The second place where I went to celebrate the long weekend is Sulejówek. There is the museum of Józef Piłsudski who is one of fathers of independent Poland. This personality is the same symbol as Winston Churchill or Franklin Delano Roosevelt to Brits and Americans. And now imagine you went to one of these men house…

It was the 3rd May then and it’s the holiday that is all about celebrating the resolution of Constitution 3rd May in 1791. It was the first such a modern constitution in Europe and the second on Earth after the American constitution. It was one of last attempts of keeping the country alive but changes came too late…

Józef Piłsudski (1867-1935) is one of those many people who were trying hard to bring the independence back but it’s not the only thing that he has in common with the Constitution 3rd May. In the previous post I mentioned about Polish Legions in Italy and well, he was a romantic patriot and he founded his own army whose name was referring to that very first. Polish Legions was a military formation that was the part of Austro-Hungarian army during the Great War but he was a leader of just a little part of it. And well, somehow Poland regained the freedom and he was one of main people was was trying to rebuild the country that hadn’t existed for 123 years. In the end he was a Prime Minister! Well, he didn’t want to be a president… That’s good because the first president of Poland was killed quite just after the election… It’s like he knew!

Okay, enough of history! Let me show you pics that I’ve taken now. This is the Marshal’s manor styled house in Sulejówek (about 15 km away from Warsaw) where he lived in 1923-1926. The second building is the huge modern museum where I’ve spent 3 hours learning more about those times and his life. It was a very interesting and fascinating trip to me but I think I loved that historical garden and house the most. I simply love nature, palaces, manor houses and history, you know! You can literally touch the history then… You can see it, you can smell it…

Aleksandra Piłsudska, Marshal’s second wife, bought these grounds in 20s and then Józef got this house as a present. He spent here 3 happy years with his family and then he came back to politics in 1926. And what was he doing during this break? Writing books! You’ll literally see it later…

This is where the mulberry orchard was 100 years ago. Now there are such seedlings, young trees and one day it look the way it used to.

This is the vegetable garden that Piłsudski’s wife and housemaid were growing.

This is the original road that is leading to the house. There was no other way to get there! And well, just one neighbor in the area that was this family’s friend. Just… Heaven to live like that!

There used to be the gatehouse that was keeping the Marshal’s family safe. The building burned down during the Warsaw Uprising in 1944 and it was never rebuilt to recall those dark times in history…

Hives. Now unfortunately they are empty but bees should go back home, right?

Water in this pond will be back soon. That’s what I heard from the guide!

His daughters came back home in 1990.

Józef Piłsudski was born is Zułowo, Lithuania, in the manor house. This is his baptism shirt and probably it belonged to his brothers too. His father had the same name and he wrote the waltz that notes can be seen above. He was raised in the typical way to noble people in 19th century – manors houses were trying to protect the tradition and Polish language in the world where the country existed no more. It’s often said that it’s what makes such people like Józef romantic patriots.

When the manor house burned down, the family moved to Vilnius. This is where he met with Russian education and restrictions. He, his brother Bronisław and many friends didn’t agree with this state and then there was the conspiracy that was all about killing the tsar. Piłsudski brothers didn’t know about it but they were sentenced to going to Sybir.

When Józef came back from there as a 25-year-old man, he was simply changed. He decided to serve people using his pen and he got rid of peaceful life. He was the noble man but he decided to live modestly. He was writing for the secret newspaper called Robotnik that was intended for workers – new social stratum – and then the Revolution of 1905 came around. He had such a gun then and he decided to fight but he got rid of it soon enough. Btw, I think I have never seen something like this before!

He got to the prison again but his escape made the legend out of him. He simply acted like a mad man and this way he got out. But also, without friends form the party he wouldn’t make it.

I’ve already mentioned about Polish Legions so let me tell you more about the times after the Great War now. Free Poland was rebuilding in every possible way but it wasn’t totally a peaceful time. Let me give you one of many examples…

The Battle of Warsaw 1920. It was the bottle that stopped Bolsheviks going West. There is the table where the plan for this bottle was created. It’s pretty big so all maps of the area could be placed there, you know. And the museum bought car chassis to rebuild the combat car that was used during that Polish-Bolshevik war (1919-1921). Interesting initiative, right?

Things that belonged to the Marshal Piłsudski. Even the cigarette! And there is the photo that was taken before painting that work of art. And the horse is pretty popular here, I must say! You can still see her in Warsaw…

There was also the last photo of Marshal, and it was taken on 20th March (my birthday!) 1935.

Józef Piłsudski’s heart is put in Vilnius, Lithuania in the grave with his mother and the body can be found in Kraków. This installation is the reconstruction of platform leading to the crypt on Wawel. I mean… He’s laying among Polish-Lithuanian kings… I guess it says a lot about the meaning of his life… Also, those three columns symbolize three invaders among which Poland was parted in 18th century.

If you feel like you’d like to learn more, I recommend going to the museum of Józef Piłsudski in Sulejówek. But you can also google this, you know!

So, that’s it. It took me two days to create this post! I hope you found it interesting in at least half as it was to me… The length of the text and the number of photos probably confirms it… Anyways, I took almost 300 photos and here I’m posting just 54!

Another post is coming on Tuesday and it will be about the new Ed Sheeran’s album. Yes.

Greetings!

A.A.