Henryk Jan Józewski (

Kyiv Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

, August 6, 1892 - April 23, 1981,

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

) was a Polish

visual artist The visual arts are art forms such as painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics (art), ceramics, photography, video, image, filmmaking, design, crafts, and architecture. Many artistic disciplines such as performing arts, conceptual a ...

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

, a member of government of the

Ukrainian People's Republic The Ukrainian People's Republic (UPR) was a short-lived state in Eastern Europe. Prior to its proclamation, the Central Council of Ukraine was elected in March 1917 Ukraine after the Russian Revolution, as a result of the February Revolution, ...

, later an administrator during the

Second Polish Republic The Second Polish Republic, at the time officially known as the Republic of Poland, was a country in Central and Eastern Europe that existed between 7 October 1918 and 6 October 1939. The state was established in the final stage of World War I ...

. A member of

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Polish people, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken * Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin ...

independence Independence is a condition of a nation, country, or state, in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the status of ...

organizations, during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

he joined the

Polish Military Organization The Polish Military Organisation, PMO (, POW) was a secret military organization that was formed during World War I (1914–1918). Józef Piłsudski founded the group in August 1914. It adopted the name ''POW'' in November 1914 and aimed to gathe ...

(''Polska Organizacja Wojskowa''). An advocate of Polish-Ukrainian alliance and a friend of

Symon Petlura Symon Vasyliovych Petliura (; – 25 May 1926) was a Ukrainian politician and journalist. He was the Supreme Commander of the Ukrainian People's Army (UNA) and led the Ukrainian People's Republic during the Ukrainian War of Independence, a pa ...

, in 1920 he served as a member of the government of the

. Józewski supported

Józef Piłsudski Józef Klemens Piłsudski (; 5 December 1867 – 12 May 1935) was a Polish statesman who served as the Chief of State (Poland), Chief of State (1918–1922) and first Marshal of Poland (from 1920). In the aftermath of World War I, he beca ...

's May 1926 ''coup d'état''. He served as Polish Minister of Internal Affairs twice in 1929-30; as

voivode Voivode ( ), also spelled voivod, voievod or voevod and also known as vaivode ( ), voivoda, vojvoda, vaivada or wojewoda, is a title denoting a military leader or warlord in Central, Southeastern and Eastern Europe in use since the Early Mid ...

of Volhynian Voivodeship (1928–38); and as voivode of

Łódź Voivodeship Łódź Voivodeship ( ) is a Voivodeships of Poland, voivodeship (province) of Poland. The province is named after its capital and largest city, Łódź, pronounced . Łódź Voivodeship is bordered by six other voivodeships: Masovian Voivodeship ...

(1938–1939). As voivode of Wołyń, a region with a large Ukrainian minority, he advocated increased Ukrainian autonomy. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Józewski served in the Polish resistance. Later he joined the

anti-communist Anti-communism is political and ideological opposition to communist beliefs, groups, and individuals. Organized anti-communism developed after the 1917 October Revolution in Russia, and it reached global dimensions during the Cold War, when th ...

resistance and in 1953 was arrested by the Security Service. Released during the

Polish October The Polish October ( ), also known as the Polish thaw or Gomułka's thaw, also "small stabilization" () was a change in the politics of the Polish People's Republic that occurred in October 1956. Władysław Gomułka was appointed First Secretar ...

thaw in 1956, he resumed

painting Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...

Life

Early life

Born August 6, 1892, in

Kyiv Governorate Kiev Governorate was an administrative-territorial unit ('' guberniya'') of the Russian Empire (1796–1917), Ukrainian People's Republic (1917–18; 1918–1921), Ukrainian State (1918), and the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic (1919–1925 ...

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

, Józewski attended the city's schools, then studied mathematics and physics at the

University of Kyiv The Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv (; also known as Kyiv University, Shevchenko University, or KNU) is a public university in Kyiv, Ukraine. The university is the third-oldest university in Ukraine after the University of Lviv and ...

, graduating it in June 1914. He was active in Polish cultural and pro-independence organizations. In 1905, while in high school, he joined such an organization and became the leader of one of its sections. In 1910 he founded his own organization, ''Związek Młodzieży Postępowo-Niepodległościowej'' (Youth Association for Progress and Independence). In 1915 he joined the

(''Polska Organizacja Wojskowa'', or ''POW''), a precursor of

Polish intelligence Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Polish people, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken * Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin ...

, and soon became ''POW'' deputy commander in Kyiv. Arrested by authorities, he was freed right after the February 1917 Revolution. Soon, Henryk Józewski returned to Kyiv and resumed his activities with the ''POW'' once again. Around that time, Józewski also began his painting career and married a fellow ''POW'' activist named Julia. In 1919 he moved from Kyiv to

during the Polish-Soviet War. An advocate of the Polish-Ukrainian alliance, in April 1920 Józewski became deputy minister of internal affairs in the government of the

. During the Polish-Soviet War of 1919-21, he traveled with Petlura's Ukrainian government to Kyiv, later retreating with that government into exile in Polish

Tarnów Tarnów () is a city in southeastern Poland with 105,922 inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of 269,000 inhabitants. The city is situated in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship. It is a major rail junction, located on the strategic east– ...

. At war's end, with the

Treaty of Riga The Treaty of Riga was signed in Riga, Latvia, on between Poland on one side and Soviet Russia (acting also on behalf of Soviet Belarus) and Soviet Ukraine on the other, ending the Polish–Soviet War (1919–1921). The chief negotiators of ...

having ended Piłsudski's hopes for a

Międzymorze Intermarium (, ) was a post-World War I geopolitical plan conceived by Józef Piłsudski to unite former Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth lands within a single polity. The plan went through several iterations, some of which anticipated the inclusi ...

federation and an independent, pro-Polish

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

, Józewski returned to Warsaw, where he resumed his artistic career. He was a friend of novelist Maria Dąbrowska and of many of the

Skamander Skamander was a Polish group of experimental poetry, poets founded in 1918 by Julian Tuwim, Antoni Słonimski, Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz, Kazimierz Wierzyński and Jan Lechoń. Initially unnamed, in December 1919 it adopted the name ''Skamander'' ...

poets. He also actively supported Petlura, whom he considered a friend and mentor; when the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

requested Petlura's

extradition In an extradition, one Jurisdiction (area), jurisdiction delivers a person Suspect, accused or Conviction, convicted of committing a crime in another jurisdiction, into the custody of the other's law enforcement. It is a cooperative law enforc ...

, Józewski engineered his "disappearance," secretly moving him from Tarnów to his own Warsaw apartment. Petlura would eventually leave Poland in December 1923.

In Polish government

Józewski actively supported

's May 1926 ''Coup d'État''. In its aftermath he returned to politics, in August 1927 becoming a member of the government. In December 1928, he became

of Wołyń Voivodship. From December 29, 1929, to March 17, 1930, and again from March 29, 1930, to June 3, 1930, he served as

Minister of Internal Affairs An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...

, then resumed his post as voivode of Wołyń. In 1923 he was decorated with the ''

Virtuti Militari The War Order of Virtuti Militari (Latin: ''"For Military Virtue"'', ) is Poland's highest military decoration for heroism and courage in the face of the enemy at war. It was established in 1792 by the last King of Poland Stanislaus II of Poland, ...

'', and in 1929 with the ''

Polonia Restituta The Order of Polonia Restituta (, ) is a Polish state order established 4 February 1921. It is conferred on both military and civilians as well as on foreigners for outstanding achievements in the fields of education, science, sport, culture, ...

''. As voivode of Wołyń, where Ukrainians formed the majority of the population, Józewski concentrated on improving relations between the Polish government and Poland's Ukrainian minority. He advocated a broad

autonomy In developmental psychology and moral, political, and bioethical philosophy, autonomy is the capacity to make an informed, uncoerced decision. Autonomous organizations or institutions are independent or self-governing. Autonomy can also be ...

for Ukrainian self-governance, promoted Ukrainians to administrative posts, and sought to ensure their fair representation in the government. His administration included many former activists of the

. During his governing period, in

Wolyn Voivodeship Volhynia or Volynia ( ; see below) is a historic region in Central and Eastern Europe, between southeastern Poland, southwestern Belarus, and northwestern Ukraine. The borders of the region are not clearly defined, but in Ukraine it is roughly ...

was established the Volhynian Ukrainian Association, a member of which was

Mstyslav (Skrypnyk) Patriarch Mstyslav, secular name Stepan Ivanovych Skrypnyk (10 April 1898 – 11 June 1993), was a History of Christianity in Ukraine, Ukrainian Orthodox Church hierarch. He was a nephew of Symon Petliura. Biography Born in Poltava (Rus ...

. Józewski fostered Ukrainian and Polish-Ukrainian organizations. In education, he supported the teaching of the

Ukrainian language Ukrainian (, ) is an East Slavic languages, East Slavic language, spoken primarily in Ukraine. It is the first language, first (native) language of a large majority of Ukrainians. Written Ukrainian uses the Ukrainian alphabet, a variant of t ...

and argued for the introduction of Ukrainian as the local

official language An official language is defined by the Cambridge English Dictionary as, "the language or one of the languages that is accepted by a country's government, is taught in schools, used in the courts of law, etc." Depending on the decree, establishmen ...

. As Piłsudski, Józewski espoused a multicultural and multinational view. In Józewski's eyes, the modernization led by the Polish state would lead to a multinational province. He declared that the Ukrainian national movement must choose between Poland and the

. He opposed Soviet influences over Poland's Ukrainians and criticized certain Ukrainian organizations that he viewed as too Soviet-dependent or too extremist (e.g. ''

Prosvita Prosvita (), since 1991 officially known as All-Ukrainian Prosvita Society named after Taras Shevchenko () is an enlightenment society aimed to preserve and develop Ukrainian culture, education and science, that was created in the nineteenth cen ...

''). However, due to the economic state of Poland during the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

, local leaders were not replaced, so Ukrainian organizations were taken over by the state, but mostly run at a local level by the same people. His efforts were greatly feared by

Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...

, who was fearful that Wołyń would end up as a

Piedmont Piedmont ( ; ; ) is one of the 20 regions of Italy, located in the northwest Italy, Northwest of the country. It borders the Liguria region to the south, the Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna regions to the east, and the Aosta Valley region to the ...

Ukrainian nationalism Ukrainian nationalism (, ) is the promotion of the unity of Ukrainians as a people and the promotion of the identity of Ukraine as a nation state. The origins of modern Ukrainian nationalism emerge during the Khmelnytsky Uprising, Cossack upri ...

and engulf

Soviet Ukraine The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, abbreviated as the Ukrainian SSR, UkrSSR, and also known as Soviet Ukraine or just Ukraine, was one of the constituent republics of the Soviet Union from 1922 until 1991. Under the Soviet one-party m ...

. After the 1935, death of Piłsudski, who had also favored finding peaceful solutions to the minorities problem, Józewski's influence waned, particularly as the National Democrats — much less open to treating with the minorities — gained sway in Polish politics. Józewski faced growing criticism from some quarters for allegedly being too Ukrainophilic. Finally, in 1938, he was moved to the office of voivode of

, which had essentially no Ukrainian population.

Resistance fighter

With the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

invasion of Poland in September 1939, Józewski quickly — that October — became involved in forming a

resistance movement A resistance movement is an organized group of people that tries to resist or try to overthrow a government or an occupying power, causing disruption and unrest in civil order and stability. Such a movement may seek to achieve its goals through ei ...

. He was a member of the high command of '' Służba Zwycięstwu Polski'' (Service for Poland's Victory) and later became Warsaw commandant of ''

Związek Walki Zbrojnej The Union of Armed StruggleThus rendered in Norman Davies, ''God's Playground: A History of Poland'', vol. II, p. 464. (; ZWZ), also translated as the Union for Armed Struggle, Association of Armed Struggle, and Association for Armed Struggle ...

'' (Association for Armed Struggle), which in 1942 was transformed into ''

Armia Krajowa The Home Army (, ; abbreviated AK) was the dominant resistance movement in German-occupied Poland during World War II. The Home Army was formed in February 1942 from the earlier Związek Walki Zbrojnej (Armed Resistance) established in the ...

'' (the Home Army). He co-founded the underground Polish weekly, ''

Biuletyn Informacyjny ''Biuletyn Informacyjny'' ("Information Bulletin") was a Polish underground weekly published covertly in General Government territory of occupied Poland during World War II. The magazine was edited by Aleksander Kamiński and distributed as the ...

'' (Information Bulletin), edited another underground publication, '' Polska Walczy'' (Poland Fights), and was one of the chief Polish underground publicists of the time. With the westward advance of the Eastern Front and the end of the German

occupation of Poland Occupation commonly refers to: *Occupation (human activity), or job, one's role in society, often a regular activity performed for payment *Occupation (protest), political demonstration by holding public or symbolic spaces *Military occupation, th ...

, Józewski joined the anti-communist resistance in Poland. Rather than himself becoming an anti-communist underground soldier, he continued as an underground publicist, writing and distributing anti-communist and anti-Soviet works. He evaded the Soviet

NKVD The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (, ), abbreviated as NKVD (; ), was the interior ministry and secret police of the Soviet Union from 1934 to 1946. The agency was formed to succeed the Joint State Political Directorate (OGPU) se ...

and its counterpart, the

Ministry of Public Security of Poland The Ministry of Public Security (), was the secret police, intelligence and counter-espionage agency operating in the Polish People's Republic. From 1945 to 1954 it was known as the Security Office (, UB), and from 1956 to 1990 as the Security ...

, but was arrested in March 1953. In September 1953 four scripts of Józewski prison memoirs had emerged, which he had written during his

interrogation Interrogation (also called questioning) is interviewing as commonly employed by law enforcement officers, military personnel, intelligence agencies, organized crime syndicates, and terrorist organizations with the goal of eliciting useful informa ...

. The official interrogation protocols document that the communist state security apparatus invested time and resources in the cross-questioning of Józewski. Charged with criminal, counter-revolutionary and anti-state activities, he was given a

life sentence Life imprisonment is any sentence of imprisonment under which the convicted individual is to remain incarcerated for the rest of their natural life (or until pardoned or commuted to a fixed term). Crimes that result in life imprisonment are c ...

. During the

thaw of 1956, Józewski's sentence was reduced to 12 years, and eventually he was released from prison due to poor health. His sentence was further reduced to 5 years and finally vacated.

Last years

Józewski resumed painting, mainly

landscape A landscape is the visible features of an area of land, its landforms, and how they integrate with natural or human-made features, often considered in terms of their aesthetic appeal.''New Oxford American Dictionary''. A landscape includes th ...

s and

portrait A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face is always predominant. In arts, a portrait may be represented as half body and even full body. If the subject in full body better r ...

s. In 1958 he joined the Polish Association of Painters. Several of his paintings are displayed at the

National Museum, Warsaw The National Museum in Warsaw (, MNW) is a national museum in Warsaw, one of the largest museums in Poland and the largest in the capital. It comprises a rich collection of ancient art (Art of ancient Egypt, Egyptian, Art in ancient Greece, Greek, ...

. He died on April 23, 1981, and is buried at

Powązki Cemetery Powązki Cemetery (; ), also known as Stare Powązki (), is a historic necropolis located in Wola district, in the western part of Warsaw, Poland. It is the most famous cemetery in the city and one of the oldest, having been established in 179 ...

. He was married in 1919 to Julia née Bolewska (1892–1939), artist-painter, liaison POW; the couple had no children.

Political legacy

Ukrainian

historiography Historiography is the study of the methods used by historians in developing history as an academic discipline. By extension, the term ":wikt:historiography, historiography" is any body of historical work on a particular subject. The historiog ...

does not regard Józewski as heroic figure, few Ukrainian historians have favorably considered the so called ''Polish compromisers'', including Józewski. In

Polish nationalism Polish nationalism () is a nationalism which asserts that the Polish people are a nation and which affirms the cultural unity of Poles. British historian of Poland Norman Davies defines nationalism as "a doctrine ... to create a nation by arous ...

a resistance to Józewski's policy of national concession was entrenched from the outset. In the

interwar period In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period, also known as the interbellum (), lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days) – from the end of World War I (WWI) to the beginning of World War II ( ...

Józewski was despised by Poles of the Right.

Honours and awards

Józewski Henry was awarded the Silver Cross of the

(1923), Cross of Independence with Swords and the Commander's Cross of the

Order of Polonia Restituta The Order of Polonia Restituta (, ) is a Polish state decoration, state Order (decoration), order established 4 February 1921. It is conferred on both military and civilians as well as on alien (law), foreigners for outstanding achievements in ...

(1929).

Notes

References

* Henryk Józewski, "''Zamiast pamiętnika''" ("In Lieu of a Memoir"), '' Zeszyty Historyczne'', no. LX, Paris, 1982. * Marek Gałęzowski, "''Henryk Józewski 'Olgierd", '' Zeszyty Historyczne'', no. 150, Paris, 2004, pp. 97–128. Also included is an extensive bibliography on Józewski. * Sebastian Szajdak, ''Polsko-ukraiński sojusz polityczno-wojskowy w 1920 roku'' (The Polish-Ukrainian Political-Military Alliance of 1920), Warsaw, ''Rytm'', 2006, . *

Timothy Snyder Timothy David Snyder (born August 18, 1969) is an American historian specializing in the history of Central Europe, Central and Eastern Europe, the Soviet Union, and the Holocaust. He is on leave from his position as the Richard C. Levin, Richar ...

, ''Sketches from a Secret War: A Polish Artist's Mission to Liberate Soviet Ukraine'',

Yale University Press Yale University Press is the university press of Yale University. It was founded in 1908 by George Parmly Day and Clarence Day, grandsons of Benjamin Day, and became a department of Yale University in 1961, but it remains financially and ope ...

, 2005, . * Antony Polonsky, ''Politics in Independent Poland, 1921-1939'',

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...

, 1972. {{DEFAULTSORT:Jozewski, Henryk 1892 births 1981 deaths Artists from Kyiv People from Kievsky Uyezd People from the Russian Empire of Polish descent Sanacja politicians Interior ministers of Poland Voivodes of Wołyń Voivodeship (1921–1939) 20th-century Polish painters 20th-century Polish male artists Polish prisoners and detainees Polish nationalists Polish Military Organisation members People of the Polish May Coup (pro-Piłsudski side) Home Army members People detained by the Polish Ministry of Public Security Poland–Ukraine relations Recipients of the Silver Cross of the Virtuti Militari Commanders of the Order of Polonia Restituta Recipients of the Cross of Independence with Swords Burials at Powązki Cemetery Polish male painters Politicians from Kyiv 20th-century Ukrainian politicians