The Word of Introduction
Stefan Knapp belongs to those characters whose biographies elude simple schemes. His life was a constant journey through extremes – from the frost of the campers and the warstorm to the radiance of exhibitions in art galleries around the world. Each stage of his path carried the burden of experiences that could break him – but they became the foundation of extraordinary work. Knapp, a witness and participant in events that were dramatic in the 20th century, was able to find in his art a language that allowed to talk about trauma and at the same time exceed its limits.
He was an artist seeking, constantly exceeding further barriers – geographical, technical, aesthetic. In his works, the theme of light and color returns, which become a counter to the darkness of wartime memories. It was in Knapp's colours and forms that he sought answers to the question of how to save humanity in a world marked by suffering and violence.
Knapp not only documented his own experiences – he turned them into a universal language, thanks to which his works remain current and moving also today.
Short genealogical note
In Biłgoraj, it is mentioned to this day that Knapas did not originate "from here," but came from outside. Indeed, the search for the beginnings of their presence in the city leads to the area of the Upper Stream, several decades from Biłgoraj.
Stanisław Knap was born in 1782 in the village of Zagródki, in the parish of Potok Górny, about 40 km from Biłgoraj. There, in 1804, he married Regina Ćwikło, who was born in 1771 or 1775 in Brzyska Wola, even further – almost 50 km from Biłgoraj.
Their children were born in Zagrodki: Tekla (1806), Michał (1810), Małgorzata (1816), Agnieszka (1820), Maciej and Wawrzyniec (1823). The last of them in 1841 married Katarzyna Dub, born in Zagrodki in 1824 in Upper Stream. Her brothers Bartłomiej (1818) and Antoni (1821) were born there, as well as both parents: Maciej Dub (born 1780) and Jadwiga Wawrzak (born 1799), who married in the parish of Potok Górny in 1816.
All children of Catherine and Lorenzo Knapów were born in Zagrodki: Małgorzata (1843), Maciej (1846), Marianna (1848), Jan (1850), Helena (1852). The youngest of them, Andrew, born in 1854, moved to Biłgoraj, where he married Tekla Duba on January 25, 1885. He was the first Knap who settled in Biłgoraj – this is confirmed in the marriage certificate, in which he was described as a "colonist", or settler.
Opinions about Knapach "outside" were not unfounded. Today the distance of 40 or 50 km seems small, but 140 years ago it was a serious distance to be reckoned with.
Tekla Duba's family was mostly "hence". Her father, Tomasz Dubiński/Duba, was born in 1835 in the Upper Stream, while her mother, Marianna Bednarska, was born in Biłgoraj in 1839 or 1841. Marianna's father, Tomasz Bednarski (1818), was a Biligorian farmer, son of Andrzej and Marianna of the Osters, weavers of Biłgoraj. Her mother, Catherine Cios, was a sitar born in 1817 in Majdan Duchypolski (now Majdan Stary i Majdan Nowy), about 20 km from Biłgoraj. Her parents were Lorenzo Cios and Franciszek Sokal.
Tekla Duba and Andrzej Knap had two children: Stanisława, born November 23, 1887, and Antonia, born November 28, 1891. Antoni was the first male descendant of the Knapów to be born in Biłgoraj.
What about the other side of the family?
The grandchildren came from the village of Dąbrowica, a parish of the Solska Forest, about 5 km from Biłgoraj. Adam Wnuk was born on 14 August 1850 as the youngest of the siblings: Catherine (1836), Maciej (1838), Andrzej (1839), Marcin (1841), Zofia (1844) and Magdalena (1848). Their parents were Francis Wnuk (1805) and his second wife Regina Wasag (1818), who were also born in Dąbrowica. They both came from peasant families. Francis was referred to as a "owner" in his marriage certificate.
Regina's parents Simon Wasag and Marianna Garbacz married in 1812 in the parish of Solska Forest. Similarly, Francis' parents – Luke Wnuk (1772) and Salomea Surma (1778) – who married in 1798. Salomei's parents, Lorenzo Surma (1719) and Zofia Kiikek (1754), also married in the Solska Forest on 23 November 1777.
The Solska Forest was a village located near Biłgoraj. In 1954, it was absorbed by the city and now forms one of the Biligorian settlements. The roots of the Grandsons are thus derived "from here".
The oldest recorded in the files of Julianna Okuniewska's ancestors, Adam Wnuk's wife, were from Biłgoraj. Stanisław Malinowski (1775) and Julianna Ewa Szkalińska (1784) were married here in 1800. Their daughters were born in Biłgoraj: Magdalena Petronel (1806) and Teresa (1815).
Magdalena, referred to in the marriage act as a "sitar" on 3 February 1822 in Biłgoraj married Orthodox sitarist Jan Kiesz (1794), son of a farmer Ignacy Kiesz and Paraskie Potocka. Their daughter, Tekla (1833), on 3 February 1850 in Biłgoraj, concluded a marriage relationship with Franciszek Okuniewski, a sitar born in 1826 in Biłgoraj. His parents were Wojciech Okuniewski and Julianna Szczurkowska.
Tekla and Francis had seven children, all born in Biłgoraj: Marzanna (1852), Jan (1855), Stanislaw (1857), Stephen (1862), Jan Valenty (1865), Francis (1867) and Julianna (1859).
On 19 January 1879, in Biłgoraj, the daughter of Tekla and Francis, Julianna Okuniewska, married Adam Wnuk. Their six children were born in Biłgoraj: Bolesław (1882), Władysław (1884), Marianna Feliksa (1891), Antonina Władysława (1897), Janina Anna (1900) and Julia (1895).
In the early 20th century, the Grandson family owned a certain amount of agricultural land. Adam Wnuk also owned a tenement house where he rented apartments. This made them relatively wealthy people. On the contrary, the Knap family, who worked hard with sitarism and plaiting baskets. That's what Antoni Knap did when he met Julia Wanuk. He proposed, but was not accepted – Julia's family did not agree to marry the poor sitar. Around 1912, Antoni set out in search of a better income for Argentina – a country in which the mining industry developed rapidly in the first decades of the 20th century, giving the possibility of real enrichment. Since the late 19th century, there has been a large Polonia in Argentina, and the first Polish organization in Berisso, the Polish Society, was established in 1913. In 1914, the number of Polish expatriates in Argentina was 31,600.
The family stories tell of Antoni's taking a job in the mine, but do not specify exactly where young Knap stayed in Argentina. One likely destination was the oil town of Comodoro Rivadavia (Patagonia). Relations from this region mention Poles working in the mining industry from 1910 to 1915. Perhaps among them was Antoni Knap, a sitar from Biłgoraj?
Antonio brought $300 from Argentina. That amount was enough to get Francis Grandson's permission to marry his daughter Julia. Money was also enough to start a life together.
Antoni Knap and Julia Wnuk married in Biłgoraj on July 7, 1914. On 13 February 1915, their eldest son Robert was born. Two years later, on December 2, 1917, Sigismund was born. On June 21, 1925, Janina, the only daughter of the marriage, was born.
Almost seven years after Julia and Antoni's marriage, on July 11, 1921 at 3:00, Stefan Knap appeared in the world. The second "p" in his name appeared at the turn of 1943 and 1944, during his service at the RAF. Until then, I will use the "Knap" entry.
Bilgoray
Actually, the only source of knowledge about Stefan Knap's earliest years are his own memories contained in the autobiography Square Sun (1956) and shreds of information present in family messages. Every year there are fewer and fewer of them – people who remember Stefan and his Biligorian years can be met less and less often, or even his stories about his childhood in Poland.
As he wrote about himself – he was closely connected with nature. He spent every free moment outside: hunting small animals, fishing, but also sketching. As a very young boy, he painted the first pictures of Biligorian houses, portraits of his parents' guests, repeated motifs from printed reproductions sold by wandering traders. After years of Sigismund Knap in a conversation with Halina Ewa Olszewski, he mentioned that one of the pictures from those years depicts a hut which the brothers saw in Bidaczów during a mushroom expedition. This and another small picture remained first at their mother's house, and later they were included in the Zygmunt collection.
At the time, there was no formal artistic education. Yet, Stefan knew what he wanted to do in the future. In the Square Sun, he recalled: "I had one dream: to study fine arts."
Even as a child, his technical sense was familiar, which, in addition to the artistic skills developed from an early age, later played a huge role. One of Stefan's favorite activities was the construction of small water mills: "The image of the wheels that makes the whole machinery move was an inexhaustible source of delight and ideas for me."
Stefan also mentions some kind of isolation from his peers on the pages of "The Square Sun". In the eyes of many parents, he was not a good playmate for Biligorian children. He spent many hours on lonely hikes over Tanvia and Lad, as well as in the vast forests surrounding the city. He also spent much time with his brothers, his younger sister Janina by four years, and his peer, Basia Drobińska, with whom he had been friends since he was thirteen years old. He wrote: "... Barbara was my best friend. She was exactly as old as I was, she was a beautiful, filigree, sensitive child. I loved her very much. She was the only friend of my lonely childhood."
This important relationship for Stefan developed in secret. Basia, like others, was banned from spending time with him. When their relationship came to light, the family tried to convince her not to continue contact, which Barbara refused to accept. According to one of Knapp's nieces, Stefan found Basia after the war. Her only letter to Stefan, written from the New City of Lubawski – Basia had already had a husband and led a new life.
The community's aversion to Stefan and his family was largely due to the political views of Antoni Knap and the two older brothers Robert and Zygmunt. Stefan wrote: "The father came from a family of zealous Catholics and was once very religious. He rebelled by seeing the gap between the teachings of the Church and its practice. Both of my brothers shared his rebellious views. I myself was too young to understand his extremely liberal opinions, but I loved my father and was proud of him. The natural turn of things enmity of church and secular authorities towards their father was transferred to his children."
Because of the ostracism of the family, older boys attended schools outside Biłgoraj. Zygmunt was educated at the Lviv Academy of Commerce. Stefan and Janina remained in the School of Commons built in 1932 – until Stefan began his high school education in Lviv in the 1935/36 school year.
Antoni Knap in 1928 served as the 1st Secretary of the Biłgoraj Communist Party of Poland. It is said that he came into contact with the communist idea during his stay in Argentina, where he could work in the environment of Poles associated with the Communist Party of Argentina. In 1938 Robert Knap, the eldest of the brothers, was arrested for his participation in the Communist Party of Poland and executed his sentence in the Soviet prison.
On September 1, 1939, Nazi Germans attacked Poland, and the German army reached Biłgoraj on September 16. The war found Stefan at home, still a summer break. He witnessed the bombing of the city, also mentioned the transfer of food and clothing to prisoners locked up by the Nazis in the school courtyard, converted into a prisoner of war camp. Anthony was also arrested, but was released by older sons.
Biłgoraj passed from German hands to Russian hands and back until he eventually remained under German occupation until 1944.
When the Russians entered Biłgoraj on 28 September 1939, Antoni served as Deputy Secretary of the Provisional Revolutionary Committee. It also included Zygmunt Knap. Robert Knap became Chief of the Red Militia. Father and brothers enthusiastically greeted the Red Army, and Sigmund even prepared appropriate afiche in Russian. As the Russians left Biłgoraj on October 2, 1939, Antoni decided that for family safety they would leave the city as well. Stefan went back to Lviv, to school. The rest of the family were initially located somewhere in the northern part of Russia. The Nazis occupied the Biligorian Knapów house at 38 Kościuszko Street, and its courtyard paved with matzeves from their devastated Jewish cemetery.
The war separated the family. Julia Knap and her daughter Janina were interned under Kiev. After the war, they returned to Biłgoraj. Julia lived to 96 and died in 1991. Janina died in a car accident on August 29, 1982.
Robert Knap joined as an engineer to the 1st Army of the Polish Army – part of the Polish People's Army – with which he followed the battle trail from Lenin to Berlin. After the war, he continued to engage in the structures of the power apparatus. He died in 1988.
Zygmunt Knap on May 14, 1941, was sentenced by the Political Office of KC WKP to death penalty. He went to one of the labor camps located along the Ob River in the Asian part of Russia. He returned to Poland in 1944 with the 1st Army of the Polish Army. After the war, from 16 April to 1 May 1946, he held the position of Referee of the Regional Public Security Office for the municipality of Frampol. He died in 2002.
Antoni Knap disappeared during the first months of the war. The family never found him.
author: Maja T. Wal
The article is a modified form of biographical text by the author, who first appeared in the catalogue of the exhibition "Stefan Knapp. Alechemist and visionary" presented at the Center for Contemporary Art "Marks of Time" in Toruń (February-May 2026).
Sources of quotes: Knapp Stefan, "Quarter Sun", Biłgoraj Regional Society, Biłgoraj 2017; Olszewska, Halina Eva. "About the Outstanding Artist Stefan Knappie." Writer.pl, October 31, 2023. [Accessed 2 September 2025] https://pisarze.pl/2023/10/31/halina-eva-olszewska-o-prominent-artist-stefanie-knappie