Women in mourning dresses came to his wedding. They mourned the loss of the “first lover of Poland”

Aleksander Bożedar Żabczyński was born on July 24, 1900. He was the son of the opera singer Zofia Florentyna Ostrowska and the colonel of the Russian army, Aleksander Daniel Żabczyński. His family was wealthy. The Żabczyński family lived in a tenement house at ul. Hoża in Warsaw, they had servants, and Aleksander studied under the supervision of a certified governess. It was she who noticed the boy’s musical talent.

Alexander began taking piano lessons, but his father wanted him to follow in his footsteps. After graduating from junior high school, the teenager went to the Artillery Cadet School in Poznań. Aleksander turned out to be a bright student and graduated with honors. He continued along the military path, but the artistic bug took its toll.

After graduating from the junior high school chosen for him by his father, Aleksander tried to make his mother happy by choosing to study law at the University of Warsaw. However, he failed subsequent exams and then, at the suggestion of a friend, he decided to pursue acting. He went to the Reduta experimental theater created by Juliusz Osterwa and Mieczysław Limanowski.

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He gave his soul to the theater and his heart to Mary. “It was a feeling at first sight”

Reduta was a small band that played in a small hall with only 13 rows of chairs. The stage was placed on one level with the audience, which was to enable direct contact with the audience. It was there that Żabczyński charmed the first viewers. He made his debut in 1922 as Archangel Gabriel in “Pastorałki” directed by Leon Schiller. During this period, he also gained the sympathy of Maria Zielenkiewicz, a student of Juliusz Osterwa.

We saw each other for the first time in Reduta on the stairs (…). It was a feeling at first sight. I stopped dead in my tracks. I was 18 then

– recalled the actress, whose words are quoted by Ryszard Wolański, author of the book “Aleksander Żabczyński. How precious are memories”.

The couple got married on June 28, 1923. writes that not only invited guests, but also the actor’s fans dressed in black dresses gathered in front of the All Saints Church at Grzybowski Square in Warsaw. Women mourned the loss of the “first lover of Poland”.

Women loved Żabczyński, who was cast mainly in the roles of amorous bon vivants. They knew him from such films as “Amorous Maneuvers”, “Jadzia” or “Zapomniana melodia”.

Endowed with beauty and personal charm, aware of his strengths, he liked to play the role of a playboy with money and a strong social position. Also in public life, Żabczyński resembled his heroes. He had a weakness for exquisite clothes and frequented snobbish crowds

– said Andrzej Kołodyński in “Magazyn very filmowy”, whose words he quotes.

The actor’s fans found out where he lives. They regularly decorated his staircase with declarations of love, which is why Żabczyński regularly had to finance its renovations.

Women liked Żabczyński, and he liked them. His relationship with Maria was put to the test when the actor began an affair with dancer Loda Halama. The artist supposedly hoped that Żabczyński would divorce and choose her, but this did not happen.

When the war broke out, he exchanged his tailcoat for a uniform. “It really suited him”

World War II interrupted Żabczyński’s career. In 1939, the actor took off his tailcoat and put on his uniform. Before he went to the front, he met with his artist friends at the Mała Ziemiańska café at ul. Mazowiecka 12.

He marched into the café with a spring in his step, wearing an officer’s uniform with visible artillery markings, and saluted a group of friends sitting at a table. Since everyone knew about his military passion, the men weren’t particularly surprised, but the ladies welcomed him with a flirtatious twinkle in their eyes, because he looked great in his uniform. However, the atmosphere thickened when he announced that he was in a hurry, so he would not sit down and drink coffee. He just came to ‘check in’. He saluted and left in silence

– recalled actress Zofia Wilczyńska, whose words are quoted by Wolański in Żabczyński’s biography.

Żabczyński was assigned to the 11th Motorized Anti-Aircraft Artillery Division. He made his way to Lublin, Hrubieszów, Łuck and Stanisławów. When Poland was attacked by the Soviet Union, its commanders decided to evacuate to Hungary.

After crossing the border, Polish soldiers had to lay down their weapons. Żabczyński was sent to an internment camp near the settlement of Barcika-Sejokazine, and then to a prisoner of war camp in the village of Folsehangony. Żabczyński and his friends decided to escape. They obtained false documents and civilian clothes and on January 29, 1940, they managed to escape to France. When France capitulated, Żabczyński sailed to England. In 1942 he was sent to the Middle East. He was in Iraq and Palestine, from where he reached Egypt. In 1944, he took part in the Battle of Monte Cassino, in which he was wounded. After the war, he went to Austria, and then to Italy and England. He returned to Poland in 1946. He arrived in Gdańsk on board the Marine Raven ship, and then took a train to Warsaw. Waiting for him there was Maria, who had not met her husband after seven years of separation.

I’m standing on the platform and asking random people where Captain Żabczyński is. It’s standing there, someone replied. Gray. He left black and came back grey. That’s why I was shocked at first

– she recalled.

Żabczyński was under surveillance. “This man had very strong nerves”

After World War II, Żabczyński did not return to work in front of the camera. He was watched by the communists and had limited employment opportunities.

What the secret police did to him, how they followed him, controlled his correspondence… This man had very strong nerves, he endured it all, he didn’t talk about it

– said Ryszard Wolański in the “Muzyczna Jedynka” program.

Żabczyński found his haven in the theater. In the 1950s, he played in Arnold Szyfman’s Polish Theater and sang pre-war hits. However, his health was failing and he was going to sanatoriums more and more often. He was then corresponding with his wife, whom he called “his most beloved dog” in his letters.

He died suddenly in 1958, aged only 57. He was buried at the Powązki Cemetery. His funeral was attended by, among others, his former lover Loda Halama, who lived in Great Britain and the USA after the war. Żabczyński’s wife died in 1981 and was buried next to him. In 2015, President Bronisław Komorowski awarded the actor the Officer’s Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta.