Bernard Mond


Bernard Stanisław Mond was a Jewish general of the Polish Army in the interwar period. He fought in the First World War, Polish–Ukrainian War, Polish–Soviet War and Second World War.

Early life

He was the son of Salomea and Maurycy Spanier, a railway official. In 1907, Bernard finished the gymnasium in Brody, having joined a youth organization which agitated for Polish independence. Between 1907 and 1908 he served in the Austro-Hungarian Army. He began studies in the Department of Law at the University of Lviv in 1908, but two years later, he interrupted them to finish an administrative course at the District Railway Authority of Lwów, and worked for this department until 1913. Afterwards, he resumed his study of law.

World War I

At the beginning of World War I, he was called up into the Austro-Hungarian Army where he served as a company commander. He was taken prisoner by the Russians in 1916 and sent to a POW camp. In November 1918, he commanded the "Citadel" section in the defence of Lwów during the Polish–Ukrainian War. He was wounded near Kiev on June 6, 1920 during the Polish-Soviet War. From May to October 1921 he was the commander of the town of Wilno. On December 21, 1932, he was made a brigadier general by the Polish president Ignacy Mościcki, and between 1932 and 1938 he commanded the Polish 6th Infantry Division of the Kraków Army. In 1935, after the death of the Polish leader Józef Piłsudski, Mond was the one who made the funeral arrangements for his former commander.

World War II

In September 1939, Mond and his division defended the Pszczyna corridor against the German invasion. Surrounded by the Wehrmacht, he capitulated on September 20 at 3 p.m., near Nowe Sioło; and was subsequently imprisoned in German oflags: VII-A Murnau, IV-B Königstein and VI-B Dössel.

After the war

He returned to Poland in 1946 and took a managerial position in state travel agency Orbis. In 1950, he was dismissed and had to work as a handyman in building materials warehouse in Poland.