Poland’s Warriors of the Air, Poster by Władysław Teodor Benda

Created in 1939 by the Polish-American artist Władysław Teodor Benda, Poland’s Warriors of the Air was issued by the Polish War Relief organization to rally support for Poland at the outset of World War II. The image powerfully bridges Poland’s past and present: a winged horseman—evoking the legendary seventeenth-century Winged Hussars—charges through the sky above modern bombers, symbolizing the continuity of courage from the nation’s medieval defenders to its aviators fighting tyranny in the air. The message, “Like knights of old defend the freedom of the world,” linked Poland’s heroic struggle against German aggression to the universal cause of liberty, appealing directly to American ideals of honor, bravery, and the defense of freedom.

For American audiences, the poster served both as propaganda and philanthropy, urging solidarity with a nation overrun yet unbroken. Distributed widely across the United States, it invited donations to aid Polish soldiers, refugees, and orphans through the Polish War Relief Fund. The dramatic contrast of the winged warrior against the sweeping formation of aircraft was not only a call to empathy but also a reminder that Poland’s fight was the world’s fight. Through Benda’s stirring imagery, Americans were asked to see the Polish people as gallant allies—modern knights standing on the front line in defense of civilization itself.