Arts & International Affairs: Vol. 4, No. 2, Autumn 2019 | Page 25

ARTS & INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS
in the wake of political changes in Poland. Before that, I was forbidden from leaving the
country.
I am a mathematician by education, I specialised in mathematical logic. However, I also
studied philosophy. I was particularly impressed by neo-Thomism and personalism. I
was an avid reader of Gilson’s works, I studied Maritain. Their thinking revolved around
two issues:
Philosophy should remain within the field of whatever exists and focus
on studying the real world, not the world of sheer opportunities
Every human person possesses a God-given dignity and no one has the
power to deprive him/her of it.
Maritain has also addressed the topics, suggesting the need to create transnational relations.
I also focused on my favourite passage from Kominek’s letter, which I already
quoted here. As a side note, I think that Kominek attended Maritain’s lectures during
his studies in Paris. We should also note that Wroclaw opened up towards its past in
the decade of “Solidarity.” It was only then that the contemporary Vratislavians�firstand
second-generation newcomers�finally felt sovereignty in their own city. The sense
of sovereignty bred openness. In this sense, civic solidarity is one of the sources of my
thoughts and perspective.
4. What challenges did you face while you were making your vision a reality? How did you
overcome them? If possible, I would like to ask you for a few examples of both simple and
complex challenges.
I believe that the process of forming a narrative connected with the identity of Wroclaw
as a city was not a particularly difficult process since it basically encompassed the history
of our city. On the other hand, reality is subjected to strong political will. However, I cannot
tell you the extent to which the imperatives of openness and tolerance imposed on
reality will be sustainable from a social standpoint. I hope for the best. To date, for more
than a decade now, we have been infusing the educational system in Wroclaw�primary
and secondary schools�with these values. The cultural infrastructure of Wroclaw was
expanded with three museums: the Wroclaw History Museum, which presents the 1000
years of history of our city, the Depot History Centre, which deals with the history of
Wroclaw from the end of World War II to contemporary times, and the Pan Tadeusz
museum, which cares for the manuscript of the Polish literary relic�the epic by Adam
Mickiewicz, a Polish national poet. The two new entries to the UNESCO list of World
Heritage Sites, which we managed to achieve, have a concrete and symbolic dimension
since they encompass the multicultural heritage of Silesia and Wroclaw�its capital. The
first entry covers the Centennial Hall�a 1913 monument of architecture designed by
Max Berg, who dubbed it a cathedral of democracy. The Hall is undoubtedly a part of
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