Sunday, July 31, 2016

NIE TYLKO WIZYTA U STALINA KSIĄDZ STANISLAW ORLEMANSKI I JEGO BRACIA



Dzieje Najnowsze of the Institute of History of the Polish Academy of Sciences (Issue no 2 of 2016) has published the Polish language article containing groundbreaking research on Reverend Orlemanski.  The English abstract appears below.

As this journal is not readily available in the US an English abstract of the material is included. 

If you wish to purchase a copy a link to the publishing house (Wydawnictwo DIG) can be found below.

http://www.polishhistory.pl/index.php?id=17&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=4377&tx_ttnews%5BbackPid%5D=54&cHash=5bc9fe9ba22e6d651db87697cefff7c5

Not Simply a Visit With Stalin – Rev. Stanislaus Orlemanski and His Brothers

For the past 71 years the life of Rev. Stanislaus Orlemanski has been described by a series of catchphrases, the summary of which reads – a Polish-American Communist who invited himself to Moscow, an overconfident country bumpkin who thought he could outsmart Stalin, a priest who departed without the permission of his diocesenal superior.

Reverend Stanislaus was not the most radical of the Orlemanski brothers, rather it was Casimir, who was deeply engaged in the Pittsburgh union movement and is well known to students of the US Labor movement.  Reverend Stanislaus was well known to the Polish-American community - the leading conservative paper – Dziennik Związkowy, published his articles criticizing the description of Poles and Italians in the Catholic Encyclopedia.  In the ensuing years, Orlemanski’s articles appeared in both Polish and English language press.

The decision that Stanislaus Orlemanski was to travel to Moscow was made some six months prior to his departure, during the Moscow Conference of October 1943.  This decision is multiplaned and relates not only to the 1944 US Presidential election, but also to a future Polish government as well as Stalin’s desire to impress both Anglican’s and Roman Catholics with his openness to religion. Clearly FDR and his closest advisors saw the benefits of this proposal as did the Soviet government.  Efforts to include clergy in the “Wasilewska” government involved Fr. Walter Ciszek, SJ and Fr. Wilhelm Kubsz.

 Mid-January 1944 correspondence of Ambassador Harriman with Washington relates that the People’s Commissar of the USSR had proposed that Krzycki, Lange and Orlemanski all serve as members of a future Polish government. Stalin’s late January 1944 letter to Roosevelt requesting issuance of passports to Orlemanski and Lange served as a camouflage for FDR; while his response to Stalin attempts to distance himself from the project.  A passport was issued, as were permits for travel from the US Western Defense Command and the Alaska Defense Command, as well as others valid for travel through Egypt, Iraq and Persia (Iran) confirming the deep involvement of the US Government in this project. 

Correspondence from the US National Catholic Welfare Conference to the Papal Nuncio in Washington sent prior to the departure of Orlemanski and contains specific references to his probable position in the future government.  The well-publicized suspension of Reverend Orlemanski was simply pro forma and lasted but several days.  Drafts of his apology are located in NCWC files. Finally, the invitation to participate in the 50th anniversary celebrations of a strongly anti-communist Cardinal of the Curia, confirm at the least, that the Vatican was aware that Orlemanski was not an agent.

What is now left to discover is the text of the Stalin document transmitted for Orlemanski by Father Marie Leopold Braun from Moscow to the Vatican and the Roman Curia’s full analysis of this document.  That must await the declassification of the Pope Pius XII records held by the Vatican.  What is clear is that the Rev. Stanislaus Orlemanski, although a leftist, was not a radical anomaly but rather an intensely pro-Polish US citizen who saw the sole enemy as Germany and supported any organization that fought against the enemy.

Sunday, April 3, 2016

COMMEMORATING KATYN IN WARSAW April 9, 2016

The Katyn Massacre is commemorated throughout the world, in April of each year..  Sunday, April 3, the Marsz Cieni opened the observances on the streets of Warsaw - a silent march of several hundred period uniformed men as well as women and children in period attire following them.

Join me in Zalesie Górne, a suburb of Warsaw for a Polish language presentation on the English-speaking Witnesses to Katyń on Saturday, April 9th at 16:00.
 


Tuesday, February 9, 2016

NOT SIMPLY A VISIT WITH STALIN – REV. ORLEMANSKI AND HIS BROTHERS


Krystyna Piórkowska will be presenting at 6:00PM on February 16, 2016 at the Pilsudski Institute in New York at 138 Greenpoint Ave, Brooklyn.

Reverend Stanislaus Orlemanski is generally known only to those who are interested in WWII history – with an emphasis either on Polish-Soviet relations, US-Soviet relations or the role of Polonia during that time period. Even with those ramifications, Orlemanski is seen simply as a footnote to history, a priest who took off on an un-sanctioned trip to meet with Stalin.

Reverend Stanislaus and his family – specifically his brother Reverend Casimir, played a much larger role in US history, the first with respect to Polonia and its relationship to the US Episcopal structure and the latter in the US labor movement.

However, a longterm research project has discovered new materials which confirm that Reverend Stanislaus’ trip was not unsanctioned – but was decided on bilaterally during the Moscow Conference of 1943.  Additionally, the US Episcopacy as well as the Papal Nuncio were aware of the trip and its ramifications well in advance. These and other discoveries place Stanislaus Orlemanski in a distinctly different light and his participation in a jubilee of Cardinal Pizzardo confirms this fact.

The lecture is taking place prior to the publication of an article on the subject in Dzieje Najnowsze (No. 2 – 2016) by the Institute of History of the Polish Academy of Sciences (IH of PAN). 

 

Spotkanie z Krystyną Piórkowską
 
Tuesday, 16 February 2016, 18:00
Hits : 101
This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with The City Council.

Zapraszamy w dniu 16 lutego (wtorek) o godz. 18:00 na wykład Krystyny Piórkowskiej pt.:"Nie tylko wizyta u Stalina.Ks. Stanisław Orlemański i jego bracia"
Wstęp wolny. Donacje mile widziane.
Nazwisko księdza Stanislausa Orlemańskiego jest znane jedynie specjalistom zajmującym się stosunkami polsko-sowieckimi lub Polonią amerykańską w latach drugiej wojny światowej. Wiedza ta sprowadza się do okresu jego trzytygodniowej podróży do Moskwy na przełomie kwietnia i maja 1944 roku. Podróż ta została uwieńczona dwukrotną wizytą u Stalina. Często jest mu zarzucane, że sam się zgłosił do Stalina i był agentem komunistycznym. Informacja ta jest przekłamana. Rzeczywistość jest o wiele bardziej skomplikowana i sprzeczna z rozpowszechnianymi informacjami. Wykład Krystyny Piórkowskiej przedstawi Rodzinę Orlemańskich i obali mit agenta partyjnego, który wyjeżdżał do ZSRS bez wiedzy i zgody Episkopatu.  
Krystyna Piórkowska - badacz i autor "Anglojęzycznych Świadków Katynia. Najnowsze Badania", Muzeum Wojska Polskiego (2012) studiuje ten temat od 2009 r. Jej odkrycia dotychczas nieznanych dokumentów dotyczących Zbrodni Katyńskiej zostały uhonorowane przez Rząd Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej przez nadanie jej Oficerskiego Krzyża Zaslugii. Od dwóch lat bada sprawę Księdza Orlemańskiego i jego wyjazdu do Moskwy. Jej artykuł na ten temat ukaże się w "Dziejach Najnowszych" – piśmie Instytutu Historycznego Polskiej Akademii Nauk. Krystyna Piórkowska jest tłumaczem materiałów historycznych, w tym "Polacy-Żydzi 1939-1945" (trójjęzyczne wydanie), jak i materiałów dotyczących wojennych strat Muzeum Wojska Polskiego.
Location : Instytut Józefa Piłsudskiego, 138 Greenpoint Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11222
Contact : e-mail: office@pilsudski.org; tel: 212 505-9077

Monday, February 1, 2016

CONFERENCE HONORING PROFESSOR ANNA CIENCIALA


The Institute of History of the Polish Academy of Sciences is sponsoring a conference on February 9, 2016 to discuss the wide ranging scope of work authored by Professor Anna Cienciala.

Among the speakers will be Professor Wojciech Materski, of the Institute of Politology of the Polish Academy of Sciences.  He will be discussing Professor Cienciala’s work on the groundbreaking English language collection of Soviet documents concerning the Katyn Massacre, which was issued by Yale University as Katyn A Crime Without Punishment – a collaborative work coedited by Anna Cienciala, Natalia Lebedeva and Wojciech Materski.

The introductions to each of three sections were authored by Professor Cienciala, and as entity this 124 page monograph serves as the best single extant introduction to Polish history for those who are not familiar with the history of Poland and the Katyn Massacre.

Enclosed is the conference program.


Konferencja w Instytucie Historii PAN

9 lutego 2016 r.

Część I:

10-3o—12-3o

 

Prowadzenie: Prof. Tomasz Schramm (Uniwersytet Adama Mickiewicza w Poznaniu)

1- Prof. Marek Kornat (Instytut Historii PAN), Autorka The Western Powers and Poland 1939—1939 o dyplomacji Józefa Becka; 

2- Prof. Wojciech Materski (Instytut Studiów Politycznych PAN), Anna Cienciała jako badaczka zbrodni katyńskiej;

3- Prof. Marek Andrzejewski (Uniwersytet Gdański), Wolne Miasto Gdańsk w twórczości historycznej Anny Cienciały   

 

Dyskusja

Przerwa

Część II:

13-oo—15-oo

 

Prowadzenie: Prof. Mariusz Wołos (Uniwersytet Pedagogiczny Kraków, Instytut Historii PAN)

4- Dr Magdalena Hułas (Instytut Historii PAN), Międzywojenna brytyjska polityka zagraniczna w interpretacji Anny Cienciały;

5- Prof. Sławomir Nowinowski, (Uniwersytet Łódzki), Anna Cienciała a stosunki polsko-czechosłowackie;

6- Prof. Rafał Stobiecki (Uniwersytet Łódzki), Współpraca Anny Cienciały z Jerzym Giedroyciem

 

Dyskusja