In the entirety of our city’s cultural and spiritual life, religious and moral issues have always held an important place. Therefore, this study aims to remind all those who love Bolesławiec, and to save from oblivion, the facts connected with the religious life and spiritual care of Catholics living in Bolesławiec in the years 1945–1970. § 1. Difficult beginnings
The groups of people arriving in Bolesławiec after the end of the Second World War were almost entirely connected with the Catholic religion, that is, the religion of their fathers, as well as with the religious traditions of the areas where they had spent their childhood and youth.
They included prisoners returning from forced labour and concentration camps, displaced persons from Tarnopol Voivodeship and other regions, as well as Polish Army soldiers who had taken part in battles along the Vistula, for Warsaw, the Pomeranian Wall and Berlin. Settlers then began to arrive, along with repatriates—that is, Poles living in Poland’s eastern borderlands—and re-emigrants arriving from Germany, France, Yugoslavia and other countries.
When the first transport of Poles arrived on 17 September 1945, a Catholic clergyman, Father Piotr Sauer—a German—was serving at the church, together with the organist Szubert. Seeing a large group of Poles in the church, the German priest asked Mr Adam Kowalski to write the Lord’s Prayer for him in Polish, after which he prayed it together with them. During the first days, a teacher, Mrs Okoń, organized a male church choir made up of Poles. On 17 October 1945, through the efforts of the incoming population, the Archbishop’s Curia in Wrocław sent a Polish priest, Father Jan Motyka, to Bolesławiec as a curate tasked with organizing pastoral care for the Polish population in the parish and surrounding area. With the arrival of the new priest, newcomers from various parts of Poland and abroad felt more closely connected with one another, while strengthening their religious convictions.
At the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Bolesławiec, services for the Polish population were held according to the following schedule. Every Sunday at 9 a.m. there was a sung Mass with a sermon, attended by approximately 400–500 people, mostly schoolchildren, Polish Army soldiers, residents and newcomers from nearby settlements. Mass was celebrated daily at 7 a.m. for approximately 15 people, while on Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays Father Piotr Saure celebrated services for the German population. For personal safety reasons, liturgical meetings could not be held later in the day, as almost no one left their homes in the evening. The church remained open all day.
Immediately after liberation, pastoral care from Bolesławiec covered the entire city, as well as the villages of Bolesławice (now within Bolesławiec), Bożejowice, Chościeszowice, Dobra, Godnów, Kruszyn, Kruszynek, Łaziska, Łąka, Otok and Rakowice.
The following year, in place of Father Jan Motyka, the Archbishop’s Curia assigned three priests to pastoral service. The first to arrive here was Father Andrzej Gromadzki, followed by Father Cyryl Lewalski and Father Aleksander Styczek. Under the leadership of the parish priest, Father Gromadzki, the priests began their pastoral work, as by the end of 1946 the parish already had 8,143 faithful. Among the noteworthy events of 1946 was a Mass celebrated on 6 October at 10 a.m. for fallen militiamen. The priests also took part in the opening of the District Hospital on Ogrodowa Street. The official ceremony took place on 26 November 1946 at 10 a.m.
In order to invigorate religious life before the scheduled canonical visitation, a seven-day Holy Mission began on 24 July 1947, led by Redemptorist Fathers. During the retreat, approximately 3,000 people gathered for the three Sunday Masses, while on weekdays approximately 50 people attended the Eucharist. The parish was visited by the Apostolic Administrator, Father Dr Karol Milik of Wrocław, who, on 21 October 1947, at the conclusion of the visitation, administered the sacrament of confirmation to 1,057 people.
to be continued.