Head of the Towarzystwo Miłośników Lwowa i Kresów Południowo-Wschodnich in Bolesławiec Barbara Smoleńska:
2020 was a difficult year for cooperation and social contacts, as the COVID-19 pandemic led to restrictions on interpersonal contacts in Europe and around the world.
However, the pandemic unlocked new and innovative sources of activity. In October, young people from ZSOiZ Bolesławiec carried out a project with students from School No. 3 in Zbarazh. Using online messengers, the young people worked together, seeing one another on their computer screens.
The results of the project exceeded the organizers’ expectations. B. Smoleńska: “Young people from both cities decorated Bolesławiec biscuitware, made decorations connected with Ukrainian folk art, created family trees and films promoting Bolesławiec and Zbarazh, but they devoted the greatest effort to preparing the publication ‘History and People Connect Us. Bolesławiec – Zbarazh’.”
More about the publication
The publication contains information about people who were born in Zbarazh and contributed to the history of Poland, as well as about those who influenced the city’s development and rest in the Catholic cemetery in Zbarazh.
Activities abroad
The head of the Bolesławiec branch of the Towarzystwo Miłośników Lwowa i Kresów Południowo-Wschodnich:
Additionally, young people from Zbarazh cleaned the graves of the mayors, school principals, doctors, state officials and others mentioned in the publication. The project ended successfully, despite the young people working remotely. Summing up the project, one of the participants from Zbarazh said that it had partly changed her life: she had learned to communicate better in Polish and expanded her knowledge of Bolesławiec and Zbarazh.
And she adds:
The positive emotions gathered during the project showed us the way toward further cooperation. In the following months, we sent clothing, children’s toys, household chemicals and food to Zbarazh. In addition to the Towarzystwo Miłośników Lwowa i Kresów Południowo-Wschodnich, School No. 5, ZSOiZ Bolesławiec and many Bolesławiec residents joined the collection of donations. Ms Agnieszka donated, among other things, electronic keyboards to School No. 3 in Zbarazh, where Mirosława Kołtoniuk is a music teacher. Together with the young people, the teacher took part in projects held in Bolesławiec many times, including performances on stage. The Bolesławiec branch of the Polish Red Cross donated clothing for the second time, while Stowarzyszenie Głogowska Edukacja Kresowa donated household chemicals.
The collected donations are transported to Zbarazh by Michał Zamoroka, who has supported the volunteers of the “Save Your Great-Grandfather’s Grave from Oblivion” campaign for many years by offering them accommodation in his apartment in Zbarazh. Thanks to the kindness of our friend from Zbarazh, what seemed impossible became possible. In the latest shipment, he transported 120 chocolates with Christmas greetings and nine boxes containing school supplies, clothing and household chemicals. This year, as in previous years, before Christmas, parishioners of the Church of Saint Anthony in Zbarazh received Christmas greetings and symbolic chocolates from Bolesławiec residents through Piotr Bajdecki, president of the Polish Cultural and Educational Society “Zbarazh.” The remaining donations were distributed among those most in need.
On behalf of the community of the partner city of Zbarazh, I thank all the donors. As we can see, the pandemic confined us to our homes, but it did not deprive us of sensitivity and concern for another person.