[The fate of graduates of the Medical Cadet Officers School, the first nine graduating classes (1922-2001): based on the archives of Dr Roman Jakubski]

In 1922 a Military Medical School was set up in Warsaw. Following several reorganisations from 1928 it was known as the Medical Cadet Officers' School. This academy trained physicians, pharmacists and dentists for the needs of the Armed Forces. Professional studies were conducted at the Medical or Pharmacy Faculty of Warsaw University. By 1939, 17 incoming classes had been admitted, amounting to 903 students all told. Diplomas and officer's ranks were awarded to 462 graduates. Another 99 senior students were made officers on the eve of the war. The school ceased to exist the moment World War Two broke out. The subject of this article is the fate of graduates of the Medical Cadet Officers School (admitted from 1922 to 1930) who completed their studies in the first nine graduating classes, spent the war in Poland or returned home after the war. It is based on an analysis of archival materials gathered by the late Dr Roman Jakubski in London, who died in 2000. In 1998, he donated his collections to the Main Medical Library in Warsaw. Many graduates of the Medical Cadet Officers School survived the war, and about 26% of them perished. Many of the latter were murdered by Stalin's NKVD (security police) in Katyn and Kharkov, whilst the remainder died at the hands of the Germans while fighting on all the fronts of World War Two. The overwhelming majority of graduates of the school's first nine graduating classes proved through their often complicated biographies that their Alma Mata had played an important role in their lives. It produced many well-trained and at times superbly skilled military physicians. Some of them went on to become outstanding specialists in various fields of medicine and pharmacy. Most of them courageously defended their homeland during the Second War World, providing to be distinguished officers ready to risk their lives when the situation waranted.