A Book at the Museum: A Place for Healing Bodies and Souls. A Meeting with Błażej Ciarkowski

Together with Czarne Publishing, we invite you to a discussion of Błażej Ciarkowski’s book *Remontownia ciał i dusz*. Beata Chomątowska will be speaking with the author.

 

How did the architecture of leisure in the People’s Republic of Poland (PRL) come about? Who went on vacation, and who stayed at sanatoriums? The story of vacations in the PRL begins with mistrust. Immediately after the war, vacation was not a given, but rather a proposal that the “working masses” first had to be introduced to. The state organized leisure activities from the top down—in sanatoriums, company resorts, and summer camps—and created a system intended to encompass millions. Specific places recur throughout this story: from health spas and mountain resorts to seaside resorts and forest enclaves. Krynica, Ustka, Kudowa, Szczawnica, and many, many others—each becomes the setting for similar experiences.
The author reveals two layers of this world. On the one hand, there are the investments, plans, and administrative behind-the-scenes efforts involved in building and managing these centers—the state’s struggle to cope with shortages and the sheer scale of the undertaking. On the other—the everyday life of vacationers: cafeterias, excursions, mandatory entertainment led by camp counselors, and children’s summer camps. From letters and complaints, a picture emerges that is far from the propagandistic ideal, full of minor tensions and disappointments. In people’s memories, however, the story of fun, community, and idyllic vacations endures.

 

This is a report on a system that was supposed to bring happiness to the masses, and on the people who tried to find their place within it. It is about memories captured in photographs and postcards, and about a reality that was more complex than a nostalgic memory.