Born: May 2, 1903, Kozłów (province Miechów, voivodship Małopolska, Poland)
Died: May 30, 1977 in Bethlehem (Connecticut, USA)
Buried : veteran cemetery at the National Sanctuary of Our Lady of Częstochowa in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, USA
Military Medals: Polish – Order of the Rebirth of Poland “Polonia Restituta”, Cross of Merit, Cross of Independence
Fates before joining Anders Army : Active member of Polish youth independence organizations. Student of the Warsaw University of Technology. President of the Central Union of Young Village (Centralny Związek Młodej Wsi). Participant of the September 1939 campaign, in which he fought commanding a telegraph company with the rank of lieutenant. After the Soviet invasion of Poland on September 17, 1939, he made his way to Hungary, and then to France. Here he joined the Polish Army and took part in the French campaign of 1940. After the fall of France, he made his way to Great Britain. He wanted to return to occupied Poland and serve in the underground. Due to an injury, he did not become “Cichociemny”.
Military history: In June 1942, he joined the Polish Army in the East. After the creation of the Polish 2nd Corps, he was for a long time the deputy chief of the Culture and Press Department, dealing with propaganda. Participant in the Italian campaign of the 2nd Corps with the rank of major. After the transfer of the Polish army from Italy to Great Britain, he joined the Polish Resettlement Corps.
Post-War: Stanisław Gierat remained in England. He was actively involved in creating the Association of Polish Combatants (Stowarzyszenie Polskich Kombatantów – SPK) as a global organization. In 1951, he emigrated to the United States. Here, in 1952, he co-founded the Association of Polish Combatants in the USA (Stowarzyszenie Polskich Kombatantów w USA). He was the president of this organization for many years, and then its honorary president. He was also an active member of the Polish American Congress, a member of the Council of the Piłsudski Institute in New York. He and his wife ran a scout shelter in Bethlehem. He died in this city in 1977.
author : Aneta Hoffmann
