An Open Letter to the U.S. Congress and President of the United States

The Polish American Congress expresses its deep concern over the recent military and political acts of aggression of the Russian Federation towards its European neighbors. We are alarmed by the violations of territorial integrity of its contiguous sovereign states and the blatant impudence of the information warfare conducted by the Russian Federation worldwide.

We object in strongest terms to the recent attempts by President Vladimir Putin to justify the Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact of August 23, 1939 pursuant to which Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union secretly agreed to “a territorial and political rearrangement of the areas belonging to the Polish state” and left a decision as to “whether the interests of both parties make desirable the maintenance of an independent Polish state and how such a state should be bounded” to be determined by the two aggressors. The Nazi-Soviet Pact led to the joint Nazi-Soviet aggression on the sovereign Polish State in September 1939. The two aggressors divided Poland between themselves and closely cooperated in combating Polish resistance, in particular the extermination of Polish elites. Those treacherous pacts led to the unprecedented genocide committed on the Polish civilian population by both Nazi Germany’s Gestapo and the Soviet Union’s NKVD.

While crimes committed by the Nazi regime have been disclosed, adjudicated and condemned, the crimes committed by the Soviet regime have not been fully disclosed and were never properly adjudicated and condemned by the international community. To this day, no justice has been served for the Katyn Massacre crime, one of the most heinous crimes of WWII, when an estimated 22,000 Polish intellectuals and leaders were mass murdered by the Soviet NKVD secret police by a pistol shot to the back of each of their heads and buried in unmarked secret mass graves.

Today’s Russia uses historical propaganda as an effective weapon to regain the status of a world power once again at the expense her Central and Eastern European neighbors. Today’s Russia denies the historic reality of Soviet responsibility for its trademark crimes of WWII and attempts to justify the annexation of half of Poland, occupation of the Baltic States, and the Katyn Massacre, just to name some of the Soviet Union’s unaccounted for liabilities.

In light of the traumatic experience of the Polish people subjected to massive extermination by both Nazi and Soviet regimes in the aftermath of the Nazi-Soviet Pact of August 23, 1939, the recent statement by the Russian President that “there is nothing wrong with the Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact” is not only offensive but also very dangerous to the peace and security of today’s world. Such a statement sends a message that criminal practices symbolized and viciously implemented by the Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact are acceptable.

The people of Europe unequivocally condemned the criminal Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact by designating August 23 as the Black Ribbon Day commemorating the victims of Nazi and Soviet totalitarian regimes. The Black Ribbon Day was introduced in the European Parliament by a resolution on European Conscience and Totalitarianism on April 2, 2009. A similar resolution establishing August 23 as the Black Ribbon Day was adopted by the Parliament of Canada on November 30, 2009.

The Polish American Congress strongly condemns in unequivocal terms this 21st century Russian attempt to justify and rehabilitate the immoral Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact that led to the mass extermination of millions of people in Europe. The lessons of Poland’s tragic past must not be forgotten. We shall honor the victims of the Soviet oppression, condemn the perpetrators, and lay the foundation for reconciliation based on truth and remembrance.

Accordingly, we urge the United States Congress to designate August 23 as “Black Ribbon Day” so to never forget the Soviet terror experienced by millions of people of Central and Eastern Europe during the 20th century. We must remember, honor, and learn from the experience of the people subjected to the Soviet Union’s ruthless military, economic, and political repression through mass exterminations, arbitrary executions, mass arrests, deportations, the suppression of free speech, confiscation of property, and the destruction of cultural and moral identity and civil society, all of which deprived the vast majority of the peoples of Central and Eastern Europe of their basic human rights and dignity.

We must ensure that this cruel history never repeats itself and that the memory of these crimes is never forgotten.

Sincerely,

Frank J. Spula,

President

Polish American Congress

CHRISTMAS BAZAAR

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PAC Quarterly General Membership Meeting

Polish American Congress Michigan Division will hold its Quarterly Membership Meeting on Saturday, December 6, at 10:00 am at PAC Headquarters (11333 Joseph Campau, Hamtramck, MI).   After the meeting all our members are invited to a Holiday Reception.

DYŻURY PRAWNICZE W BIURZE MICHIGAŃSKIEGO WYDZIAŁU KPA

HAMTRAMCK, MI – Michigański Wydział Kongresu Polonii Amerykańskiej (KPA) informuje, iż w soboty, w godzinach 10 am – 12:00 pm, w siedzibie KPA w Hamtramck organizowane są DYŻURY PRAWNICZE, w trakcie których współpracujący z KPA prawnicy oferują darmowe konsultacje.

 

W najbliższych tygodniach dyżurować będą:

Sobota, 18 października – Jakub Szlaga

Sobota, 25 października – Michael Lacey

Sobota, 1 listopada – Annette Raczkowski

Sobota, 8 listopada – Jolanta Urbaniak

 

Aby umówić się na spotkanie z prawnikiem należy wcześniej zarejestrować się dzwoniąc do biura KPA na numer telefonu 313-365-9400. Siedziba KPA mieści się przy 11333 Joseph Campau w Hamtramck, MI. Biuro otwarte jest w środy i piątki w godzinach 12:00 pm – 5:00 pm oraz w soboty w godzinach 9:00 am – 2:00 pm.

Komunikat – DARMOWE BADANIA

Kongres Polonii Amerykańskiej wydział na stan Michigan powiadamia, że w sobotę, 25 października, 2014 roku, będą przeprowadzone badania ciśnienia krwi, poziomu cholesterolu i cukru.  Testy będą przeprowadzone przez Detroit Medical Center w godzinach 10:00  rano – 1:00 po południu w siedzibie KPA w Hamtramck przy ulicy 11333  Jos. Campau.  Dobrowolne opłaty na pokrycie kosztów będą akceptowane.  Po dalsze informacje prosimy dzwonić do Kongresu na numer telefonu: 313-365-9400.

Kazimierz Olejarczyk (IN MEMORIAM)

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Rusza nowa loteria wizowa

1 pazdziernika wystartowała amerykańska loteria wizowa. Co roku do zdobycia jest 50 tys. Kart Stałego Pobytu Stanów Zjednoczonych (Green Card), ale na jeden kraj nie może przypaść więcej niż 7 proc. przyznawanych wiz, czyli 3,5 tys.  Przyjmowanie zgłoszeń odbywa się wyłącznie drogą elektroniczną za pośrednictwem strony www.dvlottery.state.gov.  Dokladne informacje dostepne sa (takze w jezyku polskim) na stronie Departamentu Stanu USA.  Ponizej podajemy “link” do instrukcji w jezyku polskim:

http://travel.state.gov/content/dam/visas/DV-2016-Instructions-Translations/DV_2016_Instructions_Polish.pdf

 

 

DYŻURY PRAWNICZE W BIURZE MICHIGAŃSKIEGO WYDZIAŁU KPA

HAMTRAMCK, MI – Michigański Wydział Kongresu Polonii Amerykańskiej (KPA) informuje, iż w soboty, w godzinach 10 am – 12:00 pm, w siedzibie KPA w Hamtramck organizowane są DYŻURY PRAWNICZE, w trakcie których współpracujący z KPA prawnicy oferują darmowe konsultacje.

 

W miesiącu wrześniu dyżurować będą:

Sobota, 13 września – Michael Lacey

Sobota, 20 września – Jakub Szlaga

Sobota, 27 września – Annette Raczkowski

 

Aby umówić się na spotkanie z prawnikiem należy wcześniej zarejestrować się dzwoniąc do biura KPA na numer telefonu 313-365-9400. Siedziba KPA mieści się przy 11333 Joseph Campau w Hamtramck, MI. Biuro otwarte jest w środy i piątki w godzinach 12:00 pm – 5:00 pm oraz w soboty w godzinach 9:00 am – 2:00 pm.

PAC Quarterly General Membership Meeting

Polish American Congress Michigan Division will hold its Quarterly Membership Meeting on Monday, September 15, at 7:00 pm at PAC Headquarters (11333 Joseph Campau, Hamtramck, MI).

PAC-Michigan Presents Scholarship Recipients

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On Wednesday, August 6, the Polish American Congress (PAC) Michigan Division Scholarship Committee held its annual Scholarship Award Dinner during which this year’s recipients of the PAC Scholarships were presented. The event was held at the “Krakus” Restaurant in Detroit.

The presentation was hosted by Wallace Ozog, the Chairman of the PAC Scholarship Fund Committee and Christopher Adamczyk, the Secretary of the Committee.

The PAC Scholarship Fund Committee selected six students awarded a $1000 scholarship each:

– Filip Buniewicz (attending University of Michigan; majoring in Engineering);

– Matthew Piecyk (attending Macomb County Community College; majoring in Psychology);

– Ewa Bieciuk (attending Wayne State University; majoring in Early Childhood Development);

– Michael Anthony Chruściel (attending Wayne State University; majoring in Master of Library and Information Science),

– Ewelina Kutyma (attending Central Michigan University; majoring in Neuroscience),

– Beata Sas (attending Wayne State University; majoring in Psychology).

All recipients, except Filip Buniewicz, were present at the event. Filip has sent a special thank-you letter which during the banquet was read by his father. “I am currently working in Central Lake, MI as a camp counselor at YMCA Camp HayoWentHa. My days off are predetermined and I do not have a car as my disposal. Thank you very, very much for this award. Every little bit helps with the cost of going to a university. I am very happy at the University of Michigan and gifts such as these make it possible for me to be there,” Filip writes in his letter.

Representatives of many Polonian organizations were present to show their support of the scholarship program. Traditionally, representatives of PAC Federal Credit Union came to present their significant monetary contribution to the fund. Other organizations represented at the Dinner included American Polish Cultural Center, PNA Council 122 and Lodge 1758, Polish American Central Citizens Committee, Polish Falcons of America, the Filarets Choir and others.

At the end of the dinner, a raffle took place with prizes donated by members and friends of the Scholarship Fund.

Since its inception, PAC Scholarship Fund has awarded more than 250 students for a total of over $200,000.

Applications for PAC Scholarships are available at www.pacmi.org.