# Adam Czartoryski: Life & Service _Slug: `adam-czartoryski-biography` · HTML: https://czartoryski.dcz.ca/articles/adam-czartoryski-biography.html_ Biographical documents  |  Compiled from family papers by Jerzy Czartoryski, Aylmer Brief Notes from My Life -- Adam Czartoryski Transcribed from a handwritten text (6 pages) written by Father in Warsaw in March 1991. Some sentences and even whole paragraphs are identical to those in other of Father's writings. I transcribed it nonetheless so that no detail would be missed. Like most of Father's texts, this one is in poor condition, so I am discarding the original. Transcribed in Aylmer, QC, Canada, March 2013 by Jerzy Czartoryski. -- -- -- Dr. Adam Czartoryski\ 01-635 Warsaw, ul. Skrypija 5, flat 15\ Tel. 33 88 72 Brief Notes from My Life I was born on 16 January 1906 in the family home at Pelkinie near Jaroslaw. My father was Witold; my mother was Jadwiga nee Dzieduszycka, daughter of Wlodzimierz -- Ordinate of Poturzyce and Zarzecze, Marshal of the Galician Diet, and founder of the Dzieduszycki Museum in Lwow -- and of Alfonsyna nee Miaczynska of Pieniaki. My father, owner of the Pelkinie and Bieliny estates, was born 10 February 1864, matriculated at Jaroslaw gymnasium, and went on to the Vienna Agricultural Academy (Hochschule fur Bodenkultur), managing his estates for many years in person as a professional farmer, bringing them to a leading level of efficiency and output. He died 6 September 1945 in Makow Podhalaski, in exile at his son Stanislaw's house -- Stanislaw being parish priest in Makow. My mother, owner of the Konarzewo estate near Poznan, died 12 July 1941 in Pelkinie. My schooling was varied because of the upheavals of the First World War. I completed the classical gymnasium -- King Stefan Batory Grammar School III in Lwow -- passing my matriculation in 1924. I then studied Forestry at the Lwow Polytechnic and at the University of Poznan, graduating with a Master of Engineering degree in Forestry. For one term I served as secretary of the Students' Mutual Aid Society at the Lwow Polytechnic. I belonged to the Catholic Academic Association "Odrodzenie," serving on the Supreme Council and its Presidium. I completed my military service at the Reserve Officers' Artillery School in Wlodzimierz Wolynski in 1929-30, in the 1st Mounted Battery. I was promoted to second lieutenant on 1 January 1931. Every two years I attended six-week military exercises and eventually completed a battery commanders' course in Torun. On 24 June 1937 I married Jadwiga Stadnicka (born 26 May 1913) of Nawojowa, daughter of Adam and Stefania nee Woroniecka. We have four children: a son, Jerzy, born 1939, and three daughters: Maria born 1940, Izabella born 1942, and Jadwiga Anna born 1953. In 1937 I took possession of my half of the Konarzewo estate after my mother, with its seat at Gluszyna near Poznan. In the last days of August 1939 I was called up, and from 1 September I assumed command of the 4th Battery, 17th Light Artillery Regiment, in the Poznan Army (under General Kutrzeba). I fought in the battles on the Bzura River and in the Kampinos Forest. I was decorated with the Cross of Valour. I avoided captivity. Unable to return to my Gluszyna, I settled with my wife and children at Nawojowa at my in-laws', where I managed their forests near Nowy Sacz. In the spring of 1942 we moved to Szczawnica, where on behalf of my father-in-law I assumed management of the spa establishment, while simultaneously directing the Szczawnica and Szlachtowa forests, chairing the Spa Commission, and running the local RGO (Relief Council). The German authorities acknowledged these functions. At the same time I was appointed Commandant of the AK post at Szczawnica, covering the villages of Szczawnica Gorna and Dolna, Szlachtowa, Jaworki, Biala Woda and Czarna Woda, together with the Szczawnica forests and the entire Grajcarek catchment. During my time in Szczawnica (up to Operation "Burza," i.e. until 26 July 1944), not a single resident was deported to labour in Germany, because I had issued 45 fictitious Arbeitskarten freeing local people from deportation. I organised two platoons of soldiers, to be activated only in the event of a general uprising. On 26 July 1944, my immediate superior, the Nowy Targ District Commandant, Major "Borowy" (Major Adam Stabrawa), came to Szczawnica and personally ordered me to execute Operation "Burza." For reasons unknown to me, almost no other commandant in the surrounding area executed this order. I ordered the elimination of the blue police training course run by four German NCOs. One German escaped and raised the alarm. Before reinforcements arrived, I managed to swear in the blue police and dispatch them to the assembly point near Tylmanowa. German reinforcements surrounded our house and conducted a search; they found nothing. They arrested my wife, who declared I had left for Krakow; she was released for lack of evidence. As I was now "burnt" I remained as partisan commander in the forest. The "Burza" cancellation reached me only three days later -- which saved Szczawnica's inhabitants from German reprisals. I spent part of my time in the forest with my unit above Szczawnica and part with Captain "Lampart" (Captain Zapala) above Ochotnica, where I briefly commanded the 11th Company of the 1st Podhale Rifles Regiment AK. I was then transferred to Kalwaria Zebrzydowska, under a different codename and with different identity papers (as "Pan Zasorski"), listed as a displaced person from the Warsaw Uprising. Just before Christmas my wife and children joined me there. Her codename: "Tuja." On 25 January 1945 the Soviets occupied Kalwaria Zebrzydowska. A few days later I walked (45 km) to Krakow, where I was engaged as a senior assistant at the University of Poznan by Professor Bronislaw Niklewski, head of the Department of Plant Physiology and Agricultural Chemistry. From August 1945 I lived with my family at ul. Slaska 6/7 (Solacz district, Poznan). Despite various difficulties and harassments -- dismissals and even an accusation of desertion -- I remained at the University of Poznan until 1 September 1971. After completing my doctorate (the only doctorate awarded without a doctoral stipend) and being promoted to adjunct, I lectured on ecology (then called "nature conservation") with all professorial rights and duties, but with the explicit reservation that I was not to use the title. Relations at the university were normal and gradually improving, particularly after 1956. After retiring I moved to Koscielisko in the Tatras, 4 km above Zakopane, where we lived in clean air with magnificent views, making frequent excursions into the mountains. We enjoyed relative peace from the Party and the Communists. In 1988, for health reasons, we moved to Warsaw. Our address: 01-635 Warsaw, ul. Skrypija 5, flat 15 (Zoliborz), tel. 33 88 72. On 16 January 1991 I turned 85. To my devoted, helpful, and beloved wife I owe my survival -- in relative health -- through more than 50 years of faithful companionship. My children are my support and help in daily life. My relations with my grandchildren are as good as can be. We never joined the Party or ZBOWiD, expressing our resolute opposition to the PZPR. Our support for Solidarity was wholehearted, steadfast, and unchanging. I never visited my estates after their confiscation. Only in 1990 did I write to the Supreme Court requesting that pending a just resolution of the matter, they not be sold to third parties; I received confirmation of receipt. Warsaw, March 1991\ (signed) A. J. Czartoryski Post-War Decorations and Awards 1. Recognition as Veteran (certificate No. 0840095 in Nowy Sacz) 2. Cross of Valour (certificate No. 1303-71-44) 3. Silver Cross of Merit with Swords 4. Gold Honorary Badge of the League of Nature Protection (certificate No. 465) 5. Mounted Artillery Cross 6. Cross of Participation in the September 1939 Campaign (1-17 September 1939) Adam Czartoryski -- Obituary Notice Born in Pelkinie, 16 January 1906 Died in Warsaw, 11 June 1998 Former owner of the estates of Gluszyna, Babki, and Wiry in the Poznan region. Master of Engineering in Forestry; Doctor of Biology; Ecologist. Second Lieutenant (Reserve), 10th Mounted Artillery Division; Battery Commander, 17th Light Artillery Regiment, 1939; Lieutenant, Home Army (AK); Captain, Polish Armed Forces. Cross of Valour; Silver Cross of Merit with Swords. He is survived by his wife, children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. Decorations and Medals -- Adam MJ Czartoryski 1. Cross of Valour for September 1939 -- certificate No. 1303-71-44 (by resolution of the Council of State, 23 March 1973). 2. Silver Cross of Merit with Swords -- awarded 25 January 1945 by the Commander of the Operational Group "Silesia-Cieszyn," Lt. Col. "Borowy," Commander of the 1st Podhale Rifles Regiment. 3. Honorary Badge: Soldier of the 1st Podhale Rifles Regiment of the Home Army -- certificate No. 100; signed by Lt. Col. Chief of Staff I PSP "Maciej" and Lt. Col. Jan Cieslak. 4. Commemorative Badge: Cross of the September 1939 Campaign -- awarded by the Ministry of Military Affairs, London. 5. Promotion to Lieutenant -- 1st Podhale Rifles Regiment; by order of General Headquarters No. 34/January 1945, with seniority from 1 January 1945; signed by the Regimental Commander "Borowy." 6. Mounted Artillery Badge -- received from the Commander of the 10th Mounted Artillery Division in the 1930s (before the war). Declaration -- Home Army Service Record Transcribed from what appears to be a handwritten draft -- often difficult to read, full of deletions and corrections. Transcribed by Jerzy Czartoryski, Aylmer, October 2010. -- -- -- Application for Confirmation of Home Army Service Dr. Adam Czartoryski\ 01-635 Warsaw, ul. Krechowiecka 5, flat 15\ Tel. 33 88 72 In order to obtain confirmation of my service in the Home Army (AK) and to be entered on the register of Home Army soldiers, I submit the following personal details. I was born in Pelkinie near Jaroslaw on 16 January 1906. Father: Witold, long-serving president of the Agricultural Society in Lwow, Senator of the Republic of Poland. Mother: Jadwiga nee Dzieduszycka. After partial home-schooling and later gymnasium study, I passed my matriculation in Lwow at Grammar School III in 1924. I went on to study at the Lwow Polytechnic and the University of Poznan (Forestry), graduating with an engineering degree. I completed my military service at the Reserve Officers' Artillery School in Wlodzimierz Wolynski in 1929-30, and subsequently with the 10th Mounted Artillery Division in Jaroslaw. I was promoted to second lieutenant on 1 January 1931. Every two years I attended six-week exercises, and in 1936 I completed a battery commanders' course in Torun. In the last days of August 1939 I was mobilised, and on 1 September I was appointed to command the 4th Battery, 17th Light Artillery Regiment (Poznan Army). I received the Cross of Valour for that campaign (certificate No. 1303-71-44). I avoided captivity. As I was unable to return home -- my estate in the Poznan region had been incorporated into the Reich -- I settled in Nawojowa near Nowy Sacz, where I managed the local forests as chief forester, while being required to report as a reserve officer to the "Ostkommando" in Nowy Sacz. This obligation prevented me from straying beyond my area of duty and limited my full engagement in the Resistance, though I maintained contact with it as best I could. In the spring of 1942 I took up work in Szczawnica near Nowy Targ (Podhale) as director of the spa establishment and simultaneously as chief forester of the surrounding forests and chairman of the local spa commission. When the Home Army was established and received its final name, I joined the movement and was sworn in as commandant of the local AK post covering part of the Nowy Targ district. My codename was "Szpak" (Starling), which I kept until the end of the occupation and the dissolution of the Home Army. My role was, beyond purely military duties, to protect the civilian population: throughout my entire tenure, not a single resident was deported to labour in Germany, and there were no arrests. German Wehrmacht units were billeted in the area -- the terrain was wide open and visible to German observation -- so as not to expose the local population to reprisals it was necessary above all to pursue a policy of survival through the occupation, especially as long as the Germans were not provoking us excessively. Around mid-July 1944 a state of combat readiness was ordered, and on 28 July my superior, the Nowy Targ District Commandant, Major "Borowy" (Adam Stabrawa), personally came to Szczawnica and ordered me to execute Operation "Burza" (Tempest). This meant mobilising active AK soldiers and concentrating them at a designated assembly point. I had prepared two platoons for action. German soldiers were billeted in Szczawnica -- troops on leave, a Grenzschutz (Border Guard) convalescent unit, and a training course for the "blue police" under four German NCOs. Upon receiving the "Burza" order, I instructed the policemen to eliminate their German NCO superiors. They carried it out clumsily: three Germans were killed and the fourth escaped. Simultaneously I rallied the population of Szczawnica. With twenty minutes before German reinforcements arrived, I swore in the blue policemen and dispatched them to the assembly point, ordering the entire population to lock themselves indoors. Entering Szczawnica, the Germans found a deserted town, surrounded my house, and searched it -- finding nothing. They arrested my wife, who at interrogation declared I had left for Krakow that morning. Since the AK soldiers had departed and the population sat indoors, the Germans concluded the locals were behaving "loyally," released my wife, and returned to Nowy Targ. I had managed to hide in the bushes near the house and escaped discovery. The population behaved magnificently. It was a shock that almost no other post commandant had executed the "Burza" order, which is why the Germans dared to push into the most remote corner of the district. Contact with Nowy Targ was severed, and only after three days did word reach me from Major "Borowy" that Operation "Burza" had been called off. I dismissed the 1st Platoon to their homes. I myself, having been personally compromised, remained in the forest forming a small partisan unit until the end of the occupation. I made contact with the unit of Captain "Lampart" above Ochotnica, where for a time I commanded the 11th Company of the Podhale Rifles Regiment (about 100 men). With my own unit and "Lampart's" assistance I organised an attack on the Grenzschutz barracks at Szlachtowa, but we failed to take them and had to withdraw. In November 1944, owing to the approaching winter, I was transferred to Kalwaria Zebrzydowska, where my family joined me just before Christmas. I remained there until the Soviets entered on 25 January 1945. I moved to Krakow and then to Poznan, where I worked at the University of Poznan until retirement on 1 September 1971. I must stress the extraordinarily patriotic spirit of the Polish population throughout the occupation. I could trust all the residents completely. As particularly loyal, courageous, and prudent collaborators I must name: my wife Jadwiga nee Stadnicka (codename "Tuja"), Mgr. Karol Kozubski (codename "Konar"), and Mrs. Maria Czamowa, nurse, codename "Melania." After the war I was recognised as a veteran (Act of 26 May 1982 -- without joining ZBOWiD). Warsaw, March 1991\ (signed) A. J. Czartoryski Post-War Decorations and Awards 1. Recognition as Veteran (certificate No. 0840095 in Nowy Sacz) 2. Cross of Valour (certificate No. 1303-71-44) 3. Silver Cross of Merit with Swords 4. Gold Honorary Badge of the League of Nature Protection (certificate No. 465) 5. Mounted Artillery Cross 6. Cross of Participation in the September 1939 Campaign (1-17 September 1939)