Polonica Americana Research Institute Open House

This Sunday 5 April 2009 we are holding an Open House for the Polonica Americana Research Institute.
Open from 11am to 4pm we are located on the OLS campus in the Activities Building.
You will find us in the Panorama Room.
http://mipolonia.net/pari.html

Please take the PARI survey

The Polonica Americana Research Institute (PARI) is a new department of The Polish Mission on the historic campus of St. Mary's of Orchard Lake, Michigan.
We are developing classes, seminars, and workshops for family historians.
While Polish is our specialty, we are planning sessions for genealogists in general, as well.
Please give us feed back on our tentative topics.

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=PyEfGzM27gTTavwaSGXTRA_3d_3d

Archive, Library, and Museum of the Association of Former Political Prisoners of World War II

The Archive, Library, and Museum of the Association of Former Political Prisoners of German and Soviet Concentration Camps was opened on December 2, 1990. The archives contains documents of actions undertaken by the Association in order to help all former prisoners of German and Soviet camps obtain legal status. In additional to appeals, it has the correspondence to different political figures in various countries regarding the status of war prisoners.

Personal documents are complete in this section.
Collections in the Library consist of literature pertaining to the history of particular camps at Brzezinka, Majdanek, Dachau, Gross-Rosen, Oswiecim, Ravensbrück, and Sachsenhausen. There are also complete sets o periodicals s, such as Zeszytach Oświęcimskich an alphabetical listing of c. 900 Auschwitz prisoners whose names appear in the books of the 'karnej kompanii,' the 'punishment company' and Przeglad Lekarski (Medical Review).

The Museum contains enormous artworks illustrated the martyrdom of prisoners and their tragic life. Original photographs which were taken in various concentration camps set a dramatic scene. A showcase contains samples of ground from Oświęcim, camp wire, and prison uniforms. A large tapestry of St. Maxmillian Maria Kolbe, prisoner and martyr of Oświęcim, hangs on one of the walls along with maps of Nazi concentration camps on Poland, Germany, and other occupied terrorizes. These collections have an enormous educational significance for the younger generations.

Archive, Library, and Museum of the Polish Air Force

The Archive, Library, and Museum of the Polish Air Force was opened on September 1, 1990, on the occasion of the 18th World Congress of the Polish Air Force in Detroit. This collection is composed of reports and minutes of air force groups. Personal folders are filled with identification cards, photographs, and various documents. Museum objects are located in showcases.

The walls of the Museum are filled with original air force uniforms, distinctions, coats of arms, caps, diplomas, materials from world meetings, and photographs of airplanes and pilots. Models of airplanes used by Polish pilots also hang in the Museum.

The Library contains a complete set of publications connected with the World Congresses of the Polish Air Force and Polish pilots from the United States and Canada. Other publications concern the activity of the Alliance of Polish Pilots. The Library also has a set of the monthly periodical Skrzydaa, published in London. Special attention is given to documents concerning the plane crash and death of Gen. Władysław Sikorski at Gibraltar.

Archive, Library, and Museum of the First Polish Armored Division

On July 2, 1989 the Museum, Archive, and Library of the First Polish Tank Division, which was named after Gen. S. Maczek, was opened. The Museum consists of sections: I Polish Tank Division, the Voluntary Polish Army in Canada, and Women Soldiers AK. Each section has its own archive, library, and collection.

The Library contains literature concerning the history of I Division and other Polish military formations. It contains also a set of the periodical, Pancerniak. Showcases hold exhibits of original weapons, soldiers' equipment, and uniforms. A special showcase contains miniature military equipment of I Division. The exhibits of the Polish Army in Canada and Women Soldiers AK enrich the entire, impressive Museum.

Polish Army Veterans' Association of America

In 1993 the collection of the Society of Polish Army Veterans in America was established as a separate collection. The Museum contains banners of posts of District VI of the Society of Polish Army Veterans in America, military uniforms, badges, diplomas, identification cards, and various memorabilia. The walls are covered with photographs of different veterans' observances.

The Archive owns a great number of diverse reports and minutes from sessions of the Society's directors and plenary meetings of the board of the Society of Polish Army Veterans in America. The minutes of all the congresses of District VI of the Society in Hamtramck, annual reports of particular posts of the Society; financial accounts, reports of the general adjutant of the Society of Polish Army Veterans in America, and programs of various national and social sessions and enterprises are also in the collection.

The Library contains accounts from conferences of the Society of Polish Army Veterans in America, the Women's Aid Corps, and the Society of Friends (Zwiazku Przyjaciól). Separate collections consist of diaries of posts in the United States published upon their 25th, 35th, 50th, and 60th anniversaries. There are also printings for the anniversaries of military actions: The 50th Anniversary of the Campaign from 1920 (1920- 1970); The Memorial Book of the 60th Anniversary of Military Actions of American Polonia; The Memorial Book of the 70th Anniversary (1917-1987) of Military Actions of American and Canadian Polonia.

Archive, Library, and Museum of the Polish Army 2nd Corps

In 1983 the Foundation and Center of the Polish Army Second Corps established the Archive, Library, and Museum of the Second Corps at the Orchard Lake Schools. The Archive consists of documentation of personal acts of soldiers from the Second Corps.

Folders contain identity cards, letters, diplomas, distinctions, correspondence and pictures from the battlefield. The collection includes a large group of operation plans, movies, videos, and documentation of the Archives of Kola Karpatczykow and of the Association of the Soldiers of the 5th Kresowa Infantry Division from Chicago.

There are separate materials regarding the P.S.K. and an abbreviated history of 316 and 317 Transport Companies (Kompanii Transporterów) P.S.K. in the Second Corps.
The library contains books, brochures, jubilee diaries, periodicals, and records with an inventory arranged according to general sections. Photo albums depict activity of Great Units of II Corps (Wielkich Jednostek 2 Korpusu).

The section devoted to Katyn is also very extensive. The Monte Cassino section contains battle plans in Polish, English and Italian. In addition to scientific works, the collection includes diaries, albums, publications and letters of soldiers killed and buried at the Military Cemetery at Monte Cassino. Diaries and reminiscences form the most extensive book section. Also valuable are periodicals and occasional publications.

The Museum of the Second Corps contains hundreds of original exhibits connected with soldiers' daily life. The walls and showcases are filled with medals, commendations, uniforms original operation maps, hundreds of pictures, and different memorabilia.

The accumulated collections testify that the soldiers of the Second Corps are very concerned with preserving their history for posterity.

Establishing Division 3

Establishing Division 3

The weekend of 4-6 September 2009


Attendees are invited to the Panorama Room building to listen to Grzegorz Dąbrowski. He is a member of WWII Polish Army Historical Association, 12 Pułk Ułanow Podolskich, a reenactment group that commemorates the Polish Army. They will give an overview of their organization and announce the formation of Division 3 at Orchard Lake. It is non-profit organization and becomes the support group of the military collections on campus. (Appendix D) They will display their uniforms and weapons, and show documentation of their reenactment held in August, 2009. The military museums will be staffed with docents and open for viewing in the Panorama Room building.

Catholic Survivor and Artist Jan Komski (1915 -2002)

Catholic Survivor and Artist Jan Komski (1915 -2002)

Presentation: 5 September 2009

Lecture and exhibit of the work of Jan Komski, a retired Washington Post artist who, during five years of World War II, survived five concentration camps in Poland and Germany.

On June 14, 1940, Mr. Komski was in the first group of about 750 prisoners assigned to Auschwitz, in southern Poland, on the day it opened. On April 29, 1945, he was in the Dachau concentration camp in Germany when the camp was liberated by the U.S. Army. In 1949, after four years in displaced-persons camps in Germany, Mr. Komski came to the United States He continued painting and drawing until shortly before his death, producing art scenes of death, barbed wire, brutality and starvation from the concentration camp years, 1940 to 1945. His work has been displayed at the Auschwitz memorial museum in Poland, at shows in Houston and Chicago, and in the collection of The Polish Mission. The reason I am doing these paintings is because I always thought it only destiny or providence that allowed me to live when I knew there were tens of thousands of people who died there.

Survivor and Artist Adam Grochowski Grant (1924-1992)

Survivor and Artist Adam Grochowski Grant (1924-1992)
Presentation on: 5 September, 2009

Peggy Grant, Art Director and Curator, will present the work of her husband Adam Grochowski (Grant) a survivor of concentration camps. A Roman Catholic growing up in Poland, he was an 18-year-old arrested in a Nazi roundup in January, 1943. He was sent to the Mauthausen concentration camp, surviving largely because of his artistic talent, which Nazi officers made use of. After the war, the artist lived in a displaced persons' camp in Germany for five years before being allowed to immigrate to the Polish enclave of Hamtramck, Mich.

Harvest Fest Dożynki Sunday, October 4, 2009

Harvest Fest Dożynki (Victorian House Grounds)

The community is invited to experience an old fashioned Polish harvest fest Dożynki on the ground of the Victorian house. We want to recreate the spirit of the Polish harvest fest on the shores of Orchard Lake. There will be an area set up for those who bring their own picnic baskets, as well as picnic fare for sale. Artisans will demonstrate how to create the traditional wheat weavings and wreaths. It is opportunity to incorporate community members so that a wider audience can share and learn about Polish customs, culture, and contributions to society and community.

2009 Events: Commemoration and Celebration

The Polish Mission is developing two weekend events.
Commemoration 1 September 1939 and Celebration 1909-2009

5 September 2009 – Commemorating the Invasion of Poland 1 September 1939

We are inviting Polish and American veterans to campus for a commemoration which honors those who fought and those who died during World War II. We have four museums of Catholic –Polish survivor oral histories, art work, diaries, including the museum of the underground army of Polish resistance fighters during WW II- known as the Home Army. Over 3 million Catholic Poles were killed by the Nazis – but the stories are seldom told outside Polonia. The Polish Mission will also bring the collections to the web. Many of the Home Army soldiers came to Michigan as Displaced Persons and lived their adult lives in Wayne, Oakland, and Macomb Counties. We will record the oral histories of the last surviving Home Army vets.

October- Polish Heritage Month
Celebrates SS Cyril and Methodius Seminary’s 100th Anniversary on the campus of Orchard Lake
The core exhibit will celebrate the pastors, parishioners and parishes, many now closed, which served the immigrant Poles of Michigan. The parishes were shepherded by the priests trained at the seminary. A call will be sent throughout the state to family historians, genealogists, and parishioners to develop exhibits to supplement the core event. Photos, stories, and ephemera exhibited will become part of the Polish Mission digital virtual archives for future researchers. The seminary sent priests to 80% of the Pol-Am parishes in the US. We will hold an old fashioned Polish harvest festival “Dożynki” on the grounds. We are striving to become a community resource at large and an ethnic tourist destination.