Warsaw and Washington, D.C. (PMN)—Polish Defense Minister Bogdan Klich said on January 19, 2010, that U.S. Patriot missiles will be stationed in northern Poland about 60 miles from the border with the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad, rather than near Warsaw. Polish Radio cited Klich as saying the decision to set up a Patriot site in the outskirts of the town of Morag, which is much closer to the Russian border than Warsaw, does not bear any strategic consideration.

Klich stated, "In Morag we could offer the best conditions for American soldiers and the best technical base for the equipment."

Poland and the United States signed a Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) in December, 2009, laying out the conditions for the deployment of U.S. troops on Polish soil. According to the SOFA, U.S. troops will service Patriot missiles that are to be integrated into Poland’s national security system. The Patriot unit will be manned by some 100 U.S. soldiers, and will comprise up to eight missile launchers. The first U.S. troop rotation is expected to arrive in Poland by the end of March.

Russia strongly opposed the previous U.S. administration's plans to place ten long-range ground-based interceptor missiles in Poland and a fixed-site radar station in the Czech Republic. When agreeing to host the missile site, Warsaw demanded the Patriots’ deployment to improve its defensive capabilities.

The Patriot (MIM-104) is a theater air-defense system designed to counter tactical ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and advanced aircraft. Patriot missile systems were successfully deployed by U.S. forces during Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003.

ACCLAIMED POLISH IMMIGRANT
MOURNED IN MARYLAND

Baltimore, Maryland (PMN)—Danuta Mostwin, an author, psychologist and sociologist who had been a member of the Polish underground during World War II and whose fiction chronicling the experiences of Polish émigrés earned her two nominations for the Nobel Prize in literature, died January 11, 2010, of Parkinson’s disease at her Ruxton, Maryland, home. She was 88.

Dr. Mostwin was born Danuta Pietruszewski in Lublin, Poland, and she completed high school in Warsaw in 1939. She had planned to be a playwright, but turned her attention to studying for a medical career after the outbreak of World War II. After Germany occupied her homeland, Mostwin had to study at an underground medical school held at the University of Warsaw.

During the war years, she and her family were active in the resistance movement. "The house in which she lived with her mother (her father was with part of the Polish military in London) served as a shelter and meeting point for couriers who had been parachuted into Poland," said her son, Dr. Jacek Mostwin, a urologist who lives in Ruxton. In 1944, she met a young Polish freedom fighter, Stanislaw B. Mostwin, who became her husband. With the end of the war and the Russian occupation of Poland, and with her husband facing arrest by the secret police, the couple and her mother fled to England. In 1951, the couple and their young son immigrated to New York and then to Baltimore.

Her experience as an immigrant became a profound influence on both her life and writing. Critics and scholars consider her major work to be her seven-volume Polish saga, a historical narrative that chronicles a Polish family from 1863 to the present. Her work was nominated in 2000 and 2006 for the Nobel Prize in literature.

Dr. Mostwin and Senator Barbara A. Mikulski were co-founders in 1982 of the Maryland Action for Poland committee, which provided material relief to those in Poland who were affected by the declaration of martial law at that time. "She was a freedom fighter, liberator, humanitarian, social worker and mentor. She was a legend and a pioneer both in Poland and the United States," Mikulski said.

Brooklyn, N.Y. (PMN)—Wanda Lorenc and Wladyslaw Mazur are concentration camp survivors and veterans of Poland’s Warsaw Uprising of 1944. They do not normally speak about their wartime experiences at a Christmas party. But, with the large number of children always present at the annual Christmas party of the Polish American Congress (PC), President Frank Milewski and Political Activities Chairman Chet Szarejko invited them to spend a few moments to tell the children what it was like to live as a teenager in German-occupied Poland in World War II.

"Holocaust studies in public schools don’t usually accentuate the story of Polish Catholics like Mrs. Lorenc and Mr. Mazur. We thought our Polish American kids should be made aware of what such people went through," said Szarejko, a former history teacher on Long Island.

Both speakers were members of the Polish Underground [Armia Krajowa - AK] and both were arrested by the Germans and sent to concentration camps.

During the Uprising, Mazur miraculously survived two German bullets that grazed his neck and a third one that pierced into his hip. Even a German soldier’s rifle butt to his head was unable to finish him off. While a prisoner in a German concentration camp, an SS guard kicked Lorenc’s face to a bloody pulp after she threw a piece of bread to a starving and pleading Jew. She considered herself lucky because she could have gotten a bullet in her head instead.

Lorenc’s parents and a brother are honored at Israel’s Yad Vashem as Righteous Among the Nations for rescuing and sheltering twelve Jews during the Holocaust. Another brother was part of an Armia Krajowa unit that tried to blow out a hole in the wall of the Warsaw Ghetto to let Jews escape. But, neither this brother nor Lorenc were ever honored as "Righteous," because the Jews they helped were not around to testify that the events really happened. Israel’s Yad Vashem does not count anyone this way unless the rescued Jew will validate it.

Warsaw (PMN)—"Rabbit a la Berlin" ["Krolik po Berlinsku"] has been nominated for an Oscar in the Best Short Documentary category. The film is a Polish-German co-production of Anna Wydra MS Films, TVP and ma.ja.de filmproduktion, MDR, RBB in association with ARTE, YLE, Lichtpunt and VPRO. It is supported by the Polish Film Institute, MEDIA Programme of the European Union and Andrzej Wajda Master School of Film Directing.

Directed by Bartek Konopka, "Rabbit a la Berlin" tells the story of thousands of wild rabbits which inhabited the so-called "death zone" of the Berlin Wall, a strip of land between two walls full of fresh grass and ideal for the animals. For years the rabbits lived there, the guards of the Wall keeping them safe.

"The film is an allegory presenting the history of Eastern Europe from a rabbit’s perspective," said TVP spokeswoman, Aleksandra Biernacka, from TVP’s division of film festivals.

Other nominees for Oscar in Short Documentary category include: China’s "Unnatural Disaster: The Tears of Sichuan Province" about children killed in an earthquake in China in 2008, "The Last Campaign of Governor Booth Gardner" about the legalization of assisted suicide, "The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant," about unemployment, and "Music by Prudence," about s disabled Zimbabwean singer.

Film critic Andrzej Kolodynski, editor of the monthly Kino [Cinema], told Polish Radio Information Agency (IAR) that "Rabbit a la Berlin" stands a great chance to win an Oscar. "It is a unique, thought-provoking film which shows a certain political situation in Europe in a brilliant and intelligent way," he said.

The winner of the Academy Awards will be announced on March 7, 2010.

Washington, D.C. (PMN)—"The Peasant Prince: Thaddeus Kosciuszko and the Age of Revolution" by Alex Storozynski, continues to win prizes for its contribution to the understanding of American and European History.

On October 15, 2009, this biography of Kosciuszko won the Templar Military History Award, the "Military Order of Saint Louis."

In Warsaw, on November 22, 2009, Poland's Foreign Minister, Radek Sikorski, awarded Alex Storozynski, author of The Peasant Prince with the "Ministry of Foreign Affair’s Laureate Diploma" for outstanding merit in promoting Polish Culture throughout the world.

At its annual meeting in San Diego, on January 9, 2010, The Polish American Historical Association (PAHA), an affiliate of the American Historical Association, awarded the Oskar Halecki Prize to "The Peasant Prince" as "an important monograph that has contributed to the Polish experience in the United States."

On February 2, 2010, Storozynski was awarded The Tadeusz Walendowski Prize from the Polish Library in Washington, D.C. Walendowski was a journalist, filmmaker and dissident, who edited the underground magazine Puls [Pulse] during the communist era in Poland. He later settled in the United States and worked for the Voice of America, and co-founded the Polish Library in Washington, D.C.

Brooklyn, New York (PMN)—An appeal to have Israel’s Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial honor the memory of 1,000 Catholic nuns who hid and protected Jewish children during the German occupation of Poland in World War II was turned down by the Holocaust Martyrs and Heroes Remembrance Authority in Jerusalem.

The request came from Paul Wos of Sarasota, Florida who was a citizen of Poland at the time of the Holocaust. Together with his parents, now deceased, he rescued and sheltered twelve members from two Jewish families during the liquidation of the Warsaw Ghetto in 1943. In 1998, Yad Vashem designated Wos and his parents as Righteous Among the Nations for helping these Jews.

As a "Righteous," Wos feels each of these nuns deserves the recognition just as much as he. The only obstacle is the fact Yad Vashem will not count any aid given a Jew eligible for such recognition unless the Jewish person who was aided steps forth and confirms it with his or her testimony. The Wos family received such testimony from the Jews they saved.

In his appeal, Wos stated, "an estimated 2,000 Jewish children were saved [by the nuns]. At least 1,000 of these religious women took part in this humanitarian project. Yet, only 20 or 30 of this 1,000 plus are officially honored by Israel."

As passionate as he is about seeing every act of Christian charity properly acknowledged, Wos says he understands why Yad Vashem wants to be as cautious and restrictive as it is. But, he wonders if there might be a fundamental problem with a procedure which finds only 3% of the rescuers deserving of remembrance.

Wos was a member of the Armia Krajowa [Home Army], Poland's anti-German, anti-Communist underground resistance and a survivor of the Flossenburg concentration camp. He is a consultant to the Holocaust Documentation Committee of the Polish American Congress (PAC) and its Children of Polish Christian Holocaust Survivors.

He had been a resident of Sea Cliff, New York, for many years and has just relocated to Sarasota, Florida.

Atlanta, Georgia (PMN)—"Dreams and Deeds" was the theme of this year’s National Conference for Social Studies (NCSS) in Atlanta, Georgia, which took place November 13-15, 2009. Once again the American Council for Polish Culture (ACPC) took advantage of this opportunity for its "Polish Perspectives" manned booths to interact with teachers, providing them with historically accurate facts and highlighting Polish contributions to American and world history that are not readily available in American text books. Barbara Lamecha reported recently on the participation of the ACPC.

At this 89th Annual Conference with a gathering of 4,000 educators, ACPC presented Polish perspectives on World War II and Polish contributions to the Allied victory. Because the year 2009 marked the 70th Anniversary of the beginning of WWII and the 20th of the Solidarity Movement’s success in expelling Communism, materials were prepared that highlighted Poland’s accomplishments during those periods of time.

ACPC invested in a new display unit and filled it with educational posters that were acquired especially for this year’s conference. The poster "Poland First to Fight" was the main focus, supported by posters featuring Irena Sendler’s heroic deeds, the Battle of Monte Cassino, Solidarity, and a few other posters bearing significant historical facts. Also on display was the poster dedicated to the Kosciuszko Squadron, which was created by the Polish Cultural Club of Greater Hartford.

The ACPC display tables were piled high with books and other printed materials such as: "A Question of Honor", "Null and Void", "Warsaw Uprising", "Enigma", "Night of Flames", "The Mermaid and the Messerschmitt", and perennial favorites "Zegota" and "Legacy of the White Eagle." Available for distribution were smaller versions of the posters on display, book marks, WWII documentary DVDs, and ACPC’s custom designed CD containing many resources hyperlinked to websites of all the supporting organizations, as well as other resources.

Another very important addition this year was the WWII brochure "For Your Freedom and Ours," reprinted by ACPC with permission from the Polish Combatants of Canada. All 4,000 conference registrants received a copy in their NCSS convention tote bags.

For the first time, the ACPC presented a program before a live audience, "World War II: Perspectives on Fear." It was selected as a presenter by the NCSS Planning Committee out of 900 applicants. The presentation was followed by a "question and answer" session.

Washington, D.C. (PMN)—A two-day conference commemorating the life and works of the prolific Polish avant-garde writer and artist Stanislaw Ignacy Witkiewicz (better known as Witkacy) is scheduled for Thursday and Friday, February 25-26, 2010, at the National Polish Center in Washington, D.C.

Witkacy’s impressive contributions to drama, literature, painting, portraiture, photography, and philosophy reflected a unique world view that often intimately combined artistic form with socio-political content. On the 125th anniversary of his birth, National Polish Center aims to reassess his work, to demonstrate his continuing relevance in the 21st Century, and to build on the growing and diverse studies devoted to the artist in Poland and in the U.S.

The Center has issued a call for papers and contributions to the topic: "Witkacy: 21st Century Perspectives." A selection committee will consider all submissions, but will favor those devoted to studies that focus on the interplay of the individual versus society in Witkacy’s work across the genres.

Contact Mark Rudnicki at mrudnick@gmu.edu regarding the deadline and rules for submission of abstracts, which should be 250-300 words in length and sent in a Microsoft Word document.

The conference keynote speakers will be Prof. Lech Sokol of the Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences and Prof. Daniel Gerould of C.U.N.Y. For more information on the conference and other events surrounding the Witkacy2010 Festival, visit http://www.witkacy2010.com .

Information about the National Polish Center may be found at http://www.nationalpolishcenter.org .