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.