Klemens Stefan Sielecki
Encyclopedia
Klemens Stefan Sielecki (December 8, 1903 in Stanisławów
, Austria-Hungary
– July 14, 1980 in Kamień Pomorski
, Poland) was a Polish engineer
and technical director
of the first Polish Locomotive Factory Fablok
in Chrzanów
in the post-war years until 1964.
. His mother Leontyna née Lintner (1877–1913). He had one younger sister, Czesława (1907–1993). Both became orphans at an early age and were raised by their maternal aunt Jozéfina and her husband Adolf Skrzyszewski, who was also employed at the state railway. The Skrebeciowicz de Sielecki family
with the Sas coat of arms was nobility (in Polish called szlachta
), originally from Sielec, Drohobych Raion
.
Klemens Sielecki went to primary school in Stanisławów and the lyceum
in Kraków
and received his matriculation in Stanisławów in 1921. He enrolled in the Lwów Polytechnic on November 24, 1921, where he studied engineering
and railroading and graduated on December 14, 1929 with a master's degree. During his studies in 1925, after three months of interning he received his steam engine-driving license. In the year 1925-26 he did his internships in the workshops and offices of the state railway of Lwów and Stanisławów and familiarised himself with the production of steam locomotives of Fablok in Chrzanów and the Steam Locomotive Factory in Warsaw (Fabryka Parowozow Warszawa). After his absolutorium in 1927, he worked in the locomotive depot in Lwów in the gauging department and later as a designer in the mechanical factory in Lwów "L. Zieleniewski-Fitzner-Gamper SA". From October 1, 1928 until April 30, 1930 he worked as a young assistant at the chair of engineering (I Katedry Budowy Maszyn) under professor Wilhelm Mozer and at the same time as assistant at the university don
for organisation and management of industries at the Lwów Polytechnic.
On May 1, 1930 he moved to Chrzanów, where he started work in the design office of Fablok in charge of developing new types of locomotives for the then ministry of communication (which later became the ministry of transport) and the Bulgarian State Railways
. In 1935 he was highly involved in the development of the construction of the diesel hydraulic railway car called "Luxtorpeda
", which was a technical innovation in its time. Also in 1935 he was nominated as deputy head of the technical department and starting in March 1939 as head. Five Luxtorpedas were constructed under his leadership, which were able to reach a speed of 115 km/h. He was involved with the construction, production and test-runs of locomotives in particular those destined for export to Bulgaria, Morocco
, Lithuania
and Soviet Union. Due to his knowledge of foreign languages he was repeatedly sent abroad for business purposes pertaining technical aspects and co-operation.
During the Nazi occupation of Poland
, Fablok was incorporated into Henschel & Son
under the name Oberschlesische Lokomotivwerke Krenau. Sielecki worked as a technologist
. In this time, with the consent of the general director
Guido Sanchez de la Cerda, he was involved in protecting his Jewish co-workers from Nazi persecution. Together with his colleagues from the technical bureau he started hiding the technical documentation
for steam, industrial diesel and electrical locomotives and moved them completely out of the plant in January 1945, since the Nazis wanted them destroyed. After Poland was liberated, this documentation proved vital for the re-construction efforts of the national railway industry, especially the diesel and electrical locomotives. This allowed Fablok to re-start the production of these types.
In the post-war years, he was technical director until 1964. Under his leadership, the production was re-established for multiple types of locomotives, 12 of that type were destined for export. From 1945-61 he accompanied delegations of the ministry heavy industry and foreign trade of on various occasions to trips abroad. From 1965, he was technical advisor to the board until his retirement on March 31, 1971. In the 1960s and 70's, he also lectured at the Cracow University of Technology
and technical school
in Chrzanów.
He died of a sudden heart failure while vacationing with his family. He was laid to rest in the family tomb in Rakowicki Cemetery
in Kraków.
throughout his life, he nevertheless was decorated for outstanding professional and social work in 1955 with the Medal of the 10th anniversary of the People's Republic of Poland and in 1967 with the Knight's Cross (Krzyż Kawalerski) of the Order of Polonia Restituta.
– June 12, 1998 in Kraków) in 1935 in the Church of St. Anne, Kraków
. For this marriage he converted from Greek
to Roman Catholicism. Together they had three children: Krystyna Elżbieta (October 14, 1936 in Kraków – March 2, 2003 ibid
.) who became a doctor of dermatology; Renata Beata (born August 27, 1942 in Kraków) and Leszek Michael (born October 12, 1944 in Chrzanów), who also studied engineering at the technical universities in Kraków and Vienna
to later work for Simmering-Graz-Pauker
in Vienna and New Delhi, and MAN Ferrostaal
in New Delhi
, Bangkok
and Kuala Lumpur
. All married and have children themselves.
The cousin of his wife Wanda was the investigation judge against Nazi crimes Professor Jan Sehn
, who was on very friendly terms with the Sielecki family.
Ivano-Frankivsk
Ivano-Frankivsk is a historic city located in the western Ukraine. It is the administrative centre of the Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast , and is designated as its own separate raion within the oblast, municipality....
, Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary , more formally known as the Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen, was a constitutional monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in...
– July 14, 1980 in Kamień Pomorski
Kamien Pomorski
Kamień Pomorski is a town in the West Pomeranian Voivodeship of northwestern Poland. The capital of Kamień County, the town had 9,129 inhabitants as of June 30, 2008.- History :...
, Poland) was a Polish engineer
Engineer
An engineer is a professional practitioner of engineering, concerned with applying scientific knowledge, mathematics and ingenuity to develop solutions for technical problems. Engineers design materials, structures, machines and systems while considering the limitations imposed by practicality,...
and technical director
Technical director
The Technical Director or Technical Manager is usually a senior technical person within a software company, film studio, theatrical company or television studio...
of the first Polish Locomotive Factory Fablok
Fablok
Fablok is a Polish manufacturer of steam locomotives, based in Chrzanów. Until 1947 the official name was The First Factory of Locomotives in Poland Ltd. , Fablok being a widely used syllabic abbreviation of Fabryka Lokomotyw. It is now named "BUMAR - FABLOK S.A. "...
in Chrzanów
Chrzanów
Chrzanów is a town in south Poland with 39,704 inhabitants . It is situated in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship and is the capital of Chrzanów County.- To 1809:...
in the post-war years until 1964.
Life
His father Sofroniusz Skrebeciowicz de Sielecki (1862–1908) was civil servant at the Imperial Royal Austrian State Railways, stationed in various places throughout GaliciaKingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria
The Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria was a crownland of the Habsburg Monarchy, the Austrian Empire, and Austria–Hungary from 1772 to 1918 .This historical region in eastern Central Europe is currently divided between Poland and Ukraine...
. His mother Leontyna née Lintner (1877–1913). He had one younger sister, Czesława (1907–1993). Both became orphans at an early age and were raised by their maternal aunt Jozéfina and her husband Adolf Skrzyszewski, who was also employed at the state railway. The Skrebeciowicz de Sielecki family
Sielecki family
Sielecki is a Polish surname, also of one of the noble families. It is derived from the village of Sielec, of which many exist with that name in Poland, Ukraine and Belarus....
with the Sas coat of arms was nobility (in Polish called szlachta
Szlachta
The szlachta was a legally privileged noble class with origins in the Kingdom of Poland. It gained considerable institutional privileges during the 1333-1370 reign of Casimir the Great. In 1413, following a series of tentative personal unions between the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Kingdom of...
), originally from Sielec, Drohobych Raion
Sielec, Drohobych Raion
Sielec is a village about 13.5 kilometers southeast of Sambir within Drohobych district of Lviv province in western Ukraine. The village was founded probably in the 15th century CE....
.
Klemens Sielecki went to primary school in Stanisławów and the lyceum
Lyceum
The lyceum is a category of educational institution defined within the education system of many countries, mainly in Europe. The definition varies between countries; usually it is a type of secondary school.-History:...
in Kraków
Kraków
Kraków also Krakow, or Cracow , is the second largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in the Lesser Poland region, the city dates back to the 7th century. Kraków has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Polish academic, cultural, and artistic life...
and received his matriculation in Stanisławów in 1921. He enrolled in the Lwów Polytechnic on November 24, 1921, where he studied engineering
Engineering
Engineering is the discipline, art, skill and profession of acquiring and applying scientific, mathematical, economic, social, and practical knowledge, in order to design and build structures, machines, devices, systems, materials and processes that safely realize improvements to the lives of...
and railroading and graduated on December 14, 1929 with a master's degree. During his studies in 1925, after three months of interning he received his steam engine-driving license. In the year 1925-26 he did his internships in the workshops and offices of the state railway of Lwów and Stanisławów and familiarised himself with the production of steam locomotives of Fablok in Chrzanów and the Steam Locomotive Factory in Warsaw (Fabryka Parowozow Warszawa). After his absolutorium in 1927, he worked in the locomotive depot in Lwów in the gauging department and later as a designer in the mechanical factory in Lwów "L. Zieleniewski-Fitzner-Gamper SA". From October 1, 1928 until April 30, 1930 he worked as a young assistant at the chair of engineering (I Katedry Budowy Maszyn) under professor Wilhelm Mozer and at the same time as assistant at the university don
University don
A don is a fellow or tutor of a college or university, especially traditional collegiate universities such as Oxford and Cambridge in England.The term — similar to the title still used for Catholic priests — is a historical remnant of Oxford and Cambridge having started as ecclesiastical...
for organisation and management of industries at the Lwów Polytechnic.
On May 1, 1930 he moved to Chrzanów, where he started work in the design office of Fablok in charge of developing new types of locomotives for the then ministry of communication (which later became the ministry of transport) and the Bulgarian State Railways
Bulgarian State Railways
The Bulgarian State Railways are Bulgaria's state railway company and the largest railway carrier in the country, established as an entity in 1885. The company's headquarters are located in the capital Sofia. Since the 1990s the BDZ has met serious competition from automotive transport...
. In 1935 he was highly involved in the development of the construction of the diesel hydraulic railway car called "Luxtorpeda
Luxtorpeda
Luxtorpeda was a common name of a famous Polish train, which ran on some of the most important rail routes of Poland in the 1930s. A Luxtorpeda consisted of a single, first-class only railcar, with its own internal combustion engine.- Name :...
", which was a technical innovation in its time. Also in 1935 he was nominated as deputy head of the technical department and starting in March 1939 as head. Five Luxtorpedas were constructed under his leadership, which were able to reach a speed of 115 km/h. He was involved with the construction, production and test-runs of locomotives in particular those destined for export to Bulgaria, Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
, Lithuania
Lithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
and Soviet Union. Due to his knowledge of foreign languages he was repeatedly sent abroad for business purposes pertaining technical aspects and co-operation.
During the Nazi occupation of Poland
History of Poland (1939–1945)
The history of Poland from 1939 to 1945 encompasses the German invasion of Poland as well as the Soviet invasion of Poland through to the end of World War II. On 1 September 1939, without a formal declaration of war, Germany invaded Poland...
, Fablok was incorporated into Henschel & Son
Henschel & Son
Henschel & Son was a German company, situated in Kassel, best known during the 20th century as a maker of transportation equipment, including locomotives, trucks, buses and trolleybuses, and armoured fighting vehicles and weapons....
under the name Oberschlesische Lokomotivwerke Krenau. Sielecki worked as a technologist
Technology
Technology is the making, usage, and knowledge of tools, machines, techniques, crafts, systems or methods of organization in order to solve a problem or perform a specific function. It can also refer to the collection of such tools, machinery, and procedures. The word technology comes ;...
. In this time, with the consent of the general director
General Director
In CIS corporate governance, the general director is the highest executive position in a company, analogous to a US CEO or a UK managing director...
Guido Sanchez de la Cerda, he was involved in protecting his Jewish co-workers from Nazi persecution. Together with his colleagues from the technical bureau he started hiding the technical documentation
Technical documentation
In engineering, technical documentation refers to any type of documentation that describes handling, functionality and architecture of a technical product or a product under development or use.Documentation may include:* patents...
for steam, industrial diesel and electrical locomotives and moved them completely out of the plant in January 1945, since the Nazis wanted them destroyed. After Poland was liberated, this documentation proved vital for the re-construction efforts of the national railway industry, especially the diesel and electrical locomotives. This allowed Fablok to re-start the production of these types.
In the post-war years, he was technical director until 1964. Under his leadership, the production was re-established for multiple types of locomotives, 12 of that type were destined for export. From 1945-61 he accompanied delegations of the ministry heavy industry and foreign trade of on various occasions to trips abroad. From 1965, he was technical advisor to the board until his retirement on March 31, 1971. In the 1960s and 70's, he also lectured at the Cracow University of Technology
Cracow University of Technology
Tadeusz Kościuszko University of Technology is a university located in downtown Kraków, Poland, established in 1946 and, as an institution of higher learning granted full autonomy in 1954....
and technical school
Technical school
Technical school is a general term used for two-year college which provide mostly employment-preparation skills for trained labor, such as welding, culinary arts and office management.-Associations supporting technical schools:...
in Chrzanów.
He died of a sudden heart failure while vacationing with his family. He was laid to rest in the family tomb in Rakowicki Cemetery
Rakowicki Cemetery
Rakowicki Cemetery is one of the best known cemeteries of Poland, located in the centre of Kraków. It lies within the Administrative District No. 1 Stare Miasto meaning "Old Town" – not to be confused with the historic Kraków Old Town further west...
in Kraków.
Works
He published various essays on technological subjects, his first one appeared 1932 in the Fablok publication for the 500th locomotive produced, as well as six folios for the 50-year anniversary of Fablok 1924-1974. He translated various technical literature and books from German into Polish. He was also very active in the Kraków chapter of the Polish Federation of Engineering Association (NOT). He was co-founder 1937 in Fablok of the Polish Society of Mechanical Engineers and Technicians (SIMP) and was head of the Fablok chapter for many years. Together with engineer Zdzisław Wład he developed a patent for a high power electric/hydraulic waterbrake for locomotives in the late 1950s.Honours
Although he refused to join the Communist Party of PolandCommunist Party of Poland
The Communist Party of Poland is a historical communist party in Poland. It was a result of the fusion of Social Democracy of the Kingdom of Poland and Lithuania and the Polish Socialist Party-Left in the Communist Workers Party of Poland .-1918-1921:The KPRP was founded on 16 December 1918 as...
throughout his life, he nevertheless was decorated for outstanding professional and social work in 1955 with the Medal of the 10th anniversary of the People's Republic of Poland and in 1967 with the Knight's Cross (Krzyż Kawalerski) of the Order of Polonia Restituta.
Family
He married Wanda Maria née Szczerba (November 21, 1910 in BrzozówBrzozów
Brzozów is a town in south-eastern Poland, with 7,677 inhabitants . It is situated in Subcarpathian Voivodeship and is the seat of both Brzozów County and the smaller administrative district of Gmina Brzozów...
– June 12, 1998 in Kraków) in 1935 in the Church of St. Anne, Kraków
Church of St. Anne, Kraków
The Church of St. Anne located at ulica św. Anny 11 street in the historic centre of Kraków, Poland, is one of the leading examples of Polish Baroque architecture. The church's history dates back to 14th century.- History :...
. For this marriage he converted from Greek
Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church
The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church , Ukrainska Hreko-Katolytska Tserkva), is the largest Eastern Rite Catholic sui juris particular church in full communion with the Holy See, and is directly subject to the Pope...
to Roman Catholicism. Together they had three children: Krystyna Elżbieta (October 14, 1936 in Kraków – March 2, 2003 ibid
Ibid
Ibid. is the term used to provide an endnote or footnote citation or reference for a source that was cited in the preceding endnote or footnote. It is similar in meaning to idem , abbreviated Id., which is commonly used in legal citation. To find the ibid...
.) who became a doctor of dermatology; Renata Beata (born August 27, 1942 in Kraków) and Leszek Michael (born October 12, 1944 in Chrzanów), who also studied engineering at the technical universities in Kraków and Vienna
Vienna University of Technology
Vienna University of Technology is one of the major universities in Vienna, the capital of Austria. Founded in 1815 as the "Imperial-Royal Polytechnic Institute" , it currently has about 26,200 students , 8 faculties and about 4,000 staff members...
to later work for Simmering-Graz-Pauker
Simmering-Graz-Pauker
Simmering-Graz-Pauker AG was one of the most important Austrian industrial conglomerates, which used to have several thousand employees all around the world.-Images:Heute das ist SIemmens SGP 2007...
in Vienna and New Delhi, and MAN Ferrostaal
MAN Ferrostaal
Ferrostaal is a provider of industrial services. With 4,400 employees and an annual turnover of euro 1.6 billion euro , Ferrostaal serves customers in more than 60 countries worldwide. Ferrostaal provides industrial services in two areas: Projects and Services...
in New Delhi
New Delhi
New Delhi is the capital city of India. It serves as the centre of the Government of India and the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi. New Delhi is situated within the metropolis of Delhi. It is one of the nine districts of Delhi Union Territory. The total area of the city is...
, Bangkok
Bangkok
Bangkok is the capital and largest urban area city in Thailand. It is known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon or simply Krung Thep , meaning "city of angels." The full name of Bangkok is Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahintharayutthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom...
and Kuala Lumpur
Kuala Lumpur
Kuala Lumpur is the capital and the second largest city in Malaysia by population. The city proper, making up an area of , has a population of 1.4 million as of 2010. Greater Kuala Lumpur, also known as the Klang Valley, is an urban agglomeration of 7.2 million...
. All married and have children themselves.
The cousin of his wife Wanda was the investigation judge against Nazi crimes Professor Jan Sehn
Jan Sehn
Jan Sehn , was a Polish lawyer, 1945-47 investigation judge, and professor at Jagiellonian University since 1961. He was member of the Commission for the Investigation of Nazi War Crimes, and Chairman of the Kraków District Commission until 1953. In 1945-46 he led the investigations on the site of...
, who was on very friendly terms with the Sielecki family.