January 2020: over PLN 200,000 for WOŚP
A record collection for the Great Orchestra in Bolesławiec. By January 12, 2020, we had collected PLN 214,394.42 and EUR 800. The exceptional generosity of the people of Bolesławiec and the hard work of the staff and volunteers are the foundation of this success. We are very happy because we know how the PiS government destroyed Jurek Owsiak and acted against the Orchestra. We know Tadeusz Rydzyk's hateful statements about WOŚP, yet the women and men of Bolesławiec still say YES to the Orchestra with all their hearts!
WOŚP donations for Bolesławiec in 2020
On February 28, 2020, a modern ultrasound machine for examining the heart was delivered to the hospital on Jeleniogórska Street in Bolesławiec. The Philips device, worth PLN 400,000, was donated to the hospital by the Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity. The Foundation's board decided that the Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity would purchase beds for newly established wards intended to fight COVID-19. Fifteen beds funded by the Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity arrived at the Bolesławiec hospital.
Bolesławiec's PWiK company in Wleń
An event important for the city's development, prosperity and water-supply security, although not very newsworthy, was PWiK's return to Wleń. On January 1, 2020, the company began operating in the town and municipality of Wleń. From 1976 to 1993, the Bolesławiec company operated in Wleń, Lubomierz, Lwówek Śląski and Nowogrodziec. After 27 years, following Lwówek (2014), it incorporated Wleń into its area of operation.
February 2020: Bolesławiec killer declared legally insane
A year ago, Bolesławiec was shaken by news of a murder committed by Sebastian R., who was 32 at the time. The man attacked his not-quite-four-year-old son Filip and the boy's mother, Wioleta, with a knife. During the incident, the woman managed to leave the apartment and reach the stairwell, where she continued to be attacked by the perpetrator. Sebastian R. threw the child, probably already dead, out of the window. Sebastian R. was declared legally insane at the time he committed the crime. He will be treated in a psychiatric hospital. He will not go to prison.
Presidential candidate in Bolesławiec
In February, Robert Biedroń, the Left's presidential candidate, visited Bolesławiec. During his visit to Bolesławiec, Robert Biedroń visited the Manufaktura factory producing hand-decorated stoneware. He was accompanied by Małgorzata Sekuła-Szmajdzińska. The Bolesławiec ceramics greatly appealed to the Left's presidential candidate.
March 2020: COVID-19
On March 5, two people suspected of coronavirus infection were at the Bolesławiec hospital, and three days later it turned out to be a false alarm. We were only beginning to think about this new disease. Border controls were reinstated on March 9. On March 10, the prime minister canceled all mass events. On March 11, schools were ordered closed, and we rushed to grocery stores. Shelves of pasta, groats, flour, milk, cereal and mineral water emptied, while toilet paper, tea and crisps were also bought up. Yeast was supposedly the most scarce product. Scammers began operating, taking advantage of frightened people's naivety. Offers to sell amulets and miraculous teas, among other things, appeared online; they were supposedly intended to protect against coronavirus infection and even ensure a miraculous recovery.
We began taking effective action in Bolesławiec quite quickly. Bolesławiec sewed protective clothing—not only for our hospital. On March 19, two tonnes of material for protective clothing arrived in Bolesławiec. The Bolesławiec company Edir, which specialized in sewing dressing gowns, halted its previous production and began sewing protective coveralls for the Bolesławiec district hospital.
We began a series of live conversations. The first conversation was with psychologist Damian Wolak about the situation we were in, what people who were alone at home could do, how to organize their time during quarantine and how to reinvent their lives.
- Damian Sawczak and Mariusz Lickiewicz became coordinators of the #wzywamyposiłki campaign in Bolesławiec—a nationwide grassroots civic initiative supporting medical staff during the fight against the coronavirus pandemic. The following joined the campaign, among others: Gospoda Kruszyna, Pizzeria and Marceli doughnut shop in Bolesławiec.
- Soldiers from the 10th Armored Brigade in Świętoszów volunteered to help expand the infectious diseases ward in Bolesławiec.
- The “Bolesławiec sews for medics” campaign began on the initiative of Agnieszka Uchman, and women from Bolesławiec sewed face masks.
April and May 2020: the tragedy of Kacperek's family from Nowogrodziec
At the turn of April and May, our region followed the disappearance and death of three-and-a-half-year-old Kacperek from Nowogrodziec. Krzysztof Rutkowski's office joined the search, while the police searched for the child with enormous commitment and resources. Our reconstruction of events from the day the child disappeared was viewed 58,000 times on YouTube.
Three-and-a-half-year-old Kacperek was playing under the supervision of his father, 34-year-old Rafał B. When the father noticed that the boy had disappeared, he raised the alarm and notified the boy's mother, then began searching for the child with neighbors from the plot. Thus began the family's drama and the first 24 hours of the boy's search. The body of the child, who had been sought for 13 days, was found by an independent diver from Żary. In an interview with istotne.pl, he described how it happened and what actions made it possible.
June and July 2020: the presidential election
Despite the coronavirus, we followed the presidential election. In our live interviews, we spoke with presidential candidates: Robert Biedroń, Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz, Szymon Hołownia, as well as politicians and campaign staff: Teacher of the Year Przemysław Staroń (Szymon Hołownia), Professor Joanna Senyszyn (SLD), leader of the Inicjatywa Polska party Barbara Nowacka, deputy education minister Marzena Machałek (PiS), United Right politician Jarosław Gowin, and Civic Platform MPs Grzegorz Schetyna and Piotr Borys.
In the first round, Rafał Trzaskowski was the clear winner in Bolesławiec, receiving 7,183 votes (38.80%). PAD came second with 6,465 votes (34.92%). A notable event was the visit of Andrzej Duda, who visited Bolesławiec in the second round of the election. During his speech in Bolesławiec, the president attacked Trzaskowski and the Fakt newspaper. In the City of Ceramics, Civic Coalition candidate Rafał Trzaskowski once again won decisively, receiving 11,069 votes (58.31%). A total of 7,915 residents of our city (41.69%) voted for incumbent Polish President Andrzej Duda.
August 2020: Bolesławiec Ceramics Festival
The most important event for the city of ceramics took place despite doubts and criticism and supported entrepreneurs. Despite the bleak scenarios, coronavirus infection rates did not increase after the festival. This year, for the first time in the city's history, together with eight ceramic companies, we created the first project promoting the Bolesławiec Ceramics Festival! Thanks to four cameras, live interviews and reports, you could feel that you were in the city of ceramics! We also organized one of the events of the 26th Bolesławiec Ceramics Festival—Glina Show. A 14-person vocal ensemble sang during the event, and more than 30 women danced in the ZUMBA group.
The Bolesławiec Ceramics Festival ONLINE was created with istotne.pl by:
- Ceramika Arkadia
- Ceramika Artystyczna Spółdzielnia Rękodzieła Artystycznego
- Ceramika Bolesławiecka Czaja Sobieraj
- Ceramika Artystyczna Kaola
- Ceramika Bolesławiecka Kalich
- Manufaktura Ceramiczna Kowalczyk
- Ceramika Millena
- Ceramika Tyrcz Bolesławiec
September 2020: a school year with the coronavirus
In September, children returned to school, and 2,600 students began the school year in primary schools in the Municipality of Bolesławiec. Work began on a new hospital for coronavirus patients. Modules for 65 coronavirus patients were purchased in Görlitz. From the Bolesławiec viaduct, would-be suicides were rescued several times.
October and November 2020: the Bolesławiec Women's Strike
The Constitutional Tribunal of Julia Przyłębska ruled that one of the three grounds for legal abortion was unconstitutional. Following this decision, women would be forced to carry and give birth to fetuses with severe defects or to stillborn fetuses. The National Women's Strike began in Warsaw and larger cities. The first protest in Bolesławiec took place in the market square on October 24. More than 440 people attended. In total, 11 protests were held in Bolesławiec. Gromadka also protested. Marta Lempart came to Lwówek Śląski. We interviewed the leader of the National Women's Strike.
The new modular hospital in Bolesławiec was ready to receive patients on November 30. Efficient cooperation between the province's self-government, local authorities and the management of the Bolesławiec district hospital made it possible to build and equip the new facility within three and a half months. Thanks to the involvement of the provincial government, the investment, worth more than PLN 8 million, was financed entirely from EU funds. After the pandemic ends, the modular hospital will continue to serve patients, for example as a long-term care facility.
December 2020: national quarantine
The government introduced new restrictions from December 28. Additional movement restrictions were to be introduced for New Year's Eve. A nationwide vaccination campaign began. The first batch of COVID-19 vaccines arrived in Poland on December 26, 2020. The preparation was distributed to hub hospitals throughout the country, where vaccinations began for people most at risk of infection. In Lower Silesia, among the first to be vaccinated were employees of the J. Gromkowski Provincial Specialist Hospital in Wrocław.