Włodzimierz Zagórski of the Clan of Ostoja (born January 21,łodzimierzZagó 1882 in Saint-Martin-Lantosque, France – disappeared August 6, 1927 en route from Wilno to Warsaw) was an Austro-Hungary military intelligence soldier, Polish brigadier general, staff officer, and aviator.
Youth
Włodzimierz Zagórski was born in Saint-Martin-Lantosque, France, near the city of Nice. He was born into nobility, specifically the Clan of Ostoja. His father was Jan Zagórski, one of many representatives of the noble Zagórski family living throughout Masovia, Warsaw, Lubelszczyzna, Lublin, and Cracow. Jan Zagórski was an active member of the January Uprising in 1863–1864, who as a result of his participation in the Uprising, was deported to Siberia only to escape and flee afterwards to France. Włodzimierz Zagórski's mother was Anna Kozłow, a dame of the House of Romanov and daughter of General Kozlov. Włodziemierz Zagórski experienced extensive schooling in many various subjects while living in France. He graduated both legal and trade schools in France and Austria. He spoke fluently six languages, including French and German, and financed his own aviation training when the industry was just being popularized.
Military service in the Austro-Hungarian Army and the Polish Legions during World War I Zagórski began his military service in 1900 in the Austro-Hungarian Army. On August 18, 1902, he was promoted to Second Lieutenant of Artillery. In 1910, he graduated from the General Staff Academy in Vienna and was promoted to Chief of Staff of the 8th Infantry Brigade of the Austro-Hungarian Army in Cracow. In 1911, he was transferred to the (Evidenzbureau) of the Austro-Hungarian Army, where he was responsible for leading irregular warfare in the Vistula Land, aimed at destabilizing said region of the Russian Empire. Zagórski was appointed as an official in the Second Branch of the General Staff in Vienna, where he commanded the so-called Hauptkundschaftstellen in Cracow, Przemyśl, and Lwów.
The Hauptkundschaftstellen was the governing body of the Evidenzbureau which commanded Austrian-sponsored Polish paramilitary and intelligence-gathering organizations in the Vistula Land. One of the commanders of such organizations Zagórski came into contact with was Józef Piłsudski. Piłsudski would gather and transfer intelligence over to Zagórski in exchange for Austrian funds which helped establish and expand Polish paramilitary capabilities in the Vistula Land - one such example being the Riflemen's Association.
During the first two years of World War I, Zagórski was promoted to captain and appointed Chief of Staff of the Polish Legions. Józef Piłsudski opposed Zagórski's appointment as Chief of Staff, as Piłsudski was interested in re-constructing an independent Poland while Zagórski proved stubbornly loyal to Emperor Franz Joseph I. The Austrian Emperor would have opposed the breakaway of Polish-populated Austrian territories. As a result, Zagórski proved terribly difficult to work with, having created enemies with Piłsudski, Władysław Sikorski, and even members of the Austrian Army's High Command due to his extreme loyalty towards the Austrian Emperor.
From June 1916 to July 1917, Zagórski served as commander of the 3rd Infantry Regiment of the Polish Legions. The Oath Crisis took place during this time period, where Zagórski pledged his allegiance to the Central Powers, in contrast to the vast majority of his soldiers who did not. He imprisoned several of his soldiers and ordered for them not to be fed. When none of the prisoners complied with Zagórski's demand to pledge allegiance to the Central Powers, he ordered the soldiers to march shoe-less to an internment camp in Szczypiorno. Later, it was often recalled by the Polish Legions that as the column of shoe-less Poles marched past a furious Zagórski, the Polish soldiers bellowed out in unison the lyrics to "We Are the First Brigade", and added a fifth verse to the song where they verbally attacked Zagórski, ending the song with telling Zagórski to "go f--- yourself". As a result, Zagórski denounced several Polish Legion officers at the internment camp who entered undercover as regular soldiers with the aim of dividing the sentences among the imprisoned. Those denounced by Zagórski were transferred to another internment camp in Havelberg, where they were brutally treated, and even tortured.