Biography

Grocholski Remigiusz Adam (1888-1965), assumed name Żukowski, pseudonyms: Brochwicz, Doctor, Engineer, Miś, Waligóra. Certified officer of the permanent cavalry service of the Polish Army: major (1927). Transferred to the reserve in 1934. Lieutenant Colonel (November 11, 1942).

Born on September 3, 1888, in Strzyżawka, Winnicki County in Podolia, son of Tadeusz, a landowner, and Zofia Zamoyska. After graduating from high school in Odessa and the Faculty of Law and History at St. Petersburg University, he treated tuberculosis for several years in Zakopane and Davos. From July 1915, as a representative of the Red Cross, he was an officer for special assignments of the Viceroy of the Caucasus. In March 1917, organizer and chairman of the Congress of the Association of Polish Soldiers in Batumi – Tiflis (now Tbilisi), from December of that year head of the 2nd Division of the staff of the 3rd Polish Corps in the East. In January 1919, shortly arrested in Warsaw as a (random) participant in the coup d’état of Gen. Marian Januszajtis. From March 1919, a permanent service officer of the Polish Army, initially commander of a heavy machine gun squadron of the 12th Uhlan Regiment. After completing the first course of the War School of the General Staff (July-October 1919), he remained there as a translator. From December of that year, adjutant of the 15th Infantry Brigade, from July 1920 head of the 3rd Division of the staff of the 6th Army, participant in the 1920 war, from September 1920 head of the 2nd Division of the staff of Gen. Władysław Jędrzejewski’s Group. In March 1921, he became head of the 3rd (operational) division in the Command of the Plebiscite Defense (Supreme Command of the Insurgent Forces) during the Second Silesian Uprising, among others, he was the author of the draft operational order no.1 to start the uprising. He then used the pseudonym Brochwicz. From November 1921, inspector of the eastern border in the Volhynian Voivodeship, in 1923 he briefly worked at the Military Scientific and Publishing Institute, then was a translator at the Higher Military School. After completing a retraining course at the Central Cavalry School in Grudziądz (1923 – 1924) and the 4th retraining course at the Higher Military School (1924 – 1925), from October 1925 he was an officer of the 3rd Division of the Strict War Council, from August 1926 adjutant to the Minister of Military Affairs Józef Piłsudski. From 1932, commander of a squadron, then deputy commander of the 1st Mounted Rifle Regiment, on August 31, 1934, he was transferred to the reserve. He then devoted himself to writing and painting.

Founding member of the Military Knowledge Society and the Aero Club of the Republic of Poland. Author of articles in professional military press.

During the September campaign of 1939, he organized the “Brochwicz” underground unit in mid-September, which from September 28 to the end of hostilities carried out reconnaissance tasks for Gen. Franciszek Kleberg’s Independent Operational Group Polesie. During the German occupation, he led the underground organization “Brochwicz” in the Lublin region. He then used the pseudonyms Brochwicz, Miś. After this organization was subordinated to the Union of Armed Struggle, in April-May 1940 he initially remained without assignment.

Member of the editorial committee of the “Soldier’s Bulletin” published from August 1940, a magazine of the TAP, then the Armed Confederation. In the spring of 1941, he submitted to the Main Command of the Union of Armed Struggle a project to create a sabotage organization that would – in anticipation of a conflict between Germany and the USSR – operate behind the German-Soviet front. From September 1941, chief of staff and deputy to Lt. Col. Jan Włodarkiewicz, commander of the “Wachlarz”, in the rank of a certified major under the pseudonyms Doctor, Engineer, Waligóra. Appointed lieutenant colonel by order L21/BP of November 11, 1942. After Włodarkiewicz’s death from April-May 1942 to March 1943, he was the commander of the “Wachlarz”. He then lived at 103 Puławska Street under the name Żukowski. During the Warsaw Uprising from September 1, 1944, commander of the 5th District (Lower Mokotów) of the Mokotów District of the Warsaw Region AK under the pseudonym Waligóra (the entire forces of this district formed the “Waligóra” regiment). Seriously wounded on September 25, two days later he was led out of the combat area by liaison officers along with the civilian population leaving Mokotów.

After the war, he lived in Szklarska Poręba, and from 1954 in Warsaw. He died on March 17, 1965, in Cannes. Buried at the military cemetery in Laski near Warsaw. Decorated five times with the Cross of Valour, the Independence Medal with swords (1934), Virtuti Militari V and IV class.

PDF Sources

Warsaw Uprising 1944, outline of military actions

When the enemy approached from the south and its fire intensified, shelling Sadyba from several sides, weakly manned, some of the insurgent platoons began to retreat in disorder to the north. However, Lt. Col. Waligóra, who was present in Sadyba, took control of the situation by turning the retreating forces back; Lt. Leonard (Xawery Grocholski) and rifleman Wojtek distinguished themselves, calmly setting an example and leading the wavering. [p. 346]

Command of the 5th District
M.P. 13.9.44.

Situation Report

Item 1. Own position. Despite the most intensive action undertaken (by the enemy) to capture Lower Mokotów and Czerniaków, the held territory was essentially maintained. After two days of incessant attacks, only on the section of Capt. Garda, two houses on Czerniakowska Street were abandoned due to being surrounded from three sides and the collapse of a wall.

Item 2. Enemy position. Essentially unchanged; it seems that the enemy’s attention is directed at the Vistula, evidenced by the artillery fire directed in that direction. The monastery in Służewiec, Bernardyński Square, and the Wilanowska Road area were shelled by Soviet aircraft with onboard weapons. Artillery explosions were observed at the Pump Station and in Służewiec. Soviet aircraft bombed the area west of Mokotów around 2 p.m.

Item 3. Course of events. During the night on the section of Capt. Janusz – Capt. Garda, only weak artillery, tank, and machine gun activity. The enemy withdrew its furthest outposts for the night. From the morning of today, relative calm on all sections, only at the junction between Capt. Janusz and Capt. Garda between Belwederska Street and Górska Street enemy patrols are infiltrating. In the morning, enemy tank movements were heard towards Czerniaków – Belwederska and Czerniaków – Bernardyński Square. Calm on the Królikarnia section. On the “K 1” (fort) section, two people were killed yesterday due to shelling with onboard weapons from German aircraft.

Item 4. Moral and physical condition. The moral and physical condition is generally good, the physical condition is like yesterday (fatigue)…

…Commander of the 5th District
(-) Waligóra Lt. Col. (Remigiusz Grocholski)

Distribution: I submit to the commander of the 5th District
Commander of the 5th District (aa)
For information: Battalion “Oaza”, Battalion “Ryś”, “K 1”, OSV.

Command of the 5th District
Command of the 5th District
M.p. 22.9.44

Situation Report

I. Situation
A. Own: No change. Continuous earthworks.
B. Neighbors and information from other areas.
1. Łazienki District. During the evening and night constant sounds of fighting. German and Russian artillery fire and fire from mortars, machine guns, and rifles. According to the observer, the sounds of fighting are getting closer to us.
2. Eastern Front. Very weak mutual activity. Soviet artillery shelled the Czerniakowska Street area, the Bernardyński Church area, and the Sadyba, Siekierki, and Łazienki areas.

German artillery shelled: the vicinity of Łazienki, Praga, Wał Miedzeszyński, and the church area in Glinki. Soviet observation balloons appeared: towards Aleja Waszyngtona and towards Wawer.
C. Enemy. The enemy has dug new positions for machine guns on Dworkowa Street.
One enemy patrol consisting of 1/6 was around 1 a.m. in the houses on Piaseczyńska Street corner of Dolna. Weak harassing fire from mortars, machine guns, and rifles. During the night from 10 p.m. to 3 a.m. vehicle movement, wheel movement, engine work, commands, and stops were heard in the Bruhn-Werke area. According to the “Oaza” report, all this movement is directed towards Chełmska, Czerniakowska towards Wilanów. This is the second night from which I receive reports about enemy movement to the south.

II. Course of actions and events.
Actions. Two patrols sent by the uhlans to retrieve a container that fell by the wall of Dworkowa Street had to withdraw due to constant area illumination and enemy fire. The container was retrieved by the enemy before dawn. Fight to immobilize vehicles in front of Królikarnia. During the afternoon of the 21st of this month. Constant arrival and departure of tanks, which could not attach vehicles due to the fire of our outposts; in the evening the enemy approached with a Red Cross vehicle and under the pretense of removing the wounded managed to take one truck. When the enemy tried to repeat this operation, they were fired upon and left.
At 8 p.m. a 9-man patrol was sent from “K 1”, which brought out things mentioned in the point: gains. At that time a cover was left by the vehicle, which was driven away by 4 tanks at 10 p.m. The vehicle was taken by these tanks. From the captured uniforms, it appears that the vehicles belonged to the “Hermann Goering” division.
Events: On 21.9.44. 9-10 a.m. flight of German aircraft towards Powiśle, 3 p.m. – setting fire to a house on the corner of Dolna and Konduktorska streets with incendiary shells, at 9 p.m. one Soviet plane was set on fire over the city center.

III. Various.
Own losses: one cadet and one rifleman wounded. Enemy losses: in total during the fight for the vehicles the commander of “K 1” reports 40 killed and wounded.
Gains: fifteen hundred rounds of ammunition caliber 7.9 mm for rifles, 5 “panzerfaust”, 1 blunderbuss and 30 shells, sapper-mining equipment, uniforms, and underwear.
Moral state good, physical state – in the “Oaza-Ryś” battalion unit very high fatigue.
Intention: digging, combat reconnaissance.

Commander of the 5th District
(-) Waligóra Lt. Col. (Remigiusz Grocholski)

Third Silesian Uprising

GAZETA WYBORCZA

Włodzimierz Kalicki May 2, 2005

Although the political decision to start the uprising was made at the day before yesterday’s meeting of the leadership of the civilian and military conspiracy, although sworn insurgents have been extracting weapons from hiding places for over 20 hours and secretly moving them to the concentration areas of strike units, the formal order to start the armed struggle must be signed by Wojciech Korfanty

At dawn, a strike paralyzes Upper Silesia. All industrial plants are at a standstill. The resolution to strike and start the third Silesian uprising at night was made the day before yesterday at a secret meeting of representatives of Polish political groups, trade unions, and the command of the military conspiracy. Wojciech Korfanty, the Polish plebiscite commissioner and the undisputed leader of the Silesian Poles, secretly learned that day that the Inter-Allied Commission overseeing the plebiscite decided to assign most of the disputed territories to Germany.

Factory sirens wail, church bells ring. Polish Silesians snatch yesterday’s issue of “Goniec Śląski”, the press organ of the Polish Plebiscite Commission, from each other’s hands. They angrily comment on the newspaper’s information about the resolution of German industrialists, who allegedly decided that if Upper Silesia is awarded to Poland, they will destroy all factories and mines there.

Although the political decision to start the uprising was made at the day before yesterday’s meeting of the leadership of the civilian and military conspiracy, although sworn insurgents have been extracting weapons from hiding places for over 20 hours and secretly moving them to the concentration areas of strike units, the formal order to start the armed struggle must be signed by Wojciech Korfanty. Late in the morning, Lieutenant Colonel Maciej Count Mielżyński, the chief commander of the military conspiracy in Silesia, leaves his office in the gloomy building of the Lomnitz Hotel in Bytom. The hotel houses the headquarters of the Polish Plebiscite Defense Command, where Polish politicians reside. Lt. Col. Mielżyński carries a briefcase with the most important document of his long military career – the order to start the uprising. Behind the colonel are the chief of the insurgent staff Major Stanisław Rostworowski and the first operations officer Lt. Remigiusz Count Grocholski.

Lt. Col. Mielżyński, accompanied by officers, enters Wojciech Korfanty’s spacious office. Besides the host, he finds one of Korfanty’s friends and closest collaborators, lawyer Konstanty Wolny. For a long moment, the gentlemen consider how the political situation will change after the outbreak of fighting. Finally, Lt. Col. Mielżyński opens the briefcase and hands the text of the order for signature. But the weight of responsibility unexpectedly paralyzes Korfanty. With a pen in hand, he freezes over the sheet of paper. Surprised, Lt. Col. Mielżyński, who knows full well that there is no turning back, orders Major Rostworowski and Lt. Grocholski to submit a detailed report on the preparations for the fight. Korfanty still stares as if paralyzed at the order sheet. The unbearable silence is broken by Konstanty Wolny: “Wojtek, since you said a, also say b!”.

Korfanty signs. An hour later, he telegraphs Prime Minister Wincenty Witos: “Given the state of affairs and the immense bitterness of the people, I am unable to fulfill my primary task any longer, namely maintaining order and peace in the plebiscite area. For this reason, I hereby resign from the office of plebiscite commissioner, emphasizing that any efforts to reverse my decision will remain ineffective.” By resigning from the office authorized by Warsaw, Korfanty politically secures the authorities of the Republic.

But the Polish government wants to avoid armed confrontation at all costs. Politicians and military officials believe that the uprising is poorly prepared, and starting the fight threatens the intervention of the German army.

A phone call from Warsaw to the Lomnitz Hotel. Prime Minister Wincenty Witos conveys Korfanty’s official position taken by the government at today’s secret meeting: “The government categorically opposed the start of the uprising.” Korfanty, who has already overcome his moment of hesitation over the order sheet, firmly replies to the prime minister that the uprising can no longer be called off. He is not swayed even by Witos’ argument that the head of state Józef Piłsudski is also against the fight.

Just before 7 p.m., Korfanty telegraphs Witos again. He conveys the favorable information that the commander-in-chief of the inter-allied forces in Silesia, the French General Gratier, apparently has nothing against the armed action of the Poles. In addition, Korfanty asks for confirmation of his resignation from the position of plebiscite commissioner.

Korfanty’s telegram lands on the table where the ministers are deliberating. Disputes and quarrels erupt repeatedly. Representing the National Workers’ Party, Jan Jankowski demands government support for the armed action in Silesia, but the ministers ultimately adopt a resolution calling on Korfanty to prevent the uprising. Prime Minister Witos leaves for his office and calls Korfanty. “I am a prisoner of events” – he hears from him. Witos returns to the government meeting room. In this situation, the ministers vote to undertake diplomatic action supporting the uprising.

And the insurgents are already gathering. Unsworn Silesians come with them, demanding weapons. In three, four hours, they will go into battle, but in many secret concentration points, the atmosphere resembles Sunday picnics. Volunteers light bonfires, sing songs. Officers struggle to establish military order.

Meanwhile, small sabotage groups of the Polish conspiracy’s Destruction Detachments Command begin Operation “Bridges”. The future of the uprising depends on its success. The goal is to destroy the bridges on the Oder and thus cut off the German forces on the right bank from supplies and support from deep Germany. The key is the 200-meter-long bridge in Szczepanowice near Opole. The command of the operation in Szczepanowice is personally taken by the head of the Destruction Detachments, Captain Tadeusz Puszczyński “Wawelberg”. After dark, from under the floors in the barns of the Damboniów and Biasów, saboteurs extract fuses, detonators, and 320 kg of strong explosive material – melinite. Enough to blow up two granite, three-meter-thick bridge pillars.

But sapper Wiktor Wiechaczek unexpectedly discovers that the several-meter-long slow-burning Bickford fuse is almost completely soaked. What to do? There is not enough fuse for two charges. “Wawelberg” decides that one pillar must be blown up, but properly, using the entire 320 kg of melinite. But how? The explosion of such a large amount of melinite initiated by a single detonator may scatter the mine before the entire explosive material is detonated. And then it will end not with the collapse of the span, but with a spectacular but harmless firework. Wiechaczek, a former sapper of the German army, constructs a special detonator in the barn on the spot. He places the entire stock of several hundred detonators with mercury fulminate in a tin can and compresses it with 10 kg of melinite. It should work. There is only one problem – even the slightest shock will cause the detonators and detonator to explode.

The “Wawelberg” detachment stealthily approaches the bridge in the dark. Everyone prays that Wiechaczek, carrying the detonator, does not trip or sneeze. A quarter of an hour before midnight, the saboteurs mine the middle pillar of the bridge. They attach 50-kilogram boxes of melinite to it, and in the middle Wiechaczek’s can with mercury fulminate.

When Wiechaczek finishes attaching the dry section of the fuse in the dark, the phone rings on the desk of the insurgent military commander, Col. Mielżyński. From Warsaw. Col. Bogusław Miedziński, on the order of the chief of the general staff, Gen. Władysław Sikorski, tries to force the cancellation of the uprising.

“I am unable to stop the armed uprising” – replies Lt. Col. Mielżyński.

Under the bridge in Szczepanowice, Wiechaczek lights the fuse. At that moment, the patrol guarding the bridge raises the alarm. The Poles jump into the bushes. A moment of waiting and – nothing. Silence. “Wawelberg” along with Wiechaczek and the 18-year-old miner Herman Jurzyca, a participant in both previous uprisings, return to the pillar. Half a meter from the detonator, the fuse went out. “Wawelberg” and Wiechaczek retreat, Jurzyca lights the end of the fuse again and runs away as fast as he can. A powerful explosion. The large span majestically collapses to the ground.

Text on the plaque in the Church of the Visitation Sisters
on Krakowskie Przedmieście in Warsaw

ADAM REMIGIUSZ GROCHOLSKI

* 4.IX.1888 – + 17.III.1965

OFFICER OF THE PODOLIAN UHLANS
HEAD OF THE 3RD DIVISION. STAFF 2 CAV. DIVISION – 1920.
HEAD OF THE 3RD DIVISION. SILESIAN UPRISING – 1921.
CHIEF ADJUTANT TO MARSHAL J. PIŁSUDSKI – 1926.
DEPUTY COMMANDER OF THE 1ST MOUNTED RIFLE REGIMENT – 1932-34.
COMMANDER OF THE “BROCHWICZ” ORGANIZATION – 1939-40 COMMANDER OF “WACHLARZ” A.K. 1941-43
COMMANDER OF THE “WALIGÓRA” REGIMENT IN THE WARSAW UPRISING 1944
COLONEL WITH HONORS DECORATED WITH CROSSES:
(crosses are affixed on the plaque here)

BARBARA Z CZETWERTYŃSKICH

* 21.VI.1900 GROCHOLSKA + 23.VII.1970

MOTHER OF TEN CHILDREN, PARTICIPANT
IN THE WARSAW UPRISING 1944,
DECORATED WITH THE CROSS OF VALOUR.

TO OUR PARENTS FOR THE GIFT OF LIFE, FAITH, EXAMPLE
OF SERVICE TO GOD, HOMELAND, NEIGHBORS
GRATEFUL DAUGHTERS AND SONS.

4. IX. 1988.

Path Beside the Road

I later grew fond of that large, sunny, unattractive salon, where I began to function as Marshal’s personal secretary. But at first, I did not approve of such an office…

I entered there one morning, already in that navy blue, calico dress with white polka dots up to the neck. This time I was received by a new adjutant, who for variety knew nothing about me, Captain Remigiusz Grocholski.

– You are for the personal secretary? – he looked at me as if I were crazy.
– Yes – I said, annoyed by the lack of any ovation on his part – is there a desk for me here?
– There is nothing, there is only a room for the adjutant’s office. And in general, I know nothing about it.
– Then I will wait. [p. 147]

Captain Grocholski (Remigiusz, note HKG), with whom I briefly befriended, had a wide gesture and a beautiful posture. No one could enter and leave a room like he could, seemingly an easy thing, yet actually one of the most difficult. For example – when leaving somewhere – to close the door behind oneself without turning around thoughtlessly and clumsily at the handle. The captain wrote poems and painted, so he was never boring, and I liked him very much. [p. 201]

It can be argued that my remark about Capt. Grocholski is trivial. Well, it is not. The issue of so-called presence is not trivial. Here again, as in clothing, the virtues and faults of a person are expressed through external gestures, that vehicle of the soul. Neglecting these gestures, through careless and ridiculous arrangements, we often give others a completely false impression of ourselves. [p. 203]

“Path Beside the Road”
Kazimiera Iłłakowiczówna
Publishing Society “Rój” Warsaw 1939
Literary reminiscence about Józef Piłsudski from the poet’s work period in the Ministry of Internal Affairs

Plaque on Puławska Street 103 in Warsaw

Plaque on Puławska Street in Warsaw

Funeral Speeches

Funeral speech delivered in the Church of the Holy Cross by Jan Zieja, ps. Rybak, chaplain of the Baszta regiment
In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Amen. It is good that this coffin returned from France from the Azure Coast and that it will rest in Poland, if not where the late Colonel Remigiusz once dreamed of, then here on the Mazovian Land. It is good that it will rest in the cemetery in Laski near Warsaw, where the soldiers of 1939 are buried, who made their way to Warsaw from under Kutno, from under Modlin, among the soldiers of the Home Army who died before the outbreak of the Warsaw Uprising or during the Uprising itself. It is good that this coffin returned here because the body of the man resting in it desired this rest in the Native Land. It is good that this coffin is here and that the deceased’s colleagues can stand by it and keep watch over it, and some, just like the late Colonel Remigiusz once with his whole family, stood by the altar to be nourished with the Most Holy Body of Jesus Christ at this funeral. It is good that the body of this soldier returned here to us, wounded in military service already in the First World War, seriously wounded in the Warsaw Uprising. The late Remigiusz Grocholski tried in his life and in his soldierly service to combine Christian ideals with the ideals of soldierly service. From childhood, he dreamed of a saber with which he would win freedom for Poland. As he learned about the human fate on earth and what the Cross of Jesus Christ is above all humanity raised, it seemed to him that Christian and knightly ideals should be combined as much as possible. Many thought so, many still think so, that the sword and the cross can be in some harmony. But human thought reaches deeper and sees deeper and further and higher than we saw in our youth when we secretly prayed for a world war for the freedom of all peoples. Human thought now in deep reflection and more and more clearly sees how the Cross of Jesus Christ, how His Name in light goes up, up above nations, above centuries, and everything else hides somehow lower and seeks a place for itself. Such thoughts often came to the late Colonel Remigiusz.

Such thoughts were expressed in his book by one of the soldiers of the First World War, worth recalling these words at this coffin: “Shall we be able to fill this gaping abyss of savagery and hatred like fascine only with the rubble of Polish bodies deprived of a higher spirit than this evil spirit raging in the abyss?” We must become something fundamentally different against the terrible soul of these our enemies. We must exhibit the all-conquering Divine Humanity of our Soul. The late Remigiusz Grocholski often pondered these matters and struggled with the thoughts of other people expressed on these matters, seeking support for man as a man, seeking support not in something that lasts one day, one year, one five-year plan, but what does not pass away. And he saw only one such point, on which a man can lean and not perish. This point for the late Colonel Remigiusz was only the one who IS when everything passes. The only one who is – GOD. The only one who is, to Him everything, to Him everything!

He went through life so faithfully to the end. Surely even those closest to him, his closest family, his venerable wife through her work and service, children faithfully standing by their parents, now even grandchildren will surely follow this highest guidance, which the life of this Soldier of Poland, Soldier of God gives them. In our memory for a long time, this one will remain, whom we so often saw in the church of the Visitation Sisters approaching Holy Communion. Together with his family. In the memory of the closest ones, for a long time will remain the one who began every important action of his by turning to the Most Holy Mother “Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary…”

Before this coffin is carried out of the church, before we say the last prayers over it here, let us turn to God with the words “O God Alone, before You no one stands pure, show Your mercy to Your servant, who during his life bore the mark of the Most Holy Trinity on himself”.

Speech by General Juliusz K. Rómmel

I see your eyes, those smiling and those sad, worried. I see your smile because I have you in my memory and my heart. I know you are happy to see here on this military cemetery gathered your closest people. Here is your venerable Wife, with whom you shared all the hardships and all the inconveniences, all the falls and all the rises. She was your support throughout your life, helped raise your entire Bunch into honest, brave, talented people. You also see here colleagues veterans from different places, from Vilnius and Lviv, from Upper Silesia, from all over Poland, because you were always wherever Poland was in need. You belonged to that generation that carved the borders of Poland. If we have Poland now, we owe it to that generation to which you belonged. When I recall you, and we met 50 years ago, the guns of the First World War were still thundering when Poles from all over the world gathered to carve out the future Poland, you were not missing, and then, when the fatal situation for the partitioning states made everything fall apart, then Poles in this military and historical turmoil gathered to break through to their country with weapons in hand. I remember you near Kyiv, near Vinnytsia. Together we created with you the Polish Army, the so-called “Light Brigade of the Third Corps”. You were my assistant, I sent you to Warsaw to find out “what’s going on”. You were the first to break through all the fronts, through this blaze in Podolia, where Polish centers were burning, where every hut was hostile to us. You managed to break through to Warsaw and brought us the news that the Germans were being beaten in the west, that the time is near when Poland will stand on its feet and be free and independent. And then the war for our Homeland began. You were everywhere, we were with you in those skirmishes and those battles in the south near Równe, near Korosten, near Komarów, you were wounded there, I remember everything and carry everything in my heart. You were a soldier everywhere. And then the Upper Silesian Uprising, you organized it too, according to your plan it broke out. So my dear ones, gathered like this, God wants us to be only transient guests in this world, each of us will leave, but what each of us did will not leave, our deeds will remain.

So Remigiusz Grocholski left physically, but spiritually he is always with us. His deeds speak for themselves. So dear Colonel, sleep peacefully in this military cemetery, where all your Colleagues of those efforts to create our Homeland are. You did everything for society and for the family, for the country and the nation. The memory of you will not stop living in our hearts and our souls. Honor to you.

Speech by General Leon Bukojemski

A handful of participants in the Upper Silesian uprisings want to say goodbye to Colonel Remigiusz Grocholski, our chief of staff of the Third Uprising. I apologize if I may return to history, there was the first and second victorious Silesian uprising. However, we failed in this first and second uprising to join this Upper Silesian land to Poland. Then we turned to the Polish Army, which at that time delegated Major Remigiusz Grocholski to Upper Silesia, he connected with the inter-allied mission, which was led by General Le Rond.

The occupying English and Italian troops were against us, however, our beloved chief of staff of the Third Upper Silesian Uprising connected with General Le Rond and together they presented a plan developed by Remigiusz Grocholski, creating a northern, eastern, and southern front. In a victorious fight, we occupied Góra św. Anny.

After heavy fighting, we withdrew, but what remained, our land and our blood remained there, and that was the reason that this land, which was always ours, remained ours. Honor to you Major, Chief of Staff of the Upper Silesian Forces.

Speech by Jan Zamoyski
…one can say, the struggle of today’s times is the struggle of love against hatred, the struggle of spirit against matter. And He was the one who defended these lofty ideals, because for balance to exist between Spirit and Matter, these extremes must be present. He was it – unfortunately not always did things go as he wished in life, nevertheless, he went through life with this ideal he chose from the beginning. Today in the church, numerous crowds bid farewell to Remigiusz Grocholski, giving him the last service, they bid farewell not to the body, they bid farewell to the Spirit, which nevertheless spoke, which nevertheless reached minds. If in our life we have heard sometimes: “Remiś is a dreamer, Remiś is sometimes unrealistic”, he had to be, he had to, to oppose those who chose too much temporal life as their goal.

And today saying goodbye to Him, saying goodbye to the one who is half a generation older than us, he showed many like me and younger the way. Glory to his memory.
Speech by Col. Alfred Paczkowski ps. Wania

On behalf of the former soldiers of the “Wachlarz” group, I say goodbye to the Commander of “Wachlarz” Colonel Grocholski. Colonel Grocholski was not only our commander in the military sense and set us an example of his personal courage, he took part in actions he was not obliged to. He will remain in our memory also as a man, as a great man, as a thinker full of optimism and faith in people. Such in our life and our memory the Colonel will remain.

Speech by Col. Józef W. Rokicki ps. Karol

It fell to my lot to say goodbye on my own behalf and on behalf of the soldiers from the Mokotów division, during the uprising – an outstanding commander, heroic soldier, and the noblest man I have ever met in my life, Colonel Remigiusz Grocholski. After honorable work in the conspiracy, Colonel Grocholski during the Uprising commanded the eastern section of Mokotów, sparsely built, thus exposed to frequent enemy attacks. The Cadet School, Konduktorska, and others are monuments of his glory in the Uprising. During the final period of the Uprising, when he was surrounded by tanks from the “Herman Goering” armored division, he fought tirelessly for every street, for every house, for every ruin.

He was not only a commander but also a shooter with anti-tank weapons. Today we say goodbye to you dear Colonel with deep pain, we will never forget you, your heroism in the Warsaw Uprising has become such that future generations of Polish soldiers will bow over you.

Speech by Stanisław Ledóchowski

Colonel Remigiusz Grocholski was a friend of my Father, was the Father of my dearest friends, but above all, he was a friend, teacher, and guide for us, the young generation of Poles. And here at the last roll call with Him together, I would like to make a pledge that we young will never forget his words, his deeds, and his goals. And as soon as there is a need as He wanted, we will go like stones thrown by God onto the rampart, of which He was a co-creator.

Remembrance. Gazeta Stołeczna

supplement to Gazeta Wyborcza. March 19, 2007 (download PDF document – 507 KB)

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Biography from the book FAMOUS POLES IN THE HISTORY OF VINNYTSIA by Mrs. Wiktoria Kolesnyk.

GROCHOLSKI Remigiusz Adam (1888-1965) – military activist, pseudonyms: Brochwicz, Miś, Doctor, Engineer, Waligóra. Born on August 22, 1888, in Strzyżawka, Vinnytsia County. He was the son of → Tadeusz and Zofia from the Zamoyski family. He graduated from high school in Odessa and the historical-philological faculty of St. Petersburg University. For several years, he was treated for tuberculosis in Zakopane and Davos. Then he worked in the Red Cross in the Caucasus.

Around 1914, he was presumably for some time in Podolia. That year he became a member of PSGR. From December 1914, he served in the Russian army: first in the army, police of the Caucasus, and from July of the following year – an officer for special assignments at the Viceroy of the Caucasus. Organizer of the Congress of Polish Military in Batumi-Tiflis was elected its chairman (March 1917). From December of the same year, he commanded the 2nd division of the 3rd staff of the Polish Corps in the east. In January 1919, he was arrested in Warsaw as a member (accidental) of the attempted coup of Gen. M. Januszajtis, but very quickly released. From March 1919, an officer of the Polish Army: First, he commanded a machine gun squadron of the 12th Uhlan Regiment. After completing the first year of the military school (July-October 1919), he remained there as a translator. From December of the same year, he became an adjutant of the 15th Infantry Brigade, from July 1920 – head of the 3rd division of the staff of the 2nd Cavalry Division, from August of the same year – a referent in the 3rd division of the staff of the 6th Army. He participated in the 1920 war, from September 1920 he became the head of the 3rd division of the staff of Gen. W. Jędrzejewski’s group. In March of the following year, he became the head of the department PI in the main command of the insurgent forces during the Third Silesian Uprising, in particular, he was the author of the draft operational order no. 1 on the start of the uprising. At that time he used the pseudonym Brochwicz.

Remigiusz Grocholski. Photo, around 1919. In the upper left corner, the Grocholski family coat of arms Syrokomla*.
Remigiusz Grocholski. Photo, around 1919. In the upper left corner, the Grocholski family coat of arms Syrokomla*.

He was a founding member of the Military Knowledge Association (September 1919) and the Aero Club of the Republic of Poland (1921). From November 1921, he served as an inspector of the eastern border in the Volhynian Voivodeship. In 1923, he briefly worked at the Military Scientific and Publishing Institute, and then as a translator at the Higher Military School. He completed a retraining course at the Central Cavalry School in Grudziądz (1923-24) and the 4th retraining course at the Higher Military School (1924-25). From October 1925, he was an officer of the 3rd division of the War Council Office, from August 1926 adjutant to → J. Piłsudski. In 1927, he received the rank of major. From 1932, he was the commander of a squadron, and then deputy commander of the 1st Mounted Rifle Regiment. On August 31, 1934, he retired, devoting himself to literary and artistic activities. He published a number of articles in professional military press.

At the beginning of the 1939 war, he organized the “Brochwicz” underground unit in mid-September for reconnaissance activities in support of the Independent Operational Group “Polesie”. During the German occupation, he led the underground organization of the same name in the Lublin region; he used the pseudonyms Brochwicz and Miś. After the organization was subordinated to the Union of Armed Struggle in April – May 1940, he remained outside matters. He was a member of the editorial committee of the “Soldier’s Bulletin” magazine, published from August 1940.

In the spring of 1941, he submitted to the command of the Union of Armed Struggle a project to create a sabotage organization that, in the event of a military conflict between Germany and the USSR, would operate behind the German-Soviet front. From September 1941, he was the chief of staff and deputy commander, and from April 1942 to March 1943, the commander of the sabotage organization of the Union of Armed Struggle and the Home Army “Wachlarz”. Initially, he held the rank of major, and from November 11, 1942, – lieutenant colonel; he acted under the pseudonyms Doctor, Engineer, Waligóra. Then he lived in Warsaw under the name Żukowski. During the Warsaw Uprising on September 1, 1944, he was the commander of the 5th district (Lower Mokotów). Seriously wounded on September 25, after 2 days he was evacuated from the combat area.

After the war, he lived in Szklarska Poręba, and from 1954 – in Warsaw. He was awarded the Cross of Valour (five times), the Independence Medal with swords (1934), the Virtuti Militari V and IV class.

He died on March 17, 1965, in Cannes, and was buried in the military cemetery in Laski near Warsaw. He was married (marriage on October 11, 1925, to Barbara Czetwertyńska (June 21, 1900, Suchowola – July 23, 1970, Warsaw), daughter of Prince Seweryn Franciszek Czetwertyński and Zofia Barbara from the Przeździecki family, a participant in the Warsaw Uprising, decorated with the Cross of Valour. He had seven sons and three daughters with her.

List of members of POSCH; — Remigiusz Adam Grocholski “Doctor”* //wilk.wpk.p.lfidj.pl/~whatfor/biog_grocholski.htm; Remigiusz Adam Count Grocholski* //www.polskiebiografie.com/classifieds.php?a=2&b= 1262; *Remigiusz Adam Count Grocholski* // https://www.grocholski.pl/ galeria/full/3_32.jpg; Wachlarz* //www.wilk.wpk.p.lodz. pl/~whatfor/wachlarz.htm; – ДАВО: ф. 904, oп. 21, српр. 19, арк. 163 зв.-164.

Colors in Cavalry and Horse Artillery – A Sacred Thing

The article is authored by Mr. Aleksander Smoliński

With the formation of the first lancer formations in the Saxon army, and later also within the militia of the last Polish king Stanisław August, one of the elements differentiating the various parallel cavalry formations of this type was the colors of the pennants placed on the lances.

Similarly, this was also done in other cavalry units using this type of weapon, as well as in other foreign armies. With the increase in the number of lancer regiments in the Polish Army of the Duchy of Warsaw, new color combinations and ways of arranging colors on the pennants were also created. Similarly, this was the case during the Polish-Russian war of 1831. From that moment, however, with the disappearance of regular formations of the Polish Army, for many years Poles lost influence on the further development of this element of native and simultaneously European dress tradition.

Color Schemes

It is worth noting that among all foreign armies, the closest to Polish solutions and the most aesthetically pleasing color system of this type found application in the numerous lancer regiments of the Tsarist army. This was influenced not only by long-standing mutual military contacts, especially with the Polish Army of the Kingdom of Poland in the years 1815-1830, but also the fact that in the Russian cavalry, lances remained a regulatory component of their armament until the very end of the existence of lancer regiments in 1917. Thanks to this, the pennants used with them also survived with garrison uniforms. These were pennants with a horizontal arrangement of two main colors separated in the middle by horizontal stripes (sometimes also called piping) in the same colors but in reverse order.

In addition, there were also pennants with a different color scheme. In the formations of the Tsarist horse guard and in cuirassier regiments, these were pennants composed of three colored triangles; in hussar regiments, two horizontally arranged main colors were separated by a stripe of another color. In dragoon regiments, on the main color of the pennant, two uniform rectangles of another color were placed.

Many Polish officers serving in the Russian cavalry before 1914 and during World War I encountered such pennants on lances. This resulted in the fact that after 1918, except for this last pattern, all the others found application as pennants on lances and collar pennants in cavalry, horse artillery, and supply units, and for a certain period in armored car squadrons of the reborn Polish Army. To this was added the genealogically oldest solution, namely two colors placed in the form of horizontal stripes, as was the case with the horse artillery pennant, and later also in communication and pioneer squadrons, and a pennant in a uniform color, or other, relatively rarely occurring, combinations of two or more colors. Sometimes, too, the classic shape of the collar pennant was replaced by a triangle or another form.

Their actual, reappearance as an element of the Polish soldier’s color occurred somewhat earlier, during which time a new, previously unknown form of them was born, namely collar pennants – according to regulations – worn on the collars of jackets and coats, and then also woolen capes. However, the exact time of their creation and the authorship of this idea is difficult to precisely determine today.

Collar Pennants

The genesis of collar pennants has many options. Some historians believe they date back to the end of 1917, and their author is Captain Bronisław Romer of the 1st Krechowiecki Lancer Regiment. Meanwhile, in cavalry literature, one can find at least several other versions related to this.

One of them is contained in the official history of this regiment, where mention is made of Captain Mikołaj Adolf Waraksiewicz and Lieutenant Jan Pogorski, who served in it at the time, as the originators of this solution involving placing on collars colors identical in shape and color to those used on lances. Another version of this event is also contained in the history of the 12th Podolian Lancer Regiment, where the following excerpt from a letter from Col. Remigiusz Grocholski is placed: “My pride is that the pennants of our cavalry are my idea. It was like this: I was riding in a carriage with Col. Mościcki from Minsk to Dukora (…). I knew the colonel very briefly (…). During the journey, he asked me, as one who ‘paints’, to come up with a badge for the lancers, to distinguish them (…). In Dukora, in his room, I ‘colored’ two pennants cut out with a red pencil at the bottom. The colonel looked in the mirror, having the pennants on his collar. He gave the order to gather the squadron commanders – asked for impressions and thus the pennants of the Polish cavalry were created. I remember those present: Capt. Pajewski, Capt. Romer, Lt. Zaza-Podhorski, Capt. Żółkiewski, Capt. Karol Zdziechowski (…)”.

Unfortunately, this is not the entire catalog of possibilities in this matter. However, now is not the time to decide which of them is true. One thing is certain, however, that they were created in the circle of cavalry and horse artillery officers serving in the First Polish Corps in Russia. It is also important that these pennants became an inseparable element of cavalry color and were an original and extremely beautiful Polish solution.

Colors of Regiment Seniority

At that time, the color code of regiment seniority based on patterns taken from the army of the Kingdom of Poland was finally established. The first three existing lancer regiments in the First Polish Corps received two-color pennants arranged in horizontal zones, where to the lower white color (except for the 2nd Lancer Regiment, where it was navy blue) an upper amaranth zone in the 1st Krechowiecki Lancer Regiment, white in the second regiment, and yellow in the third regiment was added. In the 4th Zaniemieński Lancer Regiment formed already in independent Poland, blue (actually cornflower). In later years, efforts were made to ensure that the combination of these five basic colors testified to the seniority of the regiment. However, the introduction of new colors and other shades of those used in combination with various arrangements of their layout on the pennant quickly complicated the readability of this system. However, this was the price to pay for the numerical and structural development of Polish cavalry that took place in the years 1918-1921, and then also after 1924…

Documents from the Warsaw Uprising

Documents handed over by the Head of the MBP Investigation Department Lt. Col. Józef Różański to Captain Deska from the First Department of the Second Directorate on January 25, 1947, for use in the investigation conducted against Waldemar Baczak, Ksawery Grocholski, Witold Kalicki, and Krystyna Kosiorek.

Works