Before the May session of the Bolesławiec City Council began, local government officials bid farewell to Żenia Reznik, a Ukrainian woman who worked as an instructor at the Bolesławiec Cultural Centre – International Ceramics Centre. BOK – MCC director Kornel Filipowicz recalled that when he learned that Ż. Reznik was a graduate of the Higher School of Art in Kharkiv, and when he heard how beautifully she spoke Polish, he realised that she could be a “priceless treasure”.
– Żenia did a great deal for us – K. Filipowicz noted. – She did an enormous amount of work and enriched our Bolesławiec cultural offering. What we hear in the media—that we are a salvation for Ukrainians because we opened our homes to them and gave them our hearts—is true. But we must realise that these people—at least some of them—reciprocate. And they do so in a moving and excellent way.
Mayor Piotr Roman:
When we created a home for Ukrainians fleeing the war at the “Orzeł” Cultural Integration Centre, when the natural impulse of decency became the desire to help those struck by misfortune, you appeared. In an exceptionally short time, you managed to create your own Wolność theatre among the children staying at our centre; for them, it became a wonderful remedy for the trauma of war.
Żenia Reznik:
From the beginning of the war, the most important question for me was: how can I help my country? An opportunity arose to work with children, both Polish and Ukrainian.
She added:
In Bolesławiec, I lived an entire lifetime within a year; I’m not saying “goodbye forever,” but I have to go to my family.