The Polish War Hero Who Quelled an Aleppo Uprising

Józef Bem fought for Polish and Hungarian independence before converting to Islam and joining the Ottoman Empire

Defeated radicals plotting revolution from exile. Poles opposing Russian influence in Eastern Europe. Syria beset by religious strife and indiscriminate bombardment in Aleppo.

Today’s headlines? Yes … but also the life of Józef Bem, a warrior academic and nationalist hero in both Poland and Hungary who died a convert to Islam serving the Ottoman Empire.

Most of us went to high school when we were 15. When Józef Bem was that age, he left to fight in the Napoleonic Wars and study at amilitary school in Krakow, where he was something of a math wiz. This presaged his lifelong identity as a science geek, soldier and Polish revolutionary.

A year after Bem was born, the country of Poland officially ceased to exist. Neighboring Austria, Prussia and Russia had jointed together to carve the ailing Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth between them.

Read the full story: https://warisboring.com/the-polish-war-hero-who-quelled-an-aleppo-uprising-bbb747b94622#.awgwxsc5o