Piotr Konieczka
{{Short description|Polish Army soldier (1901–1939)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2021}}
{{Infobox military person
| name=Piotr Konieczka
| nickname=
| image=
| caption=
| rank=Corporal
| birth_place=Czarże, German Empire
| birth_date = {{birth date|1901|4|29|df=y}}
| death_date = {{death date and age|1939|9|1|1901|4|29|df=y}}
| placeofburial_label =
| death_place=Jeziorki, Poland
| branch =
| unit =
| serviceyears=1939
| battles= German invasion of Poland {{KIA}}
| awards=Order of Polonia Restituta
}}
Piotr Konieczka (29 April 1901 – 1 September 1939) was a Polish Army soldier. He is considered by some historians to have been the first Polish soldier to die in World War II.
Biography
Piotr Konieczka was born in the village of Czarże near Chełmno.{{cite web|url=http://wiadomosci.gazeta.pl/Wiadomosci/1,80708,6963402,Zapomniany_zolnierz___pierwsza_polska_ofiara_II_wojny.html|title= Zapomniany żołnierz – pierwsza polska ofiara II wojny św|date=25 August 2009|publisher=gazeta.pl|accessdate=8 December 2010}} He moved with his family to Brodna in Greater Poland where he bought a three-hectare farm. He was mobilized in the spring of 1939. On the night of 31 August to 1 September, he served in a platoon sent to strengthen the Jeziorki border checkpoint. After 1:00 am the checkpoint was attacked by the German diversion squad. Around 1:40 am Konieczka, left alone operating a machine gun, was bashed to death with rifle butts.
According to Polish historians, Konieczka may have been the first Polish soldier killed during the invasion. A historian confirmed from records that Konieczka was the first war victim in the Greater Poland region. While the attack was not by regular Wehrmacht soldiers, it was considered to be part of the war, because the attackers did not retreat back to German territory, as was happening with earlier acts of German sabotage against Poland.{{cite web|title=Poległ jeszcze przed atakiem Niemców na Polskę|url=http://wiadomosci.onet.pl/2702,2216212,polegl_jeszcze_przed_atakiem_niemcow_na_polske,wydarzenie_lokalne.html|accessdate=8 December 2010|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100905150135/http://wiadomosci.onet.pl/2702,2216212,polegl_jeszcze_przed_atakiem_niemcow_na_polske,wydarzenie_lokalne.html|archivedate=5 September 2010}}
In 2009, a monument was erected to him in Jeziorki.[http://www.newsweek.pl/polska/piotr-konieczka---zolnierz--ktory-zginal-przed-atakiem-na-westerplatte,63852,1,1.html "Piotr Konieczka - żołnierz, który zginął przed atakiem na Westerplatte"], Newsweek.pl, 31 August 2010 (retrieved 24 January 2017)
On 14 September 2010, he was posthumously awarded the Knight's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta.Monitor Polski year 2010 number 90 position 1044 – poz. 19.
Notes
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Category:Polish military personnel killed in World War II