Józef Piłsudski

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Józef Piłsudski Monument by Czesław Dźwigaj, 2008
Józefa Piłsudskiego
Kraków, September 2018

“The idea to commemorate the statesman with a proper memorial was actually first put forward that same year, 1922. As it happened, the project was put on hold to focus on building the Józef Piłsudski House (al. 3 Maja 7), a commemorative modernist structure located on the spot from which the First Cadre Company, mobilised by Piłsudski, set out for Russia at the start of WWI. The building was completed in 1935, but before long WWII broke out in Europe and the memorial was delayed even more; by the time the war ended and the new communist government took over, any positive mention of Piłsudski was a no-no due to his anti-Russian and anti-communist views. All the while, pro-Piłsudski sentiment brewed among the Polish populace, and the fall of communism brought a renewed surge of commemorative efforts. Since 1989, two characters have started dominating the landscape, with monuments popping up left and right: our man Piłsudski and Pope John Paul II. This three-part statue, fittingly located on Piłsudski Street, was unveiled in 2008 thanks to the efforts of the local Marksmen’s Society, an organisation dating back to the 13th or 14th century, when their primary purpose was training civilians to be able to defend the city walls. Created by Czesław Dźwigaj, also responsible for churning out nearly fifty Pope John Paul II’s, the monument portrays a tall and intimidatingly mustachioed Piłsudski watching over four Polish Legions soldiers - apparently plagiarized from an earlier work by Jan Raszka. An 8.5m flag mast, wrapped with laurel foliage, completes the memorial.” (Józef Piłsudski Monument, In Your Pocket)