Halina Frąckowiak is a well-known Polish artist who has such hits as: “Paper Moon”, “Be ready to go today” or “Little elf”. At the end of the 1970s, she met her future husband, journalist Józef Szaniawski. The couple formalized the relationship, and on December 4, 1980 their son – Philip was born.
Halina Frąckowiak’s son met his father only after he was released from prison
Halina Frąckowiak’s husband, Józef Szaniawski, acted for Poland’s integration with NATO. This resulted in him being arrested in 1985 and sentenced to ten years’ imprisonment. Philip was then five years old. Halina did everything to get her husband out of prison. She even met with Czesław Kiszczak himself, who promised the artist that the court would pass a lenient sentence and release Józef sooner if the artist sings at the Soldier Song Festival in Kołobrzeg. Halina kept her promise, Kiszczak did not.
Józef Szaniawski was released from prison only on December 22, 1989. The Supreme Court acquitted him and described him as the last political prisoner PRL-u. Halina’s son Frąckowiak was not aware of his father’s whereabouts for years, because his mother told him that he had gone abroad. So that the little boy would not suspect anything, she would buy him gifts in Pewex, saying that he got them from his father. Only after Szaniawski was released from prison, Filip could really learn the truth about his dad.
Soon after Józef’s arrest, the singer and her husband decided that their son should change his surname to Frąckowiak to avoid harassment.
My parents changed my surname by mutual consent when my father was imprisoned. I was four and a half years old. When they locked up Dad, stupid Urban said during a press conference that after Ryszard Kukliński and Zdzisław Najder escaped to the West, the last CIA redoubt in Poland was closed in Mr. Szaniawski’s apartment. Today it sounds funny, but then this event decided about my name – said Filip Frąckowiak in an interview with Polska The Times.
Halina Frąckowiak’s son followed in his father’s footsteps
Halina’s son Frąckowiak copied his father’s career and became a journalist. In the years 2004-2011 he worked in the foreign editorial office in TVP, and since 2012 he has been the director of the Col. Ryszard Kukliński’s Memorial Chamber. Filip has also been a city councilor for seven years Warsaw and the vice-chairman of the Municipal Nomenclature Commission.
Józef Szaniawski died in 2012 in mysterious circumstances. He loved the mountains. He has never returned from one of his journeys. When he was descending from the summit, he fell to Dolinka near Koło and died. His funeral took place on September 15, 2012, the journalist’s remains were buried in Aleja Zasłużonych at the Powązki Military Cemetery. Filip Frąckowiak published his father’s biography under the title “Józef Szaniawski. The last political prisoner of the People’s Republic of Poland”.
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