LUDWIK KRUSZELNICKI – „DŻENTELMEN PIÓRA”

Abstract

Kruszelnicki was a Polish lawyer, journalist, communist activist and sportsman. He spent his childhood and youth in Poland.  In 1925 he graduated from the University of Lviv with a degree in law, but devoted most of his life to journalism. In 1940, he was arrested by the NKVD and sentenced to 15 years in prison for an anti-Soviet satirical piece published a year earlier in one of Poland's most widely read newspapers “Ilustrowany Kuryer Codzienny”.

He managed to escape after the Germans invaded Russia, but was again captured by the Germans and sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp and then Sachsenhausen.

After being liberated by the American Army, the Swedish Red Cross rescued him from starvation.

In Sweden, he met his future wife, Rina Szurek. In 1951, the Kruszelnickis emigrated to Australia with their only son Karl Swen, born in Helsingborg.  They settled in Wollongong, New South Wales, where Ludwik worked for the Water Board. 

For many years he devoted his free time to journalism. He wrote for the press in Europe and Australia, including “Wiadomości” (London), “Orzeł Biały” (London), “Ostatnie Wiadomości” (Berlin), “Tygodnik Katolicki” (Tygodnik Polski Bathurst/Melbourne), “Przegląd Katolicki” (Sydney). His articles on a wide range of topics were very popular with readers. He valued most his cooperation with “Wiadomości”, which lasted more than 30 years.

Anna Regulska-Ślusarczyk called him a “gentleman of the pen”. He was a correspondent for Radio Free Europe and a member of the Polish Union of Journalists in London.  He died at the age of 79 after a sudden stroke.