Jędrzej Giertych
| Jędrzej Giertych | |
|---|---|
| Personal details | |
| Born |
January 7, 1903 Sosnowiec, Congress Poland |
| Died | October 9, 1992 (aged 89) London, United Kingdom |
| Nationality | Polish |
| Political party | National Party |
| Spouse(s) | Maria Łuczkiewicz |
| Children | nine |
| Alma mater | University of Warsaw |
| Occupation | Publicist, diplomat |
| Religion | Roman Catholicism |
Jędrzej Giertych (7 January 1903 in Sosnowiec – 9 October 1992 in London) was a Polish right-wing politician, journalist and writer. Giertych is son of Franciszek Giertych, father of Polish politician Maciej Giertych, and of Wojciech Giertych theology professor at the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas, Angelicum and Theologian of the Pontifical Household, as well as grandfather of Polish politician Roman Giertych. Jędrzej Giertych was known for his antisemitism and open admiration for fascism.
During World War I he attended for a time a German-language Lutheran school in Tallinn, Estonia, then part of the Russian Empire, where his father was deputy manager of a shipyard. His family later moved to Petrograd where they experienced the Russian Revolution, returning to Poland in 1918 after the treaty of Brest-Litovsk.
He was injured at the Battle of Warsaw in 1920 and then became war correspondent during the Spanish Civil War, supportive of the Nationalists, especially of the Carlists. His reports were later published in book form, Hiszpania bohaterska (Heroic Spain).
Active politically mainly in the interwar period, Giertych was an ally of Roman Dmowski and a prominent activist of the National Democracy right-wing political camp, mainly the National Party. He was a member of the Central Committee of the party and was elected to be a member of the Warsaw City council.
During World War II he was mobilised into the Polish Navy. His unit was soon encircled in the course of the battle for the Hel Peninsula, but he surrendered only on October 2, 1939 and was captured by Germans. He was the first Polish 'incorrigible escaper' to be imprisoned in the Colditz POW camp Oflag IVC. Moved with the Colditz Polish contingent to Oflag IVB at Dossel, he was one of the survivors when on 27 September 1944 a British bomb carried by a Mosquito aircraft of No. 139 Squadron RAF, aimed at nearby Kassel, hit the camp in error and killed 90 Polish prisoners.
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