Death of Władysław Szujski in the Battle of Sillery, c. before 1925
Oil on canvas
National Museum, Lublin
Władysław Szujski (born September 25, 1865 in Krakow , died November 29, 1914 in the trenches at Sillery ) was a lawyer, entrepreneur, senior ranks. Foreign Legion , the first ensign of the Bayonians, the infantry unit of the Foreign Legion composed of Polish volunteers.
After the outbreak of World War I, at the request of the Committee of Polish Volunteers, he appeared on August 3, 1914 as a volunteer to fight in the Polish Legion. As he was already 49 at the time on the medical commission, he lowered his age to 40.
In the fall of 1914, in the trenches at Sillery, Szujski was one of the initiators of establishing contact and persuading Poles serving in the German unit to move to the French side. To this end, a small (24 men) detachment of Bayonians, including Szujski with a banner, under the command of Malcz, went to the front line. In the evening, voice contact was established with the Poles, and the next day, at their request, the banner was presented to them. Unfortunately, at night the German command replaced the previous unit with a purely German one. The Germans shot at a banner stuck in the trench embankment. Szujski tried to pull the shaft out of the ground, leaned too far and was shot in the face with a bullet. More on Władysław Szujski
Jan Styka (April 8, 1858 in Lemberg — April 11, 1925 in Rome) was a Polish painter noted for producing large historical, battle-scenes, and Christian religious panoramas. He was also an illustrator and poet. Known as a great patriotic speaker — his speeches were printed in 1915 under the French title L’ame de la Pologne (The Soul of Poland)…
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Zaidan Gallery 