Jan Bytnar
| Jan Bytnar "Rudy", "Czarny", "Janek", "Krokodyl", "Jan Rudy" | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born |
6 May 1921 Kolbuszowa, Poland |
| Died |
30 March 1943 (aged 21) Warsaw, Poland |
| Allegiance | Poland |
| Service/branch | Armia Krajowa (Home Army) |
| Rank | Second Lieutenant |
| Battles/wars | World War II |
| Awards |
 Krzyż Walecznych (Cross of the Valorous) |
Jan Roman Bytnar, nom de guerre "Rudy" (ginger) (born 6 May 1921, Kolbuszowa, Poland - died 30 March 1943, Warsaw, Poland) was a Polish scoutmaster, a member of Polish scouting anti-Nazi resistance, and a lieutenant in the Home Army during the Second World War.
Biography
He was the son of Stanisław Bytnar, a teacher and soldier in the Polish Legions in World War I, and Zdzisława Rechulówna.
Jan attended elementary school in Piastów. In 1931 he was accepted to the Stefan Batory Gymnasium in Warsaw, where the Bytnar family moved in the same year. They lived in the Mokotów district.
In 1934, at the age of 13, he joined the Polish Scouting and Guiding Association. In 1938 he attained the highest non-instructor rank, "Scout of the Republic". Shortly before, in 1937, he began attending a lyceum; he graduated in May of 1939.
Arrest, death, and reprisal
He was arrested by the Nazis on 23 March 1943 and rescued three days later by a combat group of the Gray Ranks during the Arsenal action on 26 March. He died on 30 March, at the age of 21, from injuries sustained during the interrogation carried out by the Gestapo while in capitivity.
The extremely brutal interrogation of Bytnar was conducted by SS Rottenführer Ewald Lange and SS Obersturmführer Herbert Schultz. Both were later assassinated by the Gray Ranks. Schultz was shot dead on 6 May 1943 by Sławomir Maciej Bittner (aka "Maciek") and Eugeniusz Kecher (aka "Kolczan"). Lange was shot dead on 22 May 1943 by Jerzy Zapadko (aka "Dzik").
In literature
Bytnar is the main character in Aleksander Kamiński's Kamienie na szaniec ("Stones for the Rampart") and Barbara Wachowicz's Rudy, Alek, Zośka.
References
- (Polish) Paweł Dubiel, Józef Kozak, Polacy w II wojnie światowej: kim byli, co robili, Oficyna Wydawnicza RYTM, Warszawa, 2003, ISBN 83-7399-054-2
- (Polish) Stanisław Kopf, Stefan Starba-Bałuk, Armia Krajowa. Kronika fotograficzna, Wydawnictwo Ars Print Production, Warszawa, 1999, ISBN 83-87224-16-2
- (Polish) Aleksander Kamiński, Kamienie na szaniec
- (Polish) Barbara Wachowicz, Rudy, Alek, Zośka, Oficyna Wydawnicza RYTM, ISBN 83-88794-95-7
See also
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