Posts Tagged ‘Forum’

Lately there has been a lot of news about the place, or rather places!, where this year’s May 3rd parade will be held. Polonia’s home in Slavic Village has for some time been getting painfully smaller and now will have to adjust to the closing of churches and schools…And then we have an unexpected development – two parades! Someone might say, „Enjoy it! That’s the way it is!” It’s not good, though, because too much of a good thing is just the same as not enough.

After much discussion it has been decided that one Polish parade will be held, in accordance with tradition, in Warszawa (that is, Slavic Village) and a second parade will be held in Parma. It’s a little absurd…unfortunately, our Polonia is not able to hide its divisions or, rather, its chronic dismemberment. The saying, „where there are two Poles, there are three parties” has not lost its significance but rather gathered strength. We might say today that where there is one Pole, there are two parades. (more…)

Gdy polonez chopinowski
tajne struny serca ruszy,
zawsze wtedy mam widzenie
Narodowej polskiej duszy.”

„When the Chopin polonaise
Stirs the secret chords of the heart,
I always envision the national Polish spirit.”

Maria Konopnicka

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The exhibit „The Vision of the Polish Military in the Work of the Kossak Family” was on display at the Museum of the Polish Military in Warsaw from the first days of May until the end of September 2008. One of the works on display was an oil painting done by Jerzy Kossak in 1930, titled „Miracle on the Vistula”. (more…)

It is once again time to renew your membership in the Polish American Cultural Center honoring John Paul II. For those who are not members of the Center, we hope you will join us in our mission to preserve and promote Polish traditions and culture in the Cleveland area.

We had a successful year in 2009 and we continue to be optimistic about our future. We had a number of events such as celebrations of Polish Constitution and Independence Days. Our biggest event of the year was the reception held to honor our living veterans of the Polish Armed Forces in World War II.. We hosted several receptions and a number of dinners including one for Kościuszko Foundation, Ohio Section. Our celebration of Wigilia and the showing of Jasełka by the children of the Polish school were a big hit with the public. We sponsored the appearance of Eleni and Ich Troje, the artistic groups from Poland. We also held First Polish Youth Talent Show. We continue to have Sunday lunches which have become very popular among Polanians as a Sunday get together. (more…)

February 10, 1940 – the second most important date, after the Soviet invasion of September 17, 1939, to engrave itself in the memories of the residents of the eastern kresy (borderlands) of the Second Republic. The first mass deportation of Poles to Siberian camps, officially known as „resettlement”, began at dawn on February 10th, seventy years ago. More than 220,000 people were taken – state officials (including judges, prosecutors, and policemen), self-government activists, foresters, landowners, and those in the military with families. The deported were taken to the northern regions of the Soviet Union, near Archangelsk, Irkutsk, Krasnoyarsk, and Komi. An estimated one and a half to two million Poles were taken to this „inhuman land” by the Soviets during  four deporations, lasting until June 1941. (more…)

It is not until the current issue of Forum that we describe Opera Circle’s performances on November 20 and 22 of 2009. We hope that this tardiness will be forgiven by the directors of the Opera and the faithful public that came to the Bohemian National Hall, where the performances of Donizetti’s Don Pasquale took place. (more…)

The year was 1943 and the winter, as is usual in the Bialystok region, was harsh.  The trees looked like glassy, motionless objects.  Houses in the entire town stood shrouded in melancholy  and dread.  As night fell, the lights went dark in the windows, leaving only the moon casting its glow among distant cold stars.  Sometimes passing airplanes could be  heard,  followed by  the sounds of bombs exploding far away  and then a glow of fires burning somewhere over the horizon reflected in the night sky. (more…)

A member of our editorial staff, kind-hearted, reserved, taciturn, patient, reflective, understanding, tolerant, warm, kind… humble, wise, mature, sensitive, helpful and…    I could use many other adjectives describing an exceptional and good person because it so happens that they all fit his personality.

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The lovers from Verona, Romeo and Juliet, have returned to us after an eight-year hiatus. Opera Circle first presented this tragic love story in 2001. The current production was performed twice: November 6 and 8, 2009, at St. Stanislaus Church. The story that inspired Shakespeare has taken on countless forms all over the world—after all, everyone knows it. It has been presented as a theatrical drama as well as in musical versions by numerous composers. Prokofiev wrote an ingenious ballet, Tchaikovsky an orchestral poem, while Gounod and Bellini created operatic versions. (more…)

The first star, the beautifully decorated Christmas tree and the breaking of the bread or wafer — these are the most important symbols of Christmas for Poles. Let us explore their meanings and history. (more…)