Henry Szymanski

Henry “Red” Szymanski attended the US Military Academy and later did graduate work at Northwestern. He became a career Army officer, eventually reaching the rank of colonel. Szymanski was fluent in Polish and in World War II was sent as an Assistant Military Attaché to Egypt as a liaison officer to the Polish and Czechoslovak forces in the Middle East. He served in that position until December 1944 when he was called to the Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF) to serve on General Dwight Eisenhower’s staff as a specialist in Polish affairs.

At war’s end Szymanski was charged with the repatriation of 1000s of Polish prisoners-of-war and displaced persons. He then spent several years in Special Services and Recruiting duty in the US, before returning to Germany in 1952 on an assignment with the CIA (Central Intelligence Agency). Szymanski retired from the military at the end of August 1953. He and his wife then settled in Colorado Springs, Colorado.