After my fortunate liberation and survival from the horrific and terrible Stutthof death camp near Gdańsk, on the territory of West Germany, I immediately joined a scouting group, organizing, abroad—in Germany—in the town of Neustadt (pronounced “Noi-shtat”), in the province of Schleswig-Holstein, a scout troop made up of Polish young people, the children of workers forcibly deported by the German occupiers deep into Germany.
For me, it was a pleasant period of recuperation after the terrible experiences in the death camp. I worked with these boys for five months (July–November 1945).
When I heard the first appeal, far away abroad, broadcast by Warsaw radio, calling all Poles to return to Poland and help rebuild the country from the destruction of the war, I returned at the end of November (on November 30) 1945 to my hometown of Bydgoszcz, immediately joining the scouting movement in my original “Siódemka Troop.” Thus, I once again became the scoutmaster of one of the “Siódemka Troop’s” units.
However, the Recovered Territories had a very strong pull on me. After spending about two months in my hometown of Bydgoszcz, I decided to leave for the Recovered Territories. After giving it considerable thought, I chose Lower Silesia. I went to Bolesławiec in February 1946, temporarily staying with a friend, a former scout from Bydgoszcz, Mr. Franciszek Mizerka. Although Bolesławiec was then heavily damaged by the final military operations, I took a liking to it. I remained in Bolesławiec.
A short time later, in April 1946, after establishing contact with the school inspector and the head of the only primary school then operating, Primary School No. 1 (its head, Mrs. Stefania Tajcher, was also a concentration-camp prisoner), I began recruiting boys for a scout troop. For this purpose, I appeared twice in scout uniform on the streets of Bolesławiec. Although there were few Polish people in Bolesławiec at the time, I nevertheless managed to gather about 40 boys. I am still in personal contact with some of them, now adults. I remember the names of some of them: Janusz Kozłowski, Zbigniew Zachar, Tadeusz Szewczuk, Dominik Krukiewicz, Rudolf Nikucki, Jan Lipnicki, Rajmund Marian and others.
At that time, this was the first scout troop to operate in the city of Bolesławiec, functioning for several years (1946–1948). My young wife Jadwiga also helped me considerably in my scouting work. At that time, there was not yet a Scout District Command in Bolesławiec, so organizationally we belonged to the district in Lwówek Śl., whose commander was Scoutmaster Zygmunt Stanoch, an Eagle Scout. Our cooperation with the Lwówek district developed successfully; our troop was valued for its activity, and memories of that period remained very pleasant.
It was a time when Bolesławiec was still in ruins. A substantial part of the city had been destroyed by military operations. Quite often, gunfire could still be heard, caused by remnants of German soldiers—the so-called “werewolves” (Wehrwolf)—hiding here and there.
The city was inhabited by a small number of Polish people, mostly repatriates from beyond the Bug River. I estimate, roughly, that the Polish population numbered about 2,000. In addition, a small number of Germans who had not fled with the German army to Germany still lived in our city. In any case, after several months, in July 1946, this remaining population was also humanely evacuated to Germany.
Daily life in the city was very primitive. Lacking basic living conditions, the Polish population had to arrange their own fuel, housing and means of subsistence. In time, food rationing was introduced through ration cards. The Polish state authorities were only beginning to organize themselves. Many fully furnished houses and apartments abandoned by the fleeing German population stood open, waiting to be occupied by new Polish residents arriving in Bolesławiec from various parts of Poland and from abroad. Gradually, however, life in our city stabilized. It was under these very difficult conditions that the scout troop I organized began its activity in April 1946.
I was then a young man, a scouting instructor with the rank of assistant scoutmaster, filled with tremendous enthusiasm for the work. Scouting was developing dynamically throughout our country. In the postwar period, scouting was the most vigorous youth organization.
The appearance of a scout troop on the streets of Bolesławiec in uniform, with green neckerchiefs and short trousers—as was required at the time—sometimes sewn from old soldiers’ uniforms and tunics made a strong impression on the local Polish community.
We immediately gained considerable recognition among the residents of Bolesławiec and the local authorities. I still remember Scout Zofia Kłosowska and her husband, who were already our supporters at the time and sometimes took part in our modest campfires, held, among other places, in the small woods on Jeleniogórska Street. It should be emphasized that we attached great importance to exemplary scouting conduct toward society. These young, everywhere-present scouts helped bring life to the empty streets of our city and give it a Polish character. The energetic young scouts were everywhere. The troop’s frequent marches in formation, accompanied by drums found in various corners of the former German buildings, along the streets of our city inspired respect even among the few remaining German residents.
We decided to set up our scout den not at the school, but in an empty building near it. At that time, we occupied a room on Grunwaldzka Street, where Kindergarten No. 1 was later located. For several days, using the combined efforts of the entire scout troop, we cleared a great deal of rubble and rubbish from two rooms, which we designated as our scout den. Gradually, we equipped the den with the necessary furnishings and made scout decorations for the walls ourselves. The troop was divided into patrols, which worked toward earning the Tenderfoot rank. Regular—indeed, very regular—patrol and troop meetings, training for patrol leaders and officers, numerous trips into the field, excursions and even camps (dangerous because the area was often still mined), scout campfires, numerous community efforts to clear rubble and tidy the city, and consistently exemplary participation in state ceremonies: in this way our troop expanded its activities.
(Recorded in the Chronicle of Primary School No. 1 from 1971)