I AM THEREFORE ASKING YOU TO STOP WORKING ON THE MUSEUM. STANISŁAW SANKOWSKI’S WAY TO ESTABLISHING A MUSEUM IN RADOMSKO

In 2020, we are celebrating 50 years of theStanisław Sankowski Museum in Radomsko, officiallyestablished on 1 July 1970. However, it was already from1946 that Stanisław Sankowski, a history teacher, hadbeen collecting documents and exhibits related to theregion among the students of the First Secondary Schoolin Radomsko. He appealed for them to be collectedin the school newsletter and in 1958 in the ‘GazetaRadomszczańska’ paper. The appeal was successful,and the collections started to grow. At that point therewas no mention of a seat for the Museum, so initially,as approved by the school Headmaster, the Museumwas housed in the school building. It seemed that itwould find a home there for longer, particularly as theschool was given a new building. When it turned outthere was no separate room available for the exhibition,the school hall was adapted for the Museum exhibits.This, however, was not to the liking of the schoolauthorities; the Deputy Headmaster, who, interestingly,happened to be a historian himself, forbid the works tobe continued. For some time the Museum’s activity wassuspended, yet finally S. Sankowski decided to move thecollected exhibits to his own flat. Excursions, even fromaround the country, were invited to visit it. Meanwhile,S. Sankowski continuously tried to be allocatedsome facility where the Museum could be housed.The efforts were accelerated by the mention of theRadomsko Museum in a private flat in a programme on Radio Free Europe. Soon afterwards, the homefor the Museum was found: initially, they were3 rooms in the building of the town authorities, laterthe whole ground floor, while in the mid-1970s itwas allocated almost the whole building of theformer 1859 Town Hall. The Museum had enjoyedfirst successes even before the formal establishment;these were undoubtedly the finds that broughtarchaeologists to Radomsko and their subsequentdiscoveries. What needs to be appreciated, though,i s f i rst a n d fo rem o st t h e ed u cat i o n a l effo r t o fS. Sankowski and his promoting activities. Many yearslater, in 2008, the Radomsko Regional Museum wasnamed after its instigator and creator.