In recognition of exceptional acts of courage and dedication to other people and of his entire life journey, the Bolesławiec City Council awarded Mr. Alfred Kwarciak the title “Honored for the City of Bolesławiec”.
Mr. Alfred Kwarciak, born on November 30, 1932, in Dubno, has lived in Bolesławiec since 1947. He is a witness to History, with a capital H, and a custodian of memory. On February 22, 1989, he and his parents and two brothers were honored by Yad Vashem (the World Holocaust Remembrance Center) in Jerusalem with the title Righteous Among the Nations for saving Jews from extermination during World War II. On January 27, 2010,
Alfred Kwarciak was granted honorary Israeli citizenship, which was ceremonially presented to him on May 7, 2010, by Israel’s ambassador Zvi Rav-Ner. Mr. Alfred Kwarciak has been awarded the Commander’s Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta (2013). On his initiative, a commemorative plaque was unveiled on September 1, 2015, at Kubika Street, bearing the inscription: “Never again! In memory of the Polish Righteous Among the Nations who, in the inhuman times of the Holocaust, between 1939 and 1945, saving their Jewish neighbors, sacrificed their own lives and those of their loved ones.” His vitality and commitment find an outlet in cooperation with the Society of Lviv and Southeastern Borderlands Enthusiasts – Bolesławiec Branch, and above all in contacts with young people, with whom he traveled to the Borderlands in May 2018 as part of the “Save Your Great-Grandfather’s Grave from Oblivion” campaign and gave the most important history lesson, because it was based on his own experiences and memories.
Alfred Kwarciak’s story has been described, among other places, on the websites of the Yad Vashem Institute in Jerusalem and the POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews in Warsaw, on the Polish Righteous portal, and in local publications: the Bolesławiec Yearbook, vol. 3:2010 and vol. 11:2018, as well as in the publications “Save from Oblivion. Memories of Bolesławiec Residents from the Borderlands” and “The Jubilee of Bolesławiec Residents from the Borderlands 1989–2019. 30 Years of the Society of Lviv and Southeastern Borderlands Enthusiasts, Bolesławiec Branch, and the Association of Siberians, Bolesławiec Circle”.
The story of Alfred Kwarciak and his family was also presented in Przemysław Kania’s documentary film “The Righteous. The Story of Kwarciak”, made in 2018. In October 2019, Mr. Alfred Kwarciak took part in an official state delegation organized by the Office for War Veterans and Victims of Oppression, during which Polish Righteous Among the Nations visited the Yad Vashem Institute in Jerusalem, took part in the 4th National Convention of Poles Who Saved Jews, and met with Israel’s President Reuven Rivlin. At the same time, Mr. Alfred Kwarciak was honored with the “Pro Patria” medal, awarded by the head of the Office for War Veterans and Victims of Oppression.
In recognition of outstanding services to the development of the city, the Bolesławiec City Council awarded Mr. Grzegorz Menet the title “Honored for the City of Bolesławiec”.
Mr. Grzegorz Menet, PhD in economics, financial director and member of the Management Board of Bader Polska sp. z o.o. in Bolesławiec, has been professionally associated with Bolesławiec since 1996. It was then, at his inspiration, that the German family company Bader from Göppingen in Baden-Württemberg purchased the property of the bankrupt Vacuum Equipment Plant at 1 Mostowa Street.
Over 23 years, Bader Polska sp. z o.o. in Bolesławiec evolved from a largely service-oriented company, through the construction of further halls and the development of production, into a key manufacturer in the European part of the Bader Group. The group has plants on five continents and employs more than 12,000 people. As managing director, Mr. Grzegorz Menet ensured the company’s continuous development, which helped mitigate the effects of enormous unemployment in the city and region.
It should be recalled that at the end of 1996, the unemployment rate in the former Jelenia Góra Voivodeship stood at 18.2%, while Bader employed more and more people year after year; during the company’s best contract periods, around 2,000 employees found work at Bader. The implementation of modern technologies and management methods also deserves emphasis, and thanks to Mr. Grzegorz Menet, our city gained excellent promotion over the years—both because Bader Polska sp. z o.o. in Bolesławiec was included in the so-called “500 Rzeczpospolitej” ranking and, for example, through a seminar organized at his initiative in our city for managers from Bader Group branches in Mexico, South Africa, Uruguay, Thailand, Ukraine, and Germany.