Fundusz Obrony Narodowej ("National Defense Fund") was an attempt by both the government of the Second Polish Republic and the Polish nation to collect funds necessary for improving fighting ability of the Polish Army before the increasingly likely World War II. Background When Poland regained independence in the fall of 1918, the most important task was to create from scratch armed forces of the fledgling republic. Surrounded by hostile neighbors, Poland managed to recover from several conflicts, but the government in Warsaw was well aware that sooner or later there would be new wars. Several historians claim that Marshall Józef Piłsudski and his obsolete notions hampered the development of the Polish Army. Pilsudski was not interested in armored forces and aircraft, he emphasized the importance of cavalry and infantry instead. After his death in 1935, the new Marshall, Edward Rydz-Śmigły immediately decided to start a huge project of modernization of the Army. However, the budget was too tight to cover the gigantic costs. Thus, the idea of the National Defense Fund was born. Creation The Fund was created on April 9, 1936 by a special decree of President Ignacy Mościcki. Its purpose was to collect additional sources of money, necessary for supplying deficiencies in the military equipment of the Polish Army. Means were acquired in different ways, chiefly these were: selling of state-owned land, controlled by the military, endowments from state treasury (mostly based on a loan from France), gifts from both private individuals and private institutions. The response of the nation was immense. Altogether, FON collected around 1 billion zlotys, out of which almost zl 40 million were made by various gifts from the nation. Patriotic citizens of the whole country would give their personal savings, children in schools gave their pocket money, in numerous cases people gave their jewellery, precious coins, gold earrings, plates, utensils and anything precious they had in their homes. In several documented cases members of national minorities joined the action. In the town of Krzeszowice, Jews made in 1938 some 17% of the population, but they provided some 36% of money and valuables. Also, many celebrities helped with collection. According to Polish music expert Boguslaw Kaczynski, in 1938 and 1939 Jan Kiepura, a famous singer, gave permission for his name to be used on collection boxes. Apart from individuals, several companies helped. Among others, a famous radio factory Elektrit, sponsored in 1937 a RWD-10