What did Józef Piłsudski suffer and die of?

The case of Marshal Józef Piłsudski was undoubtedly extremely difficult for all the doctors who took care of him. It was not enough that a living legend had to be diagnosed and treated, but this legend did not want it at all. The marshal avoided people in white coats as much as he could, believing that he would do more for his health by willpower. In addition, it was difficult to oppose the ideas of such a patient, even when he was already standing over the grave … What did Józef Piłsudski suffer and die of?

1. Józef Piłsudski’s health problems lasted for years. Historians have described that he had a stroke, severe flu, had atherosclerosis
2. The Marshal felt worse and worse, but he did not agree to bring an eminent specialist in cancer treatment to Poland. When a doctor from Vienna finally examined Piłsudski, he diagnosed liver cancer
3. At the end of his life, he suffered from insomnia, impaired consciousness and memory
4. Józef Piłsudski died on May 12, 1935. The heart and brain were extracted from the body
5. You can find more such stories on the TvoiLokony home page

Józef Piłsudski’s diseases. Metastatic gastric cancer or liver cancer

Piłsudski was known for not taking much care of his health, and he trusted only military doctors. He was also a smoker and years of tobacco addiction resulted in emphysema. Unfortunately, the truth about his health was subordinated to the legend of the Commander in Chief, hence the embellishment of reality and the general scarcity of sources.

We know that in the early 30s the Marshal suffered at least one stroke, and in 1933 he fell ill with a severe flu that lasted three weeks, accompanied by liver problems and a significant weight loss.

His personal doctor and friend, Dr. Marcin Woyczyński, diagnosed the patient at that time: chronic bronchitis, atherosclerosis and susceptibility to flu attacks. According to him, Piłsudski’s ailments resulted from the overlapping of these diseases.

Meanwhile, the patient felt worse from month to month. He was not able to walk without pain one block separating Belweder from the office of the General Inspectorate of the Armed Forces. He was often feverish, his legs swelled and he slept poorly. Although he had been suffering from insomnia for a long time, he generally managed to fall asleep for a few hours in the morning, and in the 30s, sleep quality deteriorated significantly.

The information about the Marshal’s poor health was first officially announced after the celebrations on November 11, 1934. Anyway, it would not be possible to hide it, because Piłsudski fainted. He was forced to sit down in a chair, and the soldiers noticed that he was very pale, he moved slowly and could not straighten up.

Throughout the winter of 1935, his condition worsened. The medical council called despite the opposition of the interested party ruled that he was suffering from a severe kidney disease. In January, there were pains specified by Dr. Woyczyński as muscular. He treated them with hot compresses that actually provided temporary relief. In February, the Marshal felt better and went on military maneuvers, but after two days he was forced to return home.

On March 2, he took part in the last public meeting. It was evident that he was suffering, weak and having difficulty moving. On March 19, he visited his beloved Vilnius, but there he began to experience vomiting attacks accompanied by severe pain in the liver area. It was they who aroused suspicions that the Marshal had cancer.

Piłsudski, however, insisted on treating the indisposition of the gastrointestinal tract with diet. First, he gave up hard-to-digest dishes, then he limited portions, and finally started a consistent fast. His adjutant Mieczysław Lepecki wrote: “This method was initially successful. The nausea was rare, and so was the pain. Only weakness continued to grow. The marshal began to gradually reduce all physical exertion. He limited and then completely endured walks around his office, he visited my room less and less frequently, he even preferred to arrange solitaire for him, not wanting to tire himself ”. It is now believed that the starvation treatment was the aftermath of another stage of the disease – loss of appetite.

At the end of April, Piłsudski felt so bad that he finally agreed that his doctor, who had diagnosed the enlarged liver, would bring a cancer specialist from Vienna.

Dr Mozołowski prepared a report on the patient’s condition for this specialist:

«I presented the current status as follows: the symptoms of the vascular system stand out:

1) general ability to work physically – bad; getting out of bed involves a lot of effort; complete exhaustion after a few steps;

2) stagnation – large; covers both legs and abdomen; the liver reaches the navel, fluid collects in the abdomen;

3) the dimensions of the heart cannot be determined due to significant emphysema;

4) heart rate is steady, up to 84 in peace, up to 100 when getting out of bed or when irritated; pre-disease heart rate – consistently below 60 per minute;

5) normal valves;

6) I do not find any infection;

7) vessels – atherosclerosis, pressure 170 max. / 105 min .;

8) etiology – unknown. In the lungs there is a significant degree of emphysema and diffuse catarrh. In the urine, apart from traces of protein, abundant urate and sometimes a few blood cells in the preparation – there were no changes … ”.

Professor Karl Wenckenbach did not manage to examine Piłsudski until April 25. Although he had flown from Vienna by plane the day before, the patient did not want to see him and it took hours of insistence to change his mind.

Diagnosis – advanced liver cancer, most likely the result of gastric metastases. The lumps were now easily felt under the skin. The cancer is inoperable and the patient has a few weeks to live. An Austrian specialist prescribed the injections, but the improvement was very short. Only his doctor and the president, prime minister and minister of foreign affairs learned the truth about the Marshal’s health. It was not disclosed to Piłsudski and his wife.

At the beginning of May, the patient hardly got out of bed. However, he wished to be transferred to the Belweder Palace, arguing that his death should take place in an appropriate place. Sometimes he would still summon the Prime Minister or Minister Beck for a brief interview, after which he fell into a semi-syncope.

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Józef Piłsudski had symptoms of personality disintegration

We do not know whether the changes in his behavior noticed by the Marshal’s relatives and associates were caused by cancer, sclerotic processes, or perhaps, as some suggest, by syphilis. In any event, the patient was not easy for those around him, who patiently endured outbursts of uncontrolled and causeless rage.

As early as January 1932, Lepecki writes down:

«At three o’clock I went to the bedroom and looked through the office door. The marshal sat in the same pose in which I had left him an hour ago. Only the expression on his face was different and angry. At one point he whispered something to himself, as if reproaching someone, then, as if in response to insufficient clarification of matters, he folded his hand into a fist and hit the table with all his strength […] The marshal was still arguing with some invisible opponent. He threatened him, then mocked him again or punched him on the table ”.

Another time he notes: «The Marshal was in a bad mood. In the car he was still talking to himself, which I couldn’t understand yet. He was in thought all evening, hardly noticed me. He hit the table with his fist several times ».

On the other hand, the last adjutant, Captain Hrynkiewicz in 1935 writes:

«I stood the whole time of unrestrained outburst of anger on the terrace with the Marshal […] At the end of this scene, as if awakened from bewilderment to reality, looking at the Commandant with searching, I heard: – You want to tire me with your constant care!!! You want to kill me !!… dirty guys !!… Like a pushed Commandant, she retreated to the corner of the corner room, pale and brick-red with flushing on her face, testifying to a strong nervous experience ».

In his diary we also read that Piłsudski is losing contact with reality, confusing adults with his daughters and cursing people around him. The head of the medical commission was particularly badly hurt.

British Lord of the Secret Seal, Anthony Eden, described his visit to Piłsudski on April 2, 1935: “The Marshal had one, if not more, apoplectic attack behind him. I struggled to make contact with this sacred and barely speaking form. We spoke French. At one point, when it came to Europe, Piłsudski began repeating what sounded like Jamaique, followed by the name Lloyd George several times. Both Beck and I could absolutely not understand what the Marshal meant ».

The public was aware of the physical changes, but could not find out about the changes in the psyche of Piłsudski, in whom, towards the end of his life, periods of mental indisposition were intertwined with time of full clarity of mind.

Death of Józef Piłsudski. What were the last moments like?

On May 11, 1935, Józef Piłsudski suffered a gastric hemorrhage which weakened his heart. He lost consciousness many times. He died on Sunday May 12 at 20:45 pm in the Belvedere Palace. He was 67 years old. The official cause of death was cancer, the autopsy protocol mentions metastatic liver cancer. He spent his last moments relatively quietly surrounded by his family. At. 20 were joined by doctors, military personnel and a priest.

Father Korśmieowicz recalled: “When I entered the room, I saw the Marshal lying with his eyes closed. The marshal […] tried to shake my hand, but could not ”.

Hrynkiewicz: «The commandant looks into space with a glassy and motionless gaze […]. He explains some thoughts, a will, with a weak movement of his hands, which were always active and mobile during his life and during his illness. The silence of the graves lies in peace, the Commander’s heavy breathing is only interrupted by the faint muffled whistle of the air squeezing through the larynx, connected as if with the gurgling of some liquid in the throat ».

What happened to the brain of Marshal Józef Piłsudski?

Already three hours after Piłsudski’s death, right after the farewells, the autopsy and embalming began. The internal organs were removed and the blood replaced with a preservative solution. The skull was scalped to reveal the brain, which was bathed with the heart in a glycerine-vinegar mixture. The brain was then deposited in a jar of formaldehyde and Karlsbad salt.

All this took place not in the mortuary, but in the Belvedere conference room without adequate lighting, ventilation, a special table and the possibility of maintaining proper hygiene. The adjutant on duty, Captain Hrynkiewicz, prepared an unofficial protocol of the section. He wrote: “Brain weight 1460 grams, normal with beautiful convolutions, strongly emphasized.”

According to the deceased’s will, the heart was placed in a crystal urn next to his mother’s coffin in the Rossa cemetery in Vilnius. The brain was also taken to Vilnius and handed over to prof. Maximilian Rosa, director of the Institute for Brain Research at Stefan Batory University. The institute was established in 1928, and its director was considered to be one of the leading neuroanatoms.

Neuroanatomy was then a new and very fashionable branch of science, devoted to the study of the so-called elite brains. Piłsudski’s brain was to be the greatest object in his collection. Many of the Marshal’s contemporaries believed that, in addition to genius, he has psychic abilities, he can predict the future or even the moves of his chess opponents. Perhaps Piłsudski himself shared these opinions, because his last will includes a record that transmits the brain to science.

In Vilnius, the organ was cut into pieces. It was stored in a building specially designed for this purpose, where the professor and his team conducted research. Initial results were published in 1938, a few months after Rose’s sudden death. There is a description of the brain in Polish and French and photographs of the preparations.

In 1939, Piłsudski’s brain was lost in mysterious circumstances. To this day, it is not known what happened to him. Presumably, it was transported to Warsaw, where it was later destroyed during the war. It is also said that he ended up in Berlin or Moscow, or that he was buried on the premises of the Vilnius institute.

We encourage you to listen to the latest episode of the RESET podcast. This time we devote it to the diet. Do you have to stick to it 100% to stay healthy and feel good? Do you really have to start every day with breakfast? What is it like with sipping meals and eating fruit? Listen: