Jerzy Rusiło-Wołkowicki (1883–1983) was a General of the Polish Army and officer of the Imperial Russian Navy, awarded one of the highest Russian military orders.
. . . Jerzy Wołkowicki . . .
Wołkowicki was born on 22 January 1883 in Proszew (a Mazovian village north of Siedlce, in Węgrów County), under Russian Empire occupation lasting since Partitions of Poland. He belonged to higher nobility of Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, in 1901 he graduated from a high school in Grodno, and soon afterwards joined the Marine Corps school in Saint Petersburg.
In 1904 he started service in the Imperial Russian Navy, as a midshipman on the steam-sail battleshipImperator Nikolai I, which belonged to the squadron of Rear Admiral Nikolay Nyebogatov. Together with other ships, Imperator Nikolai I circumnavigated Africa, to help the besieged Port Arthur, during the Russo-Japanese War (see: Battle of Port Arthur).
After the Russian defeat in the Battle of Tsushima, Wołkowicki, together with a group of younger officers disagreed with Admiral Nebogatov, who wanted to capitulate. During a meeting, he claimed that they should fight to the end, then blow up the ship and escape. These words spread across the nation, Wołkowicki was later awarded with Order of St. George, and he became a national hero of Russia. His attitude was described by Alexey Novikov-Priboy, a Russian marine writer. Some historians, such as George Sanford speculate that Wołkowicki’s fame saved him in 1940, during the Katyn massacre.
Captured by the Japanese on 27 May 1905, he was moved to a POW camp in Kyoto, where he stayed until January 1906. After release, Wołkowicki attended Marine School of Artillery in Kronstadt (1907–1908) and Marine School of Engineering in Saint Petersburg (1909–1912). During World War I, he served in the Russian Flotilla on the Danube river as well as in the Black Sea Fleet.
. . . Jerzy Wołkowicki . . .