Z czynności Komitetu Kopca Kościuszki od 16 kwietnia 2020 do 16 kwietnia 2021 roku

Abstract

PROCEEDINGS OF THE KRAKÓW KOŚCIUSZKO MOUND COMMITTEE FROM 16 APRIL 2020 TILL 16 APRIL 2021

The year under review was exceptional and extremely difficult due to the pandemic. The final preparations for the 200th anniversary of the Kościuszko Mound and Committee were underway and it was possible to inaugurate it on 16 October 2020. The programme of the celebrations included a piano recital by Natalia Czekała from Warsaw, playing compositions by Chopin and Kościuszko, Jerzy Trela’s reading out documents from 1820, which were fundamental for the Mound and the Committee, and the opening of the Kościuszko Museum, more specifically the multimedia and interactive exhibition Kościuszko – a Hero Still Needed. The jubilee will last until 24 November 2023. The Wawel Cathedral Chapter, Jagiellonian University, the Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences, the National Museum, the Museum of Kraków and the Society of Friends of Kraków History and Heritage have accepted partnership in the celebrations, and the honorary patronage over the whole event was assumed by Andrzej Duda, President of the Republic of Poland. Despite the efforts of the Committee (a poster in the public space, announcements on the Internet, printed invitations, etc.), the attendance at the ceremony and the response in the mass media were poor. However, we received many congratulations from collaborative institutions in Poland and abroad (including West Point, Rapperswil, Soleure and Sydney). We successfully minted the Medal of the 200th anniversary of the Mound and the Committee designed by Professor Czesław Dźwigaj. On the initiative of the President, a yew-tree was planted under the southern ca-ponier to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the Committee. We reconstructed and unveiled the Kościuszko plaque on the townhouse in Loretanska Street, destroyed by the Germans during the Second World War. The need to periodically close the Mound and the exhibition reduced attendance and affected the bottom line. We started a general conservation and renovation of the chapel of Blessed Bronislawa with its adjuncts (sacristy, crypt, warden’s chamber and staircase). In 2020 and 2021, on 24 March, for the first time since the end of the Second World War, the ceremony at the Kościuszko Oath Plaque did not take place due to the pandemic. However, the Committee laid floral bouquets onthe slab on those days. A number of events took place at the Committee’sheadquarters, on the curtain terrace and in the covered courtyard, notably the announcement on 4 July 2020 ofthe decision to establish the US Army’s V Corps Forward Command in Poland.