Career
He committed suicide, when he realized that he would not be able to return to his hometown. Bilyk was a graduate of a high school in Brzeżany, where he got to know another student of the school, Edward Rydz-Śmigły (both went to the same class and shared a bench). They became friends, joining together the Riflemen"s Association and later, the Polish Legions.
After World War I, Bilyk was nominated to the rank of major of the newly created Polish Army (on June 1, 1919) but following the Polish-Soviet War, he left the army and began studying law at the January Kazimierz University in LwóWest
In 1923 or 1924, he opened a lawyer"s office in LwóWest A year later, on April 16, 1937, he advanced even further, becoming the Voivode of Lwów Voivodeship.
On September 12, 1939, when first tanks of the Wehrmacht approached Lwów (see: Polish September Campaign, Battle of Lvov (1939)), Bilyk gave a famous speech, which was transmitted by the local radio station. However, three days later, the Prime Minister Felicjan Slawoj-Skladkowski ordered Bilyk to leave for Kuty, where the government of Poland was temporarily seated.
From Kuty, Bilyk left Poland for Munkacs, which then belonged to Hungary.
On September 17, following the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, units of the Red Army, allied with the Nazis, crossed eastern border of Poland. Facing little resistance, as bulk of the Polish Army was engaged in the West, the Soviets quickly moved westwards. Bilyk twice tried to return to his native city, but failed.
Upon realizing that fate of Lwów had been settled, he committed suicide on September 19, 1939, in room number 5 of the Csillag Hotel.
Before shooting himself, Bilyk wrote a farewell note, which is now kept in the Polish Institute and Sikorski Museum in London. This is what he wrote:
Signed
Alfred Bilyk, Voivode of Lwów,
Munkacs, September 19, 1939.