Kazimierz Raszewski

Raszewski was born 29 February 1864 in a small village called Jasień near Poznań (Czempiń Municipal), in the Province of Posen in the Kingdom of Prussia. Kazimierz was the second son of a szlachta (Polish landed gentry) Ignacy Raszewski and Józefa Koczorowska. An ancestor, Kazimierz Turno, was a general of the Army of the Duchy of Warsaw.[1]

In 1827, he started attending the Real School in Poznań. He later moved to the Saint Mary Magdalene School. In 1884, he finished school in Bolesławiec.[2]

He started his military career in 1885 by joining the 2. Schlesische Husaren-Regiment Nr. 6 in Prudnik.[2] The commander of the Regiment in Prudnik was lieutenant Rosenberg, a friend of Raszewski's father with whom he served in the Husaren-Regiment Nr. 1 in Milicz. Due to Raszewski's Polish descent, he was being mocked by other soldiers. After many years, in his autobiography, he stated that he wouldn't become an officer without the support he received from Rosenberg while in Prudnik.[1]

After graduating from military school in Nysa in 1887, he came back to Prudnik as a second lieutenant and became the commander of the platoon. In 1892, he married Olga Luchs. The couple had a son Lambert (born 1893) and a daughter Izabela (1894–1917).[2]

In 1894, he was moved to 1. Schlesische Husaren-Regiment Nr. 4 in Oława. In 1913, he joined the Husaren-Regiment Nr. 16 in Schleswig. During World War I, he served on Western and Eastern Front.[2]

In 1918, he joined the Armia Wielkopolska to fight in the Greater Poland uprising. He later participated in the Polish–Soviet War.[3]

• Second Lieutenant – 1887
• Lieutenant – 1895
• Rittmeister – 1901
• Major – 1913
• Lieutenant Colonel – 21 January 1918
• Colonel – 1919
• Lieutenant General – 21 April 1920

• Silver Cross of the Order of Virtuti Militari
• Commander's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta
• Cross of Valour, two times
• Krzyż na Śląskiej Wstędze Waleczności i Zasługi
• Gold Cross of Merit
• War Medal 1918-1921
• Decade of Independence Regained
• Iron Cross
• Great Officer of the Order of St. Sava
• Commandeur of the Legion of Honour
• Officier of the Legion of Honour
• Order of Merit