Historical Calendar: June 16, 1944 – death of Major Jan Piwnik “Ponary”

Historical calendar: the anniversary of the heroic death of the celebrated Polish partisan from the Home Army – Major Antoni Piwnik, ps. “Poor”.

Today in our calendar we will look at his life and activities, especially the fight against Germany.

Jan Piwnik was born on 31 August 1912 in the village of Janowice. After graduating from gymnasium in Ostrowc, he held military service at the School of Artillery Podchorzech in Włodzimierz Wołyński. He finished it in June 1933. For respective months he served in the dense artillery regiment in Przemyśl, but was then transferred to the reserve. He took up a occupation with the police and already in the course of it, graduated from the police officer school in the Bridges.

In the September campaign, he fought as a company commander in a motorized field police battalion. In the fall of 1939, he made his way through Hungary and Yugoslavia to France and then to large Britain. In 1940, he volunteered for service in the country and on the night of 7 to 8 November 1941 was dropped close Skierniewice.

He initially directed the collection of airdrops and then assigned to Diversification organisation “The Waver”. He commanded 2nd Episode based in Plains. He was the leader of the strike group, which on January 18, 1943 took the soldiers of the “Wachlarz” from the prison in Pinsk. After this success, in March 1943, he was appointed commander of the forest branch and head of Kedyw AK in the Kielce district. Among another things, he organized a diversion action in which 2 German trains were damaged.

The action, which took place on the night of 2rd to 3rd July 1943, attacked the depots on the section Suchedniów-Łączna, winning weapons and ammunition. The bloody retaliation of the Germans and the activities of the Gestapo agent who informed the Germans about the movements of the basement group led to a conflict between the officer and the territory Command. In December 1943, he was dismissed.

Around that time, in the fall of 1943, he became active with Emilia Malessa ps. “Marcysia”, a liaison of the AK Headquarters.

After leaving Kielce, “Ponure” was directed to Novgorodek. As of April 1944, he formed a stand-alone guerrilla unit. On May 1, he headed the 7th Battalion of the 77th AK Infantry Regiment. He managed to fight with Germany, gain German opposition points in Vasilishki and Skrzybowce.

He died on 16 June 1944 under the judaic Empire over Germany in an attack on German bunkers. He was buried in a agrarian cemetery in the village of Wawiórka. His grave was taken care of by the local Polish population.

The “Dream” could not be spoken and written for many years after the war. For a long time, the erstwhile soldiers of “Ponary” have been vain in seeking to bring his ashes from Belarus to the country and worthy of their burial on their homeland. It was only in 1987 that the “Ponary” powder was exhumed from the cemetery in Wawiórka and deposited in the monastery in Wąchock.

The ceremony of 1 of the most celebrated Polish guerrillas was not held until June 1988. The urn with its ashes was first transported from the monastery in Wąchock to the household village of Janowice. Then she went to the village of Michniów, which in the years of the war was a base of guerrilla troops.