APPENDIX B
In 1914, shortly after the passing of Wladyslaw Branicki in the city of Nice, France, a twenty-year-old poet named Jaroslaw Iwaszkiewicz visited the count’s estate in Stavishche. Soon to become a significant novelist of classics in Poland, the young author, whose own mother was baptized in the church next to the palace, was hired as a tutor for the son of Mr. Hanicki, who oversaw the administration of the count’s estates. The poet eulogized the beloved nobleman, remarking that he was the subject of many legends, resembling a prince from the 15th or 16th century. Above all, his family, friends, and employees would remember him as a man of exceptional and great goodness.
In 1922, the remains of Count Wladyslaw Branicki and his wife, Countess Julia (née Potocka), were brought back to Poland long after their deaths in France in 1914 and 1921, respectively.I They were buried in Sucha, where a memorial was held at a lovely castle and substantial estate originally purchased in 1846 by Wladyslaw’s father, Count Alexander Branicki. Wladyslaw later gifted the estate to his daughter, Countess Anna Tarnowska.II
The following eulogy for the count and countess was presented at that memorial in Sucha, Poland, by a former key employee of the Branicki estate in Stavishche in the fall of 1922. This stirring tribute, beautifully written and delivered in Polish before a large crowd by Mr. M. Mazaraki, a well-educated, highly literate, and devoted employee of the Branicki family, gives us a small glimpse into the noble character of the Polish magnate and last male Branicki heir to own the land called Stavishche.
Credit: Special thanks to Countess Stanislas Rey (Countess M. Rey) of Montresor and Count Paul Potocki of Paris for helping the author to obtain a copy of this speech.
Translation credit: Special thanks to Mrs. Monika Hendry for her stunning translation of the original Polish into English.
The Funeral of Wladyslaw Branicki “Adzio”III
We are here standing at the grave in which, for eternal rest, lies Count Wladyslaw Branicki with his beloved wife and devoted life companion, Julia.
We are standing at the grave of one of the last members of Polish border gentry who with his great political wisdom and attributes of his soul was throughout his life a great builder of a mighty Poland, which was strengthening its influence in the border areas, not through brutal violence and sword but through great Christian love, spiritual culture, and relentless work.
Apart from a great number of people who came here because they are connected to the count and his wife by links of blood and friendship, we, the former employees of their previous estate,IV came to give our tribute and pay homage. There are not many of us here because only a few of our vast numbers were allowed to return to our homelands. Many are still in foreign lands, and many gave their lives when protecting their masters’ property and the Polish culture in the border areas till the very end.
We have come back to the country that is very tired morally and physically, but with the remnants of our strength we started our work again in our resurrected and free Motherland, and with pride we can state that we are not parasites on her body. As this is the case, we owe this to the school of work and the traditions created and installed in us by you, the honorable count, as you were not only an employer to us but also a father, a guardian, and a teacher.
You did good deeds, without seeking glory; you had your heart, eye, and your hand open. You sympathized with our sadness and rejoiced at our successes, and you showed understanding at our failures.
Keeping in mind your philosophy, we are silent about your achievements and we will also be silent about those plans that you did not manage to turn into reality, there are many.…
The grateful memory of you is kept by many a youth that you helped to receive education, hundreds of widows and orphans that you supported. “Let not know the right hand what the left is doing” was your motto, and we respect it in this painful moment when we say our farewells to you for eternity.
The whole population would cry at your grave—Ukrainian locals of Stawiszcze, Polesie, and Szarogrod, if their perception was not blinded by the memories of others’ faults rather than remembering the great benefaction that they experienced from you, the count…V
More eloquent live word or pen will keep for posterity your deeds, Count, as a citizen, social contributor; [we will] remember your Christian principles, which you cherished, your love of the motherland and your honest Polish soul, the nobility of your actions, understanding of fellow beings, empathy, love, and many other attributes. Let the soil be light on youVI and God repay you for what you contributed to mankind.
By paying tribute to your memory, we also lower our heads for your wife who endured seven years of widowhood, which was for her a time of remembrance of her departed spouse. With her whole heart and soul she followed in the footsteps of her husband, following his wishes and his deeds. We are witnesses to attest to that.
You followed him too soon—but it has happened!
The last service which we give to our employers, overcome in grief and sadness after their loss, is to pledge to cherish their memory and pass that onto our children.
So rest with God, along with your honorable mother, who will also be remembered for eternity.VII
These are the words of farewell from us, the employees, but let me add a few words from myself.
For many years I not only carried out your count and your countesses’s orders, but I was also your respected confidante. I always strived to be worthy of the position you gave me. This period of my life of direct contact with you is too dear for me to not have it all alive in front of my eyes at the moment.
Rest peacefully with God. Your memory will be cherished by your family, compatriots, and us, your employees.
September 21, 1922, Sucha
M. Mazaraki
1. I. The couple were survived by four daughters: Maria, Anna, Julia, and Rosa. Their only son died during childhood.
2. II. Count Wladyslaw Branicki willed his vast and beloved estate in Stavishche to his third-born daughter, Countess Julia Potocka. In 1917, long before bands of murderous hooligans raided the town with the intent of murdering its Jewish population, Countess Potocka became an early victim of unrest in Stavishche when unruly peasants robbed and destroyed the estate. Luckily, the countess and her family were not in Stavishche at the time.
3. III. This is a pet name, short for the diminutive of Wladyslaw—Wladzio.
4. IV. The Branicki estate in Stavishche was destroyed by peasants during the Russian Revolution of 1917.
5. V. He is referring to some unnamed discord among the peasants, probably the Revolution of 1917 in which the local peasants in Stavishche revolted, pillaged, and destroyed the Branicki estate. He feels that the locals should remember the good things that the count did for them.
6. VI. This is a Polish idiom.
7. VII. M. Mazaraki alludes that he also served as an employee for the count’s mother, Anna Nina Holynska, wife of Count Alexander Branicki and daughter of Elizabeth, born Countess Tolstoy. She died in 1907.