Author: Witold Świeczak, Radosław Suchożebrski
Title: Sketches made before the start. Drawings by Jan Sęk
ISBN: 978-83-63539-20-7
Cover: soft, glued, dust jacket
The year of publication: 2016
Publisher: Scientific Publishers of the Institute of Aviation
Quantity pages: 335
Language of publication: polish

Link: https://ilot.lukasiewicz.gov.pl/en/sketches-made-before-the-start-drawings-by-jan-sek/

Description: Striking drawings drawn from deep recesses of memory, fleeting, slim memories, the story of a young man fascinated with aviation…And death, which put an abrupt stop to these dreams. The Publishing Houses of the Institute of Aviation have just released an unique album with the drawings by Jan Sęk created in 1938-1943. The publication was prepared by the employees of the Institute of Aviation: Witold Świeczak and Radosław Suchożebrski.

Jan Sęk was born in 1920 in Grodzisk. When he was a teenager, he moved to Włochy near Warsaw. After finishing grammar school in Warsaw, he got into an aviation college. While waiting to take off, in moments of rest, or during breaks after landing, he was indulging in his other greatest passion – drawing.

The album presents selected 82 works along with their original captions. The works were created in 1938-1943. Some of them were drawn from his photographic memory.

Jan Sęk died when he was a mere 23 years old, led by Germans in a column of prisoners out of the Auschwitz concentration camp. He tried to defend one of prisoners. His family never found out where he was buried.

The publication is a tribute to the young pilot, who in his life valued honor, integrity and honesty.

The book was published under the honorary patronage of the President of the Republic of Poland Andrzej Duda.