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Polish hero of French WWII resistance dies at 95

24.09.2021 22:30
Jan Skowron, a retired Polish military colonel and a decorated veteran of the French army and resistance movement during World War II, has died at the age of 95, France's embassy in Poland has announced.
Col. Jan Skowron (right), pictured in February 2020, with Frances Armed Forces Minister Florence Parly (left).
Col. Jan Skowron (right), pictured in February 2020, with France's Armed Forces Minister Florence Parly (left).Photo: PAP/Paweł Supernak

Born in 1926 to Polish parents in northern France, Skowron fought the Nazi Germans in the French Army and later in the Polish forces, the polskifr.fr website reported.

He earned a reputation for destroying one of the German Luftwaffe's communication aerials in the northern French town of Dechy.

In recognition of Skowron's heroics, a roundabout in Dechy now bears his name, while in 2020, French President Emmanuel Macron granted him the Legion of Honour, according to the dzieje.pl website.

Skowron's accolades also included Polish state decorations such as the Silver Cross of the Virtuti Militari Order and the Commander's Cross of the Polonia Restituta Order, polskifr.fr noted.

After the war, Skowron served as a Polish defence attaché in Italy and Algeria, and as a UN official in Laos, while also finding success as a painter, the website added.

France's ambassador to Poland, Frédéric Billet, on Tuesday tweeted he had received the news of Skowron's passing "with great sadness."

(pm/gs)

Source: polskifr.fr