Polish Canadian Heritage Day in Calgary

JUNE 10-11, 2023

 

On Saturday, June 10, 2023  we will  hold a Polish Flag Raising Ceremony at 10:30 a.m. at the  McDougall Centre, Government of Alberta building. 

Click below to read:

POLISH-CANADIAN HERITAGE DAY ACT

There will be a brief celebration, including singing of the Canadian and Polish national anthems, speeches by invited guests and representatives from the Polish Community of Calgary, and dances performed by Polish dance groups.

 

PCHDiA-2023

Whether you have a family connection to these immigrants or simply wish to learn more about the 170,000 Albertans who identify themselves as being Polish-Canadian, please join us on Sunday June 11.  Just bring a physical and intellectual appetite. Admission is free. All welcome.

Add this event to your calendar!

 

polanie

The Polish Canadian Association of Calgary and the Polish Combatants’ Association in Canada, Calgary Branch No.18 invite everyone to a series of events on
June 11, 2023 (Sunday),  
to celebrate the rich history of Alberta’s Polish community on the Polish-Canadian Heritage Day.  

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Time: 11:00 am – 7:00 pm

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Polish Canadian Cultural Centre (Dom Polski)
3015-15 Street North East, Calgary, Alberta

Marta Krowicka with her sons: Franek (in the middle) and Janek in Rhodesia

Marta Krowicka with her sons: Franek (in the middle) and Janek in Rhodesia

A short true story of one Calgary family:

The Krowickis are one of the Polish families who survived the gehenna of the Soviet occupation. Mr. Krowicki  was a war reservist and, as a  military settler, was given land in Stawy on the Bug River, then part of Poland. He settled there with his wife and four children. In 1940, when the Soviets were already reigning over Polish lands, Mr. Krowicki ‘disappeared’ in never-explained circumstances. He most likely shared the dark fate of all the men murdered by the occupying soviet forces. 

Mrs. Krowicki was left alone with her children: five-year-old Frank, twelve-year-old Janek and two older daughters. Their relative, Aunt Sulima from Warsaw, visited the family with the offer to help. Unfortunately, not long after, due to savage Soviet policy against the Poles, the Russians ‘evacuated’ all the Polish villagers by brute force. They were given little to no time to pack their belongings, were all put into ‘freight’ wagons and their meandering began. Aunt Sulima tried to explain that she had come to Stawy only for a few days, but the NKVD (the People’s Commissariat for Internal Affairs) had no interest in this. All five of the Krowicki family, as well as Sulima, were deported to Siberia.

Upon arrival, they shared the fate of thousands deported from their native homes to Siberia. As they recalled, they were able to survive only thanks to the help of local residents, albeit with difficulty. In order to keep her children alive, Mrs. Krowicki was forced to give them to an orphanage. Although their fate was not much better there either, they were at least provided with daily bread. This life lasted over two years. The two daughters did not survive the gulag.

 

Following the signed treaty by Prime Minister Sikorski and the Soviets, many families with children had the opportunity to leave Siberia. Mrs. Krowicki was one of the lucky ones who were able to take this opportunity. Going through Kazakhstan, Persia… the Krowicki family, now only four – Mom, Franek, Janek and Aunt Sulima – together with other Polish families lived Rhodesia, in Africa around till 1950.

As some families wanted to return to Poland, one of the resident priests travelled there to inquire whether it was possible and worth it to go back.The results of this ‘spy’ mission are unknown, as the Krowicki family took another opportunity. At the time, Mrs. Krowicki’s brother was living in Saskatchewan, and our heroes decided to join him there.

After finally arriving on Canadian soil, Mrs. Krowicki avoided talking about this nightmarish part of her life. Janek started a family and settled permanently in Saskatchewan, while Franek ventured outward, eventually settling in Calgary where he made a life for himself – his wife and children still live here to this day.

The story of Mr. and Mrs. Krowicki is one shared by many families and is certainly one worth remembering, if only to ensure such tragedies never happen again.

Sunday at the Polish Canadian Cultural Centre

 JUNE, 11 2023

 

 

This year we will honour and remember  The Generation of World War II. We will learn about the incredible events that led to this amazing generation of Polish immigrants being forced to leave Poland and find a haven in Canada (with many stops in between).

It is a big story, with many chapters. On Polish Canadian Heritage Day,  you can hear some of them.

Their story begins in Poland, the first country to fight back against Nazi Germany, the only country to be attacked in September 1939 not just by Germany but also by Soviet Russia; the first country not to surrender; the country with the biggest resistance and the only resistance ultimately recognized as an Allied army; the only country with a special POW camp in German-occupied Europe just for Polish women; the only country that fought with the Allies on every front, on land, on sea, and in the air from the first day of WWII until the very last.

And then, in an ironic twist, they were the only ones who were not able to go home, to enjoy a Victory Parade. Instead, their allies gave their country to the Soviet Union which established a puppet communist government. Stalin called the Polish resistance and the forces that fought in the West “fascists,” a label Putin uses against the Ukrainian government. At this time of their mighty resistance, we extend our support to our Ukrainian friends.

 

Unable to go home to a free country, the Polish veterans and families sought another refuge. Many came to Alberta. Here, they rebuilt their shattered lives and made an important contribution to the building of our province. It is their lives and their stories we want to honour.

11:00 – 19:00

  •  A delicious array of culinary specialties from the Polish kitchen will be served all day in the  Main Hall.
    Don’t eat before you arrive.

  • Book tables by Shelf Life Books and Calgary’s Polish Library will display a large collection of books in English on Polish themes or by Polish authors.
    Shelf Life Books will have its books available to be purchased.

  • A panel discussion will take place  after the presentations of our three speakers.

  • There will be screening of two documentaries:

    ◊    A Web of War, directed by Brian McKenna, was the first  documentary made for the CBC about Poland in WWII. Broadcast nationwide in 1994, it features veterans of the Polish First Armoured Division and of the underground resistance in Poland, as well as a liaison officer from the Canadian forces, Pierre Sevigny, in time a defence minister in a Progressive Conservative government.

    ◊    A Forgotten Odyssey, produced and directed by London-based Jagna Wright and Aneta Naszynska in the 1990s, it was first broadcast on the British History Channel in 2001. The first documentary ever made about the deportation of Poles by the Red Army to the camps and prisons of the Gulag in the Soviet Union, it features survivor testimony and interviews with prominent historians. In English and Polish (with English subtitles)

 

Let’s celebrate  together 

“A Web of War”

Documentary Film

11:30 am

 

Polish Folk Dance Performances

Polanie, Mazovia, Krakusy, Młodzi Duchem

1:30 pm

 

Presentations followed by Panel Discussion

Three Presentations:
Commencing at 2:45 pm

1. From the Snows of Siberia to the Snows of
Kilimanjaro: A Children’s Odyssey

By writer, Irene Tomaszewski

 

2. Polish War Veterans in Alberta:
The Last Four Stories

By author Aldona Jaworska

 

3. Wanda’s War: An Untold Story of Nazi Europe, Forced
Labour and a Canadian Immigration Scandal

By author Marsha Faubert

 

“A Forgotten Odyssey”

Documentary Film

6:00 pm

Speaker: Marsha Faubert

 

Wanda’s War: An Untold Story of Nazi Europe, Forced Labour and Canadian Immigration Scandal

Canadian lawyer and writer, Marsha Faubert, unravels the stoical silence of her Polish in-laws whose experiences encapsulate the distinctly Polish war experience: both German and Russian captivity. With legal discipline and deep insight, her book, Wanda’s War: An Untold Story of Nazi Europe, Forced Labour and a Canadian Immigration Scandal is a master class in research and resolution. She will also be hosted at Shelf-Life Books on Thursday evening, the 8thof June at 7:00 pm. 
Shelf Life Books will have its books available to be purchased.

 

Speaker: Irene Tomaszewski

From the Snows of Siberia to the Snows of Kilimanjaro: A Children Odyssey…

Writer Irene Tomaszewski will present From the Snows of Siberia to the Snows of Kilimanjaro, A children’s odyssey from Russian captivity to a variety of countries, cultures and unexpected acts of kindness, a journey spanning four continents and two oceans with a constellation of places, cultures and personalities, sorrows and joy, and a cast of thousands. Irene Tomaszewski will tell us the amazing story (some would call it a travelogue) of how the Generation of World War II made their way to Canada.

Speaker: Aldona Jaworska

Polish War Veterans in Alberta: The Last Four Stories

Calgarian Aldona Jaworska, who grew up in Soviet-controlled Poland, arrived in Canada in 1990 had heard very little about the Polish forces who fought with the Western allies, and why they couldn’t go home… because that history had been banned. Shock led to curiosity to research and the result is a gripping book, Polish War Veterans in Alberta: The Last Four Stories. A much-appreciated connection between the generations.  

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* Polish Canadians Association of Calgary, * Polish Combatants' Association in Canada – Calgary Branch No. 18, * Canadian Polish Congress
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