We invite you to view the photo gallery from the ceremonial conclusion of the competition ‘Dawaj Czasy! The Red Army in Poland 1945–1947 – Kashubia’, co-organised by the Jan Karski Institute of War Losses and the Franciszek Treder Kashubian Museum in Kartuzy.

The ceremony took place on 10 March at the Kashubian Museum in Kartuzy – on the 81st anniversary of the Red Army's entry into the city. During the event, the results of the competition were announced and prizes were awarded to the winners, thanking the participants for their courage in tackling a difficult subject and for preserving family memories of the dramatic events at the end of World War II. During the ceremony, the director of the Institute, Bartosz Gondek, laid flowers at the plaque dedicated to the victims of the Security Service and commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Kashubian Museum, paying tribute to all those whose memory it evokes.

The aim of the competition was to collect personal accounts from residents of the region concerning the years 1945–1947. The entries were judged by historians: Dr Daniel Czerwiński, Dr Damian Markowski, Dr Tomasz Luterek and representatives of the Kashubian Museum – Barbara Kąkol and Monika Pieczora-Spychalska.

During the ceremony, Dr Daniel Czerwiński gave a historical and educational lecture on the Red Army in Kashubia in 1945, explaining the context of the events and their consequences for the region's inhabitants.

The submitted works contained moving testimonies of family experiences from that time:

‘Her youth and beauty became a threat, and her only hope of saving her life was to pretend to be old and sick. She dressed in old clothes, smeared her face with ash, and everyone was to call her “grandmother”.’
– excerpt from a competition entry

‘My grandfather found Chrzanowska, a young girl, by the rubbish bin – abused by soldiers and blue with cold. She lived with us in the attic, and at night we blocked the door with chairs because soldiers came looking for “girls”.’
– excerpt from a competition entry based on an eyewitness account

The meeting in Kartuzy was an important history lesson and a reminder of how important it is to preserve the memory of the experiences of the region's inhabitants at the turn of 1945.