Remains of Polish heroes flown in from US
PR dla Zagranicy
Roberto Galea
23.11.2016 13:41
The remains of two Polish heroes, who saved 75 tonnes of gold from being seized by enemy forces in 1939, were transported from the US on Wednesday.
Henryk Floyar-Rajchman and Ignacy Matuszewski. Photo: Twitter.com/Ministerstwo Obrony.
The men, Colonel Ignacy Matuszewski and Major Henryk Floyar-Rajchman, died in the US where they emigrated in 1941 following a successful 1939 operation to save gold from the central bank.
They transported the gold through Romania, Turkey and Syria to France, where the Polish government-in-exile was based at the time.
The two were later discharged from military service after the Fall of France in 1940.
Both men fought in World War I, and in the interwar period served as government ministers, Matuszewski for the treasury, and Floyar-Rajchman for industry and trade.
After emigrating to the US, they established the National Committee of Americans of Polish Extraction. Matuszewski and Floyar-Rajchman died in New York in 1946 and in 1951 respectively.
Polish Defence Minister Antoni Macierewicz said in August that it was both men’s wishes to be buried in Poland.
Poland’s deputy Defence Minister Wojciech Fałkowski said it was Poland’s honour and obligation to bring back not only the remains of the two men, but also of other Poles who “died abroad and could not make it back”. (vb/rg)
Source: mon.gov.pl, IAR, Polskie Radio
Ignacy Matuszewski and Major Henryk Floyar-Rajchman