Józef Ładowski

Józef Ładowski (Josek Ładowski, Gruby Josek, Fat Yosl, Yosek) (b. C. 1900, d. Oct. 7, 1932 in Warsaw) - Polish restaurateur, the hero of the ballad Bal u starego Joska.

Biography

In the 1920s and early 1930s he was the owner of a small restaurant on the Rynkowa Street (formerly known as Gnojna) 7 in the Jewish district of Warsaw. His tavern was a beloved place for Warsaws rich and poor[1]. Colonel Wieniawa-Długoszowski (at one moment president of Poland), marshal Piłsudski's personal adjutant, was frequent visitor and many others from Warsaw's high society[2].

Personal life

He married Maria (Miriam) Lipowicz [3], who had a bakery in Stopnica. He lived with his family at the Rynkowa (Market) Street 7 and had four children: Alicja Ładowska (Davis) (born 15 June 1925), Mieczysław, Ryszard and Franciszka. Josek Ładowski's cousin Aaron (Arne) Ładowski arrived in Toronto in Canada in 1906 from Kielce and established the United Bakers Dairy Restaurant there in 1912 which still exists today (2016).[4]

Death

When he died on October 7, 1932, at 11 pm,[5] Warsaw's ABC newspaper reported that Gruby Josek was respected among Warsaw's criminal underground and that he had served as a judge in many disputes.[6] He is buried in the Jewish Cemetery in Warsaw.

The tavern was known as U Grubego Joska ("At Fat Joe's"). It was notorious enough that a song was written about it in 1934, Bal u starego Joska,[7][8] which remains as one of the most popular Polish underground ballads often sung in the specific dialect of Warsaw's Praga district.[9]

Sleepless nights in Warsaw's quarter
I still trace them on my lips
At the Fatty Josek's tavern on the Dung Street
Gathered flower of the night.

His grandson Ron Davis recorded jazz versions of Bal u starego Joska on his 2010 album My Mother's Father's Song.

References
  1. Władysław Pawlak (1986). Urodzeni w Warszawie: Opowieść (in Polish). Iskry. [he] was famous for the fact that the Warsaw drunkards after a drinking binge, like Parisians visiting "les Halles", came to his tavern for the last drink. Tavern of "Gruby Josek" did not serve the French onion soup, but his restaurant was famous for its local delicacy - goose Pipek. The guests were entertained, for a tip, by a wandering accordionist
  2. Bernard Glinski (2016). Twenty Years with the Jewish Labor Bund: A Memoir of Interwar Poland. Purdue University Press. p. 236. ISBN 9781557537492. But Fat Yosl did have something out of the ordinary. Nobody knew why it was, but his tavern was a beloved place for Warsaws rich — they were regulars — and for Polish high officials, government people, and military officers. Very often, between three and four in the morning, into Fat Yosls tavern would storm the well-known Colonel Wieniawa-Długoszowski, Marshal Piłsudskis personal adjutant and notorious Warsaw drunk; the government Commissar Jaroszewicz; Colonel Jurek of the police; former governmental Commissar Janusz; the actor Grabowski, a brother of the District Attorney and Minister of Justice; the famous actor Jaracz; and many others from Warsaws high society. They came here from the most beautiful and elegant Warsaw nightspots. Around three and four in the morning when the elegant nightspots closed, someone in the tipsy crowd would shout out: “Jedźmy do grubego Joska!” (“Lets go to Fat Yosls!”)
  3. "Detention for non-trading hours". Nasz Przegląd (in Polish). Warsaw. 15: 9. April 21, 1937. Starostwo Grodzkie of the Northwest Warsaw sentenced the owner of a grocery store at Market Street 7, Miriam Ładowska for 3 days of custody and 50złoty fine with a possibility to switch to five days' detention for operating during the non-trading hours
  4. united-bakers-celebrating-100-years.pdf
  5. "Josek z Gnojnej umarł (Josek of Gnojna died)". Dzień Dobry. Warsaw. 2: 2. October 8, 1932.
  6. T.P. (October 8, 1932). "Nocne spelunki Warszawy". ABC (in Polish). Warsaw. 7: 6. Last night Fat Yosl died - died while on duty in his cafe, so say his friends. The funeral was a great revue of the underground Warsaw, which crowds went to the cemetery to pay the last tribute to his friend and judge, often determining in a fair and just way the most intricate disputes submitted to Dintojra for consideration
  7. Stanislaw Wielanek (1994). Hits of old Warsaw (in Polish). Warsaw: Boston. p. 362. ISBN 83-902252-0-4.
  8. Tadeusz Faliszewski & Orkiestra Gitar Hawajskich pod dyr. Wiktora Tychowskiego i Mieczysława Wróblewskiego - Bal u Starego Joska (Party At Old Josel's) (Fanny Gordon /Krzewiński, Brodziński) Syrena-Electro 1934 on YouTube
  9. Stanisław Grzesiuk - Bal na Gnojnej on YouTube
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