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Poland’s oldest citizen turns 115

10.06.2021 15:15
Poland’s oldest citizen is celebrating her 115th birthday on Thursday. She is Tekla Juniewicz, a resident of the southern Polish city of Gliwice.
Photo: Radio Poland
Photo: Radio Poland Julian Horodyski

She was born in Krupsk, now in Ukraine, on June 10, 1906, and remembers the years when Poland was partitioned between three neighbouring powers.

She was 12 when Poland regained her independence in 1918.

At 21, she married Jan Juniewicz, 22 years her senior, and they moved to Borislav (present-day Ukraine), where her husband worked in the crude oil-mining industry.

They had two daughters, born in 1928 and 1929. After World War II, the Juniewicz family was repatriated from what was then Soviet territory to Gliwice.

Tekla Juniewicz was fully self-reliant and lived on her own until she was 103. She is now taken care of by her grandchildren.

Next on the list of Poland’s oldest citizens is Stanisław Kowalski, born on April 11, 1910.

(mk/pk)