‘For the one who abides in the memory of the living does not die’*
Aurelia Lewińska, the 107-year-old oldest resident of the region, who was awarded the Unitas Durat Palatinatus Cuiaviano-Pomeraniensis Medal by the Marshal of the Voivodeship, has passed away. – She will remain in my memory as an inspiring person, full of energy, curious about the world and endowed with a great sense of humour,” wrote Marshal Piotr Całbecki on social media.
She was born on 24 July 1917 in Volhynia, in a family with patriotic traditions; her father was killed during the 1920 Polish-Bolshevik war. She survived the Volhynian slaughter, and during the Second War she cared for two orphaned children. After the war, she settled in Iwiczna near Warsaw, where she met her future husband (they married in December 1945). They lived together for 53 years, ran a small farm and a small hotel together, had four children, and later also had grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
Mrs Aurelia lived the last quarter of a century in Toruń, where she lived with her daughter. Despite difficult experiences – two wars, the wave of genocide in the Polish Eastern Borderlands, the difficult post-war period in a country in ruins and torn by political conflict – until her last days she exuded joy of life, openness to others, and curiosity about the world. This is how we will remember her.
We extend our heartfelt condolences to her family and loved ones.
(*In the title a quotation from a poem by Father Jan Twardowski)
Beata Krzemińska
Spokesperson of the Marshal’s Office
15 May 2025