Wladyslaw Zamoyski (1853-1924)

Wladyslaw Zamoyski was the "godfather" of Joseph Retinger. Wladyslaw Zamoyski was of noble origin and was a spokesman for property owners in Greater Poland. He was not only a devoted patriot but also a very devout catholic. 

His protegee Retinger wrote about him: 

"If ever there was a saint on earth Zamoyski was one. Ascetic to the point of sleeping on bare boards until his death at the age of sixty-six, he never spent an unnecessary penny on himself, at the same time distributing his whole enormous revenues anonymously - sometimes through me as an intermediary - for charitable ends. When Poland was reborn he offered his whole fortune to public institutions; hundreds of thousands of acres of land, factories, palaces, fabulous collections of art, a famed library, reserving for himself until he died just one room... Fanatically self-sacrificing, he never married, because he dedicated his life to the purpose he cared for; the service of his country and his religion."

And he also wrote:

"One of the most handsome men of his generation,' he continues, 'he was so strong that I once saw him stop a carriage drawn by four horses by catching its wheel with his bare hands."

This makes clear a couple of things. Joseph Retinger was a great admirer of the man who protected him after the death of his father. He exagerated as the child he must have been when his father died by giving Zamoyski super power.  Another thing that becomes clear is that Zamoyski was a self-sacrificing and deep religious man who never married.

Some things will have to be verified. The rebirth of Poland and the charitable goals that made him give away everything but one room. Also it is not clear to me when and where Retinger made his statements about Zamoyski. And what about Zamoyski's death at 66? Didn't he die at the age of 70? I have the feeling that earlier mentioned quotes cannot be trusted.

What is clear to me is how Retinger almost certainly must have been under the influence of devout catholics from the moment of his birth. Maybe it were Jesuits, but I have a reason tho believe it were Franciscans. It looks to me like he was a chosen person. Chosen to play his role in the liberation of "Greater" Poland.