One of the items on the agenda of the next meeting of Bolesławiec City Council will be a vote on draft resolutions concerning the award of the title “Meritorious for the City of Bolesławiec.” The councillors will most likely honor the following people:

  • Helenę Strzelczak-Kunicką,
  • Halinę Waniak,
  • Wandę Draj,
  • Zygmunta Brusiłę (pictured in the header image).

Below we present profiles of those who are in spe Meritorious for the City of Bolesławiec, prepared by Bolesławiec municipal authorities.

Zygmunt Brusiło

A graduate of the University of Wrocław, where he studied history, and of postgraduate studies at the Institute of Social Sciences of the University of Wrocław. In 1964, he began working at the Comprehensive School in Bolesławiec, where he taught history and knowledge about Poland; from 1972 to 1975, he served as its headmaster. From 1975 until retirement, he was headmaster of the School Complex of Construction.

From the moment he settled and began working in Bolesławiec, he actively engaged in social activities for the benefit of the city and region. For many years, he was a tourist guide in Lower Silesia, working closely with Bolesławiec PTTK. He promoted knowledge about the region, including as the author and co-author of numerous publications. While teaching at school, he passed on knowledge about “little homelands” to successive generations.

Since the 1980s, as a member of the Bolesławiec Enthusiasts’ Society (TMB) and the Lower Silesian Social and Cultural Society (DTSK, since 2015 the Lower Silesian Regional Society – DTR) in Wrocław, he began pursuing his regionalist passion on a broader scale. Since 1992, he has served as president of TMB and, for several terms, has also been a member of the authorities of DTSK (DTR).

In the journal “Lower Silesia,” published by DTSK (DTR), he contributed articles on teaching regional knowledge and the history of Bolesławiec, including one about the settlement of repatriates from Yugoslavia in the Bolesławiec Land. Actively involved in TMB, he was also a member of the editorial team of the monthly “Voice of Bolesławiec,” published from 1992 to 1997, where he published articles on the city’s history and present. In 1996, Z. Brusiło, as one of the editors of “Voice of Bolesławiec,” took part in Warsaw in a meeting between representatives of the regional press and President of the Republic of Poland Aleksander Kwaśniewski.

In 2008, Z. Brusiło co-organized the ceremonial celebrations of TMB’s 30th anniversary and the accompanying jubilee exhibition. He represented TMB several times at nationwide congresses of regionalists and took part in dozens of conferences organized by other regional associations across the country. In 1997, DTSK entrusted him with organizing the 20th Lower Silesian Regional Meetings (main theme: regionalists on culture), and in 2003 the 26th Lower Silesian Regionalists’ Meetings (main theme: regional identity and European integration).

He was one of the authors of the publication “Bolesławiec – An Outline of the City’s Monograph,” issued in 2001 and constituting the first extensive postwar study devoted to the history of Bolesławiec. When the “Bolesławiec Yearbook” was established in 2008, he became a regular author of articles on the history of Bolesławiec and the region.

Z. Brusiło was also very active in the Bolesławiec Seniors’ Council.

TMB’s establishment of its first contacts with former residents of the city organized in the Homeland Group (Bundesheimatgruppe Bunzlau zu Siegburg) led in 1992 to the start of official cooperation between the associations and subsequently between the cities of Siegburg and Bolesławiec. These contacts made it possible to obtain many valuable historical materials and significantly expand knowledge about the city’s past.

In 2012, TMB, with the support of the Museum of Ceramics in Bolesławiec, organized an exhibition at the Municipal Public Library summarizing 20 years of cooperation with Siegburg. The Bolesławiec exhibition on the cooperation was also presented in Siegburg. Many materials provided by partners from Germany were used, mainly concerning Rev. Paul Sauer — the last German Catholic parish priest in Bolesławiec (until 1946). In 2004, Z. Brusiło was a speaker at a Polish-German academic conference devoted to this figure and co-author of the post-conference publication. From then on, he supported the efforts of the Homeland Group from Siegburg to honor Rev. Sauer with a commemorative plaque in Bolesławiec.

Under Z. Brusiło’s leadership, TMB pursued and carried out the following important goals and tasks:

  • it published its own calendars, folders, graphics of historic monuments, postcards, the monthly “Voice of Bolesławiec” from 1992 to 1997, and the publication “20 Years of TMB” in 1998;
  • under TMB’s patronage, funds were collected to purchase equipment for the hospital (a laparoscope and cardiac ultrasound equipment);
  • at Z. Brusiło’s initiative, the “Flowered Balconies” competition began in 1995; today, in an expanded format, it is called “Bolesławiec in Flowers” and is organized jointly with the City Office;
  • in 1995, it became the patron of TMB member Adam Kowalski’s initiative to erect the Borderlands Monument on the 50th anniversary of the arrival in Bolesławiec of the first transport from the Borderlands (Drohobycz);
  • it became the patron of the unveiling in 1996 of a plaque commemorating the 50th anniversary of the return to their homeland of repatriates from Yugoslavia, at the Borderlands Monument;
  • as part of regional education, it organized the “My Little Homeland” competitions in schools throughout the city and region; as part of the fifth edition, it published a book containing the winners’ works in the categories of poems, stories and interviews.

For his social activities, Z. Brusiło received numerous distinctions from various institutions, including the commemorative medal “For Merit to DTSK” (1996, 2003), the Medal of the Commission of National Education (2002), the “Meritorious for Polish Culture” badge (2010), and the Gold Honorary Badge “Meritorious for the Lower Silesian Voivodeship” (2015).

Wanda Draj

She was born on 10 February 1949 in Lwówek Śląski. She graduated from comprehensive school in her hometown. After passing her secondary-school examination, she continued her education in Wrocław at the State Medical School – Medical Study of Hygiene Instructors. In 1969, she began working at the State Sanitary Inspectorate in Bolesławiec as a hygiene instructor in the School Hygiene, Communal Hygiene, and Nutrition and Food departments. In the 1970s, she took part in activities aimed at improving hygiene in towns and villages, raising hygiene standards and improving sanitary conditions.

She also worked to improve the sanitary and technical conditions of facilities, maintain sanitary and hygienic conditions in food production and storage, and ensure proper sanitary and hygienic conditions in service establishments.

In the 1980s, after the re-establishment of the “Solidarity” trade union, while working at the District Sanitary and Epidemiological Station, she served as deputy chairwoman for two years and then as chairwoman of NSZZ “Solidarity” for the next 12 years. During this period, she distributed underground newspapers and leaflets and actively supported the actions and protests of striking workers not only in Silesia but also in Pomerania.

In 2004, already retired, she reactivated the NSZZ “Solidarity” Retirees and Pensioners’ Circle in Bolesławiec, where she organized trips for union members and their families, among other activities. In 2010, she joined the board of the Field Organization of NSZZ “Solidarity” in Bolesławiec County, where she still serves as treasurer and secretary. At the same time, she runs the Jelenia Góra Region Field Branch Office of NSZZ “Solidarity.” She serves as liaison between the workplace organizations of NSZZ “Solidarity” in the Bolesławiec Land and the Regional Board.

For many years, she actively helped prepare historical meetings between 1980s “Solidarity” activists and students from across the region. She supported various projects concerning the history and present of “Solidarity” with her knowledge and advice, including the organization of numerous exhibitions and preparation of publications. She actively participated in many union actions, including in Wrocław, Warsaw and Jelenia Góra. Sensitive, helpful, honest and trusted, she has been and remains involved in helping many people with employment-related matters. She took part in the “Legal Aid for Retirees and Pensioners” project of the IDE Social Foundation, working as a volunteer with a lawyer. She organizes New Year meetings for union members and their families, “Solidarity” supporters, and city and county authorities. She is a member of the Honorary Color Guard of the “Solidarity Bolesławiec” Banner. Since 2018, she has been the Delegate of the Bolesławiec Land to the General Meetings of Delegates of the Jelenia Góra Region of NSZZ “Solidarity” in Jelenia Góra. In 2020, she was part of the initiative group for the construction of the “SOLIDARITY” Monument in Bolesławiec.

Helena Strzelczak-Kunicka

She represents the French Polonia that came to Bolesławiec after World War II. She has lived in Bolesławiec for 72 years. She holds master’s degrees in economics and pedagogy. She graduated from the Oskar Lange Academy of Economics in Wrocław, the Pedagogical Study in Jelenia Góra, and postgraduate studies for teachers at the University of Wrocław’s Faculty of Philology – Institute of Library and Information Science. In 2001, she obtained the title of certified teacher.

While working at the Electronic Schools Complex in Bolesławiec, she promoted and preserved the memory of local veterans of the Polish Underground State, as documented in the local press and television. As a committed educator, she organized many reading events at which she acquainted young people with Bolesławiec’s historical and cultural heritage, systematically cooperating with local cultural institutions in this area.

Since the 1960s, H. Strzelczak-Kunicka has engaged in social and cultural activities for the benefit of the city and its residents in many areas. She initiated efforts to commemorate the first Polish postwar teachers and organizers of education in Bolesławiec. She served as a member of the Committee for Commemorating the First Polish Postwar Teachers, established by the city mayor.

In 2021, a plaque commemorating the first Polish postwar teachers of Bolesławiec was ceremonially unveiled at the town hall. H. Strzelczak-Kunicka also helped prepare an information plaque about the locations of the first teachers’ graves and worked to specially commemorate one of them – Stefania Tajcher. She successfully appealed to halt the process of closing her grave and to have the city take over care of the burial site. She also requested that S. Tajcher be commemorated by naming one of the city streets after her.

She cooperates with and actively supports the work of local cultural institutions to help preserve the memory of Lower Silesia’s postwar history. She is particularly involved in commemorating settlers who arrived in the Bolesławiec Land after World War II, especially the group of repatriates from France.

She conceived and co-initiated the placement on the Settlers’ Monument of a plaque commemorating the arrival of this group of settlers between 1945 and 1955. As co-organizer of the plaque-unveiling ceremony, she invited the Francophone Choir from Szczawno-Zdrój, the “Jutrzenka” Song and Dance Ensemble, and the choir of the State Music School in Bolesławiec, and actively participated in the performance herself. The concert, entitled “Multiculturalism in Europe, Multiculturalism in Bolesławiec,” took place at the Bolesławiec Cultural Centre. H. Strzelczak-Kunicka initiated the idea of the Day of the Settler of the Bolesławiec Land, intended to integrate settler groups and celebrated as part of City Days. The idea won the approval of the Bolesławiec Seniors’ Council, and Settlers’ Day was added to the calendar of subsequent City Days celebrations.

H. Strzelczak-Kunicka has been particularly involved in integrating the community of Bolesławiec repatriates from France. She initiated, organized and participated in numerous activities. She was one of the protagonists of the film “Lower Silesia… Polish Repatriates from France,” recorded by the Ethnographic Museum in Wrocław as part of the project “Lower Silesia. Its People, Customs, Way of Life and Songs.” In the film, she spoke about her family’s history. In cooperation with the Museum of Ceramics in Bolesławiec, she organized a screening of the film “Lower Silesia… Polish Repatriates from France.” Her biography was included in the collective publication about repatriates from France, “Everything Was Different Here: Memories of Bolesławiec Repatriates from France,” published in 2015 under the editorship of Kamilla Dudek by the Bolesławiec museum as part of the “Save from Oblivion” series.

H. Strzelczak-Kunicka also built a network of contacts that enabled the publication to be created. She actively participated in archival work on the photographic documentation for the publication. She also promoted the history of Bolesławiec’s repatriates from France in sociological research conducted by Dr. Jacek Kubera of Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań.

She took part in the nationwide “My Memento” project run by the Polish History Museum in Warsaw, sharing her story and providing sources commemorating other Bolesławiec repatriates from France. The project resulted in her participation in an exhibition organized by the Polish History Museum in Warsaw.

As an “expert – witness to history,” she took part in the “Gateway to Regional History” project, initiated and run by Grażyna Wężyk and Sebastian Zielonka at the Public Library in Kruszyn. During a meeting on 19 December 2017, she told young people about the fate of repatriates from France who came to Bolesławiec and the surrounding area after World War II. She introduced participants to French culture and explained how the “French of Bolesławiec” helped shape the cultural identity of postwar Bolesławiec and its surroundings. During an Easter meeting at the Municipal Cultural and Sports Centre in Kruszyn, she introduced listeners to French Easter customs. She repeatedly made photographs and exhibits concerning the French Polonia available for initiatives by municipal cultural institutions. Some of the materials were used in publications and exhibitions organized by the Museum of Ceramics, BOK-MCC and Bolesławiec County Office.

She was also the initiator and participant in a performance by the “Jutrzenka” Song and Dance Ensemble at the Ethnographic Museum in Wrocław accompanying a ceremonial screening of a memoir film about repatriates from Bosnia.

H. Strzelczak-Kunicka is also active on behalf of the local senior community. She undertook determined cultural and union-related activities for retired teachers. At the turn of 2001 and 2002, she conceived, initiated and founded the first Retired Teachers’ Club in Bolesławiec, operating at the Bolesławiec branch of the Polish Teachers’ Union. She also became its first president. In 2005, on the 100th anniversary of the Polish Teachers’ Union, she received thanks from the Lower Silesian District Board of the union in Wrocław for this work. She remains actively involved in the club’s life. The Bolesławiec Social Association Teachers’ Club “Carpe Diem” recommended her to the fourth-term Bolesławiec Seniors’ Council under the Mayor of Bolesławiec; she was appointed on 3 March 2020 and serves as its chairwoman.

She promoted the folklore of the Bolesławiec Land during numerous performances with the “Jutrzenka” Song and Dance Ensemble, including at the South Slavic Culture Festivals, Bukovina Meetings, Balkan Culture Festivals, Balkan Festa, the Bolesławiec Ceramics Festival, community harvest festivals, the Bread Mystery, the Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity, Szpikolada, and outside Bolesławiec at many festivals in Lower Silesian towns and municipalities, in subsequent editions of the International Folk Festival “Bukovina Meetings” in Jastrowie and as part of Poroniańskie Summer. She performed with the ensemble in Piła, Lubań Śląski and Dzierżoniów, as well as abroad in Ukraine, Hungary and Romania.

Together with a delegation of the “Jutrzenka” Song and Dance Ensemble, she represented Bolesławiec Municipality during the ceremony consecrating Bolesławiec’s Millennium Cross on 12 September 2003. She published articles about the “Jutrzenka” ensemble’s concerts in Poland and abroad in “Municipal News” and the Bolesławiec Municipality Information Bulletin. For several decades, she has been an active member of amateur parish choirs and performs in concerts organized by parishes to enhance many religious events.

As a Bolesławiec resident, she willingly contributes to fundraising supporting city initiatives commemorating the history of the city and Poland, such as the Plaque Commemorating the Smolensk Air Disaster of 2010 on Kubika Street and the Monument to the Centenary of Regaining Independence in 2018 on Bankowa Street.

For her professional work and social and cultural activities, she received numerous distinctions, including the honorary badge “Meritorious for Polish Culture,” awarded by the Minister of Culture and National Heritage of the Republic of Poland (2017), a special award from the education superintendent in recognition of her educational achievements and outstanding results in teaching and educational work (1996), and the Bronze Cross of Merit. She was also recognized locally with certificates of appreciation, congratulatory letters and thanks, including from the head of Bolesławiec Municipality; the director of the Municipal Cultural and Sports Centre in Bolesławiec, based in Kruszyn; the director of the Stanisław Wyspiański Youth Cultural Centre, for participating in nationwide campaigns promoting the reading of Polish literature; the board of the Bolesławiec Society of Friends of Lviv and the Southeastern Borderlands, for her great commitment to helping Polish children in Ukraine; and the director of the District Centre for Education and Staff Training in Bolesławiec, for cooperation in organizing the sixth edition of the District Literary Competition “Capture in Time.”

Halina Waniak

Since 25 April 2013, she has served as president of the Association of Repatriates from Bosnia, Their Descendants and Friends in Bolesławiec, established in 2011 and based at the Bolesławiec Cultural Centre – International Ceramics Centre in Bolesławiec. Under her leadership, the association has carried out many projects, including those receiving external funding, and organized numerous meetings, exhibitions, promotional events, concerts and festivals. It also carried out extremely important work to tidy Polish cemeteries in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The association’s most important statutory activity is caring for the burial sites of Poles and preserving the memory of the past through cultural, tourist, economic and sporting contacts with Poles who remained in Bosnia and Herzegovina, mainly in the Banja Luka region and Prnjavor municipality, in the Srbac area.

After H. Waniak assumed the association’s presidency, she intensified these activities. At her initiative, association members successively visited and cleaned additional Polish cemeteries, marking sites of remembrance with crosses and plaques. In 2014, after consultations with the authorities of Prnjavor and Srbac, association members erected a cross, a commemorative plaque and bilingual information boards in Rakovac. In 2015, a cross was erected at the cemetery in Kunova at the initiative of village head Józef Potyszka. That same year, at the request of the residents of Gościszów, a cross was erected at the cemetery in Nowy Martyniec; Halina Waniak organized both ceremonies connected with these events.

Halina Waniak helped the residents of Wykroty organize a trip to Stara Dubrava to erect a commemorative plaque and a cross funded by the village residents. In 2017, association members helped determine the locations of cemeteries in Stara Dubrava and took part in unveiling a plaque funded by the “Integration and Future” Association of the Wykroty and Zagajnik Villages at the cemetery in Stara Dubrava.

In 2018, as part of the project “Save from Oblivion… Polish Cemeteries of Derventa and Gradiška in Bosnia,” co-financed through the Senate of the Republic of Poland’s program of care for Polonia and Poles abroad, association members visited cemeteries in the municipalities of Derventa and Gradiška. After photographic documentation was prepared, cleanup work was carried out and burial sites were marked with crosses and information plaques. Local residents and Polonia organized in the “Bolesławiec” Association of Poles from Prnjavor took part in the work. That same year, at the initiative of Halina Waniak and the village head of Czerna, a Polish cemetery in Gornji Bakinci was found and cleaned, and a symbolic cross with a commemorative plaque was erected.

At the invitation of the Polish Embassy in Sarajevo, association activists together with Halina Waniak traveled to Prnjavor, where in November 2014 a ceremony was held to unveil a commemorative plaque dedicated to Poles who lived from 1894 to 1946 in villages belonging to the Prnjavor parish. The plaque was set into the vestibule of the local Catholic church. In 2017, the President, together with association members, took part in the unveiling of a commemorative plaque at the cemetery in Devetina, honoring all Poles who had lived in northern Bosnia. The necropolis is cared for by the Polish Embassy in Sarajevo and the “Bolesławiec” Association from Prnjavor.

Thanks to Halina Waniak’s commitment, association members maintain contact with the broadly understood culture of Bosnia and Herzegovina – folk art, songs and dances, and culinary traditions – cooperating in this area with the local Polish community.

The first trip took place in August 2013. It was organized jointly with the “Green Hills” Association from Osła. A group of 120 people traveled to Srbac and Prnjavor, where they held a number of meetings with local authorities. On the return journey, association members met with Polonia and Poles organized in the “MAK” Association of Poles and Friends of Gradiška in Celinovac.

Together with many members of the Association of Repatriates from Bosnia, Their Descendants and Friends, Halina Waniak repeatedly organized and personally participated in anniversaries connected with settlement in Bolesławiec and the places from which the first settlers came. At the invitation and with the cooperation of the Polish Embassy in Zagreb and the “Vistula” Association in Osijek, celebrations of the 125th anniversary of Polish settlement from Galicia in Slavonia and Baranja were organized in 2015 in Valpovo, Croatia. A photographic exhibition about Polish settlers from Galicia to Bosnia and present-day Croatia, a film about Bolesławiec, and a promotion of two volumes of Jan Bujak’s publication “Galicians and Serbs” were prepared. A plaque commemorating the anniversary remains as a lasting trace. The Bolesławiec Brass Band and the “Mały Bolesławiec” folk ensemble performed during the ceremony.

In 2016, celebrations were held to mark the 70th anniversary of the arrival of Poles from Bosnia in Bolesławiec County. The ceremonies took place in Bolesławiec and its partner city of Prnjavor. The publication “From Bosnia to Poland” by Dr. Jacek Tomasz Lis, containing source documents concerning the postwar repatriation of Poles, was issued. In 2016, on the 125th anniversary of the establishment of the Catholic parish in Prnjavor, association members presented the parish with a painting of Our Lady of Częstochowa. In 2015, association members led by President Halina Waniak also took part in the celebration of the Orthodox festival of Vielka Slava. One day was devoted to Poles and Polish culture. Polish music was especially promoted that day, while the city of Bolesławiec and Bolesławiec County were also promoted. On that occasion, President Halina Waniak received thanks and a distinction for fruitful cooperation from the head of Srbac.

The association also actively participated in the “Little Europe” Festival in 2017. Another trip connected with Polonia Day in Bosnia and Herzegovina, combined with the “Little Europe” Festival, took place in 2019. The association’s activities, coordinated by Halina Waniak, also focus on documenting its work. Several documentaries were produced: “A Polish Saga in Bosnia,” made during the ceremony of erecting a cross at the cemetery in Rakovac (premiered in 2014). The years 2017–2018 brought two more films made in Bosnia: “Our Bosnia” and “What Will Remain After Us,” which was presented, among other events, during the National Minorities Days celebrations in Sarajevo and at the “Little Europe” Festival in Prnjavor.

The association, together with President Halina Waniak, actively participates in preparing and promoting publications about settlers. In 2017, two publications devoted to the postwar history of the city and its residents, issued by the Museum of Ceramics in Bolesławiec, were promoted: “Bolesławiec Residents – They Did Not Come from Nowhere. Around the Settlement Landscape of Lower Silesia” and “Taking Land from the Wilderness… Memories of Bolesławiec Repatriates from Yugoslavia.” Their preparation involved students interviewing association members, who actively and willingly took part in the project.

The association’s active work contributed to the publication of many books. In 2019, “The Settlement of Poles from Yugoslavia in the Lands of Bolesławiec County in 1946–1947,” “Detlak – Kalendrovce Miljevac, a Settlement of Polish Emigration in Bosnia” by Franciszek Kwaśniak, and “Polish Parishes in Bosnia in 1891–1946” by Jan Bujak were published. In 2020, Jan Bujak’s book “Polish Settlements in the Bosanska Gradiška and Derventa Region, 1892–1946” was issued, and in 2021 the publication “The Association of Repatriates from Bosnia, Their Descendants and Friends in 2010–2021,” edited by H. Waniak, appeared, documenting a decade of the association’s activities.

Halina Waniak and association members actively helped organize exhibitions devoted to settlers by lending exhibits and providing substantive input: “Where Did We Come From? Bolesławiec Settlers in the 1940s and 1950s” (2016, Museum of Ceramics in Bolesławiec) and “Chosen Places. The Settlement of Poles from Yugoslavia in Bolesławiec County, 1946–1947, in Archival Materials” (2021, State Archives in Wrocław – Bolesławiec Branch).

In addition to popular-science activities, Halina Waniak and the association she leads participate in organizing and attending various events. The South Slavic Culture Festival holds a special place. The association initially provided substantive support to the organizers and became a co-organizer in 2014. As part of the festival, an exhibition of documents and photographs entitled “From Bosnia to Bolesławiec” was organized in 2014, followed in 2015 by the outdoor exhibition “Poles in the Bosnian Land.”

Halina Waniak also initiated the fifth anniversary (2016) and tenth anniversary (2021) of the Bolesławiec association. Every year, association members and President Halina Waniak take part in the Star of Kindness and the Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity, becoming involved in Bolesławiec’s social life.

In solidarity with the residents of the city and county during the COVID-19 pandemic, the association’s board donated funds to purchase personal protective equipment for medical personnel at the Bolesławiec Healthcare Complex. Over the years, the association has supported the Polish community living in Bosnia and Herzegovina in difficult times, organizing, together with Bolesławiec Municipality, donations and financial aid for flood victims, as well as packages of school supplies for children.

In recognition of her many years of work for the local community, Halina Waniak received the Silver Honorary Badge – Meritorious for the Lower Silesian Voivodeship, awarded by the Lower Silesian Voivodeship Assembly, and in 2018 the title “Meritorious Citizen of Prnjavor Municipality,” awarded by the Prnjavor Municipal Council. Halina Waniak was also honored in 2015 and 2018 by the Mayor of Bolesławiec for promoting the city. The Association of Repatriates from Bosnia, Their Descendants and Friends, coordinated by Halina Waniak, received the same distinction in 2014 and 2017. In 2016, it was also awarded in the sixth edition of the “zDolne NGO” competition for the best Lower Silesian non-governmental organization promoting the idea of Lower Silesian regionalism.