NEW BOOK REVEALS POLISH
GANGSTER HISTORY IN BUFFALO

Buffalo, New York (PMN)—Eighty-one years ago the Buffalo, New York, Police were battling a wave of Prohibition-era crime throughout the city as criminals seemingly took over the streets. Now a book chronicling the lives of a gang of Polish gangsters details their crimes against complete strangers, as well as their own gang members.

Buffalo native Michael F. Rizzo's latest book, "They Call Me Korney: The True Story of Buffalo's Korney Gang," covers the crimes of one gang of thugs. But, who was this Korney? He was John Kwiatkowski, the dapper, well-dressed leader of a gang of bandits. At this time in Buffalo’s history the city’s East Side residents were predominantly of Polish descent and Korney’s gang came right from those neighborhoods. They led a rampage of murders and robberies between 1925 and 1929 that stunned the city and captured the headlines for months.

Why did Rizzo choose this particular time and gang? "As far as I can tell," Rizzo said, "there are no books about Polish gangsters in America. So when I stumbled upon their story by accident, I felt it had to be told. They were ruthless thieves and killers trying to make a living through bootlegging and robbery, but in the end it would all come crashing down on them."

Rizzo found there were actually many more Polish gangsters from that era, but felt the Korney gang deserved their story told first.

How has the Polish community felt about this dark side of their past? "Surprisingly positive," Rizzo explains. "I have received calls from retired police officers and others who were excited that this story was being told. They aren’t proud of the death and destruction the gang perpetrated, but they are glad that someone is telling another aspect of their history."

The 208-page book is action packed and full of rare photos. It is available in book and gift shops as well as Amazon.com and as an ebook on Smashwords.com. More information is available at http://bigkorney.blogspot.com .

Warsaw (PMN)—An exhibition entitled "Ars Homo Erotica" has opened at the National Museum in the Polish capital Warsaw. It features gay, lesbian and transgender themes from ancient art to modern works. According to Polish Market Online, the show is a presentation of classical works featuring homoerotic motifs from the National Museum collection, as well as paintings, sculptural pieces, posters and installations from countries that have emerged from the former Soviet bloc.

One of the featured artists is Katarzyna Kozyra, a Polish transsexual who became well known in the 1990s with a series of striking images of herself, dressed as a cheerleader, entering a male sauna. She is also known for her video art, in which she explores transgender topics. Curator Pawel Leszkowicz said, "Her works are about extending imagination, playing with disguises and costumes. In art anything can happen, and this exhibition testifies to the same fact."

Parts of the show are addressed to young gay visitors who are still grappling with their identity. Artist Tomek Kitlinski designed an installation featuring seminal works in international gay fiction. "When you are a teenager you need some role models and experiences with which you can identify. Books provide such examples" he explained.

The National Museum board of trustees congratulated the organizers on their courage and the impact of the show. Board member Jack Lohman said, "This museum is a national museum. And as such it is for the nation, that is for the whole nation, not just one part of it. I am also struck by the depth of meaning of this show: the show of ‘the other.’ We are all ‘other’ in many respects."

Polish Market Online says the organizers are aware that an exhibition featuring explicit male nudes is something quite new to mainstream Polish art lovers. But, Curator Pawel Leszkowicz explains that the show is consistent with a change of course in the museum’s philosophy under new director Piotr Piotrowski: "The new director … wants to get the museum involved in a critical discussion about the status of democracy and human rights and political debates in Poland. This exhibition is his first step."

The exhibition, which is attracting large numbers of visitors, is scheduled to last until September.

POLISH SURVIVORS REMEMBER
OPENING OF AUSCHWITZ

Brooklyn, N.Y. (PMN)—Polish Catholic survivors of Auschwitz Andrew Garczynski and Walter Kolodziejek presented a copy of Dr. Richard Lukas’ book "Forgotten Holocaust — Poles Under German Occupation 1939-1944" to Asher Novek from the office of John Liu, Comptroller of New York City. Novek represented Comptroller Liu at the plenary meeting of the Downstate N.Y. Division of the Polish American Congress (PAC) held at Greenpoint’s Polish & Slavic Center.

The meeting coincided with the 70th anniversary of the day Hitler’s SS began operating the dreaded Auschwitz concentration camp on June 14, 1940. After invading and occupying Poland nine months earlier, the Germans rounded up and sent 728 Polish prisoners from Tarnow to Auschwitz on the first transport recorded there.

Although Garczynski was sent to Auschwitz in 1943, his brother Stanley (now deceased) was one of those early arrivals and came there on the second transport from Tarnow.

For the first two years it operated, most of the prisoners in Auschwitz were Polish, according to Garczynski. Mass transports of Jews began arriving there in early 1942 after the Germans developed the idea of the "Final Solution" at the Wannsee Conference. By the time the camp was liberated in 1945, Jews represented the largest group murdered there. Poles were the second largest.

Kolodziejek was marked as prisoner No. 2254 when he arrived in Auschwitz in August, 1940, barely two months after the first transport of Polish prisoners. Adjusting to his new status as a concentration camp inmate was enough of a trauma. He then found out that the German doctors picked him to become one of the first prisoners in Auschwitz for their special experiments.

The PAC combined the 70th anniversary of the Auschwitz opening with the 70th anniversary remembrance of the Katyn Massacre. At Katyn, the Russians methodically executed 22,000 Polish officers, priests, professors, doctors, lawyers and other professionals during April and May of that year. Just as soon as the Russians completed their grisly murders at Katyn, the Germans then opened their Auschwitz death factory in June to begin killing more Poles.

Chicago (PMN)—The well-known Przybylo family, owners and operators of the equally famous White Eagle Banquet Hall, received the 2010 Polish Spirit Award from the Polish Museum of America for their commitment to serving the Polish community.

The Polish Spirit Award was initiated in 1987 by the Polish Museum's board of directors to recognize individuals or groups that have shown consistent and outstanding support of and service to Polonia.

The Przybylo tradition of service to the Polish community is decades old. Ted Przybylo, a second-generation American, won a Silver Star and numerous other commendations in World War II. He opened his first tavern in 1938 and, with his new wife Alice, and his second tavern in 1949. By 1966 the business had expanded to include off-site catering, and the Przybylos decided to move everything to a suburban area, where they built their landmark 66,000 sq.ft. banquet hall, restaurant and gift shop at 6839 Milwaukee Ave., Niles, Illinois.

Once he had achieved success, Ted Przybylo turned to focus on benefiting others in the Polish community. In the 1970s he founded the United Polish American Councils, bringing together businessmen to provide support and guidance to young Polish entrepreneurs. Later in that decade he served as President of the Polish Welfare Association. In this capacity he was instrumental in finding jobs and shelter for many of the refugees that arrived in Chicago from Poland during the Solidarity movement of the early 1980s. Andrew Przybylo said his father’s involvement with the Polish Welfare Association was one of his finest moments.

"Way back in 1970s, the question was whether or not the Polish Welfare Association had the resources to continue social welfare work," Andrew Przybylo said. "He got together with a lot of people, and made sure that the only social welfare association for Polish Americans was not going to go out of business. He revitalized it."

Upon her husband's death in 1992, Alice Przybylo continued his efforts with the T.S.P. Foundation, focusing on providing financial aid and support for needy villages in Poland, including an orphanage, Lubzina (the parish of Ted’s mother, Karolina Paruch Przybylo); an institute for mentally disabled men in Debica; and a children’s hospital and orphanage in Tarnow, which, in gratitude for their support, planted a tree in Ted and Alice’s honor.

All six Przybylo siblings have been busy with service, and most have continued the business of running the White Eagle. Althea Kroger served as a Vermont State Senator and now runs a charitable institute in Poland, where she lives. Vivian Kolpak is a co-general manager of the White Eagle and a veteran fund-raiser. Andrew Przybylo is a co-general manager of the White Eagle, a Niles village trustee, a former President of the Polish Welfare Association and the Secretary for the Cook County Zoning Board of Appeals. Alice Pawlicki is the office manager and human resources executive for the White Eagle and past director of the Liponi Foundation for the Physically Handicapped. Vicki Pindras is the dining and customer-relations manager at the White Eagle. Ted Przybylo, Jr., is the executive chef at the White Eagle and a former President of the Niles Public Library District.

The Przybylo family was honored with the award on June 11, 2010, at the Polish Museum of America’s Summer Ball at the Rosemont Hotel at O’Hare.

[This article is adapted from a report by Alex Mcleese, a contributor to the Park Ridge Herald-Advocate.]

Philadelphia, Pa. (PMN)—The American Council for Polish Culture (ACPC) held its Spring 2010 Board Meeting in Philadelphia, April 16-17, 2010. ACPC President Debbie Majka and Polish Heritage Society of Philadelphia President Teresa N. Wojcik cooperated to make the weekend meeting a memorable and interesting event. Their plans included a celebration, a dedication and unveiling of a historical State marker to be placed at the site of aeronautical helicopter pioneer Frank N. Piasecki’s first engineering office.

Majka presided over the business sessions, wherein various committee chairmen presented their reports. Chairman Camille Kopielski reported on the ACPC’s 2010 grant of $2,000 for university students’ summer studies in Poland.

Co-Chairman Barbara Lemecha reported on the role ACPC played in the 89th Annual National Conference for the Social Studies at Atlanta, Georgia, in November, 2009. The Council’s "Polish Perspectives" booths offered a rich variety of books, posters, bookmarks and audio/visual materials contributed by Polonia groups and individuals that highlighted Poland’s roles during WWII. All 4,000 registered conference participants received a brochure "For Your Freedom and Ours," which the ACPC reproduced with permission from the Polish Combatants of Canada. For the very first time ACPC presented a program at a National Conference for the Social Studies before a live audience, "WWII Perspectives on Fear," a presentation selected by the Conference Committee from among 900 other applicants.

Membership Chairman Anna-Mae Maglaty reported that the ACPC welcomes a new supporting organization, the Polish Falcons of America. Since the Council’s Fall 2009 board meeting, it also gained 39 new individual members, including 19 Pulaski Scholarship applicants.

Dr. Maria Winnicka, President of the Polish Arts Club of Elmira, New York, invited the ACPC Board members to Elmira for its Fall Board Meeting, October 29-30, 2010. She revealed that arrangements have already been made with the Holiday Inn and the White Eagle Club for meetings, lunch and dinner. On Saturday evening, a piano concert is scheduled. A second phase of the program will feature a Chopin concert by young aspiring pianists. The Board unanimously decided to present a very special award during the meeting in Elmira to their Club’s member, Raymond J. Winieski, for his creative cultural efforts over many years throughout the Polish American community.

[This article is adapted from a report by Jo Louise Winters.]

Hinsdale, Illinois (PMN)—Founder of "For The Good Of Illinois" and former Independent Republican gubernatorial candidate Adam Andrzejewski will be the key to the Illinois Republican Party’s outreach and "Get-Out-The-Vote" efforts within the Polish-American community.

When running for Illinois Governor Andrzejewski was endorsed by and maintains a friendship with former Polish President Lech Walesa. In January, 2010 Walesa said that he sees Andrzejewski as a "… young Ronald Reagan." Other than Reagan, Walesa had never endorsed another American politician.

The Illinois Republican Party has rarely endorsed a Pole for any office and Andrzejewski ran for governor as an Independent Republican, making his campaign an uphill battle.

"People of Polish descent understand the effect of a strong central government and of ‘command and control’ bureaucracies. The historical Polish motto, 'For Our Freedom and Yours' is just one example of the liberty principles deeply ingrained within the Polish community. The Polish-American community will help the Illinois Republican Party reverse the government centric paradigm advocated by Illinois Democrats. This strategic relationship will be critical to the future of Illinois and America," Andrzejewski said.

Andrzejewski is working to form an action organization of a dozen volunteers to help network the Polish voting community.