The meeting took place on October 27. It was held as part of the “Building Dialogue through Music, Dance and Song” project, carried out at the Henryk Sucharski Comprehensive and Vocational Schools Complex in Bolesławiec as part of the public task “Polish-Ukrainian Youth Cooperation,” financed by the Ministry of National Education.
The project participants (10 students from Zbarazh and 10 students from ZSOiZ), two teachers from Ukraine (Oksana Daszewska and Tatiana Kucharska), as well as Halina Drozdowska, a Ukrainian of Polish descent who has family in Bolesławiec, were hosted by County Head Dariusz Kwaśniewski. “We always welcome you like family,” he said. “After all, you often have family here. And Poland’s ties with Ukraine are natural and familial.”
“We do not have a cooperation agreement with any Ukrainian county; I believe we should conclude one next year,” D. Kwaśniewski continued. “And if you want to come here and meet with your peers, I will do what is required of me—that is, establish official cooperation. And the County will open itself to the Borderlands.”
The meeting was also attended by Barbara Smoleńska, head of the Society of Friends of Lviv and the South-Eastern Borderlands and coordinator of the “Save Your Great-Grandfather’s Grave from Oblivion” campaign on behalf of the Comprehensive and Vocational Schools Complex in Bolesławiec. “We will carry out this project until November 3,” B. Smoleńska told “ii.” “We have already carried out similar projects several times. Last year we hosted students from Novyi Rozdil, and earlier, from Sieniawa.”
The project participants will have the opportunity to visit, among other places, Karpacz, Görlitz and the Bolesławiec Basilica of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, as well as take part in ceramics workshops.
“Residents of Ukraine who have Polish roots often do not have the opportunity to learn our language,” Barbara Smoleńska explains. “We give them that opportunity. I remember one situation: several years ago, we came to Sieniawa and met a girl there who had Polish roots but did not speak a single word of Polish. I recently learned that she is now studying Polish philology in Lviv. Our visit influenced the field of study she chose.”
And she adds: “It is very important that our eastern neighbors come here and see what life is like here; that there is cooperation and friendship. And that they open themselves to history and realize that Poland once existed there.”
“I like your city very much; there is a wonderful atmosphere here,” says teacher Oksana Daszewska. “I did not expect that it would be possible to speak so openly and directly with the county authorities. The County Head welcomed us as if we were good acquaintances,” she adds. “Bolesławiec is a very picturesque place. Thank you for your hospitality and for the warm welcome given to us by the ZSOiZ students,” adds student from Zbarazh Ola Popowicz. Incidentally, both women also have Polish roots.
The project will conclude with a concert to be held on Friday, October 30 at the Old Theatre in Bolesławiec. It begins at 6:00 p.m. Admission is free.