A Polish soldier and hero of the anti-Nazi & anti-communist struggle, he served in the Warsaw Uprising (1944).
Jan Rodowicz “Anoda” – slim, tall and handsome blonde man was spontaneous, sometimes roguish when with his peers but always gallant with women. Always in a hurry, but responsive to the needs of others, ready to help. Witty friend but composed and reliable soldier. Last but not least – talented student of architecture, who upon finishing his studies could have influenced the way the capital’s urban space was shaped.
– That boy was dynamite! High-spirited, with a sense of humour, active and always busy – remembers Stanisław Krupa “Nita”, a fellow soldier. – One day he came running to me but refused the coffee I offered him: „No, I only dropped by to tell you a good joke”. He told me the joke and left.
When the war broke out, Jan Rodowicz was a high school student (he graduated during the war in 1941), who joined the fighting straight from the scouting movement.
– I was looking for hero-like qualities in him. Didn’t find any. He was still the same smiling, cheerful and gentle-natured Janek. [...] Maybe only deep at the bottom of his smile there were flashes of steel, typical for people who have been through hell – this is how Jan Rodowicz is remembered by Jan Suzin, fellow student from the Warsaw University of Technology, where both of them studied right after WW2.
All he was granted were twenty six years of life (1923 -1949). Arrested after the war during the Communist occupation of Poland, he was brutally tortured and murdered.
