MEMBERS of Alloa’s Rotary Club travelled to Warsaw recently to meet with their Polish counterparts.

On the evening of Monday May 27, four members of the Rotary Club of Alloa attended a meeting of the Rotary Club of Warsaw City in Poland’s capital.

The purpose of the visit was to exchange ideas, gain inspiration and promote friendship and understanding between the two groups.

Alloa president, Alistair Spowage gave a short, illustrated presentation about the local club’s service projects in the Wee County community and also our club’s commitment to Rotary International projects. This was reciprocated with information about the many impressive service projects underway thanks to the efforts of Warsaw City Rotarians.

The visiting Alloa Rotarians had, during their three-day visit, toured the streets, monuments and museums of Warsaw, learning of the city’s devastating tragedy and almost complete destruction during World War Two followed by the deprivations of the communist years.

In particular, the systematic oppression of the Jewish community, first into ghettos, then to the death camp, Treblinka brought home the stark reality of the cruelties of that era.

Past president Mark Krawczynski spoke of his fascinating personal story. His father was a talented young architect committed to rebuilding his beloved but devastated Warsaw.

However, in 1959, he fell foul of the communist authorities and was forced to flee with his wife, and young son Mark, to Australia. There he built a successful career and Mark also became an architect, working on prestigious projects such as the upgrade of the Sydney Opera House.

The family always wanted to return to Poland and in 2004, with both parents now sadly deceased, Mark achieved this and gifted his father’s fine drawings of the planned Warsaw restoration to the city.

As Alloa’s visitors observed, the restoration work is now well advanced, and in such a short period since the destruction, making Warsaw an extremely interesting city to visit today.

In 2012, Mark assembled a talented team of film-makers and secured the services of actor Simon Callow to make a movie, “Out of the Ashes” of his family’s personal history in relation to the destruction and rebuilding of Warsaw.

The story is poignantly underscored by the music of Warsaw’s famous son, Frederic Chopin and a copy was presented to the Rotary Club of Alloa.

The visit was arranged for the club by incoming president Celia Norton.