General Anders, Rome |
W Polsce coraz głosniej o wybitnym rzeźbiarzu amerykańskim, wielkim patriocie polskim, słynącym z wielu niezwykle pieknych pomników, w tym katyńskich. O Pityńskim pisał swego czasu Felix Molski, przygotowując tzw Narratives dla wielkiej wystawy z okazji stulecia ANZAC - wystawę tę można było oglądać w sydnejskim Klubie Polskim w Ashfield. Oto tekst tychże Narratives. Nowa rzeźba Pityńskiego stanie w Olsztynie
Andrzej Pityński - Child of the ‘Damned’ and the Baby of ‘Bandits’ Becomes Sculptor Extraordinaire. A story based on "Andrzej Pityński.The Formative Years". Pitynski remembers: ‘One bright freezing moonlit night remains imprinted indelibly in my memory of childhood. At 4 am around Christmas time our front door was bashed in by the UB, MO, ORMO etc. and we were dragged out wearing only pyjamas onto our snow covered front yard. I stood barefoot beside Grandpa, who was holding me tightly by the arm. My mother was crying silently, but I couldn’t cry from the pain when I saw my Dad, standing barefoot, half naked, hands cuffed behind his back, fists clenched, beaten by six UB thugs using truncheons and rifle butts.He was smashed in the face, head, back, legs, all over his defenceless body. Blood was splashing everywhere, his white pyjama pants were crimson red and the snow was no longer white. They threw my Dad’s battered body into a ‘suka’ [nickname for a police van] and it was a long time before I ever saw him again.’
Andrzej Pitynski was born on 15th March, 1947 to Stefania (nee Krupa) and Alexander Pitynski, who first met in a hospital in Jaroslaw after each was wounded during the largest successful battle of Polish partisans against the Soviet and NKVD army at Kuryłowka near Lezajsk on May 7th, 1945. His Dad was only 16 when he joined 3000 partisans fighting 30,000 Germans in the forests of Janow in 1944. Later in the war he linked up with Joseph Zadzierski’s Wolyniaka group fighting the Soviet invaders on Poland’s eastern borderlands.
Ogromna, pozłacana rzeźba Katyńska w Baltimore. Widok z góry |
Ta sama rzeźba Pityńskiego widziana z boku |
Both parents continued to fight against the UB and MO forces of the Polish communist usurpers after WWII ended. However, a month after Andrzej, their first son, was born, Alexander Pitynski wanted to normalise his family’s life so he accepted the Amnesty the Polish communist puppet government was offering partisans, starting February of 1947. One week later Alexander Pitynski was arrested and tortured for six months in Nisku and for four months in Rzeszow Castle. The sadist and drunkard UB Lieutenant Roman Krawczynski was particularly vicious and cruel.
Andrzej’s Uncle, Michal Krupa (pseudonyms Colonel and Willow), his mother’s oldest brother, continued fighting the communists in the eastern borderlands until he was captured by the UB, the Polish secret political police, on February 11th, 1959, at Kulna. Andrzej and his Dad regularly brought provisions and medical supplies on horseback to the forest hideout of Willow’s partisans. Andrzej recounts:
‘While traveling, stirrup to stirrup, along a silver-white Tanew, the sun cast our long shadows on the iced over surface of the river. I would gaze for hours at that mass of moving horse legs, necks, heads, silhouettes of men in saddles with the protruding barrels of machine guns hanging over their shoulders, grenades hanging from their belts, bayonets in their cavalry boots - elongated silhouettes of shadowy horsemen - 'The Partisans'; the last Polish heroes."
I felt then, as if I was one with them. This picture became deeply embedded in my heart and inspired me to create the “The Partisans” sculpture’
Throughout childhood, Andrzej witnessed his family being subjected to frequent and brutal searches and the constant ransacking of their home, including the tearing up of floorboards. In adulthood, with the blood of heroes running in his veins, we can feel Andrzej Pitynski’s experiences in his many powerful sculptures on display in public places in big cities around the world. No doubt, his Mom, Dad, Uncle and their Partisan colleagues are rejoicing triumphantly in heaven.
*Sourced and adapted from 2 interviews of Pitynski. "ANDRZEJ PITYNSKI: The Formative Years"
1. Stefan Komar’s translation of an interview conducted by Piotr Niemec which appeared in ‘Tygodnik Nadwislanski’, Nr 31 (1316)
2. Tomasz Bagnowski’s interview with Andrzej Pitynski published in Nowy Dziennik, March 1st, 2013.
Pomnik Armii gen. Hallera w Warszawie |
Rzeźba Paderewskiego w Doylestown |
Pomnik Patrioty w Stalowej Woli |
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