Years of service 1902-19351939-1940 Name Rudolf Prich Allegiance Poland | Died 1940, Katyn, Russia | |
Battles/wars World War IPolish–Soviet War1939 Defensive War Awards Polonia Restituta (Officer's Cross) Gold Cross of Merit Commemorative Medalfor the War of 1919-1921 Medal Dziesieciolecia Odzyskanej Niepodleglosci Battles and wars World War I, Polish–Soviet War, Invasion of Poland | ||
Rudolf Prich (August 6, 1881 – 1940) was a Polish military officer and a major general (pol. general dywizji) of the Polish Army. He was among the Polish officers murdered by the Soviet Union during the Katyn massacre.
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Life
Born 1881 in Opava, Prich in his youth joined the Austro-Hungarian Army, where he served with distinction during the Great War. In April 1919 he returned to Poland and joined the Polish Army. During the opening stages of the Polish-Bolshevik War between December 1919 and April 1920 he served as the head of the 1st Detachment of the General Staff, responsible for organization and mobilization of forces. Between April 1920 and 1922 in the Polish ministry of military affairs, after the Peace of Riga he remained in the army.
In 1923, after a year of service at the post of commanding officer of the 26th Infantry Division, he was promoted to the rank of general brygady. After the May Coup d'Etat of 1926, he was sent to the Centre for Artillery Training in Torun, where he served as one of the professors and a specialist in anti-air artillery. Promoted to the rank of general dywizji in 1928, he retired from active service in 1935.
The 1939 invasion of Poland
After the outbreak of the Polish Defensive War he returned to duty and on September 11 was made the commander of all the Polish forces defending the area of Lwow. He held that post until relieved on September 16, and then took part in the battle of Lwow as a commander of one of the areas of defence of the besieged city. After the capitulation of the Polish forces had been negotiated on September 22, 1939, Prich was to be released home along with other reserve and retired officers, which was a lie.
Katyn
Contrary to the terms of the capitulation he was arrested by the NKVD and held in various prisons in the city. He was murdered in the spring of 1940, aged fifty-eight, during the Katyn massacre. Among the Katyn victims were 14 Polish generals including Leon Billewicz, Bronislaw Bohatyrewicz, Xawery Czernicki (admiral), Stanislaw Haller, Aleksander Kowalewski, Henryk Minkiewicz, Kazimierz Orlik-Lukoski, Konstanty Plisowski, Alojzy Wir-Konas, Franciszek Sikorski, Leonard Skierski, Piotr Skuratowicz, and Mieczyslaw Smorawinski.