Citizendia
Your Ad Here

Bezdany raid was a train robbery carried out on the night of 26/27 September [1] 1908 in the vicinity of Bezdany near Vilna (now Bezdonys near Vilnius) on a Russian Empire passenger and mail train by a group of Polish revolutionaries, led by future Polish national hero and dictator, Józef Piłsudski. Train robbery is a type of Robbery, in which the goal is to steal Money or other valuables being carried aboard Trains They were more common in the past The Russian Empire ( Pre-reform Russian: Pоссійская Имперія Modern Russian: Российская Империя translit: Rossiyskaya A Travelling Post Office (TPO is a type of Mail train where the post is sorted en-route Poland (Polska officially the Republic of Poland A revolutionary when used as a noun is a person who either actively engages in some kind of Revolution, or advocates the revolution with recognition from some government or A hero (from Greek grc ἥρως hērōs) in Greek mythology and Folklore, was originally a Demigod, the offspring of a mortal and A dictator is an Authoritarian ruler (eg Absolutist or autocratic) who assumes sole and absolute power without hereditary ascension such as an Absolute

Contents

Background

Piłsudski expected that only a conflict between the powers who partitioned Poland in the late 18th century could restore Poland as a country; he also viewed the Russian Empire as the worst of Poland's occupiers. The Partitions of Poland or Partitions of the Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth took place in the second half of the 18th century and ended the existence of the The Russian Empire ( Pre-reform Russian: Pоссійская Имперія Modern Russian: Российская Империя translit: Rossiyskaya Therefore he decided to temporarily support the Central Powers (the Austro-Hungarian and German Empires). The Central Powers ( German: "Mittelmächte" Hungarian: "Központi hatalmak" Turkish: "İttifak The German Empire is the name commonly used in English to describe Germany from 1871 to 1918 when it was a semi- Constitutional monarchy: beginning with the Unification [2]

In 1906 Piłsudski, with the knowledge and support of the Austrian authorities, founded a military school in Kraków for the training of Bojówki (Combat Teams)[3], a military arm of the Polish Socialist Party (or, specifically, its Frakcja Rewolucyjna arm). Year 1906 ( MCMVI) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year starting Kraków, in English also spelled Krakow or Cracow (ˈkrækaʊ M-W: krăk'ou krāk'ō is one of the largest and oldest cities in Poland The Polish Socialist Party ( Polska Partia Socjalistyczna, PPS was one of the most important Polish Left-wing Political parties from its inception In 1906 alone, the 750-strong Bojówki, operating in five-man units in the former Congress Poland, killed or wounded some 1,000 Russian officials[3]. Congress Poland Kongresówka, officially and formally Kingdom of Poland (Królestwo Polskie {{IPA-pl|'|p|o|l|s|kʲ|e}} Царство Польское Tsarstvo Polskoye Bojówki were certainly not above robbing Russian authorities to obtain funds for their operations, and by 1908 Piłsudski and his organization were desperately short on cash. [4] Piłsudski expressed his thoughts about this violent action in a last will[5] or obituary that he wrote to a friend before the raid[4]:

I am not going to dictate to you what you shall write about my life and work. In Common law, a will or testament is a document by which a person (the Testator) regulates the rights of others over his or her Property An obituary is an attempt to give an account of the texture and significance of the life of someone who has recently died I only ask of you not to make me a 'whiner and sentimentalist. ' […] I fight and I am ready to die simply because I cannot bear to live in this latrine which is what our life amounts to […] Let others play at throwing bouquets to Socialism or Polonism […] My latest idea, which I have not yet fully developed, is to create in all parties, and most of all our own, an organization of physical force, of brute force. I have already done much towards its fulfillment but not enough to rest on my laurels. So now I am staking everything on this last card […] I may die in this 'expropriation' and I want to explain […] Money […] may the devil take it! I prefer to win it in a fight than to beg for it from the Polish public which has become infantile through being chicken-hearted. I haven't got money and I must have it for the ends I pursue. [4]

The robbery

In September 1908, the Bojówki assaulted a Russian mail train near Vilna (Vilnius). The train was carrying tax revenues from Warsaw to St. Petersburg[3]. Tax revenue is the Income that is gained by Governments because of Taxation of the people Warsaw (Warszawa; also known by other names) is the Capital and Largest city of Poland. Saint Petersburg ( tr: Sankt-Peterburg,) is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River

Piłsudski personally led the raid; it was the only one he personally took part in, the rule of the bojowka being that each member must take part in at least one armed attack[5].

The group that took part in the robbery numbered 20 people — 16 men and 4 women[6]Among the members of the Bojówki who took part in that action was his lover and future wife, Aleksandra,[6][7] and three future Polish Prime Ministers: Tomasz Arciszewski,[8] Aleksander Prystor[6] and Walery Sławek[6], and other notable politicians and activists of the Second Polish Republic era, like PSP activists Edward Gibalski[8] (or Franciszek), Jerzy Sawicki, and W. Aleksandra Piłsudska (1882-1963 Née Szczerbińska was the second wife of Józef Piłsudski. The Prime Minister of the Republic of Poland represents the Council of Ministers (the Cabinet and directs their work supervises territorial self-government Tomasz Arciszewski ( 4 November 1877 - 20 November 1955) was a Polish socialist politician a member of the Polish Socialist Aleksander Prystor (1874&ndash1941 was a Polish politician who served as Prime Minister of Poland from 1931 to 1933 Walery Sławek ( 2 November 1879 &ndash 3 April 1939) was a Polish politician who in the early 1930s served three times as The Second Polish Republic or interwar Poland is the Republic of Poland between World War I and World War II. Momentowicz[8].

The Bojówki group had known about the train for weeks and took that time to familiarize themselves with the area[6]. On the 26th of September, six of them were on the train as passengers[6], rest assembled at the little train station at Bezdany, in the presence of several guards unaware of their intent. |}A train station, railway station, railroad station, or station yard is a facility at which Passengers may board and alight from Trains [8]. When the train stopped at the station, the revolutionaries sprang into action, dividing into two groups: one assaulted the train, the other took control of the train station offices, cutting the telephone and telegraph wires. Basic principle A traditional landline telephone system also known as "plain old telephone service" (POTS, commonly handles both signaling and audio information The Poles had several bombs; at least two were thrown into the carriage with the escort by Gibalski and Balaga. A bomb is any of a range of devices that typically rely on the Exothermic Chemical reaction of an Explosive material to produce an extremely One Russian soldier was killed and five were wounded[6] in the short firefight[6] before the rest surrendered. Piłsudski with others prepared the final dynamite charge which opened the mail car and destroyed the iron boxes within[6]. Dynamite is an explosive based on the explosive potential of Nitroglycerin, initially using Diatomaceous earth (kieselgur US Spelling kieselguhr After the Poles took control of the station and the train, they put the money in bags and escaped. Piłsudski went with the group that carried the heaviest bags and escaped through the nearby river. [6]

Aftermath

The loot from that raid (about 200,000 Russian rubles - or approximately $100,000), a virtual fortune in contemporary Eastern Europe. The ruble or rouble (рубль rublʹ, plural ru рубли́ rubli; see note on English spelling and Russian plurals with numbers Eastern Europe is a general term that refers to the Geopolitical region encompassing the easternmost part of the European continent. [a] The money was supposed to cover the costs of building a tram system in Vilnius. A tram, tramcar, trolley, trolley car, or streetcar is a railborne vehicle, of lighter weight and construction than a Train [9] Piłsudski used those funds to aid his secret military organization. The raid become known in Eastern Europe as one of the most daring and successful train robberies. [4][8]

Notes

a. ^  The exact amount looted also varies from source to source, usually from 200,000 to 300,000 rubles. Whatever their differences, all sources agree that it was an extremely large amount.

References

  1. ^ Note that some sources give April as the date of the raid. The September date seems to be more popular and better referenced (Zamoyski, Souvarine, Malinowski). The April date probably refers to some other train robbery by Bojówki.
  2. ^ Hans Roos, A History of Modern Poland, from the Foundation of the State in the First World War to the Present Day, Alfred A. Knopf, 1966, p. 14. Translated from the German (Geschichte der polnischen Nation, 1916–1960) by J. R. Foster.
  3. ^ a b c Adam Zamoyski (1987). Life Zamoyski was born in New York City but was raised in England and was educated at Downside School and Queen's College in Oxford. The Polish Way. London: John Murray, 332. ISBN 0-531-15069-0.  
  4. ^ a b c d (Polish) Bohdan Urbankowski, Józef Piłsudski: marzyciel i strateg (Józef Piłsudski: Dreamer and Strategist), Wydawnictwo ALFA, Warsaw, 1997, ISBN 8370019145, p. Bohdan Urbankowski (1943- is a Polish writer poet and philosopher 133-141
  5. ^ a b Boris Souvarine, Stalin: A Critical Survery of Bolshevism, translated by C.L.R. James. Chapter 4, last accessed on 30 May 2006. Boris Souvarine (born Boris Konstantinovich Lifschitz and also known as Varine; 1895–1984 was an Imperial Russian born French socialist
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j (Polish)From the memoires of wife of Piłsudski, Aleksandra. Possibly translated into English as Pilsudski: A Biography by His Wife, Dodd, Mead and Co. NY, 1941. Last accessed on 30 May 2006.
  7. ^ (Polish) Aleksandra Piłsudska, last accessed on 30 May 2006
  8. ^ a b c d e (Polish) Exceprts from W. Pobóg-Malinowski, "Akcja bojowa pod Bezdanami, 26 IX 1908" (Action at Bezdany, 26 September 1908). Quoted from Nasza Gazeta 10 (446). Last accessed on 30 May 2006.
  9. ^ Venclova, Tomas (2006). Tomas Venclova (born September 11, 1937, Klaipėda) is a Lithuanian scholar poet author and translator of literature Vilniaus vardai, 250. ISBN 9986-830-96-6.  

Further reading

© 2009 citizendia.org; parts available under the terms of GNU Free Documentation License, from http://en.wikipedia.org
 Dapyx Software network: MP3 Explorer | Ebook Manager | Zenithic