Gustaw Paszkiewicz

Gustaw Paszkiewicz (1 April 1892 – 27 February 1955) was a soldier of the Imperial Russian Army, and officer of the Polish Army. He entered the military service in 1914, at the age of 22, fighting as Russian soldier in World War I. Paszkiewicz was a soldier until 1952. Gustaw Paszkiewicz was born on 1 April 1892 in the village of Wasiliszki in the Vilna Governorate of the Russian Empire (present-day Belarus) to Leonard Paszkiewicz and Justyna née Tabenska. His younger brother Wilhelm was a colonel of the Polish Army, murdered by the NKVD in the Katyn massacre. After graduation from a gymnasium in Minsk, Paszkiewicz joined the Vilnius Military School. In 1914–1917 he fought in the Russian Army, and then joined Polish I Corps in Russia, in which he was company leader of the 3rd Rifles Regiment. He fought in the Polish–Soviet War in the area of Lwów and Stryj, as commandant of the 55th Infantry Regiment. In 1923–24, Paszkiewicz attended Wyższa Szkoła Wojenna in Warsaw, after which he was promoted to the rank of officer in the Polish General Staff. In 1924–1926, Paszkiewicz commanded Officer School of Infantry in Warsaw, and in October 1926 was named commandant of divisional infantry at 24th Infantry Division, stationed in Jarosław. On 12 October 1935 Paszkiewicz was named commandant of the 12th Infantry Division from Tarnopol. In the Invasion of Poland, the 12th Division belonged to Prusy Army, and was destroyed in the Battle of Radom. Paszkiewicz managed to get out of German encirclement, to reach Włodzimierz Wołyński on 13 September 1939. Two days later he was named deputy commandant of Karpaty Army. Twice wounded, Paszkiewicz left Poland for Romania, where he was interned. From 1 December 1939 until 23 June 1940 he was deputy of Minister Kazimierz Sosnkowski in the government...