Juliusz Leibel's photograph for documents

The portrait photograph en face of Juliusz Leibel (1896-1944), Emilia née Grossbart's husband.

Juliusz Leibel had two older brothers and a sister. The Leibel family had previously lived in Wadowice, and Juliusz Leibel attended secondary school there (the same school in which Karol Wojtyła later studied). However, he did not pass his matriculation exam because he was conscripted into the Austrian army.

It is impossible to establish the exact date or to indicate with certainty where this photograph was taken. From the age of the portrayed, a man of about 40, it can be assumed that it was taken in the 1930s. Its author, as indicated by the dry stamp at the bottom of the obverse, is Janina Mierzecka (1896-1987), an outstanding photographer who gained international recognition already in the interwar period; at that time she was mainly associated with Lviv. Towards the end of her life she published her memoirs Całe życie z fotografią (A Lifetime with Photography).

The photograph was never, apparently, used for a documentary. It survived being taken by her family into exile and became one of the few mementos of Leibel, who eventually died inside the Soviet Union.