki remained the Minister of Defense in Solidarity-led government of Mazowiecki until July 1990.[5]

References

  1. 1 2 "Generał Florian Siwicki: Portret okupanta". www.rp.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 2020-01-07.
  2. ↑ Paczkowski, Andrzej; Malcolm Byrne; Gregory F. Domber (2008). From Solidarity to Martial Law: The Polish Crisis of 1980-1981: A Documentary History. Central European University Press. p. xxviii. ISBN 9789637326967. Retrieved December 22, 2010.
  3. ↑ Jan Chodakiewicz, Marek; John Radzilowski; Dariusz Tolczyk (2003). Poland's transformation: a work in progress : studies in honor of Kenneth W. Thompson. Transaction Publishers. p. 27. ISBN 9780967996028. Retrieved December 22, 2010.
  4. ↑ O. Pragnell, Mervyn; Ann Patrick Rogers (1985). The International year book and statesmen's who's who. Burke's Peerage Ltd. p. 392. ISBN 9780611006806. Retrieved December 22, 2010.
  5. 1 2 Panos Danopoulos, Constantine; Cynthia Ann Watson (1996). The political role of the military: an international handbook. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 367. ISBN 9780313288371. Retrieved December 22, 2010.
  6. ↑ "Polish army chief honored". Ottawa Citizen. October 11, 1983. Retrieved December 22, 2010.
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