The smallpox epidemic in Wrocław was the last outbreak of smallpox in Poland and one of the last in Europe (the 1972 Yugoslav smallpox outbreak was last) and the biggest disease outbreak in Europe until the COVID-19 pandemic. It broke out in the summer of 1963. The disease was brought to Poland in May by Bonifacy Jedynak, an officer of the Security Service (Służba Bezpieczeństwa), returning from India (according to other sources, from Burma or Vietnam).
The first fatal victim was a nurse, the daughter of a hospital cleaner, who had been in contact with the infected individual. The state of epidemic was declared on July 17 and lifted on September 19. A total of 99 people contracted the disease (most of them healthcare workers), of whom seven died, including four doctors and nurses. The youngest patient was five months old, the oldest was 83.
The city was paralyzed and isolated from the rest of the country by a sanitary cordon for several weeks. Although the disease spread beyond Wrocław, it was treated in five voivodeships. A large-scale prevention program was implemented: individuals suspected of contact with patients were placed in isolation facilities, located, among others, on Stabłowicka Street (Pracze Odrzańskie) and Kiełczowska Street (Psie Pole). In the village of Szczodre, a hospital for smallpox patients was organized.
Epidemiological and legal situation in Poland
Between 1945 and 1962, there were 69 outbreaks of smallpox recorded in Europe, with the decade immediately after the war seeing the highest number of cases. In only six of those outbreaks did the number of infections exceed one hundred. In Poland, smallpox appeared twice during that period: in 1953 (13 cases) and in 1962 in Gdańsk, where 29 people fell ill.
Despite this, there were no comprehensive epidemic response procedures in place. Legally, the country was still operating under the Act on the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases of February 21, 1935. After the Gdańsk incidents, mandatory smallpox vaccinations every three years were introduced for healthcare workers. However, there was a lack of proper training — at the time the epidemic threat was announced, only three doctors in Wrocław had first-hand experience with smallpox, and their expertise was not utilized.
Patient zero
The disease was brought to Poland by Bonifacy Jedynak, a Polish officer and Lieutenant Colonel (later a General and Director General in the Ministry of the Interior’s Department of Personnel and Professional Development) of the Security Service (SB). He had returned to Wrocław on May 22, 1963, after inspecting facilities in Delhi, India, traveling under a false name with a forged health certificate.
After his return, he developed an unknown infectious disease and on June 2 (according to some sources, May 29) reported to the Ministry of the Interior Hospital on Ołbińska Street in Wrocław. Following consultations with the Institute of Tropical Medicine in Gdańsk, doctors diagnosed him with malaria (parasites were found in his blood). After a brief hospital stay, he recovered and was discharged home in mid-June.
In reality, besides malaria, he was also infected with the smallpox virus. During his hospital stay, he infected only one person: either a nurse who had mild symptoms and was believed to have chickenpox, or a cleaning woman (hospital attendant). This person later became the secondary source of the epidemic. Her son, daughter, and the attending doctor were subsequently infected, and all three later died.
Progress of epidemic The first fatal victim of the Wrocław smallpox epidemic was Lonia Kowalczyk, a nurse, who died on July 8, 1963. She was the daughter of the cleaning woman who had cleaned the isolation room of the infected officer from India.
The cleaning woman herself contracted a mild form of smallpox (initially misdiagnosed as chickenpox) and recovered. However, her daughter's illness was severe and initially misdiagnosed as leukemia due to a sudden, extreme increase in white blood cell count (a leukemoid reaction). Lonia Kowalczyk was buried several days later, despite regulations requiring burial within 24 hours. The infection spread to the cleaning woman's son and then to Dr. Stefan Zawada, the physician she had consulted. Smallpox was still not recognized—the rash was misdiagnosed as chickenpox—and both the son and the doctor also died later.
Diagnosis On July 15, 1963, 47 days after the first case of the disease (later called "Black Monday"; ), an anti-epidemic emergency was announced in the city. Ten thousand vaccines were delivered from the Polish capital, Warsaw, that day. Around 1 million vaccines were subsequently delivered from the Soviet Union and Hungary.
Recognition that a smallpox (Variola vera) epidemic was spreading in Wrocław is credited to Dr. Bogumił Arendzikowski of the Municipal Sanitary-Epidemiological Station, who analyzed all unexplained infectious cases.
One key case involved a four-year-old boy who, after recently recovering from chickenpox, developed a new smallpox rash — something extremely rare, as chickenpox infection provides lifelong immunity. This case became the turning point in identifying the epidemic on July 15, 1963.
Dr. Arendzikowski immediately contacted his superior, Dr. Jerzy Rodziewicz, the head of the Sanitary Inspectorate (Sanepid), who promptly notified the authorities in Warsaw.
Course of the epidemic
Beginnings
Supervision over the entire operation, called VV or O, was carried out by Deputy Minister of Health and Chief Sanitary Inspector Jan Kostrzewski, who was delegated to Wrocław. The most important decisions were made during meetings of the newly established Epidemiological Council, composed of Wrocław doctors and Ministry of Health officials; among them was also a doctor from Gdańsk — the city that had dealt with a smallpox outbreak the year before.
The first isolation center was set up on July 18 in the building of the Agricultural Mechanization Technical School in Pracze Odrzańskie, on the northwestern edge of the city, with about 360 beds. In addition, an observation hospital was opened in the dormitory of the Engine-Building Technical School in Psie Pole. Three hospitals were closed: the infectious diseases hospital on Piwna Street, the municipal hospital on Rydygiera Street, and the ministry hospital on Ołbińska Street.
On July 17, in Szczodre, northeast of the city, an epidemic hospital and quarantine center was established, directed by Dr. Alicja Surowiec. Five patients were admitted immediately. Additional isolation centers were created, and four hospitals were placed under quarantine; in total, 1,462 people suspected of contact with the virus were isolated. The Szczodre hospital was divided into three wards, each serving as a separate isolation area: patients with smallpox symptoms stayed in the first ward, where treatment lasted 36 days. The children’s ward housed nine girls and six boys, aged from five months to twelve years. A strict ban on movement within the hospital was enforced. Since there were fears that the Szczodre hospital might prove too small, a second facility was prepared in Prząśnik, Legnica County, in the building of the Provincial Dermatological Hospital.
At the same time, authorities decided to declare an alert and impose mandatory vaccination for all residents of Wrocław. However, the population was not yet informed about the epidemic; the first, rather vague, signal was an article published on July 18 in Gazeta Robotnicza, mentioning five people diagnosed with smallpox symptoms. A week later, the same paper published a list of people sought for contact with the infected.
On July 19, under the chairmanship of Prof. Bolesław Iwaszkiewicz, the Wrocław National Council established a coordination committee to support the Anti-Epidemic Council. Other working groups were also formed: for Smallpox Contacts, Diagnostics and Consultations, Quarantine, Isolation Centers, Economic and Financial Matters, Transport and Communication, Care for Families of Isolated Persons, Vaccinations, the Szczodre Hospital Team, and a Disinfection Team. From Gdańsk, additional smallpox specialists were brought in: Dr. Andrzej Gajda and Prof. Wiktor Bincer, head of the Clinic and Department of Infectious Diseases. The epidemic command headquarters was located in the National Council building on Zapolska Street.
On the first official day of the epidemic, priority was given to isolating the sick and those who had contact with them. A mass vaccination campaign was also launched, initially excluding newborns, women up to the fifth month of pregnancy, and chronically ill persons; this decision was reversed on August 1, and vaccination became universal—even when medical contraindications existed. During the entire epidemic, 98% of Wrocław’s residents were vaccinated. That same day, regular medical training sessions began for doctors on smallpox control; as a result, 50 Polish doctors and two Hungarian doctors were trained.
Further course
After initial chaotic measures, a procedure was established. Each new suspected smallpox case was verified by a consulting physician. Visiting doctors wore special protective clothing, consisting of white canvas pants, a jacket, cap, gloves, and rubber boots. Residents nicknamed them “the dress-ups,” “carolers,” “stuntmen,” “clowns,” or “Judym doctors of the epidemic.” The consultant’s decision was final.
If the disease was confirmed or suspected, patients were sent to hospital; in unclear cases, they stayed home pending another examination. People who had contact with the sick were isolated after vaccination, while secondary contacts were subjected to five days of sanitary supervision after vaccination.
According to Dr. Michał Sobkowy, who served as a duty inspection physician in Wrocław’s ambulance service during the epidemic, the protection of doctors visiting suspected patients was far from adequate:“The sanitary inspectors were a different story — they were completely covered when visiting smallpox patients. Even their eyes were shielded; they spoke with patients through a plastic sheet that was part of the face covering,”
he told Newsweek.For logistical support, cars were confiscated from Wrocław enterprises to transport infected or quarantined individuals. It was decreed that if workplaces disobeyed the order, their directors would be punished within 24 hours, and their names published in the press.
Despite strict measures, the disease spread beyond Wrocław and even beyond Lower Silesia. On July 19, a person in Opole who had contact with patient zero (B. Jedynak) fell ill. Correct diagnosis came only five days later, after an initial misdiagnosis of chickenpox. By then, he had already infected two others. By July 24, cases were confirmed in Oława and Legnica, and later in Wieruszów and Gdańsk.
Meanwhile, authorities tried to track the epidemic’s progress, which often proved difficult—for instance, searching for a taxi driver who had transported an infected passenger, known only to have worn a checkered shirt and driven a Warszawa-brand car. Panic rose when a tram driver from line 0, which connected Wrocław’s main railway stations (Główny, Nadodrze, and Świebodzki), fell ill.
On July 22, from the Szczodre hospital, the first fatality’s body was removed—the same day the hospital had opened. Four days later, there were no free beds left in the isolation centers. The last fatal victim was Dr. Stefan Zawada, who died on August 5. Only on August 16 did the Polish Film Chronicle broadcast footage about the epidemic in Wrocław. Three days later, the isolation center in Pracze Odrzańskie was closed.