Defence Minister Antoni Macierewicz Meets with "Gryf"

03.VIII.2016
Defence Minister Antoni Macierewicz Meets with "Gryf"
“I would like to thank you for your continuing efforts in telling the world what the history of Poland and the history
of the Warsaw Uprising really looked like.
There are not enough words of gratitude to express our thanks for this,” said the Minister of National
Defense Antoni Macierewicz during a meeting with Janusz Brochwicz-Lewiński, nom de guerre “Gryf,”
(Eng: “Griffin”) a soldier of the Home Army (AK) of the “Parasol” Battalion.
The Spokesperson for the Defence Ministry Bartłomiej Misiewicz also took part in the meeting.
Brigadier General Janusz Brochwicz-Reynolds “Gryf” spoke about the fate of his battalion during the
meeting, about what had happened in the Wola District of the city, about the history of the Michla Petite
Palace and about his return to Poland.
Reminiscing about his return to Poland, General Janusz Brochwicz-Reynolds “Gryf” stressed that even a
dozen years ago or so one could witness in certain parts of the capital city that people actually began
“forgetting about these events, which took place in 1944 in the Wola District of Warsaw.”
“When I came here in 2002, there wasn’t even any sign, not to mention a monument commemorating
these events. No one knew what had happened and where. I met with tour guide leaders. I told them
what and where events took place. I tried to talk about those past events during excursions. We fought
for every stone in the city, which commemorates the Uprising,” said the general during the meeting.
“I am not a great or famous man, but I joined the British army, with a tendency to further continue the
fight against Bolshevism. I was passed on to the British. I was a guardian of King George VI. From there, I
joined the secret service. I worked for British intelligence for 25 years. I performed tasks, during which
one mistake meant a loss of a life,” said Brigadier General Janusz Brochwicz-Lewiński about himself.
“The memory of the Warsaw Uprising needs to become specific—very tangible and concrete. You have to
show the individual parts, individual places, individual battles that took place. The Warsaw Uprising
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consisted of thousands of battles, which are often unknown, which do not exist in the public
consciousness. Often, as you say, today's Warsaw inhabitants, which by far is made up of newcomers to
the city, has little awareness of what these streets looked like, what had happened here during the
Uprising. This history needs to be rediscovered and shown anew,” said the Defence Minister during the
meeting.
As the Defence Minister pointed out during the interview with Brigadier General Janusz
Brochwicz-Lewiński “Gryf,” actual places need to be identified that will speak to those times and about
the drama of the war.
At the end of the meeting, Brigadier General Janusz Brochwicz-Lewiński “Gryf” presented Defence
Minister Antoni Macierewiczow with a book. “I hope that this reading will show you what I experienced
and will show you my existence. This book describes my life, from the war (…) I hope that it will show you
my history and that of the Warsaw Uprising.”
The Minister presented the General with a commemorative gorget.
***
Brigadier General Janusz Brochwicz-Lewiński made his mark on history on 4–5 August 1944, in his
defense of the building complex “Getreide Industrie-Werke,” i.e., the mill, pasta factory, warehouses and
the “Palace,” in reality, a single-storey house of Karol Michla at Wolska St. No. 40. For the battle, he was
awarded the Cross of Valor (Pol.: Krzyż Walecznych). From August 6th, he commanded a group of a score
of soldiers as a “delaying group,” which was to defend the area of Młynarska-Żytnia Streets. On August
8th, he was severely wounded in the jaw during fighting in the Evangelical Cemetery in the Wola District
of Warsaw, which halted him from further fighting. After the capitulation of the Warsaw Uprising, he
found himself in a transitional camp Lamsdorf (Łambinowice), and then sent to the POW camp in
Murnau. After the liberation of the camp by the Americans, he went to the hospital, where he stayed
until February 1946.
After the liberation of the camp by the Americans, he remained in the West, and was soon allocated to
the Reserve Brigade of the Independent Parachute Brigade (Pol.: Ośrodek Zapasowy Samodzielnej
Brygady Spadochronowej), from which in September 1945, he was assigned to a hospital in Scotland.
There he underwent serious jaw surgery and a five month rehabilitation period. In February 1946, he left
the hospital and later remained in Great Britain. He joined the British Army (3rd Royal Regiment of
Hussars), and served among others as a guard to His Majesty George VI. He also served in Palestine and
Sudan as an intelligence officer. After leaving the army, he was quartermaster and administrative officer
for 15 years in one of the British military schools. In July 2002, he returned to Poland.
He was awarded the Silver Cross of the Virtuti Militari (Pol.: Krzyż Srebrny Orderu Wojennego Virtuti
Militari), the Cross of the Order of the Rebirth of Poland (Pol.: Krzyż Komandorski Orderu Odrodzenia
Polski), the Officer's Cross of the Rebirth of Poland (Pol.: Krzyż Oficerski Orderu Odrodzenia Polski), the
Cross of Valor (Pol.: Krzyż Walecznych)—twice, the Partisan Cross (Pol.: Krzyż Partyzancki), the Cross of
the Home Army (Pol.: Krzyż Armii Krajowej), the Cross of the Warsaw Uprising (Pol.: Warszawski Krzyż
Powstańczy), the Cross of the September Campaign (Pol.: Krzyż Kampanii Wrześniowej), and the Gold
Medal of Merit for National Defense (Pol.: Złoty Medal za Zasługi dla Obronności Kraju).
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Biography: www.1944.pl
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