The battle for Jerzy Ziętek on behalf of the Upper Silesian Rehabilitation Center in Repty lasted six months. It officially ended on Monday, December 19 at the session of the Sejmik of the Silesian Voivodeship, which accepted the petition of the Tarnowskie Góry association Our Self-Government, asking to keep the current name – Upper Silesian Rehabilitation Center “Repty” them. Jerzy Ziek.
The supervisory board of the unit, controlled by law and justice, demanded the removal of the legendary voivode of the name of the GCR. This idea was supported by MP Barbara Dziuk (PiS), arguing about this “decommunization” of public space. The withdrawal of “Jorg” seemed a foregone conclusion. Previously, the Sejmik of the Silesian Voivodeship, in which the PiS had a majority, removed it from the official name of the Silesian Park, which was Wojewódzki Park Kultury i Wypoczynku im. Jerzy Ziek.
Recently, however, the so-called opposition. After the coup, which was made by Marshal Jakub Chełstowski and three advisers (Rafał Kandziora, Maria Materla and Alina Nowak), moving from the PiS to the autonomous movement “Yes! For Poland”, the balance of power in Sejmik has changed. The new majority decided to keep Jerzy Ziętek in Repty.
Interestingly, in the case of Park Śląski, Jakub Chełstowski was in favor of deleting “Jorg”. He said about it: “We changed the name because Park Śląski should unite, not divide. In my opinion, this patron is nothing that creates added value.”
The voivode did not dare to remove Jerzy Ziętek
Jerzy Ziętek was on the list of people who, according to the Institute of National Remembrance, should be decommunized in public space. This means that – in the opinion of the Institute of National Remembrance – the names of the streets, squares, institutions, etc., of which he is the patron, should be changed.
Although Voivode Jarosław Wieczorek (PiS) decided to decommunize many places, did not dare to scratch Jerzy Ziętekwho is considered one of the greatest Silesians of the 20th century. In 2015, he even received the title of the 150th anniversary of Katowice. The popular “Jorg” left behind not only GCR and WPKiW. Without it, there would be no University of Silesia in Katowice, Tysiąclecia Housing Estate, Spodek or the spa district of Zawodzie in Ustroń.
The former voivode has its own monument and a roundabout in Katowice, a bust in the office of the Silesian voivodeship, a memorial plaque in the town hall of Radzionków, as he was the head of the municipality before the Second World War world, and in Bytom one of the housing estates bears his name.
