{{short description|Polish general (1887–1957)}} {{Infobox military person |name = Bernard Stanisław Mond |nickname = |image = Bernard Mond.jpg |image_size = 200 |caption = |rank = 40px Generał brygady (Brigadier general) |birth_date = {{birth date|1887|11|14}} |birth_place = Stanisławów, Austro-Hungarian Monarchy |death_date = {{death date and age|1957|7|5|1887|11|14}} |death_place = Kraków, Poland |burial_place = Rakowicki Cemetery |service_years_label = Service years |service_years = 1918–1939 |unit = 6th Infantry Division (Poland) |battles = World War I<br />Polish–Ukrainian War<br />Polish–Soviet War<br />Invasion of Poland |other_work = Orbis manager |awards = {{See below|below}} }}
'''Bernard Stanisław Mond''' (Spanier) (November 14, 1887 in Stanisławów – July 5, 1957 in Kraków) was a Polish general of Jewish descent in the interwar period.<ref>Andrzej Kunert, Andrzej Przewoźnik. ''Żydzi polscy w służbie Rzeczypospolitej''. Vol. 1. 2002. p. 178.</ref> He fought in the First World War, Polish–Ukrainian War, Polish–Soviet War and Second World War.
He was the highest ranking Polish-Jewish officer in the Polish Army.
== Early life == He was the son of Salomea and Maurycy Spanier, a railway official.{{Citation needed|date=December 2024}} His family was Polish-Jewish; he has been assimilated into the Polish society and Catholic.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Kotarba |first=Ryszard |date=2011 |title=Zamordowanie rodziny gen. bryg. Bernarda Monda przez Niemców w 1943 r. |url=https://bazhum.muzhp.pl/media/files/Przeglad_Archiwalny_Instytutu_Pamieci_Narodowej/Przeglad_Archiwalny_Instytutu_Pamieci_Narodowej-r2011-t4/Przeglad_Archiwalny_Instytutu_Pamieci_Narodowej-r2011-t4-s367-382/Przeglad_Archiwalny_Instytutu_Pamieci_Narodowej-r2011-t4-s367-382.pdf |journal=Przegląd Archiwalny Instytutu Pamięci Narodowej |volume=4 |pages=367–382}}</ref> In 1907, Bernard graduated from the gymnasium in Brody, having joined a youth organization which agitated for Polish independence. Between 1907 and 1908 he served in the Austro-Hungarian Army. {{Citation needed|date=December 2024}}He began studies in the Department of Law at the University of Lviv<ref name=":0" /> in 1908, but two years later, he interrupted them to finish an administrative course at the District Railway Authority of Lwów and worked for this department until 1913. Afterwards, he resumed his study of law.
== World War I and interwar period == At the beginning of World War I, he was called up into the Austro-Hungarian Army<ref name=":0" /> where he served as a company commander. He was taken prisoner by the Russians in 1916 and sent to a POW camp.{{Citation needed|date=December 2024}} In November 1918, he commanded the "Citadel" section{{Citation needed|date=December 2024}} in the defence of Lwów during the Polish–Ukrainian War.<ref name=":0" /> He was wounded near Kiev on June 6, 1920, during the Polish-Soviet War. From May to October 1921 he was the commander of the town of Wilno. On December 21, 1932,{{Citation needed|date=December 2024}} or in 1933<ref name=":0" /> he was made a brigadier general by the Polish president Ignacy Mościcki, and between 1932 and 1938 he commanded the Polish 6th Infantry Division of the Kraków Army.<ref name=":0" /> In 1935, after the death of the Polish leader Józef Piłsudski, Mond was the one who made the funeral arrangements for his former commander.
== World War II == In September 1939, Mond and his division defended the ''Pszczyna corridor'' against the German invasion.<ref name=":0" /> Surrounded by the Wehrmacht, he capitulated on September 20 at 3 p.m., near Nowe Sioło; and was subsequently imprisoned in German oflags: VII-A Murnau, IV-B Königstein and VI-B Dössel.<ref>Jerzy Jan Lerski. ''Historical dictionary of Poland, 966-1945''. Greenwood. 1996. p. 363.</ref>
== After the war == He returned to Poland in 1946 and took a managerial position in a state travel agency Orbis. In 1950, persecuted by the communist government for his military service in the Second Polish Republic, he was dismissed and had to work as a handyman in a building materials warehouse in Poland.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{cite web |title=Bernard Mond |url=https://biogramy.ipn.gov.pl/bio/wszystkie-biogramy/111110,Bernard-Mond.html |website=biogramy.ipn.gov.pl |access-date=6 June 2024}}</ref> His funeral, however, was awarded full military honors.<ref name=":0" />
== Family == Some members of his family, including his wife and sister, perished in The Holocaust, executed in the Tarnów Ghetto on December 1, 1943. They were hiding outside the ghetto, but had been arrested by the Germans; the exact circumstances are not known. Polish resistance executed an individual collaborating with the Germans who was suspected of denouncing Mond's family to the German authorities. Two German Gestapo soldiers who executed his family have been identified; one was killed during the war; the other was never found. Mond's two sons joined the Home Army resistance, took part in the Warsaw Uprising and survived the war.<ref name=":0" />
==Promotions== * 50px Fähnrich - 1910 * 50px Leutnant (Second lieutenant) - 1914 * 50px Oberleutnant (First lieutenant) - 1916 * 50px Kapitan (Captain) - 1918 * 50px Major (Major) - 1920 * 50px Podpułkownik (Lieutenant colonel) - 1922 * 50px Pułkownik (Colonel) - 1 December 1924 * 50px Generał brygady (Brigadier general) - 21 December 1932
==Awards and decorations== * 60px Silver Cross of Virtuti Militari (20 May 1921)<ref>{{in lang|pl}}Decree of the Commander-in-Chief L. 3006 from 20 May 1921 r. [http://www.wbc.poznan.pl/dlibra/docmetadata?id=64081 (Personal Journal 1921 r. Nr 23, pos. 924)].</ref> * 60px Cross of Independence with Swords (9 November 1933)<ref>{{in lang|pl}}{{Monitor Polski|1933|258|276}} "For work in regaining independence”.</ref> * 60px Officer's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta (27 November 1929)<ref>{{in lang|pl}}[https://dziennikustaw.gov.pl/M1929276000000.pdf M.P. z 1929 r. nr 276, poz. 638] "For merits in the field of military training and administration and social work”.</ref> * 60px Cross of Valour (four times) * 60px Gold Cross of Merit (10 November 1928)<ref>[https://monitorpolski.gov.pl/M1928260000000.pdf M.P. z 1928 r. nr 260, poz. 634] "In recognition of merits rendered in the field of work in individual branches of the military".</ref> * 60px Commemorative Medal for the War of 1918–1921 * 60px Medal of the 10th Anniversary of Regained Independence * 60px Commander of the Order of the Crown of Romania (Romania) * 60px Order of the White Cross of the Defense Union (Estonia)<ref>{{Cite book |title = Do you know who this is? |author = Stanisław Łoza |place = Warsaw |publisher = Główna Księgarnia Wojskowa |date = 1938 |page = 500|language= Polish}}</ref> * 60px Medal of the 10th Anniversary of the War of Independence (Latvija)<ref>[https://www.wbc.poznan.pl/dlibra/publication/54132/edition/70344/content Dziennik Personalny MSWojsk.] Nr 12 6 August 1929 r., page 238.</ref> * 60px 1908 Jubilee Cross (Austria-Hungary) * 60px Military Merit Medal (Austria-Hungary) * 60px Karl Troop Cross (Austria-Hungary)
== References == {{Portal|Biography}} {{Reflist}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mond, Bernand}} Category:1887 births Category:1957 deaths Category:Austro-Hungarian prisoners of war in World War I Category:Burials at Rakowicki Cemetery Category:Commanders of the Order of the Crown (Romania) Category:Jewish military personnel Category:Officers of the Order of Polonia Restituta Category:Military personnel from Ivano-Frankivsk Category:People from Kolomyia Category:Military personnel from Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast Category:Military personnel of the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria Category:Polish generals of the Second Polish Republic Category:19th-century Polish Jews Category:Polish military personnel of World War II Category:Polish people of the Polish–Soviet War Category:Polish people of the Polish–Ukrainian War Category:Polish people of World War I Category:Polish prisoners of war Category:Recipients of the Cross of Independence with Swords Category:Recipients of the Cross of Valour (Poland) Category:Recipients of the Gold Cross of Merit (Poland) Category:Recipients of the Silver Cross of the Virtuti Militari Category:University of Lviv alumni Category:World War I prisoners of war held by Russia Category:World War II prisoners of war held by Germany