Bernard Mond

Bernard Mond
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Born	(1887-11-14)14 November 1887 Stanisławów
Died	Kraków
Years of service	1918-1939
Battles/wars	World War I, Polish-Bolshevik War, Invasion of Poland

Bernard Stanisław Mond (Spanier) (November 14, 1887 in Stanisławów – July 5, 1957 in Kraków) 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 Maurcy 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. In 1908 he began studies in the Department of Law at the Jan Kazimierz University in Lwów. In 1910 he interrupted his studies 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. In 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 his division defended the Pszczyna corridor against the German invasion. During the war he was imprisoned in a German Prisoner-of-war camp.

After the war

He returned to Poland in 1946 and took a managerial position in Orbis (A National International Bus Travel Company). In 1950 he was dismissed (most likely because of the political background and/or political views) and had to work as a handyman in building materials warehouse in Poland.