An Amazing Case of Fred the Tramp

[Bonobo]

This story is so incredible I have devoted a special thread to it.

Fred the Tramp - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josef_Stawinoga

Józef Stawinoga (15 December 1920 – 28 October 2007), also known as Fred and incorrectly reported as Josef, was a homeless Pole who lived in a tent on the Wolverhampton Ring Road in the West Midlands, England for nearly 40 years.[1] Little is known about the recluse, but he is thought to have been involved in the Soviet invasion of Poland (1939), before emigrating to the UK in the 1940s.

After the war he remained in Wolverhampton, finding work and a place to live – and an Austrian wife who left him after a year, according to Juliusz Leonowicz, who identified himself as Stawinoga's friend.[2] At a date given by different sources as 1954[3] and 1967,[4] he opted out of society for unknown reasons, left his job, and became homeless. He was evicted from several lodging houses,[4] and by the 1970s he had moved into a tent on the central grass reservation of the town's inner ring road. The council tolerated his presence, as he was claustrophobic, and he became something of a local character. A series of replacement tents was erected by the authorities over his original plastic sheeting;[5] in April 2003 this involved "an operation involving the army, the police, social services and environmental health".[6]

Fred was treated as a holy man by the Hindu and Sikh communities, with many people believing he lived a truly enlightened life.[3] A group devoted to him on the social networking site Facebook had over 4,000 members in early October 2007.[4]

Józef Stawinoga died on 28 October 2007, aged 86. Wolverhampton City Council announced that it would cover the cost of his funeral if none of his family came forward, and the possibility of a memorial to him has been discussed. His tent was removed by the council at the request of West Midlands Police, who were concerned that the area would become a tourist attraction.[1]

After Stawinoga's death Leonowicz said that he had been told that the hermit had been a member of the SS during World War II. [7] If he indeed was member of SS, it is unknown whether he volunteered or was forcedly enlisted.

On March 6, 2008 it was reported that Stawinoga had thousands of pounds worth of pension money that had been untouched.[8] Wolverhampton Council found the rightful heirs to Mr. Stawinoga's estate, two women and one man from Vienna, Austria. Their identities were not released.








See comments by British fans and not only
www.expressandstar.com/2007/10/29/freds-life-in-pictures/

# Mia + Adelle said: Oct 30th, 2007 at 1:12 pm
Awwww its so sad I loved the tramp my dad used to drive past his tent so i could see him and the once we drove past about 7 times because he was out sweeping the roads ! I want to go to his funeral! x

# Annette said: Oct 30th, 2007 at 3:38 pm

I am From America and just seen Fred on October 28th raking leaves. I was saddened to hear about this when i returned home. God Bless Fred in his new found home.

[franciszek]

This is quite amazing this every morning at 9.15 there is a programme on bbc tv called heir hunters who trace deceaced persons who have left no will such is the case of this man due to looking after my son i missed important bits but family was traced i think he had at least £250000 as he had been left money by another relatives the firm locating his family where supprised he had not made a will becase they had tracked him down 20 years earlier because his relative had not left a will either amazing such a small world

[franciszek]

Jul 21, 2008 19:45:49 GMT 1 franciszek said:

This is quite amazing this every morning at 9.15 there is a programme on bbc tv called heir hunters who trace deceaced persons who have left no will such is the case of this man due to looking after my son i missed important bits but family was traced i think he had at least £250000 as he had been left money by another relatives the firm locating his family where supprised he had not made a will becase they had tracked him down 20 years earlier because his relative had not left a will either amazing such a small world

try this go on google type bbc tv heir hunters then take the second link bbc i player this should bring up the programme freds surname is viney gona watch it again let me know how you get on

[franciszek]

Just remembered some more things people had made there own theories up about him i remember people saying my dad was a german collaborator because they new a little of the history of the war but how could they know in my eyes my father never sided with the germans he was forced to until he found his freedom and then chose his true path in history i find many people to be small minded on this subject and judge before they have learnt the facts i wiil watch the story on fred again and make notes onthe facts think this is a great thread lets see where it goes.

[Bonobo]

Jul 21, 2008 21:15:05 GMT 1 franciszek said:

Just remembered some more things people had made there own theories up about him i remember people saying my dad was a german collaborator because they new a little of the history of the war but how could they know in my eyes my father never sided with the germans he was forced to until he found his freedom and then chose his true path in history i find many people to be small minded on this subject and judge before they have learnt the facts

Even if he was in German army for a while, it means nothing as many Poles were forcefully drafted. Later they deserted or surrendered to the allies and immediately joined the Polish Army in the West.
Unfortunately, profound historical knowledge is scarce.... Most people generally don`t like studying history too deeply.

[franciszek]

try this link hhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00cr10x
got a bit mixed up with the story freds is half way through should you be able access it he was worth about £80000 not what i said orginally hope you can find the story as it still quite a good one

[franciszek]

Jul 21, 2008 22:16:15 GMT 1 Bonobo said:

Jul 21, 2008 21:15:05 GMT 1 franciszek said:

Just remembered some more things people had made there own theories up about him i remember people saying my dad was a german collaborator because they new a little of the history of the war but how could they know in my eyes my father never sided with the germans he was forced to until he found his freedom and then chose his true path in history i find many people to be small minded on this subject and judge before they have learnt the facts

Even if he was in German army for a while, it means nothing as many Poles were forcefully drafted. Later they deserted or surrendered to the allies and immediately joined the Polish Army in the West.
Unfortunately, profound historical knowledge is scarce.... Most people generally don`t like studying history too deeply.

I speak only of my country men not of Polish people and it of my own experience if you know what i mean

[Bonobo]

Penniless Poles Forced to Camp
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Anna Jarosz
The Krakow Post

Polish migrant workers made the news in the UK once more in March as around thirty men were reported by a local Lincolnshire newspaper to be living in tents by the River Witham. The article was accompanied by pictures of tents in woodland, with tree branches used as washing lines. The Poles were said to be living thanks to the kind hearts of locals who gave them food.

The situation of the camping migrants is more complex than simply asking for something to eat, as the Poles' passports have expired and without these they cannot find legal work. What is more, in order to renew the document or to request a loan from the Polish embassy to return home, the migrants would need to travel to London or Manchester, which they also cannot afford. In this way, without valid passports, they stand no chance of being employed. As some of the homeless have lived in the UK for less than 12 months they are not entitled to claim any benefits.

The atmosphere around Polish migrant workers has rarely been enthusiastic, and now with unemployment soaring the attitude seems to be becoming more hostile. Poles are being perceived as guilty of depriving British citizens of their jobs, and some Poles have complained that they are suffering from "hate crimes." The Federation of Poles in Great Britain is said to be concerned about the growing number of racist incidents in which Poles are victims. Reading the comments to the article about Poles living in a "shanty town", it comes as no surprise.

The figures of British-born citizens losing their jobs followed by the increase of non-UK workers create a picture of a Britain invaded by migrants who not only take away jobs from British citizens but also claim benefits. The truth is somewhere in between, as all migrants who work legally, regardless of the period of their stay in Britain, pay standard taxes. As Dr. Jan Mokrzycki of the Federation of Poles in Great Britain commented to the Independent, "People are losing work and if they haven't been here for a year they are not entitled to any benefits so they end up on the streets. There are some cases where people have come here on false promises, spending everything they have, and then finding the work they were told was waiting for them just doesn't exist."

Dr Mokrzycki estimates that about 1,500 Poles have reached the point of sleeping rough on Britain's streets. There has been a marked increase in such cases since the so-called "credit crunch" took hold in autumn. Simultaneously, the number of Polish workers in the UK has dropped from about one million to about 600,000. Fewer and fewer Poles are trying their luck in the emigration gamble. As Dr Mokrzycki told the Independent, there is a wake-up call that "the streets of Britain are not paved with gold."

Nevertheless, although many Poles are aware that Britain is no longer booming, some migrants prefer to stay in the UK rather than to go back to Poland, despite the trying conditions they find themselves in. For those in the direst straits, who have invalid passports and no right to benefits, and above all no chance of finding a job, it seems the only solution lies with the Polish embassy taking action.

[tomek]

Poor Poles should go home, not bring shame to Poland and other. Next Europe say Poles are poor begars.

[Bonobo]

August 2, 2009
Homeless in Poland, Men Dream of Odyssey
By NICHOLAS KULISH

WARSAW — Two dozen homeless men are building a ship to sail themselves around the world at the St. Lazarus Social Pension here, in the yard of a former tractor factory. Sparks fly from the rusty 55-foot hull as they weld it into form, even after losing the priest who led and inspired the mission.

These men with sharply lined faces and blurry, old tattoos have set out to prove their seaworthiness, and to prove that they have some value to society, even if society has largely written them off.

“Some people smack themselves in the head when they hear, and probably think we’re crazy,” said Slawomir Michalski, 51, who was a welder in the famous Lenin Shipyards in Gdansk and joined the strike led by Lech Walesa in 1980 that helped shake the foundation of Communist rule in Poland and the entire Soviet bloc. It was a singular moment in Polish history and one that adds resonance to tales of shipbuilding here.

But their story strikes deeper chords because, for all the modern tools in the building and corporate sponsors providing the raw materials, their endeavor echoes mythic themes of escape, adventure and redemption that can seem out of reach in a world of biometric identity cards and debt-collection agencies.

In the process, the 25 hard-luck Poles working on the project are wrestling with the notion of building a dream boat away from the hulking megayachts of the technology mogul Larry Ellison and the Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich, but closer to the ideal of another snakebit sailor who had to rough it: Odysseus.

But their odds of success grew slightly longer when the unique and seemingly inexhaustible Boguslaw Paleczny — a Roman Catholic priest and a touring musician who appointed himself as the foreman of the project — died of a heart attack in June at the age of 50. The men say that his death has stiffened their resolve and that their tale will end up more Capra than Quixote with these forgotten members of Polish society circumnavigating the globe.

There will be room for only a dozen people on the voyage, including a professional captain. While some of the homeless men called it a lifelong dream, others said they preferred working on the ship to sailing the seas in it.

As a member of the Order of St. Camillus, Father Paleczny, who wore a typical black cassock marked with a red cross, ran an outdoor soup kitchen at the foot of Stalin’s Palace of Culture and Science in downtown Warsaw, a free clinic at the end of an underground train platform at the main station, and the St. Lazarus home (which employees said he refused pointedly to call a homeless shelter).

Father Paleczny also made money as a professional musician, which included a tour of the United States by car, stopping mostly at Polish parishes. He had even bought with his own money the two brick buildings that became St. Lazarus and signed them over to the order.

“After setting up the home, Father Boguslaw realized these people didn’t have any goals for the future, they didn’t have any dreams,” said Adriana Porowska, 31, who worked at the home as a social worker and has been running it since Boguslaw Paleczny’s death. “If you asked them what they’ll be doing in a year, they have no idea.”

The idea to build a ship first came to Father Paleczny while he was hospitalized with tuberculosis three years ago. After talking with a sailor bunking beside him, Father Paleczny contacted the author of a shipbuilding book in September 2006 and asked if he would donate plans for the homeless men to build a boat.

“When you walk into the mission premises, well, they have good conditions there, but the men, they walk around, they seem lost,” said Bogdan Malolepszy, 74, the author he contacted. “So I drew this design, and they started building it.”

For now, instead of skimming the open blue waters of the Baltic Sea, the prow of the ship faces a tattered blue tarp here in Warsaw. On a recent afternoon on deck, one man used an anvil to hold down a strip of steel as his partner welded it into place.

“I would say that the quality is proper, correct, but there have been some minor hiccups,” said Andrzej Sobolewski, 64, the director of the Plock branch of the Polish Register of Shipping who is an inspector. “But with Mr. Malolepszy’s help we’ve been able to get over them, and we, for our part, have been trying to help with additional inspections.”

Mr. Malolepszy said, “It would have no chance in a regatta, but safety comes first, then comfort.”

The crew has changed over the nearly three years that the project has been under way. Some men have drifted away from St. Lazarus, and others have found work, including one at a shipyard in Norway. Two months ago, two men got jobs at a shipyard in Poland, but it seemed that they would return to the home as the economic crisis bit into orders there, said Ms. Porowska, the social worker.

“It’ll be one year soon,” Edmund Polkowski, 52, said with pride. “I spent time behind bars, and then you have to find your way somehow.”

The project has survived on a combination of Father Paleczny’s earnings, donations and sponsorships. He could not persuade anyone to give him the steel for the hull free, but he negotiated the price down to about 80,000 Polish zloty, a little more than $27,000.

When he needed nine tons of lead for the ship’s ballast, he called foundries in Poland asking for donations until one, the White Eagle Ironworks, agreed. There is a sign in the front of the shipyard for a paint company, Oliva, which gave them expensive specialty paint.

The project has gained momentum as the ship has grown. “The closer to the end of the building, the more offers for help we’re getting,” Ms. Porowska said, adding that it was now easier to get donations for the ship than to renovate the second brick building into a clinic.

Father Paleczny had planned to sell the name of the ship to a sponsor. Since his death, the men at the home have a different plan to honor their friend and benefactor.

“It will be all the more beautiful when it’s on the seas,” said Mr. Michalski, the welder who worked in the Lenin Shipyards, “and the sails are up, and it’s been christened on its maiden voyage, and it carries his name around the world.”

Michal Piotrowski contributed reporting.

www.nytimes.com/2009/08/02/world/europe/02poland.html?_r=1&hp