Adolf Bniski

Adolf Bniński (21 August 1884 – 8 July 1942) was a Polish agricultural and political activist, known for his conservative and royalist views. Born into a wealthy family, he studied agriculture in Poland and Germany before inheriting significant agricultural lands. He played a key role in the reborn Polish state after 1918, serving as a commissar, county starost, and later voivode of Poznań from 1923 to 1928.

Bniński was active in politics, supporting conservative and monarchist ideas. He ran unsuccessfully for president in 1926 and joined the Polish Senate in 1935 despite opposing the sanacja regime. After the German invasion of Poland in 1939, he joined the Polish Underground State, working against Nazi occupation.

In July 1940, Bniński was appointed Government Delegate for Poland’s territories annexed by Nazi Germany. However, his refusal to support a joint Polish-German anti-Soviet declaration led to his arrest by the Germans in July 1941. He was imprisoned, tortured, and executed on 8 July 1942. The circumstances of his death were brutal; some sources suggest he may have been fed to wild animals.

Bniński’s role as Delegate was later taken over by Leon Mikołajczyk. In 1995, he was posthumously awarded the Order of the White Eagle for his resistance efforts.