Konstanty Plisowski

Konstanty Plisowski (1890–1940) was a Polish general and military commander. He is known as the commander in the Battles of Jazłowiec and Brześć. He was murdered by the Soviets in the Katyn Massacre.

Biography

Konstanty Plisowski was born June 8, 1890 in his family village of Nowosiółki in Podolia, to a family of szlachta ancestry of Odrowąż Coat of Arms. In 1908 he joined the army of Russia, where he served with distinction until 1917. During the World War I he was transferred to the 1st Polish Corps and since 1917 served as a commander of the cavalry regiment attached to the Polish 4th Rifle Division under general Lucjan Żeligowski. After Poland regained her independence in 1918 he joined the Polish Army. The following year, during the Polish-Ukrainian War he was assigned to the 14th Uhlans Regiment as its commanding officer. He became famous as a cavalry commander after the Jazłowiec cavalry charge (July 11, 1919) that became part of the popular culture as one of the synonyms of bravery.

During the Polish-Bolshevik War of 1920 Plisowski was served as a commander of 6th cavalry brigade and later of 8th cavalry brigade. He was also briefly the commanding officer of Rómmel's 1st Cavalry Division. He took part in the famous Battle of Komarów. After the war he remained in the army and served at various command posts. At the same time he was also a professor of tactics at the Higher War School in Warsaw. On January 4, 1929, he was promoted to generał brygady, but in 1930 was demobilised and retired due to his poor health.

During the Polish Defensive War of 1939 Plisowski found himself in Brześć, where he volunteered for the army. He was made the commander of the Brześć Fortress and managed to organise resistance against the advancing German XIX Panzer Corps of general Heinz Guderian. After the unconcluded Battle of Brześć, in which his four infantry battalions managed to halt the advance of four German divisions for four days, Plisowski retreated with his men and joined the forces of general Franciszek Kleeberg. He was assigned to the Cavalry Operational Group of general Władysław Anders as his deputy. On September 24 he was made the commanding officer of the Nowogródzka Cavalry Brigade, with which he fought both against the Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia.

On September 28, 1939, he was taken prisoner of war by the Soviets and sent to the Starobielsk concentration camp. Following the orders of Joseph Stalin, he was murdered in Kharkov in the spring of 1940, in what is known as the Katyn Massacre. Place of his burial remains unknown.

Since March 20, 1996, the Polish 6th Armoured Cavalry Brigade is named after him.