MEMORY OF THE INHABITANTS OF ROZWADOW

3.05- 10.07.2016 Outdoor exhibition: market square in Rozwadów (Stalowa Wola)

Former residents of Rozwadów, what were they like? What were their interests? What habits did they have…and simply how did they live their daily lives? We try to answer these questions at the open-air exhibition “Memory of Rozwadów residents” located in Rozwadów’s Market Square.

The heroes of the exhibition are the townspeople, both intelligentsia and craftsmen, merchants, clergymen, schoolchildren and so-called ordinary residents, whose names and fates are inextricably associated with the history of interwar Rozwadów. They formed a community that gave the town its identity.

The exhibition brings back the memory of people who have lived here for generations, but also those who came here in search of work and found this city for many years. It was from this place that excellent craftsmen, tradesmen, cultural animators, administrative workers, doctors, union activists and clergymen originated.

Thanks to the photographs collected at the museum and provided by local residents, we get a glimpse of their professional lives and leisure time filled with work in numerous social, cultural, sports and military organizations. These included: The Sokol Gymnastic Society, the Boy Scouts, the Maritime and Colonial League, the Riflemen’s Association, the People’s School Society, as well as the “San” and “Kolejarz” football clubs. The people captured in the frame, among the anonymous crowd, we try to bring closer to contemporaries.

Residents could develop their artistic passions on the boards of amateur theaters and in choirs and orchestras. The three cinemas that existed at different times, Sokół, Strzelec and Polonia, had a rich film offer.

Free moments and festive days of Rozhadov townspeople were filled with festivities in the railroad park, games of tennis, bowling and cards. In summer, people enjoyed spending time on the San River, and in winter they went skiing and skating. Rozwadów residents visited each other’s homes, making music, discussing and having fun together.

The exhibition also included photographs, the secret of which we will probably never fully know. We are unable to say in what place they were taken or whom they

they depict. Despite the passage of time, however, they inspire awe and interest. They allow us to learn about the old architecture of the city, details of bourgeois costumes.

We are aware that we have not reached all the residents and families of Rozhadov. We therefore encourage you to share your family photographs and knowledge of your loved ones with us, so that further exhibitions and publications can be created to restore the memory of old Rozwadów and its inhabitants.

The exhibition is a reference to the neighboring outdoor exhibition dedicated to the traditions of celebrating the May 3 Constitution in Rozwadów.