a fierce fight, the fifteen-year-old Juozas Želigovskis was taken prisoner and letters were found by his side, where his mother encouraged him to fight. So I was not an accidental out-of-nowhere in Lithuania, but my family has a long tradition and served in the Fatherland's defence. My dream was to live with my countrymen in the Vilnius region. I did not divide them into Poles, Belarusians and Samogitians. As a Lithuanian, I never stopped being Polish. These two concepts are intertwined. They complement each other. I am talking about all this in order to prove that it was all more than a Polish general's seizure of Vilnius.Żeligowski later in his memoir which was published in London in 1943 condemned the annexation of Republic by Poland, as well as the policy of closing Belarusian schools and general disregard of Marshal Józef Piłsudski's confederation plans by Polish ally. Later life After the annexation of Central Lithuania to Poland, Żeligowski continued his service in the Polish Army. Promoted to three-star general in 1923, he served as an army inspector, or a commander of a military district of the capital city of Warsaw. In 1925 he also became the Polish Minister of Military Affairs. Ousted by Piłsudski's coup d'état (the May Coup), he was soon returned to the post. He retired the following year and settled in his family manor in Andrzejewo near Vilnius. In 1930 he published a book containing his memoirs of the Polish-Bolshevik War named War of 1920: Memories and thoughts (Wojna w roku 1920. Wspomnienia i rozważania). He also wrote numerous articles on the conflicts of early 20th century for a variety of Polish newspapers. In 1935 he was elected a member of parliament and remained in the Sejm until the outbreak of World War II in 1939. World War II and death During the Invasion of Poland, Żeligowski volunteered for the Polish Armed Forces, but was not accepted due to his old age (he was 74 at that time) and poor health. Nevertheless, he served as an advisor to the command of the Polish southern front. After the Polish defeat, he evaded being captured by the Germans and the Soviets and managed to reach France, where he joined the Polish Government in Exile headed by General Władysław Sikorski. An active member of the Polish National Council, an advisory body, he escaped to London after the French defeat in 1940.