Poland

Unfortunately, we will not be able to celebrate the hundred-year jubilee of one of the greatest personalities of Polish science. We report with sadness that on Wednesday, December 16, 2020, at the age of 99, professor Wacław Szybalski, an outstanding researcher, a true genius of molecular genetics, called the "king of genetics", repeatedly mentioned as a candidate for the Nobel Prize, honorary doctor of many universities, passed away. In prof. Wacław Szybalski, we say farewell to an excellent specialist in genetics and molecular medicine, and to the father of the so-called synthetic biology. He was a world-class scientist, mentor, educator, model for many Polish researchers, and - at the same time - a great Pole and an active patriot.

In Poland, Christmas Eve, December 24, is considered the most special night of the year. It is a night on which, according to legend, even animals speak with a human voice. The tradition of celebrating Christmas Eve is inherently associated with an official supper held within the closest family circle, during which only vegetarian dishes are consumed.

In August of 1944, on the fourth day of the Warsaw Uprising, a German bullet pierced the forehead of one of the soldiers fighting in the Theatre Square. The dead insurgent was 23 years old. History would have probably erased this death from our memory, as it was done in the case of thousands of unknown defenders of Warsaw. This one name would not have upset the enormous balance of human losses, bad it not belonged to a soldier who was one of the most outstanding poets of the, war' s younger generation, in whom his contemporaries saw Słowacki’s successor…

This terrible 2020, which has brought drastic changes and a restrictions on our freedom, is ending. The pandemic has shattered many ambitious plans. There was to be a retreat from globalization and a decisive expansion of the middle class in the Western world. However, it happened quite differently, and this fact forces us, all independent thinkers, to reflect. The pandemic has shown us that most politicians have failed the test of serving their nations.

A few weeks ago, I wrote the text: German "New Deal", Will It Be the End of the Three Seas Initiative? Let me just remind you that the German Minister of Defense Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer presented the concept of a new order in transatlantic relations between the USA and Germany. This deal clearly subordinates Germany to America, in return for giving Germany a free hand in European affairs and maintaining the political and strategic order in this part of the world.

I am not a big supporter of the President of the Polish American Congress (Kongress Polonii Amerykańskiej, KPA), Frank Spula, but it is worth appreciating his contribution and commitment on the part of President Donald Trump in this election campaign, but let's start from the beginning. In the 2016 presidential campaign, Donald Trump met in Chicago with the KPA activists at the explicit invitation of chief Frank Spula. During this meeting, Trump promised to increase Poland's security and to waive visas for Poles.

The Biden campaign Central European Coalition attacked President Trump for supposedly damaging NATO by threatening withdrawal, alienation of NATO allies and emboldening Russia’s Vladimir Putin. Biden claims that this endangers freedom in Central Europe and is at stake in this election.

During World War I, the political direction for Polish emigration was simple - Poles should co-operate with the Entente [countries]. After many meetings with government officials, special hopes were placed on the Canadian government, which agreed to accept a group of Falcons into the Toronto military school. On January 1, 1917, 23 candidate officers secretly arrived in Toronto. On May 21, 1917, they received officer ranks. The top five became instructors at the Cadet School in Cambridge Springs.

On April 15, 1915, the co-founder and the second honorary president, after Sienkiewicz, of the General Rescue Committee in Switzerland, Ignacy Jan Paderewski, came to the United States.

He was welcomed in New York by representatives of the Polish emigration and clergy, including the famous Polish banker, publisher, American and Polish diaspora politician, Jan Franciszek Smulski, who made a very positive impression on Paderewski and was himself fascinated by the personality of the great artist.

On October 28, 2020, Andreas Kluth's article entitled "Germany Is Ready to Offer America a New Deal". In his text, Kluth presents the proposal of the German Minister of Defense - Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer - a new order in transatlantic relations.

It is worth remembering that the Munich Agreement was signed 82 years ago and if we carefully analyze this German deal, it may turn out that we may have a new Chamberlain in the form of the US president announcing to the Americans: "Peace for Our Time."

On March 4, 1944, a preparatory conference for the establishment of the Polish American Congress (Kongres Polonii Amerykańskiej, KPA) was held in Chicago, attended by representatives of the entire spectrum of Polish diaspora, along with the clergy and chief editors of the Polish diaspora press. At this meeting, Karol Rozmarek gave a charismatic speech, uttering the historic words: “Today, the defense of Poland is our most sacred and most important duty. It is up to us whether this defense will be just a patriotic phrase, or whether it will be a real defense for which the Polish diaspora in America will not have to be ashamed of it in the future."