TOWARDS ECONOMIC RECONSTRUCTION
85 years ago, on the southeastern outskirts of Poland, in the geographical triangle of security, the sides of which were formed by the Wisła River, the San River and the Carpathian range, the construction of a powerful industrial center began. The biggest investment challenge of the Polish interwar period – the Central Industrial District – was to be an answer and a cure for the post-abduction civilizational backwardness of the Polish lands, the economic crisis and the scourge of unemployment.
Adopted by the Sejm in early 1937, the plan to build the CID made the territory at the forks of the Vistula and San rivers the largest construction site in Eastern Europe for more than two years. From March 1937 to September 1939, 45 major and mid-sized as well as 60 small factories were built here, providing employment for 110,000 people. The enterprises came out of the hands of Polish engineers, foremen and skilled workers arriving in the CID area from almost every corner of the country. The modern technologies that were used to launch factories and the construction of plants with a broad spectrum of production provided the entire region with a powerful civilizational advancement. The Central Industrial District became the largest modernization project of the Second Polish Republic, thanks to which the previously economically backward southeastern part of Poland recorded an industrial and urbanization leap. Although World War II prevented the completion of this ambitious concept, the CID still remained a forward-thinking initiative, and traces of its legacy survive to this day. The project comprehensively combined issues of military security, national economic development, regional policy and the social and material advancement of a large segment of the population. It precisely marked out geographic boundaries, the economic specialization of individual regions, and clearly identified sources of funding by establishing partnership principles of cooperation between the state and private entities. By focusing attention on modern and extremely important to Poland, steel, chemical and armaments industries, activated economically backward areas. Today, it is a testament to Polish technical thought, commitment and determination, a monument to the great efforts of society in the pursuit of economic, economical and social stabilization of the country and faith in Polish success.
The exhibition “Toward Economic Reconstruction…” was prepared on the occasion of the 85th anniversary of the Sejm’s approval of the plan to build the Central Industrial District. It consists of twenty boards, which present the most important issues related to the history and heritage of the CID. The exhibition consists of archival photographs, which immortalize the builders and organizers of CID, key economic investments, urbanization works and a number of issues related to the production of CID factories and plants. The exhibition is supplemented by boards presenting the new Museum of the Central Industrial District, the opening of which will be one of the highlights of this year’s anniversary celebrations. The title of the exhibition is taken from a 1937 publication entitled. “Toward Economic Reconstruction. State Investment Guidelines,” which published a speech by Deputy Prime Minister Eugeniusz Kwiatkowski and speeches by ministers of various ministries. They were delivered on February 5, 1937 at a meeting of the Sejm’s Budget Committee approving the CID construction project.
Exposition date: from 4.02.2022
Exposition location: Faculty of Mechanics and Technology of the Rzeszów University of Technology in Stalowa Wola, 4 Kwiatkowskiego St.
