After Traugutt’s death, many circles saw him as a role model. Who was the now almost forgotten dictator of the January Uprising?
“I was struck by Traugutt’s physical ugliness, there was something bat-like about him, and in times of publicity this ugliness would have harmed him; but his strong will and extraordinary energy were visible, the good faith he felt inspired confidence; he understood and assessed the situation in Czersto, manfully, without illusions” – this is how the Kraków historian Stanisław Koźmian characterized Romuald Traugutt. Known for his critical approach to the uprising, the Kraków conservative did not rely on legends, but on very cold observations.
Who was Traugutt? If it weren’t for the last year of his life, if it weren’t for half a year of leading the uprising, 36 years of his life would have been lost, as would the fate of hundreds of thousands of Poles living in the harsh reality between uprisings. Like many, he adapted to the harsh political realities prevailing in the lands of the Russian partition. He simply lived.
