Below is an excerpt from the book "Lech Kaczyński. Political Biography":

It was Saturday, June 18, 1949. For five years Poland had been in Soviet hands. The capital city of the Republic of Poland, rising from the ruins of war, was a witness of constant repressions, terror, show trials and political murders. On this very day, one of the most shameful political trials of the People's Republic of Poland was beginning before the Military District Court in Warsaw - the trial of Adam Doboszyński, a national camp activist accused of, among others, cooperation with the intelligence service III Reich and the United States. (...)

On 18 June 1949, Jadwiga née Jasiewicz and her husband Rajmund Kaczyński were staying in a small cooperative apartment at 3/216 Paweł Suzina Street in Żoliborz, which belonged to Jadwiga's parents. They were expecting a child. The birth took place at home (there was an epidemic of pemphigus in the hospital), it was hard and long (it lasted 24 hours). A daughter was rather expected, but two boys, twins, Lech Aleksander and Jarosław Aleksander, were born.

Unlike Hedwig, Rajmund showed no great surprise. "No, somehow he took it normally. Maybe he thought it boosted his male pride." - Jadwiga recalled.

When asked about the special day, she added: "For me it was a big surprise. I didn't know there would be two of them, nobody told me about it. I thought it was going to be a daughter, just like the doctor thought. It was supposed to be Magdalena. And here was a surprise. But I immediately accepted it as a normal thing. I was not disappointed, I was terribly happy. Jarek was born first, and in half an hour, maybe forty minutes Leszek was born, which I also didn't know, even between one and the other I didn't know that another one was going to be born [...]. I gave birth at home, the birth was delivered by Tadeusz Gajcy's mother, Irena. I was very happy. My grandparents were terribly happy, they were simply crazy. My dad wanted me to have boys, because he had two daughters" (Reported by J. Kaczyńska, Warsaw, 10 January 2012, interviewed by S. Cenckiewicz and A.K. Baker).

photo EASTNEWS / REX FEATURES