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Dedicated to Poland: Jacek Kowalski (1950–2019)

After the end of the Second World War, a large number of Polish groups in Germany became active in the social and political arena. As time went on, they were joined by refugees from the People’s Republic of Poland who were seeking protection. Among them was Jacek Kowalski, who came to Germany during the 1970s. He was a student of German studies in Poznań and then in Halle in East Germany. After an eventful life in West Germany, he worked to promote Polish independence and supported democratic change in the country. 

Jacek Kowalski (1950–2019)
Jacek Kowalski (1950–2019)
©
From the collection of Łukasz Wolak

In 1994, he became a member of the main committee of the PPS in Germany. In November 1997, at the final congress in Bernried, he brought his activities for the Polish Socialist Party abroad to an end. From 2001 onwards, he worked as a member of the editorial board of the “Bayerisches Bulletin”, which was published by the Association for the Promotion of German-Polish Understanding (Stowarzyszenie na Rzecz Porozumienia Niemiecko-Polskiego), and became deputy chairman of the organisation. He was also a member of the Polish Journalists’ Association (Stowarzyszenie Dziennikarzy Polskich), the International Federation of Journalists, the Polish Council in Germany and the Convention of Polish Organisations in Germany. In 2002, he attended the celebrations to mark the 50th anniversary of Radio Free Europe, which were held at the US Embassy in Warsaw. Together with Bogdan Żurek, he was involved in investigating the death of the priest Franciszek Blachnicki, the founder of the Christian Service for the Liberation of the People (Chrześcijańska Służba Wyzwolenia Narodów) in Carlsberg (Germany). In 2008, he supported the appeal to Poles made by Anna Walentynowicz. On 4 April 2011, he took part in the presentation of the book “Polska Partia Socjalistyczna. Dlaczego się nie udało? Szkice. Wspomnienia. Polemiki” in the Polish Cultural Centre in Munich, which was organised by the Institute for National Remembrance (Instytut Pamięci Narodowej) in Warsaw, the consulate general of the Republic of Poland in Munich and the Association for the Promotion of German-Polish Understanding in Munich. By now a pensioner, he spent many years promoting awareness of the activities of the Polish Socialist Party in West Germany and Radio Free Europe. He frequently attended meetings with Polish and German historians, at which he provided information about the complex events of the past and answered questions. On 18 June 2018, he was presented with the honorary badge of “anti-communist opposition activist or repressed person for political reasons” by the Warsaw Office for War Veterans and Victims of Oppression (Urząd do Spraw Kombatantów i Osób Represjonowanych). On 21 March 2019, he died suddenly in Augsburg. His funeral was held in France, and a requiem mass was held on 4 May 2019 in Ostrów Wielkopolski. 

 

Łukasz Wolak, May 2019

 

Bibliography

From the archives:

  • Archive collection of the deceased Jacek Kowalski (1950–2019)
  • Archive collection of Łukasz Wolak
  • Archive collection of the Research Institute on Polish Emigration in Germany after 1945 at the Historical Institute of the University of Wrocław (Pracownia Badań nad Polską Emigracją w Niemczech po 1945 r. w Instytucie Historycznym Uniwersytetu Wrocławskiego).

Literature:

  • Friszke, A.: Życie polityczne emigracji, Warsaw, 1999, p. 448. 
  • Gmyz, C.: Gdzie są teczki „systemu Polonia” – pytają emigranci, “Życie Warszawy”, 10–11/9/1994, [no page number provided]. 
  • Kalczyńska, M. / Paszek, L.: Niemieckie Polonica prasowe (ostatnie dwudziestolecie XX wieku), Opole 2004, p. 221–222.
  • Kowalski, J.: Polska Partia Socjalistyczna a Niepodległość, “Moje Miasto” no. 5 (September–October) 2018, p. 13.
  • Pan Jacek się dąsa, “Trybuna Ludu”, 3/7/1985, [no page number provided].
  • Polska Partia Socjalistyczna. Dlaczego się nie udało? Szkice. Wspomnienia. Polemiki, ed. Robert Spałek, Warsaw 2010.
  • Teraz są sobą, “Trybuna Ludu”, 20–21/10/1984, [no page number provided].
  • Włodarczyk, W.: Jacek Kowalski, “Kurier” (Chicago), 6/12/1988, no. 24, [no page number provided].
  • Wojna nie była kobietą, “Moje Miasto” no. 5 (September–October) 2018, p. 6. 
  • Wolak, Ł.: Leksykon działaczy Zjednoczenia Polskich Uchodźców w Republice Federalnej Niemiec (1951–1993), Wrocław 2018, p. 121–124.
  • Wolak, Ł.: Zjednoczenie Polskich Uchodźców w Niemczech wobec emigracji solidarnościowej w latach 1981–1989, in: Świat wobec Solidarności 1980–1989, ed. Paweł Jaworski and Łukasz Kamiński, Warsaw 2013, p. 703–717.
  • W służbie dla Polski. Jacek Antoni Kowalski, “Moje Miasto” no. 5 (September–October) 2018, p. 12.
  • Wygnańcze szlaki. Relacje uchodźców i emigrantów z Polski do Niemiec, collected and compiled by Adam Dyrko, Warsaw 2007, p. 85–96.

 

Jacek Kowalski (1950–2019)
©
From the collection of Łukasz Wolak
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Media library

  • Jacek Kowalski

    1950–2019

  • Dachau 1978

    From the left: Jacek Kowalski, N.N. (probably a member of the security services of the People’s Republic of Poland), the Ambassador of the People’s Republic of Poland in Bonn Andrzej Chylinski (son of...

  • London, 1970s

    Jacek Kowalski in conversation with the prime minister-in-exile Kazimierz Sabbat

  • Munich, ca. 1978–1979

    From the right: Wincenty Broniwój-Orliński, Tadeusz Folek, Mirosław Wiśniewski, Jacek Kowalski, Tadeusz Podgórski

  • London Heathrow Airport, 1980s

    From the left: Dr Ludwik Frendl and Jacek Kowalski

  • Hamburg 1987

    From the left: Lidia Ciołkosz, minister of the government-in-exile Zbigniew Scholtz, Jacek Kowalski

  • Meeting of the branch of the National Council in the Federal Republic of Germany, Munich 1987

    From the left: Wincenty Broniwój-Orliński, Tadeusz Nowakowski, Zakrzewski, Jacek Kowalski, Tadeusz Folek, Bogdan Żurek, N.N.

  • Meeting with the President of the government-in-exile, Kazimierz Sabbat, Munich 1988

    In the centre, from the right: Wincenty Broniwój-Orliński, President Kazimierz Sabbat, Lidia Ciołkosz. First from the left: Stanisław Mikiciuk, Jacek Kowalski, N.N., N.N.

  • Mayday demonstration, Munich, ca. 1987

    From the right: Zbigniew Dziakoński alias Kowalczyk, N.N., Jacek Kowalski

  • In the Polish consulate general in Hamburg, early 1990s

    From the right: The President of the Republic of Poland Lech Wałęsa, Jacek Kowalski, consul Marek Rzeszotarski

  • From the right: Ing. Jerzy Arłamowski, Jacek Kowalski, N.N., Arkadiusz Kulaszewski, first from the left: Bogdan Żurek

    no date

  • Presentation of the Knight’s Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta to Dr Ludwik Frendl

    Standing, from the right: Jerzy Arłamowski and Jacek Kowalski. Seated, from the right: Dr Ludwik Frendl and his wife, no date

  • Munich, ca. 2003

    Włodzimierz Sznarbachowski and Jacek Kowalski

  • Jacek Kowalski at the grave of Colonel Wincenty Broniwój-Orliński

    At the Old Cemetery in Ostrów Wielkopolski, 2017

  • Meeting of the Mieroszewski Club, Munich 1990

    From the left: Bogdan Żurek, Włodzimierz Sznarbachowski, Jacek Kowalski

  • Burial ceremony (cremation) of Lidia Ciołkosz, London 2002

    In the background: Jacek Kowalski

  • Meeting of the main committee of the Polish Socialist Party, Munich 1989

    Jacek Kowalski is speaking. First from the right: Bogdan Żurek

  • Meeting of the Socialist International, Cairo 1990

    From the right: Jacek Kowalski, Stanisław Wąsik

  • Meeting the General Council of the Polish Socialist Party in Witten, 8–9/9/1990

    In the foreground: Lidia Ciołkosz, Jacek Kowalski, Bogdan Żurek

  • On a visit to Chicago

    Second from the left: Jacek Kowalski, Julian Sak

  • Members ofthe Polish Socialist Party at the unification congress in Bernried, 1987

    In the photo: Lidia Ciołkosz, Jacek Kowalski, Aleksander Menhard, Włodzimierz Sznarbachowski, Bogdan Żurek and others

  • Unification congress of the Polish Socialist Party, 21–22/11/1987

    Stanisław Wąsik is speaking, Jacek Kowalski is standing in the background

  • In front of the entrance to the “Zamek” in London, 43 Eaton Place, 1980s

    From the left: Kazimierz Sławiński, N.N., Włodzimierz Sznarbachowski, Jacek Kowalski

  • During a meeting of the main committee of the Polish Socialist Party, 1980s

    Jacek Kowalski is speaking. First from the right: Ryszard Moździerz

  • Lecture by Jacek Kowalski at a meeting of the Central Executive Committee or the General Council of the Polish Socialist Party

    Polish Institute and Sikorski Museum in London

  • Meeting of the Central Executive Committee or the General Council of the Polish Socialist Party

    Polish Institute and Sikorski Museum in London. First from the right: Tadeusz Podgórski, third from the left: Jacek Kowalski

  • In front of the entrance to the “Zamek”, London

    Jacek Kowalski and Tadeusz Podgórski

  • Membership card of the Association of Polish Refugees (ZPU), belonging to Jacek Kowalski

    Augsburg 1977

  • Title page of the magazine “Rodak” of the 4th district of the Association of Polish Refugees

    Issue no. 1, October 1973

  • Requiem mass for Jacek Kowalski

    In Ostrów Wielkopolski on 4 May 2019
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