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Edward Śmigły-Rydz was an important leader of Poland.
He was born on March 11, 1886 in Bereschany, which is now Berezhany, Ukraine, but was then in the Austro-Hungarian part of Poland. (At the time, the country was divided between Austria-Hungary, Germany and Russia.)
A poster with Śmigły-Rydz and the Polish white eagle.
He studied painting in Kraków and became a painter. During the First World War, he joined Józef Piłsudski's Polish Legions, which fought for Polish independence.
Piłsudski greatly respected Śmigły-Rydz and made him general of the Polish Army. After Piłsudski died in 1935, Śmigły-Rydz became the new leader of Poland. When the Second World War broke out in 1939, he defended his country against the invading Germans and Soviets.
Since Poland lost, he had to leave the country. However, he returned to Poland secretly and led a resistance group against the Germans.
