Aleksander Tylman
Poland
This photograph features my great-grandfather, Kazimierz (in the back) and one of his brothers, Bolesław, called Bolek, during a Sunday stroll in Ozorków in late 1930s.
All of the siblings shared a passion for newly available photography and Bolek, as my grandpa recalled, ”was the happiest and the most handsome one.”
During the second world war, Bolek kept his job in the city hall’s road department, but worked in conspiracy against the Germans, passing on secret information. During spring of 1942 was exposed and arrested along with his colleagues from Łódź. He died later that year after a brutal interrogation in the headquarters of Gestapo, leaving behind his wife and daughter.
The headquarters, nowadays a school, is two steps from my current flat and every time I pass by it during my Sunday strolls, I can’t help remembering this story.
The cheerful family time seen in the photographs my ancestors left behind was forever broken, which was a case for many civilian families in Poland during the war.
Although it is not easy to put together the facts, I keep researching the archives to recreate as much of his life’s story as possible. The least that can be done is to remember.