Józef Piłsudski in German prisons

Magdeburg is known in Poland above all as the place where Józef Piłsudski was interned. The fortress there is a frequent reminder of the imprisonment of the leader of the Polish legions and one of the fathers of Polish independence. But the city was not the only one where Piłsudski was held prisoner. Most of the buildings in which Piłsudski was imprisoned no longer exist today. The fortresses in Wesel and Magdeburg were destroyed years ago. The small wooden house in which Piłsudski was interned during his time in Magdeburg, also fell into disrepair before it was handed over to Poland in the 1930s and finally rebuilt near the Belvedere in Warsaw as a precious historical testimony to the work of the man who was already revered as a cult figure during his lifetime. The future Marshal of Poland was detained for almost one and a half years from 22nd July 1917 to 8th November 1918.

Piłsudski and Sosnkowski during their internment in the Magdeburg Fortress, 1918

Public domain

Józef Piłsudski in German prisons around the end of the First World War

Danzig/Gdańsk, 23rd to 29th July 1917

Józef Piłsudski and his Chief of Staff, Colonel Kazimierz Sosnkowski, were arrested in Warsaw on the morning of 22nd July 1917. At the time Poland's relations with Germany had been poor for some time. The so-called "oath crisis" and the internment of the soldiers from the first and third brigades of the Polish legions had taken place barely two weeks before the arrest. Governor General Hans von Beseler informed the then Provisional Council of State (Tymczasowa Rada Stanu) of the reasons for Pilsudski's arrest. The German leadership had learned of the change in attitude of the Polish Military Organization (Polska Organizacja Wojskowa, "POW"), under Piłsudski's leadership. He had thus become a major threat to peace in the country and to the military security of allied troops fighting on the other side of enemy lines. After the outbreak of the February revolution in Russia it was generally accepted in Germany that this was no longer an opportune moment to create a Polish army. The Eastern Front had ceased to be a potential threat. The rapid end of the war with Russia seemed to be within reach, so that there were no further benefits to be gained from Poland's continued support.

"The situation requires quick action," Beseler stated, "the immediate neutralization of both persons (Piłsudski and Sosnkowski). (...) In view of this situation, the internment of these persons must be regarded as an enforceable order..."

At the same time arrests of POW members began, and this paralysed the organisation's activities for several months.

Piłsudski and Sosnkowski were first escorted to the Vienna Railway Station (Dworzec Wiedeński) in Warsaw where they were put under a constant guard. The later Marshal of Poland wore a uniform of the Polish legion; Sosnkowski was in plain clothes. Both were placed in a second class compartment. The destination for the transfer was the city of Gdansk, which for reasons unknown was reached by a detour via Poznan. After a brief stop in the capital of Greater Poland, the journey continued. The prisoners arrived in Gdansk on the night of 23rd July where they were sent for remand in the penal prison (the Royal Courthouse Prison in Gdansk) at Schiesstange 12 (today: ul. Kurkowa).

The Polish prison guard on duty at the time, Jan Bastian, recalled that