Język Polski
English
The Patriotism of Jan Tomasz Zamoyski
Czesław Galek
Abstract
Jan Tomasz Zamoyski (1912–2002) was the sixteenth and last ordynat of the Ordynacja Zamojska (the Zamoyski Family Fee Tail), a vast estate established by a decision of the Polish Sejm in 1589 by Jan Zamoyski (1542–1605), Chancellor and Grand Hetman of the Crown and founder of the town of Zamość. Over the centuries, the Zamoyski family had always been faithful and loyal to Poland. Their noble patriotic traditions were continued by the last ordynat, who assumed his duties at the end of August 1939. As a lieutenant he took part in the September Campaign (the 1939 defence of Poland). As early as 1939, the Zamoyskis took in many refugees fleeing from Wielkopolska to the Zamość region. During the German occupation of Poland Zamoyski belonged to people, including Jews, were hiding in the Zamoyski Ordynacja. However, Zamoyski’s greatest accomplishment was the rescue of many Polish children from the transit camp in Zwierzyniec, established in 1942, from which children were transported to Germany to be Germanized or to death camps.
His heroism is exemplified by his visit to Odilo Globocnik, SS and police leader in the Lublin District, as a result of which some 480 small children were released from the camp in July 1943. Zamoyski proceeded to organize an orphanage for them. In 1944, the communist authorities dissolved the Ordynacja Zamojska, and in 1948 Jan Zamoyski, its last ordynat, was arrested and sentenced to 15 years in prison on charges of espionage on behalf of Western countries. During his interrogations by the Security Service and the rigged trial that followed he acted like a Polish patriot and noble. He remained in prison from 1949 to 1956. Later, as the chairman of the Warsaw Association of Citizens of Zamość (1985–1997), he used his connections to begin the renovation of the Zamość Old Town and contributed to its inclusion on the UNESCO World Heritage list in 1992. With his own resources, he opened the Zamoyski Family Foundation Museum of Sacral Art at the Zamość Collegiate Church in 1987. After 1989, he was elected to the Polish Senate, and during his time in office he held the post of Senior Speaker.
Keywords:
Jan Zamoyski, Zamość, children of the Zamość region, Aktion Zamość, deportationsDetails
References
Statistics
Authors
Citation rules
Licence
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
