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This special year a book was published devoted to the life and activity of President Stanisław Ostrowski – Semper fidelis Poloniae – President Stanisław Ostrowski (1892-1982) – a doctor, soldier, scientist and politician, which is the first biography of this Man of State so meritorious for Poland ( Book is written in Polish: original Polish title: Semper fidelis Poloniae – Prezydent Stanisław Ostrowski (1892-1982) – lekarz, żołnierz, naukowiec i polityk ISBN 978-83-65536-09-9) . It is a comprehensive publication, showing successive areas of the President’s activity against the background of historical events of that time. It will certainly interest all the people concerned with the history of Lvov, labor camp prisoners at Siberia and the heroic military route of Anders’ Army as well as Polish emigration in post-war Great Britain.
The book consists mainly of chapters of the distinguished doctoral dissertation of Dr Martyna Woltanowska . This book presents the adventurous life of dermatologist Stanisław Ostrowski – a hero forgotten in Polish historiography, whose name was effectively removed by censorship from memories and historical studies in postwar time by Polish communist Republic of Poland (PRL). Lvov was to be deleted from sentiments of Poles. Stanisław Ostrowski was the last Polish president of this city in prewar period. Thus he was to be forgotten. Particularly his humanitarian work needs to be recalled in common sense, as he bandaged both Poles and Ukrainians during heroic struggles in the Eastern Borderlands and the Polish-Bolshevik War. He also bear with dignity his sufferings in the Soviet labor camps at Siberia, where he was sent after exhausting months of investigation at Lubyanka prison in Moscow. After all, he was to be forgotten as the President of the Republic of Poland, who contributed to the propagation of the memory of Katyn Crime (e.g. his vice president of Lvov, Dr. Weryński (1897-1940 was victims of the Katyn Crime) and as the unifying Statesman of the divided independence Polish emigration in London.
Ostrowski’s humanitarian attitude as a military physician during World War I and in the Polish-Ukrainian fights for Lvov was the foundation of his authority as an alderman, Member of Parliament and president of Lvov, both due to his heroism and sacrifice, and due to providing medical aid, both Polish and Ukrainian soldiers and civilians.
Some translated-in-English excerpts from the book: “An overview on Lvov that was presented in the local press at the beginning of the 1930s, did not resemble the idealized image of the borderland city that emerged from the later memories of the repatriates. A very high unemployment, rallies and demonstrations of the unemployed, brutally dispersed by the Police, and the very low standard of living of the workers led to an increase in the popularity of the communist party and the use of populist slogans by the nationalists. This was overlapped by national antagonisms, which in the 1930s turned into brutal conflicts, and the unprecedented crisis of the city’s finances (…). Due to his outstanding management skills, Ostrowski remedied the financial crisis and improved everyday life of Lvov citizens. Despite the envious ideological struggle of political parties, Stanisław Ostrowski, as a military medical doctor of Polish Legions and one of the first volunteers-defenders of Lvov, managed to defend his authority as the initiator of many municipal investments of general interest aimed at improving, among others the sanitary situation or the city’s public transport. Epidemiological experience and knowledge of infectious diseases was the foundation of rational investments and projects supported by Ostrowski as the Lvov president of Lvov 1936-1939 and a member of the Polish Parliament (MP from 1930-1939). By investing in the municipal baths, the network of health care facilities and by subjecting the trade in Lvov to strict sanitary control, the president wanted to prevent epidemiological threats during the upcoming war with the Third Reich. Ostrowski’s peaceful nature and patience made people of various national origins or religions his political allies for the common good of the local community e.g. the vice-president of Lviv in 1930-1939, economist and philanthropist Wiktor Chajes (1875-1940) representing Jewish minority. The President’s rational approach to cooperation with the Ukrainians enabled him to cooperate for the benefit of the city with the Doctor of Law of the University of Vienna, Polish Senator Volodymyr Decykewycz (1865-1949), a juror and a member of the Lviv City Commune Board.
We are pleased to share with You a link to full text of our biographical paper about Stanisław Ostrowski with free access:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5808261/
We believe this book has healing properties for historical wounds as Stanisław Ostrowski first was to heal wounds. We believe that you will find in this book fragments that are close to your experiences and family stories. We trust that you will also find in it what should be dear to the heart of every Pole, whether in Poland or abroad – a story about a brave and wise medical doctor and soldier who was able to survive under all these severe conditions, even the most difficult terms during wartime from medical work.
The book is dedicated to Prof. dr hab. Andrzej Woltanowski – history lecturer at the University of Warsaw and the University of Białystok, archivist and researcher of the Stanisławów era, the Kościuszko Uprising and the Polish Enlightenment, who instilled in us a love of archival materials, source research and homeland history. His scientific activity on military history, the Eastern Borderlands of the Republic of Poland and the deportation of Poles to Siberia, as well as the methodology of research on the history of the press, were an inspiration for us in the preparation of this publication. We believe that the choice of the book’s hero and its publication will serve to strengthen civilian values that were cherished by Professor Andrzej Woltanowski.
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Od red. np.:
Dziękujemy, zachęcamy, pozdrawiamy!
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