Marian Stanisław Chodacki
Born(1898-07-15)July 15, 1898
Nowy Sącz, Poland
DiedJune 26, 1975(1975-06-26) (aged 76)
New York City
AllegiancePolish Armed Forces
Service/branchPolish Land Forces
Years of service1914–1932, 1939–1945
Rankcertified infantry colonel (pułkownik dyplomowany piechoty)
Unit
  • 34th Infantry Regiment
  • 21st Infantry Regiment "Dzieci Warszawy"
  • General Staff of the Polish Army
  • 67th Infantry Regiment
Executive Director of the Józef Piłsudski Institute of America
In office
1949–1951
Preceded byWacław Jędrzejewicz
Succeeded byDamian Stanisław Wandycz

Marian Stanisław Chodacki (July 15, 1898, Nowy Sącz – June 26, 1975, New York City) was a Polish diplomat, intelligence officer, certified colonel of the Polish Army, and executive director of the Józef Piłsudski Institute of America.[1][2]

Youth and military service

He received a law degree from the University of Warsaw.[3]

From 1912 to 1914, Chodacki belonged to the Riflemen's Association. During World War I, he served in the Polish Legions and afterwards continued serving in the Polish Army. On June 1, 1921, he began serving in the Highest Evaluating Commission with the 34th Infantry Regiment in Biała Podlaska.[4] In May 1922, Chodacki was made a lieutenant with retroactive seniority from June 1, 1919.

Chodacki completed studies at the Higher Military Academy in Warsaw from 1922 to 1924.[5] Upon completing his studies in March 1924, he was promoted to the rank of captain with retroactive seniority from July 1, 1923. In October of the following year, he was transferred to the Second Branch of the General Staff of the Polish Army in Warsaw. During his studies and service with the General Staff, he officially remained officer of the 21st Infantry Regiment "Dzieci Warszawy" ("Warsaw's Children").[6][7] In 1927, he was appointed as a military attaché to Finland and Sweden.[8] On November 1, 1931, he was attached to the 67th Infantry Regiment in Brodnica and gained practical leadership experience as the head of a riflemen's company.[9][10]

On December 10, 1932, Chodacki was assigned to the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs for a period of six months.[11] Following this assignment, he was simultaneously transferred from active duty to the reserves and from the 21st Infantry Regiment to the 30th Infantry Regiment (30 Pułk Strzelców Kaniowskich) in Warsaw.[12]

Diplomatic service

Chodacki was assigned ministerial adviser in the Political Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In October, 1935, he became chargé d'affaires in the Polish mission to Czechoslovakia.[2] He was a confidant of Józef Beck, the foreign minister, who considered Chodacki the best politician among the officers transferred from military service to diplomacy.[13]

In December of 1936, Chodacki assumed the office of the Commissioner General of the Republic of Poland in the Free City of Gdańsk.[14] During his term of office, he attained the rank of authorized minister (minister pełnomocny) and special envoy (poseł nadzwyczajny). His uncompromising attitude as General Commissioner united quarreling Polish organizations in Gdańsk. Polish policy toward the Gdańsk did not change under Chodacki, and policy was continuously marked by strong opposition to Nazification of the city. As Commissioner, Chodacki often intervened in the defense of Poles, whose health and lives were frequently endangered.[15] During Chodacki's service as Commissioner, the work of Polish Intelligence was intensified and employees of the Commissariat collected information about the military preparations in Gdańsk.[3]

In August 1939, Chodacki paid a customary visit to the battleship Schleswig-Holstein.[16]

On September 1, 1939, Germans arrested Chodacki and other employees of the Polish Commissariat. As the result of protests by the previously-expelled Carl Jacob Burckhardt, High Commissioner of the League of Nations in Gdańsk, the Germans released Chodacki and others over the Lithuanian border on September 5.[3]

Second World War and aftermath

During World War II, Chodacki was a soldier of the Polish Armed Forces in France and Great Britain.[2] He was, however, quickly transferred to the Polish Consulate in New York City, and—on September 1, 1943—became the head of the secret Estezet service.[1] In the final years of the war, he served as a Polish liaison officer within the ranks of the American Office of Strategic Services.[2] After the war, Chodacki worked at the Józef Piłsudski Institute in New York City. He ultimately served as the institute's executive director from 1949 to 1951.[1]

Commemoration

On March 11, 2019, by decision number 491 of the Polish Minister of National Defense, Marian Chodacki was posthumously promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel.

Orders and awards

Works (Polish)

  • Dzienniki Personalne Ministerstwa Spraw Wojskowych.
  • Roczniki oficerskie 1923, 1924, 1928 i 1932.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 (in Polish) Biogram na stronie Instytutu Józefa Piłsudskiego w Nowym Jorku
  2. 1 2 3 4 (in Polish) Jacek Majchrowski, Kto był kim w drugiej Rzeczypospolitej, Warszawa: BGW, 1994. ISBN 978-83-7066-569-2
  3. 1 2 3 (in Polish) Stanisław Mikos, Działalność Komisariatu Generalnego Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej w Wolnym Mieście Gdańsku 1920–1939, Warszawa: Państwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe, 1971
  4. ↑ (in Polish)Spis oficerów służących czynnie w dniu 1.6.1921 r. Dodatek do Dziennika Personalnego Ministerstwa Spraw Wojskowych Nr 37 z 24 września 1921 roku, s. 118, 579.
  5. ↑ (in Polish) Rocznik Oficerski 1923, Ministerstwo Spraw Wojskowych, Oddział V Sztabu Generalnego Wojska Polskiego, Warszawa 1924, s. 185, 423, 1502.
  6. ↑ (in Polish) Dziennik Personalny Ministerstwa Spraw Wojskowych Nr 103 z 2 października 1924 roku, s. 568.
  7. ↑ (in Polish) Rocznik Oficerski 1924, Ministerstwo Spraw Wojskowych, Oddział V Sztabu Generalnego Wojska Polskiego, Warszawa 1924, s. 9, 174, 366.
  8. ↑ (in Polish) Rocznik Oficerski 1928, Ministerstwo Spraw Wojskowych, Warszawa 1928, s. 133, 203.
  9. ↑ (in Polish) Dziennik Personalny Ministerstwa Spraw Wojskowych Nr 7 z 23 października 1931 roku, s. 327.
  10. ↑ (in Polish) Rocznik Oficerski 1932, Biuro Personalne Ministerstwa Spraw Wojskowych, Warszawa 1932, s. 48, 595.
  11. ↑ (in Polish) Dziennik Personalny Ministerstwa Spraw Wojskowych Nr 13 z 9 grudnia 1932 roku, s. 436.
  12. ↑ (in Polish) Dziennik Personalny Ministerstwa Spraw Wojskowych Nr 11 z 7 czerwca 1934 roku, s. 139.
  13. ↑ Mikos (referenced above) quotes the Diary and files of Jan Szembek, 1934–1939, t. 1-4, London 1964–1972.
  14. ↑ December 16 according to Majchrowski
  15. ↑ The reports of the Polish Commissariat to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs often contained descriptions of German attacks on Poles, for example in the town of Piekło; or on Polish students in the town of Pszczółki
  16. ↑ Chodacki thus described this moment in his memoirs: It was perhaps the toughest moment of my life, that walk under the barrels of heavy ship cannons, and then a glass of champagne in the accompaniment of those snotty officers' mocking smirks. (Była to chyba najcięższa chwila mojego życia, to przejście dwukrotne pod lufami ciężkich dział okrętowych, a potem kieliszek szampana przy akompaniamencie drwiących uśmieszków smarkatych oficerków.) quoted in: (in Polish) G. Danielewicz W kręgu Polonii gdańskiej Gdańsk 1996, ISBN 83-85349-83-9, quoted after: Strona domowa Waldemara Matlana Archived 2007-10-29 at the Wayback Machine
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