Aleksander Narbut-Łuczyński

Aleksander Narbut-Łuczyński (February 28, 1890 – July 20, 1977) was a Polish lawyer and military officer, a brigadier general of the Polish Army and a veteran of both the Polish-Bolshevik War and the World War II. During the Nazi-Soviet invasion of Poland in 1939 he commanded the rear troops of the Kraków Army.

Life
Born in Skierniewice, he graduated from the faculty of philosophy of the Lwów University. After that he moved to Belgium, where he graduated from the faculty of law of the University of Liège. After the outbreak of World War I he returned to Poland under foreign partitions and volunteered for the Polish Legions in Austria-Hungary. In October 1914 he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant, and then in March of the following year - to Captain.

After Poland regained independence in 1918 Narbut-Łuczyński joined the newly formed Polish Army, and took part in the Polish-Bolshevik War in the rank of Major, and then Colonel (since June 1, 1919). After the war he remained in the army and in 1924 was promoted to brigadier general. He served on various command posts in the interbellum. During the Invasion of Poland he commanded the rear troops of the Kraków Army. Taken prisoner of war in Romania, he made his way to France, where he remained in the officers' reserve of the commander-in-chief. After the end of World War II he settled in the United States, where he lived until his death.

Pinsk massacre
Łuczyński gave the orders for the Pinsk massacre where 35 local Jewish leaders were executed without trial one hour after being accused of being Bolshevik plotters. An investigation into the massacre was called by President of the USA Woodrow Wilson. Henry Morgenthau, Sr., at the time a senior advisor, and formerly the U.S. ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, was appointed to head the investigation and described Major Luczynskias “incredibly stupid.”

Honours and awards

 * Silver Cross of the Virtuti Militari
 * Cross of Independence
 * Officer's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta
 * Cross of Valour - four times
 * Gold Cross of Merit - twice
 * Officer's "Parasol" badge