Prymas August Hlond w obliczu śmierci. Nieznane źródło narracyjne o ostatnich dniach jego życia i śmierci (18/19–22 października 1948 r.)

In October 1948, the Primate of Poland, August Hlond, became seriously ill. He was assessed as requiring hospitalisation and taken to the Elizabethan Sisters Hospital in Warsaw. There he underwent two operations that had no positive result. As a result of his illness, Cardinal Hlond died on 22 October 1948. His death sparked numerous speculations that researchers are still grappling with, and that should be addressed but this can only be done using reliable sources that bring us closer to the true course of events. Without doubt, these include: “The Words of Cardinal Primate August Hlond (Spoken Before His Death)” recorded by Fr Antoni Baraniak SDB, Cardinal Hlond’s long-time secretary; and the “Medical Diagnosis” issued after the Cardinal’s death by Prof Dr. Tadeusz Butkiewicz, which describes the course of the Cardinal’s illness and the methods of treatment employed. These two documents, discovered only recently in the files of the Primate’s Archives from the years 1945–1948 stored in the Archdiocesan Archives in Gniezno, shed new light on the issue. They indicate categorically that the Cardinal’s illness progressed naturally, and that his death occurred without the intervention of any third party. In this way, they put an end to the sensational speculations that have appeared in Polish and foreign historical writings.