Aleksandra Szczerbińska did not expect that she would be "the other one". The more she did not expect that Piłsudski would catch his eye. At first, he didn't turn her over at all.
23-year-old Aleksandra Szczerbińska was a figure of considerable caliber. History will remember her only as the mistress and then the wife of the "Commander". Meanwhile, already at this young age, she was considered an independent, rebellious woman, full of insane bravado, and above all - extremely important for the Polish underground.
She graduated from a trade school, but instead of becoming a secretary or accountant, she became involved in the activities of the illegal, independence militia organized under the aegis of the Polish Socialist Party. In 1906, after a series of arrests and escapes of more experienced activists, unexpectedly (perhaps even for herself!) She was promoted to the position of the head of the party's arms depot.
It controlled illegal warehouses in which not some individual revolvers were stored, but thousands of weapons and explosives plus hundreds of thousands of rounds of ammunition. It was in this role that she met Józef Piłsudski - a man who had recently taken control of the "Combat Organization", but enjoyed rather controversial support throughout the party.
Chief on inspection
They met because the supervisor - 38-year-old worried that he is losing influence to the representatives of the younger generation - in the spring of 1906 he decided to conduct a thorough inspection of the militia units.
In May, he visited a weapon depot in Warsaw. Thus, for the first time, he shook hands with their manager.
Józef Piłsudski in a 1900 police photo
Years later, Olka emphasized that the meeting was official, even rough. It was devoid of any "personal moments". "We were two people working for the same cause, members of one party and nothing else," she recalled. They were talking "on a spring afternoon, among several rifles, among baskets of Brownings, Mausers and ammunition."
Olka was intrigued by the guest. She heard that he was a man "whom Siberia could not break." At the same time ... she was also probably a bit disappointed. She hoped to see a man "tall and built". Piłsudski, meanwhile, had an unimpressive stature, his whole face was disheveled, and his head was clearly smaller than one might expect.
He seemed old enough to her, and his left hand was shaking nervously. Admittedly, he "had a lot of grace and elegance in his movements," but at the sight of him she did not feel that her knees were bending under her. They counted the revolvers together for an hour. Then they said goodbye.
Conversation on the train
She began to pay more attention to him only after they met again a few months later, on the train from Kraków to Zakopane. "During the trip, I had the opportunity to revise my impression of the first meeting" - recalled Miss Szczerbińska.
Upon closer acquaintance, the leader of Militia seemed to her much younger than she had previously suspected. "I came to the conclusion that he might have been forty and that only a beard, mustache, and bushy eyebrows above deep-set eyes made him look much older ”She said. - "When he laughed, as was often the case, the voice of a young man was heard."
Despite the difference in age and position, they quickly found a common language. Aleksandra, remembering the rough servant who accounted her among the baskets of revolvers, was surprised to discover that her superior could also be a cheerful and entertaining man. However, she was most surprised by the fact that he is not a fanatic who does not see the world apart from the party and politics.
Piłsudski will confess his love to Ola during the preparations for the bank robbery in Kiev (pictured). His confession will cause her ... unearthly surprise.
He told her with panache about the beauty of Siberia, about its picturesque plains and menacing peaks covered with snow, and about mighty rivers "where the ice breaks in the spring with the roar of cannons." "When he spoke, his face beamed with delight," she recalled years later.
She was impressed. Big enough that she did not even notice that the interlocutor was missing the front teeth and his skin was unhealthily sallow. However, this does not mean that Piłsudski turned her head. As she recalled, there were love affairs in her head. All the more so, she did not think of getting involved with a married middle-aged gentleman. When, in the next year, 1907, Piłsudski announced that he loved her ... she could not help but be surprised.
Source:
The article is based on the diaries of Aleksandra Piłsudska. Latest edition:A. Piłsudska, Memories , LTW, Łomianki 2004.