Ceremony at Katyn Monument

• PostEagle
• October 9, 2022
• Uncategorized
• 0 Comments

NEW JERSEY – On Sunday, September 18, at 3 p.m., the Committee for the Conservation of the Katyn Monument and Historical Objects organized a ceremony in honor of Polish people murdered during the Second World War and the fourth partition of Poland, which began with the entry of the USSR troops into Poland on September 17, 1939.

Many people attended the ceremony at the Katyn 1940 Monument at Exchange Place in Jersey City, including representatives of local organizations and institutions, such as the Polish Consulate in New York, representatives of the Pulaski Parade, Polish schools, Polish diaspora organizations and Jersey City councilors.

The ceremony was chaired by the President of CCKMHO, Mr. Boguslawa Huang, who, after greeting the gathered people, invited them to sing hymns; Polish and American under the leadership of Julia Bielska and Anna Rutkowska

In her short speech, the chairwoman emphasized the importance of the ceremony in memory of the tragic September of 1939 for the Polish nation. She noted what a great sacrifice our ancestors made on the altar of our Homeland in the German aggression and the Soviet attack of September 17, 1939.

Then, under the leadership of Fr. Jacek Napora, the gathered people said a prayer for the victims of the tragic September 1939. and victims of the terrorist attack of September 11, 2001. A moment of silence was honored by the memory of Janusz Sporek-President of KOPKiOH and Michael Yun, Jersey City councilor, who supported us in the fight to defend the monument in 2018, as well as the creator of this monument, Andrzej Pytyński.

The ceremony was attended by the Consul of the Republic of Poland in New York, Mrs. Karolina Kasprzak, who read the occasional letter from the Consul General of the Republic of Poland in New York, Adrian Kubicki.

Councilor Boggiano read the proclamation of the Mayor of Fulop, declaring, at the request of the Committee for the Protection of the Katyn Monument and Historical Objects, September 18, the day of commemoration of the victims of the Katyn genocide of 1940. Councilor Jousef Saleh, Jersey City councilor and Attorney Slawomir Platta, who was the main leader of the Polish diaspora in defense of the monument, also spoke in 2018.

Flowers and wreaths in tribute to the victims of September 1939 were presented by: Consul of the Republic of Poland from NY – Karolina Kasprzak; Representatives of the Katyn Families – Bogumila and Adam Matuszewski; Siberian’s daughter – Mrs. Elzbieta Sługocka; Representatives of KOPKiOH – Iwona Rachelska, Regina Klimczuk, Wojtek Mazur, Mariusz Bielski and Suzanne Mazurczyk; President of the Katyn Massacre Remembrance Committee – Krzysztof Nowak together with Zdzisław Piątek; President of the Polish American Congress – Andrzej Burghardt with John Czop; Representatives of the organization “Mała Polska” from New Britain – Mariusz and Julia Bielscy; Jersey City Maritime League representatives – Wiesława Walker and Stanley Śmiałek.

Anna Tracz laid flowers for the Headquarters of Polish Supplementary Schools and representatives from Polish diaspora schools in NY and NJ. Polish School of H. Sienkiewicz of Brooklyn, NY Polish School of St. Stanislaus Kostka from Walington, NJ Polish Jagiellonian School from Passaic, NJ Polish School of March. Józef Piłsudski in Jersey City, NJ, which performed for the 44th time with a patriotic program at the Monument to Katyn in 1940. The artistic program was entitled “Memory and History” and included reciting poems and singing patriotic songs. Among the outstanding guests who took part in the ceremony, Jadwiga Kopala, the Great Marshal of the Pulaski Parade in 2021, should also be mentioned. Grazyna Michalska – President of the Polish American Congress for the lower state of New York and veterans Jerzy Korzeniowski and Zbigniew Herman At the end, the President of the Katyn Monument Conservation Committee, Boguslawa Huang, on behalf of the entire Board, thanked the people for participating in the celebration, and with a strong emphasis she called on young people to keep in their memory the stories of Poland from 1939 and the lessons that can be learned from this history lesson. Everyone sang Rota and the celebrations officially ended. The organizers estimate that 150 to 200 people took part in the ceremony. Michał Krzemień traditionally sponsored sandwiches and the Committee for the Protection of the Katyn Monument organized a Polish lemonade and a Polish Prince Pollo bar for young people and children taking an active part in the ceremony.

Committee for the Conservation of the Katyn Monument and Historical Objects.