wróć...Testimony to the courage of a 13-year-old boy. Meeting with Lt. Jan Witkowski

We have just experienced an incredibly moving evening. As part of the series “Na własne oczy. Spotkanie ze świadkiem historii” (“With Your Own Eyes. A Meeting with a Witness to History”)’, we hosted Lieutenant Jan Witkowski, who was a participant in the Warsaw Uprising and shared with us his memories of the time when, as a child, he faced the weight of great history.

During the meeting, led by Jolanta Sowińska-Gogacz, we went back to August 1944. At the time, our guest was only 13 years old and served as a messenger in the “Iwo” battalion in the southern part of Śródmieście.

However, the conversation was not just about fighting. Together, we sought answers to questions about the foundations of such attitudes:

How did the family home and pre-war upbringing shape young people?

What does a teenager feel when, from one day to the next, he becomes an active participant in the uprising?

How did his time in the POW camp (Stalag X B Sandbostel) and the forced labour of clearing Hamburg’s ruins affect his later life?

Jan Witkowski, currently Vice President of the Main Management Board of the Association of Polish Veterans and Former Political Prisoners, showed us that the insurgent heritage is not only the past, but also a huge obligation for the future. The discussion about how we view 1944 from today's perspective was a valuable lesson in humility and patriotism for all the participants.

Thank you for joining us in such great numbers and for taking part in a shared reflection on the fate of a generation that grew up in the shadow of war.

Keep an eye on our website as we will announce the date of the next meeting soon!

Meeting with Lt. Jan Witkowski, who was a participant in the Warsaw Uprising