Ignacy Skorupka (31 July 1893 – 14 August 1920) was a Polish priest, chaplain of the

Polish Army The Land Forces () are the Army, land forces of the Polish Armed Forces. They currently contain some 110,000 active personnel and form many components of the European Union and NATO deployments around the world. Poland's recorded military histor ...

. He died during the battle of Warsaw. He became one of the most famous casualties of the battle.

Biography

Ignacy Jan Skorupka was born on 31 July 1893 in

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 ...

. He studied at the seminary in

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city had a population of 5,601, ...

. In 1916 he took his

Holy Orders In certain Christian denominations, holy orders are the ordination, ordained ministries of bishop, priest (presbyter), and deacon, and the sacrament or rite by which candidates are ordained to those orders. Churches recognizing these orders inclu ...

, and in 1918 he was briefly a parish priest in the

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 ...

. In the chaotic times of the first stages of the

Polish–Soviet War The Polish–Soviet War (14 February 1919 – 18 March 1921) was fought primarily between the Second Polish Republic and the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, following World War I and the Russian Revolution. After the collapse ...

in 1918, he became one of the Polish regional leaders in the

Kresy Eastern Borderlands (), often simply Borderlands (, ) was a historical region of the eastern part of the Second Polish Republic. The term was coined during the interwar period (1918–1939). Largely agricultural and extensively multi-ethnic with ...

borderlands. Since the fall of 1918 he practiced his religious profession in

Łódź Łódź is a city in central Poland and a former industrial centre. It is the capital of Łódź Voivodeship, and is located south-west of Warsaw. Łódź has a population of 655,279, making it the country's List of cities and towns in Polan ...

, and from the fall of 1919, in the Polish capital of

. He gave several sermons in the St. John's Archcathedral. In early July 1920 he volunteered as a

military chaplain A military chaplain ministers to military personnel and, in most cases, their families and civilians working for the military. In some cases, they will also work with local civilians within a military area of operations. Although the term ''cha ...

of the

, and was attached to the 236 Infantry Regiment of the

Volunteer Army The Volunteer Army (; ), abbreviated to (), also known as the Southern White Army was a White Army active in South Russia during the Russian Civil War from 1917 to 1920. The Volunteer Army fought against Bolsheviks and the Makhnovists on the ...

(later, part of the 36th Infantry Regiment). On the evening of 14 August he was killed at the

battle of Ossów The Battle of Ossów took place in the fields near Wołomin on 14 August 1920. It was a part of a much larger battle on the outskirts of Warsaw during the Polish-Bolshevist War (February 1919 - March 1921). During the day Soviet units managed ...

during Polish counter-attack, part of the larger battle of Warsaw. Two different accounts of his death have surfaced. One suggest he was in the midst of Anointing of the Sick for a fatally wounded soldier when he, a noncombatant, was hit by an accidental bullet. Another, popularized by a Polish military dispatch from 16 August stated that chaplain Skorupka died while encouraging soldiers to advance, leading a charge in the front lines, with a crucifix in his hands.

Remembrance

A day later his body was transported to a garrison church in Warsaw, and shortly, he was given a state funeral at the prestigious

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 ...

, attended by many government and military authorities; general

Józef Haller Józef Haller (''de Hallenburg''; 13 August 1873 – 4 June 1960) was a Polish lieutenant general and legionary in the Polish Legions during the First World War. He was a harcmistrz (the highest Scouting instructor rank in Poland), the p ...

presented him with a posthumous Silver Cross of 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, ...

. His death became a political ploy, used by the opponents of Polish military commander and leader

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 ...

, architect of the Polish strategy that led to the victory at Warsaw. His opponents labelled the battle "miracle of Vistula", and attributed the Polish victory to a number of causes, up to and including divine intervention, and Skorupka's martyr-like death became part of their attempt to minimize Piłsudski's fame. Several monuments, streets and other landmarks were dedicated to him in 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 ...

; he became a central figure in several books, poems and dramas; and

Pope Pius XI Pope Pius XI (; born Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti, ; 31 May 1857 – 10 February 1939) was head of the Catholic Church from 6 February 1922 until his death in February 1939. He was also the first sovereign of the Vatican City State u ...

commissioned a wall painting of him by Jan Henryk de Rosen at the battle at the

Castel Gandolfo Castel Gandolfo (, , ; ), colloquially known as Castello in the '' Castelli Romani'' dialects, is a town located southeast of Rome, in the Italian region of Lazio. Situated on a hilltop in the Alban Hills with panoramic views of Lake Albano, Cast ...

. Another popular painting of him was created by

Jerzy Kossak Jerzy Maciej Kossak (Kraków, 11 September 1886 – 11 May 1955, Kraków) was a Polish realist painter specializing in military scenes. He was the son of painter Wojciech Kossak and grandson of painter Juliusz Kossak, a third-generation artist fr ...

. A documentary about him, ''Zwyczajny bohater'', was released in 2005. In 2010 he was posthumously awarded the Order of the White Eagle.

References

External links

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Biography
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Ks. Ignacy Jan Skorupka kapłan, bohater, męczennik
{{DEFAULTSORT:Skorupka 1893 births 1920 deaths Clergy from Warsaw Polish military chaplains Polish people of the Polish–Soviet War Burials at Powązki Cemetery Recipients of the Silver Cross of the Virtuti Militari Deaths by firearm in Poland Polish military personnel killed in action Recipients of the Order of the White Eagle (Poland)

Biography

Remembrance

References

Further reading

External links