Alfons Zgrzebniok was born on 16 August 1891 in
Dziergowice (Dziergowitz). He attended a
gymnasium in Raciborz (Ratibor). Later, in the early 1910s, he was a student at the
University of Wrocław (Breslau), where he joined the Polish youth patriotic organization, the
Association of the Polish Youth "Zet". After the start of
World War I he was conscripted to the
German Army. By the time the war ended, he was wounded thrice, and he was also promoted to the officer rank of
lieutenant. By late 1918 he joined the
Polish Military Organisation (POW), and under he organized local POW networks around
Kędzierzyn-Koźle and
Racibórz. He advanced through POW ranks, and by February 1919 he was considered one of its leaders in Silesia, and was part of the delegation that proposed an insurrection to the Polish
Supreme People's Council in
Poznań. In early July, the Council nominated Zgrzebniok to head the
Polish Military Organization of Upper Silesia. He was the commander of the
First Silesian Uprising (16–26 August 1919). In September he helped organize the
Upper Silesian Militia (
Milicja Górnośląska). He collaborated closely with the . On 27 May 1920 he was the commander of the defense of the Commission headquarters in
Hotel Lomnitz during a surprise attack by German paramilitary forces. He commanded the Polish-Silesian forces during the
Second Silesian Uprising (19–25 August 1920). After POW In Silesia was transformed into the Central of Physical Education (
Centrala Wychowania Fizycznego), he became its vice president. He was one of the chief commanders of the
Third Silesian Uprising (2 May – 21 July 1921). He died from a
heart attack on 31 January 1937 in
Marcinkowice, Nowy Sącz County. He was buried, as per his will, in the
Rybnik Cemetery, which houses a section dedicated to the Silesian Insurgents. His funeral was a major event, and has been described as "attended by the entire Polish Silesia". ==Awards and decorations==