Alfred Biłyk

Alfred Biłyk (born September 25, 1889 in Lwów, now Ukraine, died September 19, 1939 in Munkacs, Ukraine, then in Hungary) was a Polish lawyer, military officer, and politician, last Voivode of the Lwów Voivodeship. He committed suicide, when he realized that he would not be able to return to his hometown.

Bilyk was a graduate of a high school in Brzeżany, where he got to know another student of the school, Edward Rydz-Śmigły (both went to the same class and shared a bench). They became friends, joining together the Riflemen's Association and later, the Polish Legions. After World War I, Bilyk was nominated to the rank of major of the newly created Polish Army (on June 1, 1919) but following the Polish-Soviet War, he left the army and began studying law at the Jan Kazimierz University in Lwów. In 1923 or 1924, he opened a lawyer's office in Lwów.

A close associate of Rydz-Śmigły, Biłyk took advantage of the relationship, and was nominated to the post of Voivode of Tarnopol Voivodeship (July 15, 1936). A year later, on April 16, 1937, he advanced even further, becoming the Voivode of Lwów Voivodeship.

On September 12, 1939, when first tanks of the Wehrmacht approached Lwów (see: Polish September Campaign, Battle of Lvov (1939)), Bilyk gave a famous speech, which was transmitted by the local radio station. He emphasized that Lwów, the city known as Semper Fidelis, would defend itself and that he himself would not abandon his post. However, three days later, the Prime Minister Felicjan Slawoj-Skladkowski ordered Bilyk to leave for Kuty, where the government of Poland was temporarily seated. From Kuty, Bilyk left Poland for Munkacs, which then belonged to Hungary.

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