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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

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Wesel, 6th to 23rd August 1917

On August 6th, Piłsudski and Sosnkowski were again moved seperately to the fortress in Wesel on the Lower Rhine near the border to Holland. Built around the turn of the 17th to the 18th century, it was one of the largest fortifications in the Rhineland. Today it is used as a cultural centre. Prison conditions were better here. The commander of the fortress even protested on behalf of Piłsudski because he considered it illegal to intern persons who were neither under investigation nor had been sentenced to imprisonment. Years later, in a conversation in Geneva, Piłsudski asked the German Foreign Minister Gustav Stresemann to send his regards to the commanding officer of the fortress.

Shortly before the two Poles entered the fortress in Wesel, Lieutenant Colonel Nothe, the Chief of Staff to the Warsaw Governor General, made a statement about the reasons for the internment. He wrote:

“(…) the reason for their arrest and internment is that the secret military organization (POW), led by Piłsudski with the aid of Sosnkowski, showed ultranationalist tendencies, and given the circumstances these were also directed against the occupying power.” Furthermore, according to Nothe, “Piłsudski is one of the most important political personalities in Poland, and is regarded by the people as a national hero because he was the founder and leader of the Legions.”

Although both men were not accused of any crime, Nothe ordered Piłsudski to be closely monitored. He warned that he was an adventurous man who was capable of escaping. His blindly devoted aide Sosnkowski must also be held under observation.

Piłsudski stayed for little more than two weeks in Wesel. His premature transfer to Magdeburg is said to have been the work of Poles who were protesting and demanding his release.