The Polish Technical College in Esslingen (1945–1949)

A short summary of the college’s history
 

The creation of the Polish College and its work can be traced back to the Displaced Persons (DPs) camp in Esslingen. The inspiration for establishing the college was originally put forward by Eng. Stanisław Nowicki and his fellow campaigners, who included Józef Jastrzębski, the head of the camp, Dr Tadeusz Janusz and the engineers Jerzy Kuryłenko, Roman Tkacz, Paweł Widera and Myron Lepkaluk. They all had the idea of creating a Polish college on the camp premises in order to counteract the oppressive sense of hopelessness and increasing demoralisation among the Polish youth. During the first enrolment period for students, which at that time was still organised with the help of the Polish guard companies and the camp administration, 49 candidates submitted an application. Of these, just 15 passed the admission exam, however, while the remaining aspirants were required to participate in preparatory courses. Myron Lepkaluk became director of the college, and also taught mechanical engineering and physics. The teachers included Roman Tkacz (mathematics and technology), Eng. Burdajewicz (electrical engineering), Jerzy Kuryłenko and Eng. Kazimierz Wierzchołowski (technical drawing), Karol Widera (statics) and Mikołaj Lepkaluk, Myron’s brother (Polish). English was taught by M. Urbaniak, while Pastor Baloniak taught religious studies. The college opened its doors at a very early date, on 15 May 1945, and first remained on its original premises for a good half year under precarious circumstances. The buildings lacked suitable rooms as well as the basic equipment needed for teaching, particularly technical appliances, laboratories and teaching materials. 

There was no possibility of continuing under such poor infrastructure conditions. Finally, a solution to the problem was found when the college was housed in the building of the Esslingen State School of Engineering on Kanalstrasse 33, still standing today. Since the college fell within the authority of the US military administration, Myron Lepkaluk contacted the officer responsible for such matters, Major Paul Bodenman. Bodenman agreed to make the entire building available to the Polish college, together with its facilities and equipment. This marked the next stage in the history of the Polish College in Esslingen, which benefited greatly in terms of its development thanks to the improved conditions. The director of the college and the teachers set about recruiting the remaining college teaching staff and developing a new curriculum, which was in part based on the curriculum of the German School of Engineering. The second call for enrolment applications exceeded all expectations. This time (at the end of 1945), 300 people registered an interest, and after the entrance exams and the assignment of the candidates to the relevant semester levels according to their ability, it was possible to create the first structural unit. This was the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, which initially included the following teachers: Eng. Antoni Kaczyński (physics and chemistry), Eng. Władysław Snarski (mechanical engineering and statics), Eng. Witold Skuba (applied geometry and metal processing), Eng. Józef Greczek (electrical engineering, thermodynamics and steam boiler engineering), Eng. Antoni Boglewski (machine parts and materials science), Eng. Jan Lilienstern (metallurgy, metallography, mathematics, physics and chemistry), Eng. Konstanty Okoń-Okólski (mathematics), MA Witold Bieżański (Polish), Elżbieta Bejgrowicz (English), Pastor Jan Pamuła (religious studies and geography) and Bolesław Wiśniewski (history). Even though there weren’t many teachers, the college founders were optimistic about its future.