Franciszek Batko (1885‑1953): Nauczyciel, żołnierz, sybirak – szkic biograficzny

Franciszek Batko (1885‑1953): Teacher, Soldier, Survivor of Siberia – A Biographical SketchThis article is a biographical sketch whose purpose is to shed light on the figure of Franciszek Batko (1885-1953). Although he was from Sygneczów outside Wieliczka, he spent his entire adult life in Ochojno in the municipality of Świątniki Górne. First of all, he was a teacher with an academic education; both before and after the Great War he worked as a teacher in the state gymnasiums. In 1914, he was conscripted into the Austrian army. Upon completion of officer training in Styria, he was sent to the front. In 1915, he was taken hostage by the Russians; at that point, his long sojourn as an exile to Siberia and soldier of the Polish 5th Siberian Rifle Division began. Thanks to his courage and shrewdness, he returned to Poland in 1921. Thank he took on the duties of a teacher once again. During the Second World War, he participated in the struggle against the Germans. He received many decorations, including the Cross of Valor and the Cross of Independence. Batko is buried in Podstolice.