Hidden photos from 60s and 70s spark mission to find the people and stories involved
A treasure trove of 500 negatives from the 1960s and 1970s found in the basement of a Youth Cultural Centre in Warsaw has sparked a mission to track down the people and stories behind the images.
The negatives discovered at the Łazienkowska centre and which have been lying hidden for over 50 years, depict people and events related to the centre's activities as well as scenes captured on the streets of Warsaw.
The discovery was made when workers were tidying up the basement and found sealed cardboard boxes with albums of negatives.
A project, called “Stories with a Soul”, has now been created to find the people immortalized in the photos and the people who took them.
Tomasz Tuszkowski, the deputy director of MDK Łazienkowska said: “The albums on top turned out to be empty and we wanted to use them for current activities, but something touched me and I looked deeper.
“And it turned out that under the layer of empty albums are hidden real photographic gems!”
The project hopes to answer questions about the further fate of the people in the photographs and how their participation in the activities of the Youth Cultural Centre may have affected their lives.
Specialists from the Warsaw Academy of Fine Arts' Department of Conservation and Restoration of Works of Art were called in to properly protect and scan the negatives.
A project, called “Stories with a Soul”, has also been created to find the people immortalized in the photos and the people who took them.
The negatives include gymnasts in a sports hall, a youth double bass quartet during a rehearsal, and children taking part in model-making classes.
The project hopes to answer questions about the further fate of the people in the photographs and how their participation in the activities of the Youth Cultural Centre may have affected their lives.
The negatives show gymnasts in a sports hall, a youth double bass quartet during a rehearsal, and children taking part in model-making classes.
There are also photographs of employees of the Municipal Bus Company posing next to a bus, a boat launch on the Vistula River, and the building of the Youth Culture Centre from years ago.
There are also photographs of employees of the Municipal Bus Company posing next to a bus, a boat launch on the Vistula River, and the building of the Youth Culture Centre from years ago.
The building where the discovery was made was built in 1938 thanks to public fundraising and during the occupation it was used as a sports training centre for Wehrmacht soldiers.
After the war, it was rebuilt and became the headquarters of the Polish Youth Association. In 1963, the centre was named after Polish poet Władysław Broniewski.
In a public appeal, the Youth Centre’s Tomasz Tuszkowski said: “If you recognize yourself or someone you know in these photos, or if you know someone who might know something about these photos, get back to us!”
Tomasz Tuszkowski said: “We would like to find out how their fates turned out. And whether participation in the activities of the Youth Cultural Centre affected their lives.
“If you recognize yourself or someone you know in these photos, or if you know someone who might know something about these photos, get back to us!”
Anyone with information can contact the centre at historie@mdk.waw.pl.
