Zdzisław Lubomirski

Prince Zdzisław Lubomirski ( born April 4, 1865 in Nizhny Novgorod, † July 31, 1943 on his noble estate in the district of Mala Wies Grójec, Mazovia ) was a Polish aristocrat from the noble family of the Lubomirski family, large landowners and politicians.

Life

His father Prince Jan Tadeusz (* September 24, 1826, † April 7, 1908 ), married to Mary Countess Zamoyska (* 1841, † 1922), was a member of the Polish underground government during the revolt of 1863 and was developed by the tsarist authorities to Nizhny Novgorod banished, where Zdzislaw was born as the eldest of six children. After returning to the Kingdom of Poland in 1865 Prince Jan Tadeusz developed large-scale activities as chairman of the Warsaw Society for charity, in banking, where he co-founded the Warsaw Kreditanstalt and the Commercial Bank, in economics as an explorer of the economic history of Poland and in the union movement, where he helped to found several artisan associations and unions ( the shoemaker, the tailor, the leather workers, etc. ). The capital city is indebted to him also the rescue of the town's landmark, the Sigismund's Column: The Russian authorities wanted to demolish the dilapidated monument in 1887 from the 17th century. Prince Jan Tadeusz organized a fundraiser in all three parts of Poland that could provide the necessary funds for a new column ( it survived until 1944 and was destroyed after the Warsaw Uprising of the SS, today in 1947 is thus the third ).

Prince Zdzislaw received his education in Krakow and Graz, where Dr. jur it. doctorate. He returned in 1892 returned to Warsaw, to manage the assets of the family. In 1893 he married Countess Maria Branicka († 1934), from his marriage had three children. After the death of his father, he took over his office as Chairman of the Benevolent Society and the Institute of Ophthalmology. In 1905 he founded, together with other moderate conservatives, like Count Krasinski and Prince Czetwertyński, a new political party, "National holding together ". Lubomirski, like his father, socially committed, participated in many congresses of the elementary school teacher and supported their movement financially.

On August 4, 1915, he received from the fleeing Russian authorities mandated to manage the capital of Poland and was confirmed immediately after the capture of the city on August 5 by the German troops of the new occupation authorities as Mayor of Warsaw. His behavior and his actions won him great popularity among the population of the capital and the country. Inter alia he succeeded in that decreed by the Governor General Hans von Beseler forced recruitment of Polish unemployment was abandoned for forced labor in Germany for Warsaw. He also obtained a better allocation of food for the Polish capital. They saw in him already the future head of state. Less popular was his subsequent commitment to the political work of the so-called activists, ie Trailer approaching the German Empire and Austria - Hungary, which wanted to create an alliance with these two powers Polish state. The activists were in the minority, as the National Democratic Party of Roman Dmowski had a large following in all three parts of Poland. 1917, after the establishment of the regency of the Kingdom of Poland was Prince Lubomirski one of the three regents and held this position until the dissolution of the Council of Regency on 14 November 1918. Beseler characterized him in a secret report to Emperor Wilhelm II (13 October 1917) as follows: " By tradition and his character Prince Lubomirski is in the anti- Russian camp, he is just as far away from the full loyalty to the Germans, as full of the. support for Poland's co-operation with the Central Powers ". In the final weeks of the reign kingdom Lubomirski played a significant role: he wrote on October 7, 1918 a call to the Council of Regency, who announced the creation of " an independent Polish state with access to the sea " and sworn a week later the "Polish Army " on the regency council, so that was deposed by General Beseler as commander.

For eight years, he remained away from political life until 1926, tried to mediate during the Marshal Józef Piłsudski Maiputsches, between him and the President Stanisław Wojciechowski. The marshal turned after leaving Wojciechowski 's candidacy Lubomirski as president on, but the project failed because of the resistance of the Marshal of the Sejm Maciej Rataj, who supported Ignacy Moscicki. 1928 Lubomirski was elected to the Polish Senate from the list of Piłsudski loyal ruling party BBWR and practiced until 1935 from the Office. After the entry into force of the new constitution, he was nominated in 1935 by the President to the Senate. Lubomirski openly criticized sharply and the policy of the ruling circles, especially the Foreign Minister Józef Beck, which meant that he was forced in 1938 to leave the Senate. In September 1939, he belonged to the citizens committee, which led the defense of Warsaw. On November 10, 1942 Lubomirski was arrested by the Gestapo and subjected to rigorous interrogation. With completely shattered health, he was released after two months and died a few months later, on his estate at Grójec in Mazovia.