Adam Massalski (Jan Kochanowski University in Kielce) Inhabitants of Kielce in The Second Polish Legions Brigade – the Massalski Brothers In August and September 1914, a shooting cluster and then a legion was joined by over 900 volunteers, mostly from the city of Kielce and the neighboring towns and villa ges. Youth Independence Organization ‘Zarzewie’ headed by Tadeusz Massalski as well as underground scout regiments led by Włodzimierz Gierowski, Bronisław Kowalczew ski and Teofil Bobrownicki played an important role in recruitment into the army. Three brothers from the family of Massalski were among the volunteers joining the shooting clusters. Zygmunt Kazimierz, Leon and Tadeusz joined the battalion which became part of the Second and Third Infantry Regiments of the Legions, later called the Second Polish Legions Brigade. The oldest of the brothers, Edmund, joined the Legions in Kra kow but was then seconded to Kielce as an ‘emissary for the Legions’ propaganda’. Zygmunt Kazimierz fought in the ranks of the 10th company of the Second Infantry Regiment of the Second Polish Legions’ Brigade in the Eastern Carpathians. He died in the battle of Ökörmező on 22 December 1914. Leon Massalski fought in the ranks of the Second Infantry Regiment of the Second Polish Legions’ Brigade in the Carpathians and in Volhynia. In spring, 1915, he was transferred to telephone troops of the Second Brigade’s headquarters. Tadeusz Massalski went through the entire battle route of the Second Polish Legions’ Brigade. During the oath crisis (during which the soldiers of the Legions refused to swear allegiance to the German Empire) together with his brother Leon, he refused to take the oath. On average, approximately 5,000 soldiers served in the ranks of the Second Brigade of whom more than 2,000 came from the Kingdom of Poland. In the Legions’ registers of losses, the names of twenty legionnaires of Kielce and neighboring towns can be found Key words: First World War, Kielce, scouts, shooting regiments, Polish Legions Second Brigade of the Polish Legions, volunteers