Ceremony marking the re-unveiling of a plaque commemorating the 30th anniversary of the Founding Congress of the revived Association of Siberian Deportees in Kraków

A ceremony to re-unveil a plaque commemorating the 30th anniversary of the Founding Congress of the revived Association of Siberian Deportees in Kraków.
On May 13, 2026, in the Hall adjacent to the Main Auditorium of the University of the National Education Commission in Kraków, as part of the celebrations marking the 80th anniversary of UKEN in Kraków, a ceremonial re-unveiling of the plaque commemorating the 30th anniversary of the Founding Congress of the revived Association of Siberian Deportees in Kraków took place. It was precisely here, 44 years after the end of World War II, that approximately a thousand Siberian deportees gathered, able for the first time to speak openly about their past. They gathered in the auditorium around the names of the most well-known towns to which they had been exiled. Thus began the renewed operation of the Association of Siberian Deportees – Kraków Branch.

The ceremony was attended by representatives of the Association of Siberian Deportees, led by President Wanda Puszko-Tarnawska. The large gathering was welcomed by His Magnificence the Rector of UKEN, Prof. Wojciech Bąk. First Vice-Governor of Małopolska Elżbieta Achinger also addressed the assembly.

The ceremony was also attended by: Dr. Michał Wenklar, Deputy Director of the Kraków Branch of the Institute of National Remembrance; Dr. Bogna Halska-Pionka – Representative of the Mayor of Kraków for Cooperation with the Scientific and Academic Community, representing Kraków Mayor Aleksander Miszalski; Stanisław Kracik – Deputy Mayor of Kraków; Joanna Florkiewicz Kamieniarczyk – Director of the Department of Restoration of Krakow’s Monuments and National Heritage at the Małopolska Provincial Office; Marcin Tatara – Representative of the Governor of Małopolska for the Integration of Veterans and Victims of Repression; His Magnificence Prof. Andrzej Szarata, Rector of the Krakow University of Technology; Robert Springwald – representative of Dr. Jarosław Szarek, Director of the Home Army Museum; Prof. Jacek Chmieliński – Vice Rector for Education at the University of the National Education Commission in Krakow; Aneta Wójcik – Chancellor of the University of the National Education Commission in Kraków; Prof. Łukasz Tomasz Sroka – Chair of the History Department Council at UKEN in Kraków; Prof. Konrad Meus – Director of the Institute of History and Archival Science at UKEN in Kraków; Prof. Hubert Chudzio of the Institute of History and Archival Science at UKEN in Kraków.
The plaques were dedicated by the chaplain of the Siberian Deportees, Father Jerzy Pająk.

Photo: Małopolska Provincial Office, Center for Documentation of Deportations, Expulsions, and Resettlements at the University of the National Education Commission in Kraków.