Gen. Władysław Sikorski visiting cadet troops in the Middle East, 1943, source: National Digital Archives
God looks into my heart. He sees and knows my intentions, which are pure and honest. My only goal is a free, just and great Poland, he said to Anders’ Army soldiers in Buzuluk.
Born on 20 May 1881, Władysław Sikorski began his military career in the Austrian army. He quickly became involved in independence activities. He was a co-founder of the secret Union of Active Struggle (Polish: Związek Walki Czynnej, ZWC), and later the president of the Riflemen’s Association, established by the ZWC. After the outbreak of World War I, he became head of the military department in the Supreme National Committee, established with the consent of the Austrian authorities, under whose patronage the Polish Legions began to be formed. His conflict with Józef Piłsudski, which influenced Sikorski’s later fate so much, dates back to those times.
After regaining independence, the career of the future head of the government in exile developed until the May Coup. A hero of the Polish-Bolshevik war and an undisputed authority in military matters, he held the office of prime minister for half a year and later took over the military ministry in the government of Władysław Grabski. After Piłsudski took power, Sikorski was soon removed from both public affairs and his functions in the army. He returned to politics only after the September defeat.
His policy as the first prime minister of the Polish government-in-exile aroused many conflicting opinions. Among Polish émigrés, he had both uncritical supporters and sworn enemies. In the memory of Sybiraks (people deported to Sybir), however, he is primarily a signatory of the so-called Sikorski-Mayski agreement. The deal made it possible to create a Polish army in the USSR, commanded by General Władysław Anders, and in this way save thousands of Poles scattered in labour camps and kolkhozes in Soviet Siberia.
He died on 4 July 1943 in unexplained circumstances in a plane crash near Gibraltar, returning from an inspection of Polish Army forces in the Middle East.