The following text is not a historical study. It is a retelling of the witness’s life story based on the memories recorded in the interview. The story was processed by external collaborators of the Memory of Nations. In some cases, the short biography draws on documents made available by the Security Forces Archives, State District Archives, National Archives, or other institutions. These are used merely to complement the witness’s testimony. The referenced pages of such files are saved in the Documents section.

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Artur Fedorowski (* 1965)

• urodzony 9 lipca 1965 r. we Wrocławiu, Polska

• w 1946 r. rodzina matki pochodząca z Wielkopolski, osiedliła się we Wrocławiu, rodzina ojca została przesiedlona w okolice Milicza na Dolnym Śląsku z Kresów Wschodnich,

• ojciec był członkiem PZPR,

• uczęszczał do szkoły podstawowej nr 16 we Wrocławiu,

• w roku 1980 rozpoczął naukę w XIV LO we Wrocławiu,

• w czasie strajków w sierpniu 1980 r. nawiązał kontakt z “Solidarnością”

• w latach 1981 - 83 zaangażowany w działalność Konfederacji Polski Niepodległej

• w 1984r. rozpoczął studia na Wydziale Lekarskim Akademii Medycznej we Wrocławiu ukończone w 1990 r.

• spotkanie z ideologią ruchu Hare Krishna i działalność misyjna na rzecz tegoż

• uzyskanie stopnia doktora na Akademi Medycznej we Wrocławiu w 1999 r.

• poznanie przyszłej żony w 1999r.

• wyjazd do Szwecji w 2001 r. i praca w szpitalu

• narodziny córek

• uzyskanie tytułu profesora nadzwyczajnego na Uniwersytecie w Lund

Witness story

Artur Fedorowski was born on 9 July 1965 in Wroclaw. His father was an engineer, his mother was a teacher. After the graduation from primary school number 16 in Wroclaw, in summer 1980 he prepared for enrolling to secondary school number 14. During his stay at a camp he found out about strikes which broke out, also in Wroclaw at the depot number 7 at Grabiszynska Street. It was a huge shock for him because he did not understand the causes of the exacerbated situation in the country: “I didn’t really understand what that all meats. I only noticed that the public transport didn’t work because we had to go everywhere on foot. My education in patriotic school was marked byrather patriotic models, I was interested in history; Polish history was one of my favourite subjects. To be honest, I didn’t even notice that something was wrong with the country I lived in. I didn’t see anything wrong in the fact that there were white-and-red as well as red flags hung everywhere, that the head of the state was the first secretary of a party, not a president or prime minister. My life seemed normal. Like many of my pears we spent summer at the seaside, we went to camps. Sometimes there was something missing in the house but then we found those things”.

             He wanted to explore the problem very quickly and find out more, so he started to visit the headquarters of “Solidarity” at Mazowiecka Street in Wroclaw. There he used to buy books published by underground publishing houses, like The Gulag Archipelago or History of KGB. He discovered many facts from the modern history of Poland which were not mentioned in school, such as history of mass execution in Katyn during the Second World War. At the suggestion of one of his friends met at Mazowiecka he got involved in activity of the Confederation of Independent Poland, which was for him a real patriotic organization striving for full independence of Poland. He printed and distributed leaflets, took part in meetings and did not stop his education through reading “banned” book. After starting secondary school he founded the School Movement for the Defence of Political Freedom, which taught young people through a school board with information and patriotic content.

            He the introduction of martial law was very hard for him when all activists from the Confederation of Independent Poland were interned. He tried to find them, inquired what happened to them. As he admits, everyone “was just very angry” at what happened in Poland. This was the moment when he received “Solidarity” documents (telefaxes) from Mazowiecka Str for safekeeping. He hid them in his house without telling his father, who belong to the party. Mr. Fedorowski’s enthusiasm for oppositional activity in the face of arrests and difficult political and economic situation faded. He even started to consider leaving the country. This idea was born during his first visit “to the West”—visiting his grandmother living in Vienna. Yet, he decided to stay in Poland.

            After the graduation from secondary school in 1984, he started his studies at the Faculty of Medicine at the Medical University in Wroclaw, from which he graduated with honours. During his studies, while visiting Vienna again in 1987 he became interested in Hare Krishna movement; later, for many years he was involved in its missionary activity. At the same time he started doctoral studies which he completed in 1999 obtaining the title of the doctor of medical sciences. In the same year he met his future wife, with whom he moved to Sweden two years later. In Sweden their two daughters were born. Artur Fedorowski worked in a Swedish internal medicine hospital and cardiology hospital. He obtained the titleof the associate professor at Lund University. He specializes in cardiology.