January 1863 Insurrection Zebrowski

Powstanie Styczniowe, by Leszek Zebrowski (ed.) 2013

Includes Little-Known Facts on the Poles’ January 1863 Insurrection

The introduction, written by historian Leszek Zebrowski, is packed with more information than many books on this subject. Let us look at some of it.

SCOPE OF THE JANUARY 1863 INSURRECTION

Approximately 200,000 Polish combatants and conspirators took part. There were approximately 1,229 battles and combat encounters with the tsarist Russian forces. Of those that took part outside so-called Congress Poland, about 200 took place in the Wilno (Vilnius) area, and a few tens of them took place in Ukraine (where there were large settlements of Poles).

Poland’s defeat did not dampen the insurgents’ appetite for continuing the fight the Russian oppressor. The insurgents, exiled to Siberia, began a new 700-man insurrection in June of 1866–the Zabaikal Uprising. Owing to a shortage of arms, it was quickly put down.

FOR YOUR FREEDOM AND OURS–IN REVERSE

Volunteers from other nations came to Poland to fight for Poland’s freedom. The largest group was the Italians, organized by Menotti, the son of Giuseppe Garibaldi. There were also Russians (enemies of the tsar), French, and Germans.

MARTYRS FOR POLISH FREEDOM

About 30,000 Polish insurgents fell in combat, and about another 1,000 were murdered by the Russians after court sentences. Of these, approximately 200 fell victim to “hangman” Muraviev (Muravyov). Around 38,000 captured insurgents were sent to Siberia, and about 10,000 insurgents managed to flee Russian-reoccupied Poland.

The tsarist authorities, on August 5, 1864, hung the following Insurgent leaders at the Warsaw Citadel: Romuald Traugutt, Roman Zulinski, Jozef Toczynski, Rafal Krajewski, and Jan Jezioranski.

The longest Polish combat, in the January 1863 Insurrection, was conducted by a Polish insurgent division led by the priest Stanislaw Brzoski in the Podlasie region. His unit held off the Russians until the end of December 1864. The Russians hanged Father Brzoski on May 23, 1865.

THE RUSSIAN VENDETTA CONTINUES

In retaliation for the Polish defiance that was embodied by the January Insurrection, the tsarist authorities closed Catholic seminaries, and confiscated 1,660 Polish landed estates, awarding them to tsarist officials and military offices. [Zebrowki does not go far enough. He does not tell the reader how many of these tsarist-confiscated estates went to the Jews, causing their unjust enrichment at the expense of the Poles. This old injustice could demand a Polish property restitution counterclaim, from today’s Jews in general, and from the Holocaust Industry in particular.]

POLAND FINALLY REGAINS HER INDEPENDENCE BUT NOT FOR ANOTHER HALF-CENTURY

A number of January 1863 insurgents lived to see Poland free again in 1918. [In 2018, Poles celebrated the 100th anniversary of Poland’s independence.]

In December 1919, 3,644 insurgents were still alive. These veterans were given medals, and wore special purple uniforms. In 1930, 365 veterans were awarded the Cross of Independence.

The last veteran of the January 1863 Insurrection, Feliks Bartczak, died in 1946 at the age of 100.