We, the Presidents of the Republic of Poland, the Republic of Estonia, Ukraine, the Republic of Latvia and the Republic of Lithuania, meet today in Warsaw to celebrate the 230th anniversary of the adoption of the May 3rd Constitution. The adoption in 1791 of this important act regulating the legal system of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was of historical importance, as it was the first modern basic law adopted on our continent and the second in the world.

The Poles were the only nation that did not give up the fight after the defeat in September 1939. Polish soldiers fought wherever there were fights against fascism. They believed that all roads lead them to a free Poland. Among such unwavering optimists were also men from the 1st Polish Armored Division of General Stanisław Maczek.

I never saw Poland, but I fought for the cause of a free Poland. Never did I and never will I waver in this struggle.… Let us love Poland, the land of our fathers. Let us love America, the land of our children.

One of the most heart-wrenching reports a parent could ever receive is that their child is seriously ill. In Poland, this may not be where the bad news ends. Very often the parents of sick children are informed that the medicine or treatment which could save their child’s life is not supported by the National Health Fund (Narodowy Fundusz Zdrowia). This is when the real fight for a miracle begins because the costs of life-saving foreign treatments and medications are so high that they are out of the reach of the parents and the healthcare community. The available time to raise funds is typically a major challenge as well. This is a plea for a miracle and a plea for help.

The year 2021 was established by the Sejm and the Senate of the Republic of Poland as the Year of Cyprian Kamil Norwid on the occasion of the bicentenary of his birth. On this occasion, the Polish community abroad organizes various cultural events related to the figure and work of this outstanding Pole.

Rather than demand that Poland pay reparations to foreign Jewish groups for heirless Polish-Jewish properties, which is a precedent absent in Western law, Congress should demand that Germany and Russia pay reparations to Poland for the extensive death and destruction the Germans and Soviets inflicted on the country and its people during World War II.

The bankruptcy proceeding of the Buffalo Roman Catholic Diocese is overseen by Honorable Carl L. Bucki, the federal Chief bankruptcy Judge for Western New York. It involves tens of thousands of persons and reaches as far as Poland and the Vatican. The symbolism of a devout Polish American Catholic presiding over the legal consequences of decades-long sex scandal in the Buffalo Roman Catholic Church cannot be overestimated.

National identity is one of the fundamental human rights. In the recent frenzy of various old and newly formed identity claims, this fundamental right of some is increasingly being compromised and trampled upon to make room for new demands of others. Polish Americans have often been at the receiving end of being attacked and their national dignity compromised. Poland slowly emerges from behind the curtain of colonialism, poverty, and neglect, which closed shut after 1945. The issue of Polish national rights and the rights of American Polonia to their historic identity needs to reach the mainstream media with due attention and respect.

The fathers of the Polish basic law, known as May Constitution, knew the American constitution and were no strangers to the names of Washington and Franklin. Europe, mainly England, France and Spain, closely watched the process of strengthening the central government in the united provinces of America. Through France, news of the principles and forms of government of the thirteen united states reached Poland, gaining, if not sympathetic recognition, then at least prudent attention. The principles of the American constitution appeared in excerpts in the press, as well as in book editions.

Single mothers in Haiti and the Dominican Republic in the 1980s and 1990s revived the cult of a Voodoo goddess Erzulie Dantor, the lwa of vengeance and rage. How is the iconic representation of Haitian Voodoo senior spirit originating in West Africa influenced by the patron saint of Poland, the Black Madonna of Częstochowa?

The Polish National Church was founded in 1897 in Pennsylvania by Reverend Francis Hodur. Father Hodur was born in Żarki in 1866, in the Austrian dominated sector of Poland. In 1893, he emigrated to the United States and was ordained into the priesthood at Holy Trinity Roman Catholic Parish in Scranton, PA. A political activist, Father Hodur undertook a mission to Rome to secure a greater voice for Poles in the American Church. Unrest among the Polish parishes was common during this period and rioting broke out in his parish in a dispute over the ownership of church property, use of the Polish language, and selection of local priests.

The 2nd and 3rd days of May are very important holidays in the life of the American Polonia, but also in the life of the entire global Polish diaspora. On May 2 we celebrate Flag Day and the Day of Polish Diaspora, andon May 3rd — the Constitution Day. This year, the Polish community in Milwaukee hosted representatives of the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Washington, D.C., the military attaché Major General Cezary Wiśniewski and his deputy, Lieutenant Colonel Karol Budniak.

It is time for the Polish government to fund Polonia Departments in major universities. The story of Polonia must be carefully researched and presented if Poland wants to use this tremendous demographic asset to strengthen her role in the global arena. Currently, the study of the diaspora with ties to Poland, called Polonia, is fragmented, not coordinated with the strategy of country’s development, and often steered by foreign funding sources. Research findings do not reach Polonia centers around the world. Poland prides herself with the Jagiellonian University and its role as the academic cradle of Poland. We need a Polish university, which will lead the way in elevating the role of Polonia to its due place in the development of Poland’s global potential.

Polish hussars and Japanese samurai are military formations that fascinate us to this day. Although so distant in time, the geographical space, and cultures they represent, they are vividly reflected in the contemporary imagination. Their bravery and courage impress us no matter where we live.

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ) is a military treaty established on August 24, 1949. The purpose of NATO at the time of its creation was military defense against attack by the USSR and its satellite states.

Why so few Poles, both those living in Poland and those permanently residing in the United States, remember this significant tenure in the area of American politics by a longtime senator, as well as the governor of Maine, and the secretary of state in US diplomacy?

Although most people still haven’t heard of it, the Three Seas Initiative is the most significant political and economic policy initiative to emerge in Central and Eastern Europe since the enlargement of the EU and NATO. It's an international economic and political initiative that currently brings together twelve countries of the European Union located between the Baltic, Black, and Adriatic seas.

The Katyn massacre, according to many legal definitions, is classified as a crime against humanity, a crime against peace, a communist crime, and a crime of genocide. For the sake of political correctness, different terms were used at various times in history. Why is the case of the Katyn massacre so difficult, and why it has so long remained silent and is still not fully clarified? Perhaps recalling some of the most painful facts will bring you closer to understanding the problem.

On Tuesday, April 6, 2021, the first President of independent Ukraine (1991-1994) Leonid Kravchuk suggested that the talks about the future of Ukrainian-Russian war should be moved from Belarus to Poland. Because of recent actions by both Presidents Lukashenka and Putin, Minsk cannot be regarded as an objective peace broker between Ukraine and Russia.

The recently celebrated 100th anniversary of the victory over Bolshevik Russia in 1920, among others, became an opportunity to recall the extraordinary history of the Kościuszko Squadron, created in 1919 by American airmen fighting alongside Poles in the war with the Bolsheviks.

A Japanese edition of The Auschwitz Volunteer: Beyond Bravery by Captain Witold Pilecki is now available. Japanese-language rights were acquired by Misuzu Shobo Publishers in Tokyo, from Aquila Polonica Publishing, Los Angeles. Aquila Polonica was represented in the transaction by Eriko Takeuchi of Japan UNI.