Location

• Kraków, Poland
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Languages

• Polish

Name of collection

• Collection of Zbigniew Galicki's photographs

Provenance and cultural activities

• Zbigniew Galicki collection is embedded in the history of Mistrzejowice (Cracow) parish. Initially, when the new housing estate in Mistrzejowice have ben constructed in the late 1960s / early 1970s, there was no church there. Priest Józef Kurzeja was able only to build temporary small building, called "The Green Box", to provide religious services inside it. Cardinal Karol Wojtyła, who was in Cracow at that time, supported attempts to build a proper church, despite the opposition of the contemporary authorities, who wished to make Nowa Huta a secular town. In 1971 Wojtyła delivered a Midnight Mass under the open sky in the spot where the present church now stands. The church was finally erected in 1976, thanks to the persistence of Józef Kurzeja, who died the same year.
  
  In 1978 priest Kazimierz Jancarz appeared in Mistrzejowice and started to organize Academic Ministry. After the martial law had been declared, hunger strike began in Mistrzejowice parish. Because of an increasing activity of the workers, priest Jancarz founded the then Ministry of the Working People, which goal was to organize the oppressed and the victims. After releasing most of the internees common prayers and meetings have been continued. This way, in July 1982, the famous Thursday Masses for the Homeland (Msze za Ojczyznę) have started. They gathered thousands of people from Krakow and the whole country.
  
  During the following years, many other activities have been taken in Mistrzejowice church - cultural evenings, "Sacrosong" music festival, exhibitions. In 1984 Christian Workers University have been founded there.
  
  This is all documented by Zbigniew Galicki.
  
  Sources:
  
  Kenney, Padraic. A Carnival of Revolution: Central Europe 1989. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2002.
  
  "History of Mistrzejowice parish", accessed October 7, 2016, http://www.mistrzejowice.net/Historia,ke/Historia-Parafii,acb.html.

Description of content

• The collection consists of several thousand negatives of the photos taken in the 1980s. Zbigniew Galicki wanted to get involved in the oppositional activities and a colleague took him to church in Mistrzejowice (Cracow), which was important opposition centre, created by the priest Kazimierz Jancarz. When priest Jancarz found out that Zbigniew Galicki is a photographer, he asked him to photograph so-called Masses for the Homeland. Since 1982 every Thursday at 7 PM Galicki photographed masses and people participating in them, but also various meetings, lectures and performances that took place besides church masses. Many important key oppositon leaders can be found in these pictures. According to Fr. Jancarz, the pictures are black and white because of the colours of the reality.

Content

• photos: 1000-

Operator(s)

• Galicki, Zbigniew

Owner(s)

• Galicki, Zbigniew

Stakeholder(s) of the collection

• Polish Catholic Church

Geographical scope of recent operation

• local

Topics

• democratic opposition
• religious activism

Founder(s)

• Galicki, Zbigniew

Date of founding

• 1982

Place of founding

• Kraków, Poland
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Creator(s) of content

• Galicki, Zbigniew

Collector(s)

• Galicki, Zbigniew

Important events in the history of the collection

• Theatre of the Eighth Day in Mistrzejowice Church, performance.

Featured items

• Portraits of Artists in Mistrzejowice Church, photo series.

Access type

• visits by appointments

Author(s) of this page

• Gospodarczyk, Hanna
• Żłobecka, Karolina

References

Kenney, Padraic. A Carnival of Revolution: Central Europe 1989. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2002.

"History of Mistrzejowice parish", accessed October 7, 2016, http://www.mistrzejowice.net/Historia,ke/Historia-Parafii,acb.html.

Galicki, Zbigniew, interview by Żłobecka, Karolina, May 28, 2016. COURAGE Registry Oral History Collection