Vilnius school massacre
Encyclopedia
The Vilnius school massacre was a school massacre that occurred at Joachim Lelewel
high school in Wilno, Poland
on May 6, 1925. At about 11 a.m., during the final exams, at least two eighth-grade students attacked the board of examiners with revolvers and hand grenades, killing at least one teacher, several students and themselves.
A Times
article stated that two students, identified as Lavrynovitch and Obrapalski, were involved in the incident. According to the article, Lavrynovitch, member of an organisation that supported Józef Piłsudski, began shooting at the teachers with a revolver after being told that he had failed exams, whereupon other students tried to disarm him. Lavrynovitch then dropped a hand grenade which killed himself and several other students. Immediately after this Obrapalski, who had also failed the tests, fired several shots at the teachers, wounding a professor and several students, before throwing a hand grenade, which failed to explode. He then committed suicide. Including the perpetrators themselves, five persons were killed, one of them a professor, and six students, as well as the headmaster were wounded.
According to an article in the Neue Freie Presse
three students carried out the attack, who were identified as Stanislaus Lawrynowicz, Janusz Obrembalski and Thaddäus Domanski, who was also named Ormanski in other reports. The newspaper reported that Lawrynowicz fired several shots at principal Bieganski, after most of the students had refused to take part at the exams, while at the same time Obrembalski began shooting at the teachers. Domanski then tried to throw a bomb into the group of teachers, which slipped out of his hands and exploded at his feet, killing himself, as well as the two other attackers, and a fourth student named Zagorski. Principal Bieganski was mortally wounded in the attack and professor Jankowski, as well as seven other students were gravely injured. At least four of the wounded students succumbed to their wounds.
An investigation revealed that the students had founded a communist protection organisation to counter the principals strict management of the school. The members of this organisation had met one day before the exams in a tavern to discuss their further actions.
A bomb was later found in one classroom, large enough to blow up the school building.
Joachim Lelewel
Joachim Lelewel was a Polish historian and politician, from a Polonized branch of a Prussian family.His grandparents were Heinrich Löllhöffel von Löwensprung and Constance Jauch , who later polonized her name to Lelewel.-Life:Born in Warsaw, Lelewel was educated at the Imperial University of...
high school in Wilno, Poland
Second Polish Republic
The Second Polish Republic, Second Commonwealth of Poland or interwar Poland refers to Poland between the two world wars; a period in Polish history in which Poland was restored as an independent state. Officially known as the Republic of Poland or the Commonwealth of Poland , the Polish state was...
on May 6, 1925. At about 11 a.m., during the final exams, at least two eighth-grade students attacked the board of examiners with revolvers and hand grenades, killing at least one teacher, several students and themselves.
Attack
Various different accounts of the incident were reported by newspapers.A Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
article stated that two students, identified as Lavrynovitch and Obrapalski, were involved in the incident. According to the article, Lavrynovitch, member of an organisation that supported Józef Piłsudski, began shooting at the teachers with a revolver after being told that he had failed exams, whereupon other students tried to disarm him. Lavrynovitch then dropped a hand grenade which killed himself and several other students. Immediately after this Obrapalski, who had also failed the tests, fired several shots at the teachers, wounding a professor and several students, before throwing a hand grenade, which failed to explode. He then committed suicide. Including the perpetrators themselves, five persons were killed, one of them a professor, and six students, as well as the headmaster were wounded.
According to an article in the Neue Freie Presse
Neue Freie Presse
Neue Freie Presse known locally as "Die Presse" was a Viennese newspaper founded by Adolf Werthner together with the journalists Max Friedländer and Michael Etienne on 1 September 1864...
three students carried out the attack, who were identified as Stanislaus Lawrynowicz, Janusz Obrembalski and Thaddäus Domanski, who was also named Ormanski in other reports. The newspaper reported that Lawrynowicz fired several shots at principal Bieganski, after most of the students had refused to take part at the exams, while at the same time Obrembalski began shooting at the teachers. Domanski then tried to throw a bomb into the group of teachers, which slipped out of his hands and exploded at his feet, killing himself, as well as the two other attackers, and a fourth student named Zagorski. Principal Bieganski was mortally wounded in the attack and professor Jankowski, as well as seven other students were gravely injured. At least four of the wounded students succumbed to their wounds.
An investigation revealed that the students had founded a communist protection organisation to counter the principals strict management of the school. The members of this organisation had met one day before the exams in a tavern to discuss their further actions.
A bomb was later found in one classroom, large enough to blow up the school building.
External links
- Baisus atsitikimas lenkų gimnazijoj, Vilniaus Aidas (May 7, 1925) (p.4)
- Nelaime gimnazijoj, Vilniaus Aidas, (May 9, 1925) (p.4)
- Stupéfiant attentat dans un lycée de Vilna, Le FigaroLe FigaroLe Figaro is a French daily newspaper founded in 1826 and published in Paris. It is one of three French newspapers of record, with Le Monde and Libération, and is the oldest newspaper in France. It is also the second-largest national newspaper in France after Le Parisien and before Le Monde, but...
(May 8, 1925) - Anschlag von Gymnasiasten, Freiburger Zeitung (May 8, 1925)
- Die Wilnaer Gymnasiasten-Revolte, Neues 8 Uhr Blatt (May 7, 1925)
- Ein weiteres Todesopfer des Attentats im Wilnaer Gymnasium, Neue Freie PresseNeue Freie PresseNeue Freie Presse known locally as "Die Presse" was a Viennese newspaper founded by Adolf Werthner together with the journalists Max Friedländer and Michael Etienne on 1 September 1864...
(May 8, 1925) - Bombenattentat von Schülern in einem polnischen Gymnasium, Prager TagblattPrager TagblattThe Prager Tagblatt was a German language newspaper published in Prague from 1876 to 1939. It was considered to be the most influential liberal-democratic German newspaper in Bohemia. It stopped publication after the German invasion of Czechoslovakia...
(May 7, 1925) - Schreckenstaten im Wilnaer Gymnasium, ReichspostReichspost- Imperial Reichspost :* The Imperial Reichspost was the name of the postal service of the Holy Roman Empire, founded by Franz von Taxis in 1495...
(May 7, 1925) - Attentat in einer Wilnaer Schule, Wiener ZeitungWiener ZeitungWiener Zeitung is an Austrian newspaper. It is one of the most famous newspapers in Europe and one of the oldest, still published newspapers in the world. It is the official publication used by the Government of the Republic of Austria for its formal announcements. It was founded in 1703 under the...
(May 8, 1925) - Das Attentat im Wilnaer Gymnasium, Wiener ZeitungWiener ZeitungWiener Zeitung is an Austrian newspaper. It is one of the most famous newspapers in Europe and one of the oldest, still published newspapers in the world. It is the official publication used by the Government of the Republic of Austria for its formal announcements. It was founded in 1703 under the...
(May 9, 1925) - Ein Racheakt polnischer Gymnasiasten, Coburger Zeitung (May 8, 1925)
- Polish Students, The Argus (Australia)The Argus (Australia)The Argus was a morning daily newspaper in Melbourne established in 1846 and closed in 1957. Widely known as a conservative newspaper for most of its history, it adopted a left leaning approach from 1949...
(May 9, 1925)