On March 14, 1794, General Józef Bem, one of the outstanding officers of the November Uprising and army commander during the Hungarian Uprising, was born in Tarnów. His sacrifice and struggle for the Hungarian freedom fight, as well as his military talent which helped the Hungarian army achieve many victories, are held very dear in Hungarian public memory. Because of that, General Bem is called 'Bem Apó' ('Father Bem') by Hungarians.

Józef Bem, general of the Hungarian War of Independence. Source: public domain

Józef Zachariasz Bem, or József Bem in Hungarian, as born into a Polish noble family of Czech origin on March 14, 1794. In 1815, he entered the army of Congress Poland (Kingdom of Poland) under Russian rule. As an artillery captain, he tried to acquire the technical knowledge of his time. He graduated from, among others, the Artillery and Technical School in Warsaw. He was an engineer (worked on perfecting the rocket weapons), commander, strategist and political activist of the Great Emigration.  

He became famous as a soldier primarily during the November Uprising in 1830.  Despite the ultimate defeat of the uprising against Russians, his actions saved the Polish army from total destruction, earning him the Virtuti Militari Golden Cross and promotion to Brigadier General. His name became known internationally. General Bem had just turned 54 and was living as an emigrant in Paris when the Hungarian revolution against the Habsburg Empire broke out on March 15, 1848.

By March 15, 1849, the first anniversary of the revolution, he cleared Transylvania of the enemy, with the exception of Déva. 'Why don't we win? Bem is our leader, the old champion of freedom! Osztrolenka's bloody star shines before us with a vengeance!' - famous Hungarian poet Sándor Petőfi wrote in his poem on March, 1849. 

Unfortunately, the Austrians gained powerful support from the Russian army, which led to the collapse of the Hungarian uprising. After fleeing to the Ottoman Empire, general Bem converted to Islam and joined the Turkish army. He hoped that he would be useful in a future conflict with Russia. He started to be known as Murad Paşa and achieved his last military victory against Bedouins sieging the city before succumbing to malaria on 10 December 1850. General Bem breathed his last on his deathbed with these words: "Poland, I will no longer liberate you..." He was 56.

General Bem's remains were transported to Poland in 1929. Finally, the general's ashes were buried in the Mausoleum in Tarnów.

(J)