Summary of the interview with my grandpa and parents

Part 1: Days before the Second World War

            Before the war my grandpa lived in a small village called Kolodenka, nowadays this area belongs not to Poland, but to Ukraine. His family had their own farm and it was generally self-financing. The whole village (except from the school) had no electricity and there was only one engine machine – a mill. People did not use any cars or other diesel machines. Only natural fertilizers have been exploited there. In this part of Poland you could find only few factories and manufacturing plants, located only in bigger cities. It was a common situation in the whole eastern part of Poland before the WWII.

Part 2: Studies

            After the war grandpa studied in two quite big cities – Cracow and Torun. He studied mechanics and technology to become an engineer. However, according to my grandpa’s story, environmental issues were not present in the program of studies. Even in the theory of industry nobody cared about the environment.

Part 3: Times of socialism in Poland

            Those times were very hard for our environment, I think. Generally environmental issues were not broached in media, schools, universities or in the everyday life. It was normal that rivers and lakes stank and many people threw their wastes in forests or meadows. Electricity was produced in the simplest and cheapest way – in thermal-electric power stations. Waste segregation, recycling, alternative energy sources, pollution, high CO2 emission – these expressions were not present in the consciousness of the society. It was almost impossible to see a filter installed on a chimney, even something like sewage treatment plant was a rare thing.

My grandpa worked during these times in a big factory called Pafawag – locomotives and wagons have been produced there. According to his story if any ecological processes were put into effect, the main motivation was to reduce production costs and make some savings but not to care about the environment. So in the factory the same water had been used many times and production wastes from turning lathes, milling machines or electroplaters were reused in foundries. By the good weather employees worked in sunlight, so the electricity was put by. Special conferences were often organized for technologists, scientists and engineers but there were discussed mainly economical and technological issues but not the environmental problems.

            Such situation was caused by socialistic ideology. Priority belonged to the plan – it had to be realized, no matter what the costs are. Centrally-planned economy had its own financial problems, bigger than everyday problems of capitalism. Neither the scientists nor simple people thought about environmental issues because of different priorities. Even now, 20 years after socialism’s end, it is sometimes hard to convince our society about the importance of protecting our environment.

 My parents: