SIKORSKI, WLADYSLAW (EUGENIUSZ)

born May 20, 1881, Tuszw Narodowy, Pol., Austria-Hungary died July 4, 1943, Gibraltar Polish soldier and statesman who led Poland's government in exile during World War II. Born and educated in Austrian Poland, Sikorski served in the Austrian Army. In 1908 he founded a secret military organization of Polish nationalists, in which Jzef Pilsudski was also prominent. During World War I, Sikorski was war commissioner of the Polish Legion, which served with the Austrian Army against Russia. He later distinguished himself in the PolishSoviet War (192021), and in 1921 he was named chief of the Polish general staff. In 192223 Sikorski served briefly as prime minister of Poland. In 192425, as minister of military affairs, he guided the modernization of the army. Sikorski remained neutral during Pilsudski's 1926 take-over of the government; but he joined the anti-Pilsudski opposition in 1928, after being dismissed from his command. When the Germans overran Poland in 1939, Sikorski became prime minister of the government in exile, establishing good relations with Allied leaders. But in the later course of World War II the Soviet dictator Stalin broke off SovietPolish diplomatic contact in April 1943, using as pretext Sikorski's request that the International Red Cross investigate the murder at Katyn of thousands of Polish officers previously in Russian hands. Sikorski was killed in an air crash at Gibraltar the following July.