A group of historians, socialists and guides of PTTK in 2023 established the Colonel Wincent Sobociński Association. The goal was to find and bring to Poland the ashes of the officer of the Polish Army Colonel Wincenty Sobociński, who served as the Head of the 5th Military Commission of Poland in the Free City of Gdańsk from 1938 to 1939, and whose merit was to prepare for the defence of the Military Transit Component on Westerplatte and Polish post buildings in Gdańsk. After the war ended, he emigrated to Argentina, where he died in 1959. The colonel's preference was to remainder in his family's tomb in Negron, now in the Kuyavian-Pomeranian province.
A celebration of exhumation of remains and farewell of Colonel Wincent Sobociński was held in the chapel in St. Isabella Cemetery in Merlo. After the ceremony, the remains of Colonel Vincent Sobociński were transported to Chacarita Cemetery in Buenos Aires, where they were cremated. November 2023. photograph source: Embassy of Poland in Argentina
The search conducted since 2021 (initially formally within the Gdańsk Branch of PTTK) was a success. Found by O. Jack Twarog from the Polish Catholic Mission of the O.O. Franciscans in Martin Colorado, the grave of Vincent Sobociński was located in the cemetery of St. Isabella in Merlo (agglomeration of Buenos Aires). On 7 November 2023, with the approval of the immediate family, an exhumation of his remains took place. The solemn farewell of the urn with the ashes of the colonel with Argentina and its polonia took place on 10 December 2023 at the Mary's Sanctuary in Lujan, chaired by the Polish Bishop of the Polish Army, Fr Wiesław Lechowicz. On 23 December 2023, members of the Association managed to bring his ashes from Argentina to Poland (now the urn is in the church of St.
Members of the Association decided to say goodbye to the Colonel in Gdańsk, with whom he was so attached. The celebrations scheduled for 31 August 2024 are planned to be held in 2 parts. The first will be held in the square at 27 Nowe Ogrody Street – the parking lot of the Municipal Police office (the erstwhile office of the General Police of the Republic of Poland in the Free City of Gdańsk) and the second at the Polish Army Soldiers Cemetery on Westerplatte. Both parts will connect the passage of the urn on a cannon tow truck from Nowe Ogrody on Westerplatte.
The date and place were designated by accident. It was on 31 August 1939 that Colonel Vincent Sobociński went by car to the Military Transit Component on Westerplatte. Under the appearance of a gathering with the crew, he gave the depot commander, Major Henry Sucharski, confidential intelligence, which came down to the notification that the Intervention Corps had been disbanded and the defender unit could not number on any military assistance from the country, and that the war would start the next day.
We plan to keep the celebrations open. In addition to the invited representatives of the authorities of Gdańsk and the local government of the voivodship, the Kombatant organizations, guests and youth from schools, we would like to see all people who will learn about them in advance from the planned information campaign, or who will find themselves at the place of the event - tourists who visit many during the vacation period of Gdańsk.
From Gdańsk, we will transport the urn with the Colonel's ashes to Negro, where a ceremony ceremony is planned. We have received a written declaration from the Department of Education, Culture and Heritage of the Ministry of National Defence on the provision of military luminaires of the ceremony, which will let to "give the undertaking a lofty character and will show respect for the Polish uniform, as well as an chance to celebrate the memory of the hero of the fight for Poland's independence".
Funeral celebrations will begin with the ceremony mass of the church of Saint Matthew the Evangelist and Apostle in Negron at 2 p.m. The urn with the ashes will then be transported on a cannon to the parish cemetery, where it will be laid to the household tomb of the Sobociński family. Fr Wiesław Lechowicz, Polish Bishop of the Polish Army and Honorary associate of our Association, Fr Jacek Twaróg OFM from the Polish Catholic Mission in Argentina, confirmed this crucial event for us and for the region. We besides anticipate the participation of representatives of the Polish Army and local local authorities.
Source: Colonel Vincent Sobociński Association
