Józef Piłsudski in German prisons

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

Berlin-Spandau, 30th July to 6th August 1917


After their brief stay in Gdansk, Piłsudski and Sosnkowski were individually transferred to Berlin, where their paths now diverged for over a year. They were sent to the prison in Wilhelmstrasse in Spandau near Berlin (now a district included in the capital). The prison was built between 1877 and 1881 and during the First World War around 400 inmates were sentenced here by military courts. After the Second World War the Nazi criminal Rudolf Hess served his sentence here and when he died in 1987 the building was demolished.

The conditions in this prison were considerably worse and the regulations much more rigorous than in Gdansk. It was not allowed to bring in food from the city. In the morning, the prisoners were served thin coffee and a slice of black bread, a lousy soup at noon and the morning menu was repeated in the evening. Germany was experiencing food shortages at the time and the “turnip winter” had only ended a few months earlier. Against this background there was no good reason to supply the Polish prisoners with special food despite their high rank. They were also forbidden to read books and daily newspapers, which was a sensitive issue given their monotonous existence. The lights were switched off at 7.30 in the evening (to save energy!), and they were woken at 5.00 in the morning. The hygienic conditions were catastrophic and the cells were full of bugs. Fortunately, their stay in Spandau was short.

Recalling Piłsudski many years later, the prison warden Oskar Kempe said:

“He was a distinguished gentleman! He was proud, he spoke little, he never asked for anything, he never complained about anything, he just came to Oskar Kempe's office from time to time for cigarettes: I no longer know who sent them to him.”

 
Media library
  • Flyer: Piłsudski’s Return to Warsaw, 1918

    Flyer: Piłsudski’s Return to Warsaw, 1918
  • Józef Piłsudski and Kazimierz Sosnkowski, 1914

    Commander Józef Piłsudski accompanied by his friend Kazimierz Sosnkowski during their internment in 1914.
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    Flyer: The Regency Council hands Józef Piłsudski the command of the Polish armed forces, 1918
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    Flyer: Commander Piłsudski spends his “name day” in a German prison, 1918
  • Flyer to protest against the illegal internment of Piłsudski, 1917

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  • Title page of the memoirs of Józef Piłsudski, 1925

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

    Józef Piłsudski and Sosnkowski during their internment in the Magdeburg fortress, 1918
  • The Spandau Fortress Prison

    The Spandau Fortress Prison
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    Title page of the “Kurier Warszawski”, 10th November 1918. Powrót komendanta Piłsudskiego (The Return of Commander Piłsudski), special supplement, No. 311, 10.11.1918.
  • The House in the Magdeburg Fortress

    The house in the Magdeburg Fortress where Józef Piłsudski was interned.
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    The house in the Magdeburg Fortress where Józef Piłsudski was interned.
  • A partial view of the Magdeburg Fortress

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    The house in the Magdeburg Fortress.
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    The House in the Magdeburg Fortress.
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    The House in the Magdeburg Fortress.
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    Polish guests at the house in the Magdeburg Fortress, where Józef Piłsudski was interned.
  • Polish guests at the house in the Magdeburg Fortress, where Józef Piłsudski was interned.

    Polish guests at the house in the Magdeburg Fortress, where Józef Piłsudski was interned.
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    Polish guests at the house in Magdeburg where Józef Piłsudski was interned.
  • Certificate of delivery of the Piłsudski House, 1937

    Certificate of delivery of the Piłsudski House, 1937.
  • Demolition of the house where Piłsudski was interned

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    Demolition of the house where Józef Piłsudski was interned.
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    Demolition of the house where Józef Piłsudski was interned.
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    Demolition of the house where Józef Piłsudski was interned.
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    Abriss des Piłsudski-Hauses in Magdeburg.
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    Demolition of the house where Józef Piłsudski was interned.
  • Demolition of the house where Józef Piłsudski was interned

    Demolition of the house where Józef Piłsudski was interned.
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    Demolition of the house where Józef Piłsudski was interned.
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    Demolition of the house where Józef Piłsudski was interned.
  • The Magdeburg House in the Belvedere Park in Warsaw, 1939

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    Today's terrain of the Fortress in Magdeburg.
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    Today's terrain of the Fortress in Magdeburg.
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    Today's terrain of the Fortress in Magdeburg.
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  • On the way from Magdeburg to Berlin the travelers made a short break in the city Genthin for a breakfast.

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  • Gedenktafel an der ersten Wohnstätte in Warschau

    Gedenktafel an der ersten Wohnstätte in Warschau ab 10. November 1918
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  • Józef Piłsudski - Hörspiel von "COSMO Radio po polsku" auf Deutsch

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