In a 1988 newscast, Stephanie Kraft heard the hejnał played from the tower of the Mariacki Church and learned that Poles had been doing so all through the communist era. Intrigued by these determined and stubborn people, she chose Poland as her destination for a journalist junket. She has returned every year since.
In Taking Liberties, Halina Filipowicz examines the portrayals of patriotism and identity of iconic heroes, from Kosciuszko to Plater and Wałęsa, in Polish drama from the 1600s to the present. Highly original, acutely observed study of loyalty and honor manipulated by triumphalism and xenophobia. Reviewed by Diana Sacilowski.
“Wow, we did that?!” Yes, dear children, listen to Jill Godmilow and learn what your brave and smart elders once did, nothing less than “the greatest revolution in the world.”
A much loved, gifted and extraordinarily talented activist and translator, his translations of Polish poetry to English are a joy, and those from English to Polish are a monumental achievement, ranging from almost all of Shakespeare to Dr. Seuss.
It’s a year of anniversaries, all of them commemorated not only by the Republic, but Poles everywhere. Andrew Nagorski has had a front row seat observing Poland’s successes, and shares his personal reflections.
Solidarity brought around a change of power through compromise and a gradual – non-violent – transition. Anna Mazurkiewicz discusses the greatest compromise of modern time and a great model for our troubled times.
Małgorzata Dzieduszycka asks: What is really important in the life of a nation? Andrzej Wajda’s final work in his magisterial triptych helps find the answer.
Poland’s magnificent non-violent revolution altered the course of history. Justice demands that this history be not forgotten.
Powerful, peaceful and quintessentially Polish: Solidarity. Canadian author Heather Kirk spotlights the many facets of a world-changing revolution that killed “precisely no one.”
“Lech – Lech – Lech!” The crowd chants as Lech Wałęsa, co-founder of Solidarity and former President of Poland, walks onto the Pritzker Pavilion outdoor stage in Chicago’s Millennium Park.
An intriguing and refreshing take on the Solidarity movement that establishes women as equal partners in the struggle against Communism.
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