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NEXT STORY

My father moves to Lwów

RELATED STORIES

Mother and father: a misalliance
Jacek Kuroń Social activist
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No i właśnie - ojciec i mama. Otóż, ojciec, to bardzo śmieszne było, oni, to był mezalians jak na owe czasy olbrzymi. Ojciec mój był synem robotnika i robotnikiem, metalowcem, jak mówił o sobie z dumą, bo dla niego wszyscy, wśród wszystkich ludzi lepsi byli robotnicy wśród całej reszty świata, a wśród robotników najlepsi byli metalowcy. Robotnik metalowiec to dla tatusia znaczyło coś. Dla dziadka jeszcze bardziej, dziadka, który właściwie mnie wychowywał - ojca, ojca. No więc ojciec, mój dziadek znaczy, Francek był uczestnikiem, bojowcem w organizacji bojowej PPS w 1905 r., bo tata mój był z Sosnowca. Przyjechał do Lwowa i uwiódł córkę profesorowsko-generalską, bo tam wszyscy byli profesorowie uniwersytetu, Modelscy to są profesorowie uniwersytetu, generałowie, generał jeden, natomiast reszta to jest trzech profesorów uniwersytetu. I uwiódł córkę, zrobił jej dziecko, czyli mnie i oni wzięli ślub. Ja się urodziłem 3 marca 1934 roku, a oni 11 listopada tegoż 1933 roku ślub wzięli, więc widać z tego jak to było pod przymusem.

And now for my parents. Well, my father - this was very funny because in those times their marriage was a terrible misalliance. My father was the son of a worker as well as being a worker himself, a metalworker as he proudly said of himself. In his eyes, the best people in the world were workers, and among them, the metalworkers were the best of all. Being a metalworker really meant something to my dad. And it meant even more to my grandpa who brought me up. He was my father's father. So, my father, I mean my grandfather, Francek, was a militant in the PPS in 1905 because my dad was from Sosnowiec. He moved to Lwów and seduced the daughter of a professor-general's family because everyone there was a professor at the university. Modelscy, they were university professors, generals - there was one general there, the rest were three university professors. So he seduced the daughter, got her pregnant with me, and then they got married. I was born 3 March 1934 and they were married 11 November 1933, so you can see from that that this was a shot-gun wedding.

The late Polish activist, Jacek Kuroń (1934-2004), had an influential but turbulent political career, helping transform the political landscape of Poland. He was expelled from the communist party, arrested and incarcerated. He was also instrumental in setting up the Workers' Defence Committee (KOR) and later became a Minister of Labour and Social Policy.

Listeners: Jacek Petrycki Marcel Łoziński

Cinematographer Jacek Petrycki was born in Poznań, Poland in 1948. He has worked extensively in Poland and throughout the world. His credits include, for Agniezka Holland, Provincial Actors (1979), Europe, Europe (1990), Shot in the Heart (2001) and Julie Walking Home (2002), for Krysztof Kieslowski numerous short films including Camera Buff (1980) and No End (1985). Other credits include Journey to the Sun (1998), directed by Jesim Ustaoglu, which won the Golden Camera 300 award at the International Film Camera Festival, Shooters (2000) and The Valley (1999), both directed by Dan Reed, Unforgiving (1993) and Betrayed (1995) by Clive Gordon both of which won the BAFTA for best factual photography. Jacek Petrycki is also a teacher and a filmmaker.

Film director Marcel Łoziński was born in Paris in 1940. He graduated from the Film Directing Department of the National School of Film, Television and Theatre in Łódź in 1971. In 1994, he was nominated for an American Academy Award and a European Film Academy Award for the documentary, 89 mm from Europe. Since 1995, he has been a member of the American Academy of Motion Picture Art and Science awarding Oscars. He lectured at the FEMIS film school and the School of Polish Culture of Warsaw University. He ran documentary film workshops in Marseilles. Marcel Łoziński currently lectures at Andrzej Wajda’s Master School for Film Directors. He also runs the Dragon Forum, a European documentary film workshop.

Tags: PPS, Sosnowiec, Lwów

Duration: 1 minute, 16 seconds

Date story recorded: 1987

Date story went live: 12 June 2008