Karol Piegza
Encyclopedia
Karol Piegza was a Polish teacher, writer, folklorist, photographer, and painter from Zaolzie
Zaolzie
Zaolzie is the Polish name for an area now in the Czech Republic which was disputed between interwar Poland and Czechoslovakia. The name means "lands beyond the Olza River"; it is also called Śląsk zaolziański, meaning "trans-Olza Silesia". Equivalent terms in other languages include Zaolší in...

 region of Cieszyn Silesia
Cieszyn Silesia
Cieszyn Silesia or Těšín Silesia or Teschen Silesia is a historical region in south-eastern Silesia, centered around the towns of Cieszyn and Český Těšín and bisected by the Olza River. Since 1920 it has been divided between Poland and Czechoslovakia, and later the Czech Republic...

.

Biography

Piegza was born in Lazy (Orlová)
Lazy (Orlová)
is a village in Karviná District, Moravian-Silesian Region, Czech Republic. It was a separate municipality but became administratively a part of Orlová in 1946. It has a population of 274.It was first mentioned in a written document in 1305.- People :...

 the son of a coal miner
Coal mining
The goal of coal mining is to obtain coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content, and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from iron ore and for cement production. In the United States,...

. He worked at coal mining for a time when he was 14. It was in the coal mining colony in Lazy where he first listened to the stories and fables told by the coal miners. That experience influenced his future life and inspired his works until 1945.

At the beginning of 1918 Piegza was conscripted into the Austro-Hungarian Army
Austro-Hungarian Army
The Austro-Hungarian Army was the ground force of the Austro-Hungarian Dual Monarchy from 1867 to 1918. It was composed of three parts: the joint army , the Austrian Landwehr , and the Hungarian Honvédség .In the wake of fighting between the...

 and sent to the Italian Front
Italian Campaign (World War I)
The Italian campaign refers to a series of battles fought between the armies of Austria-Hungary and Italy, along with their allies, in northern Italy between 1915 and 1918. Italy hoped that by joining the countries of the Triple Entente against the Central Powers it would gain Cisalpine Tyrol , the...

 of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

.

After the war he was active in the social life and several organizations before World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

. He graduated from a school for teachers in Cieszyn
Cieszyn
Cieszyn is a border-town and the seat of Cieszyn County, Silesian Voivodeship, southern Poland. It has 36,109 inhabitants . Cieszyn lies on the Olza River, a tributary of the Oder river, opposite Český Těšín....

-Bobrek
Bobrek, Cieszyn
Bobrek is a district of Cieszyn, Silesian Voivodeship, Poland. It was a separate municipality, but became administratively a part of Cieszyn in 1932.First mentioned in 1322....

 and eventually worked as a teacher in Polish schools in Zaolzie — in Lazy (Orlová)
Lazy (Orlová)
is a village in Karviná District, Moravian-Silesian Region, Czech Republic. It was a separate municipality but became administratively a part of Orlová in 1946. It has a population of 274.It was first mentioned in a written document in 1305.- People :...

, Orlová
Orlová
Orlová is a town in the Karviná District, Moravian-Silesian Region, Czech Republic. It lies in the historical region of Cieszyn Silesia.- History :...

, Stonava
Stonava
Stonava is a village in Karviná District, Moravian-Silesian Region, Czech Republic, on the Stonávka River. It has a population of 1,855 , 25.8% of the population are the Poles. It lies in the historical region of Cieszyn Silesia....

, and after the war in Jablunkov
Jablunkov
Jablunkov is a town in Frýdek-Místek District, Moravian-Silesian Region of the Czech Republic. It has a population of 5,750 , 23% of the population are Poles. Jablunkov lies between the Silesian and Moravian-Silesian Beskids mountain ranges, in the historical region of Cieszyn Silesia, and is the...

. He was also a director of schools in Lazy, Stonava, and Jablunkov.

During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 Piegza was incarcerated in Nazi concentration camps
Nazi concentration camps
Nazi Germany maintained concentration camps throughout the territories it controlled. The first Nazi concentration camps set up in Germany were greatly expanded after the Reichstag fire of 1933, and were intended to hold political prisoners and opponents of the regime...

 in Dachau and Mauthausen-Gusen
Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp
Mauthausen Concentration Camp grew to become a large group of Nazi concentration camps that was built around the villages of Mauthausen and Gusen in Upper Austria, roughly east of the city of Linz.Initially a single camp at Mauthausen, it expanded over time and by the summer of 1940, the...

.

After the war Piegza settled in Jablunkov where he became director of the Polish school (from 1945 to 1960) and worked in a local branch of PZKO (Polish Cultural and Educational Union). He helped organize the first Gorolski Święto
Gorolski Swieto
Gorolski Święto is an annual international cultural and folklore festival held in Jablunkov , Czech Republic, the first weekend in August. It lasts from Friday to Sunday. It is organized by the Polish Cultural and Educational Union and the folklore group Gorol and preserves the traditions of the...

 festival in 1948, which presented the culture and traditions of the local people. Piegza was fascinated by the culture and traditions of Cieszyn Silesia
Cieszyn Silesia
Cieszyn Silesia or Těšín Silesia or Teschen Silesia is a historical region in south-eastern Silesia, centered around the towns of Cieszyn and Český Těšín and bisected by the Olza River. Since 1920 it has been divided between Poland and Czechoslovakia, and later the Czech Republic...

 and was a keen collector of everything related to regional culture.
He wrote his works in literary Polish
Polish language
Polish is a language of the Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages, used throughout Poland and by Polish minorities in other countries...

 and in the local dialect
Cieszyn Silesian dialect
Cieszyn Silesian dialect is one of the Silesian dialects. It has its roots mainly in Polish and has also strong Czech and German influences and even Vlachs' and Slovak. It is spoken in Cieszyn Silesia, a region on both sides of the Polish-Czech border. It lacks some official codification and...

. His works often focus on regional folklore and regional fables, most often those of the local Gorals
Gorals
The Gorale are a group of indigenous people found along southern Poland, northern Slovakia, and in the region of Cieszyn Silesia in the Czech Republic...

. After his death in Jablunkov
Jablunkov
Jablunkov is a town in Frýdek-Místek District, Moravian-Silesian Region of the Czech Republic. It has a population of 5,750 , 23% of the population are Poles. Jablunkov lies between the Silesian and Moravian-Silesian Beskids mountain ranges, in the historical region of Cieszyn Silesia, and is the...

, the Karol Piegza Small Regional Museum in Bukovec (Frýdek-Místek District)
Bukovec (Frýdek-Místek District)
is a village in Frýdek-Místek District, Moravian-Silesian Region of the Czech Republic. It has 1,356 inhabitants , 33.6% of the population are the Poles and 87.3% are Roman Catholics. It is the easternmost village of the country and the first village in the Czech Republic through which the Olza...

was opened.

Brochures

  • Malarze śląscy (1937)
  • Kozubowa (1939)
  • Ceramika cieszyńska (1971)
  • Komedianci (1979)
  • Cieszyńskie skrzynie malowane (1983)

Short stories collections

  • Sękaci ludzie (1963) and (1979)
  • Opowiadania beskidzkie (1971)
  • Tam pod Kozubową (1974)

Other

  • Hawiyrski bojki (1952)
  • Gajdosz z Kurajki (1953)
  • Toporem pisane (1955)
  • Nowele beskidzkie (1961)
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