The anniversary of the large Pole Wojciech Korfante.
Today in our calendar we will look at the life and activities of Wojciech Korfante.
It came from a Catholic mining household from advanced Silesia. His parents were Joseph and Karolina from Klech's house. He graduated from a folk school in Siemianowice, then joined the Prussian state gymnasium in Katowice. Opposing the anti-Polish teachers' pursuit, he founded a secret self-educational ellipse of Polish students. He openly criticized the Germanizational ideas of authorities and Chancellor Otto von Bismarck, for which he was expelled from school.
With the aid of a Polish MP to Landtag – Józef Kościelski – he was allowed to pass his diploma in the extremist system. He then studied at the Polytechnic in Charlottenburg, and later law and economics in Wrocław. He began sympathizing with the Roman Dmowski National League, which he joined in 1901.
Upon his return to his homeland, he became editor-in-chief of the paper “Górnoślązak”. He published patriotic articles on her pages, in which he drew attention to the eternal Polishness of these areas. He became a folk tribune defending Silesia against Germanization and Protestantization.
He advocated equality of Polish language in schools and offices. He was arrested and brought before a Prussian court who sentenced him to 4 months in prison. This led to his emergence in authority and popularity among the Silesians. In 1902, he led to a revival (in Katowice) suspended by the authorities of the Gymnastic Society “Sokol”. A year later, he became a advanced Silesian deputy to the Reichstag.
Using immunity, he gave a speech in Berlin in which he criticized Prussian attacks on Polish tradition and Catholicism. He argued that the culture of the inhabitants of advanced Silesia is inextricably related to Polish culture alternatively than German culture. As an MP, he powerfully defended the rights of national minorities. He besides tried to make life easier for workers, fighting to abolish the most absurd administrative rules that hit them. In 1905 he became editor of a fresh Silesian magazine called “Polak”.
In 1908, he quarreled with the nationalists and Roman Dmowski himself, which resulted in him leaving the National League. Since 1909 he has worked with the Polish Democratic Society operating in Wielkopolska. He married social activist Elizabeth Szprot, with whom he had 4 children.
During planet War I, he contacted the Krakow NKN Juliusz Leo and patronized the Polish Legions created under his aegis. In 1918, he was re-elected as an MP for the Reichstag. On 26 October, he gave a speech in which he demanded the inclusion of Prussian lands in the Kingdom.
After the outbreak of the Wielkopolska Uprising, he became a associate of the Provisional Government there, who decided to join the reborn Poland. In 1920 he worked as a Polish commissioner for the advanced Silesian plebiscite area. He aggressively agitated on the Polish issue, and fought against German frauds, to which British and Italian observers blinded.
After falsifying the results of the plebiscite, he became dictator of the 3rd Silesian Uprising. any of his decisions were controversial, but yet the upheaval ended with a considerable success and the displacement of German forces to the west. He called for military assistance with the warden of the state Józef Piłsudski, but did not receive it. This became 1 of the reasons for the long - word dislike of both politicians. Since 1922, Korfanty has sat in the Polish parliament for Christian Democracy.
He served as Prime Minister for respective days, but strong opposition of the PPS walsudczyks who threatened a nationwide strike against him decided not to effort to form a government.
After the May bombing, he became 1 of the leaders of the anti-sanctioned opposition, combating the socialist and dictatorial urges of the authorities. due to this he was repeatedly bullied and in 1930 arrested and imprisoned in the Brest fortress. Due to social prestige, he was excluded from the Brest Process and continued to be publically available, among others, by becoming an MP of the autonomous Silesian Sejm and Senator of the Second Republic of Poland. In 1935, he was threatened by another arrest, and he hid abroad.
He stayed in Czechoslovakia and France. Sanitational authorities did not let him to attend the ceremony of his boy – Witold. In the second half of the 1930s he co-organised an emigration organization Front Morges. In the spring of 1939, in the face of an impending war, he returned to the country, planning to participate in his defense. He was arrested and thrown into prison – celebrated during planet War II – Pawiak. He was held under dense conditions and poisoned with arsenic, which soaked the walls of his cell. He died on 17 August 1939 as a consequence of gastrointestinal failure (mainly liver).
His ceremony took place on 20 August and gathered thousands of Polish patriots against the politics of the authorities. Of course, sanctimonious media have underestimated this event.
Previous entry from our calendar is available Here.
