Inkwell

After the end of the Second World War, Polish people began to arrive in Szczecin to make a fresh start, either on their own initiative or under compulsion. Alongside the formation of a Polish administration, Polish education also began to be organised. For many residents, the opening of the first schools served as a signal that life was slowly returning to normal. As the political situation became more stable and the level of security increased, the need for education in Szczecin grew steadily, and the baby boomers began attending schools, so more and more new facilities were being opened, one of which was the VII Liceum Ogólnokształcące (Comprehensive Secondary School No VII), inaugurated on 2 September 1968. Its first headmistress was Czesława Baran (1933-2006), a native of Lwów (Lviv) and Polish language teacher who had previously headed the State Pedagogical Secondary School No. 2 in Szczecin. Through her efforts, on 22 April 1972, the school was the first in Poland to take the name of Krzysztof Kamil Baczyński - a Home Army soldier and poet - chosen by the young people themselves. Under the supervision of Czesława Baran, an amateur theatre, choir and orchestra were formed, and the Mikołaj Kopernik scout troop "Przyjaźń was also operating under the auspices of the school. She was headmistress of the school for nearly 23 years, until her retirement in 1991. After her death in 2006, some of her personal effects were donated to the collection of the National Museum in Szczecin. Among them was a fairly well-preserved glass prism-shaped inkwell, which Czesława Baran had bought with her sister Stanisława Szczęsna when they were still living in Lwów. Anna Lew-Machniak