January 2012

HE EDolor
MBASSY
LoremTIpsum
OF THE REPUBLIC OF POLAND NEWSLETTER
Spring 2012
WASHINGTON, DC JANUARY 2012
#12
FROM THE AMBASSADOR
Dear Readers,
Poland and world culture have suffered an enormous loss with the death
of Polish Nobel laureate Wisława Szymborska on February 1. The
world will be a bit less beautiful without her. In her memory, we have
included a tribute to her and her poetry in this first newsletter of 2012.
The start of a new year is an excellent opportunity to reflect and look at
what was – and even better – to look toward what’s ahead. We closed
out 2011 as Poland closed out its EU presidency, a time of intense work.
Our Embassy organized more than 100 additional events devoted to
promoting the priorities of Poland’s presidency and highlighting
Poland’s role in the EU and the wider international arena. We worked
with leading U.S. think-tanks, universities, NGOs and cultural
institutions. A key component of our work was outreach outside the
beltway at academic institutions and with Polish-American business
communities throughout the United States.
But though the presidency has ended, we’re not slowing down. On the
contrary, our pace for 2012 promises to be just as busy – with such
landmark events as the 25th NATO summit in Chicago, where the
heads of state and heads of NATO governments – including Poland’s
President Bronisław Komorowski – will meet to discuss further
cooperation within the Alliance.
look into this issue in next month’s newsletter, and explain why the Visa
Waiver Program is so important for U.S. national security and its
economy. But as world events unfold and the U.S.-Poland relationship
continues to demonstrate its maturity, we believe that it is time to tear
down this wall.
January 27 is observed throughout the world as International Holocaust
Remembrance Day. In Poland, the day has great significance: Nazi
Germany constructed its death camps – including Auschwitz-Birkenau,
the terrifying global symbol of the Holocaust and despicable atrocities
committed also against Poles, Roma, Soviet POWs and many others –
on German-occupied Polish territory. January 27 is the day of that
camp’s liberation, and the international community chose it as a day of
Holocaust commemoration for that reason. Poland strongly believes that
keeping the memory of the Holocaust alive and commemorating the
victims of the largest genocide in human history is our joint,
international duty. The Embassy participated in a commemoration
ceremony at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum on this day, and
also held an educational event a day earlier, because education is a
crucial part of International Holocaust Remembrance Day, and of our
overall mission.
One of our January highlights was the working visit of General
Mieczysław Cieniuch, Chief of General Staff of Poland’s Armed Forces,
who was awarded the U.S. Legion of Merit at the Pentagon, and
inducted into National Defense University’s Hall of Fame.
On January 24, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
announced its official Oscar nominees for the 84th Academy Awards.
Among them – two distinguished Poles: Agnieszka Holland’s film In
Darkness has been nominated in the Best Foreign Language Film
category. And Janusz Kaminski has been nominated in the Best
Cinematography category for his work on Stephen Spielberg’s War
Horse. It’s wonderful to see Polish talent recognized in this way, and we
wish them the very best of luck! You can read an interview with
Agnieszka Holland in this newsletter, as well as watch that interview on
our recently launched YouTube page.
I recently paid a working visit to Texas, where I held a series of meetings
devoted to cooperation between the state of Texas and Poland, with a
focus on energy, and delivered a speech on “Poland Today: New Energy
for a Growing Economy” at the World Affairs Council in Houston. I
also visited Chicago in preparation for the important NATO summit
that will take place there this May.
From our Chicago Consulate, we bring you news about the Polish
American Historical Association’s annual conference, held earlier this
month. Learn about this important organization, whose goal is research
and the promotion of scholarly materials on Polish-American history,
from its president and University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee professor
Neal Pease, on page 7.
On January 31, Senators Barbara Mikulski and Mark Kirk, along with
Representative Mike Quigley, re-introduced legislation calling for the
expansion of the Visa Waiver Program. We are confident that with
Congress working hand-in-hand with President Obama, his promise of
bringing Poland into the program will be fulfilled. We’ll take an in-depth
In the months ahead, look for more interactive and multimedia features
in our newsletters and on our social media pages.
Best regards,
IN THIS ISSUE
From the Ambassador
1
Poland’s Chief of Staff Inaugurated into
2
National Defense University’s Hall of Fame
News Update: Syria
The Ambassador’s Working Visit to Texas
Visa Waiver Program Update
3
A Conversation with Agnieszka Holland,
Director of In Darkness
4
International Holocaust Remembrance
Day Commemorations
5
“Eye of the Needle” Screening +
Discussion
Wisława Szymborska, 1923-2012
6
Outside the Beltway:
Polish-American Historical Association
Annual Conference
Americans of Polish Descent (AMOPOD)
7
To Read + To Support + To See
8
Poland in the Wintertime:
A Photo Gallery
9
January 2012
Embassy of Poland Newsletter
POLAND’S CHIEF OF
GENERAL STAFF
MIECZYSŁAW
CIENIUCH
INAUGURATED
INTO NATIONAL
DEFENSE
UNIVERSITY’S HALL
OF FAME
The Chief of General Staff of
Poland’s Armed Forces, Gen.
Mieczysław Cieniuch, paid his
first working visit to the U.S. in
January.
On January 9, he met with U.S.
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of
Staff Gen. Martin E. Dempsey at
the Pentagon to discuss PolandU.S. military cooperation –
including upcoming joint
exercises in the recently opened
Polish Armed Forces Training
Center in Bydgoszcz, Poland. The
Generals also exchanged views on
Afghanistan and the coordination
of future activities within the
International Security Assistance
Force (ISAF).
During their meeting, General
Dempsey presented General
Cieniuch with the U.S. Legion of
Merit award for his outstanding
leadership and achievements. The
Legion of Merit is issued by the
U.S. Armed Forces to members of
the U.S. military as well as
military and political personnel of
foreign governments.
(Interestingly, it’s one of only two U.S.
military decorations to be issued as an
order that is worn around the neck – the
other is the Medal of Honor).
On January 10, General Cieniuch was
inducted into National Defense
University’s Hall of Fame; he studied at
the university in 2000 as an International
Fellow. The ceremony was attended by
NDU students and staff, as well as military
attachés from various DC embassies.
Gen. Cieniuch is the fifth Pole to be
inducted into NDU’s International Fellows
Hall of Fame. The four others are:
• Lt. Gen. Czesław Piatas, Chief of General Staff of Poland’s
Armed Forces – National War College Class of 1999
• Lt. Gen. Edward Pietrzyk, Commander-in-Chief of Poland’s
Land Forces – National War College Class of 1998
• Lt. Gen. Ryszard Olszewski, Poland’s Chief of Air and Air
Defense Forces – National War College Class of 2001
• Gen. Franciszek Gagor, Chief of General Staff of Poland’s
Armed Forces – National War College Class of 2002
PHOTOS:
Clockwise from top left: 1. The ceremony; 2. Ambassador Nancy
McEldowney, NDU Senior Vice President for International Programs
& Outreach and Major General Joseph D. Brown IV unveil Gen.
Cieniuch’s portrait, which will hang in NDU’s Hall of Fame; 3. A full
house for the ceremony; 4. Gen. Cieniuch points out his four fellow
Poles in NDU’s Hall of Fame to Amb. McEldowney.
As of February 6, 2012, Poland has taken on the role of
U.S. “protecting power” in Syria following the suspension
of U.S. Embassy operations in Damascus, Syria. This
move was preceded by the governments of Poland and the
U.S. signing an agreement in which the American Interest
Section of Poland’s Embassy in Damascus has taken over the responsibility of providing
consular protection in emergency situations for U.S. citizens in Syria, as well as for
protecting U.S. Embassy property in Syria.
NEWS UPDATE:
SYRIA
Asked, “Why Poland?” the Ambassador of Poland to the U.S. Robert Kupiecki said that
the decision was the result of mutual trust and the maturity of the U.S.-Poland
relationship, and that it shows the trust the U.S. places in Poland’s diplomats. “I am
also certain that Poland’s experiences in Iraq influenced this decision,” he added.
Poland represented U.S. interests in Iraq in the years 1991-2003.
Poland agreed to take on these new responsibilities guided by the spirit of international
solidarity and Polish-American friendship. Poland’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said
that Poland’s diplomats will make every effort to provide proper and professional
representation and protection of U.S. interests in the Syrian Arab Republic.
Contact for U.S. citizens in Syria:
Above: Syria (in green) on a world map
[email protected] +963 954 666 693
2
January 2012
Embassy of Poland Newsletter
Ambassador Robert Kupiecki paid a working visit to
Texas January 17-20. The visit’s aim was to strengthen
the institutional relationships between Poland and the
state of Texas, promote Poland’s economy and meet
with representatives of the Polish-American community
as well as academia in Texas.
THE AMBASSADOR’S
WORKING VISIT TO
TEXAS
The visit confirmed the strong potential for economic
cooperation between Texas and Poland, including
opportunities to strengthen trade and investment
relationships, develop industrial and technological
cooperation and explore opportunities for joint energy
and climate projects.
Meetings with Texas Lieutenant Governor David
Dewhurst and Secretary of State Hope Andrade
confirmed a willingness to establish closer, institutional
cooperation. The development of energy relations,
especially on shale gas projects, can help promote
economic cooperation between Poland and Texas.
The Ambassador met with representatives of the University of Texas at Austin to discuss
joint and mutual technology and research cooperation. The meeting highlighted the
potential for strengthening cooperation in science and research and education between
Polish and Texan academic centers and universities. The University of Texas declared its
readiness to carry out public opinion research on hydraulic fracturing among Polish local
communities.
Ambassador Kupiecki delivered a speech at the World Affairs Council in Houston, which
was attended by more than 400 people from business and academic sectors as well as
Polish-Americans. The Ambassador stressed Poland’s sustained economic growth and its
unique position in Europe, the attractiveness of Poland for foreign investors, and the
exceptional potential of Polish economy. The Ambassador also called for support for the
inclusion of Poland in the U.S. Visa Waiver Program.
Photos: 1 + 2.: The Ambassador at the World Affairs
Council in Houston; 3. Ambassador Kupiecki with
Texas Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst.
This visit gave an impetus for future institutionalization of Polish-Texan economic
cooperation, especially in the field of energy and climate, which have great potential to be
mutually explored by respective authorities and institutions in Texas and Poland. It will
also become a stimulus to increase mutual trade, establish a broader scientific and
technological cooperation, strengthen energy and climate challenges relations.
On January 31, legislation calling for
the expansion of the Visa Waiver
Program was re-introduced into the
U.S. Congress. Spearheaded by
Representative Mike Quigley of
Illinois, Senator Barbara Mikulski of
Maryland and Senator Mark Kirk of
Illinois, the bipartisan and bicameral bill’s aim is the reformation
of the U.S. Visa Waiver Program – specifically, the enhancement
of its national security benefits and its expansion to include new
countries like Poland. The legislation was formally endorsed by
President Barack Obama following his May 2011 trip to Poland.
THE VISA
WAIVER
PROGRAM:
AN UPDATE
WHAT IS IT?
The Visa Waiver Program gives foreign nationals of participating
countries up to 90 days of visa-free travel to the U.S. Thirty-six
countries are currently included in the program, as designated by
the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in consultation with
the U.S. State Department.
Poland is not one of the countries included in the visa waiver
program – despite the fact that Poland is a strong U.S. ally and
plays an important role in NATO military operations in Europe
and the Middle East.
WHY REFORM IT?
According to Rep. Mike Quigley,
who testified before Congress on
December 7, 2011 on the benefits of
adding Poland and other diplomatic
partners to the Visa Waiver Program.
“Modernizing the Visa Waiver
Program will strengthen our national
security and enhance international
relationships with important allies like
Poland, who have been denied visafree travel because of an outdated
regime,” the Congressman said.
STAY TUNED
We’ll bring you an in-depth look at
the Visa Waiver Program in our next newsletter. We’re going to
focus on why this program would both increase U.S. travel industry
revenue, as well as enhance U.S. national security – in short, why
the program is good for the U.S.
LEARN MORE
Visit this website to learn more about the bill, keep track of it and
voice support.
3
January 2012
Embassy of Poland Newsletter
“IF I SIMPLIFY,
I HAVE THE
IMPRESSION THAT
I’M LYING” –
A CONVERSATION
WITH AGNIESZKA
HOLLAND
real emotional impact on the
audience, and be a kind of journey.
You said that it was important to you
that the script have a “wider
authenticity.” What does that mean?
Director Agnieszka Holland’s
newest film, In Darkness, has
received a 2012 Oscar nomination
in the Best Foreign Language Film
category.
The film is based on a true story by
Robert Marshall, In the Sewers of
Lvov. It’s set in German-occupied
Poland during World War II,
where a Polish thief hides a group
of Jewish refugees, saving their
lives while risking his own.
Ms. Holland is a two-time Oscar
nominee for Europa, Europa and
Angry Harvest. She is the director of
The Secret Garden and co-writer of
Krzysztof Kieslowski’s Three Colors:
Blue. She’s also an Emmy nominee
for her directing work on HBO’s
Treme and has directed episodes of
The Wire, The Killing and Cold Case.
We spoke with Ms. Holland on
January 19.
***
Why is this story important to tell, and
why was it important that you tell it the
way you did?
Most of these stories are important
stories, and this one had something
very dramatic, very human, and
very symbolic at the same time. It
had this universal dimension. It
didn’t only speak about this time
and those people, but about human
nature. I tried to make it as
accurate and as authentic as
possible, to go into the inner life of
those people and describe the
conditions and the way they
organized their life, to show the
complexity of their characters and
behavior. At the same time,
without being sentimental, without
pulling emotions out from people,
to make something that will have a
It was authentic on the level of the
event – that means the description
of the historical context and this
particular situation of Lvov’s
Ghetto in ‘43, and also the social,
political and national context – that
they were very accurate. Also the
way the life was organized in the
sewers. The fact that you can have a
life – a paradoxically normal life at
the bottom of hell and that even
being there – you are making love,
you are educating children, you are
playing, you are cooking.
It was important to me to show that
all those people have all the human
dimensions – that they’re not just
faceless, angelic victim figures.
Among Jewish victims, you have
good people and bad people,
impatient patient and selfish people.
You have the clash of the classes
also. And that the main character,
the Polish sewer worker, he was not
a hero – he was pretty complex and
complicated and an ambiguous man
with a very ambiguous biography.
He’d been a crook and a robber and
a petty thief. His motivations
weren’t noble at all, at least at the
beginning. All those people [were]
full of distrust and despised each
other. The way they came together
in a very deep and very human way
– that is the dramatic chord of the
story.
Much of your film occurs in the sewers
and in the darkness. And yet – people
emerge from the sewers and darkness,
perhaps symbolizing redemption? What
was it like filming in the dark,
physically and symbolically?
It was very challenging for me as a
filmmaker to make a film of which
80% happens in the darkness. And
we wanted, with my
cinematographer Jolanta Dylewska,
to make it really dark, to be very
realistic in this lack of light and this
blind life. At the same time – we
wanted the audience to be engaged
in the story. It was necessary to find
a way to see what you need to see.
That is a big challenge technically
and artistically, and from the point
of view of the filming itself. It was
difficult, but rewarding – it worked
and now we can proud that we did
something that is rarely done.
Of course, darkness has a symbolic
dimension. I don’t like to speak
about redemption, because I think
it’s too much pathos for my way of
seeing the world. And if they were
saved at the end, the reality after the
war wasn’t without danger, and this
traumatic experience never left
them – it never went away.
But yes, it was a site of lightness
and a site of darkness. Not only
physically and visually but also in
terms of what was happening inside
them. It was a fight, a struggle
between lightness and darkness in
the main character, in Leopold
Socha’s soul. I’m not sure if the
lightness won. It was much more
complicated but at least they’d been
blessed by some moments of
lightness – and that is what we have
to hope for.
You’re very drawn to complexities and
nuances, and especially deep characters
– not just in this film but in your other
work. That’s not something we always
see in the film world. Is it more difficult
to deal in nuances?
It’s my way of seeing the world so
it’s difficult for me to say. But if I
simplify, I have the impression that
I’m lying. It is not that intellectually
I decide I will be showing the world
as a complex place, but it’s just the
way that I see the world.
Of course, the audience, in our
times and in the last dozens of
years, has become more and more
used to a quite simple, if not
simplistic vision of reality, and they
accept things that are highly
entertaining. They want to be
amused. That is the society we are
living in now. But, not everybody.
You can always find people who
are interested in my way of seeing
the world. With this movie, after 10
days in Polish theatres, we are
surprised at how numerous they
are, because the movie is highly
successful at the box office. People
keep coming, and young people. So,
maybe they have different needs.
Maybe they sometimes want to see
some kind of complexity.
You’ve also had previews of the film in
the U.S. and Canada. What have the
reactions been?
Very good. Critical reaction has
been highly good – 99% of the
critics have been highly positive.
The reaction of the audience – it’s
very, very emotional and at the
same time, people are grateful for
the movie. A lot of people tell me
it’s not what they expected from
reading or hearing about it. That it’s
not only the story that was
described, but something more for
them.
In terms of the reaction, when
people are watching the film, it’s
interesting that in all the countries
so far I have been showing the film,
those reactions are very similar.
Maybe the level of expression is a
little different, but people laugh at
the same moments, they cry in the
same moments. They gasp in the
same moments. So in some way,
the storytelling made the story
universal.
~Justine Jablonska, the Embassy’s
Press Advisor, spoke with Ms. Holland.
Photos:
1. In Darkness film poster
2. + 3. Agnieszka Holland in DC
during the film’s screening at the U.S.
Holocaust Memorial Museum; photos
courtesy of the Museum.
WATCH
this interview with Agnieszka
Holland on our YouTube channel
WATCH
the In Darkness trailer
4
January 2012
Embassy of Poland Newsletter
INTERNATIONAL
HOLOCAUST
REMEMBRANCE
DAY
January 27 is International
Holocaust Remembrance Day.
Designated by the U.N. General
Assembly in 2005, the day marks
the anniversary of the 1945
liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau,
the notorious German Nazi Concentration and
Extermination Camp established near Oswiecim by
Poland’s Nazi German occupier. About 1,100,000 people
were murdered in Auschwitz by the Germans – mostly Jews
but also Poles, Roma, Soviet prisoners of war, and others.
In Poland, the main commemoration ceremony marking
the 67th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz
prisoners was held at the Auschwitz-Birkenau State
Museum under the official patronage of the President of the
Republic of Poland. The ceremony was attended by former
camp prisoners, state authorities, the diplomatic corps,
clergy of various faiths, local and regional communities and
officials, as well as members of the general public.
In the U.S., Holocaust Remembrance Day is regularly
observed by federal, state and local authorities, as well as
Jewish and Polish communities, and various organizations
and institutions. Our Embassy participates in these events –
including a candle-lighting ceremony at the U.S. Holocaust
Memorial Museum. This year, Ambassador Kupiecki’s
wife, Małgorzata Kupiecka, took part in the
ceremony, lighting a memorial candle accompanied
by Holocaust survivors born in Poland.
PHOTOS of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial
Museum’s commemoration ceremony courtesy of
the Museum
LEARN MORE about the mission of the
Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum on its website
READ the Auschwitz Memorial magazine (right),
published monthly in English
“EYE
OF
THE
NEEDLE”
SCREENING
+
DISCUSSION
The Embassy of Poland and “Art and Remembrance” – a nonprofit arts and education organization – organized a screening of
“Through the Eye of the Needle – the Art of Esther Nisenthal
Krinitz” at the Embassy on January 26, the eve of International
Holocaust Remembrance Day.
The film tells the story of Esther Nisenthal: She was 15 in October
1942 when Poland’s Nazi occupiers ordered all the Jews in her
village to report to a nearby train station. She refused, and made
her way to a nearby village with her 13-year-old sister Mania. They
spent the next two years living as Polish Catholic farm girls – and
ultimately surviving the war.
More than 40 years after World War II, Esther created a series of
36 large fabric collages, each intricately embroidered in vivid color.
The series presents a young girl’s eyewitness account of the war.
Scenes of tragedy and trauma juxtapose with the exquisite beauty
of her natural surroundings. Little – if anything – seems to have
escaped Esther’s attention, or her memory.
Esther’s story is told in the film through interviews originally
recorded with her by filmmaker Lawrence Kasdan in 1997,
accompanied by her artwork. The film includes interviews with her
daughters – including Bernice Steinhardt, who attended the
screening. The film explores the toll of suffering and the capacity of
the heart to heal. It also reminds viewers that genocide and acts of
baseless hatred still exist, and that both Esther’s story and those
like hers compel us to build a just and peaceful world for all.
The film premiered in December 2011 at the Washington Jewish
Film Festival, where it received the Audience Favorite
Documentary Award.
Two of Esther Krinitz’s daughters – Bernice Steinhardt and Helene
McQuade – founded “Arts and Remembrance” as a testament to
their mother’s legacy, and to share her work as well as the work of
others who set out to tell their stories as victims of war, oppression
or injustice. The organization has published an award-winning
book, “Memories of Survival,” and created a traveling exhibit of
Esther Krinitz’s art – currently on display at the Smithsonian
Institution’s Ripley Center in DC.
The award-winning producer and director of the film, Nina
Shapiro-Perl, attended the screening and offered commentary on
its making. Ms. Shapiro-Perl is currently Filmmaker-in-Residence
at American University in Washington, DC, where she teaches
and leads the Community Voice Project.
LEARN MORE
on the Art and Remembrance website
PHOTOS
1 + 3: Esther Nisenthal Krinitz’s artwork; 2. Esther’s daughters: Bernice
Steinhardt and Helene McQuade; 4. Embassy guests.
5
January 2012
Embassy of Poland Newsletter
WISŁAWA SZYMBORSKA
1923-2012
May she rest in peace.
“Her verse, seemingly simple, was
subtle, deep and often hauntingly
beautiful. She used simple objects
and detailed observation to reflect on
larger truths, often using everyday
images — an onion, a cat wandering
in an empty apartment, an old fan in
a museum — to reflect on grand
topics such as love, death and
passing time.” – AP obituary
Wisława Szymborska’s poetry
“with ironic precision allows the
historical and biological context to
come to light in fragments of human
reality.”
– The Nobel Academy upon
bestowing the 1996 Literature prize.
Collections of Wisława
Szymborska’s poems that have been
translated into English include:
People on a Bridge (1990)
View with a Grain of Sand: Selected
Poems (1995)
Monologue of a Dog (2005)
We were greatly saddened at the
news of Wisława Szymborska’s
death on February 1, 2012 in
Krakow, Poland. A Nobel Prize
Literature laureate in 1996, Ms.
Szymborska was also an honorary
member of the American Academy
of Fine Arts & Literature.
ALLEGRO MA NON TROPPO
BY WISŁAWA SZYMBORSKA
Life, you’re beautiful (I say)
you just couldn’t get more fecund,
more befrogged or nightingaley,
more antihillful or sproutspouting.
I’m trying to court life’s favor,
to get into its good graces,
to anticipate its whims.
I’m always the first to bow,
always there where it can see me
with my humble, reverent face,
soaring on the wings of rapture,
falling under waves of wonder.
Oh how grassy is this hopper,
how this berry ripely rasps.
I would never have conceived it
if I weren’t conceived myself!
Life (I say) I’ve no idea
what I could compare you to.
No one else can make a pine cone
and then make the pine cone’s clone.
I praise your inventiveness,
bounty, sweep, exactitude,
sense of order--gifts that border
on witchcraft and wizardry.
I just don’t want to upset you,
tease or anger, vex or rile.
For millennia, I’ve been trying
to appease you with my smile.
I tug at life by its leaf hem:
will it stop for me, just once,
momentarily forgetting
to what end it runs and runs?
Translated from Polish by Clare Cavanagh
and Stanisław Barańczak
THE CENTURY’S DECLINE
BY WISŁAWA SZYMBORSKA
Our twentieth century was going to improve on the others.
It will never prove it now,
now that its years are numbered,
its gait is shaky,
its breath is short.
Too many things have happened
that weren’t supposed to happen,
and what was supposed to come about
has not.
Happiness and spring, among other things,
were supposed to be getting closer.
Fear was expected to leave the mountains and the valleys.
Truth was supposed to hit home
before a lie.
A couple of problems weren’t going
to come up anymore:
hunger, for example,
and war, and so forth.
There was going to be respect
for helpless people’s helplessness,
trust, that kind of stuff.
Anyone who planned to enjoy the world
is now faced
with a hopeless task.
Stupidity isn’t funny.
Wisdom isn’t gay.
Hope isn’t that young girl anymore,
et cetera, alas.
God was finally going to believe
in a man both good and strong,
but good and strong
are still two different men.
“How should we live?” someone asked me in a letter.
I had meant to ask him
the same question.
Again, and as ever,
as may be seen above,
the most pressing questions
are naive ones.
Translated from Polish by Clare Cavanagh
and Stanisław Barańczak
NOTHING TWICE
BY WISŁAWA SZYMBORSKA
Nothing can ever happen twice.
In consequence, the sorry fact is
that we arrive here improvised
and leave without the chance to practice.
Even if there is no one dumber,
if you’re the planet’s biggest dunce,
you can’t repeat the class in summer:
this course is only offered once.
No day copies yesterday,
no two nights will teach what bliss is
in precisely the same way,
with exactly the same kisses.
One day, perhaps, some idle tongue
mentions your name by accident:
I feel as if a rose were flung
into the room, all hue and scent.
The next day, though you’re here with me,
I can’t help looking at the clock:
A rose? A rose? What could that be?
Is it a flower or a rock?
Why do we treat the fleeting day
with so much needless fear and sorrow?
It’s in its nature not to stay:
Today is always gone tomorrow.
With smiles and kisses, we prefer
to seek accord beneath our star,
although we’re different (we concur)
just as two drops of water are.
Translated from Polish by Clare Cavanagh
and Stanisław Barańczak
LEARN MORE
U.S. Poetry Foundation obituary
“Vermeer” by Wisława Szymborska,
translated from the Polish by Clare
Cavanagh & Stanisław Barańczak in the
New York Review of Books
6
Outside the Beltway – News from our Consulates
THREE QUESTIONS
WITH…
PROFESSOR NEAL PEASE,
PRESIDENT OF THE POLISH
AMERICAN HISTORICAL
ASSOCIATION
1. What is PAHA’s mission?
PAHA is a scholarly organization devoted to the study
and advancement of Polish-American history and culture.
As an organization, it originated as a sort of offshoot of
the Polish Institute of Arts and Sciences of America, with
which it still has many ties, and mutual membership.
PAHA pursues its mission in a variety of ways, by
holding scholarly conferences, publishing the academic
journal “Polish American Studies,” assisting in the
publication of books devoted to Polish and Polish
American topics (many written by PAHA members
themselves), and bestowing annual awards for scholarly
and civic achievement. As an example, PAHA is
exceptionally proud of the recent
publication of “The Polish American
Encyclopedia,” a major initiative to
which many PAHA members
contributed, under the general editorship
of longtime PAHA member Professor
James Pula. The Encyclopedia was
recently named by the American Library
Association as one of the outstanding reference books to
appear in the past year.
2. PAHA recently held a conference in Chicago; tell us about it.
In addition to a large number of panels, including
presentations by scholars based in Poland as well as
North America, one highlight of the conference was a
reception to honor our recipients of annual awards,
generously hosted by the Consulate of Poland in Chicago.
January 2012
POLISH AMERICAN HISTORICAL
ASSOCIATION ANNUAL CONFERENCE +
AWARDS CEREMONY
The Polish American Historical Association
gathered in Chicago for their annual board meeting
and conference Jan. 5-7. The conference comprised
several panels on Polish-U.S. history, literature,
religion, leaders and organizations. Conference panelists included:
• Anne M. Gurnack – University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
• John Radzilowski – University of Alaska Southeast
• Thomas J. Napierkowski – University of Colorado in Colorado Springs
• M.B.B. Biskupski – Central Connecticut State University
• Maja Trochimczyk – Moonrise Press
• Margaret J. Rencewicz – University of Pittsburgh
• Malgorzata Kot – Head Librarian, Polish Museum of America Library
Conference
participants,
panelists and
guests
gathered at the
Consulate
General in
Chicago on
Jan. 6 at a
reception
hosted by
Consul General Zygmunt Matynia in honor of PAHA, its members and
supporters. PAHA bestows annual awards on individuals with unparalleled
dedication who have positively contributed to the Polish-American
community. University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee professor and PAHA
president Neal Pease handed out their awards.
3. What does being President of PAHA entail?
The president has many duties, primarily the
organization of two conferences each year. The president
receives considerable assistance in managing the affairs of
PAHA from our Executive Director, Dr. A. P. Versteegh,
the PAHA board, and the home office of the organization
at Central Connecticut State University.
The honorees are pictured above:
• Ewa Barczyk – Director, Golda Meir Library of the University of
Wisconsin-Milwaukee
• Maria Ciesla – President of the Polish Museum of America
• Anna D. Jaroszyńska-Kirchmann – Eastern Connecticut State University
• Bozena Nowicka-McLees – Polish Studies lecturer, Loyola University
• Paul Odrobina – Vice President, Polish National Alliance
• Aurelia Pucinski – Cook County Appellate Court Judge
• James Pula – Author, Polish American Encyclopedia
• Robert Szymczak – Penn State University
• Pien Versteegh – PAHA Executive Director
• Sharon Zago – Vice President, Polish Women’s Alliance
STAY TUNED
LEARN MORE
For a feature on the Encyclopedia in an upcoming issue.
Polish-American Historical Association website
AMOPOD’s 22nd annual Christmas-New Year’s meeting was held at the
Consulate General of Chicago on January 15, with more than 100 guests
gathering to celebrate Polish traditions and their Polish roots. Americans of
Polish Descent – AMOPOD – members are aged 5-65, and mostly secondand third-generation Polish-Americans, born in the U.S., but with strong ties
to their Polish heritage.
To learn more about the organization, please reach out to its chairman,
Alexander Danel at: [email protected]
AMERICANS
OF POLISH DESCENT
(AMOPOD)
Photos clockwise from top left:
1. Sylvia Prokopowicz and Basia Wilczek from the Polish Scouting Organization
of Illinois
2. Tony Zaskowski and daughter
3. Carleen and Jan Lorys. Mr. Lorys is the director of the Polish Museum of
America in Chicago.
7
January 2012
Embassy of Poland Newsletter
TO READ: “UNVANQUISHED: JOSEPH PIŁSUDSKI,
RESURRECTED POLAND, AND THE STRUGGLE
FOR EASTERN EUROPE”
By Peter Hetherington
Pingora Press, October 2011
This comprehensive, English-language
biography of Joseph Piłsudski (18671935) illuminates one of the most
consequential historical figures of the
20th century. The book also provides
essential background on Poland’s
history, & interweaves the story of
Piłsudski’s life with a general account
of his times.
Mr. Hetherington will provide
introductory remarks to the Feb. 16
screening of “1920: The World’s Most
Important Battle” in Alexandria, VA and sign his new book
following the screening.
TO SUPPORT:
THE PADEREWSKI SCHOLARSHIP FUND AND
POLISH UNIVERSITY STUDENTS
Edward L. Rowny – former
Ambassador, U.S. Army Lieutenant
General (retired), and a good friend of
the Embassy – is sponsoring a piano
concert benefitting the Paderewski
Scholarship Fund on February 11 at
the Italian Embassy in DC.
If you haven’t already bought tickets,
they’re unfortunately sold out. But we
encourage you to help support the
Scholarship Fund, established by Ambassador Rowny in 2004 to
bring students from Polish universities to Georgetown University to
study U.S.-style democracy. The ninth scholarship recipient will
attend Georgetown this fall.
Learn more about the Fund: www. paderewskirowny.org
TO SEE IN DC FEB. 12 + 16:
“1920: THE WORLD’S MOST IMPORTANT BATTLE”
The February 16 screening will be
preceded by introductory remarks by
Peter Hetherington, author of a new
book about Joseph Piłsudski:
“Unvanquished: Joseph Pilsudski,
Resurrected Poland, and the Struggle
for Eastern Europe.”
For further details on the book, see the
top left portion of this page.
This epic Polish feature film premiered in Warsaw Sept. 30, and is now being shown in U.S.
theatres. It is being screened in the DC area Feb. 12 and 16; for details on these screenings,
click here. Filmed in 3D, the movie is one of the most lavish productions in the extensive
history of Polish cinema. The film tells the dramatic story of the Battle for Warsaw in the
1919-1920 Polish-Soviet War. Daniel Olbrychski plays Józef Piłsudski (bottom right photo), the
powerful & charismatic Polish statesman who commanded Poland’s forces to a decisive
victory, shattering Lenin’s dreams of conquering the European continent and communism
taking over the world.
For details on screenings of “1920:
The World’s Most Important Battle”
in the U.S., visit the Society for Arts.
Film still photograph by
Wojciech Glinka / Glinka Agency
8
January 2012
Embassy of Poland Newsletter
WINTERTIME
IN POLAND
Ella Fitzgerald sang:
“The snow is snowing;
the wind is blowing;
but I can weather the
storm…”
We are enchanted with
these photos of Poland in
the wintertime. Enjoy!
More photos
MORE EMBASSY NEWS + INFORMATION
FACEBOOK:
Embassy of Poland, DC
TWITTER:
@PolishEmbassyUS
EMBASSY OF THE
REPUBLIC OF POLAND
2640 16th St NW
Washington DC
YOUTUBE:
PolishEmbassyDC
washington.polemb.net
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Justine Jablonska:
newsletter editor-in-chief
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