80th Anniversary of the Warsaw Uprising in Greenpoint
Raising of the Uprising Flag in Front of the Polish & Slavic Federal Credit Union
Re-dedication of the New Uprising Mural in Front of the Polish National Home
Performance by the Polonia Children’s Choir
On August 1, in keeping with tradition, the Polish & Slavic Federal Credit Union, along with many Greenpoint residents, commemorated the 80th anniversary of the Warsaw Uprising in front of its headquarters at 100 McGuinness Blvd. in Greenpoint. Co-organized by the Polish Army Veterans Association of America, the ceremony began with the poignant sound of sirens. The flag of the uprising, with the symbol of the Fighting Poland anchor, was raised on the mast by descendants of the Warsaw insurgents: Rita Cosby, an American journalist of Polish descent, attorney Adriana Woś-Myśliwiec, Anita Połczyńska-Zadrożna, a representative of the Polish Army Veterans Association of America (SWAP), Stefan Komar, former deputy commander of the NYPD precinct in Greenpoint, and Dr. Janusz Romański. The Polish and American national anthems were sung. The event was attended by: Bogdan Chmielewski, Executive Director of the PSFCU, representatives of the PSFCU Board of Directors, including: Chairman – Krzysztof Matyszczyk, 2nd Vice President Mariusz Śniarowski, Dr. Iwona Korga, Bogdan Ogórek, as well as Chairman of the Supervisory Committee – Artur Dołęga.
Honorary guests included: Consul General of the Republic of Poland in New York Mateusz Sakowicz, a Siberian, President of the Ladies’ Auxiliary Corps for the USA and Canada Helena Knapczyk, Member of the New York City Council of the 30th Ward of Queens Robert Holden, New York City Councilor Lincoln Restler, Grand Marshal of the Pulaski Parade 2024, Piotr Praszkowicz, and Tadeusz Antoniak – Commander-in-Chief of the Polish Army Veterans Association of America.
During the ceremony, speeches were given by: PSFCU Executive Director Bogdan Chmielewski, Chairman of the PSFCU Board of Directors Krzysztof Matyszczyk, Consul General Mateusz Sakowicz, and Commander-in-Chief of the Polish Army Veterans Association of America Tadeusz Antoniak.
Representatives of Polish organizations were present at the square: President of the Polish-Slavic Center Paweł Pachacz, Executive Director of CPS, Agnieszka Granatowska, President of the Pulaski Parade Committee Richard Zawisny, the Polish Army Veterans Association (SWAP), the Polish Scouting Association, SWAP, a Polish activist, Vice President of the Polish American Congress, Southern New York Division, Grażyna Michalska, President of the Supplementary Schools Central Office, Dr. Dorota Andraka, the Senior Club: “Krakus” operating at CPS, with Urszula Galej – Program Coordinator, and representatives of the NYPD Pulaski Association. Also present were students, youth and pupils from Polish schools, as well as motorcyclists from the clubs: Iron Slavs MC and Husaria Bike Club. Mariusz Moryl, PSFCU Promotions Manager, informed and encouraged people to visit Times Square in Manhattan, where, at the initiative of PSFCU, an advertisement commemorating the 80th anniversary of the outbreak of the Warsaw Uprising was to appear on the NASDAQ building that day.
The flag will fly in front of the Union building over Greenpoint for 63 days, until October 3, the same period as the Warsaw residents fought for the capital.
A beautiful double-sided poster commemorating the Warsaw Uprising was also created this year. The initiator of the poster campaign is Grzegorz Fryc, President of Gram-X Promotions, with the support of PSFCU and under the patronage of the Consul General of the Republic of Poland in NY. On one side, the poster commemorates the Uprising, and on the other side, it pays tribute to the heroes of World War II. This year, it is a member of Kedyw Jerzy Odon Woś, nicknamed “Donat”. These posters were hung in the Polish districts of New York and New Jersey, distributed in schools and institutions.
Right after the ceremony at the Union building, the guests moved to the Polish National House “Warsaw”, where the official re-dedication of the new Uprising Mural took place. It was painted by artists from Warsaw, Tomasz Todorow, Paweł Chmielewski and Michał Bryk from Warsaw, and the author of the project is Adam Biszewski. The new mural is an interpretation of the battle of the Warsaw Uprising. It shows a burning Warsaw and insurgents in combat action, who are protected by a huge block in the shape of the Fighting Poland anchor. The right part of the mural includes 12 insurgents who ended up in the USA after the end of the war.
The celebrations commemorating the 80th anniversary of the Warsaw Uprising ended at the Polish National House with a performance by the Polonia Children’s Choir conducted by Dominik Grzyb with the guest appearance of the famous Polish actor Patryk Szwichtenberg as narrator.
The children prepared a wonderful and moving performance consisting of songs from the uprising, cheerful and humorous songs about Warsaw, poems and stories. The scenography and costumes from the 1940s introduced us to the atmosphere of those times. The music was performed by children from the Polonia Choir and Orchestra, they played the piano, clarinet, violin, banjo, accordion, guitar and xylophone. Michał Jamrożek, who has already performed in many concerts, competitions and music awards, sang “Lullaby from the Ghetto” in a wonderful falsetto.
The whole was supplemented by multimedia materials, documentary films and original photos from the uprising colored by Mikołaj Kaczmarek.
After the sensational performance of the Polonia Children’s Choir, Mikołaj Kaczmarek, who participated in the unveiling ceremony of the mural, presented two photographs colored by him. One – with the likeness of Antoni Chrościelewski, a participant in the Battle of Monte Cassino – was given to his son Marek Chrościelewski, president of the Polish National Home “Warsaw”. The second, with the likeness of Anna “Hanka” Wajcowicz, who died on August 1, 1944, was given to the SWAP commander-in-chief Tadeusz Antoniak.
After the concert and delicious catering by Daniel Zakrzewski from the company “Chef to-go”, many people took photos in front of the beautiful mural.
Text and photos: Zosia Zeleska – Bobrowski
