They include, among others, Edward Juchniewicz, Józef Boguta, Piotr Mojsa, J. Żudziewicz, Machowienko, K. Żałobniak, F. Ratajczak and others. After several months, young officers—Włodzimierz Kowalski and Henryk Wawrzynowicz—joined the circle of military settlers; they remained on active duty, supervising, among other things, 30,000 German prisoners of war. "
What was religious life like in the first year after liberation? Mr. Adam Kowalski answers this question in an interview given to "Słowo Powszechne".
When the first transport of Poles arrived in Bolesławiec on 17 September 1945, the so-called "operational group" of District 13 was functioning here; its task was to organize social life and the people’s authorities. In November, a second group of Poles arrived (from Stanisławów). The Catholic clergyman Father Paweł Sauer, a German, officiated at the church, as did the organist Szubert, also a German. Seeing a large group of Poles in the church, Father Sauer asked me—Mr. A. Kowalski says—to write the Lord’s Prayer in Polish for him, which he then recited with us. At the very beginning, a teacher, Mrs. Okoń, organized a church men’s choir made up of Poles. However, we felt the lack of a Polish priest. Soon we began talking among ourselves about the need to go to the Bishop’s Curia in Wrocław so that it would provide us with a Polish priest. The faithful delegated me. At the Curia, I was received by “Bishop” Milik. It was at the end of September 1945. From 11 October 1945, Father Jan Motyka, a Polish clergyman, was sent to Bolesławiec. He became the pastor in Bolesławiec and a catechist at primary schools and the gymnasium. This priest also received a mission from the Bishop’s Curia to organize pastoral care in Bolesławiec for the Polish population and in the surrounding area.
In Bolesławiec there was one Catholic church, dedicated to the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and it was the center of religious life for Poles and the remaining Germans of the Catholic faith. Holy Masses were celebrated on Sundays for Poles at 9:00 a.m. and for Germans at 3:30 p.m. On weekdays, Masses for Poles were held daily at 7:30 a.m., and for Germans on Tuesdays and Fridays at 3:30 p.m. 20
Life in Bolesławiec during the initial months was not easy. The existence of the German underground made itself felt by the residents. "The Freies Deutschland organization was most extensively developed in the town and Bolesławiec County. In spring 1946, the security organs arrested the organization’s leadership and most of its members. Freies Deutschland in Bolesławiec was headed by engineer Artur Kuhne, a former air force captain (...). The chronic shortage of skilled personnel in the post-war period meant that engineer Kuhne was employed by the Polish authorities to restart and rebuild the electrical and water-supply networks in Bolesławiec (...). Initially, there were breakdowns at the power plant or waterworks during ceremonial events, meetings, etc."
Father J. Motyka wrote about the serious situation, and even the danger, in a report to the Bishop’s Curia in Wrocław dated 18 December 1945.
"Because of the short day, the afternoon Sunday service for the Polish population cannot be held later, since in the evening nobody walks the streets and no one leaves home at all." In this situation, he goes on to write: "(...) The Polish Army greatly helps the local priest and the Polish population in every need. "
Account by teacher Stefania Tajcher—a prisoner of the Ravensbrück camp:
"In September 1945, I came here (to Bolesławiec) with the intention of organizing a Polish school. I began working at the County Office and eventually went to Legnica, where the school inspector instructed me to organize a primary school in Bolesławiec. On the morning of 19 September 1945, a transport of Poles from Drohychyn arrived in 75 railcars (it should read—from Drohobych—editor’s note, PS). The stationmaster, Władysław Zieliński, wanted at all costs to keep the repatriates in the ruined town, but the sight of the destruction depressed and frightened them away. There was also a teacher here, Maria Trzaskowska, who was among the first to unload her belongings from the railcar. When they learned that Polish military units were stationed in Stare Jaroszewice outside the town, most of the newcomers stayed, looking for a roof over their heads. It was not easy; it was difficult to find a house that still had windows, and even then its demolished interior and dirt were frightening."
On 1 September 1945, the primary school was ceremonially opened in the building of today’s Vocational School Complex at 5 Komuny Paryskiej Street.
At the end of 1945, the first municipal library was opened, holding approximately 200 books from private homes. The Municipal Theatre also opened that same year. It was established by Italian prisoners of war, who organized numerous concerts there. 26 THE SERMON TEXT was based on material contained in the MASTER’S THESIS BY FATHER WŁADYSŁAW RĄCZKA entitled "THE RELIGIOUS AND MORAL LIFE OF THE PARISH DEDICATED TO THE ASSUMPTION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY AND ST. NICHOLAS IN BOLESŁAWIEC, SILESIA, IN 1945–1970". A thesis in Church History written at the Pontifical Faculty of Theology in Wrocław under the supervision of Rev. Bishop Professor Wincenty Urban, PhD, habil., with the participation of Rev. Professor Józef Swastek, PhD, habil. Wrocław, 1991.
LITERATURE:
1. W. Urban, The Archdiocese in the Years 1945–1965, in: Nasza Przeszłość, Kraków 1965, p. 11.
2. K. Milik, The Sun of Justice Shines over the Oder and Neisse, Przewodnik Katolicki no. 29, 1964, p. 259.
3. W. Urban, The Archdiocese ..., op. cit., p. 11.
4. J. Waldorf, Tragic Land. Tygodnik Powszechny, Year 2, 1946, no. 92, pp. 12–13.
5. W. Urban, The Vacancy of the Episcopal See in Wrocław, Ateneum Kapłańskie 49/1957, p. 63.
6. W. Szelinicki, The Parish of St. Boniface in Wrocław. Rome 1970, p. 7.
7. Ibid., p. X.
8. Ibid., pp. 8–9.
9. Ibid., p. 10.
10. Ibid., p. 11.
11. Ibid., p. 12.
12. B. Dolała, The Liberation of Poland 1944–1945. Warsaw 1974, pp. 301–302.
13. Ibid.
14. Ibid., p. 302.
15. J. Grabowski, 300 Cities Returned to Poland, Warsaw 1960, pp. 301–302.
16. P. Śliwko, Colonel A. Iwaszkiewicz Visits Bolesławiec, Słowo Polskie, Wrocław, 19 September 1974.
17. II. Wesołowski, In the Parish in Bolesławiec, Słowo Powszechne.
18. W. Urban, The Pastoral Contribution of Repatriate Priests in the Archdiocese of Wrocław in the Years 1945–1970. Wrocław 1970, p. 111.
19. AKAW
20. AKAW
21. 1944–1947 in the Struggle to Consolidate the People’s Authority in Poland (collective work), Warsaw 1967, pp. 151–152; On the Destruction of the ED Organization in Bolesławiec, Kurier Codzienny no. 167, 19 June 1946.
22. AKAW
23. P. Śliwko, Today and Tomorrow of Bolesławiec, Wrocław 19X5, p. 24.
24. Ibid., p. 29.
25. Ibid., p. 29.
26. Ibid., p. 30.