On a holiday Monday, January 16, we visited the “Kolejarz” House of Culture at 30 Kosciuszko Street. We were guests of Mieczyslaw Kogut, President of the Kolejarz Association of Cultural Animators, a respected cultural activist.
In Jaslo, the cultural life of the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries blossomed in the railroad library “Railway Workers Family”. In this environment at the turn of Iat 1924/1925, the Music Society of Railway Officers “Railway Harmony” was established The “Kolejarz” House of Culture, at 30 Kosciuszko Street in Jaslo, as we know it began to operate in the 1950s.
In the “Kolejarz” firmed for many years by the railwaymen’s trade unions, social and cultural life, mainly musical and theatrical, developed with special care. In its glory years, the institution was subsidized by the Polish State Railways Jaslo Station, whose long-time head was chorister Michal Rymarz.
Adults have sung in the Men’s Choir “Echo” since 1921, when the vocal group centered at the Gymnastic Society “Falcon” (the building of the current cinema “Syrena”) by music lover Roman Karakiewicz was joined by the existing choir “Lutnia” there, and the youth of Jasiel Gymnasium and Fara were also included.
“Echo” has graced many various secular and religious ceremonies. It sang 36 times during the Sunday Mass from the Holy Cross Church and the Polish Army Cathedral in Warsaw, which was broadcast by Polish Radio’s First Program. This special one with the then Primate of Poland was celebrated on the second anniversary of Stefan Wyszynski’s death. “Echo” along with other choirs sang at Masses attended by Pope John Paul II Rzeszow (1991) in Krosno (1997, Stary Sacz (1999) The choir sang at the 2016 wafer meeting of railroad workers in the chapel of the Archbishops of Krakow with the participation of Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz then Metropolitan of Kraków.
Albin Gryboś, long-time conductor of the choir and orchestra, trained the “fry” for the band in the youth orchestra at the Trzcinica School Complex. It happened that the boys also served a kind of artistic apprenticeship in military orchestras, so that after completing their basic service they could power the railroad ansambl. Conductors were Roman Karakiewicz, Wojciech Świstak, Stanisław Świerad, Bolesław Pater, Jerzy Wiktorczyk, Franciszek Mucha, Tomasz Urbanek, Stanisław Polak, Tadeusz Dubec, Albin Gryboś, Wojciech Świstak, Ewa Klasa – Wojdyła, Janusz Budziak, Paweł Oszajca, Stanisław Świerad, Andrzej Maźnicki Jan Augustyn, Piotr Larysz, solo parts Bolesław Grzesiak, Jerzy Orlikiewcz. In 2021, despite the pandemic managed to organize the 100th anniversary of the “Echo” choir.
The Railway brass band also has a rich tradition. It played at May 1 manifestations, festivals, patriotic events, funerals. It gave concerts at the Jasielsk House of Culture, in the Park , at the Market Square. Partly the musicians powered the orchestra for Corpus Christi. Together with the “Gamrat” orchestra it played in the memorable Tournament of Cities Jaslo – Krosno on May 30, 1965. We remember the excellent conductors Jozef Maleczek, Piotr Krawczyk, Jan Gajdzicki, Adam Kurc, Roman Sorys, Stanislaw Pater, Albin Grybos Jan Szmyd, Ireneusz Fatyga. From January 1, 2007, it operated as a city-railroad brass band ended in 2019. Now there is a City Brass Band in Jasło.
In the “Kolejarz” also worked directing the institution, Stanislaw Resiula. He led numerous ensembles, when necessary accompanying on the accordion in the club, at a bonfire or on a trip on the train or railroad holidays.
Stanislaw Resiuła was also active in “Kolejarz”, managing the facility. He led numerous ensembles, when necessary accompanying on the accordion in the club, at campfires or on trips on the train or railroad holidays.
In the facility on Kosciuszko Street for many years – until 1985 operated the cinema “Kolejarz.” It was, so to speak, the heir of the pre-war “Harmonia” cinema, which had already been operating in the 1920s as the first public cinema in Jaslo in the building of the Music Society of Railway Functionaries “Railway Harmony” next to the railroad ramp in Metzger Street. The silent films were, of course, accompanied by a railroad symphony orchestra.
In the “Kolejarz” on Kosciuszko Street there was a renowned theater group, also with pre-war traditions, directed mainly by Antoni Grochowski.
There was also a folk band and numerous big beat, stage and feasting bands. There were discos, games for children, farewells to pensioners, wafers’ meetings, social receptions, weddings, name days, gatherings of pigeon breeders, beekeepers, various exhibitions. The large hall was used for band, orchestra and choir rehearsals, and table tennis was played. A military draft board had its seasonal headquarters here.
Halls were rented for meetings with important politicians. He was here: Marek Kuchcinski, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, Janusz Palikot, Przemyslaw Gosiewski, Kornel Morawiecki and our parliamentarians Bogdan Rzonec, Stanislaw Zając, Maria Kurowska.
In the heyday of “Kolejarz”, the manager of the house of culture was the indomitable Wladyslaw Zola, who played czynel in the orchestra. He organized, with flair, in Jaslo, the National review of brass bands with a parade finale in the Market Square. The community also organized in the 1980s the “Railway Man’s Autumn of Song and Dance,” gathering bands from all over the region in Jaslo.
The “Kolejarz” facility has always been owned by the trade unions of the Polish State Railways. At present (2023) the building is owned by the Federation of Trade Unions in Warsaw, which has decided to sell the building.
Since 1992, the facility has been managed by the Association of Cultural Animators Kolejarz, whose founder was Michal Rymarz, while the current chairman is Mieczyslaw Kogut, who once ran a library in the community center with a book collection of 6,500. Everything, they had to, as an association to buy the railroad authorities instruments, equipment, sheet music, now after the liquidation of the business they can sell all the equipment. In recent years, there was a furniture store in the cinema hall, in other rooms there was an accounting and tax office, a repair store for household appliances, a Yamaha music center, a law firm.
Mr. Mieczyslaw functioned in this environment for many years, animated the activities and administered the operation of the facility. Now he will liquidate what is material, chronicles, memorabilia and trophies for our Regional Museum. He will probably keep the boards showing a map with the places where the choir performed in Poland and Slovakia, and a list of the towns in which the brass band cantered.
The chronicler of the railroaders’ exuberant cultural activities has been Waclaw Jamer since 1996; earlier, until 1995, chorister Tadeusz Jasko documented everything.
Task force.
The GGP task is implemented within the framework of the project: “Jasło – City of Knowledge” implemented within the framework of the project financed from the funds of the EEA Financial Mechanism 2014-2021 and the state budget titled “Jasło – my city, my home”.
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