Wow, 3 Years Ago Today an Amazing Adventure Began….

Posted on 31 August 2013 by lkonieczny

Three years ago today I first set foot on Polish soil. It was the realization of a lifetime dream, and it began purely by accident. In March, my sister Mary sent me a flyer–a friend of hers was leading a trip to Poland. My first thought? “Yeah, right.”  But I could not get it out of my mind, and so three years ago today I found myself with my first view of Poland, in Gdańsk, on a tour with about 20 others, including two of my mothers’ cousins. It was the start of an amazing time.

At the time, I wrote about my first day in Gdańsk here: https://poland.leonkonieczny.com/blog/?p=50. I had my first opportunity there to walk around, to see Poland, to experience Poland. And, as you’ll later learn, it was not my last visit to Gdańsk, either. Because of that, it holds a special place in my heart, and I know I’ll be back there again and again.

I published some of my pictures from Gdańsk here: http://poland.leonkonieczny.com/images/2010PolandTour/01-02%20Gda%C5%84sk/index.html. It was a memorable visit, we were there on the 30th anniversary of the agreement signed between Solidarność (the Solidarity trade union) and the government, an action that in some way led the way to the downfall of communism and the establishment of a free Poland.

My love of Poland and my blog named after it, Moja miłość do Polski, really took root and first blossomed on this day, three years ago.

But, as if that wasn’t enough, two years ago today I was also on the most amazing journey, my second visit to Poland, staying and travelling with my cousins. Two years ago today we were driving from Warsaw back to Gdańsk, the culmination of a rich tour of Ukraine, and a visit with my cousins there. I am still learning more and more about the places I saw on that trip, the history, the culture, the heart and soul of Poland and what it means to be Polish. In my heart, I know and feel what it’s like to be Polish, and in my heart I can proudly say “Jestem Polakiem“–I am a Polak.

Posted in 2011 Poland Trip, My love of Poland, Poland Tour 2010 | Leave a comment

Hard to Believe What Was Happening 69 Year Ago….

Posted on 30 August 2013 by lkonieczny

In Warsaw, Poland. Beginning on August 1st, 1944, the Polish Home Army in Warsaw rebelled against their German/Nazi oppressors. They had every reason to believe they’d be successful, especially with the Red Army only days away from entering Warsaw. But, they were wrong. Stalin’s Red Army stopped their advance and watched from the sideline. As the Polish Home Army fought the Germans who had superiority in weapons, machinery, and manpower, the Allies watched. Winston Churchill pleaded with Roosevelt to do something, but Roosevelt did not want to upset Stalin, and Stalin refused to allow allied planes to land at a nearby Soviet airport.

Today is August 30th, and 69 years ago today, the Poles were still fighting, and would go on to fight another month. The end results are history, thousands killed, thousands captured and executed by the Germans. In defiance of the US and Soviet Union, Churchill and the Polish Air Force based in Britain tried to send some aid, food and weapons drops.

But 69 years ago today, there was still fierce fighting going on in the heart of Warsaw. I’d hard for me to forget that. I hope the world never forgets….

Posted in history, History of Poland | Leave a comment

The City that Would Not Die

Posted on 1 August 2013 by lkonieczny

Warsaw. At the start of World War II, a thriving city of 1.3 million. By the end of World War II six years later, it had about one or two thousand scavengers as its inhabitants. 200,000 of it’s citizens were dead, mostly murdered in mass executions by the Nazis. Today, it’s the largest city in Poland and 9th largest in Europe, a city of 1.7 million.

69 Years ago today, the city rebelled against it’s Nazi rulers and the Warsaw Uprising began, at 5 PM local time. Today at that time, as it does each and every year, the city will stop for one minute of silence, to remember. And more importantly, to not forget.

You can read more about this in my blog post from last year, and there is an excellent article written this year here: http://mosaicprwarsaw.blogspot.com/2013/07/warsaw-lives-on-they-didnt-suceed-we.html. It is well worth your time.

And if you have but one–only one–extra minute, check out this You Tube video: http://youtu.be/Ejd2rsXoQSI.

You may, as I once did, wonder if it’s really true, that the whole city stops for a minute of silence every year at 17:00 CET on August 1st. I wondered. And I asked my Polish friend, Jurek, about that. In astonishment, he said “but of course!” Poles do not forget. We should not either!

Posted in culture, current events, history | 1 Comment

Bloody Sunday, July 11, 1943

Posted on 14 July 2013 by lkonieczny

On Sunday, July 11, 1943, the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA), often with the help of local Ukrainians, surrounded and attacked 99 Polish villages in Volhynia, an area of what had been eastern Poland and is now modern-day Ukraine. On “Bloody Sunday,” it is estimated that about 8,000 Polish men, women, and children were massacred simply because they were Polish and for no other reason.

But this was only one day in what was about three years of genocide, the ruthless attempt to exterminate Poles who lived in eastern Galacia and Volhynia, an area of mixed Polish and Ukrainian nationalities. It was not UPA alone that did this, but they worked in concert with the OUN-B (Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists-Bandera faction) and for three years worked to exterminate Poles. Some estimate that as many and 100,000 Poles were murdered during this time, maybe even more.

One of those murdered was the Antoni Cymbal, the brother of my great-grandfather. His crime? He was Polish.

There is a lot of historical background and reason for the tension in the area, but for a long time, Poles and Ukrainians got along just fine. Yet some Ukrainians wanted their own separate country and were not happy being a part of Poland after World War I. But not everyone was crazy,  and not every Ukrainian was a part of UPA or OUN-B. That was a minority, but a very powerful minority who had the blessings of first the Soviets, then the Germans, and later again the Soviets.

Did you ever hear about this in the history books you read in school. Do you even know this happened, this genocide, the murder of perhaps 100,000 or more people, simply because they were Polish? I bet not. Yet, the Volhynian Massacre is fact, a part of history. And during this period of ethnic cleansing, there are also many stories of the brave Ukrainians who helped their Polish friends and neighbors–and some of those Ukrainans paid with their lives.

It is a sad chapter in history and a story that is not often told. I learned about it from my cousin, Alicja. Antoni Cymbal was her great-grandfather. We visited his grave in Faschivka, Ukraine, in 2011 and saw the home where he was raised and the church he attended. And we visited with our other family members who are Ukrainian. Antoni’s daughter married a Ukrainian and they live there to this day. But after the war, the Soviets resettled all Polish people out of Ukraine and today, Ukraine is indeed nearly 100% Ukrainian.

You can read a lot more about the murder of these Poles and the Volhynian Massacre here: http://www.volhyniamassacre.eu/.  And especially, take a look at this article for a great summary. But keep in mind, this was a crime perpetrated by a few, supported by others, but also not supported by many righteous Ukrainians. Still, a sad era of history and a story that is seldom told. But now you know.

Posted in 2011 Poland Trip, history | Leave a comment

I miss my Polish friend

Posted on 17 June 2013 by lkonieczny

Jurek

Today I write to say goodbye to a friend who I have never met in person. Yet we talked for an hour via Skype nearly every week for the past two-and-a-half years. Back in early 2011, I was struggling to learn a little bit Polish. So I got online and found an online service that you can sign up for that tries to pair people who want to learn or practice another language. So I signed up for a free account, stating my interest in learning/practicing Polish, and being a native speaker of English. It was karma, I guess. I was very lucky. Within a few days I had a response from a “gold” member. That man was Jerzy (Jurek) Markiewicz. I am proud to call him my friend, and sad to say that he passed away last week. I will misshim very much. Very much.

What started on a January day in the winter of 2011 as a conversation between two people hoping to hone their language skills developed into so much more than two people practicing a language with each other. It became a friendship, an hour each week that I truly treasured and looked forward to. From day one, it was obvious that Jurek’s English was very advanced while my Polish was very basic. But he was a patient and kind tutor, mentor, teacher, director. I recall one day, saying the work książka (it means book but can be a tongue-twister for a non-native Polish speaker) over and over. And over. Until I got it right.  It was a difficult word for me, but Jurek was a kind and patient teacher. Over the years, my Polish has progressed, in large part thanks to Jurek. He was always a kind, patient teacher, willing to explain.

But our conversations, especially after the first year, really began to deviate into other topics. He was an extremely fascinating man, well read in many areas. Over the years he pointed me to web sites, teaching sites, online discussions, and more, on a wide variety of topics. He was well versed in alien conspiracy theories and knew a lot about that subject—and taught me a lot. He turned me on to the You Tube videos of Stara Baśń, a Polish movie about the beginnings of Poland, over a thousand years ago. We talked a lot about Polish history as well as current Polish culture. I had tons of questions about how various holidays were celebrated now, as well as many discussions about life under communism. He was a deep font of knowledge. He got me hooked on some of the fascinating topics on ted.com, as well as other online sites. He was an amazing font of information.

We spent a fair amount of time talking about his sons. His older son is studying computer science of at the university in Lodz. Is younger son, Rafał, is going this fall to study computer science at the university in Aalborg, Denmark. He was a very proud papa. He shared with me the online video from Rafał’s studniówka, sort of the Polish version of an American prom. He was a very proud papa, and rightly so.  I cannot imagine the pain and loss his sons feel. But I hope they have some idea of how much he adored them, how proud he was of them.

As of late, our conversations had strayed back to Polish and my learning of Polish. We went over some lessons together. He was a very kind and patient teacher, explaining to me many of the ins and outs of the polish language. And if I did not get the pronunciation right, he was right there to help guide me.

Each week, our conversations invariably started with a question from him, Jaka jest pogoda na Florydzie… “what’s the weather like in Florida.” He was always amazed at the heat and warm temperatures here, year ‘round. We always had a good laugh about that and I got pretty good at translating Fahrenheit into Centigrade, too. I still have my “cheat sheet” here on the computer. I cannot bear to throw it away.

I learned so very much from Jurek, and now I cannot even thank him, and that saddens me deeply. But I am and will be eternally grateful to him. His encouragement, tutoring, mentoring, and his friendship meant quite a lot to me. Life goes by quickly. I am sorry I never stopped and just told him what his friendship meant to me. Yet I’m sure he know. I learned of his death from his son who sent me a brief message from Jurek’s email account. His son knew we were friends, and I guess that really counts for a lot to me. He was a very good friend, and I miss him a lot.

Jurek was young, about 55. I hope someday to visit the town he lived in. Finding and visiting his grave would be a great honor for me. But for now, I am burning a candle in his memory. I miss him, I miss my friend a lot. Mentor. Teacher. Tutor. And above all, friend. He inspired me. Life for me will go on, a bit sadder, but I will honor his memory and continue my Polish studies. To you, my friend, Jurek: Świętej Pamięci. I will remember you. You have changed my life, for the better. Thanks. Thank you very much. Jurek, I will never forget you. You made a difference in my life. Dzięki za wszystko! Rest in peace, mój przyjaciel! Nie mój znajomy. Nie mój kolega. byłeś …jesteś…  będziesz zawsze, mój przyjaciel!

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Boże Ciało 2013 — A holiday and feast day in Poland

Posted on 30 May 2013 by lkonieczny

Today is the feast of Corpus Christi — Boże Ciało in Polish — in Poland. I wrote a bit more about this feast last year. But if you’d like to get a sense of how it is celebrated now, today, then you should view this video:  http://www.tvn24.pl/wideo/z-anteny/uroczystosci-swieta-bozego-ciala-w-calej-polsce,764263.html?playlist_id=15439/ Yes, it’s in Polish, but that does not matter, it’s a sampling of how today’s holiday was celebrated today, in 2013, in Poland.

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Today in the History of Poland…

Posted on 19 May 2013 by lkonieczny

….on May 19, 1674, the Grand Hetman of the Crown(Military Commander in Chief) of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Jan Sobieski, was elected King of Poland. After a period of turnmoil and attacks from various external forces (Turks, Swedes, Tatars, etc.), King Jan III Sobieski ushered in a period of stabilization and normalization in Poland.

After his election as King, some years later, Jan III Sobieski heeded the summons of all of Europe and, as the leader of a joint command of Polish, Austrian, and German troops, led Europe to a decisive victory over the superior Turkish forces at the Battle of Vienna in 1683. Though outnumbered 130,000 to 81,000, Sobieski proved victorious and was hailed as the “Savior of Vienna and Western European Civilization” by many, including the Pope.

And I feel a special “kin” to Sobieski,  Not by relation, but by history and geography. When I was in Ukraine in 2011 with my cousins Alicia and Wojtek, and their son Filip, we visited many of the cities and sites that were significant in the live and accomplishments of King Jan III Sobieski. Currently I am reading “Jan Sobieski: The King who Saved Europe” by Militiades Varvounis, an excellent book which is a biography of Sobieski. It brings back so many good memories of the great places I visited in what was then Poland but is now Ukraine. I can’t wait to go back.

I believe there is a lot we can learn today from Polish history. Learn a bit about Sobieski and the history of Poland. It’s a great story!

Posted in Books, Famous Poles, historic sites, history, History of Poland | Leave a comment

70 Years Ago, on April 19, 1943

Posted on 20 April 2013 by lkonieczny

….The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising began. 70 years have passed and people tend to forget the horrific crimes that were committed on Polish soil by the German Nazis during World War II. All Jews were already sentenced to death by the Nazis. And for a Pole to be discovered helping a Jew was a death sentence. Yet hundreds and thousand of Poles risked death to help the Jews. And, sadly, there were some Poles who did nothing or worse. But overall, the Polish people have always been open in accepting others, that’s why Poland had such a huge Jewish population before the Nazis came.

The Nazis concentrated Jews in ghettos in large cities such as Warsaw. Early on, they’d round up hundreds and thousands of Jews and send them away, ostensibly to work camps, but in reality to death camps. Eventually the word got back, not only to the Jews and the Poles, but to the allies as well. What did the Allies do with that information? Sadly, they hid it for fear of “offending” Stalin. But the Jews and the Poles did differently. They knew the sad and sordid truth–the Nazis were systematically exterminating all Jews and any who helped the Jews.

And so when the Nazis entered the Warsaw Ghetto on April 19, 1943, they were met with organized resistance from the Jews. Some of their weapons were manufactured, some stolen from the Germans, and some given to them by the Polish resistance. While the Jews in the Ghetto fought back for a month, until May 16th, Polish resistance forces also worked outside to hinder the Nazis in their plans. The Nazis systematically burned the ghetto and in the end, 13,000 Jews died, about 6000 from burns and smoke inhalation. And what of the rest of the Jews. Sadly about 57,000 men, women and children were “deported,” mostly to Treblinka a Nazi death camp on Polish soil, where they were murdered.

But, 70 years ago, a band of Jews resisted the Nazis, with Polish help, and for a month held off superior forces. And what of the Nazi general who led all of this. I’m happy to report that he was sentenced to death by a US military tribunal, then extradited to Poland where he was tried and convicted of crimes against humanity and and hanged by Polish authorities in 1952.

To read more about the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, see this Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warsaw_Ghetto_Uprising.

And now, 70 years later, on April 19, 2013, the Museum of the History of Polish Jews opened in Warsaw. I’m sure it’ll be on my itinerary for my next visit to Warsaw.

To learn more about the history of Jews in Poland, see this article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Jews_in_Poland. The whole world would learn a great lesson in tolerance (and in how intolerance develops) if it would study this history of the Jews in Poland….

Posted in current events, history, History of Poland | 1 Comment

Polish Contribution to the Eradication of Polio

Posted on 14 April 2013 by lkonieczny

Throughout history, Poles have contributed to science, the arts, mathematics, humanities, and many other fields. Today I want to note the death (April 11, 2013) of a Pole who made a great contribution to the field of modern health care, Dr. Hilary Koprowski. Dr. Koprowski developed the first successful oral vaccine for polio. We don’t hear much about polio today, and for that we can be thankful in large part to Koprowski, along with the more famous Jonas Salk an Albert Sabin.

A talented muscician, Koprowski was born in Poland in 1916 and studied medicine and music. Coming from a Jewish background, he fled  during the war when the Nazi Germans invaded Poland and eventually went to Brazil, and finally the United States where he began his career in a pharmaceutical lab. There in 1950 he developed his oral vaccine about two years before Jonas Salk developed the injectable version (Salk was sponsored by the organization now known as the March of Dimes).

Though he was not as well known as Jonas Salk and Albert Sabin, it was Koprowski’s 1950 clinical trial that was the first to demonstrate that it was possible to vaccinate against polio, the crippling and sometimes fatal disease that’s now all but eradicated, thank to the work of Koprowski, along with Salk and Sabin.

Another true hero, a son of Poland, a Polish hero. S. P., Dr. Koprowski.

Posted in current events, Famous Poles, history | Leave a comment

Pierogi Eating Party

Posted on 2 February 2013 by lkonieczny

In December I wrote about our 8th annual Pierogi Party, where a group of us made nearly 40 dozen pierogi, with the promise of eventually having a party to eat them. Well, in January my friends Ewa and Joe hosted the Pierogi Eating Party. About two dozen of us or so gathered to eat pierogi. We had quite a feast and I’ve posted some pictures of that fun event here:  http://photos.leonkonieczny.com/2012-PierogiParty/Pierogi%20Eating%20Party/index.html. Smacznego!

Posted in food | Leave a comment