Farewell to Antoni Dąbrowski, Polish veteran of the World War II who has died in Spain

@DefAviation ES 11·06·2022 · 2:46 0

A generation of brave freedom fighters is slowly dying out. He leaves us behind the legacy of his heroism in very difficult times.

Armia Krajowa: the history of the greatest resistance movement of the World War II
Warsaw 1944: when Poland rose against the Third Reich ... and Stalin stand idly by

According to the Historical-Cultural Association "Poland First to Fight", this Saturday, Antoni Janusz Dąbrowski, a Polish World War II veteran residing in Spain, passed away. He was born on June 14, 1927 in Warsaw. He was 12 years old when the Germans and the Soviets invaded Poland. In 1942, when he was 15 years old, he enlisted in the Armia Krajowa (AK, National Army), the largest resistance organization of the World War II. Antoni said that he had to be 18 years old to enlist. Like the other members of the AK, he used a pseudonym: "Leon".

Antonio was a member of the 3rd company of the AK Baszta Battalion, with the rank of corporal, and fought in the Warsaw Uprising of 1944 against the Germans, taking part in the fighting in the Mokotów district. Following the defeat of the Uprising, he was taken to the Skierniewice prison camp along with other members of the AK, before being taken to the Stalag XB Sandbostel. During a prisoner transfer, he managed to escape and briefly joined the Yugoslav resistance. He eventually made it to Italy, where he enlisted in the 3rd "Karpathic" Rifle Division of the Polish Second Corps under the command of Lieutenant General Władysław Anders. In 1947, together with the other soldiers of that Corps, he was demobilized.

Like many other Polish soldiers who had fought alongside the Western Allies, Antoni was driven into exile by Stalin's communist dictatorship in Poland. He went to live in England, following in the footsteps of Anders, and worked as a bricklayer's assistant in the British Parliament. He worked for ten years in the British Merchant Navy. He only returned to Poland once, in the 1960s. Finally, he settled in Spain.

In 2016, Antoni explained how he came to live in Spain: "While I was in the port of Valencia with the boat I had an attack of appendicitis and a girl from La Rioja, a relative of a port caretaker, took care of me. We fell in love ...I married her, only 56 years ago. I have 4 children and 8 grandchildren and I live happily in Alicante." In this city he was known by his Spanish name, "Antonio".

In April, he was visited by the then Polish Military Attaché in Spain, Colonel Robert Tkaczyk, accompanied by members of the "Poland First to Fight" Historical-Cultural Association. The Colonel presented Antoni with a commemorative plaque and a book about the current Polish Army, saying: "Thanks to people like you, Poland is free today." In August, Antoni received a visit from the new Polish Military Attaché in Spain, Captain Dorota Stachura, again accompanied by members of the "Poland First to Fight" Association. Antoni was the last Polish veteran of the Second World War who lived in Spain that that association had news of. Rest in peace.

Cześć jego pamięci!
Honor to his memory!