Okulicki was born in November 1898 in
Bratucice,
Bochnia County in
Austro-Hungarian Galicia – modern-day Poland. He was born on November 12, 1898 into the family of farmers Błażej and Anna née Korcyl. In 1910 he enrolled at a local
gymnasium (secondary school), and after 1913 was a member of the
Związek Strzelecki (Riflemen's Association). The following year, aged 16, after finishing basic military training, he passed his
NCO exams. After the outbreak of World War I, in October 1915, he left school and volunteered for the
Polish Legions, where he served with distinction in the 3rd Legions Infantry Regiment. He remained in the
Polish Army and fought in various units during World War I and the subsequent
Polish–Bolshevik War (1919–1921). Okulicki was decorated with the highest Polish military order, the
Virtuti Militari.
Nazi occupation In 1939, Okulicki was made commander of one of the departments of the Polish Commander-in-Chief's Headquarters. At the outbreak of
World War II and the
defense of Poland against Nazi Germany in 1939, Okulicki was in
Warsaw. After
Edward Rydz-Śmigły evacuated his staff from Warsaw, Okulicki remained in the Polish capital and served in various posts during the
Siege of Warsaw. After the capitulation of the Polish troops defending the capital, Okulicki evaded capture by the
Germans and joined
Służba Zwycięstwu Polski (en.''Service for Poland's Victory''), one of the first underground resistance organizations formed in Nazi and Soviet-occupied Poland. This organization later changed its name to the
Union of Armed Struggle and then to the
Home Army. In January 1940, he moved to
Łódź, where he assumed the post of commander of the local area of that organization. After a brief stint at Headquarters, he was transferred to Soviet-occupied
Lwów and became head of that area.
Soviet period Arrested by the
NKVD in January 1941, Okulicki was imprisoned and tortured in various Soviet prisons. Released after the
Sikorski-Mayski Agreement of 1941, he joined the
Polish Army recreated in the USSR, where he assumed the post of
chief of staff. After a brief period commanding the
Polish 7th Infantry Division, he was moved to London for training in the
Cichociemni training camp and transported to occupied Poland. In July 1944, during
Operation Tempest, he became the commander of the 2nd Echelon of the
Home Army. General
Bór-Komorowski, anticipating his own arrest by the Soviets after the
Warsaw Uprising, named him his deputy and successor. Okulicki fought in the Uprising, among other posts as chief of staff of the Home Army. After the capitulation of the Uprising, he managed to evade capture by the Germans and moved to Kraków, from where he started to reorganize the Home Army. On 3 October 1944, he became commander of the entire Home Army. On 3 January 1945 he met in the "Zacisze estate" near
Odrowąż, Radomsko County near
Radomsko with the
British special
SOE Mission Freston.
Capt D.T. Bill Hudson wrote on 3 January 1945: "we met the Commander of the Home Army and our friend, Colonel Rudkowski [...]. There were also several other people whose names and functions we did not have time to learn. The commander of the Home Army seemed to us a decisive, sincere and clear-minded man. His demeanor was calm and friendly. He knew many personalities from the London SOE office and stated that he commanded the 7th Infantry Division in the army of General Anders. We didn't know his name." In order to protect Polish soldiers against the NKVD and more general Stalinist repression, Okulicki, in consultation with the government delegate and on the basis of the government instruction from London of November 14, 1944, providing for the dissolution of the Home Army in the areas occupied by the USSR, issued an order on 19 January 1945 dissolving the Home Army and releasing soldiers from their oath. He feared that the existence of Allied forces in Poland would only lead to the Soviets murdering or arresting more people. In February 1945, Okulicki and his commanders were summoned by the NKVD to a meeting in Warsaw. They were arrested and then flown to
Moscow. Okulicki was charged with "preparing an armed uprising against the Soviet Union in league with the Germans." Okulicki was sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment in the staged
Trial of the Sixteen. Under international law, this was a completely illegal verdict. He independently defended Poland in the courtroom against Soviet accusations. "He left the courtroom with his head held high," noted an Englishman present at the trial. Okulicki died 24 December 1946 at
Butyrka prison. A cenotaph commemorating his death was built in the
Powązki Military Cemetery, Warsaw. == Decorations ==