He was conscripted to the German army in 1914, he fought in the Battle of Verdun and was severely wounded.
There he formed a battalion of Polish soldiers and with its help he captured local Austrian garrison.
In 1919 he returned to Opole and was sent by the local Poles to the Paris peace conference to represent Polish interests in Silesia.
The march was disrupted by local German militias who attacked Polish demonstrants.
He returned to Upper Silesia and began working in Katowice in Voivodship office.