Zygmunt Berling (27 April 1896-11 July 1980) was a Lieutenant-General of Poland and then the Polish People's Republic during World War II.
Biography[]
Zygmunt Berling was born on 27 April 1896 in Limanowa, either of German or Swedish Calvinist roots, or of Jewish descent as he stated in school surveys. Berling served in the Austro-Hungarian Army during World War I before joining the Polish Army and fighting at Lwow during the Polish-Soviet War and serving as an officer during the Invasion of Poland at the start of World War II. In 1940, he was spared from the Katyn massacre because he agreed to work together with the Soviet Union, and he deserted from Wladyslaw Anders' pro-United Kingdom Polish Underground to join the Red Army during the war. He was given command of the Polish People's Army, the Soviet-loyal Polish forces, and he fought against Nazi Germany during their occupatino of Poland. Berling was dismissed in 1944 after deciding to independently support the Home Army in the Warsaw Uprising without Joseph Stalin's permission, and he was transferred to the War Academy in Moscow. He retired in 1953 and died in 1980.