Amphora, vase

After the end of World War II, Poles started coming to West Pomerania, either voluntarily or involuntarily, to start a new life here. Gradually, the Polish administration came into being and the process of establishing a Polish school system also started. The success of this mission depended on the commitment of the teachers who came to these lands from all corners of Poland. Among them was Janina Szczerska (born on 22 October 1897 in Stryj, died on 10 July 1981 in Szczecin) – a former prisoner of the Ravensbrück camp and director of the pre-war State Female Middle School in Siedlce. Shortly after her arrival in Szczecin, in May 1945, at the request of the then superintendent of the West Pomeranian School District – Stanisław Helsztyński – she undertook the task of establishing the city's first middle and general high school. Thanks to her determination and great commitment, on 2 September 1945, the grand opening of the Middle and High School no. 1 could take place. Szczerska moved into a flat on the second floor of a townhouse at Barnima 66 (currently Aleja Piastów 66), taking over the furniture from the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, as well as utensils, including a well-preserved classic amphora vase. In 1976 Szczerska decided that after her death her furniture and personal items should be donated to the collection of the National Museum in Szczecin.

Anna Lew-Machniak