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| GALICIA AT WAR |
| This page is dedicated to my great-uncle Jozef Bieniasz, for whom my father was in part named, who left Chicago to visit his parents in Glowaczowa. Instead, he spent four years in hell. It was the summer of 1914. |
| When Jozef returned home, to Glowaczowa in 1919, he was on foot and emaciated and in tatters. His own mother, Jozefa Serafin Bieniasz, did not recognize him. |
| He had planned to see his parents and maybe find a bride before returning to Chicago and settling down. Global events overtook him during his brief visit in 1914. The Great War suddenly had begun. Galician officials did not listen to his claim that he was now an American from Chicago. He was drafted into the Galician Army of Austria-Hungary. His descent into hell had begun. |
| We remember you, Uncle Jozef. We remember you. Always. |
| Galician (Polish) Infantry |
| Galician Infantry on the March |
| Jan Pytr, a Polish Soldier |
| Marching Through Przemysl |
| Artillery Drawn By Oxen |
| A Polish Home |
| A Polish Town |
| Russian Soldier |
| His regiment first faced the czarist Russian Army. He was captured and spent several years in a Russian POW camp. Repatriated when Russia capitulated in 1917, he was sent to the Italian front.. Again, he was taken prisoner. |
| Dennis Benarz, Chicagoland USA 2002 |
| Most photos are from the U.S. National Archives. |
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| Jozef Bieniasz in 1938 |
