Archives: Year 2021

Aleksander Doba, Poland's world-famous traveler, died at the age of 74 after climbing Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa’s highest peak. Best known for his solo ocean expeditions, he was the first person to paddle a 23-foot sea kayak across the Atlantic, a voyage of 3,352 miles. He was also the first person to cross the ocean using only his own muscle-power.

Everyone tried to anticipate what issues President Biden would raise in his speech to the international community. Such an opportunity to hear the most important theses of American foreign policy took place during a speech at the Munich Security Conference. The whole world heard Biden's "America is back, the transatlantic partnership is back."

We, the undersigned representatives of Polonia, concerned by the latest news about the Orchard Lake Schools posted in American newspapers and on television, are asking you about the current state and future plans for the three organizations under the Polish Mission directions: Galeria, Museums, and The Central Archives of Polonia.

The first use of the bridle, i.e. a headstall with a bit, took place in 3500-3000 BC by the Botai culture inhabiting the territory of Northern Kazakhstan. This is evidenced by the local archaeological traces in the form of mechanical damage left on the bones in the toothless part of the horse's jaws. The editors of Kuryer Polski were invited to a historical lecture on the horse harness to Tarnów, where we could admire the most beautiful exhibits gathered in the local Tower.

The Republican party has never before been so divided as it is today. On the one side, we have a young Illinois Congressman Adam Kinzinger, one of 10 Republican Congressmen who voted to remove Donald Trump from the office of the President of the United States. A 42-year-old US Air Force veteran is currently running a campaign PAC under the slogan "Country 1st," which is a new move on the right side of the political scene.

With this article, we would like to encourage all Americans of Polish descent and Polish government officials to reflect, and then to make sensible, joint efforts to save Polish national heritage abroad, in particular the unique archives of the Polish Mission in Orchard Lake, Michigan.

There is an urgent need for Polish Americans and Poles to join in the process of crafting Poland’s short-term and long-term strategy for success aimed to improve her cultural, economic, and political relevance. Polish Americans are a part of Poland’s diaspora, often called Polonia. Short-term strategy should describe desired status of Poland five years into the future and identify actions needed to reach that goal. Long-term strategy should span the next twenty-five years. We should include strategic flows and connectivity in this strategy.

This year, January 27, was the 76th anniversary of the liberation of the German concentration camp in Oświęcim (Auschwitz). It was a very quiet anniversary, virtual, hardly mentioned in any media. Paying tribute to all those murdered in this camp, we are reminded of one of them who survived and lived among us in Chicago.

I listen with great attention to the serious and insecure voices coming from Poland about cooperation with the United States after the dramatic end of President Trump's term of office. I can hardly believe the opinions of serious politicians, who attacked the Biden administration from the very start, without even scratching the surface of the American foreign policy. I would like to remind everyone that, in politics, it is not morality that counts, only the interests of a given state.

Historical truth is an objective reality, existing regardless of the situation that could distort it. It is something that is happening today, or has happened in the past. It is the responsibility of each of us to investigate, learn about, and be faithful to it. Very often historical truth falls victim to politics, is twisted, manipulated and replaced with lies. The generation that knew the facts is dying out. There is only hope that the documents it left behind will help in finding out the truth.

Today, it is difficult to avoid the omnipresent news about the course of vaccinations against COVID-19, or about their alleged risks and harmful effects, or about their effectiveness, or lack thereof. Many people express their opinions on this subject, both publicly and privately, but few really understand how – on the basis of which principles – these vaccines work at all, what their mechanism is, what their risks are, and how they are different and novel, compared to the traditional ones. We all know that they were developed and approved for use extremely quickly – as far as vaccines go – in less than a year; but hardly anyone realizes why it was even possible. Let's try here, at least in part, to answer these questions and, along the way, point to the partially Polish origin of the technology that made these vaccines possible.

Medicine and art are two different fields so it is not easy to compare and assess them directly. For me the most important has always been the human being and his or her life. Life is the most important value in our stay on Earth. Our existence here and now, on the most beautiful planet in the Universe, is connected with having a soul and a body.

Great contributions to the defense of Polishness in historically Polish territories, which after regaining independence did not become part of the Second Polish Republic, should be associated with Stanisław Sierakowski. Both he and his wife Helena connected their fates with the Borderlands, Warmia and Mazury, with political, educational and social activities in favor of Poland. Today, it is worth recalling the figures of these wonderful people, who are a bit unjustly forgotten.