At Primary School No. 3 named after the Home Army, teachers organized highly engaging activities for children to introduce them to the history of the formation of the Cichociemni—the Home Army paratroopers who formed one of the most elite groups of soldiers of World War II.
The children played the role of soldiers, while the teachers were their instructors. The children had to complete a series of tasks and exercises: jumping over a vaulting horse symbolized the dropping of the Cichociemni into occupied Poland. Other attractions included a knowledge test about the Cichociemni, an exam in assuming a false identity, decoding a secret message sent in Morse code, and composing a short song-ballad about the Cichociemni.
Even the meal matched the historical setting: the students were served bread with lard and pickled cucumber, black coffee, and apples. After the soldiers’ dinner, the children completed a physical-fitness training session. There was a difficult obstacle course involving jumping, crawling, overcoming high obstacles, and throwing at a target both from a height and over a distance.
At the end, the “soldiers” had to move “quietly and in the dark” through a specially arranged night tunnel and listened to a ballad about Major Ponury. Ballads were also sung around an artificial campfire. After the activity ended, the students received certificates confirming that they had completed the training.
The event and training organizers: Elżbieta Szczegodzińska, Melania Balińska and Anetta Kramarska
Instructors: Dorota Basiak, Renata Ćwik-Borowska and Elżbieta Zielonka.
Congratulations to the teachers on their idea, excellent initiative, and care in ensuring that history classes were appreciated by the students and received with enthusiasm. This is how children learn creatively and passionately, and are enabled to experience the most important events of our beautiful yet difficult history. Organizing such an event certainly required a great deal of work and preparation from the teachers, making their praise and thanks all the more deserved.
