An institution for abandoned children. From the history of the care of children in Bydgoszcz

Abstract

The building on 6 Kościeleckich Square in Bydgoszcz had many administrators in its history of over a hundred years. From 1904 to 1925, it housed the German Newborn Care Institution, which was part of the Patriotic Women’s Association. Starting from September 1926, in reborn
Poland, there was the Municipal Infant Shelter. The plan for functioning of the institution was developed Dr. Antoni Nowiński who had many years of practical experience in pediatric and social care in Kiev. He was also appointed its fi rst manager. The Shelter accepted children of unmarried
female servants and laborers, frequently abandoned on the streets – until age 2. Within a year, the institution admitted over a hundred children, usually neglected and sick. The first fl oor of the Shelter featured a doctor’s office, a kitchen, a nursing mothers room, a room for sick children, and three rooms for nurses. The institution had its own pharmacy and laboratory. The building had central heating, cold and hot water, and ventilation system. The second floor was designated exclusively for newborns. The attic featured servants’ rooms. Personnel of the Shelter included a physician whose deputy was the main nurse. It also employed seven Sisters of Charity. They were assisted by three apprentices age 17 to 18, and two servants. Three wet nurses, two laundresses, a cook, one person in the so-called milk kitchen and a stoker worked in the institution as well. Dr. Nowiński administered the Shelter until September 1928. After his departure from Bydgoszcz, Dr. Franciszek Nowicki was appointed head of the Shelter. After the outbreak of World WarII the institution still existed, but accepted exclusively German children. Dr. Nowicki was fi red from the Shelter in January 1940. After the liberation, since 1945, the building fulfilled different functions, but it had never resumed its role as a home for disadvantaged children.