When Loyalty spoke louder than language: The Birth of Józef Unrug
“On the First of September 1939, I forgot the German language”
After a heroic defence of the Hel peninsula and the subsequent capitulation of the Polish forces in September 1939, Józef Unrug and his men were sent to a German POW camp. Knowing of Unrug’s German descent and apparently upon the personal recommendation of Admiral Karl Dönitz, the German forces attempted to convince the Polish commodore to return to the ranks of the German Kriegsmarine. Lucrative proposals were made to entice him back into the German Navy; among other things, he was offered promotion to the rank of Admiral. All Unrug had to do in return was renounce Poland.
Such was the propagandistic potential of Unrug returning to the German fold, the Third Reich turned to Unrug’s family to persuade him to do so. His cousin, Major General Walter von Unruh was sent to the POW camp. Despite greeting his cousin in his own language, Józef replied in French. Dumbfounded, Walter asked the reason why he was speaking French. Without hesitation, Józef responded, ”On the first of September I forgot how to speak German. I am a Pole and a Polish officer.”
Mixed Beginnings
From the Middle Ages, in common with many European families, the family of Unrug was divided into many branches. Some served at the courts of Polish kings and princes, even fighting for the Polish in the various Polish-German wars of the period. Other Prussian branches of the same family did the opposite. Due to this divide, and as proof of their ties to Poland, from the 16th Century onwards, the Von Unruhs of Poland avoided the Germanised spelling of their surname, employing Unrug instead. However, the three partitions of Poland in 1772, 1793 and 1795 led to Poland being completely wiped of the map for the next 123 years, which forced the Polish Unrugs to temporarily revert to the name Von Unruh.
This story highlights the ambiguous nature of heritage and descent whilst, yet also demonstrates the pride so many people take in this entirely arbitrary matter. Józef himself was born as Joseph Von Unruh in Brandenburg on 7th October 1884. His father Thaddäus Gustav Von Unruh was a Major-General in the Prussian guard. As previously mentioned, Poland had been destroyed almost a hundred years before; consequently, Thaddäus was forced to adopt the German spelling of his surname to serve in the army. This did not stop him from surrounding his sons with Polish culture and patriotic traditions; and yet, at the same time Gustav often visited the imperial court of Wilhelm II. According to Władysław Szarski, the director of a museum in Hel, Emperor Wilhelm II used to greet him with the words: “My friend an old Pole has arrived” showing that Unruh was not particularly secretive in identifying as a Pole. It also demonstrates, however, that despite the circumstances, the Unrugs were determined to remain true to their conviction that they were Polish.
From the Iron Cross to the White Eagle
The heart of this story lies in Józef’s career in the Navy. Despite the Polish upbringing, the environment surrounding Józef forced him to adopt to the German lifestyle in many ways. The most notable manifestation of this was the fact he chose a military career in the German Navy. His father was sceptical; he feared that the rigorous discipline would lead to Józef being Germanised and forgetting his Polish heritage. Joining the Kaiserliche Marine (German Navy) however (which was at the time was considered one of the most modern and best organised navies in the world) paid dividends. For his efforts in the First World War, Unrug would be given the German Iron cross both first and second class for his actions as a U-boat commander. Even when, later in life, he lived in and served Poland, Unrug could not entirely shake off his German upbringing. He grew up speaking German and despite overcoming his limitations in Polish he had a thick accent when speaking the language, to the extent he would often ask his officers to read his orders to ensure they were written correctly as he was not fully certain of his proficiency in the language.
With the end of World War One came the rebirth of the Polish state and without hesitation Unrug left Germany and quickly volunteered for the Polish Navy. Unrug’s subsequent career would start with a huge show of a completely unexpected dedication to his newly created nation. He bought a ship for the Polish navy. Out of his own pocket Unrug purchased the former German auxiliary patrol boat Wotan, which became the ORP Pomorzanin (The Polish government could not make the purchase itself as German government did not want to sell the ship to Poland). Unrug himself dutifully reached into his own pocket and brought the ship in his own name. This act of generosity could not have come at a better time, for the German government simultaneously attempting to convince the international community that Poland could not guarantee the safety of navigation in their waters due to its lack of ships. Thus the ORP Pomorzanin was used to create new maps and survey the seabed whilst the newly created Polish state brought more ships to bolster its navy.
Just a few years into his service, however, Unrug came into conflict with another Polish officer who put him on paid leave. This fortunately did not last long and Unrug returned to service, becoming Commander of the Fleet of the Polish Navy in 1925. Throughout the interwar period Unrug would continue to play a key role modernising and expanding the Polish navy as well as drawing up key plans to ensure the survival of the fleet in case of another war. Most notable amongst these was Operation Peking, which foresaw the overwhelming strength of the Kriegsmarine and as a result, planned for the Polish fleet to evacuate to neutral/allied ports in Britain or Sweden to continue the fight. This plan would be with met great success; in 1939, it allowed the Polish navy to escape destruction or a German takeover. The ships which escaped continued to fight in Norway as well as in the Atlantic, and their actions in both theatres have been praised by many historians.
The day he forgot the German language
At the outbreak of war, Unrug was tasked with defending the coastline. This part of Poland, along with the Hel Peninsula was the last area to surrender at the end of the September campaign. On September the 30th, during a visit by Unrug to the Lasowski battery, the gunners demanded to fight to the bitter end which prompted Unrug to break down in tears, saying he had never seen braver men. However in the face of the inevitable German onslaught which prompted the surrender of the government in Warsaw, Unrug realised the futility of further resistance and made the tough decision to surrender.
After surrendering on the second of October, Unrug and his men were sent to a POW camp; this is where the legend of Unrug was born. Unrug refused to speak German, stating he had forgotten the language on the first of September 1939. To the irritation of the Germans, he insisted on having a translator present when speaking to them and communicated in French despite his German fluency. Polish Historian Biskupski wrote that Admiral Unrug’s “conduct in German captivity was the stuff of legend.”
After the war Unrug would share the fate of many other Polish soldiers. He watched the demobilisation of the Polish armed forces in the west, and eventually shared their fate. The British offered him a pension but, aware of the fate of thousands of Polish soldiers in the west without one, he declined, stating that his honour would not allow him to accept. With a Communist government in charge in Poland, Unrug could not return home. He knew full well about the murders of Polish officers and that he would likely share the same fate if he returned. As a result, the man who spent his whole life remembering his roots was once again forced to watch from the sidelines, with no truly independent Polish nation to call home. Józef Unrug would die on 28th February 1973 in France, aged 88.
Unrug’s final wish was to be laid to rest in a free and independent Poland. This wish, though delayed, would be granted when in 2018, his body was transported aboard a Polish Frigate to Gdynia where he was, at last, be buried with his comrades.