March 2021 will marked the first anniversary of the death of Dr Ewa Unger, co-founder of the Krzyżowa Foundation for Mutual Understanding in Europe and long-time chairwoman of its board, long-time president of the Club of Catholic Intelligentsia in Wrocław, a Wroclaw native who worked throughout her life for Polish-German understanding.
As an active member of the Club of Catholic Intelligentsia in Wrocław, Dr Ewa Unger had since the 1970s maintained contact with Catholic lay groups in the Federal Republic of Germany and with members of the Action Reconciliation Service for Peace (Aktion Sühnezeichen) in the GDR. She became a mainstay of the partnership between the parishes of Wrocław and Dortmund, which in the 1980s was characterised by an exceptional will to help and solidarity with the Polish population suffering from a lack of food and medicines.
Dr Ewa Unger has been honoured for her services by the Polish state (Knight's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta) and the German state (the first woman from Wrocław to be awarded the Federal Cross of Merit by the President of the Federal Republic of Germany), as well as by the city of Wrocław (President of Wrocław Award), the municipality of Świdnica (Honorary Citizenship of the Świdnica Municipality) and the Marshal's Office of the Lower Silesian Voivodship (Golden Badge of Merit for the Lower Silesian Voivodship).
The Krzyżowa Foundation for Mutual Understanding in Europe, the Club of Catholic Intelligentsia in Wrocław and the Dortmund-Wrocław-Lviv Foundation of St. Hedwig were organising a commemoration of the life and work of Dr Ewa Unger on 13 March 2021.
- 11.00 - Holy Mass in the St. Lawrence Church in Wrocław
At 11.00 a.m. a concelebrated Holy Mass took place at St. Lawrence Church in Wrocław, presided over by Father Janusz Śliwa SJ, with participation of Father Michał Czajkowski and Father Wojciech Zięba. The homily was delivered by Father Adam Żak SJ.
After the Mass, the invited guests spoke:
− Dr Jacek Pluta - Deputy Director of the Department of Social Affairs of the Wrocław City Hall
− Hans Jörg Neumann - Consul General of Germany in Wroclaw
− Teresa Mazurek - Mayor of Świdnica Municipality (the letter was read by Janusz Waligóra, Spokesman of the Świdnica Municipality Office, on behalf of the Head of the Commune)
− Bp Waldemar Pytel - Bishop of the Wrocław Diocese of the Evangelical-Augsburg Church and Parish Priest of the Evangelical-Augsburg Parish in Świdnica
After the Mass, the participants went to the nearby cemetery, where flowers were laid and candles lit on the grave of Dr Ewa Unger.
- 17.00 - Memoirs of Dr Ewa Unger [online; ZOOM platform]
At 5 p.m., the second part of the ceremony took place - a memorial meeting, which took the form of an online event. Participants in the discussion included:
− Stephan Steinlein − Head of the Federal President's Office and co-founder of the Krzyżowa Foundation for Mutual Understanding in Europe,
− prof. Krzysztof Ruchniewicz − Director of the Willy Brandt Centre for German and European Studies.
The meeting also included a presentation of a new bilingual publication about the life and work of the late Dr Ewa Unger, which was told by its author, Dr Annemarie Franke.
The discussion was moderated by Dr Urszula Pękala from "Krzyżowa" Foundation for Mutual Understanding in Europe and concluded by Professor Waldemar Czachur, Chairman of the Council of "Krzyżowa" Foundation for Mutual Understanding in Europe.
The ceremony to mark the first anniversary of the death of Dr Ewa Unger was held under the honorary patronage of the President of Wrocław, Jacek Sutryk, and of the Consul General of the Federal Republic of Germany in Wrocław, Hans Jörg Neumann.
