Los Angeles, Calif. (PMN)—A TV movie
about the life of Holocaust hero Irena Sendler, who died May 12,
2008, at age 98 in Poland, is being readied for production and will
air next season on CBS. "The Irena Sendler Story" is based on an
authorized biography of the woman credited with rescuing some 2,500
Jewish children from the Nazis by smuggling them out of the Warsaw
Ghetto. Sendler, a social worker in Poland when Nazi Germany invaded
in 1939, devised risky rescue operations to save Jewish children,
some of whom were smuggled out in baskets.
The film is in pre-production and will
be filmed in Poland. Hallmark Hall of Fame, the movie’s producer,
said it acquired movie rights to the book and struck a deal with
Sendler and her family in 2007.
John Kent Harrison, who became familiar
with Sendler’s bravery while in Poland three years ago filming a CBS
miniseries about Pope John Paul II, wrote the script for the Sendler
film and will direct.
The movie is drawn from the 2005 book
"Mother of the Children of the Holocaust: The Irena Sendler Story,"
written by Anna Mieszkowska.
New York (PMN)—"Nowhere else is
Holocaust history as distorted and misrepresented as it is about
Poland." That disturbing fact is the main reason Michael Preisler, a
Polish Catholic survivor of Auschwitz, does not allow himself to
stop his nearly thirty-year crusade to see that the American people
are told the truth about the Holocaust.
Now, as co-chair of the Holocaust
Documentation Committee of the Polish American Congress (PAC), he
has gone one step further. Thanks to generous donations from
individuals who are just as concerned about Holocaust dishonesty as
he is, Preisler’s committee announced on May 5, 2008, that it has
purchased a thousand copies of Arthur Hempel’s "Poland in World War
II."
He intends to use the books to fill
what he calls a "gaping hole" in the average American's
understanding of the Holocaust and the brutal terror the Germans
used against the people of Poland. It did not take long to find
someone with this gaping hole and in "dire need" of one of his
books. To his astonishment, it happened to be a Catholic publication
from Toronto, Canada, the Catholic Register, "which should
have known better," and revealed a "deplorable misunderstanding of
the most basic facts of World War II history."
Instead of reporting that Poland became
the first victim of Nazi Germany when Hitler invaded in 1939 to
start the war, the Register wrote that Poland actually sided with
the Germans and the Nazis. Being a Catholic, Preisler was
"disappointed" that a Catholic periodical would be so misinformed
about a country as Catholic as Poland.
Washington, D.C. (PMN)—As part of a
tour of the U.S., Sylwester Chruszcz, President of the League of
Polish Families (LPR) political party, met with members of the
Polish American community in Washington, D.C., on May 11, 2008. The
meeting was sponsored by PoloniaCenter.org. A report from a leader
of the Polonian organization appeared to share the positions
promulgated by Chruszcz.
The LPR is a far-right party with
strong religious and nationalist sentiments that was repudiated by
Polish voters in the last parliamentary election. It has no seats in
the Sejm [Lower House of Parliament].
Chruszcz, who is a Member of the
European Parliament, pointed out the negative effects of European
Union membership for Poland. He claimed that European Union (EU)
imposed production limits are hurting Polish agriculture.
Specifically, he noted that two modern Polish sugar plants will be
forced to close and Polish fishermen have been forced to cut their
cod fishing due to the limits. He added that many Polish dairy
farmers are forced to destroy up to half the milk their cattle
produce because of the limits, and would be fined if they did not do
so. This last comment drew a negative reaction from some of the
audience, who called the forced dumping of milk "sick." The crowd
was apparently ignorant of the historical fact that similar
practices have been adopted in the United States to raise the value
of farm produce.
Responding to a question on gay
marriage and abortion on demand, Chruszcz predicted that the EU will
force the Polish Government to adopt these laws. He claimed that
this would take place under the Lisbon Treaty, which goes into
effect in January, 2009. In a further twist of the facts, Chruszcz
stated that it will establish the EU’s courts as superior to
Poland’s national courts.
He suggested that it would only be a
matter of time before a court decision would force "homosexual
marriage" and abortion on demand on Poland. The apparently
conservative audience responded negatively to this statement, many
in the crowd calling on Poland to defend its national sovereignty
and Catholic values. One participant who apparently accepted the
dire predictions made by Chruszcz, commented, "It looks like it’s a
choice of being in the European Union or of being Catholic." Another
responded, "In that case, it’s better to be Catholic."
Chicago (PMN)—The Polish Museum of
America (PMA) will hold its Annual Summer Ball and Silent Auction at
the Wyndham O'Hare Hotel, Des Plaines, Ill., on Friday, June 20,
2008. This year, the Museum honors Polish and Polish American
Veterans organizations with the 2008 Polish Spirit Award in
recognition of the service they have given to our two great nations.
The Summer Ball is the PMA’s largest
yearly fundraising event, with all proceeds benefiting the Museum.
Established in Chicago in 1935, the PMA remains the nation’s largest
institution of its kind, dedicated to the preservation and promotion
of Polish and Polish American culture through a wide variety of
educational programs and exhibitions. In addition, the Museum
includes a library, valuable archives and priceless artifacts, which
serve s researchers seeking knowledge about the history of Poles in
the United States and throughout the world.
The 2008 Summer Ball program book will
be particularly significant, because a special section will be
devoted to honoring and memorializing service men and service women
and will include their name, rank, branch of service and the war or
conflict in which he or she served.
Veterans groups have been honored by
various institutions over the years. However, after considering the
sacrifices made by all Polish and Polish American veterans on behalf
of our nations, the PMA feels that as a cultural institution
dedicated to preserving Polish and Polish American history, it would
be a disservice to our mission not to honor all veterans.
For more information about the Ball,
call Jenny Crissey at (773) 782-2605.
Brooklyn, N.Y. (PMN)—To encourage their
participation in the upcoming presidential election, the Polish
American Congress (PAC) took its 2008 Voter Registration Drive to
Williamsburg and the members of Our Lady of Consolation Church.
Members of the committee, Chris
Rybkiewicz (left) who heads the registration unit and Frank Milewski
(center), President of the PAC’s Downstate N.Y. Division helped the
parishioners complete their Board of Elections registration forms.
As they arrived in New York's Ellis
Island at the start of the 20th Century, many of the immigrants from
Eastern Europe chose to settle in the Williamsburg section of
Brooklyn. Among them were the Poles who made their parish church,
Our Lady of Consolation on Metropolitan Avenue, the center of their
communal life. They slowly applied for U.S. citizenship and became
part of the democratic process as they went to the polls and voted.
Another wave of Polish immigrants came
to Williamsburg at the end of World War II after Nazi Germany
destroyed Poland and left it in the hands of the Communists. Still
more arrived during the time of the Solidarity movement of the 1980s
and the clashes with the Marxist regime which Moscow imposed on
Poland.
"Having lived for many years under
Communist repression and the German occupation, many of the Poles
who become American citizens understand and appreciate their right
to vote in free and democratic elections," said Rybkiewicz.
New Britain, Conn. (PMN)—A gala evening
of popular Polish music that included authentic costumes and lavish
sets was staged on May 15, 2008 at Central Connecticut State
University (CCSU). The program included an English narration,
designed to make the production more accessible to non-Polish
speaking audience members. It was free and open to the public.
Presented by the S.A. Blejwas Chair in
Polish and Polish-American Studies as part of the Annual Godlewski
Evening of Polish Culture Series, the CCSU performance was produced
by the Polish Theater Institute. It was titled "The Shop of Songs"
["Kram z Piosenkami"].
The ambitious and rarely staged
production traces Polish music through several centuries and has
been described as "a tour of Polish popular culture in song and
music."