Panta rei ... Everything flows, everything passes. The glory of the “Konrad” mining complex has passed irretrievably. Bolesławiec owes it, to a significant extent, its post-war reconstruction, development, architectural character and prosperity. For many years, the hard work of the miners determined the brisk pace of social and economic events; it even shaped the character of local culture and the level of education. There is no need to write about the sympathy and respect enjoyed by the mining community. It is hardly surprising: during “Konrad’s” heyday, several thousand residents of the town and surrounding area worked here. “Red gold” was a priceless raw material, an important strategic product during the Cold War and the uncompromising rivalry of the world powers for domination of the globe.
Bolesławiec has mining traditions dating back to the Middle Ages, and traces of gold-bearing adits where miners extracted particles of this most precious metal can still be found today south of the town. In the famous battle with the Tatars near Legnica (Henryk Pobożny), fought on 9 April 1241, around 500 miners from Silesian mines near Złotoryja, Lwówek, Warta Bolesławiecka and our town took part. Almost none of them returned: they were killed or taken captive; the few survivors who reached the stronghold had been massacred and maimed by the victors, while those who remained alive probably ended up on the Caspian Sea and died there while working. In Bolesławiec, services were arranged as a sign of mourning at St Nicholas’ Church, the patron saint of miners (today St Barbara is regarded as their patron saint).
I was the chronicler of “Konrad’s” history for at least a quarter of a century, working with the Lower Silesian press, mainly Gazeta Robotnicza. I described tradition and the present, genuinely fascinated by the dark world of the mine underground and man’s hard struggle with an unfriendly element. I recorded, including in book form, the traditions of the so-called Beer Tavern (previously unknown on a local scale); I accompanied the excavation and connection of underground workings and experienced the excitement of explosions deep inside the earth, when an inclined passage was driven from both sides and breaking through the final obstacle—the parameter wall—meant the success of many weeks of work. Would it succeed or not? Had the incline been laid out precisely, or had a mistake occurred? We pressed ourselves tightly against the hollow in the hard wall; then came the blast, a kind of earthquake, sharp brown dust and powder filling the space, and immediately afterwards great joy, congratulations and embraces. And there was also the taste of strong vodka, a toast to success. Only miners—open and warm-hearted, solidary and hard-working, tough and seasoned, kind and sincere—know how to rejoice and celebrate during the Beer Tavern. I have genuine respect and affection for them, and the experiences and sensations of the mine are something unique. When the Northern Port was being built in Gdańsk, basalt aggregate was extracted at the Wilcza Góra quarry near Złotoryja and transported from there to the sea. There I was impressed by the blasting expertise of shot-firing technician Zygmunt Wydrych, and I recorded the memorable “blast for the port” (the title of a publication) in Tygodnik Morski. My friendship with this kind guide lasted many years: later he became the “court painter” of the school no. 8 I headed and the principal architect—or perhaps the father—of the genuine mining museum created there. It is interesting that the only museum in the town with mining traditions was established not at the Mining Technical School, but at the Millennium School... But that is an entirely different subject. Original wooden supports and sturdy canvas came from the mine to the school, and the dependable Mr Zygmunt used them to line the walls of two useless storage rooms. He gave them the colours of copper-ore seams. Meanwhile, the school’s director, mgr inż. Alfred Cholewiak, who was a friend of the school, did not spare exhibits from “his” mine; the unique museum-treasure house of the underground world bears his name. Only here can one see a complete collection of mining shakoes—from an ordinary miner’s to a general’s shako with a green plume—as well as historic mining bardiches (small axes), collections of lamps, including carbide lamps (one from the 19th century), and a collection of beautiful minerals, even from the Ural Mountains, but above all from Lower Silesia. Decorative and utilitarian picks, diplomas and souvenirs left by hundreds of visitors—ministers, ambassadors and scholars—but above all an abundance of diverse rocks, each with its own fascinating history. There is an original fragment of a Greek column made of white marble (the local Security Office “hounded” me over this exhibit, but lack of space prevents me from expanding on the subject), and a block of sandstone from a British fortress on the island of Malta (a gift from PLO officer Teofil Grydyk, who brought the exhibit with this explanation: “I had no money to buy souvenirs; the fortress was no longer useful to the English, while for you it is a piece of history and a tangible idea of the world”). I met another friend, hobbyist and geographer Tadeusz Płonka, in Boguszów-Gorce near Wałbrzych; he was captivated by the beauty of the school and its unconventional ideas. From his collection he donated sigillaria, lepidodendrons, ferns imprinted in coal, fossilized tree trunks from hundreds of millions of years ago, ammonites and many other priceless exhibits. Here one can admire the imprint of a fish from level minus 850 m in ZG “Konrad” (there was once a sea here, in distant geological epochs...), gold ore (a single nugget anonymously donated by a priest living near Bolesławiec) from Canadian mines, highly valued chrysoprase with serpentine, opals, ruby garnets, and collections of mountain crystals from the Sudeten treasure house of Liczyrzepa. I transported all of it, together with my son, in a worn-out car and at my own expense, relying on the selflessness of friends, acquaintances and colleagues. Everything remained at the school, which received a rare distinction from the Minister of Mining and Energy at the time—the Honorary Mining Sword. A few years later, the same kind of sword and a pickaxe with a dedication were presented to me by the director of the Coal Association in Wałbrzych, mgr inż. Wiktor Woźniak. I keep these rare private trophies like a talisman... But the greatest surprise and satisfaction was provided by the mining complex closest to my heart, “Konrad”, thanks in large part to the personal efforts of its director, mgr inż. Alfred Cholewiak. I became one of the three Honorary Miners of ZG “Konrad”, receiving a beautiful certificate handwritten on handmade paper and an engineer’s shako with a white plume. It is an exceptionally valuable and beautiful memento. The mining community also bestowed many honours on me: the honorary title of Mining Technician of the Coal Association in Wałbrzych, the distinction for Services to the Development of the “Nowy Wirek” Hard-Coal Mine in Ruda Śląska, as well as mining decorations. Yet I value most highly the dignity of Honorary Miner of ZG “Konrad”, the copper-ore mine closest to my heart and so deserving of its homeland. If Poland stands on copper today, the Old Copper Basin, whose capital was our town on the Bóbr—Bolesławiec—has played its part. For many years I proclaimed this truth everywhere, and perhaps that is why the mining community honoured and ennobled me. I did not receive such an honour in my teaching profession after nearly 40 years of professional work. To the entire mining estate—so deeply rooted in the traditions and present-day life of our town—on the occasion of “Barbórka”, I wish you all the best!