A ruthless murderer, the greatest enemy of Poles and a faithful agent of His Imperial Majesty. Jakub Szela's participation in the Galician massacre went down in history forever. However, his fate did not end there.
The year 1846. Poles are getting ready for another uprising, but they still have unresolved matters between them. The Austrian authorities in Galicia know how to use it. Divide and rule - The age-old principle of politics is put into effect. On February 19, two days before the insurrection is to be announced in Krakow, an open revolt of peasants against the Polish nobility breaks out in the partitioned territories. Galician plunder - slaughter of lords.
The course of the rebate comes as a surprise to all parties. The violence and scale of the rebellion exceed the wildest expectations of both Poles and Austrians. Over 2,000 people are killed. The will of the nobility for Poland fades away in the blink of an eye when it turns out that their families and estates are at risk. The national uprising collapses even before it breaks out for good.
Peasant king
Jakób Szela, known as the "peasant king", quickly became the leader of the robbery. It was not a man by chance. Like an ordinary peasant, but at the same time - a servant of the Tarnów starost Józef Breinl. It was with the consent of the latter that Shel began the great slaughter. He gained publicity due to the loud murder of the family of his masters, the Boguszów. Soon his orders were obeyed by a hundred communes.
Robbery according to Jan Lorentowicz.
The peasant revolt began to cause concern even in Vienna. When it was certain that the national aspirations of Poles had been stifled, Breinl was tasked with an urgent "silencing the matter". The Austrian army entered the action and the robbery was suppressed. However, the question remained:what to do with Jakub Szela? A ruthless murderer and, at the same time, a faithful servant of His Imperial Majesty?
He could be imprisoned or lost. However, Szeli had a different fate written - he became the undisputed, nineteenth-century "celebrity". His alleged bestialities were reported in newspapers all over Europe. When the robbery died down, however, they quickly lost sight of him. Only today, thanks to the biography by Tomasz Szubert, we can learn about his further fate.
Guest or arrest?
At the end of April 1846 it became clear that Szela could not remain in her family home. Peasant petitions to reduce the dimensions of serfdom were in practice rejected, and rebels were warned against resistance to returning to the status quo ante . Breinl called on Szela to give an explanation in Tarnów and convinced him that for his own safety he should stay in the city. The staroste probably wasn't acting solely in the interests of his agent.
Shelah became extremely popular among the peasants. If there were any clashes between the populace and the military, Breinl would find himself in a - to put it mildly - awkward situation. She could not be allowed to really take on the role of the "peasant king".
The slaughter of gentlemen in the image of Jan Lewicki.
The rebel himself also found himself between the hammer and the anvil. On the one hand, there was a growing hatred and desire for revenge from the relatives of the people murdered during the robbery. On the other hand, by agreeing to stay in Tarnów, he abandoned "his" peasants to the fate. In the end, he did just that, although it could be debated whether it was a forced internment or a voluntary escape from trouble.
Undoubtedly, Breinl and Szela shared an interest. They had to deal with the apparent lawlessness while maintaining the appearance of law and order. At the end of April it became even more difficult.
The gods don't let go
The Bogusz family decided to seek justice before the imperial court. After all, as subjects and nobles, such justice simply belonged to them. Henryk Bogusz first filed a complaint with the Tarnów district, then he did it through General Castiglione, who, in the face of the national uprising, directed artillery at Krakow. All attempts by the officials to "drown" the complaint have failed. It was published in print and reached Vienna via commercial correspondence. Eventually, the emperor ordered an investigation.
Tarnow. Jakub Szela stayed here for many months.
Of course, it was not about honestly explaining the matter. The peasants had their merits for the court, but on the other hand, now they were to stop making social demands. Austrian Chancellor Klemens Lothar von Metternich did not wish for any revolutions. Breinl selected the appropriate man as investigator.
His ward carefully studied the case, considered all the pros and cons, wrote a very important report and handed it over to Vienna, which in turn handed it over to the governor of Galicia ... The case got stuck in the bureaucratic machine, while Szela was still in Tarnów. But is it free?
Spittoon reward
The official position against the robbery was slowly emerging. Eventually, loyal subjects were rewarded and inconvenient participants were removed from public view. The staroste of Breinl was awarded a medal for the comfort of being transferred to Moravia. There is an opinion that Szela also received an order as a prize. This legend may have had something to do with the popularity of the idea of an enterprising foundry. He made a medallion in the form of a spittoon bowl, on which Metternich and Shela were portrayed with the medal. Every good Pole could buy such a trinket and whenever he felt like it - spit Szeli in the face.
Anyway, Szela's "commercial" career only started with the spittoon bowl. It also quickly covered such products as:cigar ashtrays or medallions with original inscriptions such as "Messenger of Hell and the leader of slaughter".
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32 morgas for faithful service
Szela himself was not concerned with the medal. In a complaint sent to the emperor himself, he wrote:"God knows best that I am suffering innocently." He complained about wasted property, scarcity and deteriorating health. ” The case of months of imprisonment without trial was starting to swell. Finally, the Przemyśl starost, Ignacy Czetsch, thought about resettlement. Initially, two locations were considered - the first, in Cieszyn Silesia, seemed ideal, if only because of the proximity of Breinl, who could discreetly supervise Shella. The idea was rejected due to the "lack of free farms", which seems to be an excuse, however.
Jakub Szela on a woodcut from 1848.
Galician governor Franz Stadion instead found a place for Szela in Czerniowiecki district. The "Peasant King" was to receive 30 morga and 2 morga in the village and a lifetime tax exemption for himself and his children. His older son remained on his former farm. In December 1847, Szela made his signature (cross) under the document on the conditions of resettlement drawn up in Tarnów. Sheela's Galician history was over. Almost.
Cool greeting
February 6, 1848. Almost two years after the outbreak of the robbery, Szela and his family set off for Bukovina. His journey through Rzeszów, Przemyśl, Stryj and Kołomyja to Chernivtsi was a special and challenging undertaking. The media image of the king of peasants and the almost legendary, ruthless murderer of European fame did not fit the reality very well. A sixty-year-old, fairly short man with a cart, a woman and an adolescent adolescent. In Bukovina, Szela met with a cool reception, to put it mildly.
Especially - which is not surprising - the Bukovinian landowners were not able to come to terms with the settlement of a Galician robber in their vicinity. In a petition to the starost, they wrote about their concern about the relocation of "a man who enjoys a terrifying fame (...) a man to whom the fantasy of our peasants attributes fabulous power" and asked for his return.
The Galician peasants bring the Austrians the heads of their victims…
The stadium replied firmly: Please make those submitting their request aware as soon as possible that their wish is itself contrary to the spirit of the constitution. The country was on the brink of the Spring of Nations, and no form of disobedience or objection could count on the forbearance of the authorities.
How to live, Mr. Chancellor?
Shelah took over the land in May 1848. By the way, he found out that the issue of the promised life exemption (exemption from farm fees) had been lost somewhere along the way by imperial officials. Was it a form of giving Szela some more slick on the nose? Will he get back for complaints about bad treatment in Tarnów? The effect was surprising:Szela na Bukowno fell into known ruts.
He protested before the authorities against the harm he had done to himself as early as May 1848, then in 1851, then on the occasion of another complaint in 1853. In general, the frequency of his complaints increased. 1852 - two complaints, 1853 - four. These were mainly minor matters:difficulties in obtaining firewood, stealing an ax during grubbing, threats for chasing cattle away, beatings and unfair - in Szela's opinion - penalties.
Shela also began to haunt nightmares from the past. Someone was watching his household from a distance. His farm was attacked one night and beaten unconscious. Nothing was stolen, so it could not be a mere bandit action. Disputes with officials continued. The shooting of the "roe deer" served as a pretext to take back Sheela of a precious fusion, which was to be used in self-defense. Jakub and his son Józef received 3 weeks and 8 days in arrest for illegal hunting, respectively. However, after 1854, the complaints ceased for several years. It is not until 1857 that the disputes resume, the seventy-year-old Szela is arrested for 14 days, when he refuses to pay for the clearing of the forest.
Jakub Szela according to the "Illustrated Daily Kuryer".
He made his last complaint in August 1859. It looks like he has finally achieved the coveted lifetime waiver of fees. He did not enjoy it for long. On April 21, he died. The resting place of the king of peasants is unknown to this day. Perhaps he was buried outside the cemetery walls, as befits a murderer. A year later, just outside the cemetery, his wife, Salomea, was buried on unsanctified ground.
This one thing, even in the new Bukowina habitat, would be in line with the vision of the poet, Władysław Ludwik Anczyc. Playing the role of Szela, he wrote:
Oh no, no words of forgiveness for me
Oh no, I am not sorry for holy and repentance
I am the son of a devil, of damnation!…
The murderer cried out and gave up his ghost.