Berek Joselewicz (17 September 1764 – 15 May 1809) was a Polish Jewish colonel of the Polish Army during the Kościuszko Uprising. Joselewicz commanded the first Jewish military formation in modern history excluding Prince Potemkin's Israelovsky. He was also a merchant and financial agent of the Polish magnate Prince Massalski. Early life Dow Baer (Berek) Joselewicz was born in Kretinga, in the Duchy of Samogitia of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, a member country of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. He worked as a financial agent for a local Lithuanian magnate, the Lord of Kretinga and Bishop of Vilnius Prince Massalski. Joselewicz often travelled abroad in pursuit of various tasks, during which he learned to speak French. He spent some time in Paris during the beginning of the French Revolution, and it is thought that this may have later inspired him to join Tadeusz Kościuszko, who advocated similar causes of brotherhood and equality. Kościuszko Uprising Joselewicz initially served in the militia before petitioning Kościuszko for permission to form an all-Jewish unit. On September 17, 1794, Kościuszko officially announced the creation of the unit. Joselewicz, along with another Jew named Józef Aronowicz, issued a patriotic call-to-arms in Yiddish denouncing Russia and Prussia, eliciting hundreds of volunteers, mostly poor trade workers and artisans. Five hundred men were eventually accepted and formed into a . At Joselewicz's request, they were allowed to keep their religious customs, including access to kosher foods, abstaining from combat on the Sabbath when possible, and growing their beards. Joselewicz's unit was popularly known as "the Beardlings". They took part in the Battle of Praga, in which the unit was wiped out, with only a few men (including Joselewicz) surviving the battle. Joselewicz himself was taken prisoner by the Russians. Polish Legions After the defeat of the Kościuszko Uprising, Joselewicz left for Galicia and then for Italy. There he joined the Polish Legions under Henryk Dąbrowski. As a commander of a sabre company in Polish cavalry units, he fought in various battles of the Napoleonic Wars period. Among them were the battles of Trebbia, Novi, Hohenlinden, Austerlitz and Friedland. Army of the Grand Duchy of Warsaw He remained in the army as a squadron leader in the following the creation of the Duchy of Warsaw in 1807. From 1807 he fought in various battles in Poland. Austro-Polish War He was killed in the Battle of Kock in 1809 during an encounter