Zdzisław Jezierski

Publications of Zdzisław Jezierski

• [Sanitary service of girl guides during the 2nd World War]

  Authors: Zdzisław Jezierski

  Archiwum historii i filozofii medycyny / Polskii Towarzystwo Historii Medycyny i Farmacji. 02/2005; 68(4):305-27.

  From the very beginning of the scout organization one of its main trends was the Samaritan service consisting in giving medical help to victims of disasters and acts of God. It became a domain ofFrom the very beginning of the scout organization one of its main trends was the Samaritan service consisting in giving medical help to victims of disasters and acts of God. It became a domain of girls guide mainly. The articles describes a great commitment of the Polish girls guide in the medical assistance offered to their compatriots during the September campaign of 1939 and during the years of occupation from 1939 to 1945. It shows the education and training methods that prepared the girls to work with great dedication. From the first days of the war the girl guides started to work as nurses and orderlies in civil and military hospitals. They organized also their own hospitals and numerous first aid stations in bombed localities and roads frequented by fugitives escaping from the west parts of the country to the eastern territories. Under occupation, the girl guides organized their own underground medical service that collaborated strictly with military organization fighting for independence. Assisted by doctors they organized medical trainings for the members, collected medicines and sanitary materials, preparing themselves for the fights of the last part of the war. The girl guides organized groups of medical assistance of the National Army, which constituted a core of the organization medical service. During the "Storm" action several thousands of girls worked as orderlies that belonged to the combat troops of the National Army. The Warsaw insurrection was the greatest battle of soldiers of the National Army. The girls offered their help to thousands of soldiers and civilian victims.

• [Health service of the "Kraków" Army in the 1939 campaign]

  Authors: Zdzisław Jezierski

  Archiwum historii i filozofii medycyny / Polskii Towarzystwo Historii Medycyny i Farmacji. 02/2004; 67(2-4):155-80.

  The paper discusses the organizational structure, equipment, members of the medical staff and activity of the "Kraków" Army Health Service during the defensive war in 1939. The Army fought on theThe paper discusses the organizational structure, equipment, members of the medical staff and activity of the "Kraków" Army Health Service during the defensive war in 1939. The Army fought on the main direction of attack of the German forces that were prevailing in number, equipment and new types of weapon, and applied the strategy of total destruction of both Polish soldiers and the civilian population. The German aviation was bombing cities, towns, villages, groups of runaways on the roads and also medical establishments. Accordingly the number of casualties among soldiers and civilians was quickly growing and hospitals were overcrowded.The "Kraków" Army held out the attacks only during two days and afterwards it retreated to the East without stopping to fight. In retreat it was extremely difficult to provide medical help to injured soldiers. Nevertheless physicians were ready to make the greatest sacrifices and they did not stop to perform their duties even if many of them were killed or wounded. The "Kraków" Army suffered the greatest casualties in the battle of Tomaszów Lubelski on 18-20th September 1939. 3000 soldiers were wounded there. The medical staff of the "Kraków" Army organized for them the "Zamośc" Medical Center that worked up to 20th December 1939, i.e. much longer than the Polish defensive actions lasted.