One More Polish Anniversary in August of 2004
Page 4
It seems that we have all for-
gotten of a minor fact, which happened
in August of 1914, and which later had
a profound influence on the history of
Poland. On August 6, 1914 the 1st
Cadre Company (1 Kompania
Kadrowa) marched out of “Oleandry”
Park in Krakow and crossed the border
between Galicia (Austro-Hungarian
partition) and the Kingdom of Poland
(Russian partition). This relatively
unimportant fact, as compared to the
outbreak World War I, had major re-
percussions for the future of Poland.
This small group of true patriots, lead
by a lone man with a great vision -
Józef Piłsudski, started the struggle for
independence, which after four years
bore fruit of regaining sovereignty to
Poland. Piłsudski’s actions were sup-
ported by some in Galicia, but not by
the citizens of the Kingdom of Poland.
He was viewed by society as a socialist
and revolutionary, and by socialist
activists as hothead. His base of sup-
port was among the patriotic youth,
students and hard revolutionaries.
Polish society of all partitions
at the beginning of XX century, re-
membered failed attempts to regain
independence by a string of four up-
risings. Hence, it was inert, lacked
fighting spirit and prone to coopera-
tion with governments. There was no
underground organization covering all
three provinces of partitioned Poland.
Most Poles of draft age did not avoid
recruitment and joined armies of Rus-
sia, Prussia and Austro-Hungary.
Only in Galicia, a province of Austro-
Hungary, a small group of young
man, members of the Rifle Association
(Związek Strzelecki) or Polish Rifle
Teams (Polskie Drużyny Strzeleckie),
responded to the call of arms issued
on July 30, 1914 by socialist and revo-
lutionary Józef Piłsudski and gath-
ered in “Oleandry “. During the first
seven days 3000 volunteers began
training for the war.
On August 3, 1914 Piłsudski
addressed the joined units of the Rifle
Association and the Polish Rifle
Teams uniting them into one organi-
zation. That day Piłsudski delivered
his famous words: “Soldiers. You have
that enormous honor to be the first to
enter the Kingdom of Poland and
cross the border of the Russian parti-
tion.” He also exchanged his Rifle
Association badge with the com-
mander of Polish Rifle Teams,
Stanisław Bukacki. It was an at-
tempt to unite two separate organi-
zations and remove any differences
between them. From that point on
they were just “Polish soldiers”.
On August 5 the 1st Com-
pany was raised early in the morn-
ing and marched out of the camp
under the personal supervision of
Józef Piłsudski. The soldiers be-
lieved that they were going to war,
but instead they marched for yet
another exercise. The disappoint-
ment was visible among rank and
file. The next day at 2AM soldiers
were awaken, food and ammunition
was distributed, and the 1st Com-
pany was given marching orders.
August 6, 1914 at 4 AM the 1st
Cadre Company under the com-
mand of Tadeusz Kasprzycki
marched out of “Oleandry” begi
ning the legend of Polish Legions.
The 1
st
Company column
marched towards the border, and at
the intersection with the highway
from Kraków to Michałowice,
Kasprzycki, who was leading,
started turning towards Krakow.
Some unknown soldier, thinking
that it was another exercise,
shouted “No. We want war!”
Kasprzycki smiled and turned to-
wards the border. The entire column
started singing old song from the
days of the 1863 uprising “Hej.
Strzelcy wraz”. Such was the morale
of these young men. This same af-
ternoon 1
st
Company crossed the
border.
The 1st Cadre Company
existed, as an independent unit, for
only six days, August 6 to August 9,
1914, but their legend is still alive
today. If we were to consider the
odds against them it seemed impos-
sible to succeed, but they prevailed.
We owe them this small token of
gratitude.
Witold J. Ławrynowicz
Pluton 1. Kompanii Kadrowej w „Oleandrach” w Krakowie, sierpień 1914.
Page 13
What the Polish Heritage Society Means to Me
Jerry Rachfal
wedding and play with his great grand-
son. At this time of year, I think of
him often; he walked me to Niagara
Street, a busy street on the way to
Holy Trinity Grade School, and made
sure that I crossed the street safely. He
lived well into his 80’s and was always
available to help an undertaker as a
pall bearer, and I often think that those
endeavors kept him going.
We have six grandchildren and my
mother has often asked if any of them
call me Dziadziu. I have told her that
it would be easier for them to call me
“Stary” but that kind of appalls her.
Wonders never cease, however, as my
youngest grandchild, Natalie from
Cleveland, is just about two and she
has begun to call me Dziadziu and
frankly, that is simply wonderful!
Wesolych Swiat to you all, and plan
on attending a Skalny Lecture in 2005;
it might have the kind of impact Agni-
eszka and “Collective Memory” had
on me.
At this time of year, I get a little nos-
talgic as I recall the wonderful Christ-
mas Kolendy that I remember growing
up with in Niagara Falls. “Dzisiaj w
Betlejem” and “Wsrod Nocnej Ciszy”
were a couple of my favorites and my
Mom just told me that the ending
hymn during the recent installation of
the new Bishop in Buffalo was what
has become the unofficial national
anthem of Poland - “Serdeczna
Matko”.
My wife Janice and I recently attended
the Skalny Center Lecture on
“Collective Memory” by Agnieszka
Magdziak-Miszewska, the Consul
General of the Republic of Poland.
Agnieszka really hit a note with me in
her discussion of “Collective Mem-
ory” as I left thinking about
Dziadziu’s Last Christmas. I had a lot
of “Last Christmas’s” with Dziadziu
Rachfal and it started when I came
home from college my Freshman
Year. I can’t recall whether or not fish
was still the entrée of the day for
Wigilia, but Christmas Eve Day fol-
lowed a specific pattern. Dziadziu
would announce that we had to stop at
Wuja’s for a little holiday cheer and
then make the rounds. In those days,
the rounds started at Wuja’s (he was
the brother of my Babcia) and it was
important to start at a “family” tavern.
It was then onto to Jankowski and a
final stop at Pasek’s. Johnnie Pasek
was a good friend of my Dad’s and
was the bullpen catcher for the Detroit
Tigers in the late 40s so the Christmas
conversation at Pasek’s always cen-
tered on baseball and Dziadziu’s fa-
vorite teams. As the day went on,
Dziadziu would begin to retell a story
I had heard many times, but one which
was still very fascinating, particularly
in light of the “Collective Memory”
Lecture. Dziadziu was in the Army of
Emperor Franz Joseph in the Polish
Cavalry and came from the “horse
country area” of Poland around
Rzeszow. He was fascinating in his
tales of the Cavalry and today I won-
der, was it as wonderful as he made it
sound? One will never know, but I
can really relate to Collective Memory
and I am sure each of you readers can
too.
Dziadziu and I had a lot of Last
Christmas’s. He saw me graduate
from college and lived to enjoy our
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