Kontrast Entartainment invites you to the screening of a movie “Dywizjon 303. Prawdziwa Historia” (“Squadron 303”).

The film, directed by Denis Delić, will be screened on Sunday, October 7, at AMC Forum 30 in Sterling Heights (44681 Mound Rd) at 4:00 pm.  Tickets are available for purchase at Srodek’s Campau Quality (Hamtramck), American Polish Cultural Center (Troy) and on-line at brownpapertickets.com.

Based on true story, the film tells the story of the highly regarded fighter squadron, in which served mainly soldiers from Poland, in the history of aerial combat and their heroic defense of England during World War II, Battle of Britain against Nazi attacks.  The 303 Squadron shot three times more Luftwaffe planes than any other allied squadrons.

The film features most popular Polish actors, including Maciej Zakościelny, Piotr Adamczyk and Antoni Krolikowski.

The screenplay for the movie was inspired by a book written by Polish famous writer, journalist and adventurer, Arkady Fiedler.  He wrote 32 books that have been translated into 23 languages and sold over 10 million copies in total.  He wrote books about his travels (including Mexico, Indochina, Brazil, Madagascar, West Africa, Canada and United States), documenting cultures, customs and natural wonders.

“Dywizjon 303” (“Squadron 303”) was his most famous book.  It was written in 1942 and sold over 1.5 million copies.

For more information about upcoming screening of “Dywizjon 303” movie, please call: 248-707-0577 lub 248-396-1370.

The annual Polish Day Parade organized by the Polish American Congress Michigan Division Polish Day Parade Committee took place on Labor Day, September 3, in downtown Hamtramck.

For more pictures visit our Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/Polish-American-Congress-Michigan-Division-241433862578705/

 

Szanowni Państwo! “Polskie getto” to oczywisty błąd zarówno historyczny, jak i językowy, kojarzący Polaków ze zbrodniami niemieckimi. “Polskie getta” nigdy nie istniały, ponieważ Polacy nie mieszkali w wydzielonych, odizolowanych częściach miast. To również nie Polacy tworzyli getta dla obywateli innych narodowości czy wyznań, choć i tak właściwym atrybutem w tym przypadku jest narodowość ludności zamieszkującej getto. Spośród wielu portali, które wzywaliśmy do poprawienia tej błędnej i zniesławiającej frazy, kilka pozostało przy swoim stanowisku. Oto one: Amerykański portal timesrecordnews.com promuje książki o tematyce Holokaustu. Z artykułu nie dowiemy się o Niemcach. Brytyjski magazyn unbound.com, opisuje powojenne losy zbrodniarza Auschwitz, Josefa Mengele. Lokalny amerykańskie media marblehead.wickedlocal.com, relacjonują spotkanie uczniów szkoły w Marblehead z ocalałą z Holokaustu. Portal francuskiej fundacji artystycznej blouinartinfo.com, przedstawia twórczość inspirowaną losem prześladowanych. Poniżej publikujemy wzór listu w języku angielskim oraz jego robocze tłumaczenie na język polski. Prosimy użyć w korespondencji wersji w języku angielskim.

Szanowni Państwo! W artykule na Państwa stronie internetowej po linkiem …………………………….. znalazło się zniesławiające, uderzające w dobre imię Polski i fałszujące historię sformułowanie „Polskie getto” w odniesieniu do żydowskiego getta w okupowanej Polsce. Podobnie jak podczas II Wojny Światowej nie było „polskich obozów śmierci”, tak też nie było „polskich gett”. Getta, w których niemieccy okupanci przetrzymywali ludność żydowską, organizowane były na ziemiach polskich, gdyż w miejscowościach przedwojennej Rzeczpospolitej znajdowały się największe skupiska ludności żydowskiej w Europie. Nie istnieje racjonalne uzasadnienie dla używania określenia „polskie getto”. Taki  skrót myślowy jest bardzo mylący,  gdyż ani mieszkańcami, ani twórcami osiedli, jakimi były getta, nie byli przedstawiciele narodowości polskiej. Byli wśród nich co prawda obywatele polscy (narodowości żydowskiej), jednak nie ze względu na polskie obywatelstwo, lecz na żydowską narodowość. Mało tego, Polska jako państwo podczas II Wojny Światowej nie istniała – część jej terytorium zostało  włączone do Rzeszy, a na pozostałym obszarze utworzono tzw. Generalne Gubernatorstwo, twór administracyjny całkowicie podporządkowany III Rzeszy, które nie było samodzielnym bytem politycznym uznawanym na arenie międzynarodowej. Stąd przymiotnik „polski” używany dla określenia gett przeznaczonych dla ludności żydowskiej całkowicie nie ma racji bytu. Właściwe odniesienie do tworzonych przez Niemców gett żydowskich brzmi następująco: – Żydowskie getto założone przez Niemców w okupowanej przez Niemców Polsce – Żydowskie getto założone przez Niemców na okupowanych przez nazistów – Żydowskie getto w okupowanej przez Niemców Polsce – Żydowskie getto w okupowanej Polsce W związku z powyższym przyłączam się do wezwania Polskiej Ligii Przeciw Zniesławieniom do usunięcia wyrażenia „Polish ghetto” ze strony będącej pod Państwa administracją. Z wyrazami szacunku, (prosimy podać własne imię i nazwisko)

DO WKLEJENIA DO WIADOMOŚCI –timesrecordnews.com Odbiorca:tedbuss@hotmail.com Tytuł wiadomości (jeden do wyboru): A request to remove defamatory content Historical error in your article I don’t agree! Request for correction on your website Please, delete the error There was no Polish ghettos in occupied Poland lub inny, stworzony przez Państwa Treść wiadomości:Dear Sir, I do inform you that despite a previous appeal by the Polish League Against Defamation regarding your statement “Polish ghetto”, it apears in the following article: https://www.timesrecordnews.com/story/opinion/2018/06/28/books-give-us-pause-thankful/741945002/. Such phrases are libellous, harmful to the good name of Poland, and historically false. Just as there were no “Polish death camps” during World War 2, “Polish ghetto” is a misnomer as well. The ghettos in which the German occupiers forcefully detained the Jewish population were set up on Polish territory because the pre-War Poland was Europe’s largest Jewish Diaspora. There are no reasonable grounds to use the phrase “Polish ghetto”. Even if considered a sort of verbal shortcut, it is very misleading, as neither the population of the ghettos, nor their creators, were of Polish nationality. While we could find some Polish citizens (of Jewish origin) among them, they were confined within the ghetto walls because of their Jewish roots, not because of their citizenship. But that is not all. Poland did not exist as an independent state during World War 2, as some of its territory had been annexed to Germany, and the remaining part came under the so-called General Government, an administrative entity completely subject to the German Reich. Therefore, the adjective “Polish” used with reference to WW2 Jewish ghettos is absolutely unfounded. The proper reference to the Jewish ghettos set up by Germans therefore is as follows: – Jewish ghetto set up by Germans in German-occupied Poland – Jewish ghetto set up by Germans in Nazi-occupied – Jewish ghetto in German-occupied Poland – Jewish ghetto in Nazi-occupied Poland I therefore wish to endorse the request by the Polish League Against Defamation and urge you to remove the defamatory expression “Polish ghetto” from the website under your administration. Faithfully

DO WKLEJENIA DO WIADOMOŚCI – unbound.com Odbiorca:arifa@unbound.com Tytuł wiadomości (jeden do wyboru): A request to remove defamatory content Historical error in your article I don’t agree! Request for correction on your website Please, delete the error There was no Polish ghettos in occupied Poland lub inny, stworzony przez Państwa Treść wiadomości:Dear Sir of Madam, I do inform you that despite a previous appeal by the Polish League Against Defamation regarding your statement “Polish ghetto”, it apears in the following article: https://unbound.com/boundless/2018/07/06/jo-glanville-on-josep-mengele/. Such phrases are libellous, harmful to the good name of Poland, and historically false. Just as there were no “Polish death camps” during World War 2, “Polish ghetto” is a misnomer as well. The ghettos in which the German occupiers forcefully detained the Jewish population were set up on Polish territory because the pre-War Poland was Europe’s largest Jewish Diaspora. There are no reasonable grounds to use the phrase “Polish ghetto”. Even if considered a sort of verbal shortcut, it is very misleading, as neither the population of the ghettos, nor their creators, were of Polish nationality. While we could find some Polish citizens (of Jewish origin) among them, they were confined within the ghetto walls because of their Jewish roots, not because of their citizenship. But that is not all. Poland did not exist as an independent state during World War 2, as some of its territory had been annexed to Germany, and the remaining part came under the so-called General Government, an administrative entity completely subject to the German Reich. Therefore, the adjective “Polish” used with reference to WW2 Jewish ghettos is absolutely unfounded. The proper reference to the Jewish ghettos set up by Germans therefore is as follows: – Jewish ghetto set up by Germans in German-occupied Poland – Jewish ghetto set up by Germans in Nazi-occupied – Jewish ghetto in German-occupied Poland – Jewish ghetto in Nazi-occupied Poland I therefore wish to endorse the request by the Polish League Against Defamation and urge you to remove the defamatory expression “Polish ghetto” from the website under your administration. Faithfully

DO WKLEJENIA DO WIADOMOŚCI –marblehead.wickedlocal.com Odbiorca:marblehead@wickedlocal.com; cstevens@wickedlocal.com Tytuł wiadomości (jeden do wyboru): A request to remove defamatory content Historical error in your article I don’t agree! Request for correction on your website Please, delete the error There was no Polish ghettos in occupied Poland lub inny, stworzony przez Państwa Treść wiadomości:Dear Sir or Madam, I do inform you that despite a previous appeal by the Polish League Against Defamation regarding your statement “Polish ghetto”, it apears in the following article: http://marblehead.wickedlocal.com/news/20180619/schindlers-list-survivor-passes-memory-torch-to-marblehead-students. Such phrases are libellous, harmful to the good name of Poland, and historically false. Just as there were no “Polish death camps” during World War 2, “Polish ghetto” is a misnomer as well. The ghettos in which the German occupiers forcefully detained the Jewish population were set up on Polish territory because the pre-War Poland was Europe’s largest Jewish Diaspora. There are no reasonable grounds to use the phrase “Polish ghetto”. Even if considered a sort of verbal shortcut, it is very misleading, as neither the population of the ghettos, nor their creators, were of Polish nationality. While we could find some Polish citizens (of Jewish origin) among them, they were confined within the ghetto walls because of their Jewish roots, not because of their citizenship. But that is not all. Poland did not exist as an independent state during World War 2, as some of its territory had been annexed to Germany, and the remaining part came under the so-called General Government, an administrative entity completely subject to the German Reich. Therefore, the adjective “Polish” used with reference to WW2 Jewish ghettos is absolutely unfounded. The proper reference to the Jewish ghettos set up by Germans therefore is as follows: – Jewish ghetto set up by Germans in German-occupied Poland – Jewish ghetto set up by Germans in Nazi-occupied – Jewish ghetto in German-occupied Poland – Jewish ghetto in Nazi-occupied Poland I therefore wish to endorse the request by the Polish League Against Defamation and urge you to remove the defamatory expression “Polish ghetto” from the website under your administration. Faithfully

DO WKLEJENIA DO WIADOMOŚCI – blouinartinfo.com Odbiorca:support@artinfo.com; generalinfo@artinfo.com Tytuł wiadomości (jeden do wyboru): A request to remove defamatory content Historical error in your article I don’t agree! Request for correction on your website Please, delete the error There was no Polish ghettos in occupied Poland lub inny, stworzony przez Państwa Treść wiadomości:Dear Sir or Madam, I do inform you that despite a previous appeal by the Polish League Against Defamation regarding your statement “Polish ghetto”, it apears in the following article: http://www.blouinartinfo.com/news/story/3086367/the-evolution-of-michal-rovner. Such phrases are libellous, harmful to the good name of Poland, and historically false. Just as there were no “Polish death camps” during World War 2, “Polish ghetto” is a misnomer as well. The ghettos in which the German occupiers forcefully detained the Jewish population were set up on Polish territory because the pre-War Poland was Europe’s largest Jewish Diaspora. There are no reasonable grounds to use the phrase “Polish ghetto”. Even if considered a sort of verbal shortcut, it is very misleading, as neither the population of the ghettos, nor their creators, were of Polish nationality. While we could find some Polish citizens (of Jewish origin) among them, they were confined within the ghetto walls because of their Jewish roots, not because of their citizenship. But that is not all. Poland did not exist as an independent state during World War 2, as some of its territory had been annexed to Germany, and the remaining part came under the so-called General Government, an administrative entity completely subject to the German Reich. Therefore, the adjective “Polish” used with reference to WW2 Jewish ghettos is absolutely unfounded. The proper reference to the Jewish ghettos set up by Germans therefore is as follows: – Jewish ghetto set up by Germans in German-occupied Poland – Jewish ghetto set up by Germans in Nazi-occupied – Jewish ghetto in German-occupied Poland – Jewish ghetto in Nazi-occupied Poland I therefore wish to endorse the request by the Polish League Against Defamation and urge you to remove the defamatory expression “Polish ghetto” from the website under your administration. Faithfully

Today, Piast Institute, our Polish-American family, and our Hamtramck community lost a great leader in the passing of Dr. Thaddeus C. Radzilowski. Earlier today, July 20^th, he passed away surrounded by loved ones.

Dr. Radzilowski was a highly accomplished historian and academic studying Poland and Central and Eastern Europe, producing countless manuscripts on these important topics. Over the course of his rich academic career he has taught at University of Michigan, Madonna University, Heidelberg College, and Southwest Minnesota State University. He also served as the President of St. Mary College. Over the years, he not only educated thousands of American students about Polish and Central European history, he also mentored many of them and fostered countless community leaders.

In 2003, Dr. Radzilowski co-founded the Piast Institute with Virginia Skrzyniarz. It quickly became the largest Polish-American think tank in the United States. As President of Piast, Dr. Radzilowski has focused the organization as a major research center, one of U.S. Census Information Centers, and as a representative of Poland and Polish-Americans in the United States, with worldwide network of accomplished fellows. Under his leadership, the Institute produced position papers, school curricula, research reports, conducted surveys, organized conferences and exhibits, and was very involved in the life of American Polonia. He also cultivated many relationships with Polish universities and institutions.

Over the years, Dr. Radzilowski received many awards for his academic work, community involvement, and leadership. He was a corresponding member of the Polish Academy of Sciences (PAN). He served as an advisor and consultant to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights and the U.S. Bureau of the Census and was a member of the Ford Foundation Commission on Ethnicity on American Life. In 1999, the President of Poland presented Dr. Radzilowski with the Cavaliers Cross of the Polish Order of Merit for distinguished contributions to the dissemination of Polish culture in the world.

In addition to his contributions to preserving Polish heritage in the U.S., Dr. Radzilowski was an American patriot, a veteran of the U.S. Armed Forces who served his country in Vietnam.

Those who knew Dr. Radzilowski well will miss him for his charm, his sense of humor, his countless stories, his sharp mind, and his infectious cheerfulness.

Dr. Radzilowski is survived by his wife, Kathleen, three sons, John, Paul and Stefan, grandchildren Radek and Diana, sisters Fran and Cynthia, and brothers, Norbert and Fred.

Details on a celebration of Dr. Thaddeus Radzilowski’s life will be announced shortly. Please direct any questions to the Executive Vice President of the Piast Institute Virginia Skrzyniarz,Skrzyniarz@piastinstitute.org or (313) 733-4535.

Dear Member and Friend of the Polish American Congress,

It is that time of the year for the Polish American annual Scholarship appeal “Invest in the Future and Make a Difference”.  With the cost of college education increasing each year, more and more students are applying for scholarships.  The Dinner Fundraiser that is held each year at Krakus Restaurant is not sufficient to award each student at least a one thousand dollar scholarship.

We are requesting contributions from you or your organization or from your family estates that can also be donated “in memory of” or “in honor of” an individual.  Donations of any amount will be greatly appreciated.  Those who give $100.00 or more will have their name placed on a Donor Board that will on display at the PAC office in Hamtramck for the entire year.

We have also enclosed our Scholarship Dinner flyer which is our major fundraiser.  It will be held at Krakus Restaurant on Wednesday, August 1, 2018.  This is a time to have a good meal, socialize, meet and talk with the scholarship recipients and donate towards a worthy cause.

Today, higher education is very expensive and for those young adults who continue their education to a higher degree, it is difficult for them to attend and at the same time, hold down a job to pay their expenses.  Your generous investment, whether large or small, is greatly appreciated and will make a difference for our youth who attend college and who are the future leaders of Polonia.

Polish American Congress of Michigan Scholarship Fund has given scholarships since 1972.  We hope that we can continue through your generosity.  Checks are to be made payable to: PAC of Michigan Scholarship Fund, Inc. and send to: PAC of Michigan Scholarship Fund, Inc. c/o 30214 Woodhouse Dr., Warren, MI 48092.  Deadline for this appeal is July 25, 2018.

 

With deep gratitude,

 

Wallace M. Ozog, President

PAC of Michigan Scholarship Fund, Inc.

 

Ann Bankowski, Chairman

PAC of Michigan Board

 

By Donald Pienkos

On November 11, 1918, the very day World War I ended on the Western Front, General Józef Pilsudski proclaimed Poland’s independence in Warsaw. Countless thousands of patriotic men and women played a part in Poland’s rebirth. Among them were the young men who volunteered to join a unique army from the United States serving under Polish colors – in France and then in Poland itself from 1918. Their story goes back to the early 1900s.

It was a time when enthusiasm for a partitioned Poland restored to independence was rising within the rapidly growing Polish immigrant community in America, four million strong in 1914, when the World War began. One of the ideas that generated enthusiasm was the creation of trained military units whose members would actually be prepared to return to Poland when the day for independence came.

Leading this initiative were members of the Polish Falcons Alliance, which had originated with a focus on promoting both patriotic feeling and physical fitness among its mainly young members.

But when the War broke out, the United States’ decision to remain neutral prevented any such organized action. However, by 1916, the situation had changed.

The Falcons began sending young men to train in Canada as officers in a future Polish Army once America did enter the conflict. Then on April 3, 1917 Ignacy Paderewski electrified the Falcons with his speech at their extraordinary convention in Pittsburgh. There he called for the creation of a Falcons’ led “Kosciuszko Army” of 100,000 men – fighting under Polish colors.

Just three days later the U.S. Congress declared War on Germany and Austria-Hungary. This decision had an enormous impact on the Polish community. First of all, the U.S. War Department immediately focused on raising an American army to fight in Europe, a decision that made it extremely reluctant to allow Polish Americans to join a separate fighting force under independent, although allied command. (Indeed, over 200,000 Polish Americans did enlist in the U.S. army).

The rules it established for a “Kosciuszko Army” placed severe limitations on who the Falcons and their allies could recruitment and how they could operate. Most significant, only young men who were not then U.S. citizens could join. Despite these many limitations, the Polish organizations had already set up 11 recruitment offices by September 1918 and established a training center at Fort Niagara on the Lake, Canada for the recruits. By December 1917 39 recruitment offices in 11 states were in operation. That same month the first 600 soldiers were on their way to France.

In all, 38,108 young men volunteered for duty in the United States; 22,395 were accepted. And 20, 721 were eventually dispatched for service in France. (Health considerations and family obligations were the main reasons for rejection.)

There they became part of a much larger force established by the French government in concert with Roman Dmowski’s Polish National Committee in Paris.

This Polish Army, which eventually numbered nearly 100,000 men, was composed of Poles from France and Belgium, volunteers from the prisoner of war camps who had been soldiers required to fight under Germany and Austria, along with other contingents from Canada and Brazil. Some units saw action already in Spring 1918.

In October, the Army gained its very own commander in chief, General Józef Haller,who had arrived in France just months before. At War’s end the Polish Army joined in celebration with the forces of the other victorious allies by marching through the Arch of Triumph. This was another sign of international recognition of Poland’s restoration to independence.

In April 1919 General Haller’s army, by then some 68,000 well provisioned and well-trained troops, was at last allowed to travel to Poland. There its members were welcomed with great fervor by Marshall Józef Pilsudski as soldierly brothers in arms. They were soon integrated into the Polish army, which was fighting on all fronts to establish its borders to the north, south, east and west.

In these engagements the Poles from America played a valued role.

By mid-1920, the Poles from America began making their way back to the United States, aided by U.S. Congressman John Kleczka of Milwaukee who won his colleagues’ approval to have U.S. transport ships bring them home. By 1921, some 12,546 men had returned to the United States.

In all, 42 officers and 1,792 enlisted men gave their lives to the cause of Poland’s independence, with many others wounded and incapacitated. They served in France, in Ukraine, on the Baltic coast and elsewhere. Back in the United States their leaders organized the Polish Army Veterans Association in America (Stowarzyszenie Weteranów Armii Polskiej w Ameryce) to provide fellowship and financial assistance to comrades who were in need. This organization has played a vital role in the Polish American community, with new members from World War II entering its ranks after 1945.

In 1957 it published a great volume on its story, Czyn Zbrojny Wychództwa Polskiego w Ameryce. This work has been translated and reissued in 2017, the centennial anniversary of Ignacy Paderewski’s great speech. It is Sons of in One Nation: The War Effort of the Polish Emigration in America, 1914-1920.

The beautiful medal of the Polish Army Veterans Association says it all about its members’ patriotic courage. On one side are the battles they fought – Champagne, Wołyń, Lwów, Pomorze. On the obverse side is the face of Paderewski.

 

Contributing Authors:

Dr. Patrice M. Dabrowski is an historian with degrees from Harvard University (A.B., A.M. and PhD) and the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy (M.A.L.D.). She has taught at Harvard, Brown, and the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, and recently completed a three-year stint at the Doktoratskolleg Galizien at the University of Vienna. Dabrowski is currently an Associate of the Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute and editor of H-Poland. Dabrowski is the author of two books: Poland: The First Thousand Years and Commemorations and The Shaping of Modern Poland. In 2014, she was awarded the Knight’s Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland.

Dr. John Radzilowski is an historian with degrees from Arizona State University specializing in Modern U.S. History, Public History, Russia/East. Currently, Dr. Radzilowski is an Associate Professor of History at the University of Alaska Southeast. Among his many activities, Dr. Radzilowski is a fellow at the Piast Institute: A National Center for Polish and Polish-American Affairs and past president of the Polish American Cultural Institute of Minnesota. He is also a contributing editor for the Encyclopedia of American Immigration (second edition), plus the author or co-author of 13 books.

Dr. Donald Pienkos is Professor Emeritus (Political Science) at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. He earned his Doctorate (in Russian and East European politics) from the University of Wisconsin in Madison. His many publications include the histories of the Polish National Alliance (1984, 2007), the Polish Falcons (1987, 2012) and the Polish American Congress (1991). He is an associate editor of The Polish American Encyclopedia (2012). In 2010, he was awarded the Officers Cross of service by the President of Poland.

 

 

Pictured below: Gen. Jozef Haller (photo: Wikipedia)

 

PHOTO: COURTESY OF NY TIMES

Click on the link below to read a fascinating story about Ret. Master Chief Special Warfare Operator Britt Slabinski receiving the U.S. highest military honor.

Retired Master Chief Special Warfare Operator Britt Slabinski was awarded the nation’s highest military honor