The second of two decks of playing cards in memory of Henryk Roznetal during his service in the Royal Air Force. When Henryk Rozental started his service in aviation, he was only 19 years old. Like many of his colleagues fighting on the fronts of World War II, he was only on the threshold of adulthood. The card games that took the soldiers' time between successive flights were certainly an important stepping stone from the war around them. Most likely, it was during his service in the aviation that Henryk Roznetal learned to play bridge, in which he became significantly involved after returning to the country. Initially, he moved to Łódź, where he began to promote the rules of sports bridge. As a delegate from Łódź, he took min. participation in the meeting during which the Polish Sports Bridge Association was established (Warsaw; October 23, 1956). He became an excellent secretary of the Łódź branch. From November 17, 1956, the bridge column led by Henryk Rozental appeared every week in the Łódź edition of Illustrated Express. Its pages familiarized readers with the rules of sports bridge, discussed popular conventions, and also informed about bridge events in Poland and around the world. Janina Rozental (Henryk's wife), recalls that the bridge was present in their lives even during the holidays: "we went to Sopot every year, and there were bridge games [...] As we said - the season has started, the Rozentalki have arrived, are already here at location. That's what they called us, Rozentalki. " In Łódź, the bridge games organized by Henryk Rozental took place, among others. at the Start club at ul. Nowomiejska 4, of which Henryk Rozental was the manager. It was also possible to play in the Piotrkowska Grand Hotel. There he met his wife, who recalls that they met "literally at the bridge table". Bridge sports tournaments were organized weekly. The games were held on Thursdays at 18:00. On other days it was also possible to play until 2 am. The physical appearance of the deck along with the packaging is similar to the first set. The deck consists of a coated package with 53 playing cards, one of which (a joker) has been glued to the package (with a decorative reverse side facing out). The visible difference is the range of colors used - here shades of red. Similarly, in the central part of the verso (reverse) of each card there is also the Royal Airf force emblem (a laurel wreath with the word RAF in the center, with wings on the sides and the crown of King George VI on the top).
Marta Frączkiewicz
