In January 1945, Feliks Kaczanowski, the pre-war head of the Tworki hospital, looked out of the window at the evacuating Germans. Tworki, like many other medical facilities, was in a deplorable state. Much of the staff had been killed, equipment had been taken away or destroyed, buildings devastated. However, Dr Kaczanowski was aware of how, despite everything, the hospital stood out from other psychiatric institutions: it had managed to survive. And saved the lives of many patients.
Victims of politics
The Third Reich sought to exterminate psychiatric patients, seeing them as a burden on developing societies. It was the sick who became some of the first victims of Nazism, on whom the methods later used in the extermination camps were tested. The occupation caused many psychiatric centres to disappear from the map of Poland, such as the Zofiówka in Otwock. It is estimated that more than 20,000 patients died during the war.
Asylum
In this ocean of hospital ruins, the Pruszków hospital stood alone: it was not liquidated, but 'merely' passed under German rule. It is presumed that it owed this to its pre-war reputation, its favourable location and its large grounds, which could be used by the Germans. Tworki also became the official home of many patients from other institutions whose trace had disappeared - so it gave the Germans a convenient excuse before the public. Patients' rations were drastically reduced, the pavilions were deprived of heating. The mortality rate rose enormously, but the institution continued to operate, not least thanks to the great commitment of the staff. Despite German surveillance, the hospital hid many people; during the Warsaw Uprising it received wounded soldiers and civilians. After its collapse, more than 2,500 wounded from the Pruszków camp were taken here. Soon afterwards, they lived to see liberation.
Watching the Germans fleeing, Dr Kaczanowski did not yet know that less than three months later he would become the hospital's director and that it was he who would be tasked with raising the institution from ruins. He was elected to this position by the votes of the staff, which could be considered the best credentials. At the time he took up his post, he already had 12 years of seniority at Tworki; there were another 32 before him.
Life
Feliks Kaczanowski was born on 27 May 1904 in Krakow. He completed his medical studies in 1930 and a year later obtained the title of "Doctor of all medical sciences". Tworki was his first and - throughout his activity - main place of work. While still an assistant, he collaborated with Dr Witold Łuniewski, the pre-war director, who got him interested in forensic psychiatry. For many years Dr Kaczanowski was an expert witness in this field, giving opinions on many well-known and high-profile cases. The most important thing, however, was always his work at the hospital, his activities on its behalf and his contact with patients. He died in 1976, in his office. He was buried in the Tworkow cemetery, thus sealing his connection to the hospital.
