Author meeting about the book "Olsza II – An Unimportant Housing Estate?"

Author meeting about the book “Olsza II – An Unimportant Housing Estate?”

Participants:

• Wiesław Żyznowski
• Mateusz Drożdż
• Fr. Jan Taff SP

Moderation:

• Urszula Żyznowska
• Anna Krzeczkowska-Ślusarczyk

Date: March 17, 2026 (Tuesday)
Time: 18:00
Place: High School of the Order of Piarists (main hall)

Admission free. You are warmly invited.

“Olsza II – An Unimportant Housing Estate?” is not only an attempt at historical reconstruction – above all, it is about people. The book combines the history of the development of Olsza II, one of Kraków’s housing estates, with the recollections and memories of its residents from that period.

Wiesław Żyznowski, the initiator of the publication, who spent the first twenty years of his life in this place, admits that “nostalgia is the main emotion from which this book was born – for the young Olsza II and its inhabitants, for the little-photographed times, for socialist forms and housing equality, for the then strong and sincere reactions to the simplest things. Finally – for the fields, meadows and streams that were built over by the housing estate.”

Mateusz Drożdż, in a historical sketch, colorfully describes the history of the estate.

Fr. Jan Taff SP from the Parish of the Most Holy Name of Mary presents the history and activity of the Piarist Order in the area of today’s Olsza II starting from 1909, when the Polish Province of the Piarist Order purchased land in Rakowice.

This is the first study devoted to the Kraków estate Olsza II. In addition to the historical sketch and memories of former and current residents, the book also contains rich illustrative material, mainly from private collections. Some of these will be presented during the meeting.

You are warmly invited.