A man of great stature and a great heart, unconventional and original, hardworking and talented, a dreamer and romantic, yet at the same time a pragmatist and realist, a lover of the written word and a seeker of regional history – this is the most concise way to characterize Zbyszek’s personality. Until recently, he was among us and with us: a passionate debater, a professional with extensive knowledge of the town on the Bóbr, a celebrant of its charm, in love with its history and monuments, a storyteller with the passion of a scholar, the author of a chronology and serious monographic studies, a tireless popularizer of knowledge and a distinguished activist of the Towarzystwo Miłośników Bolesławca... This is a great loss for his circle of friends and colleagues, but also for the entire city.
Mgr Zbigniew Szczepański graduated from the University of Wrocław, specializing in sociology. By calling and passion, however, he was a historian and journalist. Through his daily contact with books, he sought out and uncovered many valuable facts connected with the history of the town on the Bóbr, made thousands of microfilms and photographic reproductions, becoming a living, irreplaceable encyclopedia of knowledge about the past and present of the city and region.
His private discoveries included, among other things, the figure of the diplomat and man of letters Marcin Opitz, born in Bolesławiec; extensive data on local branches of the Gross Rosen concentration camp; the history of nearby Nowogrodziec; and valuable local monuments, for which he had a special fondness and whose defense he was able to pursue effectively.
He read and wrote a great deal, with his head full of plans and dreams, always busy and hard at work, searching for missing pieces of knowledge about the distant past of Silesia, and especially Bolesławiec. He could be stubborn and controversial when confronted with blatant amateurism and ill will, consistent and dependable, wholly devoted to the ideas he considered right. We miss you very much, Zbyszek.