Józef Piłsudski

Poland’s first democratically elected president shot dead 100 years ago today

With the newly reborn nation still basking in the glow of victory having safeguarded its independence the year previously after the Red Army finally ceded defeat in the Polish-Soviet War, news of the assassination shattered the nation’s innocence. Public domain

With the newly reborn nation still basking in the glow of victory having safeguarded its independence the year previously after the Red Army finally ceded defeat in the Polish-Soviet War, news of the assassination shattered the nation’s innocence and plunged it into crisis.

Extraordinary life of Józef Piłsudski’s older brother told in new website

After being exiled by Tsar Alexander III to Sakhalin Island in the far east, Bronisław Piłsudski soon learned the language of one of the most mysterious peoples in the world and set about documenting the life and culture of the island's people.

Grave of forgotten hero who bought Westerplatte peninsula off Germans with his own cash found in UK cemetery

After finding the grave of Polish diplomat Mieczysław Jałowiecki who was a pioneer in the struggle for Poland’s interwar identity, a local historian is now looking to honour his name and memory.

Capital’s ‘grand dame of hospitality’, the Hotel Bristol celebrates its 120th birthday

Opened on 19 November, 1901, the Hotel Bristol has become a place where modernity and heritage meet. TFN’s Alex Webber looks back at its glitzy history.

Historians exhume grave of pre-war commander-in-chief to solve decades-long mystery surrounding his death

According to historical records, Marshall Edward Śmigły-Rydz died suddenly, allegedly of heart failure, while living undercover in Warsaw in December 1941. The initial results of this week’s exhumation show that at a depth of about 2.5 metres, a burial crypt was discovered, with a sealed metal coffin containing the remains of a man.

Kraków’s central station renamed Józef Piłsudski

President of Polish State Railways, Krzysztof Mamiński said: “This is an important ceremony for Polish State Railways, for Kraków and for Poland.”

Zamość: Shortlisted as one of the seven wonders of Poland

The renaissance pearl that is the Old Town remains as striking and fresh as the day it was finished: a place of colonnaded passageways and shaded, leafy courtyards, it all leads to a mesmerizing square that stops you in your tracks.

Glamourous facelift returns Białystok station to its former glory

VIDEO: Today, the station resembles the palatial grandeur of its heyday, allowing visitors to admire a historic building and feel the atmosphere of its majesty from the turn of the 19th and 20th century.

On 100th anniversary of Treaty of Riga peace deal, new exhibition highlights its ‘bitter-sweet’ outcome

VIDEO: To mark the 100th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Riga, which sealed Poland’s victory over the Soviet Union in 1920, the Royal Castle in Warsaw is hosting two exhibitions that show the contrasting sides of the bitter-sweet peace deal between the two states.

Art gallery assassination!

Just five days after being elected as Poland’s first president in the newly independent second republic, Gabriel Narutowicz was gunned down in cold blood during the opening of an art exhibition. TFN’s Nick Westerby looks back at the extraordinary events 98 years ago today. 

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