- Bolesław Zajączkowski
Capt. Bolesław Zajączkowski (d. 1920) was a Polish lawyer and reserve officer of the
Polish Army . A former reserve NCO of theAustro-Hungarian Army , he volunteered for the Polish forces fighting in the battle of Lwów. During the fights for that city against the forces of theWest Ukrainian People's Republic he commanded amachine gun post at the so-called Execution Hill ( _pl. Góra Straceń), a scene of particularly heavy fights.After the successful defense of the city, he returned to civilian life only to rejoin the Polish Army after the outbreak of the
Polish-Soviet War . During the Budennyi's assault on Lwów he was chosen as a commander of a volunteer battalion of roughly 330 men, mostly pupils and students. All but 12 men of that unit perished in an 11-hours longbattle of Zadwórze . For entire day the unit under his command withheld repeated attack by an entire cavalry division. After their defenses were finally broken, Zajączkowski committed suicide not to fall into enemy hands. For his merits he was posthumously promoted to the rank of Major and awarded withVirtuti Militari medal. After the war his body was one of five to be exhumed, identified and buried with military honors at theLwów Eaglets ' Cemetery in Lwów.
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