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Polish immigrant priest and Auschwitz survivor leaves $1.5 million estate

From the Charleston Daily Mail: W.Va. priest lived as pauper but left princely estate

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A priest who spent his retirement years in Cedar Grove led a pauper’s life but had secret assets totaling more than $1.5 million, officials from the Sheriff’s Tax Department said.

Chief Tax Deputy Allen Bleigh and members of the tax department are currently handling the estate of Father Anthony Wojtus, a priest who ended up in the Kanawha Valley in 1997.

Wojtus died in June 2007 at the age of 77, leaving behind no known family or will. The county was appointed as estate administrator in July 2007.

He was a Polish immigrant and survivor of Auschwitz, one of the Nazi concentration camps during World War II, according to a 2005 newspaper story.

Bleigh and employees of the tax department have put in hundreds of hours since his death, trying to uncover all the assets of the estate and see if there was anyone who could take it over.

The estate included one home and one residence used as a chapel, known as St. Anthony’s Retreat. Both properties are located on Alexander Street in Cedar Grove. However, judging by the condition of the properties, Bleigh said no one expected to find what they did.

“At the time, no one knew that there was an estate of the magnitude there is,” Bleigh said. “The house he lived in was appalling…”

I have friends with relatives in Poland who survived the Nazi German concentration camps. Like this priest, they horde things, live frugally, do all they can to protect what little they have — the psychological consequences of all they endured.

From what I read in the comments to this story this was a fine priest who served his people with great grace and charity.

This article notes that he continued to offer the Tridentine Rite Holy Mass in his private chapel and in 1993 was suspended by his diocese for ministering to those who wished to attend that Rite of the Holy Mass. It appears that workers in the diocese refer to him as “eccentric” and a “loner.” He was likely a priest more attuned to the thinking of the Bishop of Rome than his own bishop.

Offer a prayer for him this evening:

Eternal rest grant unto him O Lord and may the perpetual light shine upon him.
May his soul and the souls of all the faithful departed rest in peace. Amen.

Wieczne odpoczynek racz mu dać Panie, a światłość wiekuista niechaj mu świeci.
Niech odpoczywa w pokoju, Amen.

Réquiem ætérnam dona eis, Dómine, et lux perpétua líºceat eis.
Requiéscant in pace. Amen.

Current Events, Poland - Polish - Polonia, , , ,

The Haunted Manor (Straszny Dwor) in San Francisco, CA

The Pocket Opera presents The Haunted Manor (Straszny Dwor) by Stanislaw Moniuszko (1819 Minsk -1872 Warsaw) in a new translation with lyrics in English.

Straszny dwór

A NEW TRANSLATION of a buoyant and colorful comedy, by a composer revered in Poland as second only to Chopin.

“It is hard to think of a more prodigiously tuneful opera after Mozart than The Haunted Manor” wrote one critic. Greatly beloved in Poland where it is often performed, and where it is considered the quintessential Polish opera, comparable to The Bartered Bride, the quintessential Czech opera, yet it is practically unknown elsewhere. Pocket Opera, nudged by a matching grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, comes to the rescue!

Two young soldiers, in a characteristically Polish burst of patriotic fervor, make a vow to remain single in order to be instantly available in case of need – a not unlikely prospect, considering their homeland’s turbulent history and its precarious location, sandwiched between two powerful and aggressive neighbors, Russia to the East, Prussia to the West.

This causes great consternation among the unmarried ladies in a land largely depleted of eligible men, due to decades of losses on the battlefield. Despite the somber background, a lively, exuberant, romantic comedy emerges, with a parade of colorful characters and a sparkling, ever flowing stream of dancelike melodies – the mazurka, the polonaise, the krakoviak . . .

How does the haunted manor come into play? Come and find out!

Costumes and props on-loan from the Polish Arts and Culture Foundation and Łowiczanie Polish Folk Ensemble. Łowiczanie will perform in the opera. Singers include Patrycja Poluchowicz and Dalyte Kodzis. Rehearsal space for the Pocket Opera partially subsidized by The Polish Club Inc. (San Francisco).

Performances:

  • Sunday, April 19th, 2:00 PM at the Legion of Honor – Florence Gould Theatre at the CPLH, San Francisco, CA
  • Sunday, April 26th, 2:00 PM at the Legion of Honor – Florence Gould Theatre at the CPLH, San Francisco, CA
  • Saturday, May 9th, 2:00 PM at the Julia Morgan Theater – Julia Morgan Center for the Arts, Berkeley, CA

Philip Lowery from Pocket Opera will be interviewed by Zbigniew Stanczyk, “Studio Poland,” to air this coming Sunday, April 19th at 2pm on San Francisco’s KUSF (90.3 FM on your radio dial, or listen online).

Christian Witness, Current Events, Media, Poland - Polish - Polonia, , , ,

The Courageous Heart of Irena Sendler

Premiering Sunday, April 19 (9:00-11:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network

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Based up the true story of Irena Sendler, a Polish Catholic social worker in the early 1940s who is credited with saving the lives of 2,500 Jewish children during World War II.

During the war Irena Sendler was able to move women in and out of the Warsaw Jewish Ghetto disguised as nurses working for the Warsaw’s Health Department. With the ruse of containing the spread of Typhus and Spotted Fever, Ms. Sendler and her fellow “nurses” were actually sneaking children out (with the consent of the Jewish parents) of the Ghetto by sedating them and hiding them inside boxes, suitcases and coffins as a way of saving them from deportation to German death camps. Once the children were snuck out they were given new identities and placed with Polish families or in convents to protect them. Ms. Sendler kept a record of all the children’s birth names and where they were placed hidden so once the war was over the children could be reunited with their families.

Unfortunately in 1943 Ms. Sendler’s deception was discovered and she was arrested and tortured by the Gestapo resulting with her feet being broken. She was scheduled to be executed but on the day of her execution she was rescued by “Zegota,” the same underground network she worked with to save the Jewish children. By the end of the war all of the 2,500 children she smuggled out were never betrayed or discovered by the Nazi German occupation forces.

Current Events, Poland - Polish - Polonia,

Unemployment Scam Alert! (Uwaga! Polaków w Nowym Jorku)

New York State Department of Labor Commissioner M. Patricia Smith today announced that the Labor Department has been made aware of an ongoing scam targeting the unemployed at a time when they can least afford it. These unscrupulous scammers have been charging victims, including many in New York City’s Polish community, fees to file claims to collect Unemployment Insurance benefits.

The Labor Department does not charge individuals to sign up for benefits either on-line or over the phone, and is urging New Yorkers, particularly those in ethnic communities, to be aware of this growing scam.

—The message here is clear: there is no cost to sign up for Unemployment Insurance benefits. If you are told differently, then it’s a scam,” said Governor David A. Paterson. “I applaud Labor Commissioner Patricia Smith for her efforts to ensure the fraud and abuse that can be targeted at those New Yorkers who we are trying to help get assistance is eliminated. It is unconscionable that people would take advantage of those who have lost a job and are in their most critical time of need.—

Commissioner Smith said, “I’d like to remind New York’s immigrants that the Labor Department’s Bureau of Immigrant Workers’ Rights can help you, regardless of your immigration status. If you have been victimized by these scammers I urge you to call the Bureau immediately.”

The Bureau of Immigrant Workers’ Rights reaches out to immigrants, often in their own neighborhoods. It distributes important Labor Department materials in eleven languages, most recently Polish and Korean. The Bureau informs Immigrants of their rights and services provided by the department.

The fastest way to apply for unemployment insurance benefits is to file an application through the Labor Department website at www.labor.ny.gov. For those who do not have internet access, please call 1-888-209-8124.

In 2006, immigrants accounted for 2.47 million, or 26% of the workforce in New York State. In New York City, immigrants accounted for 1.76 million or 47% of the workforce.

To contact the Bureau of Immigrant Workers’ Rights call 1-877-IMM-WRKR (1-877-466-9757).

Jak złożyć wniosek o zasiłek z tytułu ubezpieczenia od skutków bezrobocia.

Wnioski można składać online na stronie www.labor.ny.gov.

Poetry, Poland - Polish - Polonia, , ,

Announcing a new project: Writing the Holocaust

Charles Fishman, the editor of Blood to Remember: American Poets on the Holocaust, and Dr. John Z. Guzlowski have started a blog about “Writing the Holocaust.” They will be sharing information about the poetry, fiction, films, and art of the Holocaust.

The current entry features a piece about Helen Eisen, the author of The Permeability of Memory, a fine book of poems about her experiences in the DP camps in Germany and how they shaped her life in the states.

Current Events, Poland - Polish - Polonia, , ,

Spring Dance/Majówka 2009 at the Albany PCC

Polski klub ma zaszczyt zaprosić całą Polonię na Zabawę Wiosenną!
225 Washington Ave Ext Albany NY 12205

Sobota 2 Maja, 2009 o godzinie 8 wieczorem

Zabawiać będzie nas zespÏŒł ECHO (MA)
$15 od osoby……….
Obiad do nabycia na mjejscu ……
cash bar….

Po bilety proszę dzwonić do:
Andrzej Jakubiak 518-884-9038
Małgorzata Leoniuk 518-221-6406
Marian Wiercioch 518-235-5549

Poland - Polish - Polonia,

Dyngus Day in Buffalo and Polonia

From the Buffalo News: Dyngus Day a big hit in the heart of Polonia: Polish parade fills revelers, marchers with ethnic pride, hope for future

By 5 p. m. Monday, revelers stood six deep at Gibson and Sinkiewicz streets, which sounded and felt like a mini-Times Square on New Year’s Eve.

People in red T-shirts with white letters proclaiming —You bet your pierogis I’m Polish,— —Whip me, squirt me,— —Who stole the kiszka— and —I stole the kiszka——”many of them with a beer in one hand and a pussy willow sprig in the other —” whooped and cheered as Buffalo’s third annual Dyngus Day Parade rounded the corner on its way through the heart of Polonia.

Their enthusiasm was matched by the marchers and folks riding floats, flatbed trailers and cars, who danced the polka, tossed candy and occasionally a loaf of rye bread and sprayed the crowd with water blasters.

—This is the best day ever!— declared Christine Galey, 22, of Hamburg, who came to the Polish East Side not quite knowing what to expect, after reading online about this yearly celebration of a formerly obscure ethnic tradition.

—I think it’s better than St. Patrick’s Day,— opined Galey, who despite her Irish last name said she is of Polish and French- Canadian descent. —I knew it was a celebration, but I didn’t know it was one of the biggest Dyngus Day events anywhere.—

That it is —” and getting bigger by the year, said organizers Marty Biniasz and —Airborne Eddie— Dobosiewicz, who have turned what began in 1961 as a fundraiser for the Chopin Singing Society into a community-wide festival known as Dyngus Day Buffalo.

For the uninitiated, Dyngus Day is an unofficial Polish- American holiday, observed with pussy willows and squirt guns, marking the end of Lent, the solemn 40 days of prayer and self-denial leading up to Easter.

More than 75 units and hundreds of participants lined up outside Corpus Christi Catholic Church on Clark Street for the parade, which wound through the historic neighborhood at a deliberate pace, passing Broadway Market and the Adam Mickewicz Library and Dramatic Circle on Fillmore Avenue before turning back to Central Terminal, site of the largest Dyngus party.

—Never underestimate the power of the pussy willow,— Dobosiewicz quipped as he and Biniasz walked behind a float near the end of the parade route…

The biggest celebrations of Dyngus Day in the U.S. take place in Buffalo and in Sandusky, Ohio. For more on the original tradition see Smigus Dyngus and other Polish old Easter Traditions at Polishsite or the Wikipedia article on Easter Monday.

Christian Witness, Media, Poland - Polish - Polonia, , ,

The Courageous Heart of Irena Sendler premiers April 19th

Please don’t miss the world premiere telecast on the CBS Television Network, Sunday, April 19, 2009 at 9pm.

The Hallmark Hall of Fame film by renowned TV director and producer John Kent Harrison is based on the true story of 2007 Nobel Peace Prize nominee Irena Sendler, a Polish Catholic social worker, who was part of the Polish underground during World War II and was arrested and brutally tortured by the Nazi’s for saving the lives of nearly 2,500 Jewish children by smuggling them out of the Warsaw ghetto.

On the day of her scheduled execution she was rescued by “Żegota—, the underground network with which she worked to save the Jewish children. She lived in Poland to the age of 98.

Canadian-born actress Anna Paquin, who plays Irena Sendler won an Oscar as a child for her work in “The Piano” and more recently a Golden Globe Award.

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