A Polish School in Jaroty
Object's description
Jarocka 65
A lost plebiscite which took place in Warmia in 1921, did not discourage the native population of the region to fight for their Polishness. Thanks to the efforts of a political activist, Jan Baczewski, in 1928 the German authorities issued the authorization for the opening of Polish schools in the area. After ten years, in southern Warmia there were already 15 such schools. One of them was opened as an initiative of Józef Malewski and Jakub Barczewski – residents of Jaroty, which is currently a district of Olsztyn but which used to be a village. The facility functioned in the years 1930-1939 in a family house of Barczewscy. With the outbreak of World War II, the school was closed and then demolished. In 1957, a plaque commemorating the school's activities was unveiled on the preserved red-brick building. The building is located opposite the 19th century Chapel of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, which was built into the contemporary church of the Virgin Mother of God, Mother of the Church. In the post-war years the former school housed a kindergarten and now it locates a library and a therapeutic day room.