4 Poles who became Heroes of the Soviet Union
The high title was awarded to three servicemen of the 1st Polish Infantry Division, who, together with the Soviet troops, fought against the Nazis. And also to the first Polish cosmonaut.
1. Vladislav Vysotsky
In September 1939, Polish army officer Vysotsky was taking part in battles against German troops. After the defeat of Poland, he ended up in the Soviet Union.
In the Spring of 1943, the USSR began to form military units with Poles ready to fight against the Nazis shoulder to shoulder with the Red Army. This is how the 1st Polish Infantry Division named after Tadeusz Kosciuszko appeared whose ranks Vysotsky joined.
It received its baptism of fire on October 12 of the same year in battles near Lenino in the Mogilev region of Byelorussia. That battle turned out to be the last for Captain Vysotsky.
With his soldiers, he captured the first defense of the enemy line and penetrated the second, but was killed when he rallied the fighters for a bayonet attack. On November 11, he was posthumously awarded the title ‘Hero of the Soviet Union’ for his bravery.
2. Juliusz Hibner
Juliusz Hibner, another Polish officer, also received the ‘Hero of the Soviet Union’ title for the same battle near Lenino. A fanatical communist, he fought for the Republic in the Spanish Civil War, after which he ended up in France and, in 1940, he moved to the USSR.
In the 1st Polish Infantry Division, he held the position of deputy commander for political and educational work of the 1st Infantry Regiment. Near Lenino, after the death of the commander, he headed one of the battalions and commanded it, even receiving two serious wounds.
In December 1943, after being released from the hospital, he returned to duty and fought until the Victory. After the war, he served in the army and state security agencies of the Polish People's Republic and then devoted himself entirely to science.
3. Aniela Krzywoń
On May 29, 18-year-old Aniela Krzywoń volunteered for the 1st Polish Infantry Division. She was assigned to a company of machine gunners in the Emilia Plater Women's Infantry Battalion.
Her first battle near Lenino turned out to be Aneli's last.
Krzywoń was on guard duty at the division's command post and guarding the headquarters car when German aircraft appeared in the sky. One of the bombs hit the car, which, in addition to important documents, contained people.
“Despite the mortal danger, Aniela Krzywoń rushed into the burning car to save valuable documents and her comrades. She died in a burning vehicle at her combat post,” Makar Pravdin, deputy division commander for political affairs, noted in his report.
On November 11, 1943, she was posthumously awarded the title ‘Hero of the Soviet Union’.
4. Mirosław Hermaszewski
Before becoming a cosmonaut, pilot Hermaszewski flew combat fighters and commanded a squadron. In 1976, he began training at the ‘Yuri Gagarin’ Soviet Cosmonaut Training Center.
Two years later, he successfully completed a space flight in the ‘Intercosmos’ program, within the framework of which the USSR tried to attract friendly states to the exploration of outer space. On board the Soyuz-30, he reached the Salyut-6 orbital station. In total, the flight lasted almost eight days.
“The colors, sunrises and sunsets make an unforgettable impression. Under the influence of this aesthetics, you begin to feel your nature, the beauty in the porthole is reborn into a spiritual experience, philosophical thoughts about the creation of the world, about the place of man, about God,” the cosmonaut said. “I know many who were, to put it delicately, atheists, and returned from there as different people.”
After his only space flight, Hermaszewski continued to serve in the Polish Armed Forces until he retired in 2000.
