Poles Struggle to Revive Music "Murdered" By the Nazi Invasion.

You can read the transcript here

Krystyna Danko July 9, 1917 - August 6, 2019

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Krystyna Dańko née Chłond (9 July 1917 – 6 August 2019[1]), was a Polish orphan from the town of Otwock, daughter of Karol Chłond – a respected city official in prewar Poland – was awarded the title of Righteous among the Nations by Yad Vashem in 1998, for saving the lives of Polish Jews during the Holocaust while risking her own life at the time of Nazi German occupation of Poland.[2][3]

Krystyna Dańko received her medal at the request of Maryna (Maria) Bartoń née Kokoszko, whom she "smuggled" into a safer place from Otwock to Warsaw, where Maryna's extended family could take care of her. Unafraid of endangering her own life, Krystyna helped her Jewish friends by giving them food she bought, clothing as well as money, and by fulfilling their heartfelt requests.[4]

Several years before the outbreak of World War II, Krystyna Dańko established a close friendship with Lusia, the eldest daughter of the Kokoszko family, who was her high school classmate. Krystyna spent a great deal of time in their home. Once the Holocaust began, she did everything in her power to help the family survive the Nazis. "I was never afraid of anything", she said.[5]

After Kokoszko's successful escape from the ghetto, Krystyna helped to hide them, including father, mother and Helena (Lusia), in a secret location at a nearby village. She took the youngest daughter, age 6, on a train to the capital, where the girl was placed in a Polish orphanage in Warsaw under an assumed name.[2]

Krystyna became the liaison between the family and their youngest child, delivering messages and information back and forth. Krystyna asked nothing in return for her heroic effort, stating that helping others was her moral obligation as a human being.[2] Otwock Ghetto was liquidated on September 19, 1942, when 75% of its Jewish population numbering around 8,000, was assembled at a layover yard in Otwock and shipped to Treblinka death camp.[6] Jews who remained were summarily shot on Reymonta Street thereafter.[7]

In 1951 Krystyna Dańko née Chłond married Mieczysław Dańko, social activist from Otwock persecuted by the Stalinist regime. He died in 1982.[8] Krystyna was honoured in Jerusalem as Righteous Among the Nations on 13 December 1998 for helping to save the lives of Eugenia, Helena, Maria, and dr. Michał Kokoszko who settled in Warsaw after the war. The eyewitness testimony came from the youngest daughter of the Kokoszko family, Maria Kokoszko-Barton who submitted her deposition to Yad Vashem.[2]

Two other members of Dańko family were awarded their medals posthumously on 16 December 2008: Jadwiga Dańko née Wojciechowska (1904 – 1968) and husband Mieczysław Dańko (1905 – 1982) who separately saved the Weczer family in Otwock.[3] 

The above text is from Wikipedia, here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krystyna_Da%C5%84ko 

American Czestochowa in Doylestown Pennsylvania

Daria Sockey, author of The Everyday Catholic's Guide to the Liturgy of the Hours, recently traveled with me to Doylestown, Pennsylvania, in order that we might visit the "American Czestochowa," that is The National Shrine of Our Lady of Czestochowa.

I had never been there before and I was in awe of the place. 

I loved it ... but ... I could not help but notice how much love, time, patience, devotion, money, patriotism went into creating and goes into maintaining this place. And yet Polonia has such minor impact on American cultural and political life. You have to wonder why. If Polonians can create an enclave like this, why can't they have a larger impact on school curricula, public debates about WW II and Holocaust history, and publishing decisions? 

I was also struck by how Polish the place is, and how much more it could be doing to make the shrine accessible to Americans who don't speak Polish and don't know much about Polish history. Too much at the shrine struck me as Polonians talking to other Polonians and not inviting non-Polonians into the conversation. 

Below are some photos of our visit. Obviously I am not a professional photographer and my camera is tiny and basic. But you can find many superior photos on the web. 

Polish Court Bans Anti-Gay Sticker from Sale: BBC

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The BBC reports that a Polish court has banned sale of Gazeta Polska's anti-gay stickers. See full story here

In related news, 4,000 homophobic thugs threw rocks, bottles, and fireworks at 1,000 peaceful gay rights marchers in Bialystok. See more here

Homophobic thugs will be exploited by those who support Bieganski, the Brute Polak stereotype. 

If I were in Poland, I would have been honored to march in Bialystok's gay pride parade. My family came from the Bialystok area. 

Gay people are just like straight people -- with one difference -- they are gay. Ignorant and fearful people hate and persecute gay people. A civilized and truly Christian society does not allow such persecution. 

Polish Scholar Banned at Middlebury College

Polish scholar Ryszard Legutko was banned from a previously scheduled talk at Middlebury College. Students felt he was too right wing to be allowed on campus. Legutko wrote about the ban in an article in First Things. 

Quotes from the article:

"Both communism and liberal democracy aim to politicize the whole of society, interpreting every aspect of social life—culture, art, intellectual pursuits, religion, family (and in liberal democracy, even sex and toilets)—in light of a power struggle, and insisting that the struggle be resolved in accordance with one political ideology. In the communist system, everything had to be communist; in a liberal democracy, everything has to be liberal and democratic."

"The communist system generated thoughtcrimes, but liberal ­democracy has generated far more, and it generates still more every year. The result is that the space in which the human mind may safely roam gets smaller and smaller. One is constantly in danger of crossing the red line. More and more topics are dangerous territory. A reflection, an insight, a clarification, or an argument may be taken for a criticism—which is not allowed."

"the aim of this language is to reverse the meanings of words. “Marginalized people” are not people who are marginalized, but people who set the college’s agenda and can get away with just about anything, including physically assaulting their professors. “Respectful and non-disruptive counter-space” means subjecting a lecturer to insults and humiliations. “Inclusivity” is the systemic censuring of people and ideas."

You can, and should, read the entire article here

Censorship on Facebook, and In Poland Under Communism

Article by me about censorship in Poland under communism and on Facebook today, here.

Gazeta Polska to Distribute Homophobic Stickers

This homophobia is tragic, disgusting, and must stop. Source: CNN