On 7 of October 1918, after 123 years under the third partition, on the initiative of Prince Regent Zdzisław Lubomirski (1865 – 1943), Polish independence was proclaimed and published in the Monitor Polski. Zdzisław was a politician, president of the Civic Committee, and the president of Warsaw. He extended self-government, organized intervention works, credit unions, and cared for the education and living conditions of the Varsovians. His activities mapped out the direction that future politicians of the independent state would follow. In 1926, he undertook the role of mediator between the parties to the May coup. In the 1930s, he was a senator on the foreign affairs and military committees. During World War II he was imprisoned and tortured by the Gestapo. He died of wounds sustained in prison.