3.3 – Władysław Rylko: Background


3.3 – Władysław Rylko: Background


My father was a career military officer who enlisted as a young man at the start of World War I. After finishing his officer’s training in 1918, he joined the artillery and fought in the Polish-Soviet war of 1919-1920. He was promoted to colonel on the eve of World War II, although this rank was not formally acknowledged until after the war. He was captured in late September 1939 and spent the rest of the war in a German POW camp, Oflag VIIA, Murnau. Soon after the war’s end, he was hired by the U.S. military government in Germany. With his English language skills, he served various liaison roles between the Americans and the Polish refugees who worked for them as Civilian Guards, until the time when we emigrated from Germany.

 

1 WR Pinsk1919 5x7

(259) 2nd Lt. Władysław Ryłko during the Polish-Soviet war (Pinsk, 1919).

 

2 WR IDPhoto1937 5x7

(259)  Major Ryłko, Polish Military ID Photo, 1937

 

ExPOWID1945 5x7 Adjusted  ExPOWID1945Pg2&3 Adjusted 5x7

(261, 275)  First ex-POW ID card issued by the U.S. Military (May 26, 1945).

 

5 CivilianGuardID1946 5x7

(261)  Civilian Guard ID card, issued by U.S. Military (October 3, 1946)

 

TataArmyInExile1949 5x7

(276) “Guard Major Wladyslaw Rylko, Deputy Liaison Director of the Polish Labor Service Companies, EUCOM, presents a copy of the book, “An Army in Exile,” to Brigadier General Williston B. Palmer, Acting Chief of Staff, EUCOM” (Official text from back of photo, Heidelberg, 1949).

Next Page > 3.4 – Reclaiming the Past


Credit for image
Wladyslaw Rylko presenting book to Brig. Gen. Palmer: U. S. Army photograph, Corp. Probasco, photographer. Rylko-Bauer family archive and public domain.

The photos featured on this website are copyrighted, © 2014 Barbara Rylko-Bauer, unless noted otherwise. Please do not copy or use without permission of owner. Corresponding book pages are listed in front of each photo’s caption.

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