Oparowscy Family Archive

Zygmunt Oparowski, Maria Oparowska (née Gorzelak), Wanda (their daughter), Lech (their son), Andrzej and Elżbieta Gorzelak (their cousins), Napoleon Proniewicz, Ewa Proniewicz (Napoleon’s daughter), Napoleon’s son, and Gertruda Michalska.

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.

A film from a holiday trip of the Oparowski family to the mountains. A close-up of Wanda, Maria and Leszek surrounded by nature. Maria, with a stick in her hand, walks down the mountain, followed by Wanda and Zygmunt. Leszek and Wanda look at an information map entitled “Muszyna Zdrój”. Visiting Muszyna Zdrój, Wanda and Leszek walk around the town. A panorama of the town. Signposts with the inscription “Krynica” and “Piwniczna”. Wanda approaches signposts on a tourist trail (unreadable inscriptions). The accommodation where the Oparowski family stayed in. Leszek, carrying wood, enters the hut. A map of Krynica with PTTK sign (Polish Tourist and Sightseeing Society). Inside the mineral water pump room in Krynica. The inscription on the wall – “built in 1935”. A shot of the Parkowa Góra cable car that reaches the upper station. Probably an account from a school trip of Leszek’s class. Pieskowa Skała Castle, Zygmunt Oparowski walks around the courtyard. An information board with the inscription: “Museum in Pieskowa Skala”. Boys near Maczuga Herkulesa (“Cudgel of Hercules”). Shot from the inside of the coach with the participants of the trip. Inside the museum, hunting trophies hang on the walls. Inside the room where the boys spent the night. Leszek lies on one of the beds dressed in his pajamas. Częstochowa in winter. A short shot of Zygmunt, Maria and Wanda Oparowski walking in the falling snow. A summer trip to a holiday resort in Dziadówki. Zygmunt, Maria and Leszek pick up mushrooms in the forest. Wanda and Leszek are inside a camping house. We can see a bunk bed. Maria sits in front of the house on a sun lounger. Zygmunt peels mushrooms at a table set up in front of the house. Maria combs her hair in front of the mirror and paints her lips with lipstick. A mountain landscape. Maria, Zygmunt and Wanda walk the road, Maria looks at herself in a folding mirror and touches her hair. Leszek walks down the road under an umbrella. Maria and Leszek pick up fruit from the bushes. 1960 or 1961. Christmas in the apartment of the Oparowski family in Częstochowa. Apart from the Oparowski family, the film shows their cousins, Andrzej and Elżbieta Gorzelak. Inside the apartment. We can see a dressed Christmas tree and a TV turned on. Wanda and Leszek with their cousins, Andrzej and Ela, dance and fool around in front of the camera. They cover Andrzej’s eyes with a scarf. Near the Christmas tree, there is Maria dressed in a black dress as a sign of mourning after her mother’s death. A shot of the TV screen. An animated film for children. Very short shots: Maria sits with a newspaper on her lap, next to Elżbieta with an open book. Leszek is in bed, covered with a duvet. A close-up of the TV screen: singing black singers, then a ballet performance. In the following shots, the youth fight on the beds. A walk on embankments at Jasna Góra. Maria, dressed in a coat with a fur fox collar, walks in the company of Wanda and her cousin, Andrzej. Wanda’s purse falls, Andrzej picks it up. Maria with her children and cousins walk along the monastery wall. Maria poses for the camera. Zygmunt with Wanda, Ela and Andrzej go towards the camera, holding hands. Cracow, a visit paid to cousins, the Proniewicz family, on the occasion of the First Communion of their son. Wanda, Napoleon Proniewicz, Gertruda Michalska (aunt Gilunia) and Napoleon’s son dressed in a white First Communion outfit – a jacket and short trousers – walk down the street. Wanda waves at the camera. A priest, in a coat and a cassock, joins the group. We can see passing cars and a tram. This is the area of today’s ul. Lea and ul. Królewska in Cracow. Gertruda, Wanda and the boy walk down the street. Gertruda, Ewa Proniewicz (Napoleon’s daughter), Wanda and Leszek stand in front of the building with the plate “ul. 18 Stycznia 16, dz. Zwierzyniec”. Częstochowa, a park near the monastery at Jasna Góra. Leszek with a camera. The view of Jasna Góra Monastery. A street, signposts: “Warsaw”, “Katowice”. In the street, there is a bus (a Jelcz, “Ogórek”) and two militia officers on a motorcycle. Leszek walks down the street in front of a large building. Cracow, the First Communion of the son of the Proniewicz family. Inside the church, the priest gives the First Communion to the gathered children. Scenes in front of the church, Napoleon Proniewicz’s son approaches the camera. Group photographs of girls and boys in First Communion clothes. Wanda, Napoleon, the priest and boys pose for photographs. The family is in the courtyard of Wawel.

(PB)