Juliusz Rómmel

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Juliusz Rómmel
Warszawa Army
Battles/warsWorld War I
Russian Civil War
Polish–Soviet War

World War II

AwardsOrder of the White Eagle Silver Cross of Virtuti Militari Commandrr's Cross of Polonia Restituta Cross of Valor Signum Laudis (Austria-Hungary) Legion of Honour (France)
War Cross (Francja)
Victory Medal

Juliusz Karol Wilhelm Józef Rómmel (German: Julius Karl Wilhelm Josef Freiherr von Rummel; 3 June 1881 – 8 September 1967) was a Polish military commander, a general of the Polish Armed Forces.

He graduated from the Corps of Cadets in

POW camp in Murnau. After liberation by the Americans he returned to Poland to serve as Commander in Chief. After 1956 Rómmel worked in the Association of Fighters for Freedom and Democracy.[1]

Ancestry

Although the Rummel family felt Polish and spoke Polish at home,

Teutonic Knights in their struggle against the pagan Balts.[2]

Early career and World War I

Juliusz Karol Wilhelm Józef Rómmel graduated from the Konstantin Artillery School in

St. Petersburg in 1903. He served in the Russian Army under Tsar Nicholas II. In September 1903 he was appointed second lieutenant and in September 1909 vice-captain. He participated in the Russo-Japanese War between 1904 and 1905, for which he received the Medal of the Red Cross. He also attended the College of Physical Education
.

During the

Polish Army of the Second Polish Republic governed by its Chief of State, Marshal Józef Piłsudski.[3]

The Polish-Bolshevik War and interwar years

On 3 November 1918, he joined the Polish army and instantly became a colonel of the Armed Forces. With the help of his subordinates, he was responsible for the disarmament of the

Operational Group of Sikorski's 3rd Army during the Battle of the Niemen River. After the war he published many books where he described his experiences before and following the battles in the east. From 28 February until 16 April 1921 he took part in an information exchange for senior commanders in Warsaw. On 22 June 1921 he was appointed inspector of Vilnius. On 3 May 1922 he was promoted to the rank of brigadier general on the order of Marshal Piłsudski. On 1 June 1924 he was appointed commander of the 1st Division of Cavalry based in Białystok. On 11 September 1926 he was assigned to duties in the General Inspectorate of the Armed Forces. In 1928 he was promoted to the rank of Major General. From 27 June 1929 until September 1939 he was an Army Inspector. Rómmel was an enthusiastic both political and military writer. He was the author of novels and published several newspaper articles about his past experiences about modern warfare.[3]

World War II and retirement

J. Rómmel

In March 1939, he was given command of the

Michał Karaszewicz-Tokarzewski to create the Służba Zwycięstwu Polski.[8] On 27 September Rómmel started negotiations with Nazi Germany regarding the surrender of Warsaw. Rómmel allowed Michał Tokarzewski-Karaszewicz
to engage in further battles and operations to maintain the independence and the integrity of the borders, which became the nucleus for the Polish underground organization.

He spent the rest of the war interned in German

Oflag IV-B Koenigstein, and the final years of the war in Oflag VII-A Murnau. Liberated by the US 12th Armored Division in April 1945,[9] he was not welcome in the Polish II Corps and decided to return to Poland. Because of this, he was praised by communist propaganda as a war hero. He was also awarded with the Commander's Cross of Virtuti Militari
.

In 1947, he retired from the army and spent the rest of his life writing books. His role during the September Campaign and after has been a subject of controversy.[10][11]

Personal life

According to Marshal Józef Piłsudski, Rómmel was a "vigorous and pious man, with a strong character and also very distinguished. He was a good type of soldier, fit for the further development of innate abilities and ideal for protecting his own military units." 46 years later, former chief of staff Aleksander Pragłowski wrote that "Although skilled and talented, Rómmel was full of surprises. It was shocking that he didn't make an effort to aid the Poznań Army or at least keep Warsaw free from Nazi slaughter for another month."

After 1956 Rómmel became active in the ZBoWiD and was appointed a member of the Supreme Council. He took part in carrying out the verification of degrees and awards given to soldiers and officers in the year. He belonged to the Committee for the Reconstruction of the Garrison Church on Puławska Street in Warsaw. Rómmel left 9 volumes of Memoirs dating from as early as 1881 to 1939, which are currently located in the Department of National Archives in Wrocław. But his military collection dating from the sixteenth to the twentieth century was given, in 1968 by his wife Janina, to the National Museum in Warsaw.

Juliusz Rómmel died on 8 September 1967 in a military hospital and was buried in the (former Military)

Order of Lāčplēsis II class
.

Rómmel was married three times: from 1905 until 1932 to Maria Zofia Gobert, then to Irena Elwira Dębska until 1947, and finally to Janina Puchała-Puchalska (1911-1973). From his first marriage he had a son, Wiktor (1908-1970), who was an officer in the Polish People's Army.

Honours and awards

Order of the Virtuti Militari, Commander's Cross
Order of the Virtuti Militari, Golden Cross
Order of the Virtuti Militari, Silver Cross
Order of Polonia Restituta, Commander's Cross with Star
Order of Polonia Restituta, Commander's Cross
Order of the Cross of Grunwald II class
Cross of Valour, IV award
Cross of Valour, I award
Gold Cross of Merit
Grand officier de la Légion d'honneur
Commandeur de la Légion d'honneur
Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur
Order of Lāčplēsis II class[12]

Relatives

His brother

equestrian eventing team at the 1928 Summer Olympics in Amsterdam
.

References

  1. ^ "Juliusz Rómmel - książki cytaty, ciekawostki".
  2. ^
    ISBN 83-11-07265-5
    .
  3. ^ a b "Juliusz Karol Wilhelm Józef Rómmel (Rummel)". Archived from the original on 2015-09-24.
  4. ^ Eger 2007
  5. ^ a b Seidner 1978
  6. ^ a b Kryska-Karski & Żurakowski 1991
  7. ^ Bartoszewski 1984, p. 32
  8. ^ Rómmel 1958, p. 359
  9. ^ LoneSentry 2004
  10. ^ Stańczyk 2004
  11. ^ Wieczorkiewicz 2001
  12. OCLC 38884671
    .

Bibliography

in English

in Polish

in Russian

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