-Good morning. Today I have a pleasure to talk to a Polish insurgent who is also one of the national heroes in the United States. A brave nobleman from Poznań, Włodzimierz Krzyżanowski. Hi, how are you?
- Good morning. Thank you, very well.
- You have become a history not only for us Poles but also for Americans. How do you feel about it?
- I must honestly admit that I have never thought about it, but I am very glad that I could do something for our homeland and also for my adopted country, the United States, because I went where my duty called me.
- It was a miracle. Your trip to New York. What difficulties have you met in a foreign country?
- The first years in exile were difficult. The biggest obstacle was hearing a language that I did not know a word. At the beginning I lived with a newly met Pole, which was a huge step for me forward. I worked during the day as a worker, and after that I learned English. Later it was getting better and better. I acquired skills that enabled me my social career.
- Everything went well with the time. Right?
-Yes it's true. The United States were already on the edge.
- You are a strong opponent of slavery. You supported Abraham Lincoln in the election. And what is your opinion? Was slavery the cause of civil war and why?
- Yes, that's true, I detest slavery. And I think that it was one of the reasons for the civil war. The US economy was dependent on forced labor and based its functioning on it. Cotton cultivation, on which growers built their prosperity, was particularly important. Without the almost free, slave labor, cotton from the southern states would be much more expensive.
- Thank you for this conversation and I wish you all the best.
- Thank you. I am pleased to have met you. Kinga Pytka
POLISH HERO OF THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR WŁODZIMIERZ KRZYŻANOWSKI
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The Bridge - 1861 - Erasmus+
Diary of WŁODZIMIERZ KRZYŻANOWSKI
I was born in Różanów. I loved this place very much. Unfortunately, my family moved to Poznań, one of the main centers of the Polish conspiracy in the Prussian Partition. I took an active part in the anti-Russian uprising in 1846. It failed and I had to escape from Poland to avoid being arrested for political activity. The United States has become my new home.
I worked as an engineer in Virginia. I took part in the construction of the railway to the west. While working on the railroad, I met General Burnett and married his daughter, Caroline, with whom I moved to Washington to start a business. On this activity, I managed to get rich and became involved with the Republican Party.
In 1860, I supported the candidacy of Abraham Lincoln for the post of the President of the United States. His victory in the election caused the outbreak of civil war.
In New York, I started a recruitment campaign among immigrants from Europe who formed the 58th Volunteer Regiment of New York, called the "Polish Legion". I was promoted to the rank of colonel and was appointed his commander.
I took part in the Civil War. I fought in battles: at the Cross Keys in the Shenandoah Valley, at the Second Battle of Bull Run, at Chancellorsville, near Gettysburg and at Knoxville. President Lincoln promoted me on March 2, 1865 to Brigadier General; previous temporary appointments in 1862 and in 1863, were rejected by the US Senate.
After the war, I found myself destitute and it was only through the intercession of influential colleagues that she received the post of superior of the tax office in Georgia and Florida.
My next task was to check the veracity of reports on illegal transactions in Alaska, bought from Tsarist Russia in 1867. I returned from Alaska to Port Townsend on May 31, 1874 - without giving reasons - I was released from service.
After finishing work in Alaska, I lived in San Francisco. In 1878, in Washington, I became the director of the Treasury Department. In my old age, I returned to New York. Małgorzata Dziekan