Born in the bombardment
… His birth is the plot of the film. Janusz – of twins, was born during the German bombings. Less than half an hour after the birth, a German bomb explodes near their house. His mother and newborn brother were thrown a few meters by the shock wave. A month later, my brother died.
The boy’s father worked as a laborer at the city theater, where the boy spent his time. He says that the most interesting childhood entertainment was to penetrate the secrets of old Grodno under the guidance of the blessed Lutek – that’s how a dwarf was called in Grodno.
- He was a smart man, he graduated from the seven classes of the Polish school. He was well acquainted with caves, caves, old houses and abandoned cellars. We boys could follow him for hours and listen to his interesting stories about antiquity, recalls Pan Janusz.
For many years he worked in art workshops located in the Grodno Choral Synagogue. The museum was opened in the early 2000s
He calls himself a professional restorer and a non-professional artist. In his youth, Janusz Stefanovich became an apprentice to the former restorers of Grodno.
- Even under the Tsar they began to engage in catering. I have them, brother, such a university has passed! – notes Janusz Stefanovitch. There he received an inoculation: the love of antiquity and the passion of the collector.
By training, Parulis is a civil engineer.
- Thanks to my education and mentality, I restored twelve churches and three chapels in Belarus. He guaranteed his work for fifty years. Everything is like new, – says Janusz Stefanovich.
Dancing on the gramophone
For many years he worked in art workshops located in the Grodno Choral Synagogue. And its museum officially opened in the early 2000s. And what is simply not here: a mold for tiles from the 19th century, elegant old bottles for kefir and mineral water, which were produced by the Neman glassworks. A device for stuffing cigarettes, a Moonshine distiller and a hand-assembled separator.
Janusz’s grandfather was a firefighter and his helmet, made in 1937, is preserved here.
- But such carbide lanterns lit old Grodno. A glass container was placed in the metal casing of the lantern, into which water was poured and a piece of carbide was lowered. A chemical reaction started, from which light emanated – the collector shows a rusty lantern on which an address is engraved. It is clear where the lantern has dispelled the darkness.
He calls one of his pantry “Chinese house”. There is a solid socialist realism. Portraits of communist leaders: from Karl Marx to Gorbachev. Old Soviet newspapers with documents from plenums and party conferences that have gone down in history. Soviet period military uniform and even a fuel tank from a tank.
- I collected all this at the request of Chinese tourists. There were a lot of them before the pandemic. They are very interested in the period of Soviet life, – explains the owner of the museum.
In the corner you can see a dusty plaster bust of Lenin. The owner explains that it is his job. In Soviet times, for the next birthday of Ilyich, there was a great demand for such busts.
- I remember, I earned twenty-nine thousand Soviet rubles on it. Crazy money, smiles Janusz Stefanovich.
…Here is a scattering of brilliant links from the days of his youth. A dozen different clocks, an old wicker chest.
Gramophones, Soviet black and white televisions, radios, reel tape recorders. Paintings, guitars, a time-weary violin…
The most priceless grandfather’s gramophone – it cost like a herd of cows. Janusz remembers when neighbors moved tables and danced to this gramophone.
Letters for Olga
<p>Pan Janusz pulls out a small suitcase from his treasures. He opens, and there are letters - they were written from all over the world to the legendary Olympic champion in gymnastics Olga Korbut, whom the enthusiastic world called "a miracle with pigtails."
Olga comes from Grodno, and these epistolary declarations of love, full of warmth, have stood in a garage for almost half a century.
- A man bought a garage and found this suitcase among the garbage and brought it to me. Olga Korbut’s sister lives in Grodno, she came and looked at these letters with interest, – says Pan Yanush.
Today, its original museum lives thanks to Russian tourists. Russians often come to beautiful Grodno and are happy to visit Pan Janusz.
Saying goodbye, I asked Grodno’s guardian of life: “Pan Yanush, what does Russia mean to you?”
- My grandfather served in Chita, from there he brought my grandmother. Fell in love with her without memory. I know the song about a wanderer approaching Lake Baikal from childhood. I think I answered your question intelligibly, – Pan Janusz smiled.
We kissed each other.
Visit card
Janusz Parulis is one of the founders of the Grodno Collectors Club. He is often called the Grodno Hemingway because of his resemblance to the classic of world literature. He owes his passion for collecting to his grandfather Frantishek, the same one who served as a Cossack in Transbaikalia. Grandpa never saved money for nice things.
Janusz Parulis has two children, seven grandchildren and one great-grandchild. He is sure that his descendants will carry on his life’s work.
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