One of the items on the agenda of the November session of the Bolesławiec City Council was a vote on a draft resolution concerning the conferral of the title of Honorary Citizen of the City of Bolesławiec on Janina Urszula Piestrak-Babijczuk.

As stated in the justification:

Under the Act on Municipal Self-Government, the City Council has the right to confer honorary citizenship of the city.

Janina Urszula Piestrak-Babijczuk—a physician, surgeon and local-government official—has been associated with Bolesławiec for over 50 years, having started work at the District Hospital there in 1968. Janina Piestrak-Babijczuk was born on 28 April 1944 in Oleszyce. She studied at the Faculty of Medicine of the Medical Academy in Lublin. She holds a first-degree specialization in general surgery. She helped establish a medical clinic at the Vacuum Equipment Plant in Bolesławiec, where she worked for approximately 15 years. For approximately 10 years, she served as director of the Sanitary and Epidemiological Station in Bolesławiec.

Starting with the first free elections in 1990, she was involved in local-government affairs for 25 years. She served in both municipal and county structures. She was a councillor during the first, second, fifth and sixth terms of the Bolesławiec City Council. During the fifth term, she served as Chairwoman of the City Council, while during the sixth term she was Deputy Chairwoman. She was also a councillor during the first and second terms of the Bolesławiec County Council, serving as Chairwoman of the County Council during its first term and Deputy Chairwoman during its second term.

Community service was always close to the Doctor’s heart. She participated in many charitable initiatives. She actively supported all efforts to protect children’s rights. She took particular care of children with disabilities. For this work, in 1997 she received the “Friend of the Child” badge from the Friends of Children Society. She was also actively involved in supporting older people, especially those with disabilities. Janina Piestrak-Babijczuk worked with occupational therapy workshops, the Day Care Centre and the Polish Red Cross. With the latter, she was particularly active in promoting voluntary blood donation and combating homelessness. She received many letters of thanks for these initiatives, including a Letter of Congratulations on the 70th anniversary of the Polish Red Cross in Lower Silesia, as well as the titles of Friend of Seniors and Friend of People with Disabilities. The Doctor also supported the activities of veterans’ organizations. In recognition of her outstanding service to the welfare of war invalids, she received the Honorary Badge of the Association of War Invalids of the Republic of Poland in 2005. In 2011, at the request of the Lower Silesian Voivode, she was awarded the Golden Cross of Merit for achievements in local-government work, and in 2015 the Bolesławiec City Council awarded Janina Piestrak-Babijczuk the title “Meritorious for the City of Bolesławiec”.

Doctor Janina Piestrak-Babijczuk was nominated for the Volunteer of the Year title many times. In 2018, she received an award for many years of volunteering as a doctor helping children, young people and adults. In 2019, she received a special distinction—the title “Volunteer with a Great Heart”—awarded for the first time in the history of the competition in recognition of her selfless work for sick children, assistance to elderly people and volunteer work at a surgical clinic.

In July 2018, Janina Piestrak-Babijczuk celebrated the 50th anniversary of her professional career and volunteer work. Despite being retired, she remains active and has not given up her professional activities. To this day, she volunteers at the Surgical Clinic of the Healthcare Institution in Bolesławiec.

The City Council adopted the resolution unanimously; all councillors voted in favour.

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