Lwów Eaglets

Lwów Eagles (Polish Orlęta lwowskie) is the term applied to child soldiers who volunteered to defend the city of Lwów during the Polish-Ukrainian War of 1918-1919.

Originally the term was applied exclusively to young volunteers who participated in the defense of Lwów during the siege laid upon the city by Ukrainian army between November 1 and November 22, 1918. However, with time the term was broadened and currently it is also applied to all youth soldiers who fought in defence of Poland in the Polish-Ukrainian War and Polish-Bolshevik War. Apart from the defenders of Lwów, the young defenders of Przemyśl are also frequently nick-named the Orlęta.

After the Polish-Ukrainian conflict the Lwów Eagles were buried in the Cemetery of the Defenders of Lwów, part of the Lyczakowski Cemetery. The mausoleum contained the ashes of both children and adults who fought against the Ukrainian attack, including foreign volunteers from France and the United States. The project of the mausoleum was prepared by Rudolf Indruch, a student at the institute of architecture and an Eagle himself. Among the most notable Eagles to be buried there was 14 years old Jurek Bitschan, the youngest of the defenders of the city whose name became an icon of the Polish culture in the interbellum.

After the annexation of Lwów by the Soviet Union, in 1971, their graves were destroyed and the mausoleum was turned into a magazine and truck depot. Currently it is being restored.