Polski żołnierz na ołtarze. Droga życia Karola Wojtyły seniora i opinie przełożonych o nim w świetle dokumentów wojskowych
The soldier of Polish Army for altars. Way of life and opinions of Karol Wojtyła senior in the light of military documents

Summary/Abstract: The article discusses the military career of Karol Wojtyła senior – father of the Pope and today’s Saint John Paul II – based on preserved archival documents. Using primarily notes from qualification cards and lists and other documents preserved in the copy of Karol Wojtyła’s file folder in the Wojskowe Biuro Historyczne Centralne Archiwum Wojskowe (WBH CAW, en. Military Historical Office of the Central Military Archives in Warsaw), described the course of his service as a non-commissioned officer and a military official in the Austro-Hungarian army (18 years) and since 1918 in the Polish Army as a military official and officer in military administration (9 years). The information was supplemented by data published years ago by the Austrian journalist Ernst Trost based on the documents of Wojtyła senior preserved in the Vienna Kriegsarchiv. K. Wojtyła ended duty of military service as a lieutenant in 1927, retiring. The opinions of superiors about Karol Wojtyła were also presented, allowing to outline his characterological features and attitude, indicating that many of these features and behaviors had an undoubted impact on the formation and development of Karol Wojtyła junior’s personality in his youth. Thanks to the detailed presentation of the military career of K. Wojtyła, it was possible to correct some wrong informations about him, including regarding his alleged participation in the battle of Gorlice or Wojtyła’s service in the Legiony Polskie (en. Polish Legions.). A separate thread is the history of these documents from the CAW, the originals of which in 1979 Edward Gierek passed on to John Paul II during his first pilgrimage to his homeland.

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