Jerzy Ziętek

Jerzy Jan Antoni Ziętek (10 June 1901 in Gleiwitz – 20 November 1985 in Katowice, Upper Silesia) was a Polish politician and general. A Silesian Insurrectionist in his youth, during the Second World War he joined the Polish armed forces in the USSR and later became an important politician representing Silesia in the People's Republic of Poland.

Biography

Jerzy Ziętek was born in the city of Gleiwitz, Prussia (Upper Silesia), in the German Empire. He was active in various Polish cultural movements, for which he was discharged from gymnasium in 1919 and passed his matura exams in front of the provisional Polish commission in Bytom.

Ziętek was the advocate of Silesian independence and in the aftermath of the First World War he participated actively in the Silesian Uprisings (1919-1921) against the Germans. In 1920 he was introduced to Polish Military Organization. In the third Silesian Uprising (1921), he battled in the 8th Company of the 3rd Gliwice battalion. At first, he was commander of a platoon, and later of the entire company. On more occasions he was involved in direct fighting, in Łabędy, Stare Koźle, Januszkowice and Sławięcice. He was also involved in organizing the plebiscite in Silesia, under the guidance of the League of Nations, which eventually determined to award most of Silesia to the Second Polish Republic.

Nonetheless Ziętek in his memoirs was disappointed with the results of the peace agreement that was pushed through by the British: "Everywhere, our struggle for freedom was met with disdain, especially by British politicians. Lloyd George was the most infamous of them all, having said that you can not give a watch to a monkey because the animal will break it, implying that the watch was Silesia and the monkey Poland"