Wanda Urbanska with Former Polish President Lech Walesa
Former Polish President Lech Wałęsa granted an exclusive 20-minute interview to Jan Karski Educational Foundation President Wanda Urbanska earlier this month while the two attended the 41stannual Polonaise Ball. “Poland needs heroes, especially now that we are learning how to live in a democracy,” the former president and Nobel Peace Prize winner said, speaking through an interpreter. “That is why we call on heroes from the past… like Karski, who cannot be destroyed…. It’s not just about Poland, but when the whole world demands freedom and democracy… we look for heroes who do not run for an office and do not participate in political life.”
As Poland’s president in 1995, Wałęsa bestowed upon Jan Karski the nation’s highest civilian honor, the Order of White Eagle, for Karski’s heroic involvement on behalf of Poland during World War II. When Ms. Urbanska asked how Karski’s contemporaries might react to Poland today, the Nobel Peace Prize winner said: “They would certainly be proud that after so many years of oppression we regained freedom, thanks to, among others, the actions of [people like] Karski.”
The American Institute of Polish Culture, under the leadership of founder Lady Blanka Rosenstiel, hosts its annual gala ball and brunch to celebrate Polish contributions to American and world culture. Polish-Indian friendship was the theme of this year’s ball, and many notable guests from India and Poland were present. Among the distinguished guests in attendance were His Excellency Ryszard Sznepf, Ambassador of the Republic of Poland to the United States, and the Honorable Ewa Junczyk-Ziomecka, Consul General of the Republic of Poland in New York, along with film stars Loretta Swit of M.A.S.H. fame and John Wayne Jr. The Jan Karski Educational Foundation was represented by Ms. Urbanska, Jane Robbins and Bozena U. Zaremba. PIAST Institute President Thaddeus C. Radzilowski was this year’s recipient of the Lech Wałęsa Media Award. He was accompanied by Virginia Skrzyniarz, PIAST executive vice president.
Photos, left to right: top row: Bozena Zaremba, Lady Blanka Rosenstiel, Wanda Urbanska and Jane Robbins at the brunch; Lady Blanka Rosenstiel and President Lech Walesa lead the polonaise; Polish dancers perform; Jane Robbins, Vinod Doddamani, Wanda Urbanska, and Dipnarine Maharaj; second row: Jane Robbins, Ambassador Schnepf and Urbanska; Yaga Olszewski, Urbanska and the Polish Consul General to Malta [Photos courtesy of the Bozena Zaremba, Jon Theobald and Jane Robbins]
