Strike of the generals
A group of officers, who were previously members of the Polish Legions in World War I, submitted resignation from duty as a response to the statement of General Franciszek Latinik, commander of Corps District No.
[1][2] Franciszek Latinik gained experience serving until 1918 in the Austro-Hungarian Army (as Poland did not exist as an independent state), and participated as a colonel in the fights of World War I.
Having been educated in an elite Academy of the General Staff in Vienna, Latinik considered Legions members incompetent and did not respect their military qualifications.
[3] According to Jerzy Rawicz, in 1919, when commanding Polish forces defending the Czech offensive in Cieszyn Silesia, Latinik has entered into a dispute with some representatives of leftist circles, among others Dorota Kłuszyńska, social activist and feminist who later became a Member of the Senate from PPS list.
In July 1921 Major Marian Prosołowicz lodged a complaint with Latinik to the Ministry of Military Affairs, stating that his superior "offended legionaries as such."
The then Minister of Military Affairs Józef Leśniewski dismissed the complaint of Prosołowicz, stating that Latinik's statement was "offensive but not political".
Residing in Przemyśl was unprofitable for him; he previously counted on transferring to the city with an academic center due to the possibility of providing higher education to his daughters.
[5] Before that, at the end of July, a delegation with publisher Józef Styfi, foreman Zajączkowski, H. Stieberow and Professor B. Groch came to Latinik to ask the Army help in organizing the anniversary and the participation of the 38th Infantry Regiment in the march of former legionaries through the city.
Latinik turned to the applicants with the following response: Today you are coming with the Legionary celebrations, tomorrow the Jews will come with Jericho, and the day after the Ukrainians with Petlura...[1]On the legionaries themselves he said: Those who were worthy died, those who live are worthless.On the following day the incident was a subject of an article in a local paper Nowy Głos Przemyski (New Voice of Przemyśl), which condemned General Latinik for his demeanor.
[8]On October 30, a group of MPs from the Polish People's Party "Wyzwolenie" and the "Unity of People", headed by Bogusław Miedziński, submitted an interpellation in which they described the events that took place in Przemyśl and asked Władysław Sikorski, the Minister of Military Affairs, "a living legionary officer", if he "got acquainted with the case" and if "he has responded to the insane and criminal prank of General Latinik so that the punishment that he was to receive secured future relations in the army and offended part of the army from this kind of provocation.
He could not downplay Latinik's words, after numerous press publications and the submitted interpellation, but it is also possible that he did not want to advocate on the side opposite to the General.
Shortly after that the Ministry of Military Affairs started to receive individual complaints of soldiers that were personally offended by the statements of Latinik and demanded "protection of the honor of the uniform".
[1] Because of Sikorski's absence in Warsaw, General Edward Śmigły-Rydz turned to the Deputy Minister of Military Affairs, Stefan Majewski, with the request of intervention and punishment of Latinik.
Then, a group of generals and senior officers, who previously served in the Polish Legions, have resigned from active service to protest against the passive attitude of the Ministry.
In the subsequent report, two applications were made: firstly, that Latinik should leave at his own request from the army, and secondly, that the case should be handed over to the general honorary court.
