Edmund Lesisz

Edmund Lesisz (1906-1943) was a Polish Captain who was known for being one of the main leaders of the Raid on Fraustadt and commanding the 55th Poznań Infantry Regiment [pl] during the Invasion of Poland.

Edmund Lesisz
Born	(1906-04-01)1 April 1906 Kozienice, Radom Governorate, Russia
Died	21 January 1943(1943-01-21) (aged 36) Łódź, General Government, Germany
Allegiance	Poland
Branch	Polish Armed Forces
Years of service	??? – 1940
Rank	Captain
Battles / wars	World War II Battle of the Border Raid on Fraustadt

Biography

Lesisz was a professional infantry officer, coming from a family with patriotic traditions, and a graduate of the Cadet Corps in Lviv. During the Invasion of Poland, Cpt. Ludwik Snitko, commanding a platoon of heavy machine guns and a platoon of armored cars, organized the Raid on Fraustadt which ended in a Polish victory. He was also a captain of the 55th Infantry Regiment as the commander of the 2nd company in the 1st battalion.^[1][2]

After the conclusion of the Invasion, Capt. Lesisz was captured by the Germans and stayed in Oflag VII-A Murnau. There, in the fall of 1941, he was arrested by the Gestapo for allegedly ordering the deaths of surrendered German soldiers at Fraustadt.^[1] A similar fate befell his superior - Maj. Jan Dymowski who was the commander of the 1st Battalion of the 55th Infantry Regiment. Until January 1943 they were both held in a prison in Łódź, where they were to be tried but Lesisz was tortured and brutally murdered the day before the end of the trial on 21 January 1943.^[1][3][2]

Legacy

Edmund Lesisz as Regio Bohater on the SA139-023 model of the Polregio

Lesisz was posthumously awarded the Cross of the Order of Virtuti Militari by the Polish government-in-exile during the 1970s.^[1] He is also featured in a SA139-023 model as a Regio Bohater as a commemoration for the 100th Anniversary of Poland's independence.^[3]