Alfons Zgrzebniok

Alfons Zgrzebniok (also known by his codename Rakoczy; 16 August 1891 – 31 January 1937) was a Polish teacher, activist, and politician from Silesia. He was one of the cofounders of the in the early 1920s and also helped organise the and the . He commanded the Polish-Silesian forces in both the First and Second Silesian Uprising. He was the recipient of several awards and several schools and other landmarks in Poland are named after him. He has also been the subject of a number of poems and songs.

Biography

Alfons Zgrzebniok was born on 16 August 1891 in Dziergowice (Dziergowitz). He attended a gymnasium in Raciborz (Ratibor). Later, in the early 1910s, he was a student at the University of Wrocław (Breslau), where he joined the Polish youth patriotic organization, the Association of the Polish Youth "Zet". After the start of World War I, he was conscripted to the German Army. By the time the war ended, he was wounded thrice, and he was also promoted to the officer rank of lieutenant.

By late 1918, he joined the Polish Military Organisation (POW), and under , he organised local POW networks around Kędzierzyn-Koźle and Racibórz. He advanced through POW ranks, and by February 1919, he was considered one of its leaders in Silesia, and was part of the delegation that proposed an insurrection to the Polish Supreme People's Council in Poznań. In early July, the Council nominated Zgrzebniok to head the Polish Military Organization of Upper Silesia. He was the commander of the First Silesian Uprising (16–26 August 1919). In September, he helped organize the Upper Silesian Militia (Milicja Górnośląska). He collaborated closely with the . On 27 May 1920, he was the commander of the defense of the Commission headquarters in Hotel Lomnitz during a surprise attack by German paramilitary forces. He commanded the Polish-Silesian forces during the Second Silesian Uprising (19–25 August 1920). After POW in Silesia was transformed into the Central of Physical Education (Centrala Wychowania Fizycznego), he became its vice president. He was one of the chief commanders of the Third Silesian Uprising (2 May – 21 July 1921).

He died from a heart attack on 31 January 1937 in Marcinkowice, Nowy Sącz County. He was buried, as per his will, in the Rybnik Cemetery, which houses a section dedicated to the Silesian Insurgents. His funeral was a major event, and has been described as "attended by the entire Polish Silesia".

Remembrance Several schools and other landmarks in Poland, in particular, Silesia, have been named after him. He was a subject of several poems and songs. Plans to dedicate a plaque in his memory in the school in Chorzów he taught in, in the 1920s, were interrupted by World War II; eventually, the plaque was erected in 1992 in that school, now the Zespół Szkół Technicznych Nr 2.

The Opole Voivodeship declared 2017 to be the Year of Alfons Zgrzebniok in the voivodeship, and a dedicated exhibition was shown in the .