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.

Another problem was that following the closure of the Esslingen camp for Displaced Persons (DPs) at the end of 1945, an urgent need arose to find accommodation for the students and staff. After many attempts to resolve the situation by the college director, Lepkaluk, which included the establishment of a training centre on the site of the former camp, the “Emergency Aid and Rebuilding Administration of the United Nations” (UNRRA) decided to classify the new institution in Esslingen as a separate camp, thus preventing the threat of closure and making it possible to consider plans for further developments. The headquarters of the new campus were moved to Schelztorstrasse 54 (which still exists today), used by the Stiefelmayer company. The transfer of other buildings and facilities to the college for academic use was of key importance in its further development, since the factory site included not only a kitchen, but also a canteen, showers, a central heating facility, a food storage warehouse and a polyclinic. The former factory halls on the upper floors were converted into rooms and the first students were able to move in as early as January 1946. The conversion of the factory halls into living accommodation required a tremendous amount of effort on the part of the college directors, and was only made possible thanks to considerable support from the UNRRA, the mayor of Esslingen and an entrepreneur called Eberspächer, the owner of the building at Kanalstrasse 33. Thanks to these combined efforts, all the staff and students were able to move into the buildings. The official opening of the first academic year at the Polish Technical College (PTC) in Esslingen (the Polska Wyższa Szkoła Techniczna, or PWST) took place on 26 January 1946 in the presence of representatives of the UNRRA and the occupying power, as well as the students, many of whom had been members of the Polish guard companies or units of the Polish Armed Forces in the West (Polskie Siły Zbrojne na Zachodzie, or PSZ). The rapid growth of the PTC and the large number of students made it possible, after the first official semester in September 1946, to set up the next structural unit: the Faculty of Civil Engineering. There was also an informal department of humanities, which supplemented the technical curriculum with its range of different subjects. 

In March 1946, the “spiritus movens” of the college project in Esslingen, Eng. Lepkaluk, left Germany. He was replaced for a short time by Eng. Witold Skuba, who headed the college until December 1946, thus securing its continued existence. The new Faculty of Civil Engineering, which was created primarily on the initiative of Colonel Wejtko, began work at the start of the second semester of 1946. Its foundation coincided with the dissolution of the Polish Technical School (Polska Szkoła Techniczna) in Aschaffenburg, which had been established by Eng. Alfred Ruebenbauer (1894–1977), who before the war had been the chief architect of the city of Lviv (German: Lemberg; Polish: Lwów) and an academic teacher at the National Polytechnical University there (Politechnika Lwowska). The faculty was headed by Prof. Eng. Stanisław Marcinkowski, a former director of a civil engineering college. The teaching staff at that time included Eng. Alfred Ruebenbauer (geometry), Eng. Stefan Waldorf (steel and reinforced concrete structures), Eng. Kazimierz Błaszczyński (technical drawing and surveying). However, the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering also acquired new teachers. Pastor Henryk Kaiszan became the college chaplain. From that point on, MA Józef Moos was responsible for teaching Polish and the other humanities subjects.

In mid-1946, under increasing pressure from the UNRRA for the DPs to return to their homelands more quickly, storm clouds gathered over the PTC, as the tendency to link the work of the college with the goal of repatriating the DPs became evident. Here, the director of the college at the time, Captain Florian Szczepański, played a key role. After disparate views were expressed as to whether or not it would be better to return to Poland, it ultimately emerged that most of the teachers wished to remain in occupied Germany. In opting to do so, they expressed their dissatisfaction with the situation in Poland and their closer alignment with the government in exile in London. In the autumn of 1946, a new director was appointed, and the threat of closure of the college was averted for the time being. In the debate surrounding the future of the college, most of the DPs were concerned with the fundamental unresolved question of whether to leave or remain in Germany. This notwithstanding, on 23 October 1946, the future of the college was again in doubt after the UNRRA demanded its closure. As a result of this decision, teaching was halted for a week and the staff were no longer issued their food rations. Work in the college was only able to resume after Karol Rozmark, the Chairman of the Congress of the American Polonia (Kongres Polonii Amerykańskiej), and Colonel Antoni Wiłejko from the Polish Military Unit (Polska Sekcja Wojskowa) of the US occupying power in Frankfurt/Main intervened against its closure.

Then, in January 1947, the directors of the PTC again received notification that the college would be closed, this time by the middle of the year. This deadline coincided with the cessation of the work of the UNRRA [in Germany – translator’s note]. The news was delivered to the college by the director of the local UNRRA office, Pinczon du Sel. According to the plans, the ongoing semester was to be brought to a close by 15 May 1947. In the interim, in February 1947, the college had also lost its financial backing following the disbandment of the Polish Armed Forces in the West (Polska Sekcja Wojskowa PSZ). However, the college was able to remain open thanks to the successful efforts of the directors, who were able to secure the money needed from the Culture and Education Fund (Fundusz Kulturalno-Oświatowy) of the Polish guard companies in the US Army. In 1947, the Day of the Polish Constitution of 3 May 1791 was celebrated on the campus. This was followed by an exhibition of the Faculties of Mechanical Engineering and Civil Engineering documenting the achievements of the teachers and students. 

Even so, on 30 June 1947, the administration at the UNRRA moved the college and the campus in Esslingen together with its residents 25 km further away in the direction of Ludwigsburg. They did so despite the involvement of Karol Rozmark, Prof. W. Folkierski, US Congressman Karol Burke, General Lucius Clay, the President of the United States and Colonel Garner from Stuttgart – as well as protests by the teachers and students. Those affected were housed in very poor conditions in the Mikołaj Kopernik (Nikolaus Kopernikus) camp on the site of the Karlskaserne barracks, where four teachers’ families were accommodated in one room and 22 students in one large hall. 

As a result of the move to this other camp, which meant that students and teachers had to travel to Esslingen and back every day, the school directors decided to reduce the number of teaching hours to six per day, while remaining firmly committed to continuing to provide tuition despite all the obstacles. Several months later, on 5 November 1947, the International Refugee Organization (IRO) transferred a building on the site of the Arsenalkaserne barracks in Ludwigsburg to the college, where it again established a campus, the “College Camp”. This building not only fulfilled all the expectations of the college directorship, but also provided a good standard of accommodation for all staff and students. It also contained a reading room and a common room. The leader of the Polish guard company in Esslingen, Captain Stefan Władyka (1918–2015), became the director of the college. In light of the new situation, the college directors contacted Dr Szczepan Zimmer (1903–1984), the head of the Central Committee for School and Education Matters in Germany (Centralny Komitet dla Spraw Szkolnych i Oświatowych w Niemczech), the largest Polish schools authority in Germany during the post-war period, although their prospects were not improved as a result. When the currency reform was introduced in mid-1948, the financial situation at the PTC deteriorated to such an extent that the college directors felt obliged to give up their old building at Kanalstrasse 33 in Esslingen (which by that time contained only the college laboratories), despite the support of the Culture and Education Fund. In addition, the college headquarters were transferred to the training centre in Ludwigsburg, and from there, to the Ignacy Paderewski camp on the site of the Karlskaserne barracks. The conditions for learning there were anything but favourable. 

When in mid-1948 a large number of students decided to emigrate to Australia, only around 100 students remained to begin the final, sixth semester, and the threat of final closure loomed ever larger. As a result of the lack of infrastructure, along with the steep decline in the number of students and teachers, the work of the college gradually ground to a halt. At the end of June 1949, the college operation finally came to a close, and was officially terminated on 3 July 1949. 

 

Organisation of studies and curriculum
 

When the college was opened, it offered the equivalent of a middle-level school course in mechanical engineering that also included technical drawing. However, it emerged that education among the Polish youth had suffered during the war and the years of occupation, and as a result, general, i.e. humanities subjects were also offered. The college’s first curriculum was oriented towards the lower-level technical colleges in Germany and the schools in Poland that had existed before the war, such as the Wawelberg and Rotwand School of Mechanics and Technology in Warsaw (Szkoła Mechaniczno-Techniczna Hipolita Wawelberga i Stanisława Rotwanda w Warszawie) and the School for Mechanical Engineering in Poznań (Szkoła Budowy Maszyn w Poznaniu). The college curriculum spanned five semesters, with 50 teaching hours from Monday to Friday and five on Saturdays. According to the college guidelines, admission was open either to students with a middle-level school leaving qualification or to those who passed an equivalent level entrance exam in mathematics, physics and Polish. The “minor qualification” was sufficient for participation in the introductory (propaedeutic) semester. 

The Faculty of Mechanical Engineering primarily offered tuition for future engineers in the field of machine construction, steel construction and the construction of hardening plants and lifting gear. At the Faculty of Civil Engineering, future architects and engineers learned how to plan and build roads, bridges and pipe systems. The general subjects, which were taught at both faculties, included mathematics, physics, chemistry, hydraulics, electrical engineering, materials science and applied geometry. The humanities subjects were Polish, history, geography, religious studies and English, and were also provided to help students prepare for their higher school-leaving exams. 

At the end of 1946, the PTC had 278 enrolled students, of whom 142 were studying for three semesters at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, 69 were at the Faculty of Civil Engineering and 67 were in their introductory semester. In March 1947, there were 235 students at the college (including nine of the Jewish faith, two Bulgarians and one Belarussian), of whom 160 were studying at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, 63 at the Faculty of Civil Engineering and twelve in the propaedeutic year. In October 1947, the fifth semester began at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and the third at the Faculty of Civil Engineering. At that point in time, 228 students were enrolled, including the introductory semester and the preparatory semester. During the final year of operation at the college, the number of students decreased significantly to just 100 or so as a result of emigration, mainly to Australia. 

One problem remained throughout: the question of which form the school directors should use to certify the qualifications obtained by issuing diplomas. The request for such a regulation came mainly from the students who wished to continue their studies. In 1948, at least a partial solution was found when the college came within the remit of Dr Szczepan Zimmer, although the central schools authority headed by him was responsible only for the administration of middle-level schools, which by nature did not issue higher education diplomas. The committee, which consisted of university professors and research assistants, and which investigated the matter at the request of the Polish authorities, concluded that the college in Esslingen was a higher education institution. The same conclusion was also reached by the directors of the German School of Engineering after approving the curriculum of its Polish counterpart. However, regrettably, neither the directors of the PTC nor the authorities in exile in London were able to reach a final agreement regarding the diplomas. The discussions finally ended with the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering awarding the title of “Technical Mechanical Engineer” and the Faculty of Civil Engineering the title of “Architect” without any formal regulation. Some students, such as Stanisław Jarmakowicz, received a diploma in construction technology, while others, such as Bolesław Budzyń were awarded the title of “Mechanical Engineering Technician”. Finally, however, the courses completed at the PTC were recognised by many Polish and foreign institutions, while graduates of the full programme of studies were permitted to use the title awarded to them. 

It is also worth noting that the PTC offered its students the option of taking the “Abitur” exams [equivalent to A-levels – translator’s note]. The preparatory course for these exams was provided independently of the teaching in Esslingen. In 1947, 48 aspirants gained their higher school-leaving certificate in this way, followed by 41 in 1948. Overall, over 500 students enrolled at the college in the time it was in operation, although only a small number of candidates succeeded in completing the full programme of studies in Esslingen and Ludwigsburg. Those who emigrated to Australia, Canada or the United States during this period, or who had returned to Poland, continued their studies in the technical subjects in their respective countries. One such former student of the college in Esslingen is Major Professor Leszek Żukowski, who lives in Poland. Major Żukowski had previously participated in the Warsaw Uprising and as a former soldier in the Home Army was President of the World Association of Home Army Soldiers (Światowy Związek Żołnierzy Armii Krajowej) for many years. 

 

Student life
 

The students at the Polish Technical College were supported by the “Fraternal Student Aid” organisation (Bratnia Pomoc Studentów), which among other things provided funds for the bed and board of students in need, organised “Dar Narodowy 3-go Maja” (“3rd of May People’s Donation”) donation campaigns and published its own magazine called “Bratniak” (“Brothers”). The student activities were paid for by the Education Fund of the [Polish] Guard Companies (Fundusz Oświatowy Kompanii Wartowniczych), the National Catholic Welfare Conference (NCWC) and many other aid organisations. The first editor of “Bratniak” was Bolesław Budzyń, who wrote a monograph about the history of the Polish Technical College. His deputies were Stanisław Jasiński, secretary Julian Waszyński and accountant Tadeusz Bielak, who together with Jerzy Huppenthal and the members of the review committee, Jerzy Klepek, Bolesław Szostak and Antonii Bartkowiak, were members of the board. Bolesław Budzyń headed the magazine until it ceased publication. Later, his deputies were Aleksander Cmielewski and Stefan Wójcik, while Edward Placek acted as secretary and Józef Kołodziej as accountant. The “Brotherly Student Aid” publication programme was run by Stanisław Węgielewski. Wiktor Mejnartowicz was responsible for organising events, while Adam Pośpieszny took care of the business side of the enterprise, Bolesław Muszyński ran the sports section and Jan Szała was the contact person for the press. The chairman of the selection committee was Zdzisław Traczyk, while the review committee consisted of Stanisław Czaczuń, Jerzy Klepek and Tadeusz Rakowski. Tadeusz Sawaszkiewicz, Jan Wampuszyc and Wincenty Tomala were the arbitration panel. 

While the aid organisation was in existence, the students not only celebrated national public holidays, but also helped to meet the cultural needs of the DPs. They even played an active role in the local Stuttgart radio station. The first programme that they produced for the station was broadcast on 2 January 1949; the second was broadcast at Easter during the same year. After the college was disbanded, Benon Bartel continued to produce the radio programme with a great deal of dedication. 

The students’ aid organisation also provided wide-ranging social support, which primarily benefited disadvantaged students in need, who were nominated by the selection committee and who then received learning materials, for example. There was also a publication section, which provided printed versions of the lecture scripts written by the teachers, including publications such as “Maszyny parowe I i II” (Steam engines I and II), “Mechanika-statyka” (Mechanics – Statics), “Kinematyka-dynamika” (Kinematics – Dynamics), “Metalografia” (Metallography), “Od rudy żelaza do gotowego wyrobu” (From Iron Ore to the Finished Product), “Wytrzymałość tworzyw” (Resistance Properties of Materials). The standard reference work of the “Bratniak” publishing house was “Geometria analityczna” (Analytic Geometry). The publishing section also organised exhibitions of works. The most important of these were dedicated to works by students from the two faculties, and were held from 2 to 24 May 1947. At that time, they not only documented the skills and knowledge of the teachers, but above all the level attained by the students at the college.

The PTC also had its own choir, promoted sports activities and had a press division run by students, which relieved the administrative burden on the college directors. In most cases, the publications were included in magazines and newspapers such as “Kronika”, “DP Express”, “Słowo Katolickie”, “Tęcza”, “Przegląd Literacki”, “Lech” and “Ostatnie Wiadomości”. Occasionally, they were also accepted by the editors at the “Orzeł Biały” and “Dziennik Żołnierza” newspapers. Aside from the “Brotherly Student Aid” organisation, the students were also supported by a branch of the YMCA. The YMCA organised and funded 25 lectures, five excursions, three chess tournaments and 24 volleyball competitions, while in winter, there were even skiing holidays in the area around Oberstdorf and Garmisch-Partenkirchen, which meant that the activities run by the two organisations overlapped. 

 

The teaching staff
 

It should be noted that most of the teachers at the PTC had been working in engineering professions before the war, and that they had experience teaching young adults at middle- and higher-level education institutions. The teachers at the college included Pastor Baloniak, Eng. Tadeusz Bauml, Eng. Elżbieta Bejgrowicz, M.Eng. Witold Bieżański, Eng. Kazimierz Błaszczyński, Eng. Antoni Bogolewski, Eng. Jan Borowiec, Eng. E. Burdajewicz, Eng. Józef Greczek, Eng. Antoni Kaczyński, Pastor Henryk Kaliszan, Eng. Tadeusz Karasiński, Instructor M. Kowalski, Eng. Stanisław Kral, Eng. Jerzy Kuryłenko, Prof. J. Krzyżanowski, Eng. Zygmunt Kuźniarski, M.Eng. Mikołaj Lepkaluk, Eng. Myron Lepkaluk, Eng. Jan Lilienstern, Prof. Eng. Stanisław Marcinkowski, Pastor Dr Jan Manthey, Eng. Paweł Michel, Instructor Stefan Modliborski, M.Eng. Józef Moss, Instructor H. Nędzyński, Instructor L. Nowiński, Eng. Jan Obrębski, Eng. Konstanty Okólski, Chapel Master Jan Ordon, Pastor Jan Pamuła, Eng. Alfred Ruebenbauer, Eng. Julian Skowroński, Eng. Witold Skuba, Eng. Władysław Snarski, M.Eng. Jan Sprzednicki, Eng. Stanisław Stolle, Eng. Roman Tkacz, Eng. Zygmunt Turliński, Instructor M. Urbaniak, Eng. Jan Wagner, Eng. Stefan Waldorf, Eng. Tadeusz Waldorf, M.Eng. A. Wiącek, Eng. Paweł Widera, Instructor Kazimierz Wierzchołowski, Instructor Bolesław Wiśniewski, and Instructor Franciszek Zając. 

There is not enough space here to name all the teaching staff here in full. Special mention should be made of Eng. Marcinkowski, who studied at the Technical College in Munich, and who completed construction projects in Russia after graduation, before returning to Munich after 1945, where he taught civil engineering at the UNRRA university there. Later, he emigrated to Chicago together with a group of PTC students. Another person who deserves particular mention is Eng. Alfred Ruebenbauer, a graduate of the Technical College in Lviv, who worked as a building site inspector in a large number of different places. Among other projects, he headed the expansion of the Krynica spa town and the restoration of the citadel in Lviv. After the end of the war, he promoted the expansion and further development of technical education measures in the US zone of occupation in Germany. The philologist MA Moos also came from Lviv, and worked for the PTC until he emigrated to the US. Meanwhile, Eng. Jan Obrębski had previously studied at Warsaw Polytechnic (Politechnika Warszawska). He wrote several books, brochures and articles, which were published in Germany after the war. His most important work, on metallography, was published in 1947 by the “Dom Książki Polskiej” (“Polish Book House”) publishing house in Stuttgart. Polish priests also helped with the running of the PTC, including Jan Pamuła (1911 – n.d.), Henryk Kaliszan (1911 – n.d.) and Dr Jan Manthey (1906 – n.d.). Krystyna Schulman, Zofia Okoń-Okólska, Zofia Hauck and Irena Obrębska were also responsible for the college administration. In mid-1947, the college staff was joined by engineers Stanisław Stolle, Tadeusz Karasiński, Julian Skowroński, Tadeusz Waldorf, Zygmunt Turliński and M.Eng. Jan Srzednicki. 

 

Epilogue
 

The graduates and students of the Polish Technical College later moved to all corners of the world, yet they maintained the relationships formed at the college even after they left the US zone of occupation. The ties among them were so strong that in 1949, they decided to form a Former PTC Members’ Circle (Koło Byłych Członków PWST). However, the first meeting of the group did not take place until the end of 1978, at the home of Adam and Johana Zielinski in Plainfield, Connecticut, in the US. In the years that followed, meetings were held on a fairly regular basis. The group met for a second time in 1981 in the Sedgefield Country Club, at the home of Bolesław Szostak in Greensboro, for a third time in 1983 at the Polish-American guesthouse run by Józef Bękarciak in New York State, and for the fourth time in 1985 at the Montrose Motor Inn, close to the Niagara Falls in Canada. In 1986, the PWST Alumni Association was founded. In 1987, a fifth meeting took place in Orchard Lake, and in 1989, the group met for a sixth time at Techny Towers in Chicago.

 

Łukasz Wolak, April 2018

 

Archival records:

• The Polish Institute and Sikorski Museum in London (Archiwum Instytutu Polskiego i Muzeum im. gen. W. Sikorskiego w Londynie)
• City Archive (Stadtarchiv) Ludwigsburg
• Pracownia Badań nad Polską Emigracją w Niemczech po 1945 r. w Instytucie Historycznym Uniwersytetu Wrocławskiego

 

Bibliography:

Budzyń B., Z dziejów Polskiej Wyższej Szkoły Technicznej w Esslingen/Niemcy 1945–1949, Nowy Jork/Kraków 1990.

Hładkiewicz W., Meandry polityki. Życie polityczne emigracji polskiej w zachodnich strefach okupacyjnych Niemiec 1945–1949. Liderzy-organizacje-poglądy, Zielona Góra 2011, p. 298 [bio of Dr Szczepan Zimmer].

Wolak Ł., Leksykon członków i działaczy Zjednoczenia Polskich Uchodźców w RFN 1951-1993, [bio of Alfred Ruebenbauer, unpublished fragments, Oficyna Wydawnicza ATUT].

Wolak Ł., Zapomniana polska szkoła w Esslingen, „Moje Miasto – Czasopismo polonijne dla Ciebie”, nr 02/59, marzec–kwiecień 2017 r., p. 5.

Żaryn J.,Taniec na linie, nad przepaścią”. Organizacja Polska na wychodźstwie i jej łączność z Krajem w latach 1945–1955, Warszawa 2011, p. 215–311 [diary of Stefan Władyka].