On Sunday, September 8th, the celebration of Santuario del Señor de los Milagros was held at Ss. Cyril and Methodius PNCC Parish in Perth Amboy, NJ.
The Mel Brooks show features Mr. Brooks and his wife Anne Bancroft performing Sweet Georgia Brown in Polish. They had performed this piece in their film “To Be or Not to Be,” a 1983 remake of the 1942 Jack Benny comedy by the same name. The story centers on a Polish theatrical company that goes underground and takes on Nazi Germany during World War II.
This performance took place in the early 1980’s after marshall law was declared in Poland to suppress the Solidarity free Labor Union movement.
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The Cosmopolitan Review, A Transatlantic Review of Things Polish, in English has issued its Summer 2013 edition jam packed with books, art, poetry, events, and excellent information.
CR welcomes summer, as does Poland. And nowhere is the summer solstice more beautifully welcomed than in Poland, with the ancient festival of Wianki (wreaths), when barefoot girls in white dresses bring floral wreaths to a river’s edge, cast them in the water, and leave them to fate’s caprice.
The wianki, elaborate works of art involving branches, flowers and candles, float downriver to the delight of children and adults alike. More wreaths are fashioned into floral crowns embellished with figures of birds, butterflies and anything else the artistic imagination can come up with. Extravagance has no limits on this day; the hats of Ascot pale by comparison perhaps because wianki – as opposed to hats – is not a commercial enterprise. One can only hope that this festival will forever stay as it is, that Hallmark will never create Wianki greeting cards, and shopping malls will never have Wianki Day Specials. Though purveyors of food, drink and music are welcome. And we’ve just learned that there is a Wianki fest in Washington, D.C. Good to know in case you don’t make it to Kraków next year.
Luckily, “Poland” is wherever Polish people are, as is stated so eloquently in Hanka Ordonówna’s wonderful book about children when their Poland was just “two rooms.” For thousands of us, Poland has been, at one time or another, in India, Africa, New Zealand, Mexico and beyond.
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In this issue, we highlight India, mainly because of the marvelous book by Indian author Anuradha Bhattacharjee, The Second Homeland: Polish Refugees in India. That Polish landscape included elephants, exotic fruit, generous Maharajas and a superb cast of characters ranging from cabaret stars to theosophists.
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Books, as always. Michał Kasprzak weighs in on Marci Shore’s The Taste of Ashes; there’s a review of Magda Romanska’s new anthology of Bogusław Schaeffer’s works. And two writers have a problem with Agata Tuszyńska’s Vera Gran.
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On the light side, an Englishman’s adventures – misadventures? – begin with his future bride’s father saying “No.” He also notes that while English weddings are heavy on speeches, Polish weddings emphasize food and dancing. He indulges in the eternal rivalry between Kraków and Warsaw as well, so to cool that, CR puts the spotlight on enchanting Zamość.
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And now to food! As noted in The Guardian: No processed cheeses, no tinned fish, no just-add-water packets… think Provence, with beetroot. Which brings us to two new Polish cookbooks, Polish Classic Desserts and From a Polish Country Kitchen, both reviewed in this issue.
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Finally, as noted above, Poland is wherever Polish people are and for several summers they were in Canmore, Alberta, at Poland in the Rockies. There were fond hopes that a new cycle of this lively symposium would begin again in 2014 but fate decided otherwise. In this issue, CR bids a formal Farewell to Poland in the Rockies.
From Christian Newswire: My Mother’s Secret, by J.L. Witterick, has been recognized by The Globe and Mail of Canada as a bestselling non-fiction book.
My Mother’s Secret honors two women who saved many Polish Jews from certain death. The book is based on the true story of Franciszka Halamajowa and her daughter Helena, who are honored as The Righteous Among the Nations, non-Jewish heroes who risked their lives to save the lives of Jewish citizens.
After 1939 when the Nazis invaded Poland and started the persecution of the Jewish population, Franciszka and her daughter provided shelter to Jewish individuals and families, as well as a German soldier, all acts punishable by death. With courage and cleverness, they outsmart the Nazi commander and their collaborating neighbors.
My Mother’s Secret is a powerfully written story and has been chosen to be used as curriculum in studies by Middle East exchange students. The book has also been awarded Rising Star stature by iUniverse.
Rabbi Chaim Boyarsky said, “In My Mother’s Secret, a new level of heroism is revealed … heroism where no ‘wow’ or admiration was given. True heroism is when no one sees or knows! A truly inspiring and breathtaking book.”
“My Mother’s Secret is heroism defined. It is just so much more cherishable because it is a story based on fact. We are indebted to Jenny Witterick for sharing this book with us,” says Grady Harp a Top 50 Amazon Reviewer.
“My Mother’s Secret has a strong message about finding good in the midst of the most unbelievable evil,” adds one reviewer.
The author, J.L. Witterick, encountered the true story of heroism during the Holocaust because of a chance viewing of a documentary about the Holocaust. Witterick is not the usual author; she is the President of Sky Investment Counsel, one of the largest international money managers in Canada, was President of the Toronto Society of Financial Analysts in 1995/1996 and is a Certified Financial Advisor Charterholder.
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On May 18th the 69th anniversary of the conclusion of the Battle of Monte Cassino will be celebrated. The Monte Cassino Foundation in Poland has created an on-line presentation in the 
form of a virtual walk. The presentation includes a walk through the Polish War Cemetery at Monte Cassino and the monuments to Polish forces (3rd Carpathian Rifle Division, 5th Kresowa Infantry Division, 2nd Armored Brigade with the 4 Armoured Regiment — “SCORPION” and 6 Armoured Regiment — the “Children of Lwów,” as well as support forces including the Polish sappers who finally took the stronghold after various other allied strategies had tried for four months.
From Wikipedia: On May 15, the British 78th Division came into the XIII Corps line from reserve passing through the bridgehead divisions to execute the turning move to isolate Cassino from the Liri valley. On May 17, the Polish Corps launched their second attack on Monte Cassino. Under constant artillery and mortar fire from the strongly fortified German positions and with little natural cover for protection, the fighting was fierce and at times hand-to-hand. With their line of supply threatened by the Allied advance in the Liri valley, the Germans decided to withdraw from the Cassino heights to the new defensive positions on the Hitler Line. In the early hours of May 18 the 78th Division and the Polish Corps linked up in the Liri valley 2 miles (3.2 km) west of Cassino town. On the Cassino high ground the survivors of the second Polish offensive were so battered that “it took some time to find men with enough strength to climb the few hundred yards to the summit.” A patrol of Polish 12th Podolian Uhlans Regiment finally made it to the heights and raised a Polish flag over the ruins. The only remnants of the defenders were a group of thirty[63] German wounded who had been unable to move. “The Poles, on their second try, had taken Monte Cassino, and the road to Rome was open. At the end of the war the Poles “… with bitter pride erect[ed] a memorial on the [slope of the] mountain.”
The Monte Cassino Foundation cares of the memory of the Polish soldiers who fought and are buried at Monte Cassino.
The New York Folklore Society, Building Cultural Bridges, The American Folklore Society, and New York State Council on the Arts presents the Art of Community Workshop: Building and Arts and Culture Support Network for Newcomer Artists in New York State workshop on Friday, May 17th from 8:30 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. at the Utica Public Library, one block east of the Ithaca Commons at 401 E. State/MLK Jr. Street, 303 Genesee Street, Utica, NY 13501. You are invited to attend this workshop that will explore merging the arts with social services to better serve these newcomer communities and to enliven our community at large.
Upstate New York has become home to an ever-expanding community of refugees and immigrants from all over the world. Layering upon an already rich infrastructure of arts organizations, there is a great potential for an increasingly varied cultural landscape. Yet many of the artists from these communities struggle to maintain their expressive and cultural heritage traditions in the face of overwhelming and immediate needs as they adapt to their new environment.
Anybody concerned with the well-being of immigrant/refugee communities is welcome to attend, including but not limited to: refugee or immigrant artists, staff from cultural and community-based organizations and local art organizations, educators, funders, folklorists, staff from shops and galleries that market immigrant/refugee arts, refugee and immigrant service providers, and library staff.
The day-long workshop will present both national and local models of successful arts and social service collaborations which serve the focus communities. Also, newcomer artists will perform, demonstrate and talk about the importance of maintaining their cultural traditions in their new homeland. Drawing on personal experience and ideas generated by the presentations, participants will work together to explore possibilities for collaboration and to establish a local network for resource sharing. Spaces will be made available for participants to share information about their art forms or programs through printed materials. Interpretation services will be available.
The Boys from Baltimore are returning to the Polish Community Center, 225 Washington Ave Ext, Albany, NY on Saturday, April 27 from 6-10pm. The kitchen will be open with Polish and American food available. The Ladies’ Auxiliary will also be having raffles and a bake sale featuring many delicious baked goods. Tickets cost $15 and reservations are recommended. Please contact Darius Figiel 518-235-6001 for more information and reservations.
I encourage everyone, and especially PNCC members, to take the Piast Institute’s 2013 Polish American Survey. The survey thankfully includes a question on the religious affiliation of Polish-American and includes the Polish National Catholic Church as a choice among many others. Our inclusion as PNCC members in the Polish-American demographic is important.
This survey follows up on two earlier national studies in 2009 and 2010 that the Institute did of 900 and 1,400 Polish Americans respectively. The new study probes some of the key social, political and economic questions asked on the earlier studies and adds a few additional issues that have aroused public concern since. It also probes the attitudes of Polish Americans on matters of concern to the community and their ideas about its future.
The study is being conducted as a “rolling survey” over a span of three months. Polish Americans and Poles living in America are encouraged to participate. Dominik Stecula, a Ph.D. student at the University of British Columbia who coauthored the original study urged as wide a participation as possible to give the study a broad statistical sample for analysis. “I hope all Polish Americans who have a concern about our community take the time to respond to the survey,” he said. Mr. Stecula noted that “The original study demonstrated to us that Polonia is a unique community which shows distinctive opinions and attitudes on public and community issues. We need broad national participation to allow us to confirm our earlier findings and to deepen our analysis. These will be invaluable as we seek to create Polonia anew in the 21st century.” The survey, he pointed out, which can be completed in 25 to 60 minutes, can be accessed here (NOTE: the survey did not really take that long).
The 2010 study published as Polish Americans Today by the Piast Institute has gone through three printings. Its findings have been a key item of discussion at several national conferences. The chancery of the President of Poland ordered copies for its staff as have several Polish Ministries as well as the offices of the Marshalls of the Sejm and Senate. “The Piast Institute undertook the original study because we found a dearth of information about the Polish American Community as major Research Centers such as NORC at the University of Chicago and the national election exit polls have stopped asking about European American ethnic groups.” Says Dr. Radzilowski. “Poles and other European groups were lumped into a new default category called “White” which makes no historical, cultural or demographic sense. It is a new version of the melting pot.”
The new study will be published by E. Mellen Press, a major Social Science and Humanities publisher.
Thank you for your participation. You can access the survey HERE.
Please see the official Polish American Historical Association (PAHA) call for papers for its January 2-4, 2014 Annual Meeting below and consider submitting a proposal.
The PAHA 2014 Annual Meeting will be held in Washington D.C. from January 2-4, 2014 as part of the American Historical Association’s Annual Conference. Abstracts for papers and panel proposals are now being accepted and should be submitted to the Chair of the Program Committee:
Grazyna Kozaczka, Ph.D.
Professor of English
Cazenovia College
22 Sullivan St.
Cazenovia, NY 13035
Electronic proposals in email and word format are strongly preferred. E-mail proposals directly to Dr. Kozaczka. The deadline for submissions is April 15, 2013.
Individuals and panel organizers should include the following information when submitting a proposal:
- Paper/Session title(s) (of no more than 20 words)
- Paper/Session abstract(s) (up to 300/500 words, respectively)
- Biographical paragraph or c.v. summary (up to 250 words) for each participant
- Correct mailing and e-mail address for each participant
- Chair (required) and commentator (optional) for the session
- Audiovisual needs, if any.
Please be advised that it is unlikely that PAHA will be able to use PowerPoint in its sessions, due to the high cost of rental, or that presenters will be permitted by the hosting conference hotel to bring their own. You may wish to consider distribution of paper handouts as an alternative.
The Polish American Historical Association holds its Annual Conference in conjunction with the American Historical Association (AHA). The full information about the AHA conference can be found at at their website. PAHA members who plan to attend PAHA conference only do not need to register for the AHA conference, but are required to register for the PAHA conference by November 1, 2013. Registration may be done on-line or by sending the $20.00 registration fee to:
PAHA Headquarters
c/o Magda Jacques
Central Connecticut State University
1615 Stanley Street
New Britain, CT 06050
Marek Czarnecki, a Polish-American from Meriden, Connecticut runs Seraphic Restorations and writes icons by commission and holds iconography workshops. Mr. Czarnecki studied under the tutelage of Russian Orthodox iconographer Ksenia Pokrovsky, within the Izograph School which she founded in Moscow. He received the 1996 & 2004 Artistís Fellowship from the Connecticut Commission on the Arts, recieved the American Council for Polish Culture’s Jan de Rosen Award, and an apprenticeship grant funded by the National Endowment for the Arts through the Southern New England Traditional Arts Program.
Mr. Czarnecki’s studio is located at 464 Pratt Street Extension, Meriden CT. He can also be contacted by telephone at 203-238-7553.
He notes:
All icons are custom made to order. Special deliberation must be made by the client in selecting an appropriate image. The iconographer collaborates with the client to consider the careful integration of each icon into the specific architecture or ethnic tradition of the site where it will be placed.
The icons of this studio are made with natural materials; the foundation is linen glued to a wood panel, primed with a marble-based gesso. Painted with egg tempera mixed with natural earth and mineral pigments, the halos and backgrounds are gilded with 22 kt. gold. The icon is then varnished with copal resin.
Every effort is made to follow the canon of rubrics governing icon-writing.