Główne aspekty działalności społeczno-kulturalnej w salezjańskiej parafii św. Krzyża w międzywojennych Kielcach

Abstract

The diverse activities of the Salesian Congregation grew from the initiative of its founder, St. John Bosco. The Salesians were invited to Kielce by bishop Augustyn Łosiński in 1918. The town became their first religious home and parish on the Russian-ruled territory of Poland. The school they had been running there was converted to a school of craft after a carpentry department had been established in 1920. Boys trained to be tailors, cobblers and carpenters. In 1928 only two departments were left ‒ carpentry and tailoring, both very popular among boys from all over Poland. The Salesian institution, however, boasts not only a school, but also a special kind of educational institution ‒ an oratory. The St. John Bosco Salesian Oratory in Kielce was founded on 8 September 1920, thanks to the efforts of Paul Bazgier. Several years later Wojciech Michałowicz decided to take steps to erect a new building with a view to converting the school into a tailoring one. The project was accepted by the regional authorities in Kielce on 6 December 1938. A committee for building the school was set up, but the initiative was thwarted by the outbreak of World War II.