1919 woodcut print by Wladyslaw Skoczylas. The legendary "zbojnicy" or outlaws who robbed the rich to give to the poor.

Wladyslaw Skoczylas (pronounced Vwha-di-swhav Sko-chi-lahs) was born in Wieliczka, Poland in 1883. He moved to the Podhale/Tatra Mountain region of southern Poland, and became an influential artist and prominent teacher at the Szkole Przemyslu Drzewnego, an art and craft school in Zakopane. Skoczylas also was a painter, but his best known works were a series of woodcut prints which celebrated the people, life, and legends of the Podhale. His favorite subjects were the legendary "zbojnicy" or outlaws who robbed the rich to give to the poor. The two most famous of whom were Janosik and Ondraszek, pictured on these cards. Skoczylas died in Warsaw in 1934.

The zbojnicy's legendary fights for freedom and equal justice for all are still very much alive among the Tatra mountain highlanders today in stories, music and folk art. Some of the Tatra's zbojnicy were true bandits, but oft times they were simply people who were wanted by the government for their opinions contrary to the ruling class, for resistance to the noble's oppression of the people, or for being army deserters. The most famous and legendary head robber of all time was, of course, named Janosik. Janosik lived at the end of the 17th and beginning of the 18th century. He lived in Slovakia where he was convicted by the king. His group of robbers included deserted soldiers and peasants who had fled Slovakia, Poland, and even Russia. They all fought together against the oppression of the noblemen. The exploits of this band live on in the Tatra highlands today. And much credit for that goes to the Polish poet Kazimierz Przerwa Tetmajer. In his books he portrays Janosik as the great head robber and commander-in-chief of those who fought against the oppression of nobles and even the invasion of the Swedes.