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Kasimir Zgorecki (1904-1980) – from Recklinghausen to the pantheon of French photography

Ruhr Pole – Westfalczyk – Westphalian – three descriptions for the life of Kasimir Zgorecki, who was born in Recklinghausen in 1904. The son of Polish emigrants from the region around Poznań, he grew up in Herne and, after training as a coppersmith, initially followed his father into mining. Until he was 18, Zgorecki’s childhood was influenced by the Polish “strongholds” in the west, with everyday life in his family involving Polish language and culture and membership of numerous clubs and associations. These clubs and associations endeavoured to preserve Polish life in all its diversity in order to hang on to traditions from the homeland with morality and order.

The Zgorecki family emigrated to the northern French mining region of the Pas-de-Calais in 1922. Kasimir soon decided against a professional career as a miner. He began to take photographs and took over his brother-in-law’s photography studio in Rouvroy. His photographs became very popular in France and have been exhibited in various art museums since the 1990s.

In 2019, the Louvre-Lens museum of art exhibited several of his photographs, with the French press dubbing Kasimir Zgorecki a “contemporary witness” of Polish life in northern France. The fact that his work has received such broad acclaim can be attributed to a chance find by a member of his family in 1990.

Karzimierz Zgórecki: Self-portrait, photograph 1994, private ownership
Kazimierz Zgórecki: Self-portrait (self-portrait 1994), black and white photograph, print 2019, privately owned by the family, published in the Louvre-Lens exhibition catalogue
©
Frédéric Lefever © adagp / Frédéric Lefever

As well as the housing estate, the Catholic church of St. Michael was also built in 1900, shortly before Kasimir’s birth.[15] It is also unlikely that the choice of patron saints for clubs and associations happened by chance. The Polish Association of Saint Michael has been in Recklinghausen-Süd since 1988.[16] This association or an association with the same name, organised trips to the Neviges place of pilgrimage in North Rhine-Westphalia.[17] In general, thanks to their superior legal status, it was easier for Ruhr Poles to set up clubs and associations in Prussian territory than it was for miners from other countries.[18] The clubs and associations instilled values from the homeland, which created direction and focus in an unfamiliar environment. They gave the feeling of cohesion in a foreign land and the broad range of clubs available meant that they were able to provide help in many areas of life. So the Zgorecki family lived in a flourishing district with new construction projects where there were many Polish clubs and associations and where Catholic masses were held. In 1903, Recklinghausen also got its first chaplain for pastoral ministry in the Polish language.[19] The choral association “Róża Leśna” staged family celebrations and traditional festivals as well as singing competitions with Polish folk songs in Hochlarmark.[20] “Sokół” sports clubs were founded in every district and their members kept to the rules and regulations so as to create a positive atmosphere in the clubs and associations.[21] Others, such as the lottery club “Dobra Nadzieja”, shared their state’s lottery winnings among its members so they could use them for property ownership in their homeland.[22] Other associations, such as the “Gwiazda” cycling club, helped shape the Ruhr Pole’s leisure time.[23] Although the official line of the associations was that they were apolitical, they were still placed under observation by the local police.[24]

The registration card that the Recklinghausen Office issued for the Zgorecki family certified that they had moved to Herne on 1 October 1907 (see Fig. 3). The exact address in Herne is barely legible and, unfortunately, could not be deciphered during the research for this article. It is important to note that there were already four people in the family – the father Casimir, the mother Marianna, their daughter Jadwiga (born in Hochlarmark in 1902) and Kasimir. Their move, which was most likely attributed to mining migration, was not an uncommon phenomenon in the Ruhr area, a fact also confirmed by the Herne historian Ralf Piorr.[25] This mining migration arose because working conditions and wages varied from mine to mine which, in turn, led to a lot of job changes with people being actively poached.[26] In the Zgorecki family’s case, it was just a few kilometres that took them to a new living environment.

 

[15] Matthias Kordes: Wohnen, Leben und Arbeiten von Fremden im Revier, p. 287.

[17] Werner Burghardt: Die polnischen Arbeiter sind…fleißig und haben einen ausgeprägten Erwerbssinn, p. 413.

[18] Werner Burghardt: Die polnischen Arbeiter sind…fleißig und haben einen ausgeprägten Erwerbssinn, p. 403.

[19] Werner Burghardt: Die polnischen Arbeiter sind…fleißig und haben einen ausgeprägten Erwerbssinn, p. 408.

[20] cf. Werner Burghardt: Die polnischen Arbeiter sind...fleißig und haben einen ausgeprägten Erwerbssinn, p. 413.

[21] Sokół clubs were popular gymnastic movements whose focus was on sporting activities. But their objective was also to uphold Polish culture and tradition.

[22] Werner Burghardt: Die polnischen Arbeiter sind… fleißig und haben einen ausgeprägten Erwerbssinn, p. 413.

[24] Werner Burghardt: Die polnischen Arbeiter sind…fleißig und haben einen ausgeprägten Erwerbssinn, p. 413.

[25] Telephone call on 19 June 2020 on the subject of the Ruhr Poles in Herne.

[26] Werner Burghardt: Die polnischen Arbeiter sind…fleißig und haben einen ausgeprägten Erwerbssinn, p. 406.

Kazimierz Zgórecki: Self-portrait (self-portrait 1994), black and white photograph, print 2019, privately owned by the family, published in the Louvre-Lens exhibition catalogue
©
Frédéric Lefever © adagp / Frédéric Lefever
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  • Fig. 1: Self-portrait, 1920s

    Kasimir Zgorecki: Self-portrait, photograph, 1920s

  • Fig. 2: Birth certificate, 1904

    Kasimir Zgorecki’s birth certificate, certificate, 1904

  • Fig. 3: Registration card, 1907

    The Zgorecki family’s registration card, document, 1907

  • Fig. 4: Herner address book, 1912

    The Zgorecki family’s address, address book, 1912

  • Fig. 5: Herne address book, 1914

    The Zgorecki family’s address, address book, 1914

  • Fig. 6: Bahnhofstraße in Herne, date unknown

    The town centre in Herne, photograph, author and date unknown

  • Fig. 7: Colour postcard of Bahnhofstraße in Herne, ca. 1912

    The town centre in Herne, postcard, author unknown, ca. 1912

  • Fig. 8: Sokół, date unknown

    Sokół presentation at a festival, photograph, date unknown

  • Fig. 9: “Kraft” advertisement, date unknown

    Advertisement for the “Kraft” photography studio, advert, date unknown

  • Fig. 10: Herne address book, 1912

    Addresses in Herne, address book, 1912

  • Fig. 11: Parade in Herne, date unknown

    Parade in the Polish quarter, photograph, author and date unknown

  • Fig. 12: Call against radical ‘Polishness’, 1920

    Call against radical ‘Polishness’, newspaper advert, 1920

  • Fig. 13: The Zgorecki family in France, 1920s

    Kasimir Zgorecki and his family, photograph, 1920s

  • Fig. 14: Portrait of a woman, 1920s

    Portrait of a young woman, photograph, 1920s

  • Fig. 15: Gymnastics club, 1930s

    Photograph of a gymnastics club, photograph, 1930s

  • Fig. 16: Family celebration, 1930s

    Photograph of family celebrations, photograph, 1930s

  • Fig. 17: Parade, 1930s

    Festivities in the streets of Northern France, photograph, 1930s

  • Fig. 18: Nativity scene, 1930s

    Photograph of a nativity scene, photograph, 1930s

  • Fig. 19: Grieving family, 1930

    Photograph of a grieving family, photograph, 1930

  • Fig. 20: Post-mortem photograph, 1930s

    Photograph of a deceased child, photograph, 1930s
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