Brigadier-general Szczepan Ścibior – heroic pilot and victim of Stalin’s crime

Abstract

Szczepan Ścibior was born on 13 December 1903 in Uniejów, as the second child of Michał Ścibior and Joanna née Kokorzycka. From an early age he had a patriotic attitude – he was a member of the Boy Scouts and a local section of the Polish Military Organization, and volunteered into the Polish Army at the time of the Polish-Bolshevic war. His pre-war military career was mainly connected with Air Force 3 Group in Poznań-Ławica. In September 1939 he was a staff officer. He got to Romania, then to France and finally to Great Britain, where he started service in No. 305 Fighter Squadron. On the night of 5/6 August 1941 his plane was shot down and he was taken prisoner. Till the end of the war he stayed in P.O.W. camps. After the war he decided to return to Poland. He became the Commander of the Military Aeronautic College in 1947. Szczepan Ścibior and 18 other officers with high positions in the Polish Army fell victim to Stalin’s crime. On 13.05.1952 they were sentenced to death after a scandalous, dishonest process. The execution took place on 7.08.1952. In 1956 he was rehabilitated and pronounced a hero by the Highest Military Court. After identification, his remains were returned to the family 66 years later. On 11.03.2019 he was posthumously promoted brigadier-general. The funeral ceremony was held in November 2019 on the premises of the Military Aeronautic College.