ADDRESS: 4 Boduena Street
OPENING DATE: unknown
One of the most famous cafés of the war period run by unemployed artists. The name of the place comes from the title of the movie Znachor, in which the distinguished actor Kazimierz Junosza-Stępowski, who at first was also the host of the place, played the title role. The café was a very much-liked spot on the map of Warsaw. Apart from the shows, the guests could also see the “local wizard”, who entertained the young audience from 12 till 2 pm. The place survived until the outbreak of the Warsaw uprising.
WSPOMNIENIA
About the place
We opened the bar “Pod Znachorem” with the shares of a few friends, we invited [Kazimierz] Junosza-Stępowski to cooperate with us and somehow, luckily, we succeeded from the beginning. Stępowski, however, did not feel well in that atmosphere.
Karol Adwentowicz, Wspominki, PIW, Warszawa 1960.
Gella!
Our loved colleague Marysia [Maria] Gella’s heart always ached while she served the dishes, which according to her were too expensive or too small. She once apologised to two young fellows for a too modest and too expensive meal. They, in return, had their fill of food and drink and gave the tender Marysia two roses and discreetly left the place without paying their bill.
Karol Adwentowicz, Wspominki, PIW, Warszawa 1960.
Qui Pro Quo
[…] we were questionably distinguished by the order to hang a card “Für Deutsche erlaubt”. Thus, we always had a number of client officers coming, which, not knowing the German language, constantly led to various comic qui pro quo.
Karol Adwentowicz, Wspominki, PIW, Warszawa 1960.
Mr Leon does not pay!
There was an unwritten law that Mr Leon [Schiller] never pays. It was all arranged delicately, as if a son who wants his father to have one decent meal a day with a serving of liquor and company, which at that time Schiller needed so badly. The meetings usually took place at “Znachor” – bar and restaurant at Boduena Street, run by the partnership of actors, including [Karol] Adwentowicz, [Irena] Grywińska, [Emil] Chaberski, [Ewa] Kunina. [Wojciech] Brydziński was selling cigarettes, and [Mieczysław] Milecki was a bartender.
Ostatni romantyk sceny polskiej. Wspomnienia o Leonie Schillerze, wybór i oprac. Jerzy Timoszewicz,- Wydawnictwo Literackie, Kraków 1990
THE WORK
The diversity of life and work in the café – bar helped us to somehow better deal with the nightmare of oppression and often being away from the loved ones for years. Posters with the names of the shot hostages gave us information on the tragic fate of our colleagues and friends. On the day of a roundup, on the night of an arrest, there was not a single moment of peace and rest. Our job of serving the guests, hard but never monotonous, totally absorbed us and disconnected our thoughts from the grim reality.
Karol Adwentowicz, Wspominki, PIW, Warszawa 1960.
A shot of coffee
On 21st December 1941, I came to the office, run some errands and then went to “Znachor”. There I met [Leon] Schiller. Sipping dark coffee, we talked about various matters, some of which inspired me to elaborate a number of prose texts of the most valuable masterpieces of the Polish literature. […] We were almost leaving, when Schiller proposed two shots of vodka. I am in the right mood for this.
Marian Wyrzykowski, Dzienniki 1938–1969, Instytut Sztuki PAN, Warszawa 1995.
