9.4.1 Exhibitions, conferences and tours.
—An almost exhaustive list of our events.
- 1976 – Villard-de-Lans honours Poland with a commemorative plaque on the wall of the Hôtel du Parc. Avenue Carnot became “Rue du Lycée Polonais” .
- 1979 – Wenceslas Godlewski, Philippe Blanc, Marcel Malbos and André Ravix are awarded the Gold Cross of Polish Merit.
- 1980 – Exhibition of Polish posters in Villard-de-Lans.
- 1981 – Villard-de-Lans mobilises to send medicine to the Children ‘s Health Centre in Warsaw.
- 1982 – Médecins Sans Frontière intervenes again, enabling a 70 m3 lorry to be sent to Krakow. Another six-tonne lorry was chartered by the town hall and driven by Villardians.
- 1984 – Students from the Starogard secondary school in Gdansk stay in Villard-de-Lans as part of a school exchange programme.
- 1986 – 40th anniversary of the high school ‘s departure. The Pionniers du Vercors take part in the ceremonies. The town council presents the President of the Alumni Association, Mr Godlewski and the Polish consul with the town of Villard-de-Lans ‘ medal of honour. A commemorative medal is struck by the association. The alumni present it to leading French figures.
- 1987 – Ewa Cendrowska, a Polish film-maker, visits Villard-de-Lans for a reunion of former students and teachers. She produces a 40-minute documentary for television: Retour au Vercors. Valérie Terrel presents her dissertation on the Polish high school at the Institute of Political Studies in Grenoble.
- 1988 – Long stay in France by Tadeusz Lepkowski, former student and historian. He visits Villard-de-Lans and gives a lecture at Grenoble University.
- 1990 – 50th anniversary of the arrival of the high school. A minister, ambassador, senator, MP and the mayor surround Mr Godlewski. Presentation of Tadeusz Lepkowski ‘s book, a “bible” dedicated to the high school. Villard-de-Lans becomes the only French town to receive the Commander ‘s Cross of the Polish Order of Merit.
- 1991 – Celebration of the bicentenary of the Polish Constitution; an exhibition dedicated to Cyprian Norwid is organised in Villard-de-Lans.
- 1991 – Visit to Villard-de-Lans by Polish grandchildren of former students.
- 1995 – Participation in the exhibition Poles in the Resistance during the Second World War, at the Polish Historical and Literary Society (SHLP) in Paris.
- 1996 – Exhibition at the Polish Institute in Paris on the theme: A testimony to Franco-Polish friendship: the Cyprian Norwid high school in Villard-de-Lans, an exception in occupied Europe.
- 1998 – Inauguration in Warsaw of ul. Villardczykow, or “Villardians Street”.
- 2001 – Inauguration of a plaque at the Polish School in Les Batignoles, Paris, honouring the memory of those who disappeared and were deported from the Polish High School.
- 2002 – Twinning of Villard-de-Lans with the town of Mikolajki, a tourist resort in Poland. There have been several years of regular exchanges involving children and adults.
- 2007 – Visit to Villard-de-Lans by high school students from Andrézieux (Loire) and Lodz (Poland).
- 2008 – Participation in the Rencontres Nomades (“Nomadic Encounters”) in Saint-Martin-en-Vercors, on the theme: From the Spanish Civil War to the Liberation. Foreigners in the Vercors. Slide-show conference: History of the Polish high school in Villard-de-Lans.
- 2009 – Participation in the “Polish Variations in the Vercors” festival. In Villard-de-Lans: an exhibition and slide-show, screening of Retour au Vercors, theatre, and a concert by the Polonium choir.
- 2009 – The Léo Nathan theatre company and students from the Jean Prévost high school in Villard put on the play by Karol Obidniak and Jozef Wedrychowski, Pensionnaires de l ‘hôtel du Parc, for the Polish Variations in the Vercors festival.
- 2010 – Exhibition and conference on the occasion of the celebrations in Lyon for the 175th anniversary of the Polish Catholic Mission in France.
- 2011 – Exhibition at Les Batignoles Polish School in Paris.
- 2011 – Participation in the Polonia exhibition at the Cité Nationale de l ‘Histoire de l ‘Immigration (National Museum of the History of Immigration) in Paris. Exhibition at Les Batignoles Polish School in Paris.
- 2011 – Exhibition at the Resistance Museum in Vassieux: Polish Resistance fighters in the Vercors: the story of the Cyprian Norwid Polish high school in Villard-de-Lans.
- 2012 – Exhibition at the Maison du Patrimoine (Heritage Centre) in Villard-de-Lans: Pour notre liberté et pour la vôtre (“For our freedom and for yours”).
- 2012 – Participation in the exhibition at the Maison de la Bretagne in Walbrzych, Poland, a place of national remembrance for Poles in France: Pour notre liberté et pour la vôtre (“For our freedom and for yours”).
- 2013 – Slide-show conference in Saint-Martin-en-Vercors and the Villard-de-Lans high school: Des étrangers dans la Résistance (“Foreign Participation in the Resistance”).
- 2014 – Participation in the Vercors 40-44 exhibition at the Museum of Resistance and Deportation in Grenoble.
- 2014 – Conference-lecture slide-show in Villard-de-Lans and at the Polish Consulate in Lyon.
- 2014 – High school students from Zakopane, Poland, visit the Villard-de-Lans high school. Slide-show conference.
- 2015 – Exhibition in Zakopane, Poland, on the occasion of the International Mountain Film Festival. Polish version of the 2012 exhibition in Villard-de-Lans.
- 2018 – Visit from Polish and Grenoble high school students to Villard-de-Lans. Slide-show conference.
- 2021 – Inauguration of the Foyer des libertés (“Cradle of Freedom”) permanent museum space at the Heritage Centre in Villard-de-Lans.
- 2022 – Participation in the “Course de la Résistance” sports event organised by the Grenoble Museum of Resistance and Deportation with panels and totems around Villard-de-Lans.
- 2022 – Participation in the Vercors Royans Resistance Days in Saint-Jean-en-Royans: exhibition, screening of the film Foyer des libertés.
- 2022 – Slide-show conference at Maison d ‘Izieux for a group of educators from the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum.
- 2023 – Screening of Foyer des libertés and conference at the Grenoble Lions Club.
- 2024 – Exhibition at POSK, the Polish Social and Cultural Association in London