The Manufactory in Bolesławiec once again invited US Army soldiers to its company Christmas Eve gathering. The aim? To present Polish Christmas traditions to the Americans and support them during the holidays, which the soldiers will spend away from home. It is an important gesture, especially since US citizens are the Manufactory’s main foreign customers.
The Christmas Eve gathering was combined with ceramics workshops, during which the Americans had the opportunity to make, among other things, Christmas decorations by hand. These will be sent to their families.
For Lieutenant Colonel Alex Tignor of the 1st Infantry Division, the family atmosphere of the gathering and the tradition of sharing the Christmas wafer made the greatest impression. (Lieutenant Colonel A. Tignor had never encountered such a tradition before).
It was different in the case of Senior Sergeant Joe Labutka, who has Slovak roots, so Polish Christmas traditions were not a surprise to him.
Both American soldiers stressed that they miss their families, but thanks to gatherings of this kind, they feel part of the Bolesławiec community. As Senior Sergeant J. Labutka added, after the workshops at the Manufactory, the soldiers gained greater respect for the work of ceramic artisans. And they will certainly buy many products made from Bolesławiec’s “ceramic gold.”