Oparowscy Family Archive

Maria Oparowska, Zygmunt Oparowski, Wanda (their daughter) and Lech (their son); Tadeusz Oparowski (Zygmunt’s half-brother), Krystyna (his wife), Maria (their daughter) and Adam (their son); Kazimierz Oporowski (Zygmunt’s father); Andrzej and Elżbieta Gorzelak.

The author of the film is Zygmunt Oparowski, an engineer, a builder of two smelter plants: Huta Częstochowa and Huta Katowice. He started making films at the end of the 1950s.

Częstochowa, winter. A walk through a park near Jasna Góra. Maria, Zygmunt, Wanda and Leszek Oparowski play in the snow. They throw snowballs. Maria approaches the monument of Stanisław Moniuszko. Leszek knocks snow off the bush, lies down on the snow and makes an “eagle” in snow. A holiday trip to the seaside. The Oparowski family is on the Sopot pier. Soldiers walk on the pier. The Oparowskis pay a visit to their family in Bydgoszcz (Tadeusz (Zygmunt’s half-brother), Krystyna (his wife), Adam and Marysia (their children)). The Oparowski family and their cousins walk down a street in Bydgoszcz, get on a bus. Then there is a shot from the inside of the bus. An entrance to a park, Jordanowski Garden. Wanda and Leszek with Adam and Marysia enter a plane set up in the park. Maria and Krystyna walk down a park alley. A swimming pool in the park. A playground. Children climb ladders, play in a fountain, and play football. A forest near Bydgoszcz. A family walk, Kazimierz Oporowski (Zygmunt’s father) walks at the end. (They have a different sounding surname, because Zygmunt changed his name to Oparowski after the war. Kazimierz remained with the Oporowski surname). A picnic in the forest. Wanda stands on her hands. Kazimierz with his grandchildren – Wanda and Leszek. A short shot of time by the water. Częstochowa, the parish of St. Stanislaus, Leszek’s First Communion. A priest leads the children in First Communion costumes to church. A close-up of Leszek. The priest sprinkles the children with holy water. Leszek, accompanied by his sister and his cousins, Andrzej and Ela Gorzelak, walks down the street, carrying a First Communion candle. 1960/1961. A holiday trip of the Oparowski family to the seaside. Gdynia. Maria with Wanda and Leszek walk down the street. Wanda and Leszek wear large hats. A port, ships, sailors, ships, a cruise ship. The family visits the port, the shipyard, moored Batory ship. A crowd of people at the embankment. A shot of the building, on which there is a sign with the inscription “Polish Ocean Lines. Gdynia. Port Office’’. Loading of the Batory ship, passengers on board. An older film, ca. 1955. Częstochowa. Wanda and Leszek walk down an alley, holding hands. In the distance, we can see a church tower. Children run down a path, holding hands. A field behind a barbed wire fence. Wanda and Leszek walk in the forest. The children stand by Zygmunt’s motorbike. A holiday trip of the Oparowski family (probably to Żarki). Children crouch on the banks of a river. Maria, Wanda and Leszek walk down a road. A panorama of a mountainous landscape, fields with haystacks. Shots from a beach by the river, children play in the water. Maria sits Leszek on an inflatable frog. 1960/1961. A holiday trip of the Oparowski family to the seaside. Gdynia. Batory ship sails out to sea. A trip to Gdańsk. Maria with children in the street. Sightseeing the old town, the statue of Neptune. An aerial shot of the old town.

(PB)