2014 – THE YEAR OF HENRYK SŁAWIK IN THE ŚLĄSK PROVINCE

, 16 November 2016
Next year marks the 120th anniversary of the birth, and the 70th anniversary of the death, of Henryk Sławik, a native of the Śląsk Province and a Righteous Among the Nations. The Sląsk provincial parliament has therefore decided that 2014 will be dedicated to Sławik.

During World War II, Henryk Sławik was President of theKomitet Obywatelskiego ds. Opieki nad Uchodźcami Polskimi(Civic Committee for the Care of Polish Refugees) in Hungary. He was also one of the representatives of the Polish Government-in-Exile. Exploiting his diplomatic status, he issued counterfeit documents to Polish Jews in Hungary which saved them from certain death. He rescued around five thousand people. He worked together with other Poles and a Hungarian official, József Antall, who stamped and officially approved the documents. Together with the clergy, Sławik also organised an orphanage for Jewish children - well-disguised as an orphanage for the children of Polish officers. Sławik also helped Polish refugees with transport to the army in the west.

In 1944, following the German occupation of Hungary, Sławik was arrested. Even though he was subjected to torture, he did not betray Antall. He perished in the Mauthausen death camp..

After the War, the authorities of the Polish People's Republic condemned Sławik’s memory to oblivion. In 1990, he was posthumously awarded the title of Righteous Among the Nations. In 2010, President Lech Kaczyński presented Sławik with the nation’s highest award, the Order the White Eagle. József Antall posthumously received the highest decoration Poland grants to foreigners, the Grand Cross of the Order of Polish Renewal.

In April 2013, planning began to erect a monument in Katowice commemorating Henryk Sławik and József Antall. In accordance with an initiative by Katowice city councillors, the monument will be erected in front of the International Convention Centre.

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