In the footsteps of General Stanisław Maczek in Edinburgh

Behind the green door, shielded by lush hydrangeas, lies ‘Little Poland’, as the British might say. And if objects could speak, the interiors concealed behind those doors would surely reveal more than one secret – and by no means a military one.

It was here, at 16 Arden Street, in Edinburgh’s Marchmont district, amongst terraced nineteenth-century townhouses, that Stanisław Maczek lived from 1948 to 1994. We are accustomed to referring to him as a general, but to his neighbours on this picturesque street, lined with four-storey buildings of light-coloured sandstone, he was simply Sir Maczek. To us, he was a heroic commander from the period of the struggle for independence and the Second World War, who, as a result of the shameful decisions of the communist government of the People’s Republic of Poland, was unable to return to Poland after the war. He therefore settled in Scotland, where, in 1942, he formed the 1st Polish Armoured Division.

Stanisław Maczek: a hero of the Allied battles

He never complained himself: “I don’t want to pick at old wounds, or even talk about that farcical circus of them stripping us of our Polish citizenship,” he would say succinctly. He also often added that he simply wouldn’t let yet more informants or messengers through the door, bringing ever-new political resolutions. We can only imagine that, almost literally, on the one hand, that door shielded Maczek from the intricacies of domestic and émigré politics, whilst on the other - concealed the hardships of everyday life faced by this hero of the Allied war efforts in Western Europe (the Netherlands, England, France and Belgium).

Stanisław Maczek was stripped not only of his home country’s citizenship, but the British authorities also withdrew his general’s pension. To support his family of four, including his seriously ill daughter, he took on various jobs. Today, it is hard for us to believe that, at over seventy years of age, he stood behind a bar and served drinks. For a long time, it was also unknown that the Maczek family had been supported by the Dutch government, and perhaps it was thanks to this assistance that settling on Arden Street was possible at all? It was not until 1997, three years after the General’s death, in the presence of the Polish Consul-General, former soldiers, representatives of both the Polish community and the Edinburgh authorities, that the General’s eldest son, Andrzej Maczek, ceremonially unveiled the memorial.

The commemorative plaque to General Stanisław Maczek on Arden Street

The commemorative plaque on Arden Street, whilst not without significance, was not an end in itself. Three years earlier, the funeral of General Stanisław Maczek had taken place at the military cemetery in Breda (the Netherlands), in accordance with his last will and testament. The British authorities were represented at the time by Lord Peter Fraser of Carmyllie, a distinguished lawyer and politician. It was then that he first heard the extraordinary story of the Polish military officer, which moved him so deeply that he made it his idée fixe to commemorate Stanisław Maczek in Edinburgh.

Raising the necessary funds for a monument – for a foreigner, of all people – was, however, no easy task. Fraser died in 2013, but the seed he had sown sprouted in a rather unexpected way. As his daughter, Katie Fraser, said:

he was determined to commemorate this exceptional man and all the Polish soldiers under his command. After his death, we felt compelled to complete this project, to which he was so deeply committed.

Thanks to Katie Fraser and her mother, Lady Fiona Fraser, the fundraising campaign was relaunched, with support also coming from the Polish government. A total of 85,000 pounds was raised, which was enough to fund the monument.

General Maczek Avenue in Meadows Park

Initially, the sculpture was to be situated closer to Arden Street, in Meadows Park. Ultimately, however, one of the avenues there was named after Maczek, although – as the general’s granddaughter recalls – “Grandad marched along this way, he didn’t walk here”.

The statue of Stanisław Maczek in the centre of Edinburgh

The monument stands in Edinburgh’s most prestigious spot, at the top of the volcanic hill on the Royal Mile. It is a prestigious location, at the heart of the city, where all the city’s events take place. The design and creation of the monument were entrusted to Bronisław Krzysztof. The result is a rather unusual form of commemoration, at least in relation to historical figures – a full-length figure that appears to be ‘perched’ on a bench. The creator of this concept later said that he “hopes this sculpture will help keep the memory of the general’s achievements alive”.

Maczek’s famous words to his soldiers – “Fight hard, but with chivalry” – have already gone down in history. And such feelings may well accompany one’s encounter with this sculpture. On the one hand, we sit beside a tall man in a military uniform. He is girded with a wide belt featuring a rectangular buckle, and on his feet he wears distinctive, high cavalry boots (known as ‘czapsy’). One detail worthy of note – which may be lost in a photograph – is the small eagle of the Land Forces of the Second Polish Republic on his rogatywka cap. On the other hand, the monument is accompanied by artefacts.

Two plaques are worth mentioning here. The first, bearing Stanisław Maczek’s first name, surname and dates of birth and death, is attached to a bench on which the General chivalrously allows us to sit beside him. The second has been embedded in the wall of the town hall. On it, we can read not only about Maczek’s military achievements and his life in Edinburgh, but also learn his nickname – ‘Baca’ – by which his subordinates knew him. Mention is also made of those who conceived the idea for the monument – the Fraser family and the General’s last surviving comrade, Captain Zbigniew Mieczkowski.

The undefeated General Maczek – a legend in his own lifetime

General Maczek lived through the entire century – he died on 11 December 1994, aged 102. He was buried at the Polish Military Cemetery of Honour in Breda (Pools Militair Ereveld Breda). For it was the last wish of General Stanisław Maczek, commander of the 1st Armoured Division, to be buried alongside his soldiers.

There are many more interesting facts to be shared about his long life. Not everyone knows that the general was destined to become a philosopher, and perhaps even a literary scholar. He studied at the University of Lviv under the doyen of Polish philosophy, Kazimierz Twardowski, and the Polish language and literature professors Wilhelm Bruchnalski and Józef Kallenbach.

This is how he himself recalled that time:

For my Polish literature course, I was working on the philosophy of Sebastian Petrycy, a 17th-century philosopher. […] But in order to unearth those flashes of originality, one had to wade through the Greek of Plato and Aristotle and the Latin of Thomas Aquinas for comparison. What a vast amount of painstaking work!

Was it not this same zeal, meticulousness and tenacity that drove him in the struggle for independence, not only for Poland but for the whole of Europe?