General Józef Wybicki 
Junior High School
Number 24 in Lodz

         European citizens in my city,
the citizens of my city in Europe.  

Liceo Scientifico "Pitagora" Rende, Italy

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POLISH

• Maria Faustyna Kowalska
• Aleksander Tansman
• Wladyslaw Kedra
• Jan Moll
• Leon Niemczyk
• Jan Karski
• Wladyslaw Stanislaw Reymont
• Jadwiga Andrzejewska
• Artur Partyka
• Michal Wisniewski
• Kiejstut Bacewicz
• Zbigniew Rybczynski
• Wladyslaw Strzeminski
• Grzegorz Filipowski
• Wlodzimierz Smolarek
• Piotr Pustelnik
• Ludwik Benoit
• Wladyslaw Pasikowski
• Jacek Saryusz-Wolski

    Niemczyk appeared in over 500 films and television shows. His most memorable roles were Fulko de Lorche in Aleksander Ford's The Teutonic Knights and Andrzej in Roman Polanski's Knife in the Water. He also took part in David Lynch film "Inland Empire", a performance he gave soon after learning he was terminally ill.

    He made a name for himself in 1962 in "Knife in the Water," Polanski's first feature film, playing Andrzej a bored, ambitious man in a story loaded with psychological drama.
    He remained active until recently, appearing in scores of television series. He was diagnosed with lung cancer after fainting in December 2005 on set in Lodz.

    Niemczyk was born in Warsaw and fought in the 1944 Warsaw Uprising. After the war, he served briefly in the U.S. Army in occupied Germany before returning to communist-ruled Poland. A later attempt to flee was thwarted, costing him time in prison and putting him out of favour with the authorities. He remained a critic of the communist rule, a stance which is believed to have cost him leading roles for four decades.

    In one of his last interviews, published after his death in Dziennik daily newspaper, he was quoted as saying:      "I was never a party member and I don't give a damn for all that communism, but I still believe that it was the best time for Poland's movie industry."

    He criticized Poland's current filmmaking as "rubbish," according to the interview.
He loved Lodz and believed in its development.

Selected filmography:

Inland Empire (2006)
Boys Don't Cry (Chlopaki nie placza, 2000)
The Deluge (Potop, 1975)
The Saragossa Manuscript (Rekopis znaleziony w Saragossie, 1965)
Knife in the Water (Noz w wodzie, 1962)
The Teutonic Knights (Krzyzacy, 1960)
Night Train (Pociag, 1959)
Eighth Day of the Week (Osmy dzien tygodnia, 1958)
Heroism (Eroica, 1958)
Man on the Tracks (Czlowiek na torze, 1957)