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ROTARY IN POLAND Pre-1940
In 1931, the first Rotary club in Poland was chartered on March
19 1931. Other clubs followed at regular intervals, the nine
pre-war clubs being:-
Warsaw chartered March 19 1931
Cieszyn Zachodni chartered December 23 1932.
This club was originally admitted as Cesky Tesin, Czechoslovakia
but became Cieszyn Zachodni in Poland on May 26 1939.
Lodz chartered on December 4 1933
Katowice was next on June 27 1934
Gdynia was chartered on November 17 1934 Bielsko on February 12
1935
Lwow on December 20 1935
Bydgoszcz on December 30 1935
Pabianice on August 22 1938
As happened elsewhere, some clubs experienced opposition from
the Roman Catholic church. The Bydgoszcz Club in particular
recorded that the Church had effectively prevented the creation
of a Rotary club in Poznan and elsewhere. It seems that the
Church believed that Rotary was a form of Freemasonry, an
organisation which it felt was in opposition to the teaching and
practices of the Church. While it was true that many Rotarians
were masons and vice versa, the two movements were always quite
separate.
When the Germans invaded Poland in September 1939, Rotary, as it
did in other parts of Occupied Europe, came to a standstill and
on October 10, 1940 all the clubs had their charters terminated.
When the Germans were driven out, Rotary fared no better under
the Communists. One Polish Rotarian, Casimir Zienkiewicz of the
Katowice Club, escaped to London and there helped to start the
Inter Allied Rotary Club
in London in November 1940
The story of how Rotary returned can be found in other sections.
When PDG Jack Olsson met Marek Sredniawa on a train in 1984, he
told him that Warsaw had had a flourishing Rotary club until
1939 and the subsequent invasion of first the Germans and later
the Russians. What happened next
can be read in another section.
Note. The list of charter termination shows only 9 clubs in
Poland in
1939, but David Shelley Nicholl and others quote a figure of 10.
With thanks to PDGs
Kari Tallberg, Jack Olsson and the RI Archivists.
Readers may also like to consult the pages of the Kumeu RC
Posted 5 January 2006 by Rotary Global History historian
Basil Lewis |
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ROTARY IN POLAND The
Re-establishment from 1989.
This is a personal account written by PDG Jack Olsson
whose help we acknowledge with thanks.
When Rotary was originally established in Poland in 1931, it was
reported that it was an inspiring event in Poland, our beloved
country, restored in 1918, following the Great War, to new
independent life. This came after 125 years of Russian control
in a country which was one of the first in history to have a
liberal system of government. Therefore, at the proper moment,
the great Rotarian movement was able to find unselfish followers
in Poland .The principle of 'Service Above Self' was ever close
to the Polish spirit.
In 1989, it was reported that. "there is again a favourable
atmosphere in Poland ..to come back to the ideals of service,
fellowship, goodwill and peace". In this context the possibility
of re-establishing Rotary was just one more evidence of a
dramatic change and of progress towards an open, democratic
society. The achievement of world peace and understanding is one
of the major goals of Rotary. Coincidentally this goal was also
undertaken in June 1984, when, under the auspices of the
Australian Institute of International Affairs, my wife and I
participated in a study tour of four communist countries in
Eastern Europe including Poland.
As it turned out, when returning by train from Crackow to
Warsaw, I met for the first time Marek Sredniawa, a young
academic from the Warsaw Institute of Technology . During the
course of our conversation, Marek spoke of his professional aims
for the future and the difficulties and lack of opportunity. of
gaining world experience by visiting other countries. We
exchanged business cards and although I said nothing to him at
the time, his enthusiasm to help his country and his keenness to
improve his knowledge, struck a chord with me . On my return
home, I had the opportunity at my Rotary club of giving a three
minute talk on my visit overseas and finished up by saying
"wouldn't it be wonderful if we could wave a magic wand and
bring this young man to Australia so that he can attend the
International Telecommunications Conference in Sydney". It is
now a matter of record that with the help of the Rotary network
in Canberra and Sydney, Marek's dream came true. He attended the
International Telecommunications Conference and, before
returning home, was introduced and enjoyed his first experience
of Rotary service and fellowship.
This could have been the end of the story. Fortunately, however,
the spirit of Rotary service and its benefical effect within a
community was not lost on Marek. His astute mind quickly picked
up the idea and value of such an organization.
Following the success of this visit, I maintained contact with
Marek in the hope of extending the hand of friendship to other
young academics from behind the Iron Curtain and during my
visits to Evanston as a member of the Rotary International
Finance Committee, actively pursued the idea of similar projects
for young people similarly placed .
It was on one of my final visits to Evanston about 1987,
however, I learned that the Trustees of the Rotary Foundation
had appointed me to be leader of the first Group Study Exchange
program to be undertaken in a communist country, namely to
Poland. I immediately contacted Marek to arrange the GSE program
and in April 1988 visited Poland to discuss details of the
exchange. It was also an occasion to have some informal meetings
with the medium level representatives of Polish authorities to
discuss prospects of such visits by Rotary, for without state
approval no such international meetings would be possible.
At that time Marek also recruited a group of six men of
different professions as a host team for the first leg of the
GSE visit to Australia . This team, incidentally, ultimately
became the nucleus of the future Warsaw club. The successful
result of talks gave us the stimulus to arrange a meeting at
senior government level and directly discuss the possibility of
reestablishing Rotary in Poland.
Fortunately, at this time Michael Gorbachov's 'Glasnost' and 'Perestroka'
had begun to influence the thinking of people in Eastern Europe
.This was not only the watershed of communism but also the
turning point for the development of Rotary in Eastern Europe.
It was during this preparatory stage of the development of the
GSE program that I became increasingly aware of a genuine
interest by the Polish hierarchy in Rotary. Of course this was
not always straight sailing as evidenced by some of the
questions posed to me including " What is this capitalist
organization all about?" and "What is meant by Rotary's motto
'He Profits most who Serves Best'"?
On my return home and being aware of Rotary's policy that no
steps could be undertaken for international extension without
approval from the Board of Rotary International. I immediately
contacted Royce Abbey who was soon to take up the appointment of
President of Rotary International. I told Royce of my experience
in Poland and of what I believed was the positive reception of
the idea of the re-establishment of Rotary. I also suggested
that I would be prepared to arrange a visit for him to meet the
appropriate authorities. Royce immediately agreed and during
July 1988, together with the General Secretary of R.I. Phillip
Lindsay, I returned to Warsaw where we were able to finalise not
only the GSE program, but to put in train the initial steps for
re-establishing the Rotary Club of Warsaw.
In the words of Marek Sredniawa, "In September 1988 we hosted a
GSE team from District 971 (now 9710), led by Jack Olsson. The
reciprocal visit of the Polish team to Australia took place in
February 1989.The GSE program was really successful and helped
very much in founding our club".
Rotary International appointed the Rotary Club of Malmo Sweden
as the sponsoring club, and Past R.I President Ernst Brietholtz
to represent R.I. President Royce Abbey in presenting the
charter to the re-established Rotary Club of Warsaw.
On November 9 1989 at the Royal Castle Warsaw, my wife and I
had the honour, together with 500 distinguished guests and
Rotarians from around the world, of being present on that most
historical occasion
Jack Olsson has many awards for his service to Rotary,
among them Rotary and Community awards to PDG Jack
C.Olsson; Medal of the Order of Australia- For Services
to Rotary and the Community- Citation for Meritorious
Service-The Rotary Foundation Distinguished Service
Award-The Trustees of the Rotary Foundation Rotary
Service Above Service Award-The Board of Directors of
Rotary International
Posted by Rotary Global History historian
Basil Lewis 5
January 2006 |
