Zygmunt Berling Zygmunt Henryk Berling ( 27 April 1896 – 11 July 1980 ) was a Polish general and politician . He fought for the independence of Poland in the early 20th century . During Second World War he was sentenced to death in absentia for desertion from the Polish Army of General Władysław Anders . Later he became the commander of the 1st Polish Army , part of the Polish Army in the USSR and played an important role in the post - war Polish government . Biography . Early life . Zygmunt Berling was born in Limanowa on 27 April 1896 , ( Some researchers point Berling to be from German or Swedish family roots and his family membership in the Calvinist Church . Himself , however , Gen . Berling gave in his youth Judaism as his religious affiliation in school surveys . - 1 ) . He joined the Polish Legions of Józef Piłsudski in 1914 , serving in the 2nd and 4th Legions Infantry Regiment ( " Pułk Piechoty Legionów " ) . Between the " oath crisis " of June 1917 and October 1918 he served in the Austro - Hungarian Army . At the end of the First World War he joined the reborn Polish Army , becoming the commander of an infantry company in the 4th Infantry Regiment . During the Polish - Soviet War he gained fame as an able commander during the Battle of Lwów , and received the Virtuti Militari medal for his leadership . After the war he remained in the military and in 1923 he was promoted to major , first serving on the staff post in the command of 15th Infantry Division of V District Corps Command in Kraków . In 1930 he was promoted to lieutenant colonel and started his service as a commanding officer , first in the 6th Infantry Regiment and then in the 4th Infantry Regiment . Berling initially retired from active duty in June 1939 because of his ethic problems . Second World War . Berling did not participate in the defence against the German Wehrmacht during the invasion of Poland in 1939 . After his home city of Wilno was occupied by the Soviet Union under the terms dictated by the Molotov - Ribbentrop Pact , Berling , along with many other Polish officers , was arrested by the Soviet Union ' s secret police , the NKVD . Berling remained in prison until 1940 , first in Starobielsk and later Moscow , but since he agreed to co - operate with the Soviets , he avoided execution by the NKVD in the Katyn Massacre . After the Sikorski - Maisky Pact of 17 August 1941 Berling was released from prison and nominated to be the Chief of Staff of the recreated 5th Infantry Division , and later the commander of the temporary camp for Polish soldiers in Krasnowodsk . The growing tensions between the Polish government - in - exile of Raczkiewicz and Sikorski in London and Joseph Stalin eventually led to many of the Polish soldiers and over 20 , 000 Polish civilians in Soviet territory under General Władysław Anders leaving the Soviet Union and forming the 2nd Polish Corps in the Middle East , under British command . Eventually , the relations between the Polish government - in - exile and the Soviet Union were broken off after Germans publicized the findings on the Katyn Massacre . During the Polish Army ' s evacuation led by General Anders , Berling deserted along with two other officers to join the Red Army . On 20 April 1943 , Anders degraded all three and expelled them from the army . On 25 July 1943 the field court confirmed the expulsion and sentenced the deserters " in absentia " to death and loss of public rights for ever . The court ' s decision stated : " " the accused deserted from the Polish Army , in Court ' s opinion in order to join the Soviet Army , ie . to serve the country which has as one of its goals the end of existence of the independent Polish state by means of incorporating its territory . " " In 1943 the Polish Army in the USSR ( " Polish People ' s Army " ) was created , a formation of Polish Armed Forces in the East . Berling was nominated to be the commander of its first unit , the 1st Tadeusz Kościuszko Infantry Division , and was promoted to general by Stalin himself . He became the deputy commander of the Polish Army in the USSR on 22 July 1944 . On 1 August 1944 , the underground Polish Home Army , being in contact with and loyal to the Polish government - in - exile in London , began the 63 - day long Warsaw Uprising , in an attempt to free the city from the occupying German forces before the Red Army could secure the capital . With his own army stopped on the Vistula River and facing Warsaw itself , and without first consulting his Soviet superiors , Berling may have independently issued orders to engage the German enemy and to come to the aid of the Polish resistance . But it was a small landing without any tactical support from Berling or other Soviet units that could not make a difference in the situation of Warsaw . Yet this behaviour may have caused Berlings ' dismissal from his post soon after . He was transferred to the War Academy in Moscow , where he remained until returning to Poland in 1947 where he organized and directed the Academy of General Staff ( " Akademia Sztabu Generalnego " ) . He retired in 1953 . Later life . Zygmunt Berling held a variety of government positions after 1953 . Between 1953 and 1956 he was the Undersecretary of State in the Ministry of National Agriculture Industries ( " Ministerstwo Państwowych Gospodarstw Rolnych " ) , between 1956 and 1957 he was the Undersecretary of State in the Ministry of Agriculture ( " Ministerstwo Rolnictwa " ) and from 1957 to 1970 he was the General Inspector of Hunting ( " Inspektor Generalny Łowiectwa " ) in the Ministry of Forestry ( " Ministerstwo Leśnictwa " ) . In 1963 he joined the Polish United Workers ' Party .