Mieczysław Kościelniak, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Date of Death
TweetMieczysław Kościelniak
Polish artist
Date of Birth: 
Place of Birth: Kalisz, Greater Poland Voivodeship, Poland
About Mieczysław Kościelniak
- Mieczyslaw Koscielniak (Polish pronunciation: [mj?'t???swaf k?'?t???l?ak]; 29 January 1912 in Kalisz – 5 March 1993 in Slupsk) was a Polish painter, graphic designer, and draftsman, brother of Wladyslaw and Tadeusz Koscielniak. Already a prominent artist, he was arrested in 1941 and sent to the Auschwitz concentration camp.
- His camp number was 15261.
- In the camp he drew about 300 paintings depicting the everyday life of prisoners.
- His work is currently displayed in the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum.
- During his imprisonment in Auschwitz, he met fellow prisoner Bronislaw Czech, a three-time Polish Olympian, and helped refine Czech's artistic talents.
- He also befriended Maximilian Kolbe, a Catholic priest who died in Auschwitz and was canonized by the Catholic Church in 1982. At the end of the War in May, 1945, he was liberated by the 3rd Armored Cavalry Group at the Ebensee Concentration Camp in Austria, near the town of Seewaichen on the Atter Kammer See.
- He painted a number of portraits of U.S.
- military personnel at that time, including one of Colonel James H Polk, commander of the 3rd Cavalry Group (now in the possession of Col.Polk's family).
- Koscielniak became a member of the Association of European Culture (SEC), and was awarded the National Education Committee Medal, the Gold Cross of Merit, and the Medal in the Service of Polish Education. After the war, Koscielniak moved to Warsaw, then to Ustka in 1979 and finally, in 1989, to Slupsk.
- He died in 1993 and is buried at the Ustka cemetery.
- One of the streets of the city now bears his name.
Read more at Wikipedia