Propaganda poster with Józef Piłsudski

During the Polish-Bolshevik war, propaganda posters played an important role. Suggestive images were used to convey various messages, taking into account the high percentage of illiteracy in Polish society at the time. The campaign called for voluntary enlistment in the reborn Polish Army or material support for the army. The enemy was presented in a demonic or caricatured way, while Polish soldiers were shown as noble saviours. The contrasting juxtaposition of good and bad characters had a more telling effect than the written word.

A propaganda poster with Józef Piłsudski by Władysław Skoczylas from 1920 is in this style. The artist created an apotheosis of the defender of faith and citizens against Bolshevism. The central part of the poster depicted Piłsudski as a knight on a white horse with a sabre raised to strike. In front of the horse's raised hooves there is a fallen Bolshevik with a demonic face, wearing a cap with a five-pointed red star and a knife tucked into his belt. It was significant that the horse and rider were directed towards the west, where the Bolshevik attack was supposed to be heading, and which was stopped by the Polish counter-offensive.

The author of the poster used many symbolic motifs. He placed a peasant family with small children hiding with their belongings under a tree, on the trunk of which a roofed shrine with the figure of Jesus Christ was fixed. The tree's branches were placed over the figure of Piłsudski. A man, the head of a peasant family, turned his hand towards him in a gesture of blessing. In the background, the artist placed burning country buildings with a red glow streaking across the sky. The scene was observed by a large white dog, seen in art as a symbol of fidelity. All the figures were placed on a golden field, shaped like a cornfield, in reference to the August events of 1920.

In the same year, Skoczylas's poster was shown at an exhibition organised by the military authorities in Lublin.