January 2019
How did we begin the year that is now ending? Michał Szwed, head of WOŚP, walked barefoot from the headquarters to his home after counting the record sum of money collected in Bolesławiec during the 27th Finale. We raised more than PLN 100,000! We admire the WOŚP head’s keeping his word and congratulate him on the amount collected. You can watch the entire event in a video.
It was sad soon afterwards. On Saturday, 19 January, Bolesławiec residents gathered in the city centre to jointly bid farewell to murdered Gdańsk mayor Paweł Adamowicz. The participation of Bolesławiec residents was also an act of solidarity with Gdańsk, as well as an expression of opposition to acts of violence and hatred.
February 2019
In February, the city was shaken by a brutal double murder on Kilińskiego Street. A man killed a child and a woman. Adam Gryc, the surgeon who operated on the murder suspect, described the man’s condition and his words about “some mission from God”.
March 2019
In March, we hosted President Andrzej Duda, who in 2019 became patron of the Bolesławiec Festival of Ceramics. This exceptional guest provoked strong emotions, from delight to hatred. In the newsroom, we allowed ourselves a joke and described the president’s visit in the style of “The Chairman’s Ear” in our “Improbable News” feature. We wrote that during the president’s visit to Zakłady Ceramiczne Bolesławiec, a black clay creature attacked him and shouted “constitution!”.
In March, we also had the first evacuation of residents after several dangerous unexploded ordnance items were found. Several unexploded ordnance items were found on an embankment at the site where the Stary Dworzec retail park was being built. Around 3,000 people were evacuated, including residents of Staroszkolna, Chrobrego, Gałczyńskiego, Hutnicza and Wańkowicza streets, as well as employees of nearby businesses and shops.
April 2019
At the beginning of April, the teaching community failed to reach an agreement with the Law and Justice government and began a nationwide strike. The first days of the teachers’ strike in Bolesławiec schools passed normally: Teachers received expressions of support, sympathy and understanding for their situation.
May 2019
On 11 May, like people throughout Poland, we watched a disturbing film about the Polish Catholic Church hiding sexual offenders (paedophiles). The documentary “Tell No One” by the Sekielski brothers moved all Poles, but left most Church hierarchs and Law and Justice politicians unmoved.
We also had a Bolesławiec-related aspect of this story, but not a positive one. The film triggered homophobic behaviour by the head of the Bolesławiec Piarist school. In a post on his Facebook profile, Adam Langhammer wrote “Faggots, get out!” in reference to some of the paedophile priests shown in Sekielski’s film. The Piarist’s homophobia was condemned by the order. Father Jacek Wolan, press spokesman for the Polish Province of the Piarist Order, wrote to our newsroom that there was no doubt that in the post [o. Langhammera – przyp. red.]inappropriate words were used in reference to homosexual people, and that the Christian faith demands respect for every person.
In May, we also experienced Law and Justice’s victory in the European Parliament elections, each in their own way. Some despaired, others were very happy. Two other parties won seats in the European Parliament: the European Coalition and Wiosna, which we had strongly supported in the spring, but much less so in the autumn.
June 2019
June attacked us with African heat. From Monday, 10 June, classes in Bolesławiec schools were shortened or cancelled.
The author of “Tell No One” came to the city of ceramics. At istotne.pl, we were the first to report on the meeting with the journalist. During his visit to Bolesławiec, Sekielski spoke, among other things, about the “strangely” immobile Polish state in relation to crimes committed by officials of the Catholic Church.
In June, istotne.pl readers helped little Tosia. Her mother’s appeal appeared on istotne.pl on Monday, 24 June: We can help Tosia and make her healthy. Four days later, wonderful news arrived: 103% of the required payments had been collected, more than the family of the five-year-old attacked by cancer had expected. Without help and a very expensive operation, the disease would soon begin taking away further vital functions from the child. Thanks to you, Tosia went to Germany. Tosia has already undergone surgery. Intensive rehabilitation lies ahead of her. She is already with her loved ones, ready for further challenges!
July 2019
2019 was an exceptional year for the Blues nad Bobrem Festival, which returned to Bolesławiec after more than 10 years away. The festival took place from 14 to 20 July. The event was organised by the Blues nad Bobrem Association, Bolesławiec Cultural Centre – International Ceramics Centre and the Culture and Art Centre in Wrocław.
July ended with a storm. The result? Streets that regularly flood—Zygmunta Augusta, Spokojna and Spółdzielcza—were under water, and basements in some buildings were flooded. Some drivers, taking considerable risks, tried to drive through the flooded roads. Huge traffic jams formed.
August 2019
Traditionally, this is the month of Bolesławiec’s biggest event: the Bolesławiec Festival of Ceramics. We also organised the second edition of Glina Show in a project with BOK – MCC. More than 500 people had fun with us during the three days of workshops and the parade. As every year, our partner was Ceramika Artystyczna Spółdzielnia Rękodzieła Artystycznego, whose artists painted clay models of women and a man, turning them into living works of art.
The head of the Piarist school, Adam Langhammer, was taken to court for his insulting and homophobic comments directed at Grażyna Hanaf, whom he later publicly apologised to as part of a settlement. In the 2019/20 school year, the head is required to invite representatives of the Wiara i Tęcza Foundation, a Christian organisation opposed to homophobia, to the Piarist school.
In August, Dominik’s case also came to an end. We had described it thoroughly and reliably on our portal in many articles since 2017, including this one: Did Dominik deserve life imprisonment? We do not hide the fact that this case was also close to us on a human level. We believed in Dominik and understood what had really happened in this young man’s life and what had led to the tragedy. We join in the thanks, especially to the many people—our readers—who made the effort to support Dominik in our pages.
September 2019
In September, Bolesławiec’s Samotniak was opened for use. The renovated building contains 29 residential units. An elevator was installed in the building. It also includes flats for people with disabilities. These are municipal flats. The owner and administrator of the building at 12 Żwirki i Wigury Street is Towarzystwo Budownictwa Społecznego.
In September, the city was shaken by an accident in Bonina Park—a tree limb fell on a woman. The injured woman was taken to hospital. The 24-year-old woman was in the park with her son. When the tree limb suddenly fell, she was sitting on a bench. The child managed to jump away, but the 24-year-old was hit with great force by the falling limb.
October 2019
October was election month. An incident occurred during voting in Bolesławiec, and the police intervened. A man wanted to leave with the ballot papers, then tore them up and refused to hand them back.
Law and Justice won again, although the Senate remained in opposition hands. President Piotr Roman, who ran for senator from the Non-Party list, received 19% of the vote, while in the Legnica constituency, Rafał Ślusarz of Law and Justice became senator.
In October, we learned that a Bolesławiec resident was offering help with parental abductions. Our local man was arrested on Saturday, 26 October, in a town near Koszalin. Although Sebastian J. offered illegal assistance with parental abductions online, he remained unpunished for a long time. The tvn24.pl portal reported on the case in detail. A “Superwizjer” TVN reporter spoke with women who had fallen victim to this practice and were trying to recover their children.
The city bid farewell to Ewa Lijewska-Małachowska, the outgoing head of BOK – MCC after 10 years in the position. Vice-President Kornel Filipowicz became the temporary head of the institution, while Ewa Lijewska-Małachowska changed jobs and became Secretary of Jelenia Góra County.
November 2019
After the elections, the government reached into local authorities’ pockets. Councillors made difficult decisions. In the city budget, after all approved changes, including the return of the property tax, almost PLN 3 million is still missing. President Piotr Roman declared: “We will tighten our belts. 2020 will be a difficult year for investment. We will look for savings, but we will not make drastic decisions. We will not give up sports subsidies and will only minimally cut cultural spending. We will not give up free public transport.”
We were also moved by the story of Amelka, who was adopted. Amelia’s life is a story of how a child flourishes in a foster family. Her biological parents were unable to raise her. Her aunt and uncle created a family for Amelka. Employees of the County Family Support Centre decided to publicise the girl’s story to show that a child surrounded by love, even after experiencing trauma, flourishes under caring guardianship.
December 2019
At the beginning of December, Christmas decorations were put up in Bolesławiec’s market square: a Christmas tree, cups, a teapot and an angel. A bear was added later. These decorations inspired us to create unique Christmas cards, which had been lacking in the city of ceramics. We described this in the article: Five designs of Christmas cards from the City of Ceramics by Krzysztof Gwizdała are proving very popular. The card with the bear and Christmas tree was the most popular, but the atmospheric cups against a backdrop of townhouses also have their fans.
Thanks to the Municipal Housing Management Company, a beautiful live Christmas tree with baubles and lights was added to the Christmas decorations at the intersection on Zgorzelecka Street.
The City of Bolesławiec organised a joint viewing of the broadcast of Olga Tokarczuk’s Nobel Prize ceremony.
The Christmas Market ran from 19 to 22 December. On Friday, 20 December, the Friendly Christmas began with a parade of Santa’s helpers—a meeting between residents and city authorities. And for the tenth time, the istotne.pl portal and newspaper organised the #kochambolesławiec campaign. We took photos as gifts and handed out 2020 calendars to everyone who visited us at the Christmas Market during Friendly Christmas.
At the end of the year, people waited for several hours on the stairs outside the Communications and Transport Department at the County Office. The queues resulted from changes to the law and people’s fear of fines ranging from PLN 200 to PLN 1,000. From January 2020, regulations would come into force requiring 30 days to re-register a car.
We ended the year with a false bomb alarm at the mFinanse branch on Asnyka Street.
All the best in 2020!