Szymon Koszyk was a Polish

Poles

thumb|right|180px|The state flag of [[Poland]] as used by Polish government and diplomatic authoritiesThe Polish people, or Poles , are a nation indigenous to Poland. They are united by the Polish language, which belongs to the historical Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages of Central Europe...

 writer, national and social activist. He finished Teacher's Seminary in Prószków

Prószków

Prószków / is a town in Opole County, Opole Voivodeship, Poland, with 2,660 inhabitants .Prószków/Proskau has been bilingual in Polish and German since 2006.-Twin towns — Sister cities:Prószków is twinned with:* Pruszków, * Hünfeld,...

. He collaborated with Gazeta Opolska and Der Weisse Adler. He was conscripted to the German army in 1914, he fought in the Battle of Verdun

Battle of Verdun

The Battle of Verdun was one of the major battles during the First World War on the Western Front. It was fought between the German and French armies, from 21 February – 18 December 1916, on hilly terrain north of the city of Verdun-sur-Meuse in north-eastern France...

 and was severely wounded. In 1918 he deserted from the German Army and hid in Tarnów

Tarnów

Tarnów is a city in southeastern Poland with 115,341 inhabitants as of June 2009. The city has been situated in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship since 1999, but from 1975 to 1998 it was the capital of the Tarnów Voivodeship. It is a major rail junction, located on the strategic east-west connection...

. There he formed a battalion of Polish soldiers and with its help he captured local Austrian

Austria-Hungary

Austria-Hungary , more formally known as the Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen, was a constitutional monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in...

 garrison. In 1919 he returned to Opole and was sent by the local Poles to the Paris peace conference

Paris Peace Conference, 1919

The Paris Peace Conference was the meeting of the Allied victors following the end of World War I to set the peace terms for the defeated Central Powers following the armistices of 1918. It took place in Paris in 1919 and involved diplomats from more than 32 countries and nationalities...

 to represent Polish interests in Silesia

Silesia

Silesia is a historical region of Central Europe located mostly in Poland, with smaller parts also in the Czech Republic, and Germany.Silesia is rich in mineral and natural resources, and includes several important industrial areas. Silesia's largest city and historical capital is Wrocław...

. On May 3, 1920 he organised a march in Opole to commemorate the anniversary of adoption of the first Polish and second worldwide Constitution

Constitution

A constitution is a set of fundamental principles or established precedents according to which a state or other organization is governed. These rules together make up, i.e. constitute, what the entity is...

 (the Constitution of May 3, 1791

Constitution of May 3, 1791

The Constitution of May 3, 1791 was adopted as a "Government Act" on that date by the Sejm of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Historian Norman Davies calls it "the first constitution of its type in Europe"; other scholars also refer to it as the world's second oldest constitution...

). The march was disrupted by local German militias who attacked Polish demonstrants.

From August 1920 to February 1921 he was the local commander of the Polish Military Organisation

Polish Military Organisation

Polish Military Organisation, PMO was a secret military organization created by Józef Piłsudski in August 1914, and officially named in November 1914, during World War I. Its tasks were to gather intelligence and sabotage the enemies of the Polish people...

. In the III Silesian Uprising

Silesian Uprisings

The Silesian Uprisings were a series of three armed uprisings of the Poles and Polish Silesians of Upper Silesia, from 1919–1921, against German rule; the resistance hoped to break away from Germany in order to join the Second Polish Republic, which had been established in the wake of World War I...

 he commanded first Opole battalion. In 1923 he was arrested in Frankfurt am Main accused of espionage. After 3 years he was released thanks to intervention of the Nuncio

Nuncio

Nuncio is an ecclesiastical diplomatic title, derived from the ancient Latin word, Nuntius, meaning "envoy." This article addresses this title as well as derived similar titles, all within the structure of the Roman Catholic Church...

. He returned to Upper Silesia

Upper Silesia

Upper Silesia is the southeastern part of the historical and geographical region of Silesia. Since the 9th century, Upper Silesia has been part of Greater Moravia, the Duchy of Bohemia, the Piast Kingdom of Poland, again of the Lands of the Bohemian Crown and the Holy Roman Empire, as well as of...

 and began working in Katowice

Katowice

Katowice is a city in Silesia in southern Poland, on the Kłodnica and Rawa rivers . Katowice is located in the Silesian Highlands, about north of the Silesian Beskids and about southeast of the Sudetes Mountains.It is the central district of the Upper Silesian Metropolis, with a population of 2...

 in Voivodship office. He wrote for the local newspapers including: Tygodnik Ilustrowany, Zwrot and Polonia. In 1938 he was awarded by the Polish Literature Academy with a golden Laurus

Laurus

-Overview:Laurus is a genus of evergreen trees belonging to the Laurel family, Lauraceae. The genus includes three species, whose diagnostic key characters often overlap ....

.

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...

 he hid himself in Kresy

Kresy

The Polish term Kresy refers to a land considered by Poles as historical eastern provinces of their country. Today, it makes western Ukraine, western Belarus, as well as eastern Lithuania, with such major cities, as Lviv, Vilnius, and Hrodna. This territory belonged to the Polish-Lithuanian...

 and later in Kraków

Kraków

Kraków also Krakow, or Cracow , is the second largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in the Lesser Poland region, the city dates back to the 7th century. Kraków has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Polish academic, cultural, and artistic life...

. After the war he was the mayor

Mayor

In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....

 of Głuchołazy. After that, in 1947, he returned to Opole and again started to work in the press. He was one of the founders of the Opole city archives. He was a member of Związek Literatów Polskich, Silesian Institute

Silesian Institute

The Silesian Institute is one of the related organizations:* the Silesian Institute in Katowice * the Silesian Institute in Opole...

, ZBoWiD and PTTK

PTTK

Polskie Towarzystwo Turystyczno-Krajoznawcze, PTTK, is a Polish non-governmental tourist organization founded in 1950...

. Since 1957 retired. He died in 1972 in his hometown. One of the streets in Opole bears his name.