Below we present the document:

Bolesławiec, 15 April 2010

Bolesławiec City Council
for the attention of the Chairwoman Janina Urszula Piestrak-Babijczuk


Madam Chairwoman! Honourable Council!
The great national tragedy that was the Smolensk air disaster and the death of the President, Lech Kaczyński, His Wife and the elite of our nation who accompanied them entitles me to submit a proposal to honour some of these people in a special way. I request consideration of a proposal to name streets or squares after President Lech Kaczyński and Deputy Speaker of the Sejm Jerzy Szmajdziński, as well as to grant Mr Szmajdziński the title of Honorary Citizen of Bolesławiec.

As for the President, I will not provide a broader justification, since there is no need for one. To me, this is self-evident, just as it is self-evident to honour the tragically deceased President of the Republic of Poland, Gabriel Narutowicz. I would, however, like to provide a more extensive justification for honouring Jerzy Szmajdziński.

He was born on 9 April 1952 in Wrocław. Here, in Lower Silesia, he lived and studied, graduating from the Wrocław University of Economics. It was also here that he began his public activities. Regardless of the many important state positions he held, for 20 consecutive years he was elected as a deputy representing the Jelenia Góra constituency, and later the Jelenia Góra–Legnica constituency. He enjoyed enormous popularity and voters’ trust, always achieving the best electoral result. This popularity and trust were not granted to him on credit. Jerzy Szmajdziński knew the problems of his constituency, including our city and the Bolesławiec region, and worked very actively and effectively to solve them. Among other things, he contributed to the establishment of the Wykroty Subzone of the Kamienna Góra Special Economic Zone for Small Businesses. He helped secure an 800-number telephone exchange for Bolesławiec. As Minister of National Defence, he effectively ensured the renovation of the road and the construction of a bridge over the Kwisa River in Świętoszów, with the active cooperation of the county authorities. Thanks to his assistance and support, the city obtained €2 million from the PHARE Fund to expand the landfill in Trzebień. With his decisive involvement, we managed to obtain the largest funding in the city’s history from the ISPA Fund for modernising the wastewater treatment plant, expanding the sewage system in Bolesławiec and constructing it in four villages of the rural municipality.

In addition, he never refused to help solve the problems of our city. When we encountered difficulties with the municipalisation of PWiK, he intervened with the Minister of the State Treasury and the Lower Silesian Voivode; among other things, at the request of the City President, Mr Piotr Roman, he organised a meeting on the matter with the then minister, Jacek Socha. These are only the most important initiatives of the late Jerzy Szmajdziński. I have not mentioned his repeated and effective assistance in resolving the individual difficulties and problems of our residents.

Despite this enormous range of responsibilities, Jerzy Szmajdziński was present in his electoral constituency, including our city, with astonishing frequency. It was not only ordinary people who sought him out, sensing in him a friendly and kind person, but also local activists, regardless of their political affiliations. And he never refused such contact. He could be seen at a military swearing-in ceremony, at a Christmas wafer gathering for people with disabilities, at a Christmas Eve dinner for the unemployed or at Labour Day celebrations. He accepted every invitation, and if he could not attend, he sent letters conveying his greetings. His death represents a very serious void in public life, one that will be extremely difficult to fill.

Madam Chairwoman! Honourable Council!

Honouring the President and the Marshal is not only a way of preserving the memory of Them. It also helps create the historical awareness of our nation, including the residents of our city. Historical awareness, but also the need to take root in Polish Lower Silesia. Our heroes create the strongest bond with our homeland.

I feel obliged to submit this proposal not as an activist of any political faction, but as an ordinary citizen whom the people of Bolesławiec chose to serve as City President in the years 1998–2002. At that time, I was also best able to experience the assistance and support of the late Jerzy Szmajdziński. Many of you were also councillors then. Together, therefore, with his significant involvement, we worked to improve the well-being of our city.


President of Bolesławiec
in the years 1998–2002
Józef Burniak