His father Sofroniusz Skrebeciowicz de Sielecki (1862–1908) was
civil servant at the
Imperial Royal Austrian State Railways, stationed in various places throughout
Galicia. His mother Leontyna née Lintner (1877–1913). He had one younger sister, Czesława (1907–1993). Both became orphans at an early age and were raised by their maternal aunt Jozéfina and her husband Adolf Skrzyszewski, who was also employed at the state railway. The Skrebeciowicz de
Sielecki family with the
Sas coat of arms was nobility (in Polish called
szlachta), originally from
Sielec, Drohobych Raion. Klemens Sielecki went to primary school in
Chernivtsi and the
Imperial and Royal Gymnasium V in
Kraków and received his matriculation in Stanisławów in 1921. He enrolled in the
Lwów Polytechnic on November 24, 1921, where he studied
engineering and
railroading and graduated on December 14, 1929 with a
master's degree. During his studies in 1925, after three months of interning he received his steam engine-
driving license. In the year 1925-26 he did his
internships in the workshops and offices of the state railway of Lwów and Stanisławów and familiarised himself with the production of steam locomotives of Fablok in Chrzanów and the Steam Locomotive Factory in Warsaw (
Fabryka Parowozow Warszawa). After earning his
absolutorium in 1927, he worked in the locomotive depot in Lwów in the
gauging department and later as a designer in the mechanical factory in Lwów "
L. Zieleniewski-Fitzner-Gamper SA". From October 1, 1928 until April 30, 1930 he worked as a young assistant at the chair of engineering (
I Katedry Budowy Maszyn) under professor Wilhelm Mozer and at the same time as assistant at the
university don for organisation and management of industries at the Lwów Polytechnic. '' at Zakopane train station (1935) On May 1, 1930 he moved to Chrzanów, where he started work in the design office of Fablok in charge of developing new types of locomotives for the then ministry of communication (which later became the ministry of transport) and the
Bulgarian State Railways. In 1935 he was highly involved in the development of the construction of the diesel hydraulic railway car called "
Luxtorpeda", which was a technical innovation in its time. Also in 1935 he was nominated as deputy head of the technical department and starting in March 1939 as head. Five Luxtorpedas were constructed under his leadership, which were able to reach a speed of 115 km/h. He was involved with the construction, production and test-runs of locomotives in particular those destined for export to Bulgaria,
Morocco,
Lithuania and
Soviet Union. Due to his knowledge of foreign languages he was repeatedly sent abroad for business purposes pertaining technical aspects and co-operation. , in 1959. Sielecki is standing 6th from left front row. During the
Nazi occupation of Poland, Fablok was incorporated into
Henschel & Son under the name
Oberschlesische Lokomotivwerke Krenau. Sielecki worked as a
technologist. In this time, with the consent of the
general director Guido Sanchez de la Cerda, he was involved in protecting his Jewish co-workers from Nazi persecution. Together with his colleagues from the technical bureau he started hiding the
technical documentation for steam, industrial diesel and electrical locomotives and moved them completely out of the plant in January 1945, since the Nazis wanted them destroyed. After Poland was liberated, this documentation proved vital for the re-construction efforts of the national railway industry, especially the diesel and electrical locomotives. This allowed Fablok to restart the production of these types. In the post-war years, he was technical director until 1964. Under his leadership, the production was re-established for multiple types of locomotives, 12 of that type were destined for export. From 1945-61 he accompanied delegations of the ministry heavy industry and foreign trade of on various occasions to trips abroad. From 1965, he was technical advisor to the board until his retirement on March 31, 1971. In the 1960s and 70's, he also lectured at the
Cracow University of Technology and
technical school in Chrzanów. He died of a sudden
heart failure while vacationing with his family. He was laid to rest in the family tomb in
Rakowicki Cemetery in Kraków. == Works ==