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Life in Poland Under the German Occupation
Review of Through a Woman’s Eyes: Life in Poland Under the German Occupation, by Maria Brzeska. 1943. MaxLove Publishing Limited, London
Mr. Jan Peczkis
A Detailed and Especially Poignant Account of Polish Suffering Under the Nazis
Nowadays, the Nazi genocide of Poles is all but forgotten in favor of the Nazi genocide of the Jews (Shoah). The deadly everyday situation facing Poles, if mentioned at all, is reduced to a cursory footnote. Poles are relegated to spectators, or worse, relative to Jews. This book serves as a revelation to people who think this way. Even the reader quite familiar with this subject can be shocked by the German cruelties against Poles.
Written a little halfway through the war (shortly after Sikorski's catastrophic death: p. 92), this work has the advantage of not being influenced by later events. One obvious theme is the trusting Polish attitude towards their British allies, with no inkling of the Churchill-Roosevelt Teheran-Yalta sellout of Poland that was to happen.
This work is centered on the Krakow area, but encompasses much of German-occupied Poland. It describes various passive and active Polish forms of resistance to the German occupants. The German "Operation Zamosc", further east, is also highlighted, as is the guerrilla opposition by the Peasant Battalions (BATALIONY CHLOPSKIE). (pp. 65-66).
The daily German terror facing Poles is elaborated. Countless Poles were murdered in street executions and concentration camps. Polish children missed their childhoods, and had to grow up fast. They went to bed frightened that the Germans would take away their mothers just as they had murdered their fathers. (pp. 48-49). In the Spring of 1943, there were 525,000 hungry and half-clad Polish children in need of aid. (p. 46). Not only Jews were gassed. In the summer of 1943, some 500 Polish convalescents were gassed by the Germans at Auschwitz. (p. 7).
The German genocide of Poles was largely passive--shortened lifespans and decreased birth rates enforced by the drastic reduction in the Poles' standard of living, including the imposition of near-starvation conditions through confiscation of feedstuffs. Brzeska comments (quote) The sizes of quotas steadily increased, and with them the opposition to quotas. Despite a continual reduction in the length of the delivery period, despite the growing terror which accompanied the non-fulfillment of quotas, the proportion of grain, and even more of meat handed over never equaled the prescribed demands...The obstinate villages are punished by the taking of hostages, by the firing of farms, by deportation...Unable to break the villages with poverty, the Germans tried to depopulate them. (unquote).(pp. 63-64).
Author Maria Brzeska also describes Polish resistance to the draconian German policies. She comments, (quote) The enterprising and inapprehensible street traders play a very useful part. They make it possible for the people somehow or other to survive, if only by barter, with their effective sabotage they undermine the German system of food rationing... (p. 32). Poverty-stricken and grey, the streets of Warsaw still throb with Polish life... (p. 33). Miracles of ingenuity, much courage and daring are required to smuggle a pat of butter to town in broad daylight at the bottom of a pitcher of milk, or to carry a piece of bacon under one's apron...The economic exchange between town and village was the salvation of both sides. (quote)(p. 62).
Maria Brzeska also touches on the situation facing Poland's Jews, (quote) The peasants whom the Germans reduced to the role of pariah gave their protection to the most miserable of all the pariahs: the Jews. And in this, as in many other cases, they have often paid for their humanity with their life. In the little village of Sadowa in Wegrow county a baker, his wife and son were shot for giving a loaf of bread to a Jewish woman. In many cases villages have had their inhabitants shot, their husbandries burnt down, their people deported amid sneers and humiliations, just because they have given Jews a loaf of bread, or shelter for the night, or have set plates of groats in the forest for the homeless Jewish children whom the Germans shoot like rabbits. None the less in village after village deliberate and effective aid has been given, with strong and helpful forest always available if necessary. (unquote)(p. 70). [For over 100 different examples of chains of Polish families and villages aiding Jews in an organized manner, please click on Golden Harvest or Hearts of Gold? Studies on the Wartime Fate of Poles and Jews, and read the detailed Peczkis review.]
Now consider the recent publication of THE HUNT FOR THE JEWS (JUDENJAGT), by neo-Stalinist Jan Grabowski. In it, Grabowski has tried to depreciate Polish aid to Jews by dismissing much of what passed for Polish aid to Jews as small in scale. However, as Brzeska's quoted paragraph above makes vividly evident, even the most "trivial" Polish aid to Jews incurred savage, mortal German reprisals.
In addition, Brzeska's detailed and graphic information about the severe Polish privations under German occupation unwittingly serves as a refutation of other attacks on Poland by the likes of Jan T. Gross and Jan Grabowski. The near-starvation conditions facing Poles make it easy to see why many Poles did not want to share their meager rations with Jews, why some Poles only helped Jews who could pay and for only as long as they could pay, why some Poles reacted with murderous fury against known or suspected Jewish banditry (as through the Judenjagt), etc.
Mr. Jan Peczkis
A Detailed and Especially Poignant Account of Polish Suffering Under the Nazis
Nowadays, the Nazi genocide of Poles is all but forgotten in favor of the Nazi genocide of the Jews (Shoah). The deadly everyday situation facing Poles, if mentioned at all, is reduced to a cursory footnote. Poles are relegated to spectators, or worse, relative to Jews. This book serves as a revelation to people who think this way. Even the reader quite familiar with this subject can be shocked by the German cruelties against Poles.
Written a little halfway through the war (shortly after Sikorski's catastrophic death: p. 92), this work has the advantage of not being influenced by later events. One obvious theme is the trusting Polish attitude towards their British allies, with no inkling of the Churchill-Roosevelt Teheran-Yalta sellout of Poland that was to happen.
This work is centered on the Krakow area, but encompasses much of German-occupied Poland. It describes various passive and active Polish forms of resistance to the German occupants. The German "Operation Zamosc", further east, is also highlighted, as is the guerrilla opposition by the Peasant Battalions (BATALIONY CHLOPSKIE). (pp. 65-66).
The daily German terror facing Poles is elaborated. Countless Poles were murdered in street executions and concentration camps. Polish children missed their childhoods, and had to grow up fast. They went to bed frightened that the Germans would take away their mothers just as they had murdered their fathers. (pp. 48-49). In the Spring of 1943, there were 525,000 hungry and half-clad Polish children in need of aid. (p. 46). Not only Jews were gassed. In the summer of 1943, some 500 Polish convalescents were gassed by the Germans at Auschwitz. (p. 7).
The German genocide of Poles was largely passive--shortened lifespans and decreased birth rates enforced by the drastic reduction in the Poles' standard of living, including the imposition of near-starvation conditions through confiscation of feedstuffs. Brzeska comments (quote) The sizes of quotas steadily increased, and with them the opposition to quotas. Despite a continual reduction in the length of the delivery period, despite the growing terror which accompanied the non-fulfillment of quotas, the proportion of grain, and even more of meat handed over never equaled the prescribed demands...The obstinate villages are punished by the taking of hostages, by the firing of farms, by deportation...Unable to break the villages with poverty, the Germans tried to depopulate them. (unquote).(pp. 63-64).
Author Maria Brzeska also describes Polish resistance to the draconian German policies. She comments, (quote) The enterprising and inapprehensible street traders play a very useful part. They make it possible for the people somehow or other to survive, if only by barter, with their effective sabotage they undermine the German system of food rationing... (p. 32). Poverty-stricken and grey, the streets of Warsaw still throb with Polish life... (p. 33). Miracles of ingenuity, much courage and daring are required to smuggle a pat of butter to town in broad daylight at the bottom of a pitcher of milk, or to carry a piece of bacon under one's apron...The economic exchange between town and village was the salvation of both sides. (quote)(p. 62).
Maria Brzeska also touches on the situation facing Poland's Jews, (quote) The peasants whom the Germans reduced to the role of pariah gave their protection to the most miserable of all the pariahs: the Jews. And in this, as in many other cases, they have often paid for their humanity with their life. In the little village of Sadowa in Wegrow county a baker, his wife and son were shot for giving a loaf of bread to a Jewish woman. In many cases villages have had their inhabitants shot, their husbandries burnt down, their people deported amid sneers and humiliations, just because they have given Jews a loaf of bread, or shelter for the night, or have set plates of groats in the forest for the homeless Jewish children whom the Germans shoot like rabbits. None the less in village after village deliberate and effective aid has been given, with strong and helpful forest always available if necessary. (unquote)(p. 70). [For over 100 different examples of chains of Polish families and villages aiding Jews in an organized manner, please click on Golden Harvest or Hearts of Gold? Studies on the Wartime Fate of Poles and Jews, and read the detailed Peczkis review.]
Now consider the recent publication of THE HUNT FOR THE JEWS (JUDENJAGT), by neo-Stalinist Jan Grabowski. In it, Grabowski has tried to depreciate Polish aid to Jews by dismissing much of what passed for Polish aid to Jews as small in scale. However, as Brzeska's quoted paragraph above makes vividly evident, even the most "trivial" Polish aid to Jews incurred savage, mortal German reprisals.
In addition, Brzeska's detailed and graphic information about the severe Polish privations under German occupation unwittingly serves as a refutation of other attacks on Poland by the likes of Jan T. Gross and Jan Grabowski. The near-starvation conditions facing Poles make it easy to see why many Poles did not want to share their meager rations with Jews, why some Poles only helped Jews who could pay and for only as long as they could pay, why some Poles reacted with murderous fury against known or suspected Jewish banditry (as through the Judenjagt), etc.
Joe Guzik - Grassroots Activist
Joe Guzik lives in Paramus, New Jersey with his wife and two children. Born in Poland where he studied civil engineering at university, Joe emigrated to the United States approximately 30 years ago, held numerous jobs and is today a successful landlord who tirelessly improves his residential properties. Both his son and daughter were educated at Catholic primary schools, secondary schools, and universities.
Precisely because he is a model family man, Joe takes a strong interest in making Polonia prosperous and influential on the American scene. Joe wants Polish Americans and not the Kremlin's lobby, or the Holocaust Industry, to shape state-to-state relations between Poland and the United States.
The Kremlin uses its money to pay American lawyers and publicists in Washington to lobby against Poland's Eastern Partnership Initiative(EaP)and to thwart an independent international investigation of the Smolensk Disaster of 10 April 2010. The EaP is a joint Polish-Swedish collective security initiative within the European Union that needs United States support. EaP's goal is to prevent resurgent Russian imperialism in the former Soviet space in eastern Europe and the Caucasus, Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Georgia.
The international Holocaust Industry continues to influence the United States Government to pressure Poland to enact an expensive, $250 billion, lump-sum compensation payment for World War II era private property on Polish territory despoiled by Nazi Germany and then nationalized by the communists. Joe does NOT want private property compensation to be the top issue in relations between Poland and the United States. Polish Americans, as United States citizens organized in their kin country lobby for Poland, the Polish American Congress, should have more influence on our Government's policy toward Poland than either of these two powerful lobbies whose key supporters include many who are NOT United States citizens.
As a member of the Polish Patriotic Club, organized by Mr. Henryk Pawelec, Joe does NOT have a rosy view of present conditions in the land of his birth. Joe is not persuaded by the propaganda of success, broadly publicized by the mainstream mass media in the West, that all is well now that Poland has acceded to NATO and the European Union after the collapse of communism. Instead, according to Joe and other well informed patriots, communism never collapsed in Poland, instead it was transformed.
Think of a sheet of paper that changes form after you crumple it--it is still the same piece of paper. In Poland, former communist upper level bureaucrats bought at sweetheart prices Polish state property, at the time of "shock therapy" in the early 1990s, and continue to rule today's Poland as crony capitalists. A strong American lobby for Poland will help Christian and democratic forces in Poland to challenge the transformed communists. That is why Joe, who is a member of the Polish American Congress(PAC), supports the PAC's resolution calling on the Polish Government to stop discrimination against Catholic television and give television TRWAM a digital broadcasting license.
Joe is a Christian Democrat and admires the social work of Polish Catholic priest Father Longin Tołczyk, who in the 1970s organized, in the Greenpoint section of Brooklyn, New York, both the Polish and Slavic Center(PSC) and the Polish and Slavic Federal Credit Union(PSFCU). Both of these organizations must be controlled by true patriots to give Polish Americans poltitical influence on the American scene.
This is true because from 1944 until the last Russian soldiers withdrew from Poland, on September 15, 1993, approximately 10,000 Polish speaking agents of the communist security services were sent to the United States, often with substantial amounts of money, for the purpose of dividing and thereby making Polish American organizations useless in the effort to support the emergence of a truly sovereign and Catholic Poland. Joe and other patriots are convinced that these communist agents masquerading as Polish patriots engineered the character assasination of Father Tołczyk. Then they took control of both the PSC and the PSFCU. We must take back what is rightfully ours from the crypto-Judeo-Communists that now control these two key institutions.
With approximately 38,000 dues paying members, the PSC is Polish America's largest social and cultural organization. The PSC, often called the center, is not conducting its Board of Directors Elections in compliance with New York State's Not-For-Profit-Corporation-Law. Joe was among those who recently took the center to court on the way its administration conducts Board of Directors elections. In many other ways the PSC has deviated from the direction Father Tołczyk gave the center. Joe and other patriots are working to put Father Tołczyk's principles back into practice.
Joe is also working hard to make Polish America's largest financial institution, the PSFCU, with $1.5 billion in assets, return to democratic corporate governance. At the stormy 19 May 2013 Annual Meeting of the PSFCU, Joe proposed a resolution calling for the expulsion of Mr. Krzysztof Matyszczyk from the credit union. He is the long-serving, over 20 years, and controversial treasurer of the Board of Directors. Joe's resolution nearly passed; it is likely to do so next year if Joe, or somebody else as courageous, again challenges tyrannical corporate governance masquerading as democracy.
Other resolutions and proposals at the 19 May Annual Meeting of the credit union showed that the membership wants a change and considers the present leadership illegitimate. Few were fooled by the so called Board of Directors Election results that led to the victory of three nominated candidates. As last year, this year's Board of Directors Elections were conducted under the terms of a secret contract which the PSFCU administration signed with Election Services Corp., based in Ronkonkoma, New York. Members are demanding publication of the contract and a recount. The atmosphere of suspicion and mistrust at the Annual Meeting was palpable. Many members expressed their interest in taking to the streets to protest the high-handed and authoritarian style of the PSFCU administration. Planning is now underway for a mass demonstration outside the PSFCU's McGuinness Boulevard office. The members are determined to take-back control of their credit union.
Partly to increase membership of the PSFCU, and partly to create a grassroots organization to invigorate the Washington, DC based Central and East European Coalition, Joe launched the Polish and Slavic Heritage Foundation. This foundation will empower all Americans who come from the Intermarium( the lands between the Baltic and Black Seas, approximately the territory of the Polish-Lithuanian-Ruthenian Commonwealth, or Res Publica), to work for true democracy and national sovereignty of their kin countries guaranteed by collective security through United States support for the Eastern Partnership Initiative(EaP).
To accomplish these objectives Joe, in 2012, ran for a seat on the Board of Directors of the PSFCU. He was narrowly defeated. This year he did not run for family reasons. He plans to run again in 2014. Joe is determined to make democratic corporate governance prevail at our credit union so Polish Americans can help each other to prosper and thereby increase our influence on the American scene.
Joe is exemplary because he puts his principles into practice. If Polish America had more men like Joe, then the Polish American lobby, rather than the lobbies of our opponents, would be shaping state-to-state relations between the United States and Poland.
John Czop
Portrety Polaków - Zosia
O znanych ludziach pisze się wiele. Portale internetowe, gazety i telewizja pełne są informacji dotyczących niekiedy całkiem błahych zdarzeń z życia „gwiazd”. Z niedorzecznych spraw całkowicie nas niedotyczących robi się wielkie afery mające niewątpliwie jeden cel: podnieść sprzedaż lub oglądalność, a przy okazji odwrócić uwagę od ważniejszych problemów. Dlaczego nas to interesuje i jaki wpływ na nasze życie może mieć informacja o kolorze sukienki jakiejś pani, która udawała przed kamerą kogoś innego? Nawet jeśli film, w którym wystąpiła podobał się nam, była to jedynie rozrywkowa fikcja i tak powinna być przez nas traktowana łącznie z osobami biorącymi udział w produkcji. Skutki podnoszenia tych osób do roli wyroczni dyktujących styl i przekonania dzisiejszego „homo sapiens” widzimy dookoła nas i są one zastraszające. Może, zamiast szukać wzorców wśród kłamliwych polityków czy „rozwydrzonych” gwiazd rozrywki powinniśmy rozejrzeć się w naszym najbliższym otoczeniu, w którym „normalni ludzie”, często przez nikogo niezauważani, poprzez swoje zaangażowanie i wytrwałość stają się zmieniającymi nasz Świat prawdziwymi bohaterami codzienności.
Kiedy po raz pierwszy powiedziałem Zosi, że chcę o niej napisać roześmiała się z niedowierzaniem-„ A co ja takiego robię, że kogoś to mogłoby zaciekawić” zapytała. Po długich namowach zgodziła się jednak na krótką rozmowę. Umówiliśmy się w małej kawiarence „Jubilatka” na Manhattan Avenu na Greenpoit gdzie oprócz różnego rodzaju herbat i kawy można także zjeść pyszne ciastka. Miejsce od razu przypadło mi do gustu (zwłaszcza z powodu ciastek). Zosia przyjechała do Stanów w 1994 roku jednak jej związki z USA sięgają dużo dalej. Dziadek jej przejechał do Ameryki ze swoimi rodzicami „za chlebem” z falą europejskiej emigracji przed pierwszą Wojną Światową. Tu także urodził się ojciec Zosi. Powodziło im się w nowym kraju dosyć dobrze jednak po odzyskaniu przez Polskę niepodległości postanowili wracać do Ojczyzny. Losy ich, jak wielu innych polskich rodzin przeplatał się z nieszczęśliwymi wydarzeniami targającymi naszym krajem. W końcu Zosia podobnie jak kiedyś jej pradziadkowie znalazła się w USA. W Polsce mieszkała na Śląsku, co zresztą słychać z jej polszczyzny zabarwionej śląską gwarą. Zosia jest jedną z tych osób, które nie pozostają obojętne na problemy świata, który nas otacza. Pełną energii osobowością i zaangażowaniem zdobyła sobie wielu przyjaciół, lecz także wiele osób z polskiego środowiska podchodzi do niej z dystansem.
Dlaczego zaangażowałaś się tak bardzo w sprawy naszej społeczności?
Na Greenpoincie mieszkam od początku mojego pobytu w Stanach, i sprawy dotyczące mojej dzielnicy są dla mnie bardzo ważne. Kiedyś była to nasza, polska dzielnica teraz już tak nie jest. Przeczytałam także książkę księdz Longina Tołczyka „W obronie Polonii” i uważam że powinniśmy wszyscy kontynuować jego dzieło.
Ksiądz Tołczyk był osobą kontrowersyjną, dla wielu kojarzy się nie zbyt dobrze
Dla tych, dla których się źle kojarzy proponuję wycieczkę na Java Street i Mc Guiness Bulvard. Są tam owoce jego pracy. Proszę mi pokazać kogoś innego w naszym środowisku, kto zrobiłby dla nas, choć cząstkę tego, co on. Odsyłam także do jego książki. Znaleźć tam można całą historię powstania Centrum Polsko-Słowiańskiego i Unii Polsko-Słowiańskiej. Teraz, po upływie czasu możemy sami ocenić, kto miał rację i kto chciał księdza Tołczyka zniszczyć i dlaczego.
To prawda, że stworzył on te organizacje, ale po jego odejściu rozrosły się one do dzisiejszych rozmiarów. Centrum ma ponad 40 tysięcy członków a Unia ponad 70 tysięcy i ponad 1,5 miliarda dolarów aktywów.
Zgoda. Tylko zapytaj tych ludzi. Oni często nawet nie wiedzą, czym jest Unia Polsko-Słowiańska myląc ją z Bankiem Komercyjnym, a jest to przecież nasza wspólna spółdzielnia mająca nam służyć i pomagać w codziennym życiu. Dzięki księdzowi ludzie z Greenpointu zaczeli dostawać pożyczki na domy i swoje własne interesy. Teraz nikt z zarządu czy Rady Dyrektorów nie dba o nas Polaków. Mają 590 milionów zainwestowane gdzieś na 2 procent żeby tylko dla nas nie dać pożyczek, bo tłumaczą, że to nie jest dla Unii dobra inwestycja dawanie nam pożyczek! A po co ta Unia Była stworzona i dla kogo dla nich? W Centrum jest tak samo źle! Nic nie organizują, nie pomagają nowym imigrantom nie starają się o pieniądze z miasta na programy. Ta sama grupa od lat okupuje tą organizację chcąc ją po prostu zniszczyć. Rada Dyrektorów z Panią Kamińską na czele robi wszystko żeby członkowie CPS nawet nie wiedzieli, że nimi są. Takie działania na szkodę naszej grupy etnicznej są prowadzone od lat.
Uważasz, że można coś zmienić?
Tak. Mam nadzieję, że Polacy w końcu przejrzą na oczy. Po co zostawili swoje rodziny i swój kraj? Przyjechali tu przecież żeby im i ich dzieciom żyło się lepiej. Poprzednie pokolenia imigrantów zostawiło nam w spadku bardzo wiele i nie możemy się po prostu od tego odwrócić. Coraz więcej osób zaczyna to rozumieć. W tym roku mieliśmy zebranie specjalne, które usunęło z PSFUK parę osób od lat szkodzących naszej organizacji. Zbieramy teraz petycję żeby członkowie mogli znów ocenić działalność pozostałych osób i jeśli tak zadecydują usunąć kolejnych „szkodników”
W Twojej sferze zainteresowań są nie tylko sprawy naszej lokalnej społeczności. Ostatnio byłaś jednym z organizatorów wizyty reżysera Grzegorza Brauna, a przedtem pomagałaś w kampanii wyborczej Krzysztofa Olechowskiego na stanowisko Przewodniczącego Dystryktu.
Chciałam bardzo żeby w końcu Polak wygrał i żebyśmy mieli jakiegoś przedstawiciela we władzach politycznych naszego miasta. To było dla mnie nowe doświadczenie, ale też wiązało się z dodatkowymi zajęciami. Udało się nam wygrać i to jest najważniejsze. Jeśli chodzi o pana Brauna to zgadzam się w dużej mierze z jego poglądami. Film, który zaprezentował podczas swojego pobytu powinien obejrzeć każdy Polak. W końcu znalazł się ktoś, komu zależy na odkłamaniu naszej historycznej przeszłości i robi to w formie dostępnej dla ludzi. Pan Braun oprócz swojej dużej wiedzy historycznej, jest również bardzo miłym i kulturalnym człowiekiem. Było mi niezmiernie przyjemnie go poznać.
A co myślisz o obecnej sytuacji w Polsce?
Dla mnie, pochodzącej ze Śląska bardzo ważna i w pewnym stopniu zaskakująca jest obecna sytuacja, w której niewielka grupa ludzi chce doprowadzić do oderwania Śląska od Polski i stworzenia odrębnego regionu europejskiego. To jest nie do pomyślenia! Przecież Ślązacy umierali w powstaniach, żeby dołączyć do Polski! Czy ci ludzie o tym nie pamiętają?
Dziękuję za rozmowę.
Dziękuję również i chcę na koniec przytoczyć jeszcze dwa cytaty z książki księdza Tołczyka. Na jednym z zebrań z Zarządem przypomniał im werset z Biblii: „bojowaniem jest życie człowieka na ziemi”, a w ostatnim rozdziale: „Rozpocząłem wielkie dzieło, którego nie dano mi dokończyć…Inni muszą zrobić to za mnie”. Proszę o tym pomyśleć i dołączyć do ludzi, którzy chcą tego dokonać.
Z Zofią Gola rozmawiał John Czop
Kiedy po raz pierwszy powiedziałem Zosi, że chcę o niej napisać roześmiała się z niedowierzaniem-„ A co ja takiego robię, że kogoś to mogłoby zaciekawić” zapytała. Po długich namowach zgodziła się jednak na krótką rozmowę. Umówiliśmy się w małej kawiarence „Jubilatka” na Manhattan Avenu na Greenpoit gdzie oprócz różnego rodzaju herbat i kawy można także zjeść pyszne ciastka. Miejsce od razu przypadło mi do gustu (zwłaszcza z powodu ciastek). Zosia przyjechała do Stanów w 1994 roku jednak jej związki z USA sięgają dużo dalej. Dziadek jej przejechał do Ameryki ze swoimi rodzicami „za chlebem” z falą europejskiej emigracji przed pierwszą Wojną Światową. Tu także urodził się ojciec Zosi. Powodziło im się w nowym kraju dosyć dobrze jednak po odzyskaniu przez Polskę niepodległości postanowili wracać do Ojczyzny. Losy ich, jak wielu innych polskich rodzin przeplatał się z nieszczęśliwymi wydarzeniami targającymi naszym krajem. W końcu Zosia podobnie jak kiedyś jej pradziadkowie znalazła się w USA. W Polsce mieszkała na Śląsku, co zresztą słychać z jej polszczyzny zabarwionej śląską gwarą. Zosia jest jedną z tych osób, które nie pozostają obojętne na problemy świata, który nas otacza. Pełną energii osobowością i zaangażowaniem zdobyła sobie wielu przyjaciół, lecz także wiele osób z polskiego środowiska podchodzi do niej z dystansem.
Dlaczego zaangażowałaś się tak bardzo w sprawy naszej społeczności?
Na Greenpoincie mieszkam od początku mojego pobytu w Stanach, i sprawy dotyczące mojej dzielnicy są dla mnie bardzo ważne. Kiedyś była to nasza, polska dzielnica teraz już tak nie jest. Przeczytałam także książkę księdz Longina Tołczyka „W obronie Polonii” i uważam że powinniśmy wszyscy kontynuować jego dzieło.
Ksiądz Tołczyk był osobą kontrowersyjną, dla wielu kojarzy się nie zbyt dobrze
Dla tych, dla których się źle kojarzy proponuję wycieczkę na Java Street i Mc Guiness Bulvard. Są tam owoce jego pracy. Proszę mi pokazać kogoś innego w naszym środowisku, kto zrobiłby dla nas, choć cząstkę tego, co on. Odsyłam także do jego książki. Znaleźć tam można całą historię powstania Centrum Polsko-Słowiańskiego i Unii Polsko-Słowiańskiej. Teraz, po upływie czasu możemy sami ocenić, kto miał rację i kto chciał księdza Tołczyka zniszczyć i dlaczego.
To prawda, że stworzył on te organizacje, ale po jego odejściu rozrosły się one do dzisiejszych rozmiarów. Centrum ma ponad 40 tysięcy członków a Unia ponad 70 tysięcy i ponad 1,5 miliarda dolarów aktywów.
Zgoda. Tylko zapytaj tych ludzi. Oni często nawet nie wiedzą, czym jest Unia Polsko-Słowiańska myląc ją z Bankiem Komercyjnym, a jest to przecież nasza wspólna spółdzielnia mająca nam służyć i pomagać w codziennym życiu. Dzięki księdzowi ludzie z Greenpointu zaczeli dostawać pożyczki na domy i swoje własne interesy. Teraz nikt z zarządu czy Rady Dyrektorów nie dba o nas Polaków. Mają 590 milionów zainwestowane gdzieś na 2 procent żeby tylko dla nas nie dać pożyczek, bo tłumaczą, że to nie jest dla Unii dobra inwestycja dawanie nam pożyczek! A po co ta Unia Była stworzona i dla kogo dla nich? W Centrum jest tak samo źle! Nic nie organizują, nie pomagają nowym imigrantom nie starają się o pieniądze z miasta na programy. Ta sama grupa od lat okupuje tą organizację chcąc ją po prostu zniszczyć. Rada Dyrektorów z Panią Kamińską na czele robi wszystko żeby członkowie CPS nawet nie wiedzieli, że nimi są. Takie działania na szkodę naszej grupy etnicznej są prowadzone od lat.
Uważasz, że można coś zmienić?
Tak. Mam nadzieję, że Polacy w końcu przejrzą na oczy. Po co zostawili swoje rodziny i swój kraj? Przyjechali tu przecież żeby im i ich dzieciom żyło się lepiej. Poprzednie pokolenia imigrantów zostawiło nam w spadku bardzo wiele i nie możemy się po prostu od tego odwrócić. Coraz więcej osób zaczyna to rozumieć. W tym roku mieliśmy zebranie specjalne, które usunęło z PSFUK parę osób od lat szkodzących naszej organizacji. Zbieramy teraz petycję żeby członkowie mogli znów ocenić działalność pozostałych osób i jeśli tak zadecydują usunąć kolejnych „szkodników”
W Twojej sferze zainteresowań są nie tylko sprawy naszej lokalnej społeczności. Ostatnio byłaś jednym z organizatorów wizyty reżysera Grzegorza Brauna, a przedtem pomagałaś w kampanii wyborczej Krzysztofa Olechowskiego na stanowisko Przewodniczącego Dystryktu.
Chciałam bardzo żeby w końcu Polak wygrał i żebyśmy mieli jakiegoś przedstawiciela we władzach politycznych naszego miasta. To było dla mnie nowe doświadczenie, ale też wiązało się z dodatkowymi zajęciami. Udało się nam wygrać i to jest najważniejsze. Jeśli chodzi o pana Brauna to zgadzam się w dużej mierze z jego poglądami. Film, który zaprezentował podczas swojego pobytu powinien obejrzeć każdy Polak. W końcu znalazł się ktoś, komu zależy na odkłamaniu naszej historycznej przeszłości i robi to w formie dostępnej dla ludzi. Pan Braun oprócz swojej dużej wiedzy historycznej, jest również bardzo miłym i kulturalnym człowiekiem. Było mi niezmiernie przyjemnie go poznać.
A co myślisz o obecnej sytuacji w Polsce?
Dla mnie, pochodzącej ze Śląska bardzo ważna i w pewnym stopniu zaskakująca jest obecna sytuacja, w której niewielka grupa ludzi chce doprowadzić do oderwania Śląska od Polski i stworzenia odrębnego regionu europejskiego. To jest nie do pomyślenia! Przecież Ślązacy umierali w powstaniach, żeby dołączyć do Polski! Czy ci ludzie o tym nie pamiętają?
Dziękuję za rozmowę.
Dziękuję również i chcę na koniec przytoczyć jeszcze dwa cytaty z książki księdza Tołczyka. Na jednym z zebrań z Zarządem przypomniał im werset z Biblii: „bojowaniem jest życie człowieka na ziemi”, a w ostatnim rozdziale: „Rozpocząłem wielkie dzieło, którego nie dano mi dokończyć…Inni muszą zrobić to za mnie”. Proszę o tym pomyśleć i dołączyć do ludzi, którzy chcą tego dokonać.
Z Zofią Gola rozmawiał John Czop
Battle of Grunwald Commemorated at the Jagiello Monument in NYC
July 2010
Approximately 400, most of them Polish or Americans of Polish heritage, participated in the 90 minutes' commemoration of the 600th anniversary of the Battle of Grunwald at the King Wladyslaw II Jagiello Monument in New York City's Central Park. Several thousand passersby from all over the world saw portions of the event as they strolled through Central Park. The event began at 5 pm. on Saturday, 17 July, and was the first in a series of multi-media commemorations of key moments in Polish history which have relevance for our civilization.
The commemoration was organized by an ad hoc and non-governmental committee, Project Grunwald: Victory for Humanity. Those who serve on the committee do so as individuals and not as representatives of organizations of which they are members.
The event's purpose was educational : to show how the military victory over the Teutonic Knights by the Alliance Army of Poland-Lithuania on 15 July 1410, at a field near the village of Grunwald (Tannenberg in German; Zalgiris in Lithuanian), led to a moral and juridical victory for human rights by Poland's Pawel Wlodkowic ( better known by the Latinized version of his name Paulus Vladimiri, then the top canon lawyer in Christendom and Rector of the University of Krakow) at the Roman Catholic Church's Council of Constanz ( 1414-1417 ).
The moving spirit of the committee is Mr. Mark Wysocki whose action on behalf of Poland and the Poles is informed by his profound devotion to the values of freedom, democracy, and Christianity.
After he learned to his dismay, at the end of last May, that NO commemoration of the 600th anniversary of the Battle of Grunwald was planned either by Polish Government authorities, or by Polish American organizations at the magnificent Jagiello Monument, Wysocki took the initiative and went to Poland in late June where he consulted with officials and experts on how to prepare a contemporary style multi-media commemoration.
Though the 17 July event was prepared at the last minute by the ad hoc committee, because the organizations one would expect to hold a commemoration of the 600th anniverasry of the Battle of Grunwald had no plans to do so, it went smoothly. So far this writer only has heard regret expressed concerning two elements of the program.First, last minute technical difficulties prevented the world premiere of "Szarze" ("The Charge"), powerful music prepared especially for the 17 July event by a rising star among young Polish composers, Lukasz Pieprzyk.Second, though invited to attend, NO official of the Consulate General of the Republic of Lithuania attended the event.
In Poland , Wysocki sought advice on how best to marshal: music, painting, sculpture, poetry, period actors, and new perspectives by historians to show the contemporary relevance and enduring consequences of the victory of King Wladyslaw II Jagiello of Poland-Lithuania over the army of the Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights, Ulrich von Jungingen.What Wysocki learned about new ways to commemorate the Battle of Grunwald also applies to other important events in Poland's history that had a strong impact on our civilization which our fellow Americans should understand.
Some of the authorities with whom Wysocki met last month in Poland include: Vitomila Wolk-Jezierska, who is chair of the Warsaw Committee of Katyn Families; Jerzy Robert Nowak ,who just finished his new book "History of Poland"; Piotr Zuchowski, Secretary of Poland's Ministry of Culture; Andrzej Zawistowski, who is head of the Historical Education Division of Poland's Institute of National Remembrance (IPN); and Jolanta Zaleczny, who earned a Ph.D. in history and who works in the Special Projects Division of Poland's Museum of Independance.
Most importantly, the Assistant Director of Poland's National Museum in Warsaw, Poland's flagship public art musuem, Kazimierz Mazan took prompt action and authorized the preparation of a high definition digital copy of Jan Matejko's monumental history painting, the "Battle of Grunwald", which illustrated the multi-media commemoration on 17 July.
Wysocki also met with a group of patriotic Polish artists. They want to publicize the contributions of Poland and the Poles to our civilization with particular emphasis on the role of Poles in promoting human rights and fair play for all countries , whether large , small ,or medium size states like Poland with a large sense of vocation, in international politics. A contemporary Polish sculptor known for his masterful compositions, Marek Jerzy Nowakowski and Wysocki will develop plans for using sculpture in future commemorations.
The 17 July commemoration began promptly at 5 p.m. With period music playing, a member of the Project Grunwald: Victory for Humanity committee, Mrs. Margaret Stanco-McGrath and her Ladies(Sarah Hill-Gyiraszi, Monica Sosnica, Ewa Strzalkowski, and Evelina Sudol) who were elegantly dressed in early fifteenth century courtly costumes,which were sponsored by the McGrath family, passed out brochures , which described the Battle of Grunwald, to the audience.
The terrace in front of Stanislaw Kazimierz Ostrowski's magnificent equestrian statue of King Wlayslaw II Jagiello, which stands at the eastern shore of Turtle Pond and just west of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, served as the stage for the commemoration. The improvised stage was decorated with shields showing the combatants' coats-of arms, and the huge reproduction of Matejko's canvas. Student volunteers and a member of the committee, Mr. Piotr Nawrot , put on period Polish knights' armour and wielded swords, lances, and axes.Two student volunteers in hussar armour stood Honor Guard.
Next, the ladies and gentlemen of the Aria Chorus #303 of the Polish Singers Alliance of America, based in Wallington, NJ performed two ancient knights' songs by Mikolaj Gomolka. The president of the Aria Chorus is Jadwiga Chudy. Dr. Stanislaw Sliwowski, a member of the Project Grunwald: Victory for Humanity committee sponsored bus transportation to-and -from the event for the Aria Chorus which received enthusiastic applause from the audience. Alicja Rusewicz Pagorek, who majored in music at Zielona Gora University, is director of the Aria Chous. This year, at the 49th International Convention of the Polish Singers Alliance of America's tri-annual contest, the Aria Chorus won top honors and returned from Buffalo with the legendary silver cup, the Cardinal Hlond Trophy,which was first awarded in 1934.
Wysocki then came to the microphone to welcome participants and our special guest, Consul Malgorzata Kosik of the Consulate General of the Republic of Poland. Next, Wysocki underlined the fact that all of us at the commemoration, and especially members of the organizing committee, are participating as individuals and NOT as representatives of the organizations of which they are members. This point is important to remember because several members of Project Grunwald: Victory for Humanity , like Andrzej Burghardt, Artur Kowalski, Krzysztof Nowak, Dr. Stanislaw Sliwowski, and John Solowiej are leaders of Polish American organizations, and Glenn Urbanas, a Lithuanian American is Secretary of La Societe des Amis de Kosciuszko.
Wysocki continued by observing that what unites all participants is their commitment to democratic values and to the defense of individual rights through limited government -- safeguards for liberty first put into practice by Jagiellonian Poland and now part of the American political tradition.Moreover, these values must be protected by our vigilance in an increasingly dangerous world. Commemorations are all about reaffirming our key principles through new and exciting media, and this energizes us to put our principles into practice with power to make them prevail. This is how commemorations, like the one today, strengthen a moral and intellectual movement like ours for Poland, and for those values and practices that we trace back to Jagiellonian Poland that today continue to define our civilization.
Dr. Grzegorz Guzinski, who teaches at CUNY and who is a regular commentator on Polish Radio 910 Pomona, New York delivered a moving description of the sacrifices of Polish soldiers, truly unknown knights, in the defensive wars that Poland was obliged to fight to defend herself against the aggression of her neighbors. The Battle of Grunwald successfully defended Poland against the Teutonic Knights because of the valor and devotion to duty of Polish Knights. Polish soldiers showed the same spirit in 1920 when they prevailed against the Bolsheviks, and in 1939 when they suffered defeat by the Nazi Germans. Poland's unknown knights, or Polish soldiers, well merit our praise and gratitude because it is they who have paid the price of freedom and honor for Poland throughout her long history.
The next speaker, Jerzy Prus came to the United States as part of the Second (or Solidarity Era) Great Emigration, and he delivered the keynote speech. He is a former Executive Director of the Jozef Pilsudski Institute of America in New York City. Participants at the 17 July event included the vice-president of the Pilsudski Institute, Dr. Marek Zielinski, and a member of that organization's Board of Directors, Krzysztof Langowski. Several years ago Prus organized the Klub Jagiellonski(KJ) discussion group which holds monthly meetings at Saint Casimir's Roman Catholic Church in Newark, NJ. Rev. Andrzej Ostaszewski is Chaplin of the KJ.
The key point of Prus's speech is that the contemporary relevance of the Battle of Grunwald for today's Polish leadership, whom Prus finds woefully lacking in vision, is that just as King Wladyslaw II Jagiello defeated the most powerful military force in early modern Europe, the Teutonic Knights, by forming coalitions and alliances with neighboring states , so Poland today needs to set up an East Central European organization for common defense. While it is true that United States policy has tried , acting through NATO, to attenuate the anti-Polish sentiments of both Russia and Germany, very recent developments make us question the value of NATO as a deterrent. Just as the leaders of Poland should try to forge strong links with neighboring countries that lie between Germany and Russia, so must we in America work with Americans of East Central European heritage to build a strong lobby for our kin countries on Capitol Hill.
King Wladyslaw II Jagiello organized victory against the aggression of the Teutonic Knights by building a strong coalition of allies and his victory at Grunwald changed the balance of power in North-East Europe. This fact is closely linked with the juridical, intellectual, and moral victory of Poland at the Council of Constanz(1414-1417). Pawel Wlodkowic (Paulus Vladimiri) was a particularly persusive canon lawyer, but the redressment of power in Poland's favor, after the Teutonic Knights were finished as a serious fighting force, helps to explain why the Council thoroughly accepted Wlodkowic's two principal positions. First, henceforth a war will not be considered by Christendom to be a just war only because of the unilateral declaration of a sovereign. Wlodkowic persuaded the Council that several wisemen must review the facts and either agree , or disagree that the war is in fact just. Second, the Council registered its preference for the Polish method of conversion through persuasion, the way the Poles converted the Lithuanians, rather than conversion at the point of a sword as practiced by the Teutonic Knights. The Council's acceptance of Wlodkowic's intellectual and moral arguments advanced the cause of respect for human rights in early modern Europe, and in this sense Grunwald was a victory for humanity. Moreover, without the triumph of Polish power at Grunwald, it is unlikely that Polish principles would have prevailed at Constanz. Power and principle still go hand- in-hand, this is the lesson of Grunwald for our times, and this is why today a strong Poland is vital for a stable and just East Central Europe.
Prus also observed that this year is the 400th anniversary of the Polish victory over the Muscovites at the Battle of Kluszyn. Russian public opinion is still being manipulated by the Kremlin to regard Poles as unrepentant imperialists. Prus cited the anti-Polish film "1612" as an example of this tendency in Russia. Meanwhile, and especially since the disaster at Smolensk Military Airfield on 10 April 2010, the Polish Government has been doing all it can to abate anti-Russian and anti-Kremlin sentiments in Polish public opinion. Yet there is no spirit of reciprocity in Russia's relations toward Poland, according to the Kremlin, Poles are a gang of imperialists who merit surveillance. The plain just west of Moscow, where Kluszyn, Smolensk , and Katyn are all located is a place of spectacular Polish victories and defeats. Polish victories over the Muscovites in 1610 at Kluszyn and in 1812 at Smolensk, were followed by the mass murder of Polish officers at Katyn Forest in 1940 that was ordered by the leaders of Stalin's Soviet Union and by this year's 10 April disaster at Smolensk Military Airfield.
The keynote speaker concluded by observing that we must believe that we can prevail and then we will succeed in helping to build a strong Poland allied to the United States and the United Kingdom in a self-confident and secure East Central Europe. We must take forceful political action to achieve this goal by working with our fellow Americans whose kin countries are in East Central Europe. The key lesson of Grunwald for our times is that Poland and Polonia must build coalitions to put power behind high-minded Polish principles.
At the event, this writer gave a summary in English of the keynote speech which Prus delivered in Polish and added the following observation. The question mark which Prus mentioned in his talk, regarding the commitment of the United States to defend Poland from both German and Russian ambitions, is in fact a very large question mark. Following the Kremlin's war games of October 2009, which were designed to intimidate Poland and Lithuania, President Barack Hussein Obama asked, at a NATO Ministerial Conference shortly after the war games played by the Russian Federation last October, what contingency plans does NATO have to defend Poland and the Baltic States?
None, was the response received by President Obama, who then ordered the drafting of contingency plans for NATO to defend Poland if Poland is attacked. Even if these contingency plans are ever drafted, there is no firm guarantee that they will in fact be put into practice if Poland is attacked from the East. Article V of NATO boldly calls an attack against one NATO country an attack on all countries that have acceded to NATO, but nothing in the Treaty that created NATO, or North Atlantic Treaty Organization, requires one or more NATO countries to come with armed force to the aid of a NATO country that was attacked. There is a big difference between making a declaration and taking action. American Polonia urgently needs to work with our fellow Americans whose kin countries are in East Central Europe to persuade American political decision-makers that a strong and independent East Central Europe is in the national interest of the United States. NATO does not guarantee that the United States will come to Poland's aid with armed force in the event that Poland is attacked.
Approximately 400, most of them Polish or Americans of Polish heritage, participated in the 90 minutes' commemoration of the 600th anniversary of the Battle of Grunwald at the King Wladyslaw II Jagiello Monument in New York City's Central Park. Several thousand passersby from all over the world saw portions of the event as they strolled through Central Park. The event began at 5 pm. on Saturday, 17 July, and was the first in a series of multi-media commemorations of key moments in Polish history which have relevance for our civilization.
The commemoration was organized by an ad hoc and non-governmental committee, Project Grunwald: Victory for Humanity. Those who serve on the committee do so as individuals and not as representatives of organizations of which they are members.
The event's purpose was educational : to show how the military victory over the Teutonic Knights by the Alliance Army of Poland-Lithuania on 15 July 1410, at a field near the village of Grunwald (Tannenberg in German; Zalgiris in Lithuanian), led to a moral and juridical victory for human rights by Poland's Pawel Wlodkowic ( better known by the Latinized version of his name Paulus Vladimiri, then the top canon lawyer in Christendom and Rector of the University of Krakow) at the Roman Catholic Church's Council of Constanz ( 1414-1417 ).
The moving spirit of the committee is Mr. Mark Wysocki whose action on behalf of Poland and the Poles is informed by his profound devotion to the values of freedom, democracy, and Christianity.
After he learned to his dismay, at the end of last May, that NO commemoration of the 600th anniversary of the Battle of Grunwald was planned either by Polish Government authorities, or by Polish American organizations at the magnificent Jagiello Monument, Wysocki took the initiative and went to Poland in late June where he consulted with officials and experts on how to prepare a contemporary style multi-media commemoration.
Though the 17 July event was prepared at the last minute by the ad hoc committee, because the organizations one would expect to hold a commemoration of the 600th anniverasry of the Battle of Grunwald had no plans to do so, it went smoothly. So far this writer only has heard regret expressed concerning two elements of the program.First, last minute technical difficulties prevented the world premiere of "Szarze" ("The Charge"), powerful music prepared especially for the 17 July event by a rising star among young Polish composers, Lukasz Pieprzyk.Second, though invited to attend, NO official of the Consulate General of the Republic of Lithuania attended the event.
In Poland , Wysocki sought advice on how best to marshal: music, painting, sculpture, poetry, period actors, and new perspectives by historians to show the contemporary relevance and enduring consequences of the victory of King Wladyslaw II Jagiello of Poland-Lithuania over the army of the Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights, Ulrich von Jungingen.What Wysocki learned about new ways to commemorate the Battle of Grunwald also applies to other important events in Poland's history that had a strong impact on our civilization which our fellow Americans should understand.
Some of the authorities with whom Wysocki met last month in Poland include: Vitomila Wolk-Jezierska, who is chair of the Warsaw Committee of Katyn Families; Jerzy Robert Nowak ,who just finished his new book "History of Poland"; Piotr Zuchowski, Secretary of Poland's Ministry of Culture; Andrzej Zawistowski, who is head of the Historical Education Division of Poland's Institute of National Remembrance (IPN); and Jolanta Zaleczny, who earned a Ph.D. in history and who works in the Special Projects Division of Poland's Museum of Independance.
Most importantly, the Assistant Director of Poland's National Museum in Warsaw, Poland's flagship public art musuem, Kazimierz Mazan took prompt action and authorized the preparation of a high definition digital copy of Jan Matejko's monumental history painting, the "Battle of Grunwald", which illustrated the multi-media commemoration on 17 July.
Wysocki also met with a group of patriotic Polish artists. They want to publicize the contributions of Poland and the Poles to our civilization with particular emphasis on the role of Poles in promoting human rights and fair play for all countries , whether large , small ,or medium size states like Poland with a large sense of vocation, in international politics. A contemporary Polish sculptor known for his masterful compositions, Marek Jerzy Nowakowski and Wysocki will develop plans for using sculpture in future commemorations.
The 17 July commemoration began promptly at 5 p.m. With period music playing, a member of the Project Grunwald: Victory for Humanity committee, Mrs. Margaret Stanco-McGrath and her Ladies(Sarah Hill-Gyiraszi, Monica Sosnica, Ewa Strzalkowski, and Evelina Sudol) who were elegantly dressed in early fifteenth century courtly costumes,which were sponsored by the McGrath family, passed out brochures , which described the Battle of Grunwald, to the audience.
The terrace in front of Stanislaw Kazimierz Ostrowski's magnificent equestrian statue of King Wlayslaw II Jagiello, which stands at the eastern shore of Turtle Pond and just west of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, served as the stage for the commemoration. The improvised stage was decorated with shields showing the combatants' coats-of arms, and the huge reproduction of Matejko's canvas. Student volunteers and a member of the committee, Mr. Piotr Nawrot , put on period Polish knights' armour and wielded swords, lances, and axes.Two student volunteers in hussar armour stood Honor Guard.
Next, the ladies and gentlemen of the Aria Chorus #303 of the Polish Singers Alliance of America, based in Wallington, NJ performed two ancient knights' songs by Mikolaj Gomolka. The president of the Aria Chorus is Jadwiga Chudy. Dr. Stanislaw Sliwowski, a member of the Project Grunwald: Victory for Humanity committee sponsored bus transportation to-and -from the event for the Aria Chorus which received enthusiastic applause from the audience. Alicja Rusewicz Pagorek, who majored in music at Zielona Gora University, is director of the Aria Chous. This year, at the 49th International Convention of the Polish Singers Alliance of America's tri-annual contest, the Aria Chorus won top honors and returned from Buffalo with the legendary silver cup, the Cardinal Hlond Trophy,which was first awarded in 1934.
Wysocki then came to the microphone to welcome participants and our special guest, Consul Malgorzata Kosik of the Consulate General of the Republic of Poland. Next, Wysocki underlined the fact that all of us at the commemoration, and especially members of the organizing committee, are participating as individuals and NOT as representatives of the organizations of which they are members. This point is important to remember because several members of Project Grunwald: Victory for Humanity , like Andrzej Burghardt, Artur Kowalski, Krzysztof Nowak, Dr. Stanislaw Sliwowski, and John Solowiej are leaders of Polish American organizations, and Glenn Urbanas, a Lithuanian American is Secretary of La Societe des Amis de Kosciuszko.
Wysocki continued by observing that what unites all participants is their commitment to democratic values and to the defense of individual rights through limited government -- safeguards for liberty first put into practice by Jagiellonian Poland and now part of the American political tradition.Moreover, these values must be protected by our vigilance in an increasingly dangerous world. Commemorations are all about reaffirming our key principles through new and exciting media, and this energizes us to put our principles into practice with power to make them prevail. This is how commemorations, like the one today, strengthen a moral and intellectual movement like ours for Poland, and for those values and practices that we trace back to Jagiellonian Poland that today continue to define our civilization.
Dr. Grzegorz Guzinski, who teaches at CUNY and who is a regular commentator on Polish Radio 910 Pomona, New York delivered a moving description of the sacrifices of Polish soldiers, truly unknown knights, in the defensive wars that Poland was obliged to fight to defend herself against the aggression of her neighbors. The Battle of Grunwald successfully defended Poland against the Teutonic Knights because of the valor and devotion to duty of Polish Knights. Polish soldiers showed the same spirit in 1920 when they prevailed against the Bolsheviks, and in 1939 when they suffered defeat by the Nazi Germans. Poland's unknown knights, or Polish soldiers, well merit our praise and gratitude because it is they who have paid the price of freedom and honor for Poland throughout her long history.
The next speaker, Jerzy Prus came to the United States as part of the Second (or Solidarity Era) Great Emigration, and he delivered the keynote speech. He is a former Executive Director of the Jozef Pilsudski Institute of America in New York City. Participants at the 17 July event included the vice-president of the Pilsudski Institute, Dr. Marek Zielinski, and a member of that organization's Board of Directors, Krzysztof Langowski. Several years ago Prus organized the Klub Jagiellonski(KJ) discussion group which holds monthly meetings at Saint Casimir's Roman Catholic Church in Newark, NJ. Rev. Andrzej Ostaszewski is Chaplin of the KJ.
The key point of Prus's speech is that the contemporary relevance of the Battle of Grunwald for today's Polish leadership, whom Prus finds woefully lacking in vision, is that just as King Wladyslaw II Jagiello defeated the most powerful military force in early modern Europe, the Teutonic Knights, by forming coalitions and alliances with neighboring states , so Poland today needs to set up an East Central European organization for common defense. While it is true that United States policy has tried , acting through NATO, to attenuate the anti-Polish sentiments of both Russia and Germany, very recent developments make us question the value of NATO as a deterrent. Just as the leaders of Poland should try to forge strong links with neighboring countries that lie between Germany and Russia, so must we in America work with Americans of East Central European heritage to build a strong lobby for our kin countries on Capitol Hill.
King Wladyslaw II Jagiello organized victory against the aggression of the Teutonic Knights by building a strong coalition of allies and his victory at Grunwald changed the balance of power in North-East Europe. This fact is closely linked with the juridical, intellectual, and moral victory of Poland at the Council of Constanz(1414-1417). Pawel Wlodkowic (Paulus Vladimiri) was a particularly persusive canon lawyer, but the redressment of power in Poland's favor, after the Teutonic Knights were finished as a serious fighting force, helps to explain why the Council thoroughly accepted Wlodkowic's two principal positions. First, henceforth a war will not be considered by Christendom to be a just war only because of the unilateral declaration of a sovereign. Wlodkowic persuaded the Council that several wisemen must review the facts and either agree , or disagree that the war is in fact just. Second, the Council registered its preference for the Polish method of conversion through persuasion, the way the Poles converted the Lithuanians, rather than conversion at the point of a sword as practiced by the Teutonic Knights. The Council's acceptance of Wlodkowic's intellectual and moral arguments advanced the cause of respect for human rights in early modern Europe, and in this sense Grunwald was a victory for humanity. Moreover, without the triumph of Polish power at Grunwald, it is unlikely that Polish principles would have prevailed at Constanz. Power and principle still go hand- in-hand, this is the lesson of Grunwald for our times, and this is why today a strong Poland is vital for a stable and just East Central Europe.
Prus also observed that this year is the 400th anniversary of the Polish victory over the Muscovites at the Battle of Kluszyn. Russian public opinion is still being manipulated by the Kremlin to regard Poles as unrepentant imperialists. Prus cited the anti-Polish film "1612" as an example of this tendency in Russia. Meanwhile, and especially since the disaster at Smolensk Military Airfield on 10 April 2010, the Polish Government has been doing all it can to abate anti-Russian and anti-Kremlin sentiments in Polish public opinion. Yet there is no spirit of reciprocity in Russia's relations toward Poland, according to the Kremlin, Poles are a gang of imperialists who merit surveillance. The plain just west of Moscow, where Kluszyn, Smolensk , and Katyn are all located is a place of spectacular Polish victories and defeats. Polish victories over the Muscovites in 1610 at Kluszyn and in 1812 at Smolensk, were followed by the mass murder of Polish officers at Katyn Forest in 1940 that was ordered by the leaders of Stalin's Soviet Union and by this year's 10 April disaster at Smolensk Military Airfield.
The keynote speaker concluded by observing that we must believe that we can prevail and then we will succeed in helping to build a strong Poland allied to the United States and the United Kingdom in a self-confident and secure East Central Europe. We must take forceful political action to achieve this goal by working with our fellow Americans whose kin countries are in East Central Europe. The key lesson of Grunwald for our times is that Poland and Polonia must build coalitions to put power behind high-minded Polish principles.
At the event, this writer gave a summary in English of the keynote speech which Prus delivered in Polish and added the following observation. The question mark which Prus mentioned in his talk, regarding the commitment of the United States to defend Poland from both German and Russian ambitions, is in fact a very large question mark. Following the Kremlin's war games of October 2009, which were designed to intimidate Poland and Lithuania, President Barack Hussein Obama asked, at a NATO Ministerial Conference shortly after the war games played by the Russian Federation last October, what contingency plans does NATO have to defend Poland and the Baltic States?
None, was the response received by President Obama, who then ordered the drafting of contingency plans for NATO to defend Poland if Poland is attacked. Even if these contingency plans are ever drafted, there is no firm guarantee that they will in fact be put into practice if Poland is attacked from the East. Article V of NATO boldly calls an attack against one NATO country an attack on all countries that have acceded to NATO, but nothing in the Treaty that created NATO, or North Atlantic Treaty Organization, requires one or more NATO countries to come with armed force to the aid of a NATO country that was attacked. There is a big difference between making a declaration and taking action. American Polonia urgently needs to work with our fellow Americans whose kin countries are in East Central Europe to persuade American political decision-makers that a strong and independent East Central Europe is in the national interest of the United States. NATO does not guarantee that the United States will come to Poland's aid with armed force in the event that Poland is attacked.