When we meet, intensive renovations are under way at Jan Kruk’s house in Stary Waliszów, although it’s already the end of July. The house is very close to the river, you can already hear it on the doorstep. The plasterwork had to be removed up to the very ceiling in order to dry the bricks, which were heavily saturated with water.
‘I’ve lived in Stary Waliszów since 1962,’ says Jan. ‘In the past, people used to live in one place as long as possible, while today I see new faces in the church all the time.’
John recently turned 85 and only moved once in all that time. He currently lives alone, his wife, with whom he spent almost his entire life, recently passed away. He passes his time reading history books. He himself is also the author of two such works, one is dedicated to the history of Stary Waliszów and its inhabitants.
‘The idea for these books came from my father-in-law,’ explains Jan. ‘He was a staunch patriot. He was even imprisoned in the communist era in the time of the 3xYES referendum. He had many national decorations and diplomas. In these books we wrote down the entire history of the people from Tarnowica Polna who were evacuated to Stary Waliszów in 1944. This work took us 15 years. We went from one house to another, talked to people, collected photos, sorted out facts to save it all from oblivion. And to leave something behind on this Earth.’
The September flood was not a first for Jan. ‘The last year’s flood was my tenth. The river flows right by my house, so there’s no rescue for me. Now, again, everything had to be reworked up to the ceiling.’
Was he ever thinking of moving? ‘My father-in-law was a patriot and moving out wasn’t an option. I had the urge to move out a couple of times, but as my father-in-law didn’t agree, so we stayed. And these floods are no good. We were always terrified. We used to check out how high the water was, when the rains fell. But we never decided to give up on everything and leaving home.’
Last time, the water was exceptionally high. ‘I was evacuated to Bystrzyca [Kłodzka – ed.]. But I also became optimistic because there were plenty of people helping. One could take a different view of the human solidarity. It has never been seen on this scale. This time there was great help.’
Jan is optimistic about the future. He has children and nine beautiful grandchildren. He says he’s very happy. ‘My father-in-law taught me to stay positive, he didn’t care, so I try to copy his relaxed attitude. I was only sorry once because water flooded my computer, which I used to work on my books. But you have to take it easy.’
Jan’s story is part of the exhibition “Water Mark. One Year After the Flood”, which will be on display at Plac Centralny in Warsaw from September 5 to October 5, 2025. The exhibition features photographs by Aleksander Małachowski (@hashtagalek) as well as photos from PAH’s archives, taken by Alicja Ryś. They show the places affected by the September 2024 flood, as well as the people who received support from PAH. The exhibition is also available HERE.
Do you like the photos from the exhibition? Donate any amount to photographer Aleksander Małachowski’s fundraiser and receive 6 photos selected by him! After making a donation, you will automatically receive an email with the photos ready to download.
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Download the Polish Humanitarian Action’s report on post-flood activities.
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