Note 13 — Chapter XII · THE RESURRECTION OF POLAND

The assassin was disclaimed by his party, the National Democrats, as an irresponsible neurotic, and was executed on January 31. But ever since his death the Nationalists have regarded him as a martyr. Contributions to “place a wreath on the grave of Niewiadomski” were solicited in the press; and all over Poland mass was said, in the presence of distinguished congregations, “for the pure soul of Eligius Niewiadomski, who by the sacrifice of his own life has awakened the spirit of the nation.” According to the Warsaw correspondent of “The Manchester Guardian” (April 6, 1923), in many places shops were forced to close when these services were held; and the movement gained such volume in the churches that the Roman Catholic episcopate of Poland saw itself forced to intervene and declare that “although it is laudable to pray for the souls of the dead, the Holy Mass should not be made to serve purposes of political propaganda and demonstration.”