On the 26th of March, we celebrated the life of Halina Czernuszyn Robinson at St Matthew’s Hall on the Corso at Manly. Halina’s children, Vitek and Joanna, other family members and some 20 of her friends attended the ceremony. Halina departed in January last year aged 94.

Halina was a very special person.

She was born in a Jewish family in pre-WW2 Poland and locked up in the Warsaw ghetto during the German occupation. She was the only person in her family surviving the war. Halina was smuggled out of the ghetto by the Polish underground and placed with catholic nuns. After the war, she experienced communist Poland, then moved to Israel and finally settled in Australia.

Halina was a tough and the ultimate survivor. She was full of life and on a mission to create a better world. She was involved in Australia with Polish and Jewish communities and played a major role in multicultural organisations in NSW. She was a proud Jew, Pole and Australian. It was a pleasure to invite her to lecture at Western Sydney Uni. Her book ‘Cork on the waves’ is a must reading for all.

The ‘Farewelling Halina’ meeting was very moving. Vitek welcomed the participants and told us a little about Halina. Joanna’s eldest daughter, Angela, and Vitek’s eldest son, Sebastian, spoke about their Grandmother. Diana, a friend of Halina, and some other participants added a few words. It was fun to be with Halina again and enjoy her life. The speeches were followed by morning tea, with a chance to greet one another and continue our talk about Halina.

For Polish speakers, you might also like to listen in to the SBS Polish program eulogy given by Marianna Lacek on https://www.sbs.com.au/language/polish/audio/halina-czernuszyn-robinson-wspomnienie

Halina Czernuszyn Robinson

On Sunday 20 March 2022 a Charity Gala Function was organised to support Ukraine’s fight against the Russian aggressor at the Polish Club in Bankstown. Over $43,000 were collected in support of Ukraine’s independence.

A great Charity Gala program included many Polish and Ukrainian folkloric dance groups, poetry recitations and musical performances.

Speeches were delivered by Mr Dennis Wilson, partner of NSW Governor Hon. Margaret Beazley AC WC, barrister and philanthropist who donated his painting for the auction, Polish Consul General Monika Konczyk, Honorary Consul of Ukraine Jaroslav Duma OAM and myself – my speech is here.

Thank you to Jurek Maciejak who very ably conducted an auction, to Marta Kiec-Gubala for being such a good MC, to Marysia Nowak and her scouts who collected some $8,000 selling raffle tickets and to Mr Andrzej Lubaniecki, Polish Club manager who hosted the function!

It was a pleasure to be invited to be a part of the Unity Project, highlighting the achievements of Polish-born Australians who have made a significant contribution to Australian business, art, science and society. The below-attached podcast contains several individual stories. Each story speaks of a journey of migration, career building and making Australia home. These are our stories – each contributing to the story of unity.

Polish-born individuals have a long history in the story of Australia, dating back to 1696 when ten citizens joined a Dutch exploration expedition. Small pockets of migration have continued throughout the years with a more substantial community development after World War II.

2022 marks fifty years of diplomatic relations between Poland and Australia and notable professionals are being honoured for their work across many industries. Join us in celebrating their achievements.

Join me in celebrating the 50th anniversary of Australia-Poland diplomatic relations:

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/pabf_polish-born-people-have-a-long-history-in-activity-6902009130614190080-0KUm

Best luck to the Ukrainian defence forces! Defend your home. If you lose, your nation will face years of occupation. It will face mass murders and mass deportations to Syberia of the best and brightest. Remember what the Soviets did to Poles when they started WWII together with Hitler in September 1939. Remember Katyn!

To equal combat chances, NATO should offer to Ukraine a no-fly zone for Russian military planes. The current sanctions are inadequate.

On 17 February I was a speaker on a Tuidang rally held at Martin place in Sydney. Tuidang, literally means “withdraw from the Communist Party”. It is a non-violent movement that emerged in China that encourages Chinese people to renounce their ties to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Participation in the movement means making a public declaration (typically using an alias) to disavow any previous ties with the CCP or its affiliated organizations, such as the Communist Youth League or Young Pioneers.

The Tuidang movement began in late 2004 after the publication of an editorial series in the overseas Chinese newspaper the Epoch Times. Today, over 390 million names have been posted to the Epoch Times website ( https://global.tuidang.org/ ) renouncing Communist Party organizations.

Mr Lech Walesa – former President of Poland – said:
“This movement, this history’s tsunami, as I deeply believe, nothing is able to stop it anymore. No one can stop a spirit of freedom and truth.”
https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/lech-walesa-former-polish-president-says-chinas-tuidang-movement-is-historys-tsunami-300099362.html

If you are interested in supporting this initiative you may wish to sigh the End CCP petition ( https://endccp.com/ ) which is linked to the Tuidang website and is approaching 2 million signatures.

My address to the rally is here 2022-02-17 End Chinese Communist Party .

Below enclosed is an interesting article (in Polish) titled “Postawy wobec narodzin ‘Solidarnosci’ i wprowadzenia stanu wojennego na przykladzie Polonii australijskiej (wybrane przyklady)” by Professor Patryk Pleskot of Instytut Pamieci Narodowej (IPN). Prof. Plescot is a historian, political scientist, graduate from Warsaw University and Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales in Paris. He obtained his ‘habilitation’ title at the Institute of Political Studies (Polish Academy of Sciences) in 2015. Since 2007 he works at the Institute of National Remembrance in Warsaw (recently as a main specialist and project coordinator) from 2015 to 2021– as a professor at the Witold Pilecki State University of Malopolska in Oswiecim and from 2021 as a professor at the University of Rzeszow. In 2013 he was visiting fellow at the University of Western Sydney. He is a member of the Polish American Historical Association (PAHA) and the Baltic Intelligence and Security Studies Association (BISSA), as well as member of editorial board of the periodical ‘Pamiec i Sprawiedliwosc’ (‘Memory and Justice’). Area of his scientific interest consists of French history and historiography, political, cultural and social history of communist Poland, as well as migration studies, activities of Polish diaspora after 1945 and the history of Polish intelligence and counter-espionage apparatus. He is an author, co-author and editor of more than 20 books and about 120 scientific articles, i.a.; Niewiadomski: to kill the President (2012) – nomination for the ‘Best Varsaviana 2012/2013’ Award; Foreigners in Warsaw 1945–1989 (2012) – nomination for the ‘Best Varsaviana 2012/2013’ Award; Troublesome miss ‘S’. Political attitudes of the West towards Solidarity movement, 1980–1989 (2013) – ‘Best Historical Book of the Year 2013’ Award; Klio Award; City of the death. Question of political murders in Warsaw, 1956–1989 (2015) – Klio Award; Mountains and Files. A spoken biography of Andrzej Paczkowski (2019) – ‘Nagrody Historyczne Polityki’ Award (2020).

2021 Postawy wobec narodzin „Solidarnosci” i wprowadzenia stanu wojennego w Australii by Patryk Pleskot

Join Professor Norman Davies as he explores the untold story of the Polish Second Corps of the Polish Armed Forces during the Second World War in a video lecture we produced by the Polish Cultural Institute for the Chelsea History Festival in UK – see:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/190871917601431/permalink/4932480170107225/
The Polish Second Corps, which fought under British command in the Italian Campaign of 1943-45, is best remembered for its heroic capture of the Abbey of Monte Cassino. But the details of its formation under General Anders in Russia and of its amazing feat of making its way to Italy via Iran, Iraq and Palestine, are less known.
Norman Davies recounts the remarkable odyssey of the ‘Anders Army’ and some of its more colourful members including the extraordinary women draiverki, the Jewish soldiers who joined the Zionist underground, and Wojciech the Bear.

2014-03-27 UWS Open Forum with Norman Davies

Ten years ago, on 19th December 2011, the General Assembly adopted the UN-Declaration on Human Rights Education and Training. Human rights education promotes values, beliefs and attitudes that encourage all individuals to uphold their own rights and those of others. It develops an understanding of everyone’s common responsibility to make HR a reality in each community.
Between 2010 and 2019 I was the Foundation Convenor and Series Coordinator of nine annual International Human Rights Conference Series held in Australia, South Africa, Poland, Taiwan, USA, Chile, Holland and Canada.
The 10th conference was planned to be held in Nepal but unfortunately had to be cancelled because of the COVID pandemic. Let’s hope that we will be able to organise the 10th conference in 2023.

The Lao, Cambodian and Khmer Krom communities in New South Wales are launching a Joint Initiative to promote Australian values, to build stronger social cohesion between the three communities and the wider Australian community, to promote Australia’s Multicultural Statement launched by the Government in 2017 and to address recommendations by the Senate Report in 2021 relating to “Issues Affecting Diaspora Communities in Australia”.

The launch will be held at on Saturday, 5 February 2022, from 12.00noon to 3.00pm at the Multi-Purpose Hall, Lao Cultural Centre 711-715 Smithfield Road, Edensor Park NSW

For more information see the attached Invitation – Professor Ozdowski

It is over 40 years since I have established the Committee for Family Reunions (Komitet Laczenia Rodzin) in Australia. Its history shows a great success of Polish lobby in Australia during the early 1980s when communist Poland was undergoing a major transformation with emergence of Solidarity movement and when many refugees from Poland arrived in Australia.
The Committee was established in late 1980 and its members included Dr Sev Ozdowski (Chair), Dr Martin Krygier, Ms Isabel Lucas and Mr Aleksander Peczalski (Secretary). Mr Jerzy Boniecki allowed to use his postal address (P.O. Box 104, Woollahra, NSW 2025) for correspondence to the Committee and provided some monies for its administrative expenses.

The purpose of the Committee was to facilitate reunion of Polish families. In 1980 many Poles decided to emigrate from Poland and in the 1981–82 period, 5732 Polish settlers arrived at Australia (often after seeking a refugee status in Austria and other Western countries). Initially, some families had decided that the husband/father will migrate first, check the conditions in the settlement country, and if satisfied, invite his family to join him.

However, the communist Poland authorities regarded their “unauthorised” emigration as an offence and breach of Polish passport rules and often punished those who migrated to Australia by not allowing their families to join them. The situation become particularly difficult after martial law was declared in Poland on 13 December 1981.
The unresolved family reunion issue led to major trauma amongst the new Polish settlers in Australia, political demonstrations, including hunger strikes and threats of violence against Polish consular and diplomatic staff in Australia.

The Committee undertook the following actions to address the problem:

. Advertised in the Polish-Australian media and sought support of the Polish diaspora and human rights organizations in Australia for work of the Committee.
. Sought people who needed assistance with family reunion to register with the Committee – some 70-80 individuals registered. Organized letter writing campaign.
. Actively lobbied Australian Parliamentarians and relevant federal authorities to make representations to the Polish communist authorities to allow for family reunion to proceed.
. Liaised extensively with the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Tony Street, and his department.
. Conducted significant media campaign to inform Australians of the situation.
. Made representations to the communist authorities in Poland and their diplomatic/consular representatives in Australia. A meeting of the Committee with Consul Marian Bark took place on 2 May 1981.
. Wrote to Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski.

The Committee work has proven to be very effective as by the end of 1983 families of all those who registered with the Committee were reunited. In early 1984 the Committee ceased all its operations. The Committee archives will be deposited in Emigration Museum, Gdynia, Poland.