Ex-prisoners of the transition camp in Zamość were guests at the June “Café of memories”. Their account was listened to by young people from Middle School No. 4.

Yet again, Mrs Jabłońska and Mrs Kloc talked about their wartime experiences. Both women spent time as children in the camp located in Okrzeja street. The students from Middle School No. 4 are currently engaged in the realization of a project concerning the functioning of Nazi camps and experiences of people imprisoned in them. The young people promised to show their works to the two protagonists of the meeting.

An integration Christmas Eve meeting has become a tradition in our senior club. There was a Christmas tree and music which accompanied seniors and volunteers when they shared holy wafer and exchanged Christmas wishes. The participants also had a Christmas Eve snack and sang carols together.

Beautiful Christmas cards with wishes have been sent charges and friends of the Volunteer Centre in Zamość. Volunteers helping those seniors who due to their ill health cannot benefit fully from the offer of the Senior Community tell us that these cards bring seniors joy. We know that Christmas cards bring our friends joy because we also receive cards from them. It’s such a tradition.

On the eve of Independence Day seniors from the Senior Community Station were invited to an unusual meeting

The seniors had the possibility to sing patriotic songs and follow an interesting lecture about the national flag held by a reserve colonel Marek Kwiecień, who is a member of the Polish Vexillological Society and the originator of the celebrations related to Zamosc Flag Day as well as a moderator of various other military, national and state celebrations. The meeting was organized by members of the “Golden Age” Senior Club operating within Jan Zamoyski Housing Co-operative.

“Tales from the Forest”is the title of an English-Polish publication, which is the final result of the ”Let me tell you a story II” project. It contains interviews with participants of the Polish resistance movement during World War II, in particular stories as told by Janina Jasina, Zbigniew Kruk, Narcyz Kruk, Władysław Bednarczyk, Józef Łaba and Tadeusz Kopeć.

Alberto and Sergio, volunteers of EVS, paid a visit to seniors staying in medical and nursing centre, which is operating within Zamosc “old” hospital. They got familiar with the duties of volunteers working there and visited the premises. Thanks to their presence the residents had a good time during the whole afternoon.

One of the tasks facing EVS volunteers, Albert and Sergio, is work in the Senior Community Station. They carry it out very well, engaging in activities conducted by instructors, therapists and trainers.

A very peculiar Children’s Day was held in ”Okrąglak” on the initiative of a theatre instructor, Janina Lachowska. Because she conducts theatre classes for children and seniors, she decided that on that special day they would perform for each other and for the audience.

On Thursday 21 April our seniors and volunteers celebrated in the Aspirant Club European Day of Solidarity between Generations. The atmosphere was joyous since the participants of the Senior Community Station Art Room put on a music and spoken word performance entitled ”Springtime,” thus inviting everyone to have fun together while listening to tunes of popular springtime songs as well as verses of poetry by Stanisław Buczyński, Stanisława Łogonowicz, Janina Jabłońska.

The subject matter of the currently running project is related to the Resistance in the Lubelskie Region and “live history” narrated by partisans. The project is entitled “Let Me Tell You a Story II. A Tale from the Forest” and it is a follow-up to a similar meeting held by the Volunteer Centre in Zamość in March, 2015.

We are delighted to inform that the project ”Let Me Tell You a Story II. A Tale from the Forest” has been taken under the honorary patronage of the World Association of Home Army Soldiers (District Zamość). The document was signed by the chairman, Sławomir Zawiślak, on behalf of the Executive Board of the association. The project will be launched on 6 April. The meeting with former partisans, members of, among others, the World Association of Home Army Soldiers, is foreseen for 11 April. Six witnesses to history have declared that they will attend the meeting.

Colourful cards with Easter greetings invariably bring a lot of joy to members of the Volunteer Centre in Zamość. Volunteers write such cards especially to those who cannot participate in Daytime Community Centre activities because of ill health. Greetings are also extended to all the friends of our Association.

A greetings card and ”one hour with reading” – such was a present offered to grandmas and grandpas from the Senior Community Station by pupils attending Up­per-Se­con­da­ry Scho­ol Com­plex No.2. The pupils wished the seniors all the best and took turns reading passages from a novel by Daniel Senderek entitled “SMS. Words Have Power”. Both the pupils’ idea as well as “A True Story of a Tough Feeling in 1200 Text Messages” they read left the seniors with many positive impressions.

An atmosphere of uniqueness, magic, music, poetry and emotions pervaded the Christmas party held at the Senior Community Station. There was a Christmas tree and a table beautifully decorated with typical Christmas Eve dishes. There were also talks about Christmas traditions, Christmas-related stories as well as poems recited. Sharing traditional Christmas wafers, the seniors wished each other a lot of good health and robustness; in like manner they wished the organizers of the Senior Community Station and volunteers a lot of joy and satisfaction with their work.

As in previous years, volunteers wrote more than 120 colourful Christmas greeting cards to those senior members of the Volunteer Centre in Zamość (VCZ) who, due to ill health, rarely visit the Senior Community Station and do not participate in all activities as offered by the centre.

Greetings were also sent to the representatives of city and poviat authorities as well as VCZ friends from other NGOs. The cards were delivered in person by volunteers-couriers or sent by post.

The traditional annual event entitled “Patriotic songs”(„Patriotyczne śpiewanie”) was held in „Okrąglak” on 10 November. The event was attended by both younger and older citizens of the district and of the city. Members of the Senior Club choir as well as senior members of the Volunteer Centre in Zamość jointly sang Polish pro-independence songs. The former had been previously instructed by Tadeusz Flor. The concert was preceded by a an introductory speech given by Henryk Smalej, an author of a two-volume book entitled “Patriotic Songs …Dusted off”

Igi and Fany assist in classes conducted by instructors, therapists and coaches. The volunteers are confronted with a language barrier but, visibly, they are going to overcome it. Bruno, a volunteer working in the community centre is always at hand and ready to help.

Forty lower-secondary-school pupils participated in May “Café of Memories”. Jadwiga Pasikowska, “miraculously saved from Wołyń pogrom,” was the special guest.

Maria Mączka, a wartime child, was the special guest of the recent “Café of Memories”. Born in 1930, Maria remembers the September Campaign, the bleak days of the occupation, hunger, persecution, fear.

Volunteers are back in ”old hospital” in Zamość. They are working in the Health Care Centre and in the palliative care ward. Małgorzata Ostasz, the coordinator of their work, is a university student, who used to volunteer in “old hospital” as a member of a club run by General Upper Secondary School no. 1 (1LO).

The “Let Me Tell You a Story” project, implemented by The Volunteer Centre in Zamość, finished on 10th March. History lovers from Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Romania, Turkey and Hungary went away with a store of new experiences, especially knowledge passed down by living witnesses to wartime history.

The meeting with Marcin Zamoyski took place on 8 March, as scheduled. The invitee talked about the wartime and post-war experiences of his parents. The project participants learnt about the work done by Jan and Róża Zamoyski who saved 480 children from the transit camp in Zwierzyniec. Marcin Zamoyski also answered questions about his own work for the welfare of Zamość and its region.

From 1st to 10th March, the Volunteer Centre in Zamość (VCZ) will hold an international historical meeting entitled LET ME TELL YOU A STORY. The participants are young people, representatives of youth organizations and non-governmental organizations from Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Turkey, Hungary and Poland. Together, they will broaden their knowledge about the fate of “The Children of Zamość Region” in the context of events that took place in Zamość and its surroundings during the Second World War.

On 8 January the Volunteer Centre in Zamość is organizing an integration meeting for seniors and volunteers.

Over 120 Christmas cards were sent by the volunteers to the friends of the Volunteer Centre in Zamość.

On 18 December a wafer meeting for the seniors and the volunteers was organized in our Daytime Community Centre.

On 5 December the Voluntary Centre in Zamość is hosting an annual event promoting the idea of voluntary service and commitment to the local community. As usual, the gala will take place in “Okrąglak,” from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Fortune-telling, stories about the celebration of St Andrew’s Eve, snacks and dancing were organized for our seniors by the volunteers during the Thursday meeting in the community centre. We had dropping hot wax in water through a keyhole, shoe racing, drawing names, reading tea and coffee grounds as well as cartomancy.

Over 100 people of all ages came on 11 November to „Okrąglak” in order to sing patriotic songs and celebrate the national holiday. The meeting was prepared by the members of the Senior Club as well as our members from the daytime community centre.

Henry Wolańczuk was the guest of honour at our Cafe of Stories for the second time. His story, told a year ago to the pupils from Gymnasium No. 4, was this year heard by the members of the local “Senior Club.” Mr. Wolańczuk was born in 1934, but he remembers the war very well, July 1944 and the last German bombing raids in particular. Half of his family died during that time, Mr. Wolańczuk and his father being the only survivors. He couldn’t understand then why it all happened. He doesn’t understand it still.

On 13th October, a second meeting with our “memory collectors” took place. The participants – a group of 10 students and pupils who will be writing down as well as recording recollections – learnt how to talk to the witnesses to history, prepare questions and equipment. The meetings will take place once a month until May 2015.

Along with the Senior Community Station, we have also started “a friendly line” where our seniors can talk to our assistants free of charge. All you have to do is call at 84 6392863, give us your phone number and wait for a call from our Centre. We are waiting for your call!

If you have completed a computer training course and still have problems with using computers, you can ask for individual assistance. Ewa Popławska will help you every Tuesday and Thursday. You can arrange a meeting by phone by calling “Okrąglak” at 84 62 73775

Ewa Szczepańska and Krystyna Rybińska-Smyk were honoured by the Society of the Friends of Children with “Friend of Children” badges that are awarded for volunteer work on behalf of children. For Ewa Szczepańska and Krystyna Rybińska-Smyk community service also involves integrating the young with the elderly citizens as well as getting children interested in the wartime experiences of the Children of Zamość Region.

On Tuesday, May 13, at 1 p.m., a meeting with Tomasz Kowalczyk, a “war child,” will take place. His listeners are the pupils from Gymnasium No.4 and the members of the workshop “How to talk to witnesses to history?” The meeting is open to everyone interested in the history of World War II.

Those ladies who came to our Centre last Thursday were treated by trainee beauticians from the local Medical Vocational School who pampered our members with make-up and manicure. It was not the School’s first volunteer initiative, but it certainly brought a lot of joy to our ladies.

A training course organised by the Zamość Volunteer Centre for volunteering leaders from Italy, Latvia, Latvia, Poland, Romania, Spain and Turkey ended on 29 January. As evidenced by the project feedback, the participants left Zamość with plenty of new experiences and valuable pieces of knowledge. They were particularly impressed by the variety of volunteer activities as well as projects organised by the ZVC.

A meeting with Colonel Czesław Pakulniewicz from the Polish Armed Forces will take place on Tuesday, January 21, at 11.00 a.m. The event will be attended by the participants of “How to talk to witnesses to history?” workshops. The meeting is open and everyone interested in II World War is welcome to join us.

Our Daytime Community Centre has become a household name in Zamość as evidenced by the growing number of young visitors who want to enjoy the company of our members. Last Thursday we welcomed pupils from Gymnasium No.4 who prepared a wonderful performance “Christmas in music and poetry” filled with beautiful poems, remarkable recitation and music. Thank you!

On Thursday, January 9, the Volunteer Centre in Zamość was visited by the children from the primary school in Mokre near Zamość.  The pupils wanted to learn as much as possible about our Daytime Community Centre they had learned about from their teacher as well as the Internet. The children spent almost two hours talking and sharing pictures with our members who spoke with our guests about their experiences from II World War. This intergenerational meeting brought much joy to its participants.

With these words Janina Jabłońska, our December guest in the Cafe of Stories, began her story. Born in 1934, as a child she experienced displacement to a temporary camp in Zamość, suffered typhoid and the hardships of the first post-war years as her father did not return from forced labour in Germany. The meeting, which also included Ms. Jabłońska reciting her own poems, was attended by the participants of the workshop “How to talk to the witnesses to history.”

On October 24 young artists from Georgia, Latvia, Russia, Romania, the Ukraine and Poland visited the Volunteer Centre in Zamość as a part of the “Youth in Action” programme; the international group was involved in the project “Sound, Word and Brush – Art in Action” which encompasses music, literature and the fine arts.

He comes from Honiatycze, a village in Hrubieszów district in Poland which suffered greatly during II World War at the hands of the Nazi soldiers as well as Ukrainian nationalists.

Pupils, students as well as all young people interested in the Second World War are invited to the next edition of workshops. Collecting and transcribing memories is both a challenge and fascinating experience for history lovers. The enrollment is now open on a first-come, first-served basis. The first meeting will take place on 26 September (Thursday) at 2.30 pm. You can sign up in person (Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10 am to 2.30 pm), by phone (+48 662 007 980), or by e-mail (biuro@wolontariatzamosc.pl).

From September to June „How to talk to the witnesses to history?” workshops took place in the ZCV. Their participants were pupils, students and the members of families afflicted by the Third Reich. The results of the meetings were written testimonies and recollections of Marianna Kloc, Irena Trzebicka, Maria Marchwiana, Janina Poździk, Czesław Kubina and Antoni Sowiński. The next edition will begin in September.

The next guest in the Café of Stories was Maria Marchwiana, a Russian citizen from Homel, who met her Polish husband during forced labour in Germany and has been living in Poland since 1945. She talked about her war experiences filled with both tragic and happy events in beautiful Polish with an eastern accent to the pupils of Gymnasium Nr. 4. Our guest turned 89 this year, but she feels young, has excellent memory and promised her young listeners to meet them again in the future.

In 2011 the European Commission established 29 April as the European Day of Solidarity between Generations. The aim of the initiative is to promote intergenerational communication and understanding as well as to endorse the age-friendly campaign within the European Union.

On this year’s 8 March the ladies of the Volunteer Centre in Zamość were pampered by the teachers and students of the local Vocational Training Centre who offered our members various beauty treatments.

All previous guests in the Café of Stories have unique biographies in which the uneven fight for independence mingles with the hardships of living in times of lawlessness and cruelty inflicted upon them by the Nazi regime. But inevitably the most heartbreaking are the biographies of war-time children such as Roman Adamowicz who talked about his childhood to the pupils of Maria Konopnicka Secondary School no. 2 in Zamość.

The first guest of our Café of Stories in 2013 was 87-year-old Janina Poździk. Mrs. Poźdik spoke vividly about her life during the Nazi occupation, including her time of forced labour in Germany, her trade visits to Lvov as well as her life amongst the partisans of the Polish Peasants’ Battalions.