Poland in Mourning – The Big Picture – Boston.com

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My second was to call my old friend Adam Michnik in Warsaw. Michnik, an intellectual imprisoned six times by the former puppet-Soviet Communist rulers, once told me:

“Anyone who has suffered that humiliation, at some level, wants revenge. I know all the lies. I saw people being killed. But I also know that revanchism is never ending. And my obsession has been that we should have a revolution that does not resemble the French or Russian, but rather the American, in the sense that it be for something, not against something. A revolution for a constitution, not a paradise. An anti-utopian revolution. Because utopias lead to the guillotine and the gulag.”

By ROGER COHEN  Published: April 12, 2010

Continuation of the article The Glory of Poland

My, Polacy na obczyźnie utożsamiamy się z targającymi wszystkimi Polakami tragicznymi emocjami. Zszokowani wymiarem katastrofy w bólu chylimy czoła i pogrążamy się w żałobie z całą Polską.

Jesteśmy z Wami Rodacy. Współczujemy rodzinom zmarłych. Oddajemy ofiarom katastrofy hołd i cześć – dołączyli oni do pomordowanych w Katyniu. Katyń ma dziś nowy, jeszcze tragiczniejszy wymiar.

Przesyłamy wszystkim Polakom głębokie wyrazy współczucia i szczere zapewnienia o jedności. Do żalu i żałoby w naszych sercach dołączamy słowa modlitwy i do Boga wznosimy ręce prosząc o błogosławieństwo dla naszej Ojczyzny.

Z wyrazami szacunku i współczucia

Zarząd i członkowie

Polsko Amerykańskiego Centrum Kultury w Cleveland

The Polish American Cultural Center in Cleveland joins the entire Polish nation in sorrow and despair after the loss of President Lech Kaczyński and those traveling with him.

We Poles abroad feel the roiling emotions of all Poles at this time. Shocked by the extent of this catastrophe, we mourn with all of Poland.

We are with our compatriots in their mourning, and we sympathize with the families of the dead. We honor the sacrifice of the victims of the catastrophe – they are now linked to the murdered of Katyń. Today, Katyń takes on a new, still more tragic dimension.

We offer to all Poles our deepest condolences and sincere assurances of unity. We express the sorrow in our hearts with prayer and ask for blessings for our homeland.

With the deepest respect and sympathy,

Board and Members

Polish American Cultural Center in Cleveland

The alliance between the Third Reich and the Soviet Union, the Ribbentrop-Molotov pact and the Soviet attack on Poland on 17 September 1939 reached a terrifying climax in the Katyn massacre. Not only in the Katyn forest, but also in Tver, Kcharkiv and other known, and unknown, execution sites citizens of the Second Republic of Poland, people who formed the foundation of our statehood, who adamantly served the motherland, were killed.

via TheNews.pl – For a full text of the speech continue reading

Mój adres:  jrr03@juno.com

Ryszard Romaniuk

Since Saturday I have been sitting at the computer and reading about the events in Poland. New information, new pictures, and more reactions, thoughts, and feelings about the tragic events appear quickly. I look for postings which speak of unity and solidarity and express sympathy. For example, it has been written that while Russia cannot change the history of Katyń in 1940, it is now able to join in Solidarity with Poland seventy years later. Below I have listed links to some of the articles I have read. Please also send me your thoughts on these events, so that we may share them with others and in the newsletter.

John Kuntz / The Plain Dealer Richard Romaniuk, a member of the Polish-American Cultural Center in Cleveland’s Slavik Village neighborhood, places a candle on a memorial for the Polish victims of the plane crash. CLEVELAND, Ohio — A planned celebration at the Polish American Cultural Center Saturday night turned into a memorial observance.

The death of the president of Poland and other top officials in a plane crash today set off a flurry of condolence calls and memorials in the Warszawa Historic District, a former Polish stronghold south of E. 55th Street and Broadway Avenue.

“It’s a tremendous shock,” said Eugene Bak, executive director of the cultural center and museum on E. 65th Street. “Tragedy like this has never happened in the 1,000 year Polish history. Nothing even close.”

The Center had planned a celebration Saturday night of the 200th birthday of composer Frederic Chopin, but quickly altered the program to be a memorial for all of those killed in the plane crash. Though much of the violin and piano music remained, the center changed the poems to be read in the program.

Organizers also added candles and flowers on the stage, along with a large black ribbon draped over panels of red and white cloth representing the Polish flag.

St. Stanislaus Church nearby had a Polish flag flying at half mast this afternoon, right below an American flag. Father Michael Surufka said the deaths will be recognized at services this week, particularly at the regular Polish-language mass at 10 a.m. Sunday.

By Patrick O’Donnell, The Plain Dealer

http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2010/04/clevelands_polish_community_mo.html

April 10, 2010, 6:54PM, Plain Dealer