Józef Milchert


Józef Milchert was a Polish merchant, industrialist and a social activist living in Bydgoszcz.

Biography

Józef was born on 9 January 1874, in the village of Osiek located west of Koronowo, in the Bydgoszcz County. His mother was Marianna née Behrendt, his father Jan Milchert, a farmer.
He graduated from the elementary school in Osiek. At the age of 15, Józef went to the nearby village of Mrocza to be an apprentice in a shop. After learning merchant's trade, he became in 1892 a merchant's assistant in several cities: Nakło nad Notecią, Bydgoszcz and Grudziądz.
He made his military service in the Second Foot Artillery "von Hindersin" billeted in Swinemünde, from 1894 to 1896. This year, Milchert settled permanently in Bydgoszcz, but kept working there and in Inowrocław as a merchant's assistant till 1899.
At the turn of the 20th century, he founded a liqueur and vodka factory, which soon was one of the biggest Polish factory in the city. He received awards for his products at the industrial exhibitions of Bydgoszcz and Toruń. His selling point was established at Neuer Markt 3.
Furthermore, Józef was an inventor and author of 25 patents.

Social activist

Milchert combined his professional business with national and social activities. On 8 March 1909, he initiated the establishment of the Towarzystwo Kupców Samodzielnych z Bydgoszczy. This association was based on the Social and Merchant Circle at the Industrial Society, established in 1898 in the city.
The Towarzystwo Kupców Samodzielnych z Bydgoszczy, led by Milchert, organised the first Polish Industrial Exhibition in Bydgoszcz from 26 June to 10 July 1910, which gathered more than 120 exhibitors.
Meetings of Polish national and social activists were held in his apartment. Józef championed the project to erect a church for Polish Catholics in Bydgoszcz. Investing time and money, the Church of the Holy Trinity was eventually consecrated in 1913.
Milchert was called the King of Poland by the German citizen of Bydgoszcz.
After WWI, he served as the treasurer of the newly created Supreme People's Council for the city of Bydgoszcz. The council, set up on 16 November 1918, had Jan Biziel for its president and Jan Teska for its secretary; this body dealt with many aspects of the life of the city and the vicinity.
On 19 January 1920, Józef Milchert participated in the historic ceremony of the return of Bydgoszcz into the re-created Polish state.
In August, he was appointed a councilor at the City Council and on 30 June 1921, he became one of its member. He was in charge of the savings bank, the City Slaughterhouse on Jagiellońska Street and the Municipal Market Hall on Podwale Street.
In 1921, he was elected to the position of the 3rd honorary city councilor, then re-elected in 1925.
Milchert participated comprehensively in the organization of the economic life in Bydgoszcz. He had many positions in institutions and organizations, among which:
He penned memoirs about the Greater Poland Uprising.
Józef Milchert died on 8 June 1930, in Bydgoszcz. He was buried at the Nowofarny Cemetery. His obituary mentioned that he was considered as part of the

Personal life

Józef Milchert was married to Teofila née Ziętak. The couple had five children:
  • Edward ;
  • Maria ;
  • Henryk ;
  • Anna ;
  • Józef ;
  • Witold.
Teofila was very active in associative circles, participating to the Reading Room for Women together with Wincentyna Teskowa or Leokadia Weynerowska.
She died in 1936.

Awards and recognition

Józef Milchert was awarded the Officer's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta on 30 April 1927, for outstanding merits in the national and social fields.
By resolution of the Bydgoszcz City Council no. XX/371/11 of 29 December 2011, a street in the Bydgoszcz Industrial and Technological Park had been named after Józef Milchert.