Stefan Czarniecki: Difference between revisions
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==Stefan Czarniecki in Jewish history== |
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During the war with the Swedes, Stefan Czarniecki's army devastated many Jewish communities in [[Poland]]. Thousands of the Jews were killed under pretext of being friendly to the Swedes [http://62.0.35.69/il4u/history/kandel/1-11.html], [http://www.eleven.co.il/article/13274]. 200 Jews have been killed in [[Kobylin]]; 100 in [[Mezhirich]]; 100 in [[Września]], 300 in [[Łęczyca]]; 600 in [[Kalisz]], hundreds of Jewish families were exterminated in Cracow [http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=954&letter=C], about 50 families were massacred in [[Ciechanów]] <ref name="Spector">Shmuel Spector, Geoffrey Wigoder ''The Encyclopedia of Jewish Life Before and During the Holocaust'', NYU Press, 2001, p. 259 </ref> . Also Czarniecki troops perpetrated anti-Jewish [[pogroms]] in [[Inowrocław]], <ref name="Spector549">Spector, Widoger, p. 549</ref> and [[Sandomierz]] <ref name=" Kowalski">Waldemar Kowalski, Jadwiga Muszyńska ''Żydzi wśród chrześcijan w dobie szlacheckiej Rzeczypospolitej'', Kieleckie Towarzystwo Naukowe, Wyższa Szkoła Pedagogiczna w Kielcach, Instytut Historii, 1996, p. 212 </ref> Jewish chronicles of that time reffered to Czarniecki as "The Villain" and "The Butcher of Greater Poland" [http://62.0.35.69/il4u/history/kandel/1-11.html], [http://www.eleven.co.il/article/13274]. |
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Revision as of 19:01, 10 December 2007
| Stefan Czarniecki | ||
 | ||
| Noble Family | Czarniecki | |
| Coat of Arms |
| |
| Parents | Krzysztof Czarniecki & Krystyna Rzeszowska | |
| Consorts | Zofia Kobierzycka | |
| Children | Aleksandra Katarzyna (married Jan Klemens Branicki)
Konstancja Joanna (married Wacław Leszczyński) | |
| Date of Birth | 1599 | |
| Place of Birth | Czarnca, Poland | |
| Date of Death | February 16, 1665 | |
| Place of Death | Sokołówka, Poland | |
Stefan Czarniecki or Stefan Łodzia de Czarnca Czarniecki (1599-February 16 1665) Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth general and nobleman. Field Hetman of the Crown of the Polish Kingdom. He was a military commander, regarded as Polish national hero. His status in Polish history is acknowledged by a mention of his name in the Polish national anthem.
Biography
Stefan Czarniecki was born in 1599 in family estate of Czarnca by Włoszczowa in southern Poland in an impoverished szlachta family.
He learnt the art of war serving with the Lisowczycy mercenaries in 1610s. Already an officer at the age of eighteen, he took part in the battle of Chocim (Khotyn) in 1621, where the Commonwealth army stopped the Ottomans and ended the Polish-Ottoman War (1620–1621).
Later he served under hetman Stanisław Koniecpolski in the campaigns against the Tatars in 1624 (battle of Martynów), and later against Gustavus Adolphus (1626-1629) (part of the Polish-Swedish War), and under Władysław IV in the Smolensk War against Muscovy in 1632-1634. In 1637 he fought against the rebellious Cossacks under Paweł Pawluk (battle of Kumejki). In 1644 under Koniecpolski he took part in the battle of Ochmatów where Commonwealth forces dealt a crushing defeat to Toğay bey's (Tuhaj Bej) Tatars.
On the May 16 1648 he was one of the many noble Polish prisoners who fell into the hands of Bohdan Chmielnicki at the battle of Yellow Waters and was sent in chains to the Crimea, whence he was ransomed in 1649. He took an active part in the battles against the Cossacks in the Chmielnicki Uprising. He fought at the Battle of Beresteczko of 1651 as well as att the Battle of Batoh (1652). During the latter he narrowly escaped death, after Commonwealth forces were defeated. Reportedly hidden in a haystack, he witnessed the massacre of several thousand Poles at the hands of the Tartars; this experience made him believe that no comprosmie with enemies of the Commonwealth is possible.
When Charles X of Sweden invaded Poland in 1655, Czarniecki distinguished himself by his defence of Kraków. He led guerrilla warfare against Swedish troops of Charles X, and his guerilla-type warfare proved to be a very effective measure against the huge firepower and extreme mobility of the Swedish forces. Czarniecki inflicted serious defeats upon the Swedes, notably at Jaroslaw and at Kozienice in 1656. Under his direction the popular rising against the Swedish troops ultimately proved successful. Czarniecki brought King John II Casimir of Poland back from exile and enabled him to regain his lost kingdom. It was against his advice that the Battle of Warsaw was fought, and his subsequent strategy neutralized the ill effects of this defeat.
On the retirement of the Swedes from Kraków and Warsaw, and the conclusion of the treaty of Copenhagen with the Danes, he commanded the army corps sent to drive the troops of Charles X out of Jutland and contributed to the ultimate success of the Allies. On the conclusion of the Peace of Oliwa, which adjusted the long outstanding differences between Poland and Sweden, Czarniecki was transferred to the eastern frontier where the war with Russia was still raging. In the campaign of 1660 he won the victories of Połonka and Lachowicza and penetrated to the heart of the enemy's country.
In 1661, Polish Parliament (Sejm) publicly thanked him for his services; the King John II Casimir heaped honours and riches upon him, and in 1665 he was appointed Field Hetman of the Crown (of Poland), but died on 16 February 1665, six weeks after receiving this supreme distinction.
Czarniecki is regarded as one of the most famous of Poland's captains, and to him belongs the chief merit of extricating her from the difficulties which threatened to overwhelm her during the reign of John Casimir.
He is interred in the tomb chapel of the church founded by him in Czarnca.
Stefan Czarniecki in Jewish history
During the war with the Swedes, Stefan Czarniecki's army devastated many Jewish communities in Poland. Thousands of the Jews were killed under pretext of being friendly to the Swedes [1], [2]. 200 Jews have been killed in Kobylin; 100 in Mezhirich; 100 in Września, 300 in Łęczyca; 600 in Kalisz, hundreds of Jewish families were exterminated in Cracow [3], about 50 families were massacred in Ciechanów [1] . Also Czarniecki troops perpetrated anti-Jewish pogroms in Inowrocław, [2] and Sandomierz [3] Jewish chronicles of that time reffered to Czarniecki as "The Villain" and "The Butcher of Greater Poland" [4], [5].
Legacy
Czarniecki is remembered as one of the most able Polish commanders of all times. His pursuit of the retreating Swedes to Pomerania and Denmark (1658-1659), particularly his crossing with his entire army to the Danish isle of Alsen, was commemorated in the Polish national anthem, the "Dąbrowski's Mazurka", with the words:
3rd strophe
| Jak Czarniecki do Poznania | As Czarniecki to Poznań |
| Po szwedzkim zaborze, | After the Swedish occupation, |
| Dla ojczyzny ratowania | To save our country |
| Wrócim się przez morze. | We will return across the sea. |
References
- This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
{{cite encyclopedia}}: Missing or empty|title=(help)
- ^ Shmuel Spector, Geoffrey Wigoder The Encyclopedia of Jewish Life Before and During the Holocaust, NYU Press, 2001, p. 259
- ^ Spector, Widoger, p. 549
- ^ Waldemar Kowalski, Jadwiga Muszyńska Żydzi wśród chrześcijan w dobie szlacheckiej Rzeczypospolitej, Kieleckie Towarzystwo Naukowe, Wyższa Szkoła Pedagogiczna w Kielcach, Instytut Historii, 1996, p. 212
External links
- Stefan Czarniecki (1599-1665) - biography at Poland.gov.pl
- THE MEMOIR OF STEFAN CZARNIECKI by Witold Gombrowicz. Translated from the Polish by Christopher Makosa]
Further reading
- Adam Kersten, Stefan Czarniecki 1599-1665, I ed. Warszawa 1963, II ed. Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Marii Curie-Skłodowskiej, Lublin 2005, ISBN 8322725450
- Waldemar Kowalski, Stefan Czarniecki: zonierz, Obywatel, Polityk, Kieleckie Towarzystwo Naukowe, 1999, ISBN 8386006285
- Leszek Podhorodecki, Stefan Czarniecki, I ed. Warszawa, Książka i Wiedza, 1966, II ed. Warszawa, Wydawn. MADA, 1998, ISBN 8386170360
- Zdzisław Spieralski, Stefan Czarniecki, 1604-1665, Warszawa, Wydawn. Ministerstwa Obrony Narodowej, 1974
- Historya Stefana na Czarncy Czanieckiego Wojewody kijowskiego hetmana polnego koronnego przez Ks. Michała Krajewskiego s.p.
- Hetmani Rzeczypospolitej Obojga Narodów, Warsaw, Bellona, 1994, ISBN 83-11-08275-8.