Józef Kachel
Encyclopedia
Józef Kachel was a Polish
Boy Scouts Scoutmaster in Germany
, a member of the Communist Party
, and a Member
of the Polish Parliament
in Upper Silesia
, Kachel came from a mining family, and was raised in the Polish tradition. He was a member of the Union of Poles in Germany
. In 1924 he joined the Polish Scouting Association (Związek Harcerstwa Polskiego or ZHP) in Germany. From March 1935 to September 1939 Kachel was the head of the Polish Scouting Association in Germany, and organized training courses for Scout instructors at Warmia
and Powiśle
. After the Invasion of Poland
of 1939 the ZHP were branded criminals by Nazi Germany
, who had executed many Scouts and Guides, along with other possible resistance leaders, but the ZHP carried on as a clandestine organization. In 1940, the Soviet Union executed
most of the Boy Scouts held at Ostashkov
prison. Kachel was imprisoned in Buchenwald concentration camp
.
After the war he obtained an engineering degree in mining
at the University of Mining and Metallurgy in Krakow
and worked in Bytom. From 1957 to 1961 he was a Member
of the Polish Parliament. He took part in the Society for the Development of the Western Lands and the main Commission for Investigation of German Crimes in Poland.
Kachel's book Letters from Buchenwald was published in 1988 by the Silesian Institute in Opole
.
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
Boy Scouts Scoutmaster in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, a member of the Communist Party
Communist party
A political party described as a Communist party includes those that advocate the application of the social principles of communism through a communist form of government...
, and a Member
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
of the Polish Parliament
Biography
Born in BeuthenBytom
Bytom is a city in Silesia in southern Poland, near Katowice. The central-western district of the Upper Silesian Metropolitan Union - metropolis with the population of 2 millions. Bytom is located in the Silesian Highlands, on the Bytomka river .The city belongs to the Silesian Voivodeship since...
in Upper Silesia
Upper Silesia
Upper Silesia is the southeastern part of the historical and geographical region of Silesia. Since the 9th century, Upper Silesia has been part of Greater Moravia, the Duchy of Bohemia, the Piast Kingdom of Poland, again of the Lands of the Bohemian Crown and the Holy Roman Empire, as well as of...
, Kachel came from a mining family, and was raised in the Polish tradition. He was a member of the Union of Poles in Germany
Union of Poles in Germany
Union of Poles in Germany is an organisation of the Polish minority in Germany, founded in 1922. In 1924, the union initiated collaboration between other minorities, including Sorbs, Danes, Frisians and Lithuanians, under the umbrella organization Association of National Minorities in Germany....
. In 1924 he joined the Polish Scouting Association (Związek Harcerstwa Polskiego or ZHP) in Germany. From March 1935 to September 1939 Kachel was the head of the Polish Scouting Association in Germany, and organized training courses for Scout instructors at Warmia
Warmia
Warmia or Ermland is a region between Pomerelia and Masuria in northeastern Poland. Together with Masuria, it forms the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship....
and Powiśle
Powisle
Powiśle is a neighbourhood in Warsaw's borough of Śródmieście . It is located between the Vistula river and its escarpment...
. After the Invasion of Poland
Invasion of Poland (1939)
The Invasion of Poland, also known as the September Campaign or 1939 Defensive War in Poland and the Poland Campaign in Germany, was an invasion of Poland by Germany, the Soviet Union, and a small Slovak contingent that marked the start of World War II in Europe...
of 1939 the ZHP were branded criminals by Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
, who had executed many Scouts and Guides, along with other possible resistance leaders, but the ZHP carried on as a clandestine organization. In 1940, the Soviet Union executed
Katyn massacre
The Katyn massacre, also known as the Katyn Forest massacre , was a mass execution of Polish nationals carried out by the People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs , the Soviet secret police, in April and May 1940. The massacre was prompted by Lavrentiy Beria's proposal to execute all members of...
most of the Boy Scouts held at Ostashkov
Ostashkov
Ostashkov is a town and the administrative center of Ostashkovsky District of Tver Oblast, Russia, located west of Tver on a peninsula at the southern shore of Lake Seliger. Population:...
prison. Kachel was imprisoned in Buchenwald concentration camp
Buchenwald concentration camp
Buchenwald concentration camp was a German Nazi concentration camp established on the Ettersberg near Weimar, Germany, in July 1937, one of the first and the largest of the concentration camps on German soil.Camp prisoners from all over Europe and Russia—Jews, non-Jewish Poles and Slovenes,...
.
After the war he obtained an engineering degree in mining
Mining
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, from an ore body, vein or seam. The term also includes the removal of soil. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock...
at the University of Mining and Metallurgy in Krakow
Kraków
Kraków also Krakow, or Cracow , is the second largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in the Lesser Poland region, the city dates back to the 7th century. Kraków has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Polish academic, cultural, and artistic life...
and worked in Bytom. From 1957 to 1961 he was a Member
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
of the Polish Parliament. He took part in the Society for the Development of the Western Lands and the main Commission for Investigation of German Crimes in Poland.
Kachel's book Letters from Buchenwald was published in 1988 by the Silesian Institute in Opole
Opole
Opole is a city in southern Poland on the Oder River . It has a population of 125,992 and is the capital of the Upper Silesia, Opole Voivodeship and, also the seat of Opole County...
.
Sources
- Tadeusz Oracki,Biographical Dictionary of Warmia, Mazury and Powiśle century (until 1945), PAX Publishing Institute, Warsaw, 1983