A book on Kościuszko has late been published that fills the white place in Australian cognition of Him, and Anthony Sharwood in the subtitle of his precious book announces that he gives us “the incredible life of the man behind the mountain”. Indeed, small is known on the antipodes of the large works of our hero, who was not only a general and Chief of the Uprising in 1794, but besides as a fortification engineer gave many merits to Americans fighting for independency from 1776 to 1783, he was besides a advocate of “human rights” exerting influence on both continents at last he was besides a musician, as was recalled in 2007 at the Mt Kosciuszko summit erstwhile Windjammers played his compositions there. A good introduction to reading this crucial book is the information collected on the back cover of the edition, and concluded by the author: “Whether or not his name stays on the mountain, it turns out that Kosciuszko is the hero the planet needs right now”. besides a quote from Hamish Macdonald, known to everyone on ABC Radio: “A rolling journey through history, continuitys and battlefields. Kosciuszko is so much more than a mountain". And a good introduction to the reading is besides Timeline, placed immediately after the list of contents of this fascinating book about our hero (called “the purest boy of liberty”), who was born long before the first partition of the Republic and on the land of the subordinate Kingdom of Poland within the framework of the Polish-Lithuanian union, and present belonging to Belarus, not enjoying so many freedoms. And in the property of his father Louis young Tadeusz learned respect for others, seeing how humanly his father treated his peasants, so Kościuszko learned the lesson of humanitarianism and love of his neighbour. Those whom Kościuszko met in his life, not only his black butler Agrippa Hull behind the Atlantic, where they remember Kościuszko as the patron of the West Point Academy, will be appreciated. After graduating from the Cadet Corps in Warsaw, and after studying in Paris Kościuszko did not find designation with King Stasia-pacifist, so in 1775 he went to America, breaking up for independency with England. He will spend 8 years there serving effectively in the fields of many battles, and possibly this war would last longer without his engineering ability, and in that opinion Washington and Jefferson would surely sign, appreciating his merit. Kościuszko's heroic attitude will then be reflected in Mickiewicz's “Mr Tadeusz: and, as the author pointed out, under the pen of English poets ( Coleridge, Keats, Leigh Hunt), besides in the verses of Scottish poet Thomas Campbell in 1799, thus inactive in Kościuszko's lifetime.
After American years in our Hero's biography (and they take up quite a few space in Sharwood's accounts) Kościuszko settled in his sister's property in Siechnowicz, for King Stanislaw did not offer him a position in the military. The charming rhythm of the communicative of the Author corresponds to this life in the countryside, which describes changes in the Republic and planet events. Kościuszko had plenty of time to follow the debate in the country after the first dissection and to read the writings of Staszic and Kolłataj. The Constitution of 3 May besides matured, the allies secretly from the Russian ambassador, and work on it took place at night at the royal castle. It was at the same time a conspiracy against the veto liberal, so valued by our renters, as it favoured anarchy and weakening the Republic. Russia, busy with the war with Turkey, did not discover in time the work on the constitution, but then found ways to defeat it with the trade union despite the armed opposition and triumph of the defenders of the Constitution in the conflict of Greens, in which Prince Joseph Poniatowski, the king's nephew, commanded. Kościuszko was already active in this short run of 1792, and Sharwood mentions his conflict of Dubienka, in which Polish forces of 5 1000 300 held position for 5 hours with large losses of 5 times the size of the Russian army before escaping the lap. 4 1000 Russians were killed, Polish casualties amounted to only 900 dead. With specified proportions, King Stanislaus – by nature a pacifist – sought peace, and yet himself joined Targowice, which was a disgraceful act for 1 of the authors of the Constitution on 3 May. Catherine the large has issued a warrant for Kościuszko's arrest, fortunately our general has escaped to France.
Let the reader himself discover a further series of events in Sharwood's book, which travelled a lot in the USA and Poland in the footsteps of his hero, and sometimes the communicative leads meanders in the chronology, due to the fact that his goal is to show the Australians the figures of Kościuszko and his values, not to tell the past of Poland. He arrived in Paris on the day of the beheading of Louis XVI, who was the boy of Louis XV and Maria Lesszczyńska(!). Kościuszko, however, was no longer a monarch, brought with him a task to abolish the monarchy in the Kingdom of Poland and to give equal rights to everyone in the Polish-Lithuanian Union, which may have pleased the Jacobins, but after the second dissection of the shares of the Republic the remains of the Republic have fallen significantly. Thus, even in Paris, the plan of a republic in the east facing Tsarist Russia did not rise interest, and the 3 monarchs participating in the partitions of Poland were besides strong. The task was completely unrealistic, so it was seen in the Vatican. Kościuszko returned to Saxony in September 1793, where Polish refugees were staying. In their discussions, the case of the uprising returned, and in the face of the tsarist plans to abolish the remains of the Polish army Kościuszko agreed to accept this challenge. And in March 1794 he appeared incognito in Krakow, where he called for the uprising in Kraków market, and he besides spoke to the judaic hearts, talking about equality for all, if he then saw a cavalry division of 500 Jews, volunteers led by Berk Joselewicz. And the issue of rights for peasants he presented in universal połaniecki and it would then contribute to the triumph at Racławice. The judaic branch besides fought bravely, unfortunately abolished during the slaughter of Prague, but Colonel Joselewicz then fought for Poland in Napoleon's battles and died in the conflict of Kock (5 May 1809). Here it should be noted that the author included in his book the chapter “The Paradise of the Jews”, in which he presented the good situation of Jews in Poland, reminding the Kaliskie Statutes of 1264 and gave rights to judaic refugees and – let us add – were later confirmed by Kazimierz Wielki throughout the Kingdom of Poland. And in 1573, by the act of the Warsaw Confederacy spiritual tolerance became a law in the Polish-Lithuanian Union, Sharwood writes that synagogues and judaic schools flourished, books were printed, and the old Polish proverb – as the author reminds us – reads: “Poland is simply a heaven for nobility, a purgatory for townsmen, a hell for peasants and a paradise for Jews.” It besides reminds us that erstwhile they went to Poland before the persecution in Europe they found The Jews in it calm, which reflects the application for Polin (you will remainder here). This is true, and it is confirmed by judaic historians, specified as H. Graetz: “Besides Italy and Turkey, Poland served as a shelter for victims of persecution and rugs, especially German. In Poland and the associated union of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania there were Jews in a position much better than in neighbouring countries behind Vistula and Carpathians, or the monk Capistrano disrupted for a time a good agreement between Poles and Jews." (History of Jews, Judaica Wyd., W-wa, 1929, Volume 7, p.155, translated St.
In the chaos of anti-Polish calumnies, repeated here and there, the reminder of this fact is in fact invaluable. I would besides add that if Hitler had not invaded Poland (and Marxism had not poisoned so many generations) there could have been a slow merger of both nations, as the symbiosis between Poles and Jews grew, anti-Semitism was marginal in us, alternatively sympathy prevailed and e.g. Peanut besides wrote philosomite books. And in the January Uprising there were no shortages of Jews. Among the Jews there were besides many supporters of assimilation (e.g. Leopold Kronenberg, Alexander Kraushar, Stefan Ashkenaze, Simon Askenazy or Samuel Adalberg), and even more readers will find in the capital lexicon of Marian Kałuski “In gratitude and in memory of the Jankiels” (W-wa,Wyd.von borowiecky, 2001), where we discover quite a few evidence that the thesis about the merger of both nations was not a fantasy but a ripening fruit. I would so urge reading the very crucial book by Mr Marian Kałuski, whose reading would complement the large book by Anthony Sharwood on Kościuszko. It is simply a tribute to our Hero from Belarus, and the author's roots from this land originate. In his “travelgeography” (always embedded in history), he brings the character of General perfectly closer, showing that he was besides a citizen of the planet and 1 of the giants of humanity, as hundreds of monuments erected for Kościuszko, including many in the United States, illustrate meticulously Felix Molski's books. And as the French historian Jules Michelet has already seen, Kościuszko was “the last knight on Slavic lands to have a modern knowing of brotherhood and equality.” Clearly, Hamish Macdonald is right, saying that Kościuszko is much more than a mountain peak, due to Strzelecki. And Sharwood's sensational book should absolutely go to all libraries of Australia, is not only a powerful pill of cognition about Kosciuszko – so related to Australia – but besides a guide to the land of brotherhood between nations, which our planet needs so much today, shaken by wars.
Marek Baterovich
Anthony Sharwood, “COSCIUSZKO” (the incredible life of the man behind the mountain), Hachette Australia 2024, p.323
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