Pair of jackboots

The presented pair of men's tall shoes were made according to the pattern of pre-war jackboots. The vamps and uppers are made of high-quality, black-dyed, vegetable-tanned blank leather, used mainly for saddlery and saddlery products, i.e. horse harnesses and equestrian accessories. The sole is made of butt leather – a very stiff type of leather, and the heels are lined with rubber. The upper part of the shoe was sewn to the sole with double stitches using twine. From the bottom, on the tips and ends of the heels, plates were attached with three nails each. The jackboots were made in Wrocław at the request of Edward Radziewicz's father, Leon, who was fond of military fashion from the times of the Second Polish Republic. However, due to the too stiff and thick skin used for their production, they were never worn. Edward Radziewicz (1948– ) was a port worker in Szczecin, known for his opposition activities in communist times. He was a member of the Polish United Workers' Party, and has been a member of Solidarność since 1980. From May to June 1982, he was in the Internment Camp in Wierzchów (Drawsk county). In the 1980s, he was active in independent trade unions. He was the leader of the strike in the port of Szczecin in 1988, chairman of the Inter-Enterprise Strike Committee, chairman of the Management Board of the NSZZ “Solidarność” Region of Western Pomerania and the only representative of Western Pomerania during the plenary deliberations of the Round Table in 1989. Agnieszka Kuchcińska-Kurcz