okladka

Vol. 38 No. 2 (2021)

ISSN:
1427-7476

Section: Varia

The First Two Years at the Wawel Castle. The Origin of the Conflict Over Marshal Józef Piłsudski's Coffin (1935-1937)

Marek Sioma

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4222-7719

Maria Curie-Skłodowska University in Lublin

Remembrance and Justice, Vol. 38 No. 2 (2021), pages: 322-346

Publication date: 2021-12-30

https://doi.org/10.48261/pis213818

Abstract

The death of Poland’s First Marshal was used by his adherents for political purposes. Piłsudski’s funeral ceremonies constituted an unprecedented and symbolic event aimed at highlighting his greatness and merits and portraying him as one of Poland’s most distinguished citizens. The ceremonies continued for a few days (and the national mourning for six weeks). The Chief Committee for the Remembrance of Marshal Józef Piłsudski was set up with a view to honouring the Marshal and his deeds. The Committee’s efforts were coordinated by the Executive Department (the WWNK), whose main task was to make sure that the coffin with Piłsudski would be deposited in the crypt under the Tower of the Silver Bells. Because of the scope of work to be carried out in the Wawel Cathedral, constituting property of the Catholic Church, the task was extremely difficult to carry out. It did not take long before it became clear that the goals pursued by both sides (secular and ecclesiastical one) were significantly different. The divergence of opinions led to the conflict that broke out almost immediately after Piłsudski’s body had been deposited in the coffin, and continued until 1937. This article deals with the origin of the conflict which has so far received little attention from scholars, who have focused mainly on the events which, taking place in June and July 1937, formed the most important part of it. Analysis of the source material has enabled the reconstruction of the events from 1935–1937, thus ensuring the possibility of looking at the issue from a new perspective and explaining the reasons for the escalation of the dispute over Piłsudski’s coffin. As shown in the article, the irresponsibility of Piłsudski’s adherents on the one hand, and Archbishop Sapieha’s obstinacy on the other, led to one of the greatest social crises in the inter-war Poland. The author takes his account to 23 June 1937, that is, to the point where the conflict got out of the cabinets of those directly involved in it and became a public issue. The author’s aim in this article was also to reproduce the whole process leading to the outbreak of the conflict in 1937, and to show the role played in it by particular individuals whose behaviour and attitude created a situation in which none of the sides felt responsible for the conflict’s outbreak and none was prepared to make any concessions. The conflict was brought to an end after months of efforts involving the President of the Polish Republic and both Polish and Vatican diplomacies. It is hard to say how it affected the public. It certainly affected the way in which Archbishop Sapieha was perceived. Suffice it say that some demanded that he should be imprisoned in the Bereza Kartuska prison.

Codex Iuris Canonici PII X Ponticfiis Maximi iussu digestus Benedicti Papae XV auctoritate promulgatus, 1917, p. II, p. 344, [in:] https://www.pbc.rzeszow.pl/dlibra/publication/19164/edition/17423/content?ref=desc [accessed 30 VI 2021].

Pro memoria abpa A.S. Sapiehy o „koniflkcie wawelskim” [in:] Księga sapieżyńska, vol. II, ed. J. Wolny and R. Zawadzki, Cracow 1986.

Jędrzejewicz W., Kronika życia Józefa Piłsudskiego 1867-1935, vol. II: 1921-1935, London 1977.

Konkurs na sarkofag J. Piłsudskiego na Wawelu [Warsaw, 25 XI 1936].

Piłsudska A., Wspomnienia, ed. A. Adamczyk, Warsaw 2004.

Eden A., Pamiętniki 1923-1938, vol. I: W obliczu dyktatorów, ed. S. Zabiełło, transl. J. Meysztowicz, Warsaw 1970.

Składkowski F.S., Strzępy meldunków, ed. A. Garlicki, Warsaw 1988.

Zamorski K.J., Dzienniki (1930-1938), eds. R. Litwiński i M. Sioma, Warsaw 2011.

Cichoracki P., Legenda i polityka. Kształtowanie się wizerunku marszałka Józefa Piłsudskiego w świadomości zbiorowej społeczeństwa polskiego w latach 1918-1939, Cracow 2005.

Czajowski J., Kardynał Adam Stefan Sapieha, Wrocław 1997.

Gałęzowski M., Przewoźnik Andrzej., Gdy Wódz odchodził w wieczność… Uroczystości żałobne po śmierci Marszałka Józefa Piłsudskiego 12-18 maja 1935 r., Warsaw 2005.

Garlicki A., Józef Piłsudski 1867-1935, Warsaw 1990.

Hein-Kircher H., Kult Piłsudskiego i jego znaczenie dla państwa polskiego 1926-1939, transl. Z. Owczarek, Warsaw 2008.

Kajzer P., Mauzoleum marszałka Józefa Piłsudskiego na Wawelu w latach 1935-1989, Cracow 2018.

Majchrowski J.M., Ulubieniec Cezara Bolesław Wieniawa-Długoszowski. Zarys biograifi, WrocławWarsaw-Cracow 1990.

Sioma M., Sławoj Felicjan Składkowski (1885-1962). Żołnierz i polityk, Lublin 2005.

Warszawski J., Studia nad wyznaniowością Józefa Piłsudskiego, London 1978.

Cichoracki P., Naczelny Komitet Uczczenia Pamięci Marszałka Józefa Piłsudskiego 1935-1939 - mechanizmy działania, „Dzieje Najnowsze” 2002, no. 4.

Mrowiński P.M., „Bo królom był równy…” Sprowadzenie szczątków Juliusza Słowackiego w 1927 roku jako dramat społeczny Victora Turnera, „Vade Nobiscum” 2019, vol. XXI.

Vetulani A., Arcypasterz krakowski na przełomie epok Adam Stefan Sapieha w latach 1912-1939, [in:] Kościół w II Rzeczypospolitej, ed. Z. Zieliński and S. Wilk, Lublin 1981.

Wolny J., Koniflkt wawelski , [in:] Księga sapieżyńska, vol. II: Działalność kościelna i narodowa Adama Stefana Sapiehy, eds. J. Wolny and R. Zawadzki, Cracow 1986.

Mozołowski S., O chorobie poprzedzającej zgon Marszałka Piłsudskiego, „Gazeta Polska”, nr 297, 26 X 1935.

Paryż o wizycie warszawskiej, „Gazeta Polska”, no. 129, 11 V 1935.

Sprawa emblematów dekoracyjnych krypty Marszałka Piłsudskiego. Oświadczenie gen. Wieniawy-Długoszowskiego, „Gazeta Polska”, no. 172, 23 VI 1937.

Stefanowski A. dr, Przebieg choroby Marszałka Józefa Piłsudskiego, „Gazeta Polska”, no. 297, 26 X 1935.

Zdumiewające zarządzenie ks. metropolity Sapiehy. Samowolna decyzja przeniesienia trumny Marszałka Piłsudskiego. Nieprzyjęta prośba o dymisję Rządu, „Gazeta Polska”, no. 173, 24 VI 1937.

https://audiovis.nac.gov.pl/obraz/23525/ec53fc9adabe15dc99e78d028a1fcd86/ [accessed 27 V 2020]

https://www.polskieradio.pl/130/5561/Artykul/1718247,Sarkofag-dla-marszalka-Jozefa-Pilsudskiego-Mamy-obowiazek-to-zrobic [accessed 27 V 20

License

Copyright (c) 2023 Pamięć i Sprawiedliwość

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0

okladka

Vol. 38 No. 2 (2021)

ISSN:
1427-7476

Data publikacji:
2021-12-30

Dział: Varia