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Ostatni mazur. Opowieść o wojnie, namiętności i stracie
Jak blisko jest Andrew Tarnowskiemu do Mickiewicza? Ostatni mazur, jak Ostatni zajazd na Litwie, przedstawia zmierzch pewnego świata. Tarnowski opowiada o polskiej przedwojennej arystokracji, opisując XX-wieczne dzieje swojego rodu i rodzin z nim skoligaconych. Na historię życia tych niedostępnych ludzi składają się nostalgiczne wspomnienia autora z dzieciństwa, zapamiętane opowieści jeszcze dalej sięgające w przeszłość rodu czy korespondencja rodzinna. Wizerunek, jaki się wyłania, daleki jest od ideału: pod pozorami miłości i rodzinnej lojalności kłębią się nieokiełznane namiętności, zdrada i rozpad więzi. Autor nikogo nie wybiela ani nie usprawiedliwia. Dąży do przedstawienia prawdy, czasem gorzkiej i niewygodnej. Opisuje rodzinne dramaty i zawirowania na tle wydarzeń, które wstrząsnęły światem. W czasie II wojny światowej członkowie rodziny rozpierzchli się po całym świecie: jedni uciekali przez bezdroża Rumunii i Jugosławii, inni czekali na koniec wojny we Francji, Szwajcarii i Wielkiej Brytanii. Tam też rodzina Tarnowskich osiadła na stałe.
408 pages, Hardcover
First published May 9, 2006
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
June 3, 2010
I am not sure what to think of this book. It defies pigeon holing. The writing is just OK. The analysis isn't gripping. But I did find it fascinating, even though I was left with an uneasy feeling of discontent after I finished. I wanted MORE depth, more insight, more analysis than the author conveyed. He tells us that his relatives were displaced and faced with poverty, as well as having the worlds turned upside down, but he did not really evoke any understanding of how they emotionally or affectively dealt with going from aristocrat to house painter. What were they thinking at the time – having gone from fabulous wealth to poverty? What resources did they draw upon? Perhaps that is the psych person in me, to want more depth of understanding of emotional upheaval and how people deal with it.
This family memoir is the story of the author’s aristocratic family, a markedly dysfunctional one, as well as the tragic tale of the breakdown of Polish society during and after World War II. The war took all of that from them, and they were forced into a war no one wanted and to emigrate away from their beloved country. The narrative begins just before World War I and carries through World War II, the Communist period and the present day.
Having said this, there was no one in this book, save the author, who I really liked. These were spoiled, entitled people who cared little for anyone but themselves and their creature comforts, hopping from one sexual liason to another willy-nilly and caring little for an actual relationship or honor. They were not typical Poles who actually hold honor in high regard. These folks were pretty amoral. Even the fact that Staś was in the Polish army and fought well did not make me like him any better. It sounds as if he made a pain in the neck of himself and his arrogance continued to plague even that valiant effort.
The interesting thing about the book was that, even though these folks were refugees, their aristocratic lineage enabled them to receive assistance from a plethora of rich friends and acquaintances across Europe and the Middle East so that, even if they weren't in their native land, they still maintained a reasonable standard of living. How does THAT happen?? Entitled once, entitled always. My own parents were not that fortunate, even though they were intelligentsia. No one gave them anything and life was a tremendous struggle, even though the displaced persons post WW II did help each other out.
I am glad that I read this book and that the author wrote it. He did a marvelous job of chronicling and piecing together his family history from interviews, memoirs, historical documents and oral family history. I am delighted to learn that one can achieve knowledge of one’s ancestry in such depth, as I embark on the same journey. The Last Mazurka does provides insight into the life of one family that made up part of Poland's privileged class It is about a time and culture that not too many of us know about, and I want more. Hopefully, since he is working on another novel, Mr. Tarnowski will build upon his efforts.
This family memoir is the story of the author’s aristocratic family, a markedly dysfunctional one, as well as the tragic tale of the breakdown of Polish society during and after World War II. The war took all of that from them, and they were forced into a war no one wanted and to emigrate away from their beloved country. The narrative begins just before World War I and carries through World War II, the Communist period and the present day.
Having said this, there was no one in this book, save the author, who I really liked. These were spoiled, entitled people who cared little for anyone but themselves and their creature comforts, hopping from one sexual liason to another willy-nilly and caring little for an actual relationship or honor. They were not typical Poles who actually hold honor in high regard. These folks were pretty amoral. Even the fact that Staś was in the Polish army and fought well did not make me like him any better. It sounds as if he made a pain in the neck of himself and his arrogance continued to plague even that valiant effort.
The interesting thing about the book was that, even though these folks were refugees, their aristocratic lineage enabled them to receive assistance from a plethora of rich friends and acquaintances across Europe and the Middle East so that, even if they weren't in their native land, they still maintained a reasonable standard of living. How does THAT happen?? Entitled once, entitled always. My own parents were not that fortunate, even though they were intelligentsia. No one gave them anything and life was a tremendous struggle, even though the displaced persons post WW II did help each other out.
I am glad that I read this book and that the author wrote it. He did a marvelous job of chronicling and piecing together his family history from interviews, memoirs, historical documents and oral family history. I am delighted to learn that one can achieve knowledge of one’s ancestry in such depth, as I embark on the same journey. The Last Mazurka does provides insight into the life of one family that made up part of Poland's privileged class It is about a time and culture that not too many of us know about, and I want more. Hopefully, since he is working on another novel, Mr. Tarnowski will build upon his efforts.
January 23, 2010
Książka o arystokracji, której świat upadł całkowicie wraz z II Wojną Światową. Świat polowań, ogromnych majątków ziemskich i kamienic w miastach, gdzie zatrudniano bardzo dużą liczbę osób (służący, kucharki, pokojówki, guwernantki, zarządcy, chłopi pracujący w polu). Autor urodzony w 1940 roku w Szwajcarii korzystając z własnych wspomnień, korespondencji rodzinnej i innych rodzinnych opowieści opisuje dzieje swojej rodziny od strony ojca - szlacheckiego rodu Tarnowskich, właścicieli m.in. Tarnowa i Tarnobrzega; w XX wieku. Naprawdę nie wybiela nikogo, pokazuje wady i zalety osób z nim spokrewnionych lub skoligaconych z jego rodziną.
March 7, 2011
The rich and connected are different. Their effortless movements during the terrible devastation Poland experience in the WWs made for a fascinating viewpoint. Did I care about the people and their entitled way of life? Not so much.
July 18, 2013
Had to shelve it for awhile - not enough to keep my attention. Finally finished - interesting info about Poland, depressing family relationships.
November 21, 2025
The young couple’s Krakow residence was a historic property called Szlaki, built in the 16th century as the main station for the royal mail. It took its name from an old route by which the bodies of Polish kings who had died far from the capital were brought to the city. According to their custom, their corpses rested overnight in the courtyard before being carried into the city walls and buried.
In the last years of the nineteenth century, the Trail attracted a multitude of people from the Society, owing as much to the fame and pedigree of the professor as to the wealth of the Imci, and also for their duty of two dicks on the issue. Locals and visitors from all over Poland flocked to the invitations, especially during Carnival, when Krakow hosts lavish all-night balls throughout the month. Every time the Professor and Imcia issued a friendship, in a gesture of pious philanthropy they placed in the hands of their friend, Brother Albert Chmielowski, the founder of the Albertine order, an amount corresponding to the value of a toy basket. The order cared for the poor and homeless, and Brother Albert was brought up on the altar years later by Pope John Paul II.
I saw the terrible ruin, the house entirely sacked and perforated by bullets, the garden pierced with trenches and mostly destroyed by bullets, the surrounding forests burnt, people living in cellars and outbuildings".
The entire family estate came from a combined 2,000 hectares of forests. 3,600 bodies excavated from graves in the park and garden
Under Wanda Hieronim’s brief description of the road trip, he wrote: “Ten bullet holes in the house, the folwark burned, about three thousand morgs of forest burned and turned into pillows”.
Had Piłsudsky and Weygand not succeeded in stopping […] the triumvirate of the Red Army’s false start as a result of the Battle of Warsaw, and stopped not only the dangerous turn in the days of Christendom, Alezo would have become dangerously independent civilization. The battle of Tours [against the Saracens in 732] saved our forefathers from the yoke of the Koran; it is a matter of fact that the Battle of Warsaw saved Central Europe, and thus part of Western Europe, from a far more formidable danger: fanatical Soviet tyranny.
The aristocracy in all of the grace: Count Zdzislav, owner of Dzikov, standing in the middle, with his hand on his sword; flanked by Jerome Tarnowski; first from left, in uniform, Artur Tarnowski, the late Mr. Dzikov; his brother Andrew, fourth from left, partially obscured. Wedding in the Wilderness in the 1930s.
Those who lived in the Wilderness before the war remembered it as another world. When Stasya as a young man visited Dzikov, there was a closed world - he called the castle and the surroundings Dzikov's kingdom, and Count Zdzislav was compared to the reigning king. lived invariably three or four generations at once In the rooms above the apartment kitchens sat guests and distant relatives The servant wore gray flannels.the buttons displayed the embossed mark of Leliva - the six-pointed star and the crescent-crest of all branches of the Tarnov family. In the vicinity a lumber and forestry economy is vigorously developed, large nurseries of fruit trees are planted, an oak farm, a boiler house, a brewery, a brickyard, a mill, a tartak, and fish ponds are conducted.
Life in the Wilderness was based on two pillars: a sense of family ties and respect for the older generations or the welfare of the population residing in the estate, as well as the surrounding towns and villages. The family took responsibility for subjects as a matter of course and maintained lifelong bonds with governesses, servants, stables, hunters, cowboys, and merchants. The sense of identity and belonging extended beyond the gates of the castle and encompassed the population of nearby Tarnobreg, who reciprocated with uncommon loyalty. During the peasant uprising of 1846, when the nobility was mass-murdered in Galicia, Dzikov was the sole protector of the subjects.
The family moved to Dzikov in the late 17th century. Her previous property in Vielowsi burned during the Swedish flood. Earlier, in the 16th century, the ancient seat of Tarnov, the old fortress, had fallen away. As the main branch of the family had no male descendants, Tarn, with its giant castle on the hill and the Gothic cathedral containing the marble tombs of the Tarn ancestors, passed into the marriages. The glory of the clan ended with the extinction of its line, and much of the property was lost.
Count Zdzisław sat on the city council, supported local industry, schooling and the health service. He financed the construction of schools and churches. He built a hospital. He founded hospitals, schools, orphanages and homeless shelters in other towns and villages, and after World War I established a foundation for the care of war veterans and cripples.
During the war he risked his life for his subjects many times. When the Russian army arrived, with his wife, Countess Zofia, in the room of the hospital for the mercenaries both troops and hung arranged above it a flag with the sign of the Red Cross. When the Russians occupied the city on September 15, 1914, after a shipyard near the battle, the Count tried to save them from destruction. The aforementioned Mikhail Marczak, a librarian and archivist from Dzikov, recorded in his diary that when the first Russian patrol passed the gate of the castle, some drunken men fired shots in his direction. The Russians approached the gate and threatened that if anyone shot again, they would not honor the flag with the Red Cross sign. Count Zdzislav personally went out to them and assured them that the incident would not happen again. He immediately advanced on foot to Tarnobreg, looking out for the Austrian divisions to divert them from the fighting on the city grounds.
Entering the city, the count came across an Austrian horse patrol - Marczak wrote. "When he made his request, the commander, taking him for a spy, ordered him to be led to the Russian patrol." The divisions met in the square and each delivered a salvo. The Austrians fled, steadfast. and Count Zdzislav shouted as loudly as he could. on horseback took him out to the stable room.
Please come quickly, Count. The officer shot himself!
Staś ran around the ponds in front of the house. Behind the stables, among the beehives in the cherry orchard, lay the body of a Polish colonel with a bullet. Hieronim recorded his death in the guest book: "A colonel of an unknown unit, who for several days had been looking in vain for his regiment, came here and committed suicide in the orchard. At this spot stands a cross."
The colonel was Walerian Młyniec. Zofia and Zdzisław Chmiel from Rudnik wrote in their history of the town that Colonel Młyniec suffered a mental breakdown: During World War I, he was in Marshal Piłsudski's Legions. In 1920, he fought against the Bolsheviks in the defense of Warsaw and Lviv, and he couldn't come to terms with the defeat of 1939. He saw the bombing of Rudnik, the destruction of military transports at the station, and the dead soldiers who failed to reach the front. He saw the defeated Polish army flee. Somewhere among those troops was his regiment. On September 8th, he committed suicide in the manor house where he was staying.
Amidst all this confusion, the young couple discussed their plans with Hieronim. He advised them to flee east that night. He had heard on the radio that bridges over the San River were being blown up to slow the German advance. The nearby crossing was still operational, so they should leave before it, too, was destroyed.
That evening, Staś and Zofia said their final goodbyes to their father. Although tension and distance had long reigned between Staś and Hieronim, they parted tenderly and with emotion. For the first time in his life, Staś knelt in his father's study to receive his blessing. Hieronim removed a gold cross from his neck and placed it around his son's. It was a precious memento of Hieronim's father's younger brother, Professor Stanisław Tarnowski, Juliusz Tarnowski from Dzików, who had perished during the January Uprising. I trust you will be brave," he said to Staś. "Be a good soldier and don't bring shame to the family."
Staś joined the Polish army in Paris immediately after he and Chouquette disembarked from the train in November 1939. Enlisting under one's own banner abroad to fight for the country's freedom became almost second nature to Poles after the partitions. From 1795 to 1918, Polish Legions fought in many countries under the slogan "For our freedom and yours," sacrificing their lives for the liberation of their homeland and all oppressed nations. Often, their struggles were more an expression of rebellion than of faith in restoring Poland's independence, but thanks to them, they became renowned for their courage and sustained the hopes of Poles back home. Their spirits were also buoyed by the opening lines of the national anthem: "Poland is not yet lost, so long as we live," a song of the Dąbrowski Legions fighting alongside Napoleon in Italy. So Staś and tens of thousands of his compatriots enlisted wherever they could fight Hitler: first in France, and then, as the situation on the fronts developed, in Great Britain, Palestine, Syria, Iraq, the Soviet Union, and Iran.
Staś went to the Bessiéres barracks in northern Paris, where a Polish conscription station and refugee camp had been set up.
1 September, the second anniversary of the attack on Poland, a hundred German planes dropped hundreds of bombs. I claim a hail of shrapnel fell. 'For half an hour we witnessed a veritable hell,' Jakubski reported. Fifty-five shells fell on the regiment’s sector, and four bombers dropped a barrage of bombs and shot it down. A light shooter became the first victim. Two days later, clouds of rising sand limited visibility to a few metres. Blinded and dazed, with sand in their eyes, ears, and mouths, crowds of millions of spider merchantmen hid behind every cover they could find.
Most of Stasi’s comrades in Tobruk were fighting the Germans for the first time since Poland’s defeat. They had accounts to settle, so they patrolled the enclosure. "Our patrols go out every day, never venturing two or three kilometers behind enemy lines wrote Jakubski. Every day there are skirmishes, shooting from far and near, the use of grenades and fighting over bagnettes. Most of the time, Russians fight. Tobruk suffers casualties every day, whether from patrolling or from bombing and shelling".
Stasya took part in a combat patrol that was severely harassed by the Italians under Twin Pimples, and during another attack he fought back in the Italian trenches. Then it's the only time in my life I've stabbed someone with a bagnet - she said. - A very unpleasant action, and I did not do it properly: instead of twisting the rifle after the task of the blow, I just thrust it in and with great difficulty pulled it out.
The next day, December 17, 1941, Stasya would remember for life. 'It was I who captured the highest-ranking Iceman - he told me. At Ghazali, we reported for patrol, got an old tank that didn't work, couldn't shoot. We had just the usual peem. He was with a monk and a mule driver. one, or maybe two. After reaching a certain wadi (a dried-up riverbed) we saw some self-propelled vehicles, near which the Vólsi were crouching. And so I took prisoner the command of a Walsa regiment of bersaliers If I remember correctly, the colonel was called Ugo Barbatti.
17 December 1941 in the Gazali area, Allied forces continued the Operation Crusader offensive against Axis forces, during which Polish and South African artillery captured enemy positions and took prisoners
The 7th Bersaglieri Regiment was captured by the Poles on 17 December 1941
For details: The 2nd Battalion of the Carpathian Rifle Brigade itself took prisoner approx. 600 Icelandic horsemen, including the commander of a bersalier regiment.
Its own motto is ‘Celeritas et Virtus’ – ‘Promptitude and Vengeance’. General Alessandro La Marmora – introduced it in 1836. The 1836 reform of the army of the Kingdom of Sardinia was broader than merely strengthening the army. The creation of the Bersaliers was the most visible element for her, but the modernization covered many areas.
𝐓𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐡𝐬 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐚𝐝𝐞'𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐝𝐫𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐥, 𝐑𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐥 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐝𝐞𝐟𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐭 𝐆𝐚𝐳𝐚𝐥𝐚 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐓𝐨𝐛𝐫𝐮𝐤. 𝐀𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐚 𝐛𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐉𝐮𝐧𝐞 𝟐𝟏-𝟐𝟐, 𝟏𝟗𝟒𝟐, 𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐠𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐧 (𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐡, 𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡 𝐀𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡 𝐀𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐬) 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐫. 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐖𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐧 𝐂𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭 "𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐫." 𝐓𝐰𝐨 𝐝𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫, 𝐑𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐥'𝐬 𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐬 𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐄𝐠𝐲𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫.
Stasya lived in Dachau. He was rescued due to serious illnesses. He then trained as a commando in the UK and fought the Germans, but Anders' Polish artillerymen, as was not obvious, are an undisciplined bunch,a charismatic bunch, just like the rest of the troops in this war, so when Stasya saved the outcome of the mission by paving the way for trucks, another officer received a medal, and Stasya, unnecessarily, commented, not to wear this cross. His guide disputed this and gave him other insignia, but he refused to wear them, saying, “You can hang them on my ass.” And so, despite being a platoon leader, he was discharged from the service.
Her brother Jaś did not leave the country. All of Zamoyski's property, the largest landed estate in Poland, was confiscated, and he himself was arrested and tried on trumped-up charges. He spent seven years in prison, which severely affected his health. Since it was officially impossible to obtain passports or visas (there was a travel ban), Rója spent several months in Krakow, trying to earn money he buys a forged pass to the West. At that time, suffering from deprivation, she lived with her children in the hotel Pod Rózą near the Market. For Christmas 1945, she cooked the traditional Vigil carp in a hotel bathroom.The money for the trip was obtained from the sale of half of the large two-story Old Town quarry at 13/15 Slavkovskaya Street, where conservatives held political meetings in the days of Count Zdzislav.
The Dzikowski Descent was a conference of Polish conservative groups now representatives of Józef Piłsudski (Colonel W. Sławk and Mayor R. Grocholski), held in 1927 at the residence of Count Z. W. Dzikowski. It was a meeting aimed at defining a common concept for the construction of a public administration for a reborn Poland, taking into account the existing physical and mental differences.
The meeting discussed mainly political matters, in particular issues related to the formation of the government and divisions in the people's movement, as well as issues related to the defense of the country and relations with the state authorities
. It was a meeting of conservatives, representatives of Józef Piłsudski (including Colonel W. Slavka and Mr. R. Mikolajczyk) of different groupings.
The last known meeting called the "Dzikovsky Descent" was held in the 1930s at the residence of Count Adam Tarnovsky in Dzikova, near Tarnobrzeg. It was a conference of conservative political groups or representatives of "Centrolev", which gathered people who oppose the rule of Józef Piłsudski, m.in. Vladyslav Sikorsky, Andrei Zamojsky, and Stanislav Wierzbitsky.
The family that lived in the west and the family from Poland, differed markedly, those from England were impractical, with no veins for interest, but with a sentiment to redeem former possessions and all the time looked into history. Living like from the interwar twenties, I understand them, from the heart, so honestly. As for relationships, once they tripped and contact broke off. But in the Wilderness at a family party, they met then in the 1970s a lot of family from France, very interesting people.
In the last years of the nineteenth century, the Trail attracted a multitude of people from the Society, owing as much to the fame and pedigree of the professor as to the wealth of the Imci, and also for their duty of two dicks on the issue. Locals and visitors from all over Poland flocked to the invitations, especially during Carnival, when Krakow hosts lavish all-night balls throughout the month. Every time the Professor and Imcia issued a friendship, in a gesture of pious philanthropy they placed in the hands of their friend, Brother Albert Chmielowski, the founder of the Albertine order, an amount corresponding to the value of a toy basket. The order cared for the poor and homeless, and Brother Albert was brought up on the altar years later by Pope John Paul II.
I saw the terrible ruin, the house entirely sacked and perforated by bullets, the garden pierced with trenches and mostly destroyed by bullets, the surrounding forests burnt, people living in cellars and outbuildings".
The entire family estate came from a combined 2,000 hectares of forests. 3,600 bodies excavated from graves in the park and garden
Under Wanda Hieronim’s brief description of the road trip, he wrote: “Ten bullet holes in the house, the folwark burned, about three thousand morgs of forest burned and turned into pillows”.
Had Piłsudsky and Weygand not succeeded in stopping […] the triumvirate of the Red Army’s false start as a result of the Battle of Warsaw, and stopped not only the dangerous turn in the days of Christendom, Alezo would have become dangerously independent civilization. The battle of Tours [against the Saracens in 732] saved our forefathers from the yoke of the Koran; it is a matter of fact that the Battle of Warsaw saved Central Europe, and thus part of Western Europe, from a far more formidable danger: fanatical Soviet tyranny.
The aristocracy in all of the grace: Count Zdzislav, owner of Dzikov, standing in the middle, with his hand on his sword; flanked by Jerome Tarnowski; first from left, in uniform, Artur Tarnowski, the late Mr. Dzikov; his brother Andrew, fourth from left, partially obscured. Wedding in the Wilderness in the 1930s.
Those who lived in the Wilderness before the war remembered it as another world. When Stasya as a young man visited Dzikov, there was a closed world - he called the castle and the surroundings Dzikov's kingdom, and Count Zdzislav was compared to the reigning king. lived invariably three or four generations at once In the rooms above the apartment kitchens sat guests and distant relatives The servant wore gray flannels.the buttons displayed the embossed mark of Leliva - the six-pointed star and the crescent-crest of all branches of the Tarnov family. In the vicinity a lumber and forestry economy is vigorously developed, large nurseries of fruit trees are planted, an oak farm, a boiler house, a brewery, a brickyard, a mill, a tartak, and fish ponds are conducted.
Life in the Wilderness was based on two pillars: a sense of family ties and respect for the older generations or the welfare of the population residing in the estate, as well as the surrounding towns and villages. The family took responsibility for subjects as a matter of course and maintained lifelong bonds with governesses, servants, stables, hunters, cowboys, and merchants. The sense of identity and belonging extended beyond the gates of the castle and encompassed the population of nearby Tarnobreg, who reciprocated with uncommon loyalty. During the peasant uprising of 1846, when the nobility was mass-murdered in Galicia, Dzikov was the sole protector of the subjects.
The family moved to Dzikov in the late 17th century. Her previous property in Vielowsi burned during the Swedish flood. Earlier, in the 16th century, the ancient seat of Tarnov, the old fortress, had fallen away. As the main branch of the family had no male descendants, Tarn, with its giant castle on the hill and the Gothic cathedral containing the marble tombs of the Tarn ancestors, passed into the marriages. The glory of the clan ended with the extinction of its line, and much of the property was lost.
Count Zdzisław sat on the city council, supported local industry, schooling and the health service. He financed the construction of schools and churches. He built a hospital. He founded hospitals, schools, orphanages and homeless shelters in other towns and villages, and after World War I established a foundation for the care of war veterans and cripples.
During the war he risked his life for his subjects many times. When the Russian army arrived, with his wife, Countess Zofia, in the room of the hospital for the mercenaries both troops and hung arranged above it a flag with the sign of the Red Cross. When the Russians occupied the city on September 15, 1914, after a shipyard near the battle, the Count tried to save them from destruction. The aforementioned Mikhail Marczak, a librarian and archivist from Dzikov, recorded in his diary that when the first Russian patrol passed the gate of the castle, some drunken men fired shots in his direction. The Russians approached the gate and threatened that if anyone shot again, they would not honor the flag with the Red Cross sign. Count Zdzislav personally went out to them and assured them that the incident would not happen again. He immediately advanced on foot to Tarnobreg, looking out for the Austrian divisions to divert them from the fighting on the city grounds.
Entering the city, the count came across an Austrian horse patrol - Marczak wrote. "When he made his request, the commander, taking him for a spy, ordered him to be led to the Russian patrol." The divisions met in the square and each delivered a salvo. The Austrians fled, steadfast. and Count Zdzislav shouted as loudly as he could. on horseback took him out to the stable room.
Please come quickly, Count. The officer shot himself!
Staś ran around the ponds in front of the house. Behind the stables, among the beehives in the cherry orchard, lay the body of a Polish colonel with a bullet. Hieronim recorded his death in the guest book: "A colonel of an unknown unit, who for several days had been looking in vain for his regiment, came here and committed suicide in the orchard. At this spot stands a cross."
The colonel was Walerian Młyniec. Zofia and Zdzisław Chmiel from Rudnik wrote in their history of the town that Colonel Młyniec suffered a mental breakdown: During World War I, he was in Marshal Piłsudski's Legions. In 1920, he fought against the Bolsheviks in the defense of Warsaw and Lviv, and he couldn't come to terms with the defeat of 1939. He saw the bombing of Rudnik, the destruction of military transports at the station, and the dead soldiers who failed to reach the front. He saw the defeated Polish army flee. Somewhere among those troops was his regiment. On September 8th, he committed suicide in the manor house where he was staying.
Amidst all this confusion, the young couple discussed their plans with Hieronim. He advised them to flee east that night. He had heard on the radio that bridges over the San River were being blown up to slow the German advance. The nearby crossing was still operational, so they should leave before it, too, was destroyed.
That evening, Staś and Zofia said their final goodbyes to their father. Although tension and distance had long reigned between Staś and Hieronim, they parted tenderly and with emotion. For the first time in his life, Staś knelt in his father's study to receive his blessing. Hieronim removed a gold cross from his neck and placed it around his son's. It was a precious memento of Hieronim's father's younger brother, Professor Stanisław Tarnowski, Juliusz Tarnowski from Dzików, who had perished during the January Uprising. I trust you will be brave," he said to Staś. "Be a good soldier and don't bring shame to the family."
Staś joined the Polish army in Paris immediately after he and Chouquette disembarked from the train in November 1939. Enlisting under one's own banner abroad to fight for the country's freedom became almost second nature to Poles after the partitions. From 1795 to 1918, Polish Legions fought in many countries under the slogan "For our freedom and yours," sacrificing their lives for the liberation of their homeland and all oppressed nations. Often, their struggles were more an expression of rebellion than of faith in restoring Poland's independence, but thanks to them, they became renowned for their courage and sustained the hopes of Poles back home. Their spirits were also buoyed by the opening lines of the national anthem: "Poland is not yet lost, so long as we live," a song of the Dąbrowski Legions fighting alongside Napoleon in Italy. So Staś and tens of thousands of his compatriots enlisted wherever they could fight Hitler: first in France, and then, as the situation on the fronts developed, in Great Britain, Palestine, Syria, Iraq, the Soviet Union, and Iran.
Staś went to the Bessiéres barracks in northern Paris, where a Polish conscription station and refugee camp had been set up.
1 September, the second anniversary of the attack on Poland, a hundred German planes dropped hundreds of bombs. I claim a hail of shrapnel fell. 'For half an hour we witnessed a veritable hell,' Jakubski reported. Fifty-five shells fell on the regiment’s sector, and four bombers dropped a barrage of bombs and shot it down. A light shooter became the first victim. Two days later, clouds of rising sand limited visibility to a few metres. Blinded and dazed, with sand in their eyes, ears, and mouths, crowds of millions of spider merchantmen hid behind every cover they could find.
Most of Stasi’s comrades in Tobruk were fighting the Germans for the first time since Poland’s defeat. They had accounts to settle, so they patrolled the enclosure. "Our patrols go out every day, never venturing two or three kilometers behind enemy lines wrote Jakubski. Every day there are skirmishes, shooting from far and near, the use of grenades and fighting over bagnettes. Most of the time, Russians fight. Tobruk suffers casualties every day, whether from patrolling or from bombing and shelling".
Stasya took part in a combat patrol that was severely harassed by the Italians under Twin Pimples, and during another attack he fought back in the Italian trenches. Then it's the only time in my life I've stabbed someone with a bagnet - she said. - A very unpleasant action, and I did not do it properly: instead of twisting the rifle after the task of the blow, I just thrust it in and with great difficulty pulled it out.
The next day, December 17, 1941, Stasya would remember for life. 'It was I who captured the highest-ranking Iceman - he told me. At Ghazali, we reported for patrol, got an old tank that didn't work, couldn't shoot. We had just the usual peem. He was with a monk and a mule driver. one, or maybe two. After reaching a certain wadi (a dried-up riverbed) we saw some self-propelled vehicles, near which the Vólsi were crouching. And so I took prisoner the command of a Walsa regiment of bersaliers If I remember correctly, the colonel was called Ugo Barbatti.
17 December 1941 in the Gazali area, Allied forces continued the Operation Crusader offensive against Axis forces, during which Polish and South African artillery captured enemy positions and took prisoners
The 7th Bersaglieri Regiment was captured by the Poles on 17 December 1941
For details: The 2nd Battalion of the Carpathian Rifle Brigade itself took prisoner approx. 600 Icelandic horsemen, including the commander of a bersalier regiment.
Its own motto is ‘Celeritas et Virtus’ – ‘Promptitude and Vengeance’. General Alessandro La Marmora – introduced it in 1836. The 1836 reform of the army of the Kingdom of Sardinia was broader than merely strengthening the army. The creation of the Bersaliers was the most visible element for her, but the modernization covered many areas.
𝐓𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐡𝐬 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐚𝐝𝐞'𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐝𝐫𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐥, 𝐑𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐥 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐝𝐞𝐟𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐭 𝐆𝐚𝐳𝐚𝐥𝐚 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐓𝐨𝐛𝐫𝐮𝐤. 𝐀𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐚 𝐛𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐉𝐮𝐧𝐞 𝟐𝟏-𝟐𝟐, 𝟏𝟗𝟒𝟐, 𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐠𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐧 (𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐡, 𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡 𝐀𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡 𝐀𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐬) 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐫. 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐖𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐧 𝐂𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭 "𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐫." 𝐓𝐰𝐨 𝐝𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫, 𝐑𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐥'𝐬 𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐬 𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐄𝐠𝐲𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫.
Stasya lived in Dachau. He was rescued due to serious illnesses. He then trained as a commando in the UK and fought the Germans, but Anders' Polish artillerymen, as was not obvious, are an undisciplined bunch,a charismatic bunch, just like the rest of the troops in this war, so when Stasya saved the outcome of the mission by paving the way for trucks, another officer received a medal, and Stasya, unnecessarily, commented, not to wear this cross. His guide disputed this and gave him other insignia, but he refused to wear them, saying, “You can hang them on my ass.” And so, despite being a platoon leader, he was discharged from the service.
Her brother Jaś did not leave the country. All of Zamoyski's property, the largest landed estate in Poland, was confiscated, and he himself was arrested and tried on trumped-up charges. He spent seven years in prison, which severely affected his health. Since it was officially impossible to obtain passports or visas (there was a travel ban), Rója spent several months in Krakow, trying to earn money he buys a forged pass to the West. At that time, suffering from deprivation, she lived with her children in the hotel Pod Rózą near the Market. For Christmas 1945, she cooked the traditional Vigil carp in a hotel bathroom.The money for the trip was obtained from the sale of half of the large two-story Old Town quarry at 13/15 Slavkovskaya Street, where conservatives held political meetings in the days of Count Zdzislav.
The Dzikowski Descent was a conference of Polish conservative groups now representatives of Józef Piłsudski (Colonel W. Sławk and Mayor R. Grocholski), held in 1927 at the residence of Count Z. W. Dzikowski. It was a meeting aimed at defining a common concept for the construction of a public administration for a reborn Poland, taking into account the existing physical and mental differences.
The meeting discussed mainly political matters, in particular issues related to the formation of the government and divisions in the people's movement, as well as issues related to the defense of the country and relations with the state authorities
. It was a meeting of conservatives, representatives of Józef Piłsudski (including Colonel W. Slavka and Mr. R. Mikolajczyk) of different groupings.
The last known meeting called the "Dzikovsky Descent" was held in the 1930s at the residence of Count Adam Tarnovsky in Dzikova, near Tarnobrzeg. It was a conference of conservative political groups or representatives of "Centrolev", which gathered people who oppose the rule of Józef Piłsudski, m.in. Vladyslav Sikorsky, Andrei Zamojsky, and Stanislav Wierzbitsky.
The family that lived in the west and the family from Poland, differed markedly, those from England were impractical, with no veins for interest, but with a sentiment to redeem former possessions and all the time looked into history. Living like from the interwar twenties, I understand them, from the heart, so honestly. As for relationships, once they tripped and contact broke off. But in the Wilderness at a family party, they met then in the 1970s a lot of family from France, very interesting people.
February 24, 2025
This book was doubtless of more interest to me than to the average reader. My father was a Pole who ended up in Britain after WW2, though his path there was nothing like that of the author's father and relatives. The story wouldn't be believable if it was fiction, it has so much drama in it. Much of this arises because of the aristocratic Polish family with severe mental health issues and alcoholism. When the family's autocratic rule is disrupted by WW1 and then WW2, they don't know how to cope except by leaning on their contacts in the international upper classes as they escape Poland. It's not a life lived by anyone I know, but I have to admit that the author has done an amazing job of writing the story, considering that his father was such a narcissistic violent drunk. It's another world, and while fascinating, a world we are better off without.
April 23, 2018
Een echte kroniek, een geschiedenisboek. Ik vond het leuk om te lezen, en ik heb er veel van geleerd, over Polen, haar inwoners, en haar geschiedenis.
June 11, 2020
have enjoyed this book, took me back to old days and it was so real and rich.
July 31, 2010
The shot Count Hieronim Tarnowski fired on his wedding night in 1914, on the eve of the First World War, was like a tocsin that sounded the doom of his ancient Polish family. When, in August 1939, on the eve of another war, his daughter Sophie saw blood pouring down the side of her train, she felt a terrible foreboding and knew her idyllic world would be swept away. Thirty years later, when Count Hieronim’s British grandson Andrew learned of the death of his mother - the beautiful, fragile, and abused Chouquette - his sense of a lost identity deepened and he set out to rediscover the world from which he came. These moments punctuate an extraordinary tale of the downfall of a once-powerful family, which in turn mirrors the twentieth-century fate of a nation ravaged by invasions and crushed by tyranny.
Before 1945, Poland, now a fledgling EU country, was an almost Tolstoyan world of wolf hunts and extravagant wealth, set alongside great poverty and a semifeudal peasantry, in a landscape of frozen fields and dark forests. Broken by war, it was reduced by Communism to drab uniformity, and a way of life was lost forever.
This world out of time is the setting for Andrew Tarnowski’s memoir, The Last Mazurka, a tale of loss and exile, love and violence, wandering and longing, told with poignancy and unexpected humor, and a lingering regret.
Before 1945, Poland, now a fledgling EU country, was an almost Tolstoyan world of wolf hunts and extravagant wealth, set alongside great poverty and a semifeudal peasantry, in a landscape of frozen fields and dark forests. Broken by war, it was reduced by Communism to drab uniformity, and a way of life was lost forever.
This world out of time is the setting for Andrew Tarnowski’s memoir, The Last Mazurka, a tale of loss and exile, love and violence, wandering and longing, told with poignancy and unexpected humor, and a lingering regret.
April 23, 2013
Een prachtig maar toch zeker ook triest boek. De aristocratische Poolse familie raakt bijna alles kwijt maar probeert vast te houden aan hun vroegere manier van leven. De familie zit zeer hiërarchisch in elkaar, zoals de schrijver merkt wanneer hij aan het slot van het boek probeert de overgebleven bezittingen op een efficiënte manier te gebruiken.
Ze sluiten allemaal min of meer ongelukkige huwelijken en hebben een vreemde manier om met hun kinderen om te gaan. Dit zet zich in elke generatie weer voort.
Ook onderling tussen de familieleden wordt veel geruzied waar je soms wel wat moe van wordt.
Ze sluiten allemaal min of meer ongelukkige huwelijken en hebben een vreemde manier om met hun kinderen om te gaan. Dit zet zich in elke generatie weer voort.
Ook onderling tussen de familieleden wordt veel geruzied waar je soms wel wat moe van wordt.
February 24, 2008
This was an interesting look at Polish aristocratic culture and history from an insider perspective. It was tasty.
March 27, 2013
Good book, shows the true face of life during war time in Europe. However I was expecting more from it.
June 16, 2013
No can't read it! Done quarter and as it is very historical and like a text book ..... No going to read something else!
May 14, 2015
The Last Mazurka. Andrew Tarnowski. The story of how the two great wars of the 20th century swept away an entire culture and lifestyle.
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