Bronisław Wilhelm Pieracki (28 May 1895 – 15 June 1934) was a Polish military officer and politician, Legionnaire, certified infantry colonel of the Polish Army (commander of one of the sectors during the Defence of Lwów in the Polish–Ukrainian War), an official of the Ministry of Military Affairs and subsequently its secretary of state (from 19 April 1929 to 4 December 1930). He served as a member of the Sejm during its 2nd and 3rd terms in the Second Polish Republic representing the Nonpartisan Bloc for Cooperation with the Government (1928 and 1930–1934, also serving for a time as its vice-chairman). He was the 2nd Deputy Chief of the General Staff (from 9 October 1928 to 19 April 1929), Deputy Prime Minister in the cabinet of Walery Sławek (from 5 December 1930 to 28 May 1931), and minister without portfolio (from 28 May to 23 June 1931). He then served as Minister of Internal Affairs in the governments of Aleksander Prystor, Janusz Jędrzejewicz, and Leon Kozłowski (from 23 June 1931 to 15 June 1934).
He was one of the closest associates of Józef Piłsudski following the May Coup and was considered a leading member of the political faction known as the colonels' group. He was assassinated by Hryhorij Maciejko, a member of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists.
Life He was born to Stanisław Jan Pieracki (1849–1929), a chief customs guard officer, and Eugenia Maria née Budziszowska. His godparents were Bronisław Ajdukiewicz and Julia Marcela Wiśniewska.
The Pieracki family settled in Galicia, having fled Russian persecution shortly after the November Uprising. The family frequently referred to its patriotic traditions; Bronisław's grandfather had participated in the uprising. The family was large. Besides Bronisław, who was the youngest child, the children included Zygmunt (1885–1944), Kazimierz (1891–1941), Tadeusz (d. 1941), Wanda (1885–1937), Maria, and Jadwiga.
Pieracki spent his childhood and youth in Nowy Sącz. The family's residence was located at 27 Matejki Street. Both Bronisław and Kazimierz attended the First Philological Gymnasium in Nowy Sącz. The youngest of the brothers studied there between 1906 and 1914. He was not considered an outstanding student. In May and June 1914, he passed his matura examinations in Polish, Latin, and Ancient Greek.
Even during this period, Bronisław Pieracki was active in clandestine Polish independence organizations. He was a member of the group known as the Duchowcy ("Followers of Duch"), named after its founder, Kazimierz Duch. The organization sympathized with the Polish Socialist Party. Other members included the future general Józef Kustroń. In 1912, the organization merged with another secret Nowy Sącz association of a similar character, the Promieniści ("Radiant Ones"). The new organization became known as the Jastrzębie ("Hawks") or the Union of Hawks.
Pieracki was one of the three principal leaders of the organization. The Jastrzębie later gave rise to a Riflemen's Squad established in 1913. Bronisław Pieracki was also active in the Polish scouting movement. In September 1913, for example, he organized exercises involving several scout troops and members of the Riflemen's Association.
In 1913, he graduated from the officer school of the Riflemen's Association, Nowy Sącz branch, obtaining the rank of ensign. By that time, he was already a member of the Association of Active Struggle. During the following months, he furthered his military education, participating in a summer squad leaders' school (July 1914) and an instructors' course at Primary School No. 1 in Nowy Sącz, conducted by Michał Żymierski. Following the outbreak of World War I, Pieracki joined a group of volunteers commanded by his brother Kazimierz. Soon afterward, 96 members of the Nowy Sącz Riflemen's Association and local scout units departed for Kraków to enlist in the newly forming Polish Legions.
Bronisław Pieracki joined the Western Legion, a military formation established in Kraków on 27 August 1914 from the Riflemen's Association, the Kraków District of the Polish Rifle Squads, and the Union of Podhale Squads. He was appointed commander of a platoon, a position he held until May 1915. He subsequently commanded the 7th Company of the 2nd Infantry Regiment of the Polish Legions, which formed part of the Second Brigade of the Polish Legions. In October 1914, these units were deployed to Hungary and Ukraine. Pieracki's regiment participated in the battles of Zielona (19 October 1914), Mołotków (29 October 1914), Pasieczna (30 October 1914), and Rafajłowa (23–25 January 1915). Heavy fighting continued throughout November 1914.
The unit's subsequent combat route included operations in areas of present-day northern Romania. In January 1915, the regiment took part in the Battle of Kirlibaba (18–22 January 1915), as well as engagements at Brasa, Łopuszne (10 February 1915), Tłumacz (5 March 1915), Kolorówka (6 March 1915), and Bortniki (9 March 1915). At Kolomyia, the regiment's IV Battalion was separated and later served as the nucleus for the creation of the 4th Infantry Regiment of the Polish Legions. The regiment was formed in Piotrków Trybunalski under the command of Colonel Bolesław Roja. Its ranks consisted primarily of volunteers from Podhale and Congress Poland. In May 1915, the regiment was incorporated into the Third Brigade, Polish Legions. At that time, Pieracki commanded the 7th Company of the 4th Infantry Regiment, making him one of its youngest company commanders. On 15 July 1915, his unit was sent to the front.
The regiment received its baptism of fire during the Battle of Jastków. On 31 July 1915, during the engagement, Bronisław Pieracki was seriously wounded when a bullet struck him in the chest. A commemorative publication issued after his death in 1934 described the event as follows:
The bullet passed through his thorax above the heart and beneath the clavicle. Pieracki was sent to recover in Nowy Sącz. He spent several months convalescing at the Holy Cross Hospital in the city. He returned to the front in January 1916 and fought in Volhynia until October of that year. During this period, he temporarily assumed command of the 2nd battalion of the 4th Infantry Regiment. His commanding officer, Bolesław Roja, wrote a highly favorable assessment of him:
During his service, he was promoted successively to second lieutenant on 5 November 1914, lieutenant on 26 May 1915, and captain on 1 November 1916.Lista starszeństwa oficerów Legionów Polskich w dniu oddania Legionów Polskich Wojsku Polskiemu (12 April 1917), Warsaw, 1917, p. 5.
During the Oath Crisis, he refused to swear allegiance to the German Emperor. As a result, he was demoted in September 1917 and conscripted into the Austro-Hungarian Army, serving in the 16th Imperial-Royal Landwehr Regiment "Krakau" until May 1918. During this period, he was stationed in Italy. Eventually declared medically unfit for service, he was discharged and returned to Lwów. He later moved to Kraków, where he resumed his education by enrolling in the Faculty of Philosophy at the Jagiellonian University during the summer semester of the 1916–1917 academic year. He left the university on 26 September 1918.
In the second half of August 1917, he became commander of the Polish Military Organisation district in Nowy Sącz, and later in Lwów. During this period, he resumed legal studies at the Jan Kazimierz University. As tensions between Poles and Ukrainians intensified, General Roja ordered him to organize Polish volunteer units composed primarily of former legionnaires and members of the Polish Military Organisation.
During the defence of Lwów, he was appointed commander of the strategically important Sector XI and, from 2 November 1918, commander of forces in District II. He subsequently served as liaison officer for Sector V at the Supreme Command of the city's defence, commander of Sector IV at the Sienkiewicz School (from 13 November 1918), and commander of the city's reserve forces (from 21 November 1918).
On 24 November 1918, Pieracki was promoted to major, and on 17 May 1922 he was awarded the Virtuti Militari (5th Class).
As a member of the Polish Legions in World War I, Pieracki took part in the Polish-Ukrainian War (1918–1919). He later supported Józef Piłsudski's May 1926 Coup.
Accepted into the Polish Army on 1 January 1919, with confirmation of his existing rank of major, Pieracki was assigned to Warsaw, where he joined the Verification Commission of the Polish Legions. In March 1919, he transferred to the Ministry of Military Affairs. On 23 June 1919, effective from 1 April of that year, he was appointed head of the Religious Affairs Section, which, during the organization of chaplaincy services for non-Catholic denominations, formed part of the Ministry's Mobilization and Organizational Department.Dziennik Rozkazów Wojskowych No. 71, 28 June 1919, item 2313.
Later, because of the ongoing Polish–Soviet War, he was assigned to the Headquarters of the Commander-in-Chief, where he served as a liaison officer representing quartermaster troops. He subsequently served with the Pomeranian Operational Group, having been transferred at the request of its commander, General Roi.
On 3 May 1922, he was confirmed in the rank of lieutenant colonel, with seniority dating from 1 June 1919, ranking 123rd in the infantry officers' corps.Lista starszeństwa oficerów zawodowych, appendix to Dziennik Personalny Ministerstwa Spraw Wojskowych No. 13, 8 June 1922, p. 24. After the end of hostilities, he continued serving in the Ministry of Military Affairs. There he received highly favorable evaluations from his superiors. On 3 November 1921, General Eugeniusz de Henning-Michaelis wrote of him:
As a result of such commendations, Pieracki was sent for advanced military studies. From 1 November 1923 to 15 October 1924, he attended the advanced course of the Higher War School in Warsaw.
At the end of 1921, Pieracki also joined Honor and Fatherland (Honor i Ojczyzna), also known as H2O and Strażnica, a secret military organization founded in 1921 by General Władysław Sikorski with the knowledge of Józef Piłsudski and Kazimierz Sosnkowski. Its purpose was to train soldiers, maintain high moral standards within the officer corps, and preserve the political neutrality of the armed forces. The organization was dissolved in July 1923. During this period, Pieracki is also said to have briefly been a Freemason. He has been listed as a member of the National Grand Lodge of Poland, which he allegedly joined on Piłsudski's recommendation together with Józef Beck, Adam Koc, Bogusław Miedziński, Aleksander Prystor, and Walery Sławek.
On 15 October 1924, after completing the course and receiving a General Staff officer's diploma, he was assigned to Army Inspectorate No. IV as First Referent. He did not take up the post, however, as he was instead placed at the disposal of the Minister of Military Affairs effective the same day. On 1 December 1924, President Stanisław Wojciechowski promoted him to colonel, with seniority from 15 August 1924 and twelfth place in the infantry officers' corps.Dziennik Personalny Ministerstwa Spraw Wojskowych No. 131, 17 December 1924, p. 730.
On 22 June 1925, Pieracki was invested with the commander insignia of the Order of St. Gregory the Great, awarded by Pope Pius XI in recognition of his services to the Church; the decoration was presented by General Sikorski. In 1924, while attached to the Ministry of Military Affairs, he served as a supernumerary officer of the 4th Legions Infantry Regiment, acting as a staff officer for special assignments. During this period, he worked closely with Sikorski. As Minister of Military Affairs, Sikorski appointed him secretary of the section of the Council of Ministers' Political Committee responsible for the eastern provinces and national minorities. Sikorski gave him an enthusiastic evaluation: