Robert L. Billingsley, Wanda Urbanska, Ambassador Kupiecki, Andrzej Rojek
Jan Karski US Campaign Director Wanda Urbanska recently met with Jacek Nowakowski, chief of Arts & Artifacts & Curatorial Affairs at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, in Washington, DC to discuss points of cooperation on the Karski Campaign. Steering Committee members Robert L. Billingsley and Andrzej Rojek, along with Ms. Urbanska, briefed Ambassador Robert Kupiecki at the Polish Embassy in Washington on Campaign progress.
In New York, Ms. Urbanska attended a VIP reception for Israeli President Shimon Peres at the 92nd Street Y where she met Alison Gardy, director of International Relations at the Y, and Steering Committee member Alicia Belzberg.
At a special event for the soon-to-be-opened Museum of the History of Polish Jews in Warsaw, Poland, held at the Polish Consulate in New York on March 1, Consul General Ewa Junczyk-Ziomecka presided over an evening in which donors, stakeholders and a large contingent from Poland were updated about the museum’s exhibitions and importance on the world stage. Professor Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett made a powerful presentation about the rich, 1,000-year history of Jews in Poland and how the new museum will celebrate and re-create this legacy.
Among the many moving speakers was Jan Karski US Centennial Campaign Steering Committee member Sigmund Rolat, who said: “Our museum is the only such museum in the world – the only such history in the history of the world, and I’m not exaggerating!” Piotr Wislicki, President of the board of the Jewish Historical Institute of Poland; Marian Turski, Chairman of the Council of the Museum of the History of Polish Jews; Agnieszka Rudzinska, Acting Director of the Museum; Danny Spungen of the Florence and Laurence Spungen Family Foundation; Lea Wolinetz representing the Czestochowa Jewish association; and Jerzy Warman, a member of the Steering Committee of the North American Council, were among the many distinguished guests.
Photos below, left to right: Wanda Urbanska & Jacek Nowakowski; Robert L. Billingsley, Wanda Urbanska, Ambassador Kupiecki, Andrzej Rojek; Alicia Belzberg, Wanda Urbanska & Alison Gardy; Andrzej Rojek, Wanda Urbanska & Piotr Wislicki; (second row) Consul General Ewa Junczyk-Ziomecka with Jerzy Warman; Lea Wolinetz & Danny Spungen
