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Józef Tusk

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Józef Tusk
Born(1907-03-23)March 23, 1907
Emaus, German Empire
DiedJune 12, 1987(1987-06-12) (aged 80)
Sopot, Poland
CitizenshipGerman (1907–1920)
Danziger (1920–1939)
German (1939–1945)
Polish (1945–1987)
OccupationLuthier
SpouseJulianna Jeżewska
Children6, including Bronisław [pl], Donald sr.
RelativesDonald Tusk (grandson)
Military career
AllegiancePoland
Nazi Germany (1944)
Poland Poland (1944–1945)
Service / branchTajna Organizacja Wojskowa (until 1940)
Wehrmacht (1944)
Polish Armed Forces in the West (1944–1945)
Years of service1939–1945
Unit328th Grenadier Replacement and Training Battalion
Battles / warsInvasion of Poland
AwardsMedal of Victory and Freedom (1946)

Józef Tusk (23 March 1907 – 12 June 1987) was a Polish luthier, the grandfather of the Prime Minister of Poland, Donald Tusk. During World War II, he served in the Wehrmacht, which proved to be controversial during the 2005 Polish presidential election.

Biography

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A member of the Lechitic (West Slavic) Polish-Kashubian minority, Józef Tusk was born in Emaus[1] - a suburb of Danzig, German Empire to a working class Catholic family of Józef Tusk (1870–1910)[2] and Augustyna Tusk (née Adamczyk; 1870–1962).[3] He became a citizen of the Free City of Danzig after World War I and worked for the Polish railway in the Free City.[4][5] He became a member of the Polish Secret Military Organization (Tajna Organizacja Wojskowa, TOW), which prepared behind-the-lines operatives in case of the war. On 1 September 1938 Tusk was placed in the position of the telegraphist in the Danzig (Gdańsk) railway station. It is likely, but not confirmed, that he had been working with the Polish intelligence services.[6] On 1 September 1939, when Germany invaded Poland, the Free City of Danzig was incorporated into the German Reich and the citizens of the Free City became German nationals. Tusk was assaulted in his house in the morning, and later witnessed German arrests of Poles at the railway station, and the Defence of the Polish Post in Danzig.[6]

Józef Tusk reported the assault to Danzig police, and was subsequently arrested as a Polish activist, described as a "Polish fanatic, dangerous to the security of the German State"; his family on the same day was evicted from their house.[6] Tusk was a forced laborer working in the construction of the Stutthof concentration camp[6][7] In 1941 he was interviewed by Gestapo and imprisoned in Neuengamme concentration camp.[8] On 26 August 1942 he was released from Neuengamme.[8]

On 2 August 1944 Tusk was conscripted into Wehrmacht, into the 328. Grenadier-Ersatz- und Ausbildungsbatallion (328th Grenadier Replacement and Training Battalion).[8][9][10] After about four months, around 24 November 1944 or soon afterward, he either deserted, defecting to the Polish Armed Forces in the West, or was imprisoned in an Allied prisoners-of-war camp.[11][12]

Józef Tusk returned to Sopot, where his family moved to, in the People's Republic of Poland, in mid-October 1945.[12] According to his family and friends, he never spoke much about his wartime history.

Legacy

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Tusk's conscription to Wehrmacht proved to be controversial during the 2005 Polish presidential election, when it was called the "Wehrmacht affair" (Polish: Afera wehrmachtowa), and the most heated issue of the campaign.[13][14][15] Similar instances of Poles forced to serve in the German army have proved controversial, particularly after the war, but even in modern Poland saying that a family member served in the German Army is looked down upon.[10][13][16][17] Józef's grandson, Donald Tusk, was a presidential candidate from the Civic Platform party, and the claim that his grandfather not only served but even volunteered to serve in the Wehrmacht gained notoriety in the media after it was made by the politician from an opposing party, Jacek Kurski from Law and Justice (PiS).[16][18][19] (Kurski was later said to have admitted, off camera, that this was false news aimed at "uneducated masses").[19] This was seen as an attempt to damage Tusk's reputation, by an association with Wehrmacht, the army of Nazi Germany, seen quite negatively in Poland.[10][16] Donald Tusk stated that he had no knowledge of this part of his family's history; sources vary on the extent to which the revelation had any impact on the presidential campaign, which was eventually won by Tusk's opponent, Lech Kaczyński from PiS.[14][16] Kurski was expelled from PiS for his role in the accusations, and Kaczyński issued an apology in the name of his political party to Tusk.[16]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Józef Tusk birth certificate, USC Ujeścisko, No. 36/1907, Archiwum Państwowe w Gdańsku (State Archive in Gdańsk)
  2. ^ "Józef Tusk". geni.com.
  3. ^ "Augustyna Tusk". geni.com.
  4. ^ Raubzug in der Geschichte Der Spiegel, 24.10.2005 (in German)
  5. ^ Enkel haften für ihre Grossväter Die Welt, 19.06.2007 (in German)
  6. ^ a b c d (in Polish) Barbara Szczepuła , Józef Tusk i inni (2), Dziennik Bałtycki, 2006-08-12
  7. ^ (in Polish), Barbara Szczepuła, Józef Tusk i inni. Niemiecki niewolnik[permanent dead link], 2006-08-18
  8. ^ a b c (in Polish), Barbara Szczepuła, Józef Tusk i inni. Wielka litera "P"[permanent dead link], 2006-08-25
  9. ^ "Infanterie-Ersatz-Bataillon 328 - Lexikon der Wehrmacht".
  10. ^ a b c (in Polish), Barbara Szczepuła, Józef Tusk i inni. Batalion 328[permanent dead link], 2006-08-31
  11. ^ (in Polish), Barbara Szczepuła, Józef Tusk i inni. Każdy swoje przeżył, 2006-09-14
  12. ^ a b (in Polish), Barbara Szczepuła, Józef Tusk i inni (9). Nie płacz, Juliśka, 2006-09-28
  13. ^ a b (in Polish) Barbara Szczepuła , Józef Tusk i inni, Dziennik Bałtycki, 2006-08-04
  14. ^ a b "Europe | Profile: Donald Tusk". BBC News. 2007-10-22. Retrieved 2010-03-14.
  15. ^ (in Polish) Raport o dziadku z Wehrmachtu, Wprost, 2006-08-17
  16. ^ a b c d e (in Polish) "Afera wehrmachtowa" bez wpływu na sondaże , WP.PL, 2005-10-17
  17. ^ (in Polish), Barbara Szczepuła, Józef Tusk i inni. Wehrmacht albo Stutthof[permanent dead link], 2006-09-07
  18. ^ "Nowe dokumenty ws. dziadka Donalda Tuska" (in Polish). Archived from the original on June 17, 2008. Retrieved July 4, 2011. , 15 October 2005
  19. ^ a b "Bard, polityk, "bulterier" Kaczyńskiego. Pokieruje TVP". TVN24.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 2023-12-14.

Further reading

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  • Barbara Szczepuła, Dziadek w Wehrmachcie [Grandpa in Wehrmacht], Gdańsk: słowo/obraz terytoria, 2007, ISBN 978-83-7453-709-4.
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