Świecie receives rare 1920 photograph of first Polish starost

A rare 1920 photograph documenting the early years of Polish administration in Pomerania has been returned to the Świecie district. Włodzimierz Górzyński, the grandson of Stanisław Wojnowski, and his wife Danuta donated the original interwar-era image to local archives.

The photograph depicts Stanisław Wojnowski, the first Polish starost of Świecie following the end of Prussian rule, surrounded by officials and employees of the starosty. Wojnowski, an independence activist and later a member of the Sejm of the Second Polish Republic, assumed office on January 25, 1920.

The Wojnowski family was displaced from their estate in Kończyce following World War II and communist land reforms, resulting in the loss of many family heirlooms. This surviving photograph had been preserved by subsequent generations in Bydgoszcz before its return to Świecie. The image will undergo professional conservation and will be used for historical education and regional heritage purposes.