Baruch Steinberg Baruch or Boruch Steinberg ( 1897 – 1940 ) was a Polish rabbi and military officer . He was Chief Rabbi of the Polish Army during German invasion of Poland in 1939 and was murdered in the Katyn massacre by the Soviet Union in April 1940 . Biography . Baruch Steinberg was born on 17 December 1897 in the town of Przemyślany ( now Peremyshliany , Ukraine ) to a Polish Jewish family with tradition of rabbinical service ( his father and grandfather were rabbis and three of his brothers would also become rabbis ) . During the First World War his family moved to Vienna ; there in 1916 he was elected a rabbi , passing the required examinations in the following year and returning to Przemyślany . He joined the Polish Military Organisation , providing services for Polish Jewish soldiers . In November he volunteered to join Polish forces in the Polish - Ukrainian war , he fought alongside the Polish forces in the battle of Lwów and remained on the frontlines until Polish forces took control of Przemyślany in May 1919 . In 1922 he officially joined the Polish Army ( first the reserves ) , becoming a rabbi chaplain . His applications for full service were rejected , the reasons cited were his lack of formal education ( he didn ' t finish secondary school ) and opposition from the Orthodox Jewish faction , as Steinberg was seen as a member of a zionist camp . In 1927 Steinberg passed his matura exams and started studies at University of Lwów in oriental studies ( which he would finish in 1933 ) . In 1928 he was accepted into active service in the Polish army , with the ( chaplain ) rank of professional rabbi ( " rabin zawodowy " ) , becoming the Chief Rabbi of the Third Corps Region of the Polish Army ( in Grodno , now Hrodna , Belarus ) . In 1929 he was promoted to rabbi , first class ( " rabin pierwszej klasy " - equivalent of a captain rank ) . A few years later he would be promoted to older rabbi , second class ( " starszy rabin drugiej klasy " - equivalent of a major rank ) . In 1931 he was moved to First Corps Region in Warsaw , in 1932 he also served on the Fifth Corps Region in Kraków ( Cracow ) . In 1933 he replaced Chaim Elizjer Frankl as the chief of Main Office of Judaism Chaplainship ( " szef Głównego Urzędu Duszpasterstwa Wyznania Mojżeszowego ) , first on a temporary basis , from 1935 on a permanent basis . In 1936 he becomes the Chief Rabbi of the Polish Army . Steinberg was highly respected and commended by his superiors . He was also known as a supported of Polish statesmen Józef Piłsudski and his policies , organizing on 11 November ( from 1937 the official Polish Day of Independence ) religious services in the intention of Poland ( and after Piłsudski ' s death , in his intention as well ) . He was a supporter of active Jewish participation in Polish state . In September 1939 he was one of the seven rabbi chaplains in the Polish Army . During the Polish September Campaign he was the Chief Chaplain for Noncatholics in the Army Kraków and chief rabbi of the Polish army . He was taken prisoner by the Soviets after the Soviet invasion of Poland in late September , becoming a prisoner of war . He was imprisoned in the camp in Starobilsk . In Starobilsk he organized services for his fellow inmates , which were also attended by non - Jewish Poles ; survivors note his emphasis on unity of all Poles , regardless of religion . In Starobilsk Steingberg was arrested by NKVD together with other Polish priests and chaplains during Christmas of 1939 and transported to a prison in Moscow . He briefly returned to Starobilsk in March 1940 , and then was moved to Yukhnov and later to Kozelsk camps . Steingberg was eventually murdered in the Katyn massacre , probably on 12 April 1940 . Awards . During his lifetime , Steinberg had received the Cross of Independence , Silver Cross of Merit , and the remembrance medals " For War of 1918 - 1921 " and for " 10 years of Polish independence " . In 1991 he was commemorated on a plaque in a garrison Church of Saint Agnes in Kraków . In 2007 , he was posthumously promoted to lieutenant colonel . Notes . a Sources vary with regard to his promotion . Polish Wikipedia gives an unreferenced date of 1934 . PSB states that he was nominated for the rank of older rabbi , second class in 1932 , but doesn ' t say he was awarded it . It also states that he achieved the rank of major in 1938 . A book on Katyn states he became a major in 1934 . b PSB doesn ' t give a date of his death , but states he was shipped from Kozelsk on 9 April and murdered afterwards . Polish Wikipedia gives an unreferenced date of death as 12 April . It is estimated that approximately 450 people of over 20 , 000 murdered in Katyn were Polish Jews , serving as military officers in the Polish Army .