Jan Buzek

Jan Buzek
Jan Buzek
Member of the National Assembly of Czechoslovakia
In office
1929–1935
Personal details
Born(1874-03-27)27 March 1874
Końska, Austria-Hungary
Died24 November 1940(1940-11-24) (aged 66)
Dachau, Nazi Germany
Resting placeBystřice
NationalityPolish
Political partyPolish People's Party
ChildrenJan, Władysław
Alma materJagiellonian University
OccupationPhysician

Jan Jerzy Buzek (27 March 1874 – 24 November 1940) was a Polish physician, activist and politician. He came from the region of Trans-Olza.

Biography

Jan Buzek commemorated on the memorial plaque to victims of World War II in Doubrava

Buzek was born in Końska as a son of a peasant. He graduated from primary school there, and later from the German gymnasium in Cieszyn. He later decided to study medicine at Jagiellonian University in Kraków and graduated in 1901. In 1902 he became a municipal and miners' doctor in the coal mining village of Doubrava. He worked in Orlová, where he helped to found the Juliusz Słowacki Polish Grammar School. In World War I he served in the Austrian Army as a doctor.

Buzek also lectured at various schools. From a young age he was active in Polish cultural and educational organizations, eventually becoming chairman of many of them, including Związek Harcerstwa Polskiego (The Polish Scouting and Guiding Association) in Czechoslovakia. He was a co-founder of the Polish People's Party, a Polish political party in Czechoslovakia of a Protestant and liberal character. In 1931 Buzek became a leader of this party. He was a member of the National Assembly of Czechoslovakia in Prague from 1929 to 1935. As a deputy, Buzek defended the rights of the Polish minority, often cooperating with another Polish deputy, socialist Emanuel Chobot.

After the outbreak of World War II, Buzek was arrested by Nazi authorities on 12 April 1940 and on 28 April incarcerated by the Nazis in the Dachau concentration camp. He was transferred on 5 June to Mauthausen-Gusen camp, and on 15 August again to Dachau concentration camp. Before arrest his weight was 118 kg, before his death 45–50 kg.[1]</ref> He died in Dachau on 24 November 1940 from exhaustion.[1] Before death he said to his fellow inmate:

I looked 40 years to the eyes of death, but today nobody will help me. I was saving people, best how I could; but today nobody will save me. My left eye is blind.[1]

He wished his ashes to be laid at a cemetery in Bystřice, in the grave of his first wife Anna, his first love.[1] He is buried there.

His second wife was Jadwiga Dyboska, the daughter of Antoni Dyboski.[2]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Słowik, Józef; Hławiczka, Tadeusz; Santarius, Kazimierz (1999). Dr Olszak i jego następcy (in Polish). Albrechtice: Polskie Towarzystwo Medyczne w Republice Czeskiej. p. 45. ISBN 80-902252-3-3.
  2. ^ Morys-Twarowski, Michael (2018). "Rodzina Dyboskich na tle elit Śląska Cieszyńskiego przełomu XIX i XX wieku". Roman Dyboski 1883–1945. Władysław Tarnawski 1885–1951 (in Polish). Polska Akademia Umiejętności & Archiwum Nauki i PAN i PAU. p. 27.

Further reading

  • Gawrecki, Dan (2000). "Polské politické strany v Habsburské monarchii a v Československé republice". In Marek, Pavel; et al. (eds.). Přehled politického stranictví na území českých zemí a Československa v letech 1861–1998 (in Czech). Olomouc: Katedra politologie a evropských studií FFUP. pp. 238–244. ISBN 80-86200-25-6.
  • Jaworski, Kazimierz (January 2007). "Cieszyńskie rody: Buzkowie". Zwrot (in Polish): 38.
  • Myška, Milan (2000). Biografický slovník Slezska a severní Moravy (in Czech). Ostrava: University of Ostrava. ISBN 80-7042-547-4.