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Józef Bem

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Józef Zachariasz Bem
Bem József
Born(1794-03-14)14 March 1794
Tarnów,Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria(nowPoland)
Died10 December 1850(1850-12-10)(aged 56)
Aleppo,Ottoman Empire(nowSyria)
Buried
Tarnów(since 1929)
AllegiancePolish insurgents
Revolutionary Hungarian Army
Ottoman Army
RankGeneral
UnitArtillery
Battles
AwardsVirtuti MilitariLegion d'honneur Chevalier V class

Józef Zachariasz Bem(Hungarian:Bem József,Turkish:Murat Pasha;14 March 1794 – 10 December 1850) was a Polish engineer and general, anOttomanpashaand a national hero ofPolandandHungary,and a figure intertwined with other European patriotic movements. LikeTadeusz Kościuszko(who fought in theAmerican War of Independence) andJan Henryk Dąbrowski(who fought alongsideNapoleon Bonapartein Italy and in theFrench Invasion of Russia), Bem fought outside Poland's borders anywhere his leadership and military skills were needed.

Early life

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Polish and Hungarian memorial plaques at the birthplace of Józef Bem inTarnów
Bem family coat of arms

He was born on 14 March 1794 inTarnów[1]inGalicia,the area of Poland that had become part of theHabsburg monarchythrough theFirst Partitionin 1772. After the creation of theDuchy of Warsawfrom the territories captured by Napoleon, he moved with his parents toKraków,where after finishing military school (where he distinguished himself inmathematics) he joined the ducal forces as a fifteen-year-oldcadet.[2]He joined a Polish artillery regiment as a sub-lieutenant and then lieutenant in the French service, took part in theFrench invasion of Russia (1812),and subsequently distinguished himself in the defence ofDanzig(Polish:Gdańsk) (January – November 1813), winning the Knight's Cross of theLegion d'honneur.[3]

After theCongress of Viennain 1815, the Duchy of Warsaw was transformed into theconstitutional Kingdom of Poland,adependent territoryof theRussian Empire,and Bem became a teacher at a military college. There he carried out research on a newly designed rocket-like missile, publishing his research with extensive illustrations.

Bem became involved in apolitical conspiracyto restore Poland to full independence, but, when his membership in a secret patriotic organisation was discovered, he was demoted and sentenced (in 1822) to one year in prison. Although the sentence was suspended, Bem resigned his commission and moved toGalicia.There he researchedsteam enginesand their application, and again published his results. Bem lived inLwów(now Lviv) andBrodyuntil 1830, and planned on writing a treatise on the subject.[4]

November Uprising

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Battle of Ostrołęka (1831)(19th-century painting by Karol Malankiewicz)

When theNovember Uprising,an insurrection for Polish independence, broke out on 29 November 1830 against theRussian Empire,Bem immediately joined the Polish insurgents. He arrived in Warsaw, was given amajor's commission and the command of the 4th Light Cavalry Battalion, which he led during the Battles ofIganieandOstrołęka.[5]During the Battle of Ostrołęka, Bem's forces bravely charged the Russian opponents. Although the Polish army suffered a serious defeat with a loss of 6,000 men, Bem's actions prevented the destruction of the entire army.[6]For his valour on the battlefield, Bem was awarded theVirtuti MilitariGolden Cross[7]and promoted to the rank ofBrigadier General.[6]He was steadfastly against capitulation until the very end of the Uprising, during thedesperate defence of WarsawagainstPrince Paskievich(27 September 1831). Nonetheless, the Polish army was eventually compelled to lay down arms on 5 October 1831, and crossed the Russian–Prussianpartitional border under the command of GeneralMaciej Rybińskiin theGreat Emigration.

First exile

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Bem then escaped toParis,where he supported himself by teaching mathematics.[8]In France, he published his next work, on the national uprising in Poland, in which he not only gave an appraisal of the 1831 insurrection, but also tried to present a programme for the continuation of the struggle for the country's freedom. During his stay in France, he collaborated with theHôtel Lambertorganization and was a member of theHistorical and Literary Society.[9]

In 1833 he went toPortugalto assist the liberalDom Pedroagainst the reactionaryDom Miguel,but abandoned the idea when it was found that a Polish legion could not be formed there.[10]While in Portugal he was the target of an assassination attempt carried out by Russian agents.[10]

1848 hero

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See also:Hungarian Revolution of 1848
Place of stay of Józef Bem on 9–27 November 1848,Budapest,Hungary

A wider field for his activity presented itself in 1848 due to theAustrian Revolutionin the Habsburg Empire. First he attempted to holdViennaagainst the imperial troops ofAlfred I, Prince of Windisch-Grätz,and, after the capitulation, hastened toPressburg(Hungarian:Pozsony,todayBratislava,Slovakia) to offer his services toLajos Kossuth,first defending himself, in a long speech, from the accusations of "treachery to the Polish cause" and "aristocratic tendencies" — which the more fanatical section of the PolishémigréRadicals repeatedly brought against him. He was entrusted with the defence ofTransylvaniaat the end of 1848,[11]and in 1849, as General of theSzékelytroops, he performed miracles with his little army, notably at the bridge ofPiski(now Simeria, Romania) on 9 February, where, after fighting all day, he drove back an immense force of pursuers.[12]

After relieving Transylvania he was sent to drive the Austrian General Anton Freiherr von Puchner out of theBanatregion. Bem defeated von Puchner atOrsova(now Orșova) on 16 May, but the Russian invasion forced Bem to retreat to Transylvania. From 12 to 22 July Bem was fighting continually, but finally, on 31 July 1849, his army was annihilated by overwhelming numbers in theBattle of Segesvár(nowSighişoara); Bem escaped after feigning death. He fought a fresh action atNagycsür(now Șura Mare) on 6 August, and contrived to bring his fragmented army to theBattle of Temesvár(nowTimișoara),[13]to aid the hard-pressed GeneralHenryk Dembiński.Bem was in command and was seriously wounded in the last pitched battle of the war, fought there on 9 August.[12]

Mausoleum of General Józef Bem in Tarnów

Second exile and death

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On the collapse of the rebellion he fled to theOttoman Empire,where he adoptedIslam,[14]and served as Governor ofAleppounder the name ofMurad Paşa/Pasha.[15]His last military victory was defeatingBedouinssieging the city of Aleppo.[5]On 10 December 1850, he died ofmalaria.[5]

Burial and grave

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Bem was buried in a military cemetery in Aleppo. In 1926 a committee was formed to bring his body back to Poland. His mausoleum was designed by Adolf Szyszko-Bohusz and built on an island in a pond, inStrzelecki ParkinTarnów.Since Bem has converted to Islam, as was required for his career in the Ottoman Empire, he couldn't be buried in Catholic ground, but the unique design of this mausoleum – a rectangular sarcophagus standing on six Corinthian columns, above ground – made it possible for him to be buried in his hometown. On the longer side walls of the sarcophagus there are inscriptions:Józef Bemon the front,Bem apó, a magyar szabadságharc legnagyobb hadvezére 1848–1849( "Grandpa Bem, greatest leader of the Hungarian fight for freedom 1848–1849" in Hungarian) on the back. On the shorter side walls فريق مراد باشا ( "Lt. General Murat Pasha" ) is written on one side and the years 1794, 1850 and 1929 (the years of his birth, death and reburial, respectively) on the other.

The mausoleum has been completed in July 1928. Bem was exhumed on 20 June 1929. Before the coffin reached Tarnów, it was displayed to the public at the National Museum in Budapest, and then in the Wawel Castle in Kraków. The funeral ceremony of General Józef Bem in Tarnów took place on 30 June 1929. The next day, the coffin, after being moved to the building of the Rifle Society, was opened for an anthropological research to be carried out. The skull was too fragile to make a plaster cast. On 6 July in the morning, after the construction of a special scaffolding, the coffin was lifted with cranes to the top of the mausoleum and placed in the sarcophagus, and the side wall was bricked up.

Character and legacy

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Bem was a man respected for his courage and heroic temper, both of which were in contrast with his small stature. His influence is said to have been magnetic: although none of his Székely subordinates understood the language he spoke, most revered him. As a soldier Bem was remarkable for his excellent handling of artillery and the rapidity of his marches.[12]In Hungarian, he is often referred to affectionately as"Bem apó",which roughly translates into "Grandpa Bem" or "Old Man Bem".[13]

In the 1930s Hungary and Poland each had a regiment of mounted artillery named for him. To date, Bem remains the most famous Muslim in both countries, partly due to his role in the fight for independence in both states.[16][17][18]

A statue to his honour was erected atMarosvásárhely(nowTârgu-Mureş,Romania) but he lives still more enduringly in the verses[19]of the Hungariannational poetSándor Petőfi,who fell in the fatal action of 31 July 1849 at the Battle of Segesvár.[12]

TheHungarian Revolution of 1956(which originally started as a sympathy protest, supporting the Polish Poznań protests) began on 23 October with a protest at the foot of the Bem Statue inBudapest.

Works

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O machinach parowych(OnSteam Engines)by Józef Bem, book published in 1829 inLwów.

Józef Bem published also in French, Polish and German languages books about the history of Poland, technology and military aspects:

  • Józef Bem – "La Pologne dans ses anciennes limites et l'empire des Russies" 1836
  • Józef Bem - "Notes sur les fusées incendiaires"
  • Józef Bem – "Erfahrungen über die Congrevischen Raketen" (Uwagi o rakietach zapalających,Practical Knowledge of Incendiary Rockets) 1820
  • Józef Bem – "O machinach parowych" (About Steam Engines)
  • Józef Bem – "Węgrzy i Polacy w dzisiejszym stanie Europy" (Hungarians and Poles in Contemporary Europe)
  • Józef Bem – "O powstaniu narodowym" (About National Uprising)

Honors

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  • Three commemorative postage stamps were issued on 10 December 1950 by Hungary on account of his death centenary.[20]
  • A souvenir sheet was issued on 10 December 1950 by Hungary on Stamp Day.[21]
  • On 15 March 1952 his stamp appears in Heroes of the 1848 Revolution series.[22]
  • Poland issued a commemorative postage stamp on 15 July 1948 in Revolution Centenaries series.[23]
  • Poland issued postage stamp on 10 December 1950 on his death centenary.[24]
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  • Statue of Józef Bem in Budapest
    Statue of Józef Bem inBudapest
  • Statue inscription – (I will) retake the bridge or perish, onwards Hungary! With no bridge, there is no fatherland
    Statue inscription – (I will) retake the bridge or perish, onwards Hungary! With no bridge, there is no fatherland
  • Józef Bem sculpture by Richárd Juha
    Józef Bem sculpture by Richárd Juha
  • Bust in the Céhtörténeti Múzeum
    Bust in the Céhtörténeti Múzeum
  • Bust of Józef Bem in Kiskőrös
    Bust of Józef Bem inKiskőrös
  • Commemorative plaque, Cluj-Napoca
    Commemorative plaque,Cluj-Napoca
  • Monument dedicated to Bem, Târgu Mureș
    Monument dedicated to Bem,Târgu Mureș
  • Commemorative plaque, Brasov
    Commemorative plaque,Brasov
  • Bust of Józef Bem at the Józef Bem Square (Polish: Plac Bema) in Ostrołęka
    Bust of Józef Bem at the Józef Bem Square (Polish:Plac Bema) inOstrołęka
  • Józef Bem, Polish medallion ND by J. Misztela
    Józef Bem, Polish medallion ND by J. Misztela
  • Statue in central Tarnów
    Statue in centralTarnów
  • Bem Monument in Warsaw
    Bem Monument inWarsaw
  • Bem Monument in Łazienki
    Bem Monument inŁazienki
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The great Polish poetCyprian Norwid,a descendant ofJan III Sobieski,dedicated to Józef Bem the poemBema pamięci żałobny rapsod (Funeral Rhapsody in Memory of Bem),which was subsequently used by other artists includingZbigniew HerbertandCzesław Niemen.

Since 1969 Czesław Niemen'sBema pamięci żałobny rapsod (Mourner's Rhapsody in Memory of Bem)became cult status inCentral Europeand also beyond theIron Curtain.[25]

In 1974 an English version was re-recorded with the help ofMichał Urbaniak,John Abercrombie,Jan Hammer,Rick LairdandDon Grolnick,which was published worldwide byCBS Records International.[26]

In 1977 theBema pamięci żałobny rapsod (Mourner's Rhapsody in Memory of Bem)intro from the 1970 initial issue wasbootleggedby the West German rock bandJaneas intro and reprise intro for the second side of their elegicKrautrockalbumBetween Heaven and Hell[27]also immediately achievinggolden recordstatus.

Józef Bem's descendants are present mainly among artists and in music related business in Poland and in exile and include the jazz singer Ewa Bem[28][29][30]and her brothers Aleksander Bem and the jazz guitarist Jarosław Bem.[31]

See also

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References

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  1. ^"JÓZEF BEM (1794-1850)".Retrieved16 March2020.
  2. ^Laskowski, Otton (1931).Encyklopedia wojskowa t. I, hasło Bem Józef.Warsaw: Wojskowy Instytut Naukowo-Wydawniczy. pp. 252–253.
  3. ^Kovács, István (2009).Józef Bem. Bohater wiecznych nadziei.Warsaw: RYTM. pp. 252–253.ISBN978-83-7399-328-0.
  4. ^"JÓZEF BEM (1794-1850)".Retrieved16 March2020.
  5. ^abc"Józef Bem – człowiek ze spiżu".Retrieved22 March2020.
  6. ^ab"Gen. Józef Bem – bohater trzech narodów".Retrieved22 March2020.
  7. ^"Józef Bem: Son of Tarnów, Hero of Three Nations".Retrieved24 March2020.
  8. ^"Józef Bem – kim był?".Retrieved22 March2020.
  9. ^"Kim był Józef Bem?".Retrieved22 March2020.
  10. ^ab"Jeszcze o próbach stworzenia legionu polskiego w Portugalii"(PDF).Annales Universitatis Mariae Curie-Skłodowska.XXXVII(14): 257–278. 1982.Retrieved22 March2020.
  11. ^"Kalendarium życia Józefa Bema".Retrieved22 March2020.
  12. ^abcdOne or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain:Bain, Robert Nisbet(1911). "Bem, Josef".InChisholm, Hugh(ed.).Encyclopædia Britannica.Vol. 3 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 713.
  13. ^ab"Wielcy tarnowianie: gen. Józef Bem, Bohater Obojga Narodów".Retrieved22 March2020.
  14. ^The Islamic World and the West, Christoph Marcinkowski, pg. 99
  15. ^"How General Jozef Bem became Murad Pasha".Retrieved24 March2020.
  16. ^"Jak generał Bem muzułmaninem został | Instytut Felczaka Intézet".
  17. ^"Joseph Bem – the Polish, Jewish, Muslim general and hero of the 1848 Hungarian Revolution".16 March 2019.
  18. ^"Muzułmanin iprawdziwy Polak.Józef Bem - nietypowy bohater narodowy ".30 September 2016.
  19. ^Sándor Petőfi: The Transylvanian Army (Az erdélyi hadsereg)(in Hungarian)
  20. ^colnect /en/stamps/list/country/6955-Hungary/year/1950/page/5,6. Catalog codes: Mi:HU 1142–44, Sn:HU 914–16, Yt:HU 979-81.
  21. ^colnect /en/stamps/stamp/179093-József_Bem_1794-1850_battle_of_Piski-Stamp_Day-Hungary. Catalog codes: Michel HU BL19, Stamp Number HU C80, Yvert et Tellier HU BF24.
  22. ^colnect /en/stamps/stamp/178820-József_Bem_1794-1850_battle_of_Piski-Freedom_fighters_of_1848-Hungary. Catalog codes: Michel HU 1226, Stamp Number HU 992, Yvert et Tellier HU 1036A.
  23. ^colnect /en/stamps/stamp/137466-Generals_HDembinski_and_JBem-Revolution_Centenaries-Poland. Catalog codes: Michel PL 498, Stamp Number PL 430, Yvert et Tellier PL 510, Stanley Gibbons PL 611, AFA number PL 494, Polish Stamps Catalog (Fischer) PL 451.
  24. ^colnect /en/stamps/stamp/138403-Josef_Bem_and_battle_scene-Death_cent_Of_Gen_JBem-Poland. Catalog codes: Michel PL 670, Stamp Number PL 489, Yvert et Tellier PL 598, AFA number PL 562, Polish Stamps Catalog (Fischer) PL 532.
  25. ^Czesław Niemen - Bema pamięci rapsod żałobny (original video clip)
  26. ^NIEMEN - Mourner's Rhapsody (1974, CBS)
  27. ^Jane - Between Heaven and Hell 2/2 (pirated copy)
  28. ^Ewa Bem & Czesław Niemen - Jednego serca (2000)
  29. ^Ewa Bem (discography at Discogs)
  30. ^Ewa Bem (homepage - in progress)[permanent dead link]
  31. ^Jarosław Bem (discography at Discogs)
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