One-Hundred-Year-Old Teresa Martewicz Visits the Marshal

Marshal Piotr Całbecki welcomed Teresa Martewicz, a resident of the Obrowo municipality near Toruń, to the Marshal’s Office today. Mrs. Martewicz celebrated her 100th birthday on May 1. Along with wishes for many more years in good health, she was presented with the Marshal’s Medal Unitas Durat Palatinatus Cuiaviano-Pomeraniensis.

“Dear Jubilant, I would like to warmly congratulate you on reaching such a beautiful age and wish you many more years of health and happiness. A centennial anniversary is an age that is almost unimaginable to us. I am pleased to present you with a medal for merits to the entire region, because your whole life deserves to be honored with due respect. Thank you for your work, for raising your children, for helping raise your grandchildren and great-grandchildren, for your everyday efforts, and for the love you have given your family. We have been awarding this medal since 2018 to commemorate Poland’s regained independence, and we will continue to do so. I am happy that today I can welcome our Jubilant in such excellent condition,” said Marshal Piotr Całbecki during the meeting.

“With great respect, we bow before your beautiful life. We are deeply moved to see how much love surrounds you from your closest family, because it is something extraordinary and remarkable. We simply thank you for your presence, for helping shape the history of Poland and of our region. All the very best to you, and may the love of your loved ones always surround you,” emphasized Chairwoman of the Regional Assembly Elżbieta Piniewska during the ceremony.

The Jubilant did not hide her emotion while receiving the medal and wishes also offered by Regional Board Member Marek Wojtkowski, Regional Councillor Józef Łyczak, and the village head of Zawały, Alicja Tarkowska.

Teresa Martewicz was born on May 1, 1926, at the Płonko estate in Golub-Dobrzyń County into a landowning family. She is the daughter of Ludwika and Bolesław, a volunteer who fought for a free Poland during the First World War and who was later exiled to Siberia. After escaping exile and wandering for many years through Russia and Ukraine, her father returned to reborn Poland around 1922. He died tragically in September 1939.

When the war broke out, Teresa was 13 years old. As the eldest of four siblings, she helped her mother manage the household and care for the younger children. She remembers the war years as a time of hunger, hard work, and constant fear. After turning fourteen, she was sent to forced labor at an estate in Biakowo near Golub-Dobrzyń, where she worked for several months. During the war, she narrowly escaped death thanks to a dramatic escape from a railway transport – after being warned by a Russian soldier, she jumped from a moving train together with her cousin. During the jump, she injured her knees, and she still feels the effects of those injuries today.

From an early age, she placed great importance on education. She began school at the age of six in Płonne. In order to receive the best possible education, during the final years of her schooling she walked 8 kilometers each way every day. Before the war, she completed seven years of primary education and dreamed of continuing her studies, but the war interrupted those plans. After the war, she began studying at the Teacher Training High School in Toruń, but difficult living conditions, illness, and repression by the communist authorities following the loss of the family estate forced her to discontinue her education. She later completed accounting courses in Szubin and Kruszwica. She worked as an accountant and also ran a farm.

Mrs. Teresa raised two daughters and has one granddaughter and two great-grandchildren. Despite her age, she remains in good physical condition, and her loved ones emphasize her warmth, patience, and complete devotion to her family. She most enjoys spending her free time reading books and caring for plants, which are her great passion. She lives in Zawały in the Obrowo municipality together with her daughter Jadwiga and her husband.

The regional self-government has been honoring centenarian residents of the region since 2018. More than five hundred people have received the Unitas Durat Medal so far. Families of regional residents who will soon celebrate their 100th birthday, as well as those already older, are encouraged to contact the office by phone at +48 56 62 18 344 or by email at: stulatkowie@kujawsko-pomorskie.pl

Beata Krzemińska
Press Spokesperson for the Marshal’s Office

May 13, 2026