Janusz Wścieklica was born in Łódź. He lived there until the outbreak of the war, in a house which was on the corner of Główna and Kiliński streets, in the center of Łódź. Today we can find Główna Street only on the old layout of city. During the modernization of the town centre, Główna was widened and buildings close to it were demolished. Through this spot – more or less – runs one of the main roads – Aleja Mickiewicza. On the old layout of the city Janusz quickly found a place dear to his heart. Memories were revived. He was a student of elitist Merchant’s School which was placed on Narutowicz Street. The way from home to school was not long, however he went by tram every day to get there. There were days when he wanted to save money for sweets and sometimes spent the money to buy his favorite Halva and went to school on foot instead.
The war surprised the Wścieklica family in Trawniki on Lubelszczyzna where Janusz’s father was finishing building a textile factory. They supervised this investment till the end, the factory was scheduled to be completed in September 1939. But the World War II thwarted them in it- first, Germany invaded this land and then on 17th September the soldiers of Red Army. The family decided to go back to Łódź. Janusz was told that the scene of crossing a border on the bridge from Andrzej Wajda’s movie “Katyń” is very realistic, he went through it and he remembers it exactly in the same way.
After returning to Łódź, Janusz continued to study for a short time until the city was taken over by the Third Reich. Afterwards the whole family moved into Janusz’s mother’s country house. It was situated near Łódź but on a newly created territory of the General Governorate. Here on the so called “komplety” he graduated junior high school. After that the family was forced to move to Warsaw. In 1942, as an 18-year-old man he enlisted to the National Military Organization. In the course of time he became a shooting instructor and he trained members of the resistance. In December 1943 he was arrested by the Gestapo. For 10 days he was imprisoned along with his sister Krystyna in “Pawiak”. During transportation process, probably to the concentration camp in Treblinka, he managed to escape. He returned to Warsaw to later fight in the Warsaw Uprising. He joined the Uprising with the few days delay because by the end of July while trying to get some guns he was wounded in the arm, which was put in a cast. After getting better, he fought in Mokotow and in Śródmieście. After the end of the fighting and surrendering, like most of the insurgents, he was put into German captivity, to a transitional camp in Pruszków. After it shut down Janusz ended up in a Stalag in Sandbostel, in North Germany where he stayed until the end of war. Like many other insurgents after the war he went to Belgium. There he took up studies in electrical engineering because he wasn’t able to finish his metallurgic education in Brussels. He was an exceptionally bright and hard-working student, he tried to take part in as many practical courses and training practices as he could do to get the necessary experiences. While others played and discovered the pleasures of Belgium and adjoining countries he worked hard. After a few year stay in that country, where he received the Polish government’s scholarship for expatriates, in 1949 an opportunity to travel for complementary studies in the USA. After weighing all of the pros and cons, Janusz decided to continue his education in Pittsburgh metallurgy in Carnegie Institute of Technology and later on he got his diploma from the administration in an A grade by Hamilton Institute of New York. Janka – his fiancée- went with him to the USA where, in 1950, they got married. An opportunity of a lucrative job in Brazil arose. In that time the country needed specialists because of the mining of huge iron ores. The Wścieklica’s didn’t wait long to make the decision and in 1950 they moved to the South American continent.
At the beginning for twelve years Janusz worked as the chief of the large furnaces in Joao Monlevade in the state of Minas Gerais. At the time it was one of the most modern ironworks in the world. It belonged to the Belgian company Belgo-Mineira. After that he became the supervisor of the company’s factory in Sabara, in the state of Minas Gerais. Later on, for decades he was the director of a few companies. For 15 years – from 1967 to 1982 – he worked as the supervisor of a special steel factory and production director in Mogi das Cruzes near Sao Paulo. It was his dream job. He always wanted to take part in the production of special steel for a very long time. During his time the factory’s production increased three-fold and the foreign (mostly Swedish) specialists were replaced by Brazilian. After finishing working in Mogi das Cruzes his biggest professional challenge awaited him. For five years (between 1982 and 1986) he supervised a huge American company owned by Daniel Keith Ludwig – Compania Florestal Monte Dourado in Jari in South Amazonia by one of the last side stream of the Amazonian river. It was a huge plan to exploit Amazonia’s natural resources. The company’s main aim was to produce cellulose and paper. Trees which grew quickly were grown – eucalyptuses and Californian pine. Cattle were bred, cross breeding different species. Agriculture was present, rice was grown thanks to the appropriate climate conditions. Large industrial conglomerates were set up – cellulose factories and processing factories. A Kaolin factory was built which was used to produce the finest quality paper. Many modern and innovative technologies were used. A huge cellulose factory and a power plant were brought from Japan. The factories had to be transported over two oceans. The arrearage of this American consortium was only a little bit smaller than the territory of Belgium. In the height of the season the factory employed over 35,000 workers. They were mostly kabokl’s brought there from the Amapa and Para states.
Project-Jari became very popular and controversial. It caused great emotions and interest. In 1983 it was visited by Jari Jacques – Yves Cousteau – one of the greatest ecologists, working to preserve the natural environment. At the beginning his outlook was negative but after some cruises with Janusz on the “Calypso” (a ship/lab) he changed his mind.
Apart from their professional life, the Wścielica family were passionate about the world surrounding them. They eagerly discovered new lands and met new people. In his spare time Janusz organized fishing trips. He loved diving, especially in the night. He went fishing in his own motorboat called “Mewa”, he went through many rivers: Jari, Xingu, Tapajos and the Amazonian. He caught huge Pintado and Surubi in them. He was no stranger to hunting in the Amazonian jungle and horse-riding. His wife and his two sons often accompanied him on these trips.
After years of work in the Amazonia they left for a completely different environment. They once again settled in the largest city on the continent – Sao Paulo – with a population of 18 million. Here they lived in a comfortable apartment in a quiet neighborhood of Higienopolis. But they longed for the untouched nature and the adventures that came with it. They bought a large yacht in which they went on oceanic escapades. The boat was new and especially designed to suit the needs of its owners. They didn’t have to think long to come up with a name for it. They were so closely related to Warsaw that calling it “Syrena” meaning Natural – even though it’s meaning had to be explained to every Brazilian.
We met the Wścieklica’s not only in Brazil. During one of the visits in Poland we greeted them with “knedle” – which are noodles with plums. For Janusz it was a trip back to his childhood, to the meals which his mother made in the sixties in his family home in Łódź. For so many decades he didn’t taste them. We had no idea how much joy and memories this rather simple meal could bring.
We were extremely proud as we watched as Janina and Janusz Wścieklica were given consecutive orders and promotions. They both were given the Pro Memoria medals – given to the repressed people. On 16th August 2008 in the Polish Culture House in Sao Paulo during a ceremony commemorating the Warsaw uprising and the Polish Army Day the General Consul gave Janusz a promotion to Mayor. It was a profound occasion, all of the speeches were made in Portuguese. Only Janusz thanked in the language most dear to his heart – Polish. That is how I still remember him.
Janusz passed on to fulfill his eternal duty and he is sailing now on the clouds and watching us from above. His wife – Janka – often visits Poland and always remembers us.
Photos © from the private archive of Wścieklica’s family.