Józef Krzywda-Polkowski (1888-1981), architect, conservator and military officer with the rank of lieutenant. Together with Stanisław Świerz-Zeleski, he took the most valuable monuments of Polish culture out of Krakow via Romania, France and Great Britain, saved them from being plundered by the German invaders and took care of them in Canada. In 1946, by a decision of the London government, he was deprived of his livelihood. Out of necessity, he took on a variety of jobs: he was a stoker in a boiler room, a night watchman in a hotel, a farm labourer, an employee in a Polish shop. In 1956, "contrary to his conviction and fidelity to the Polish Republic", he was granted Canadian citizenship, and with it a small social allowance by the Canadian government, which was his only source of income. He died in Ottawa and was buried in the local Notre Dame Cemetery in a grave paid for by the city (Ontario)