Polish Roman Catholic priest
- This article has been partially translated from the Polish Wikipedia article.
Zdzisław Peszkowski
(
Polish pronunciation:
[??d??is?waf]
) (
(
1918-08-23
)
August 23, 1918 –
(
2007-10-08
)
October 8, 2007), of the
Jastrz?biec coat of arms
[1]
was a Polish
Roman Catholic
priest
and one of a small group of
Polish army
officers who managed to survive the 1940 mass execution of 22,000 Polish citizens by
NKVD
, the
Katyn massacre
. Peszkowski was a leading
advocate
and
chaplain
for the
Federation of Katyn Families
, which works with survivors of the Katyn massacre and their families.
[2]
Early life
[
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]
Zdzisław Peszkowski was born in 1918 in
Sanok
(
Ukrainian
:
Сянiк
;
Syanik
;
Yiddish
:
Sonik
), in
Galicia
before the dissolution of
Austro-Hungarian Empire
. After
World War I
, the town was incorporated into the
Second Polish Republic
. After completing high school in 1938 he was drafted into the
Polish Cavalry
.
Military
[
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]
Peszkowski was a
Sergeant
, leading a platoon of the
20th Uhlan Regiment of King Jan III Sobieski
(
Polish
:
20 Pułk Ułanow
), during the
Invasion of Poland
by
Nazi Germany
.
After the
Soviet invasion of Poland
, almost the whole regiment was captured by the
Red Army
.
Prisoners
were interned initially in
Pomorzany
. There, the painter
Wlastimil Hofman
portrayed the prisoners in small portraits. These portraits, including one of Zdzisław Peszkowski, were to be sent to the prisoners' families. In October 1939, Peszkowski was transported from Poland into the
Soviet Union
to a
POW
camp, established in the
Optina Monastery
in
Kozelsk
(
Russian
:
Козе?льск
) for Polish prisoners taken captive by the Red Army. In May 1940, he was transported from Kozelsk to a camp called
Pavlishchev Bor
, and then to
Gryazovets
(
Russian
:
Гря?зовец
;
Polish
:
Griazowca
).
In 1941, following
Operation Barbarossa
and the
Sikorski-Maisky agreement
he was released during the
Amnesty for Polish citizens in the Soviet Union
and joined the
Polish Armed Forces in the East
being formed in
Buzuluk
(
Russian
:
Бузулу?к
). He was promoted to
Rotmistrz
and lead a company in the
1st Krechowce Uhlan Regiment
(
Polish
:
1 Pułk Ułanow Krechowieckich
). In the spring of 1942 the organizing formation was moved to the area of
Tashkent
(
Uzbek
:
Toshkent, Тошкент
), Uzbekistan. In the second part of 1942, the formation was transferred through the
Persian Corridor
to the
British
Middle East Command
as a
military occupation
force after the
Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran
.
Priesthood
[
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]
Peszkowski left the army following
World War II
and was ordained a
Roman Catholic
priest.
[2]
He became a leading advocate for the remembrance of the Katyn massacre and the murder of
Poles
elsewhere in the country during the war. He also became a chaplain for Polish families of the Katyn massacres.
[2]
He preached forgiveness for the perpetrators of Katyn. He called for forgiveness for those who killed Polish army officers during a speech at
Warsaw's Unknown Soldiers' Grave
in 1995.
[2]
June 4, 2007 was the last Katyn remembrance ceremony where Peszkowski took part.
[2]
He laid a
cornerstone
for a memorial at the
cemetery for Polish army officers in Katyn
.
[2]
He told those gathered that he hoped
the tragedies that happened to Poland during World War II
would serve as a warning against hatred to the rest of the world.
[2]
Zdzisław Peszkowski died in
Warsaw, Poland
, at the age of 89.
[2]
He remained a chaplain for the Katyn families until his death.
[2]
Citations
[
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]
- Some of the content of this article comes from
the equivalent Polish-language Wikipedia article
(retrieved April 12, 2010).
External links
[
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]
Media related to
Zdzisław Peszkowski
at Wikimedia Commons
References
[
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]