RALLY AT THE KATYN MEMORIAL MAY 12TH

For Immediate Release

Polish-Americans of New Jersey Organize a Rally to Protest Against the Removal of the Katyn Forest Massacre Memorial in Jersey City

When: Saturday, May 12th 2018 at 1:00 p.m. Where: 280 Grove St., in front of the City Hall in Jersey City, NJ Who: The Katyn Forest Massacre Memorial Committee (KFMMC) and Polish-American organizations from the State of New Jersey.

The removal of the Katyn Forest Massacre Memorial was unexpectedly and arbitrarily decided upon by the Mayor of Jersey City, Steven Fulop, and the community learned about it by means of an abrupt Tweet. The monument has been located at Exchange Place in Jersey City since its erection in 1991, and this location was voted on in a resolution of the Municipal Council of Jersey City at its session on April 13th, 1989. A legal action has been initiated by the Polish-American community to prevent the removal of the Memorial, which was necessary because Mayor Fulop refused to communicate on the matter. This powerful bronze sculpture, the work of artist Andrzej Pitynski, evokes the brutality of Communism by commemorating the Mass Murder, on the orders of Joseph Stalin, of approximately 22,000 Polish Prisoners of War. The victims included Polish citizens of all ethnic groups and various religious denominations, who lived in Poland in 1939. Chief Rabbi Steinberg of the Polish Army was among Stalin's victims at Katyn, together with over 400 other Polish Jews, who died fighting the Nazi-Soviet Alliance. Soon after it was unveiled, the Katyn Memorial was re-dedicated to those killed or wounded while serving in the United Sates Armed Forces during World War II. After the September 11th, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, when the Jersey Promenade saw the disembarkation of people ferried from Manhattan, the Katyn Memorial was also re-dedicated to the 9/11 victims. By his decision to remove the Memorial, Mayor Fulop displays his insensitivity and disrespect for each and every one of these fallen heroes and POW's. The Memorial is a manifestation in remembrance for future generations, to never again allow such oppressive, villainous totalitarian systems to exist. KFMMC has organized a rally to express the public desire to save the Katyn Forest Massacre Memorial in Jersey City. All are cordially invited to attend the rally, to show your support for the cause of preserving the Katyn Forest Massacre Memorial in its location at 2 Exchange Place in Jersey City for future generations.

In May 2010 the Kosciuszko Foundation held a bipartisan Katyn Conference and Photo Exhibit at the Library of Congress. Diplomats, historians and high ranking members of the US Congress & Senate took part in the conference. Check out some of the video recordings HERE

Please do not move the Katyn Memorial. Don't besmirch the souls of genocide victims. Listen to the song "KATYN" Music & Lyrics by Alex Storozynski

CALL TO ACTION SAVE JERSEY CITY KATYN MEMORIAL Click HERE for the Congressman/ Senator contact information and template of the letter of protest

SYMPOSIUM IN WASHINGTON,DC APRIL 7

I’ve tweeted about it but for the record I’ll be lecturing on the OSS, “Wild Bill” Donovan, Katyn and the Nuremberg Tribunal as well as the unknown 1948 CIC investigation of Katyn and the 12^th Nuremberg Trial at the Institute of World Politics

8th Annual Kosciuszko Chair Spring Symposium

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You are cordially invited to the eighth annual

Lady Blanka Rosenstiel Kosciuszko Chair Spring Symposium

Saturday, April 7th
1:00-6:30 PM

The Institute of World Politics
1521 16th Street NW
Washington, DC 20036 

This event is sponsored by the Kosciuszko Chair of Polish Studies.

Speakers and Topics:

1:00PM - Introduction
Dr. Marek Chodakiewicz, Kosciuszko Chair of Polish Studies
1:10 PM - Russian Lobby in Belarus: Could Belarus be the Next after Ukraine?
Russia actively expands its presence in Belarus. Kremlin-sponsored digital media, cultural centers, think tanks, Cossacks paramilitary groupings aimed to form pro-Russian-lobby in Belarus and push anti-western and anti-Ukrainian message. How efficient are they and what is the effective policy to counter them?
Franak Viacorka, Editor of New Media Radio, Free Europe / Radio Liberty

1:50 - The Missing Polish Perspective in the Western Media
Much has been written about Poland since the last parliamentary elections, from forests, to pipelines and the judiciary, but surprisingly little is being published from Poland’s own perspective. Before the imbalance of voices can be addressed, we need to ponder what exactly is being heard in the West and what is being lost — and why.
Anna Wellisz, White House Writers Group

2:30 PM - The Polish Pavilion at the 1939 New York World’s Fair
A presentation on the contents, purpose and eventual fate of the Polish Pavilion at the 1939-40 "Building the World of Tomorrow" World's Fair in New York City. Speaker is conducting a continuing search for documents and artifacts from the pavilion.
Peter J. Obst, Poles in America Foundation, Philadelphia

Hors d’Oeuvres 3:10 – 3:30 PM

3:30PM - Wild Bill Donovan, the OSS and the Nuremberg Tribunal
In 1948, the US Counter Intelligence Corps investigated the Katyn Massacre of Polish POWs and collected several hundred pages of material. This coincided with the period when the last of the US prosecuted War Crimes' Trials occurred – the one which dealt with the role of the Wehrmacht. However, the materials collected by the CIC have never been publicly discussed. The lecture shall analyze the novel material.
Krystyna Piorkowska, Independent Scholar

4:10 PM -Application of Historic WWII and Cold War Resistance Experience to Present Day Significance
The lecture discusses how the resistance experience, including the Polish resistance during WWII, is being put to use in contemporary conditions.
Dr. Otto Fiala, SOCEUR

Coffee Break 4:50 – 4:55 PM

4:55PM - Back to the Future: Genocide Prevention in the Intermarium
As the land between the Black and Baltic Seas finds itself squeezed between a sea of Middle Eastern migrants 

flooding a culturally anemic Europe and a Putin-driven resurgence in populist Pan-Slavism, could the genocidal 

events of World War II be repeated?

Matt O’Brien, Federation for American Immigration Reform

5:35 PM -The Soviets and March 1968: Antisemitism and Antizionism

The lecture will focus on the international aspect of the Anti-Jewish campaign organized by the Polish United 

Workers' Party (PZPR) in March 1968 in the Polish People's Republic.

Dr. Marek Chodakiewicz, Kosciuszko Chair of Polish Studies

KATYN AT THE NUREMBERG TRIBUNAL

General confusion exists on the issue of the Nuremberg Tribunal which dealt with the major war criminals and the matter of the Katyn Massacre.  Why was the USSR which was allowed to bring charges against Germany? Why did the Western Allies take a passive position in this matter?

What was the position of the Chief US Prosecutor, Justice Jackson not only on the issue of Katyn but of the Nuremberg Tribunal? What reports did he receive on the matter of Katyn?

Finally, why did the US Counterintelligence Corps in Austria research the issue of Katyn in 1948?

These and other issues will be discussed on February 27, 2018 at 6:00PM in my Polish-language lecture at the

Pilsudski Institute in America

138 Greenpoint Avenue

Brooklyn, NY 11122

For further information or to RSVP contact 212 505 9077

TABLET NEEDS TO RETRACT JANUARY 30th ARTICLE ON MAJDANEK

On January 30^th an article entitled “Poland’s Holocaust Denial and Anti-Semitism Run Far Deeper….” appeared in The Tablet.  Unfortunately, the article is written from a clearly biased and prejudiced viewpoint – strong terms, but necessary when facts are misrepresented.  Among them were the assertion that at the Museum at Majdanek Zyklon B is described as a disinfecting agent and that the history of Jewish victims was eliminated.

The spokesperson of the Museum at Majdanek, Agnieszka Kowalczyk-Nowak has sent a letter to the Editor – enclosed is a copy.

It is regrettable that The Tablet did not fact check the article and instead ran to publish material which significantly diminishes the positive opinion that The Tablet has worked for.

 To Alana Newhouse

Editor-in-chief

Tablet Magazine

Dear Ms. Newhouse,

I am writing with reference to the article “Poland’s Holocaust Denial and Anti-Semitism Run Far Deeper Than Just Its Latest Controversial Law” by Benjamin Gladstone that was published at tabletmag.com on January 30. Much to our indignation, we have found there some untrue and misleading information concerning the exhibitions and activities of the State Museum at Majdanek. Let me list them below:

1.     At Majdanek, we learned from our tour guide about the gradual replacement of the Jewish survivors’ testimonies that were once displayed at the camp with non-Jewish Polish testimonies – The State Museum at Majdanek did not remove any Jewish testimonies. In fact, lately, we installed plaques with testimonies by former prisoners, including Jewish survivors. The texts are in Polish, English and Hebrew.

2.       The plaque in the biggest gas chamber, which had once described its use in the mass murder of innocent Jews, had also been replaced with a new sign claiming that the lethal Zyklon B poison was dropped into the Auschwitz-style chamber merely to disinfect clothing – There is a plaque in gas chambers that reads: “The bunker with gas chambers. In these chambers poison gases were used to murder the prisoners. Carbon monoxide was supplied through metal pipes . . . prisoners were also killed with Zyklon B, which was poured through an opening in the ceiling. Most of the gas chamber victims were Jews (mainly women, children and the elderly).” Again, the texts are in Polish, English and Hebrew.

3.       Meanwhile, the Majdanek site administration had dramatically reduced its estimates of how many Jews were murdered in that camp – 15 years ago, our historians, based on thorough historical research and new documents, revised the overall number of the Majdanek victims, not only the Jewish ones.

4.       Thus the administration of the Majdanek site, over time, seems to have moved toward the erasure of Jewish experiences and the distinctly Jewish history of the Holocaust – This sentence is entirely untrue. On a regular basis we hold lectures, provide educational activities or publish books on the Holocaust (just browse through our website). 

We mark Holocaust Remembrance Days. Currently, there are a few exhibitions presented at the Museum which are devoted only to the Holocaust victims, including:

- “They Arrived at the Ghetto... And Went into the Unknown...” presenting various aspects and circumstances of the extermination of Jews carried out within the framework of “Aktion Reinhardt,”

- “Districts of Extermination. Ghettos for Jews in German-occupied Lublin,”

- “Drawings on the Scraps of Life. The Extermination of Jews in the Lublin Region in the Józef Richter's Sketches” opened on 3 November 2017 when the Museum marks the anniversary of action “Erntefest” – mass shooting of over 18 thousand Jews that was carried out by Germans at Majdanek on 3 November 1943.

With reference to the above, we demand you to correct all the unreliable information in the article. We place great value to the accuracy, including the information about the history of the Majdanek camp and activities of the Museum provided by the tour guides. It is of great importance to us to explain why the guide allegedly told about the plaques. We hope Mr. Benjamin Gladstone will help us in this matter. We will be grateful for all information concerning the guide.

ARTUR SZYK EXHIBIT

Jestem  Żydem a Polska jest moją Ojczyzną.... I am a Jew and Poland is my homeland - these words of Artur Szyk perfectly illustrate his mutually inclusive identities which infused his art for four decades.

  

As many of you know the Artur Szyk exhibit at the New York Historical Society will be opening on September 15, 2017 and will continue through January 21, 2018. Although this is not a large exhibit, it will give you a clear idea of some aspects of his work.  

Artur Szyk was extremely well known during his lifetime - not only for his illumination of the Statut of Kalisz or the Book of Esther - but also for his caricatures of Hitler and Mussolini.  He also prepared a number of illustrations which appeared in the Polish Pavilion at the New York World's Fair of 1939.  

However, this artist, who had fought by using his art from 1919 through 1945 - is completely unknown (except for specialists or Jewish scholars) in contemporary Poland and barely known in the United States.  There are four reasons for this 

1- His service in the Polish Army during the Polish Bolshevik War of1919-1920 - vide his anti-Bolshevik poster

2- His service to Inter-war Poland - both creating illustrations of Piłsudski and the work for the Polish Pavilion (among others)

3-  The fact that in the period of 1939-1941, i.e. while the Soviet Union was allied with Germany - he depicted Stalin in that role vide the following depictions of Stalin and Hitler together

 

(There was a series of illustrations showing Stalin, Hitler, Mussolini and Petain.  The second illustration in this group is entitled Poland Greets Her Good Neighbors)

4- The fact that he allied himself with the Polish Government in Exile in London and was sent by them to the US to continue his anti-Hitler work in the US

5- The fact that he did not return to Poland after the war 

6- The fact that he supported the creation of the State of Israel

all led to knowledge about him being suppressed in Poland - to the extent that even the director of Muzeum Dworku Paderewskiego did not know that the Paderewski Illustration in the museum was by Szyk (this in 2015!!!)

An illustrated brochure - in both English and Polish, prepared by the Piłsudski Institute and Krystyna Piórkowska will be available at various Polish and Polonia organizations in the New York area  - including

• the Consulate General of the Republic of Poland 
• the Polish Cultural Institute
• the Kosciuszko Foundation (both New York and Washington,DC locations)
• at St. Stanislaus B&M Church (Manhattan)
• as well as the Piłsudski Institute in America.

Feel free to stop by any of these locations after September 14th to pick up a copy.... or check at your local Polonia organization to see if they have a copy available.

Do visit the exhibit and to read the brochure which will serve to introduce Artur Szyk.

Congratulations to Irving Ungar, curator of the exhibit.

Consulate General of Poland - Madison Avenue and 37th Street (Jan Karski Corner)

Polish Cultural Institute - 60 East 42nd Street Suite 3000

Kosciuszko Foundation - 15 East 65th Street 

St. Stanislaus Church - 101 East 7th Street 

Piłsudski Institute of America - 138 Greenpoint Avenue Brooklyn 

PROFESSOR PIOTR WANDYCZ HAS DIED

Piotr Wandycz, a premier historian of contemporary Polish and Central European history and a true scholar and gentleman, died on Saturday, July 29 in Hamden, CT.

His funeral will take place at 10:00AM on Tuesday, August 1 at St. Rita’s Church in Hamden.

Born in Kraków and his early years were spent in Lwów, he completed his studies in post-war London and came to the United States.  Professor Wandycz taught at Indiana University and the transferred to Yale University.

He was mentor to a number of scholars, including Professor Anna Cienciała, who completed her doctoral thesis under his guidance.  He authored over a dozen books and some four hundred articles. 

Professor Wandycz was a member of many scholarly organizations, had received various awards, and a number of honorary doctorates from celebrated institutions – including the Sorbonne and the Uniwersytet Jagieloński. 

He also received the Krzyż Komandorski z Gwiazdą Orderu Odrodzenia Polski (Commander’s Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta) – his achievements were such that even the Polonia Restituta does not fully recognize them.

Cześć jego pamięci.

FRANCISZEK HERZOG - THE CHILD OF KATYŃ

Published on the six-month anniversary of Franciszek Herzog’s death.

In 2012, shortly after my discovery in the US National Archives, of the coded letters sent from Oflag 64, I spoke with an Associated Press reporter working on the story of the declassified files.  He wanted to see a copy of these materials, and so I went to the AP offices near Hudson Yards in New York.  During the course of our meeting he mentioned that the AP was also speaking to the son of one of the Katyń victims.  Little did I know that this was Franciszek Herzog, who had for years been actively been involved in the Związek Harcerstwa Polskiego (ZHP - Polish Scouting) in the United States, and was one of its mainstays.

Many members of Polonia in the United States were aware of Franciszek Herzog’s engagement in Scouting, almost none, however, were aware of his link to Katyń or more specifically of his attempts to have the US government publicly confirm Soviet responsibility….

Franciszek Herzog, Jr. was the son of Captain Franciszek Herzog.  Upon the invasion of Poland by the Soviet Union on September 17, 1939, the Soviets began accumulating information about these prisoners as well as their families.  Thus, the prisoners were allowed to write letters to their families, and received responses from them.  In this manner, the Soviets garnered the home addresses of the prisoner’s families…  As a result, on several days, in the early morning hours of late winter and early spring of 1940, NKVD officers arrived at the homes of these families and informed them that they had two hours to prepare for travel.  These families, consisting of women and children, as well as some elderly men and women, were loaded into boxcars and travelled into the depths of the USSR – to various of the Soviet ‘stans’ where they were offloaded, either in kolkhozes or in open fields.  They were then told they were to work as lumberjacks (one can just imagine these women wielding handsaws) or in the fields.  In most cases, they first shared a room with locals (if there were any) and then built peat sod huts, which were half submerged in the ground.

These were the conditions that faced Franciszek Herzog’s mother and her children.  His mother did not survive this period and young Franciszek, together with his older sibling, managed to join the group of orphans whom the Polish delegates had located at various orphanages throughout the Soviet Union, and others who had arrived at Jangi Jul on their own.  These children as well as mothers with children were then transported out of the Soviet Union across the Caspian Sea to Pahlevi, Iran and dispersed throughout the world (Kenya, Rhodesia, South Africa, New Zealand, Australia and Mexico were some of the nations were these refugee women and children were sent) and one small group of children was hosted by a Maharajah in India.  One of the members of this last group was Franciszek Herzog. 

His route then led to the Middle East and Great Britain, where he completed his studies and having immigrated to the United States, he settled in Connecticut.

As readers, you are now asking –  “why is Franciszek Herzog important enough to write about and why is he a singular Child of Katyń…”

By 1990 Gorbachev had delivered what was referred to as File No. 1, and which had lain in the safe of the Communist Party Secretary in Moscow since 1940.  That file contained the document signed by all the Party Presidium members and which condemned the Katyń, Ostashkov and Starobielsk prisoners to death.

The fact is, that the United States clearly knew that the Soviets had committed the crime. The Madden Committee had reached that conclusion based on its hearings in 1951 and 1952. 

As a naturalized citizen of the USA, Franciszek Herzog believed that he had the right to demand accountability from the President of the United States and the Department of State for the actions and statements of the Government of the United States.   Although there were any number of children and widows of Katyń victims residing in the US, none of them felt confident enough to demand such accountability.

Franciszek Herzog did demand accountability, and the letters he sent to the Department of State over a period of months remained unanswered, until he wrote a final letter in which he advised the Department that he was now including Senator Dodd of Connecticut in the correspondence.  At that point, the Department of State did proceed to prepare a flimsy response stating it had not been clear who had committed the Massacre.

These documents – both Franciszek Herzog’s letters demanding an apology from the Department of State to the Families of the Katyń Victims as well as the quasi-throttled response with its weak excuses were part of the material declassified (yes, his letters were classified) and the Associated Press included this as the lead to its story on this declassification and posting.

The main photograph in the story was a closeup of Franciszek Herzog holding a photo of his father next to his face appeared in thousands of newspapers throughout the world.

http://www.timesofisrael.com/newly-declassified-memos-show-us-hushed-up-1940-soviet-mass-murder/

Although Franciszek Herzog’s efforts to have the US confirm Soviet guilt were never acknowledged by the Polish government – during his lifetime, they were acknowledged after his death.  He was awarded the Officers Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland for his efforts in propagating the truth about Katyn and for his work with Polish Scouting in the US.

http://www.lex.pl/mp-akt/-/akt/m-p-2017-343?refererPlid=52516

Franciszek Herzog died on February 3, 2017.