Władysław Broniewski was a Polish

Poland

Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

 poet and soldier.

Life

As a young man Broniewski joined the legions

Polish Legions in World War I

Polish Legions was the name of Polish armed forces created in August 1914 in Galicia. Thanks to the efforts of KSSN and the Polish members of the Austrian parliament, the unit became an independent formation of the Austro-Hungarian Army...

 of Piłsudski and returned to the army just a few years later, to defend Poland against the invasion by Soviet Union. He fought in the Polish-Bolshevik War

Polish-Soviet War

The Polish–Soviet War was an armed conflict between Soviet Russia and Soviet Ukraine and the Second Polish Republic and the Ukrainian People's Republic—four states in post–World War I Europe...

 and was decorated with the order Virtuti Militari

Virtuti Militari

The Order Wojenny Virtuti Militari is Poland's highest military decoration for heroism and courage in the face of the enemy at war...

, the highest Polish order for bravery on the battle-field.

In the 1930s, his sympathies were to the political left. When Poland has been attacked in 1939 by Germany, he wrote an important poem encouraging Poles to put away political differences and fight the aggressors. While Poland has been attacked

Soviet invasion of Poland

Soviet invasion of Poland can refer to:* the second phase of the Polish-Soviet War of 1920 when Soviet armies marched on Warsaw, Poland* Soviet invasion of Poland of 1939 when Soviet Union allied with Nazi Germany attacked Second Polish Republic...

 by Soviet Union and the whole Eastern Borderlands

Kresy

The Polish term Kresy refers to a land considered by Poles as historical eastern provinces of their country. Today, it makes western Ukraine, western Belarus, as well as eastern Lithuania, with such major cities, as Lviv, Vilnius, and Hrodna. This territory belonged to the Polish-Lithuanian...

 were occupied by the Soviets, Broniewski found himself in occupied by the Russians Lwów

Lviv

Lviv is a city in western Ukraine. The city is regarded as one of the main cultural centres of today's Ukraine and historically has also been a major Polish and Jewish cultural center, as Poles and Jews were the two main ethnicities of the city until the outbreak of World War II and the following...

. At first, he published his poems in the newspaper published by the Soviets, but soon he was arrested by NKVD

NKVD

The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs was the public and secret police organization of the Soviet Union that directly executed the rule of power of the Soviets, including political repression, during the era of Joseph Stalin....

 on the trump-up charges of "hooliganism" and after four months transported to the Lubianka prison in Moscow, where he spent further thirteen months.

After the WWII, in Poland ruled by the pro-Moscow communist regime, he compromised by writing in 1951 an important politically narrative poem "Słowo o Stalinie" ("A Word about Stalin"). Subsequently, Broniewski became an important political figure and was proclaimed by the authorities as a foremost national poet. Still, Broniewski managed to obtain a certain degree of independence, and some of his poems from this period certify to his talent. He has been also a talented translator of poetry and prose translating, among others, Dostoyevsky, Yesenin

Sergei Yesenin

Sergei Alexandrovich Yesenin was a Russian lyrical poet. He was one of the most popular and well-known Russian poets of the 20th century but committed suicide at the age of 30...

, Mayakovsky

Vladimir Mayakovsky

Vladimir Vladimirovich Mayakovsky was a Russian and Soviet poet and playwright, among the foremost representatives of early-20th century Russian Futurism.- Early life :...

 and Brecht.

During the last years of his life his health had been ruined by alcohol abuse. He died in Warsaw.

Poetry bundles

• Wiatraki (1925)
• Dymy nad miastem (1927)
• Troska i pieśń (1932)
• Krzyk ostateczny (1938)
• Bagnet na broń (1943)
• Drzewo rozpaczające (1945)
• Nadzieja (1951)
• Anka (1956)

Honours and awards

• Order of the Builders of People's Poland
  Order of the Builders of People's Poland
  Order of the Builders of People's Poland was the highest civil decoration of Poland in the times of the People's Republic of Poland.-History:...
  
   (1955)
• Silver Cross of the Order of Virtuti Militari
• Commander's Cross with Star of the Order of Polonia Restituta

Further reading

• Broniewski, Władysław. Pamiętnik 1918-1922. Warszawa: Państwowy Instytut Wydawniczy, 1987.