Henryk Minkiewicz Henryk Minkiewicz ( 1880 – 1940 ) was a Polish socialist politician and a General of the Polish Army . Former commander of the Border Defence Corps , he was among the Polish officers murdered in the Katyń massacre . Early life . Henryk Minkiewicz was born January 19 , 1880 in Suwałki , then in the Russian Empire . After graduating from Marijampolė Gymnasium , he was admitted to the Imperial University of Sankt Petersburg , where he studied biology and geography . However , in 1898 he became a member of the Polish Socialist Party ( PPS ) and in 1902 he had to flee to Kraków , then in Austro - Hungarian Galicia , in order to avoid arrest by the Okhrana . There he joined the Medical Faculty of the Jagiellonian University and , simultaneously , Faculty of painting at the Academy of Fine Arts . Polish nationalism . In 1904 he finally left the studies and devoted himself entirely to politics . A close friend of Józef Piłsudski , Minkiewicz entered the Central Committee of the PPS . He was also an active member of various paramilitary organizations , including the Organizacja Bojowa of the PPS - Revolutionary Faction , the Związek Walki Czynnej and the Związek Strzelecki . During his duty in terrorist Armed Organization , in 1909 , together with Kazimierz Pużak Minkiewicz was in the execution squad to murder a provocateur and police agent Edmund Taranowicz . World War I . After the outbreak of World War I , Minkiewicz joined the 2nd Brigade of the Polish Legions . Initially in the rank of " porucznik " and a commanding officer of a company , with time he was promoted to the rank of Lt . Colonel and became the commanding officer of the 3rd Infantry Regiment . During the battle of Kostiuchówka , on July 6 , 1916 he was wounded in action and taken prisoner by the Russians . Officially a Russian citizen serving in enemy formations , he risked being executed for high treason . However , Minkiewicz managed to escape captivity and , after the Oath Crisis of 1917 , joined the Polnische Wehrmacht , where he was promoted to the rank of Colonel . A commander of an infantry brigade and then the garrison of Warsaw , in November 1918 he headed the action of disarmament of soldiers of the Central Powers in the city . Independent Poland . Joining the Polish Army as one of the first high - ranking officers , he initially served as a commander of an Operational Group during the Polish - Ukrainian War . Promoted to the rank of generał brygady on July 1 , 1919 , he became the commanding officer of the Polish 2nd Legions Infantry Division , with which he fought in the Polish - Bolshevik War . Soon before the victorious battle of Warsaw , on July 25 , 1920 , he became the deputy military governor of Warsaw and deputy commander of Franciszek Latinik ' s 1st Army . After the war , in 1924 he was promoted to the rank of generał dywizji and became the first commanding officer of the newly formed Border Defence Corps . Although quite successful as its commander , he became conflicted with Józef Piłsudski and on May 7 , 1929 he was dismissed . Although officially in active service , he was left without assignment and settled in a small villa in the village of Jamno near Brześć Litewski ( modern Brest , Belarus ) . In 1934 he was officially retired . World War II . During the Polish Defensive War of 1939 , his wife Maria née Markowska was killed by Soviet bombardment . Soon afterwards Minkiewicz was arrested by the NKVD and imprisoned in Kozielsk concentration camp . Assassination . As a highest - ranking officer in the camp he served as the representative of all the inmates . On April 7 , 1940 , together with the fourth transport of Polish officers , he was transported to the Katyn woods and murdered , probably on April 9 , 1940 , aged sixty .