PAHA Presents its 2016 Awards at the 74th Annual Meeting, in Denver, Colorado, January 5-7, 2017

AWARDS

 At the 74^th Annual Meeting at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver, CO (January 5-7, 2017), the Polish American Historical Association will announce the winners of its Annual Awards. The PAHA Annual Meeting will also include many scholarly presentations held in conjunction with the 131^st annual Meeting of the American Historical Association.

The Oskar Halecki Prize recognizes an important book or monograph on the Polish experience in the United States.  Eligibility  is  limited  to  works  of  historical  and/or  cultural  interest,  including  those  in  the  social sciences or humanities, published in the two years prior to the award.  The 2017 Halecki Prize will be presented to Prof. Mieczysław B. Biskupski, for his book The Most Dangerous German Agent in America (NIU Press, 2015).

The Amicus Poloniae Award recognizes significant contributions enhancing knowledge of Polish and Polish-American heritage by individuals not belonging to the Polish-American community. It will be presented to Dr. Alvin Mark Fountain II and Brenda Bruce who co-founded the Paderewski Festival in Raleigh, North Carolina in 2014 (paderewski-festival.org). Dr. Fountain, the President of the Festival, is a former administrator with the State of North Carolina and for more than 25 years he taught history at North Carolina State University. In 2008, Dr. Fountain was appointed as an Honorary Consul of the Republic of Poland. The Vice-President and Secretary of the Festival, Brenda Bruce is an accomplished pianist, harpsichordist, acclaimed teacher, and accompanist dedicated to the promotion of classical piano performance of the highest quality.

Dr. Stephen Leahy of Shantou University, China, will receive the Distinguished Service Award, given occasionally to a member of PAHA who has rendered valuable and sustained service to the organization.  Dr.  Leahy’s crucial role as the co-founder and moderator of PAHA’s Facebook group is just one of his many achievements as a long-time PAHA Board member, dedicated to the promotion of the association and its research interests world-wide.

The Swastek Prize is awarded annually for the best article published in a given volume of Polish American Studies, the journal of the Polish American Historical Association. This award, established in 1981, is named in honor of Rev. Joseph V. Swastek (1913-1977), the editor of Polish American Studies for many years, and a past president of PAHA. The Editorial Board of Polish American Studies recommended that the Swastek Prize be presented to Prof. Paweł Ziętara of Warsaw, Poland for “Troubles with ‘Mela’: A Polish American Reporter, the Secret Services of People’s Poland, and the FBI” (PAS 72, No 1, Spring 2015). Ziętara’s article assembles massive, painstaking research and presents a portrait of communist activity in the USA in the postwar period that is not well known. It brings to light a subject both significant and fascinating, and is based almost entirely on original archival sources.

The Creative Arts Prize will be bestowed on Dr. Maja Trochimczyk, for her achievements as a poet, especially in her two books dedicated to Polish victims of WWII, Slicing the Bread (Finishing Line Press, 2014), and The Rainy Bread, (Moonrise Press, 2016). Her books of poetry include Rose Always, 2008; Miriam’s Iris, 2008; Into Light, 2016; and two anthologies, Chopin with Cherries, 2010, and Meditations on Divine Names, 2012. Dr. Trochimczyk served as Poet Laureate of Sunland-Tujunga, Los Angeles in 2010-2012 and was nominated for the Pushcart Prize in 2016.

The Skalny Civic Achievement Awards honor individuals or groups who advance PAHA's goals of promoting research and awareness of the Polish-American experience and/or have made significant contributions to Polish or Polish-American community and culture.  The 2016 Skalny Awards will honor the following individuals:

Marta Alicja Swica of Minneapolis, MN, former Business Manager, Scholarship Program Chair, and member of the Executive Board of the Polanie Club Minneapolis and St. Paul, an important cultural association of Polish women, active since the 1927 and distinguished through their vast publishing activities. After the dissolution of the Club, Ms. Swica led the effort to secure its historical records and successfully negotiated their placement at the Immigration History Research Center, University of Minnesota, and the Polish Museum of America in Chicago. 

Tomasz Skotnicki, Honorary Consul of the Republic of Poland in Denver, CO,  since 2005, is strongly linked to local Polonia communities, first in Santa Barbara where he organized Polish community events to celebrate national holidays. In Colorado, he co-organizes visits of representatives of Polish government including President Lech Walesa, organizes consular events, cooperates with the Polish Club and the Kosciuszko Foundation. Mr. Skotnicki actively promotes Polish culture and history and helps Poles who are in need.

Katarzyna Zak, President of the Polish Club in Denver, has made numerous contributions to the promotion of Polish culture and activities of local Polish society, including numerous events, support for the Polish library, and more. She is a member of the Polonia Council convened by the Consul General of Poland in Los Angeles. 

President of the Polish American Film Society, Elizabeth Kanski and Artistic Director of the Polish Film Festival in Los Angeles, Vladek Juszkiewicz are recognized by the 2016 Skalny Award for their work as organizers of the Film Festival, held in Los Angeles for the past 16 years and promoting Polish cinema and international film collaborations (www.polishfilmla.org) through hundreds of screenings, lectures, and panel presentations in Los Angeles and Orange County, in collaboration with CSUN, USC, UCLA and other partners.

The Graduate Student Research Paper Award will be presented to Joanna Kulpińska from the Jagiellonian University in Kraków, Poland for her paper “Multigenerational Migration Chains of Families from Babica: An Attempt at Typology.” Established in 2008, the Graduate Student Research Paper Award recognizes outstanding research into Polish-American history and culture by a young scholar in the humanities or social sciences and consists of a travel grant and presentation at the Annual Meeting.

The newly instituted Graduate Student/ Young Scholar Travel Grant will be presented to Aleksandra Kurowska-Susdorf from the University of Gdańsk, Poland, for her paper “Creating Identity: Discussion around Kashubian and Polish Identity in Canada and Poland.”

Dr. Iwona Drag Korga, Executive Director of the Pilsudski Institute in New York City, has served as the Chair of the Awards Committee for 2017. The Awards Reception will be held on Saturday, January 7, 2017, starting at 7 p.m., at the Polish Club of Denver (3121 West Alameda Ave. Denver, CO 80219). Award winners are invited to attend free of charge, all other guests and conference participants should register, $50.00 per person.

The Program of PAHA’s 74th Annual Meeting includes eight sessions on diverse aspects of Polonia’s culture, presented from historical, sociological, anthropological, and literary perspectives with a focus on immigration issues. Sessions include: immigrant and Ethnic Identity, Constructing Ethnicity in Polish American Literature, Narrating Migration: Subjectivities and Communities in Poland and the United States; Prominent Poles in America; Between Europe and North America: (Im)migration and Social Justice; East Central Europe: What's in the Name? The View from Exile. An “Author Meets Critic Session” will explore The Polish Hearst: Ameryka-Echo and the Public Role of the Immigrant Press by Anna Jaroszyńska-Kirchmann. Papers on architect Thomas Lewinski, pianist-composer-statesman Ignacy Jan Paderewski, and writer Anthony Bukoski will study eminent individuals and the meeting will conclude with a Roundtable Discussion on “Progressive: Polish-Americans for Social Progress, Jamestown through the 21st Century.” See the attached full program for further details.

 PROGRAM

OF THE 74th ANNUAL MEETING, JANUARY 5-7, 2017

COLORADO CONVENTION CENTER, DENVER

THURSDAY, JANUARY 5, 2017, 1:30 PM-5:00 PM

PAHA Annual Board Meeting, Colorado Convention Center, Room 204

FRIDAY, JANUARY 6, 2017, 8:30 AM-10:00 AM

Session 1: Immigrant and Ethnic Identity, CCC, Room 304

Chair: Thomas Napierkowski, University of Colorado at Colorado Springs

·        Creating Identity: Discussion around Kashubian and Polish Identity in Canada and Poland - Aleksandra Kurowska-Susdorf, University of Gdańsk

·        The "Other" Patriot: The Gothic Nature of the Polish Catholic Immigrant Other in the Mid-19th-Century United States - Jill Noel Walker Gonzalez, La Sierra University

FRIDAY, JANUARY 6, 2017, 10:30 AM-12:00 PM

Session 2: Constructing Ethnicity in Polish American Literature, Colorado Convention Center, Room 304

Chair: BożenaNowicka McLees, Loyola University Chicago

·        Our Little Polish Cousin and the Stara Imigracja - Thomas Napierkowski, University of Colorado at Colorado Springs

·        "What Are Little (Polish) Girls Made Of?" Performing Gender in World War II Novels for Young Adults By Immigrant and Ethnic Writers - Grażyna Kozaczka, Cazenovia College

·        Anthony Bukoski: Writing from an Outpost of Polishness - John Merchant, Loyola University Chicago

FRIDAY, JANUARY 6, 2017, 1:30 PM-3:00 PM

SESSION 3: Narrating Migration: Subjectivities and Communities in Poland and the United States, Colorado Convention Center, Room 304

Chair: Anna Mazurkiewicz, University of Gdańsk

·        Narrating a New "American": Polish Holocaust Survivors in the United States in the 1950s - Anna Cichopek-Gajraj, Arizona State University

·        The People of Hamtramck: What Does It Mean to be Polish American in a Small Midwestern Town? - Anna Muller, University of Michigan-Dearborn

·        What Polish Peasants Said about Capitalism: Narrating Urban Subjectivity in Late 19th- and Early 20th-Century America - Kathleen Wroblewski, University of Michigan

FRIDAY, JANUARY 6, 2017, 3:30 PM-5:00 PM

SESSION 4: Prominent Poles in America, Colorado Convention Center, Room 304

·        Chair: Pien Versteegh, Avans University of Applied Sciences

·        Thomas Lewinski: America's Forgotten Architect - James Pula, Purdue University Northwest-North Central

·        The Pele of Chicago: Janusz Kowalik and the Beginnings of Professional Soccer in the United States - Neal Pease, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

·        Following Paderewski: An Album of Autographs and Clippings from Brighton, England, 1890-1914 - Maja Trochimczyk, Moonrise Press, Los Angeles

·        That Day in Raleigh, January 23, 1917; Paderewski, Wilson, and a Provincial Capital - Alvin M. Fountain II, Honorary Consul, Republic of Poland, President, Paderewski Festival, Raleigh, NC

SATURDAY, JANUARY 7, 2017, 8:30 AM-10:00 AM

SESSION 5: Between Europe and North America: (Im)migration and Social Justice,  Colorado Convention Center, Room 304

Chair: Grażyna Kozaczka, Cazenovia College

·        Polish Migrants on the Move: Miners in the Ruhr Area, 1920-30 - Pien Versteegh, Avans University of Applied Sciences

·        Multigenerational Migration Chains of Families from Babica: An Attempt at Typology - Joanna Kulpińska, Jagiellonian University, Kraków

·        Political Participation of Persons with Disabilities in the USA and Poland: From History to Modern Trends - Andrey Sergeevich Tikhonov, Kirkland Scholarship Program, University of Wrocław

SATURDAY, JANUARY 7, 2017, 10:30 AM-12:00 PM

SESSION 6: East Central Europe: What's in the Name? The View from Exile; Colorado Convention Center, Room 304

Chair: Neal Pease, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

·        Regional Self-Representation of Polish Political Exiles in the US during the Cold War - Anna Mazurkiewicz, University of Gdańsk

·        Imagining a Separate Slovakia: Anti-Communist Slovak Exiles' Hopes and Dreams - Ellen L. Paul, Fort Lewis College

·        Milan Kundera's Concept of Central Europe and the Ensuing Discussion Among Czechoslovak Exiles and Dissidents - Francis D. Raska, Charles University

·        "Not Real Germans at All": The East-Central "Othering" of GDR-Refugees during the Revolution of 1989 - Bethany E. Hicks, Ouachita Baptist University

SATURDAY, JANUARY 7, 2017, 1:30 PM - 3:00 PM

SESSION 7: Author Meets Critic Session for The Polish Hearst: Ameryka-Echo and the Public Role of the Immigrant Press  by Anna Jaroszyńska-Kirchmann

Chair: Mary Patrice Erdmans, Case Western Reserve University

Comments: David A. Gerber, State University of New York at Buffalo; Jon Bekken, Albright College; Robert M. Zecker, St. Francis Xavier University; and Anna D. Jaroszyńska-Kirchmann, Eastern Connecticut State University

SATURDAY, JANUARY 7, 2017, 3:30 PM - 5:00 PM

SESSION 8. Roundtable Discussion: Progressive: Polish-Americans for Social Progress, Jamestown through the 21st Century; Colorado Convention Center, Room 304

Chair: Anna Muller, University of Michigan-Dearborn

Comment: The Audience

SATURDAY, JANUARY 7, 2017, 7:00- 9:00 PM, AWARDS RECEPTION

The Awards Reception will be held on Saturday, January 7, 2017, starting at 7 p.m., at the Polish Club of Denver (3121 West Alameda Ave. Denver, CO 80219). Award winners are invited to attend free of charge, all other guests and conference participants should register, $50.00 per person. www.polishamericanstudies.org/registration.html

Invitation to the 74th Annual Meeting in Denver, Colorado, January 5-7, 2017

COME TO THE 74th ANNUAL MEETING, DENVER, JANUARY 5-7, 2017

During the 74th Annual Meeting of the Polish American Historical Association at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver, Colorado, eight sessions will explore a variety of topics associated with the Polish American and Polish emigre experience, from migration patterns, to ways of establishing and cultivating national identity surrounded by different cultures and languages. PAHA's annual award winners will also be announced. The meeting is held in association with the American Historical Association's 131st Annual Meeting on the subject of "Historical Scale; Linking Levels of Experience" (www.historians.org).

REGISTRATION FOR THE 74th ANNUAL MEETING, JANUARY 5-7, 2017 

Registration for the 74th Annual Meeting of the Polish American Historical Association is NOW OPEN. The Awards Reception will be held on Saturday, January 7, 2017, starting at 7 p.m., at the Polish Club of Denver (3121 West Alameda Ave. Denver, CO 80219). Award winners are invited to attend free of charge. All other guests and conference participants should register for the Awards Reception by December 30, 2016. Tickets are $50.00 per person and the number of seats is limited.

PROGRAM OF THE 74th ANNUAL MEETING

THURSDAY, JANUARY 5, 2017
PAHA Annual Board Meeting
Thursday, January 5, 2017: 1:30 PM-5:00 PM
Colorado Convention Center, Room 204

FRIDAY, JANUARY 6, 2017
Session 1. Immigrant and Ethnic Identity
Friday, January 6, 2017: 8:30 AM-10:00 AM
Colorado Convention Center, Room 304
Chair: Thomas Napierkowski, University of Colorado at Colorado Springs

Papers:

• Creating Identity: Discussion around Kashubian and Polish Identity in Canada and Poland - Aleksandra Kurowska-Susdorf, University of Gdansk
• The "Other" Patriot: The Gothic Nature of the Polish Catholic Immigrant Other in the Mid-19th-Century United States - Jill Noel Walker Gonzalez, La Sierra University

Comment: The Audience


FRIDAY, JANUARY 6, 2017
Session 2. Constructing Ethnicity in Polish American Literature
Friday, January 6, 2017: 10:30 AM-12:00 PM
Colorado Convention Center, Room 304
Chair: Bozena Nowicka McLees, Loyola University Chicago

Papers:

• Our Little Polish Cousin and the Stara Imigracja - Thomas Napierkowski, University of Colorado at Colorado Springs
• "What Are Little (Polish) Girls Made Of?" Performing Gender in World War II Novels for Young Adults By Immigrant and Ethnic Writers - Grazyna Kozaczka, Cazenovia College
• The Pele of Chicago: Janusz Kowalik and the Beginnings of Professional Soccer in the United States Neal Pease, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
• Anthony Bukoski: Writing from an Outpost of Polishness - John Merchant, Loyola University Chicago

Comment: The Audience

FRIDAY, JANUARY 6, 2017
Session 3. Narrating Migration: Subjectivities and Communities in Poland and the United States
Friday, January 6, 2017: 1:30 PM-3:00 PM
Colorado Convention Center, Room 304
Chair: Anna Mazurkiewicz, University of Gdansk

Papers:

• Narrating a New "American": Polish Holocaust Survivors in the United States in the 1950s Anna Cichopek-Gajraj, Arizona State University
• The People of Hamtramck: What Does It Mean to be Polish American in a Small Midwestern Town? Anna Muller, University of Michigan-Dearborn
• What Polish Peasants Said about Capitalism: Narrating Urban Subjectivity in Late 19th- and Early 20th-Century America - Kathleen Wroblewski, University of Michigan

Comment: The Audience


FRIDAY, JANUARY 6, 2017
Session 4. Prominent Poles in the Americas
Friday, January 6, 2017: 3:30 PM-5:00 PM
Colorado Convention Center, Room 304
Chair: Pien Versteegh, Avans University of Applied Sciences

Papers:

• Thomas Lewinski: America's Forgotten Architect - James Pula, Purdue University Northwest-North Central
• Following Paderewski: An Album of Autographs and Clippings from Brighton, England, 1890-1914 - Maja Trochimczyk, Moonrise Press
• That Day in Raleigh, January 23, 1917; Paderewski, Wilson, and a Provincial Capital - Alvin M. Fountain II, Honorary Consul, Republic of Poland, President, Paderewski Festival, Raleigh, NC

Comment: The Audience


SATURDAY, JANUARY 7, 2017
Session 5. Between Europe and North America: (Im)migration and Social Justice
Saturday, January 7, 2017: 8:30 AM-10:00 AM
Colorado Convention Center, Room 304
Chair: Grazyna Kozaczka, Cazenovia College

Papers:

• Polish Migrants on the Move: Miners in the Ruhr Area, 1920-30 - Pien Versteegh, Avans University of Applied Sciences
• Multigenerational Migration Chains of Families from Babica: An Attempt at Typology - Joanna Kulpinska, Jagiellonian University, Krakow
• Political Participation of Persons with Disabilities in the USA and Poland: From History to Modern Trends - Andrey Sergeevich Tikhonov, Kirkland Scholarship Program, University of Wroclaw

Comment: The Audience


SATURDAY, JANUARY 7, 2017
Session 6: East Central Europe: What's in the Name? The View from Exile
Saturday, January 7, 2017: 10:30 AM-12:00 PM
Colorado Convention Center, Room 304
Chair: Neal Pease, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

Papers:

• Regional Self-Representation of Polish Political Exiles in the US during the Cold War - Anna Mazurkiewicz, University of Gdansk
• Imagining a Separate Slovakia: Anti-Communist Slovak Exiles' Hopes and Dreams - Ellen L. Paul, Fort Lewis College
• Milan Kundera's Concept of Central Europe and the Ensuing Discussion Among Czechoslovak Exiles and Dissidents - Francis D. Raska, Charles University
• "Not Real Germans at All": The East-Central "Othering" of GDR-Refugees during the Revolution of 1989 - Bethany E. Hicks, Ouachita Baptist University

SATURDAY, JANUARY 7, 2017
Session 7. Author Meets Critic Session for The Polish Hearst: Ameryka-Echo and the Public Role of the Immigrant Press by Anna Jaroszynska-Kirchmann
Saturday, January 7, 2017: 1:30 PM - 3:00 PM
Colorado Convention Center, Room 304
Chair: Mary Patrice Erdmans, Case Western Reserve University

Comments: David A. Gerber, State University of New York at Buffalo; Jon Bekken, Albright College; Robert M. Zecker, St. Francis Xavier University; and Anna D. Jaroszynska-Kirchmann, Eastern Connecticut State University


SATURDAY, JANUARY 7, 2017
Session 8. Roundtable Discussion: Progressive: Polish-Americans for Social Progress, Jamestown through the 21st Century
Saturday, January 7, 2017: 3:30 PM - 5:00 PM
Colorado Convention Center, Room 304
Chairs: Anna Muller, University of Michigan-Dearborn and Wojciech Sawa, film director and visual artist

Comment: The Audience


SATURDAY, JANUARY 7, 2017
7:00 PM - 9:00 PM AWARDS RECEPTION 

The Awards Reception will be held on Saturday, January 7, 2017, starting at 7 p.m., at the Polish Club of Denver (3121 West Alameda Ave. Denver, CO 80219). Award winners are invited to attend free all charge, all other guests and conference participants should register on the Registration page - tickets are $50.00 per person and the number of seats is limited.

October Events - King Jagiello in Central Park and Latin America in Gdynia

Unveiling of King Jagiełło Statue in NY Central Park, October 29-30, 2016

   

On 29 – 30 October 2016, The King Jagiełło Monument Working Group is organizing The King Jagiełło Monument Unveiling Ceremony in Central Park and a Symposium entitled: “King Jagiełło in New York 1939-2016”, in Polish Consulate in New York. The King Jagiełło Monument Working Group was established by: Józef Piłsudski Institute, Polish American Congress – Long Island Division, Nowodworski Foundation, Association Polonia Technica, Consulate of the Republic of Poland in New York, St. Stanislaus B&M Parish in Manhattan, Prof. Krzysztof Wodiczko of Harvard University, and historian Krystyna Piórkowska.

The statue of King Jagiełło, was originally installed in the Polish Pavilion during the World’s Fair in 1939, and remains in New York City at the location in Central Park since 1945 till now. Currently, overall conservation work is performed, which is scheduled to be completed by mid-October. The Working Group promotes the legacy of King Władysław Jagiełło a symbol of Polish Victory for centuries by organizing symposium in Polish Consulate and monument unveiling ceremony in Central Park.  Their goal is to address this historic topic to the US Polonia and American historic community. The Symposium is scheduled on October 29th (Saturday) between 10:00 am and 5:30pm and will consist of four panels:  Stanisław Kazimierz Ostrowski and Polish Art Deco /  King Jagiełło and his Concept of a Unified Europe / Historical Sculptures in the Public Domain / Conservation work on the King Jagiełło Statue/ Polish Conservators in the World. All the proceedings will be in English. Registration is required.

On October 30, 2016 (Sunday) the unveiling ceremony of the King Władysław Jagiełło Monument is scheduled for Central Park, New York. The ceremony is planned as follows: Around 80 people will stay at the monument circle, at walkway and square in front of Turtle Pond. There will a banner informing about the event, together with another banner depicting the Battle of Grunwald as a backdrop for children’s performance. The schedule of the event: 1:00 pm – Welcome address, Consul of Republic of Poland and Jerzy Lesniak, President Nowodworski Fundation; 1:00 pm – A brief historical background and history of the monument and the history of King Jagiełło Swords – Wojciech Budzynski; 1:10 pm– Symbolic ceremony of King Jagiełło Monument unveiling; 1:20 pm – Speech by Marie R. Warsh, the Central Park Conservancy; 1:30 pm – Dedication of the Monument by Father Tadeusz Lizińczyk; 1:40 pm – “Battle of Grunwald” presentation by a school theater troupe (approx. 10 students) at the monument plinth, with choir; 2:30 pm – Placing flowers at the base of the monument and a Photo-op; 2:40 pm- Ballads sung with guitar at the monument.

   Poles and Polish Diaspora in Latin America, October 27-28, 2016   

The Emigration Museum in Gdynia presents a two-day international conference on Poles and Polish Diaspora in Latin America: Past and Present. The following papers will be presented. 

October 27: Opening Session with papers by 

• Adam Walaszek (Emigration from Poland and Portugal: two cases. Are they different? 1500-1939); 
• Andrzej Chodubski (Cultural and civilisation image of Poles in Latin America); 
• Renata Siuda Ambroziak (The problem of leadership among the Brazilian Polish diaspora), and 
• Rafał Raczyński (Latin American Polish diaspora at the Emigration Museum in Gdynia). 

The second session on historical aspects of Polish presence in Latin America includes papers by: 

• Jerzy Mazurek (Polish colonial and settlement projects in Latin American countries in the interwar period); 
• Thaís Janaina Wenczenovicz (History and historiography: interpretative views on the Polish immigration in the south of Brazil); 
• Claudia Stefanetti Kojrowicz (When the Allies Closed the Doors, General Perón Accepted Two Thousand Italian-Polish Marriages in the Post-War Era); 
• Teresa Sońta-Jaroszewicz (Wandering life of the refugees of Polish descent from Marseille to South America during World War II); 
• Aleksandra Pajek (Brasil in the imagina-tion – hopes and fears of Polish refugees right before leaving Europe during World War II) and 
• Karolina Baraniak (Polish diaspora in Chile). 

A session on the Polish community in the State of Parana, features papers by: 

• Mariléia Gärtner and Luciane Trennephol da Costa (The presence of Slavic culture in the interior of Parana state in Brazil), 
• Lenny A. Ureña Valerio (Creating a Polish nation from colonies: analysis of the settling colonialism and creating Polish colonies in Parana), 
• Rodrigo Augusto (Sustainable territorial development with the cultural identity in the Parana state), 
• Ancelmo Schörner (Polish immigration in Palmeiras (PR): the colony of Santa Barbara in the memories of Helena Orchanhenka), 
• Nelsi Antonia Pabis (Education and culture: the Polish immigrants' schools in the south of Parana), 
• Elisabeth Sylvia Janik (A story of success: Sebastian Woś Saporski and Polish immigration to Curitiba), and 
• Sonia Eliane Niewiadomski (Today's panorama of the Polish-Brazilian community in the southern and central parts of Parana). 

The evening session is dedicated to Latin American Polish diaspora as a research area, with papers by: 

• Maria Skoczek and  Bogumiła Lisocka-Jaegermann (Poles in Latin American research centres and universities),  
• Krzysztof Smolana (About new sources in the history of the Latino American Polish Diaspora), 
• Joanna Łuba with Dominik Czapigo ("Developing sources" – presentation of the documentation project by the KARTA Centre and the Ignacy Domeyko Polish Library in Argentina), 
• Michalina Petelska (From Guatemala to Gdynia) .

On October 28th the morning session is dedicated to Poles' contribution to the social and cultural development of the Latin American countries, with papers by: 

• Henryk Siewierski ("Doutor Magico": Piotr Ludwik Napoleon Czerniewicz and his position in the history of medicine and Brazilian culture); 
• Katarzyna Krzywicka (Missionary activity of the Congregation of Saint Michael the Archangel in Latin America); 
• Zdzisław Malczewski (Polish missionaries in Brazil); Aleksandra Pluta (Polish artists' contribution for the cultural life of Brazil and Chile); 
• Rhuan Targino Zaleski Trindade (Polish scientist among settlers: Czesław Bieżanko and Poles in the south of Brazil); 
• Beata Bereza (Ludwik Margules – triumph of the theatrical style); Justyna Łapaj (Polish diaspora and Poles in selected countries of Latin America).  

The second session of the day is dedicated to the literary aspects of Polish presence in Latin America, with papers by: 

• Silvia Dapía (New subjectivity after World War II in The Marriage by Witold Gombrowicz);
• Elżbieta Budakowska (Polish ethnic literature in Brazil in the sociological perspective); 
• Anna Jamrozek-Sowa (Successful immigrants. Protagonists of Aleksandra Pluta's tales); 
• Kalina Sobierajska (Female traveller, emigrant and cosmopolitan - the portrait of Maria Bochdan- iedenthal). 

The afternoon session is dedicated to the language and identity of the Polish communities, with papers by 

• Władysław T. Miodunka (Polish language in the perspective of Polish-Spanish and Polish-Portuguese bilingualism); 
• Izabela Stąpor (Szakier, fiżon i trokować – on the lexis of Polishsettlers in Parana); 
• Anna Kaganiec-Kamieńska (Polish language and identity in Argentinian Polish diaspora), 
• Karolina Bielenin-Lenczowska (Cultural heritage of Brazilians of Polish descent - linguistic and culinary practices); 
• Katarzyna Rawska (In search of Argentinian Polish diaspora's national identity). 

The conference ends with an evening session on Jewish people from Polish territories in Latin America, including papers by: 

• Maria Luiza Tucci Carneiro (Accounts of Polish Jews who have survived the Holocaust); 
• Alicja Głuszek (Polish Jews in Mexico - origin, memory and identity); 
• Mariusz Kałczewiak (Jewish polacos. The meaning and function of Polish identity among the Polish Jews in Argentina, 1915-1939) and 
• Magdalena Szkwarek ("You'll end up in Buenos Aires!"- Jews and prostitution. Another aspect of Jewish migration to Argentina at the turn of 19th and 20th century). 

 

Polish Americans Honored in Poland and by Poland

    Polish American Philanthropist Dr. Stanley Garstka 

Honored in Poland    

 Dean of the Faculty of History UG – Prof. Wiesław Długokęcki with 

Prof. Mieczysław Nurek presenting the medal and diploma bestowed upon Dr. Garstka.

On June 17, 2016 the Rector of the University of Gdańsk – Prof. Bernard Lammek officially bestowed BENE MERITO ET MERENTI silver medal to Dr. Stanisław (Stanley) Marian Garstka – the founder of the American Polish Research Fellowship at the University of Notre Dame.  Stanley Garstka, MD, initiated the exchange program between U of Gdansk and Notre Dame in 1999. For many years it was administered by the late Fr. Leonard Chrobot (1938-2014).

Stanley Garstka was born in Warsaw on Feb. 22, 1916. In 1935 he began medial studies which he did not complete because of the outbreak of the Second World War. Imprisoned for his underground activities in 1941, he experienced infamous Pawiak prison, and then concentration camps of: Auschwitz, Neuengamme, Dachau, where from he was transferred to Flossenbürg camp (paramedic), and from there to Leitmeritz (subcamp) where while a prisoner he worked as a MD. Upon liberation he migrated to the American zone and by 1947 he had completed his medical studies in Erlangen. Two years later, a married man, he emigrated to the United States.

Living in a modest house in Riverside (California) with his beloved wife of almost 60 years –  Dr. Martha Garstka (nee Alszibaja), Dr. Stanley Garstka opened a golden opportunity to the young and aspiring historians from three Polish universities. Since the signing of the mutual cooperation agreement with University of Gdańsk in 1999 envisioning exchanges occurring „annually in continuity and perpetuity” eleven “recent postgraduates, or junior faculty members at Institute of History UG” went to work and study at the Norte Dame. They were:  Jacek Rześniowiecki, Anna Muller, Anna Mazurkiewicz, Aleksander Michalak, Tytus Mikołajczak, Aleksandra Hallmann, Barbara Klassa, Przemysław Różański, Piotr Derengowski, Łukasz Cherek, Domika Hempel. Among them there are current PAHA members and officers.

The dedication attached to the medal bestowed on Dr. Garstka reads: “In recognition of exceptional contributions to the development of the study of history, in particular for the development of young scientists from the University of Gdańsk within the framework of mutual cooperation”. The initiative to recognize Dr. Garstka was first put forth by Prof. Mieczysław Nurek (Faculty of History UG). The University-awarded honor was bestowed posthumously a decade after Dr. Garstka’s passing (June 20, 2006). In the meantime, the exchange program with Gdansk was closed by the American partner in 2014 due to the lack of funds. The medal assures that its founder will not be forgotten.

Photo from Wikipedia.com

   The Polish Museum of America 

Awarded Poland’s Medal Gloria Artis   

On September 27, 2016, Piotr Gliński, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Culture and National Heritage of the Republic of Poland, awarded the Gold Medal for Merit to Culture – Gloria Artis to the Polish Museum of America (PMA). PMA President Richard Owsiany and Managing Director Małgorzata Kot will accept the award on behalf of the PMA. The ceremony took place at the office of the Consulate General of the Republic of Poland in New York.  Other recipients included Janusz Sporek, for his role in the promotion of Polish music.  Jarosław Sellin, Secretary of State at the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, announced this honor on September 15, during the 38th Annual Conference of the Polish Museums, Archives, and Libraries Abroad, held in London.

One of the oldest and largest ethnic museums in the United States, the Polish Museum of America (PMA) is dedicated to preserving the Polish American past for future generations. Founded in 1935 by an initiative of the Polish Roman Catholic Union of America and open since 1937, the PMA celebrates more than 80 years of service to the community.  The Museum showcases a unique permanent collection, highlights include: personal and professional mementos of Ignacy Jan Paderewski, inter-war paintings and sculptures; and art and artifacts from the Polish Pavilion at the 1939 New York World’s Fair.

  The Pilsudski Institute Awarded 

Poland’s Medal Gloria Artis   

The Pilsudski Institute of America was awarded by Poland’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Culture Piotr Gliński, the  Gold Medal Gloria Artis for outstanding contribution to Polish culture. During this ceremony, held in the elegant salons of the Polish Consulate General in New York. the Gold Medal Goria Artis was also awarded to the Polish Museum in Chicago and a Bronze Medal Gloria Artis was presented to Janusz Sporek, a promoter of Polish music in New York.


On behalf of the Institute, the Gloria Artis was accepted by Dr. Iwona Korga, President and Dr. Magda Kapuścińska, former President and volunteer of the Institute for the last 40 years. Dr.  Korga said: "On behalf of the Pilsudski Institute of America, thank you very much for this great honor. I must admit, however, that the Institute deserved this medal. During our 73 years of activity, the Institute secured the material artefacts of Polish national heritage: one million documents, twenty thousand books, art gallery and historical memorabilia. [...] I accept this medal on behalf of employees and generations of volunteers that created our facility and generously donated their time, knowledge and financial support. "

Call for Papers for 3rd Congress of Polish History in Poland, October 2017 - Due September 30, 2016

The III Congress of International Researchers of Polish History will take place on October 11-14, 2017 in Kraków, Poland. This congress occurs every five years and is a cyclical meeting of academics from throughout the world who, in their research,address not only problems associated with Polish history but also within its culture, arts and sciences. This congress’s guiding theme is “The Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth: History – Memory – Legacy” („Dawna Rzeczpospolita: historia – pamięć – dziedzictwo”).

The organizers aim to gather in one place and at onetime those scholars interested in the phenomena of the Polish - Lithuanian Commonwealth what it was, how it was memorialized over subsequent decades as well as what consequences or manifestations from its existence are seen in the later histories of Poland, Lithuania and the remaining countries who once found themselves within its sphere of influence. During our conference, we hope to focus on the phenomena of the modern Polish state, in an attempt to answer several important questions: to what extent was the Polish - Lithuanian Commonwealth a unique state and to what degree was its history similar to the histories of neighboring, other European or world states? An important point for deliberations will be questions surrounding the legacy of the Polish -Lithuanian Commonwealth and its presence in the consciousness of national groups inhabiting its territory – Byelorussians, Lithuanians, Latvians, Germans,Russians, Ukrainians and Jews.

The organizers cordially invite and encourage you to take part in the deliberations of this upcoming congress. In response to this invitation, your desire to participate may be declared through sending an abstract of your proposed presentation. A detailed  list of conference panels  with proposed problems and issues is enclosed, with a request that they serve as a guide for your proposed presentation. The proposers are asked to choose the panel which best suits their research interests. Abstracts should be no longer than 1800 characters. The languages of the conference are English and Polish.

The organizers state: "We ask that those interested in participating please inform us by September 30, 2016, using the registration panel. Deadline for submitting abstracts is September 30, 2016. Received abstracts will be analyzed by panel moderators and those accepted will be notified by October 30, 2016. All presenters will be guaranteed lodging in Kraków and a modest reward of 500 PLN. There is no conference fee. We would also be very pleased to receive preliminary information regarding whether you would be interested in conference participation without a presentation. You will be informed in an additional notification about the formal registration date."

This Call for Proposals was submitted by Prof. Andrzej Chwalba, President, Organizing Comittee of the III Congress of International Researchers of Polish History and Prof. Krzysztof Zamorski,
President of the Organizing Bureau of the III Congress of International Researchers of Polish History

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Secretary of State and Senator Anna Maria Anders to Give the Keynote Address at the Generations Remember 2016 Conference in Warsaw, on September 18, 2016

The 2016 edition of the Generations Remember conference in Warsaw, Poland, scheduled for September 17 through 19 to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Soviet "amnesty" and release of exiled Poles will feature the keynote address by Senator Anna Maria Anders, Secretary of State, Pleniponentiary of the Prime Minster for International Dialogue and Chair of the General Wladyslaw Anders Foundation.  The address will take place during the conference opening rception lunch hosted by Office for War Veterans and Victims of Oppression.

Anna Maria Anders Costa is a Polish politician and Polish American activist, serving since 2016 as Secretary of State, representing the Prime Minister in internaitonal dialogue. As a senator ishe is a member of the Committee for Emigration Affair and Contact iwth Poles Abroad, dealing wiht care of the Polish daspora and Poles abroad, migration of Polish citizens, ties between Poladn and Poles and people of Polish descent residing abroad, initiating and coordinating cooperation among Polish diaspora communities and protecting the heritage of Polish history and culture abroad. Anna Maria is the daughter of Genral Wladyslaw Anders and Irena Anders. She was educate d at the University of Bristol in Britain where she graduated in Romance Philology. She also studied at Boston University where she earned an MBA in economics. She worked on the UN mission in the UNESCO Press Office in Paris. After the death of her mother, she became the chief executive of the General Wladyslaw Anders Foundation providing scholarships for students of Polish descent from countries of the former USSR, among other projects.

Other events of the Conference include  Generations Remember March on Saturday, September 17, and conference presentations on Monday, September 19. See: www.GenerationsRemember.org
For a copy of the conference program visit also the previous issue of the PAHA Blog.

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Searching for Research Project Participants - Descendants of Immigrants from 1945-1952

Pepperdine University’s Culture and Trauma Research Lab is currently seeking participants who are descendants of European immigrants who emigrated post World War II for an important psychological study on generations. Participation involves the completion of an online survey which will take about 15-20 minutes. Participants may be eligible if: they are 18 years of age or older and if their parent or grandparent emigrated from Germany, Poland, Czech Republic and Slovakia (formerly known as Czechoslovakia), Austria, Hungary or Romania to the United States between 1945 -1952. This study will create a more robust understanding of the long-term impact of specific immigration factors. Participation in the study is voluntary and confidential. Participants will receive a $10.00 Amazon or Starbucks gift card for the completion of the survey.

If you have any questions or would like more information on the study, please feel free to contact our principal investigator, Melissa Duguay, at (818) 971-9877. You can also reach her at Melissa.Duguay@pepperdine.edu or contact mjsinger@pepperdine.edu. Additionally, this study is being conducted under the auspices of Dr. Thema Bryant-Davis.

Generations Remember 2016 - Kresy Siberia Conference in Warsaw, September 17-19, 2016

The Kresy Siberia Virtual Museum, in collaboration with the Association of Siberian Deportees, the History Meeting House,the Katyń Museum is holding the "Generations Remember 2016" conference in Warsaw, on September 17-19, 2016.  The registration deadline is September 9, 2016, and the program is reprinted below. The event is partly supported by the Office For War Veterans and Victims of Oppression of the Republic of Poland.

SATURDAY 17 September 2016 – National Day of Siberian deportees, Katyń Museum
09:30 – 10:30 Field Mass and ecumenical prayers: with military re-enactment, Katyń Museum, Warsaw Citadel
10:45 – 11:45 Concert: Police and Polish Army Bands, Katyń Museum
12:00 – 13:30 Katyń Museum tour
13:30 – 15:30 Free time: lunch on own arrangements to meet and mingle with other conference participants
15:30 – 16:30 Generations Remember March: Meet at Monte Cassino Monument, skwer Żołnierzy Tułaczy
17:00 – 18:30 Memorial ceremony: Monument to the Murdered and Perished in the East
18:30 – Free time: dinner on own arrangements to meet and mingle with other conference participants

SUNDAY 18 September 2016 – Group Activities Day
09:00 – 10:15 Sybirak Memorial Mass: Holy Cross Church (Św. Krzyża), Krakowskie Przedmieście 3
10:15 – 10:30 Bus to Imperia reception hall, Nowy Świat 6/12
10:30 – 11:00 Break (coffee/tea and refreshments)
11:00 – 11:30 Conference opening and welcome:
– Stefan Wiśniowski, President, Kresy-Siberia Foundation
– Mieczysław Pogodziński, National Executive, Association of Siberian Deportees
11:30 – 13:00 Workshops: Developing Poland-Diaspora collaborative initiatives to preserve
and promote the World War Two history of Kresy-Siberia and Exile
13:00 – 14:30 Conference Opening Reception Lunch: hosted by Office for War Veterans and Victims of Oppression

Senator Anna Maria Anders in London, at a Monument to WWII Victims

Keynote Address: Senator Anna Maria Anders, Secretary of State, Plenipotentiary of the Prime
Minister for International Dialogue, Chair of the General Władysław Anders Foundation
14:30 – 16:00 Group presentations: Proposed Poland-Diaspora collaborative initiatives next steps
16:00 – 16:30 Break (coffee/tea and refreshments)
17:00 – 18:00 Concert: Polish Choral Group from Ukraine, Dom Aktora, al. Ujazdowskie 45
18:30 – Free time: on own arrangements to meet and mingle with other conference participants

MONDAY 19 September 2016 – Speakers and Presentations
09:00 – 09:25 Welcome: Piotr Jakubowski, Director, History Meeting House, ul. Karowa 20
Program overview: Anita Cwynar, Conference Coordinator (Canada)
09:25 – 10:00 Talk: “1936 deportations to Kazakhstan” – Dima Panto, film-maker (Kazakhstan)
10:00 – 10:35 Talk: “The Deportations and Second-Generation Art” – Adrian Palka, Coventry University (UK)
10:35 – 11:00 Break (coffee/tea and refreshments)
11:00 – 12:30 Talk: “Expulsion from Kresy, 1946” – Tomasz Kuba Kozłowski, Director, Warsaw Kresy Initiative
12:30 – 13:30 Lunch: served in the History Meeting House
13:30 – 14:15 Talk: “In Exile, 1939 to 1947” – Władysław Czapski, Sybirak (Poland)
14:15 – 14:45 Talk: “State Police of the 2nd Polish Republic “ – Jacek Walaszczyk, Policeman (Poland)
15:00 – 15:30 Talk: “A Homeland Denied” – Irena Kossakowski-Clarke, author (UK)
15:30 – 16:00 Break (coffee/tea and refreshments)
16:00 – 17:30 Film: “Genocide” – introduced by Arkadiusz Olszewski, director (Poland)
17:30 – 18:00 Talk: “Slicing the Bread” poetry reading – Maja Trochimczyk, author (USA)
18:00 – 18:30 Conference conclusion
19:30 – 22:00 Kresy Feast Dinner (optional, additional cost 100 PLN)

March of the Living - Survivors and Generations in 2015

SPEAKERS

ANNA MARIA ANDERS COSTA is a Polish politician and Polish-American activist, serving since 2016 as Secretary of State, representing the Prime Minister in international dialogue. As a senator, she is a member of the Committee for Emigration Affairs and Contact with Poles Abroad, dealing with care of the Polish diaspora and Poles abroad, migration of Polish citizens,particularly to the European Union, ties between Poland and Poles and people of Polish descent residing abroad and their legal situation, initiating and coordinating cooperation amongst Polish diaspora communities and protecting the heritage of Polish history and culture abroad. Anna Maria is the daughter of General Władysław Anders and Irena Anders.  She was educated at the University of Bristol in Britain, where she graduated in Romance Philology, as well as Boston University in the USA, where she earned an MBA in economics. She worked on the UN’s mission in the UNESCO Press Office in Paris as well as for a petroleum company. After the death of her mother she became chief executive of the General Władysław Anders Foundation, dealing with, among other things, the provision of scholarships for students of Polish descent from countries of the former USSR.

WŁADYSŁAW CZAPSKI lives in Wroclaw, where he is a tireless activist working to commemorate the fate of the 20,000 Polish children deported to Siberia during WWII who, after their release and evacuation, were cared for in Iran, Lebanon, Africa, India and Mexico and New Zealand until the end of the war. At his initiative, a committee of survivors installed a plaque in Warsaw expressing gratitude to the Iranian nation for rescuing Poles during the war. He is also an active member of the Circle of Alumni of the Polish Schools of Isfahan-Lebanon. Czapski was born in Drohiczyn Poleski (now Belarus) in January 1938. The Soviets  arrested his father in 1940 then deported him with his mother Janina and sister Wanda to Siberia. Once released, they were evacuated to Iran, where his mother died. The children survived the war in Isfahan and in Zouk Mikael, Lebanon. Back in Poland since this time, Władysław continues to express great gratitude for the help given by the Iranians to the Poles at a time when their presence was being erased from the world map. He cherishes his warm memories of the nobility, incredible openness and human kindness on the part of Iran and wherever he is, gives testimony of the history in which he participated.

IRENA KOSSAKOWSKA CLARKE is an artist and author who has written a book due to be released in November 2016, based on the memories and experiences of her father, Wacław Kossakowski. “A Homeland Denied” (ahomelanddenied.com) follows his harrowing journey as a young Warsaw University student whose peaceful life was changed dramatically on the fateful day of September 1, 1939. From imprisonment in the notorious Kozielsk prison to a forced labor camp in the Siberian Arctic Circle, the story tells of suffering and brutality impossible to imagine. Forced to dig runways in temperatures reaching as low as minus 50°C while under constant threat from sadistic guards, he experienced a living hell with death his only companion. He endured and witnessed atrocities, which haunted him for the rest of his life, with so many friends murdered or frozen to death in the unforgiving cruelty of Siberia. But fate intervened and the icy wasteland was replaced by the blistering heat and dry deserts of the Middle East, where the student was taught to fight – and fight he did, in the Italian campaign, at Monte Cassino, Ancona and Bologna. Yet the desire to return to his homeland never left him and only memories of the idyllic life before the war and his intense yearning to return sustained him when he sank to the lowest depths of despair.

TOMASZ KUBA KOZŁOWSKI lives in Warsaw, where he popularizes the Kresy both as an author and as coordinator of the Warsaw Kresy Initiative at the History Meeting House (Dom Spotkań z Historią). For the last eight years he has organised and led the hugely popular series of 1,000 stories “Tales from the Kresy” as well as the “Kresy Cinema”. The Warsaw Kresy Initiative enables the dissemination of the Eastern Land’s history and heritage through a variety of forms. He is also co-author of the book “World of the Borderlands”. Kozłowski is creator and owner of the largest private collection of materials on the Kresy, comprising tens of thousands of objects, including all manner of printed materials, maps, archives,  iconography, antiques, everyday objects and souvenirs. This collection forms the basis for exhibitions, albums, and videos used to illustrate his talks. He has also created two major exhibitions, “World of the Borderlands” and “The Great War in the East (1914-1918) from the Baltic to the Carpathians”. Both exhibitions were accompanied by catalogues issued by the History Meeting House. He was awarded the Gloria Artis bronze medal bestowed by Poland’s Minister of Culture and National Heritage.

ARKADIUSZ OLSZEWSKI lives  in  Pabianice  in  Central  Poland,  where  he  is  an  illustrator, graphic designer and producer of computer games and animated films. For some time now his primary  focus  is  on  works  related  to  Polish  history.  He  is  the  author  of,  among  others,  the animated  film  "Genocide"[https://youtu.be/DKT_QXAo1m4],  which  premiered  on  January  17, 2016 in Pabianice. He is also producing a short animated film about the Accursed Soldiers (Anti-Communist Resistance Movement).  His art shows the history of Poland in a very expressive and emotional way, on subjects such as the Warsaw Uprising, the Battle of Khotyn, Battle of Warsaw, Battle of Pabianice (September 7, 1939), the Greater Poland Uprising, the Battle of Polonka and the Warsaw 303 Fighter Squadron. He explains that he is self-taught and only briefly studied graphics. His work is now mainly in the technique known as digital painting - painting on a computer with the aid of a tablet, but is equally unafraid of the pencil, pen or tattoo machine. A gallery of his works can be seen at www.epainfo.pl/maluje-historie.

ADRIAN PAŁKA is a senior lecturer in Media and Performing Arts at Coventry University, with research interests in inter-disciplinary performance and installation as well as the politics, art and culture  of Central  and  Eastern  Europe.  His recent  work  focuses  on the overlap  of sound and image projections  in memorial work. This includes the installation “Bark and Butterflies”,  which was the product  of an artistic research  trip to Siberia in 2013 following  in the footsteps  of an inherited war time diary (www.palkadiaries.com) and “Iron Curtain” a multi-media reminiscence event  to  commemorate  the  fall  of  the  Berlin  Wall  in  2014  (ironcurtain.coventry.ac.uk).  He  is currently  working  on  a  chapter  covering  the  digital  aspect  of  the  Siberia  expedition  for  the  forthcoming  CDare publication, “Digital Echoes: Spaces for Intangible and Performance Based Cultural Heritage” and a short film about his father’s life for the Leeds City Museum entitled “Exile to Yorkshire”.

DMITRIY PANTO was born  in Kokshetau,  Kazakhstan,  where  his Polish  great-grandparents were exiled in 1936. He finished his studies at Kokshetau State University in the fields of history, geography  and religious studies. He worked as a teacher of history in the German-Kazakh  high school Sankt-Lorenc as well as in a high school in Kokshetau. At the same time, he worked as an expert at the Center for Support of Victims of Destructive Religious Movements,  Kokshetau. He was a lecturer at the Institute of Qualification  Improvement  in Kokshetau and an expert for the Committee for Denominational Matters. He worked as an expert at the Institute for Ecclesiastical Studies and an expert at the Institute of National and Religious Policy Analysis in Lutsk, Ukraine. He now has a position in the Professional Science Department at the Museum of World War II in Gdansk. For many years, he has participated in organizations and associations concerned with Siberian deportees. His film "I am a Pole, I Wait" is in production and he will speak about Krasnodolsk, a Polish village in Kazakhstan, to illustrate the problem of Polish identity in Kazakhstan.

MAJA TROCHIMCZYK is a poet, music historian, photographer,  and non-profit director born in Poland and living in California (www.trochimczyk.net). She has published six books on music, two  volumes of  poems  and  edited  two  poetry  anthologies.  She  has  published  hundreds  of articles and poems in 7 languages and presented papers at over 70 national and international conferences.   She  received   fellowships   and  awards  from  the  American   Council  of  Learned Societies,  Social Sciences  and Humanities  Research  Council  of Canada,  several universities,  the City  and  County  of  Los  Angeles,  and  Poland’s  Ministry  of  Culture.  The  Sixth  Poet  Laureate  of Sunland-Tujunga (2010-2012) and founder of Moonrise Press, she is also a non-profit director, Communications Director for the Polish American Historical Association,  and a member of various editorial boards and poetry groups. Her latest book – “Slicing the Bread, Children’s Survival Manual in 25 Poems” – is a testimonial and monument to untold suffering, witnessed and experienced by non-Jewish Poles during the war, and afterwards under the oppressive “socialist” regime.

JACEK WALASZCZYK is an official at Police Headquarters  in Warsaw, a police officer, and a long-time staff member of the Europol European Police Office in The Hague. He is an enthusiast and expert on the history of the Polish State Police and collector of memorabilia  related to the history of Polish police formations of the first half of the 20th Century. He is also the creator and administrator  of a website dedicated to the history of the pre-war police corps, which serves to consolidate  and  promote  historical  knowledge  about  Polish  police  formations  of  that  time (www.policjapanstwowa.pl).  It  aims  to  disseminate  and  cultivate  community  awareness  and  to preserve the traditions of these formations. Its purpose is to collect and develop a set of documents on the history of the State Police, the Police of the Region of Silesia, as well as other forces involved in the security and protection  of public order operating in Polish territories in the period 1914-1945, as well to provide these in digital formats. Its aim is to preserve memories, keep the past alive and perpetuate the relics of our common national heritage.

• For more information visit Generations Remember 2016 website. 
• Download the 2015 Conference Report (PDF)
• Registrations for Participants: 500 zl
• Registration for Donors, Supporters and Volunteers: 350 zl
• Registration for Survivors, Veterans and Students from Poland: 80 zl
• To donate to Kresy-Siberia Virtual Museum, visit this link.