Nickname(s) "Bor" Name Tadeusz Bor-Komorowski Rank General (dywizji) Role Military leader | Awards Books The Secret Army Other work politician, writer Ex-spouse Irena Lamezan-Salins | |
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Born 1 June 1895
Khorobriv, Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria ( 1895-06-01 ) Battles/wars Great War
Polish–Bolshevik War
Polish Defensive War
Operation Tempest
Warsaw Uprising
World War II Died August 24, 1966, London, United Kingdom Children Jerzy Komorowski, Adam Komorowski Battles and wars Polish–Soviet War, Operation Tempest, World War II Similar People Leopold Okulicki, Erich von dem Bach‑Zelewski, Antoni Chrusciel, Tadeusz Pelczynski, Zygmunt Berling | ||
General Count Tadeusz Komorowski (Korczak coat of arms) (1 June 1895 – 24 August 1966), better known by the name Bór-Komorowski (after one of his wartime code-names: Bór – "The Forest") was a Polish military leader. He was appointed commander in chief a day before the capitulation of the Warsaw Uprising and following World War II, Prime Minister of the Polish government-in-exile in London.
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Life
Komorowski was born in Khorobriv, in the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria (the Austrian partition of Poland). In the First World War he served as an officer in the Austro-Hungarian Army, and after the war became an officer in the Polish Army, rising to command the Grudziądz Cavalry School.
After taking part in the fighting against the German invasion of Poland at the beginning of World War II in 1939, Komorowski, with the code-name Bór, helped organize the Polish underground in the Kraków area. In July 1941 he became deputy commander of the Home Army (Armia Krajowa or "AK"), and in March 1943 gained appointment as its commander, with the rank of Brigadier-General.
The Uprising
In mid 1944, as Soviet forces advanced into central Poland, the Polish government-in-exile in London instructed Bór-Komorowski to prepare for an armed uprising in Warsaw. The government-in-exile wished to return to a capital city liberated by Poles not seized by the Soviets and prevent the Communist take-over of Poland which Stalin had clearly set in motion.
The Warsaw Uprising began on Komorowski's order on 1 August 1944 and the insurgents of the AK seized control of most of central Warsaw. Elements of the Soviet Army stood only 20 km (12 mi) away but on Joseph Stalin's orders gave no assistance: Stalin described the rising as a "criminal adventure". The British managed to drop some supplies by air despite Soviet opposition, the denial of access to Soviet airbases from which they could more practically make supply deliveries, and Roosevelt's support for his communist "Uncle Joe"'s opposition to Polish self-determination. The Germans employed large forces of Waffen-SS and regular troops, plus auxiliary forces made up of Soviet Army deserters, who acted particularly brutally, under the command of Erich von dem Bach.
In September 1944, Bór-Komorowski was promoted to General Inspector of the Armed Forces (Polish Commander-in-Chief).
Aftermath
After two months of fierce fighting Bór-Komorowski surrendered to the Germans on 2 October, on condition that Germany treat the AK fighters as prisoners-of-war, which they did. Bór-Komorowski went into internment in Germany (at Oflag IV-C). Despite pressure from Germans, he refused to issue orders of surrender to Home Army units in German controlled Poland who continued fighting. Liberated at the end of the war, he spent the rest of his life in London, where he played an active role in Polish émigré circles. From 1947 to 1949 he served as Prime Minister of the Polish government-in-exile, which no longer had diplomatic recognition from most Western European countries. He wrote the story of his experiences in The Secret Army (1950). After the war he was an upholsterer. He died in London aged 71. After his death in London on 24 August 1966, he was buried in Gunnersbury Cemetery (also known as (New) Kensington Cemetery). On 30 July 1994 Gen. Bor-Komorowski's ashes were buried in Powązki Military Cemetery in Warsaw.