History

Once again, we are starting to see more about the importance of the NATO Alliance in our media. Perhaps, Poland’s place in the Alliance will also get some positive attention. We shall see! But just what is NATO? And how did Poland become a member?

There is a Polish hero, a "cursed soldier", buried in one of the cemeteries in Milwaukee, and his name is Edmund Banasikowski. Colonel of the Polish Army, commander of the subversive group "Wachlarz", Deputy in the F Inspectorate of the Vilnius District of the Home Army. In the spring of 1945, he was arrested by the NKVD. He managed to escape from prison and make his way to Warsaw. In view of the growing Soviet terror and repression against former Home Army soldiers, he decided to leave the country. In the spring of 1946 he moved to Sweden, and in 1951 he left for the United States, where he settled permanently in Milwaukee.

The indomitable soldiers are, in other words, the Polish post–war independence- and anti–communist underground. It was a partisan movement of a kind, resisting the sovietization of Poland. They fought a fight against the security apparatus of the USSR and the services subordinated to them in Poland.

"Polonia Christiana" published (June 4, 2019) an interview by Tadeusz Kolanek with Dr. Teodor Gąsiorowski, entitled How the myth of Haller's Blue Army was killed. It is very good that we return to the figure of the great Pole and the great commander, General Józef Haller, and recall the Blue Army. It is a pity that, at the same time, the same text is part of the plot to kill the memory of, the destruction and concealment of the figure of another great Pole, Ignacy Paderewski. His name is never mentioned in this interview, which is a poignant "abandonment" — hard to believe, and impossible to justify. I will focus here on the "Paderewski Case" - and rather than on Paderewski's "myth", on the truth about Paderewski.

Sometimes, in order to better understand the situation in which the American Polonia found itself after 1989, it is worth analyzing how the relations between the Polish State and the Polish community developed after Poland regained independence in 1918. Reliable research by several independent teams of scientists, and a political will, are needed in this matter.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.