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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

Contemporary witness of the Polish diaspora
 

Kasimir completed his training as a coppersmith before migrating to France with his parents and sisters.  This step was adopted by the “Convention franco-polonaise” of 3 September 1919, a convention which facilitated the mass immigration of Poles and Ruhr Poles.[48] It was agreed three months after the Treaty of Versailles was signed, which, it is estimated, incited 600,000 workers and their families to migrate to France in the decades that followed.[49] The miners signed employment contracts that bound them to work for a year under ground.[50] Year after year, job security was dependent on demand. This detail is interesting when considering the fact that Kasimir Zgorecki terminated his employment in pit 10 de Billy-Montigny early.[51]

The migration of his family to the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region happened in the wake of the restoration of France, after his family had probably been poached in Duisburg by the “Comité Central des Houillères de France” (CCHF). And yet the trip out of the Ruhr area was not without its difficulties because the transport convoys with all the families’ worldly goods were frequently prevented from continuing on.[52] The French mining companies often built towns especially for the migrants, which is why Polish communities started to reform after their arrival.[53] At the same time, similar living conditions were created to those that had existed in the Ruhr area. Many former neighbours found each other again in their immediate surroundings. Associations from the Ruhr area were set up again. There was, so to speak, a re-emergence of the former community.[54] It did not take long for major differences to be seen between the “Westphalians” and the Poles from the East. Those who came from the Ruhr area were well versed in the state-of-the-art German working techniques and this caused a rift in the Polish-speaking community in many respects.[55] For example, the Ruhr Poles opened the first shops and stocked newspapers, such as Narodowiec, from their homeland.[56] The day-to-day life of the fathers and sons centred around their employment, whilst the women were responsible for the children and the household.

 

[48] Janine Ponty: Polonais méconnus, p. 681.

[49] Janine Ponty: Une intégration difficile, p. 51.

[50] Vgl. Janine Ponty: Une intégration difficile, p. 52.

[51] Frédéric Lefever: Kasimir Zgorecki, p. 11.

[52] Diana Cooper-Richet: Les mineurs polonais, p. 46.

[53] Diana Cooper-Richet: Les mineurs polonais, p. 48.

[54] Henri Dudzinski: Les Polonais du Nord, p. 13.

[55] Janine Ponty: Une intégration difficile, p. 52.

[56] Janine Ponty: Une intégration difficile, p. 54.

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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