KWAPIŃSKI- MY MEMORIES 1904-1939 Paris 1965 Bloody Wednesday August 15, 1906

KWAPIŃSKI Jan

MY RECOLLECTIONS

1904-1939

Paris 1965, Polish Bookstore in Paris, pp. 292 [3], format 14x21.5cm

"Jan Kwapinski (1885-1964). Owned by Piotr Edmund Chalupka, PS. Kacper, Stanislaw. PPS activist, from 1906 in the PPS-Revolutionary Faction, imprisoned by the Russian authorities; 1920-1939 member of the PPS Central Committee; 1919-1939 co-founder and chairman of the General Assembly of the Trade Union of Agricultural Workers; 1922-1939 chairman of the Central Committee of Trade Unions; 1922-1930 member of the Sejm; 1929-1930 co-organizer of the Centrolew; 1940-1941 prisoner of the NKVD; minister and deputy prime minister (1943-1944) of the government in exile in London; since 1945 member of the Central Party Council and the Central Foreign Committee of the PPS."

"Jan Kwapinski wrote a lot. In addition to articles printed in the party and trade union press, he separately published several volumes of memoirs. Among them: "Combat Organization. Katorga. The Russian Revolution" (Warsaw 1928); "Under Rogov. Ze wspomnień bojowca" (Warsaw 1922, 1938). The émigré edition "1939-1945: Cards from a Diary" (London 1947) should also be mentioned. In view of the rifts, frictions and internal quarrels of the Polish political emigration, the publication met with a controversial reception. He became famous, albeit posthumously, for his very special memoir "Moje wspomnienia" 1904-1939, published by the Polish Bookstore in Paris in 1965, where he included unique accounts of events in which he participated. There, among other things, was an account of "Bloody Wednesday," which took place in Lodz on August 15, 1906. Here is its relevant excerpt: In Lodz, "Bloody Wednesday" began at 6 o'clock in the evening. The hour was late, as in Warsaw and other cities it started in the morning. The police authorities, fearing a massacre of police at the stations, withdrew the police at 12 noon, replacing them with the army. The Combat Organization, in the absence of police and gendarmes, attacked the Cossacks. The shootout lasted about three hours. Panic among the authorities was immense. The detachment that carried out the assault on the circus numbered 22 men. The assault was precisely worked out; the assembly was in the "Tivoli" park, from there the whole squad walked in such a way as to be on time at 6 o'clock. At the moment of approaching the circus from Wólczanska Street, a Cossack patrol came out to meet the fighters. As soon as the patrol appeared, the eyes of all the fighters turned towards the commander of the unit, Comrade "Henryk". Sekhkovsky gave his unit a glance, gave the sign "attention," and took out a trumpet from his pocket, giving the signal to attack. In the blink of an eye, according to a premeditated plan, the fighters threw themselves into the circus, signals sounded and after a moment three bombs exploded. While 18 comrades were presuming an assault to the circular, Comrade "Henry" with 4 fighters rushed at the Cossacks. One Cossack was mortally wounded, the rest fled." source: levicowo.pl

SOFTCOVER BOOKLET

BDB condition/ piece uncut