Scattered across the globe, the postwar Polish exiles formed tight communities in their new homelands, safe havens from an unfriendly and uncomprehending world. Their children, meanwhile, became Canadians, Americans, Australians, English, seemingly rejecting the narrow communities of their parents.
Who would have thought that these same children would create a Polish community, one of their own making? Not a small one centered around a parish or a neighborhood, but one spanning continents, the oceans between them no more an obstacle than the busy intersections in their cities. They meet, and largely communicate, via the internet. [Composite by Ian Wojtowicz of Chris Harrison's "City-to-City Connections" and NASA's "Earth at Night"]
A virtual community? Yes, and a very dynamic one. Drawn together by a common bond: the passionate need to know what happened to their parents during the war, to learn why this aspect of history was shrouded in silence, and finally, a resolve to lift that shroud. It started with cautious discussion but, in a fairly short time, these discussions led to the creation of the Kresy-Siberia Virtual Museum (KSVM).
Officially launched at a ceremony in the Polish Senate in Warsaw on September 17, 2009, the 70th anniversary of the Soviet invasion of Poland and its subsequent occupation of the Eastern Borderlands, know
n as the Kresy, it is at once a memorial, a research resource and a museum. The KSVM is a remarkable achievement, impressive in concept, scope, and design, and is dedicated to “inspire, promote and support research, remembrance and recognition of Polish citizens’ struggles in the Eastern Borderlands and in Exile during World War II.” These are the very same words that defined the purpose of the original discussion group, known as Kresy-Siberia, and clearly, it never lapsed into idle talk.
The Kresy-Siberia discussion group, the K-S Foundations, and the KSVM were founded by Stefan Wiśniowski, a man of vision and of extraordinary dedication, but also of superb organizational and management skills
. He would be the first to insist that KSVM is a collective work and of course, that is true, but everyone involved in this enterprise avers that without him none of this could have been achieved.
Wiśniowski, 51, is the eldest son of Polish citizens who were displaced by the war. His father, Zbigniew, an electrical engineer, had been deported with his family to Siberia when he was 10 years old; his mother, Maria (Zytkowicz), a teacher, survived the German occupation in Warsaw. Stefan recalls, however, that little was said about those years even though both families suffered terrible wartime losses. It was not until he grew up that he realized how little he knew about the most critical period of his parents’ lives, and of the history of their country, especially the Soviet aspect.
It was this historical gap that he resolved to investigate, initially on his own, a bit more with people he met who had a similar background. Then, about ten years ago, he heard about a film, A Forgotten Odyssey, made by two Polish women then living in the UK, Jagna Wright and Aneta Naszyńska. The first documentary ever made on this subject, it had been reviewed in the Russian newspaper, Pravda, and screened at the British War Museum as part of a commemoration of the start of World War Two.
Wiśniowski immediately invited the filmmakers to screen the film in Australia, set up A Forgotten Odyssey website, and started an online discussion group called Kresy-Siberia. Within a short time, Wright and Naszyńska were invited to screen A Forgotten Odyssey in cities across Canada and the United States, and over a thousand people from around the world soon joined the discussion group. The film, the first public validation of their families’ experiences and Wiśniowski’s stated purpose – to research, remember and recognize – fulfilled a long held need. The members began sharing their stories and photographs, exchanging information about research sources, and helping find documentation about family members. People who once lived on neighbouring streets discovered one another even though they were now living in different countries, and long lost relatives, including siblings, were found.
After that, things moved swiftly. As the collection of documents, testimonies and thousands of photographs grew larger, Wiśniowski was convinced that a more formal venue was needed for this neglected history. In 2008, he established the Fundacja Kresy-Syberia, registered in Poland, followed by one in Australia, the UK, the US and a Canadian one – at this point registered but awaiting charitable status.
Not the least of Wiśniowski’s talents is his ability to create a very competent and deeply committed Executive – most of them volunteers. Wiśniowski himself has a degree in architecture and an MBA from the Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario. He has worked in strategic management for global companies and managed his own firm, served on corporate and non-profit boards, was Director of Strategic Planning at the University of Sydney, and currently serves on the Academic Advisory Committee of the Australian Institute of Management. He is also very skilled with computers. He brings this wealth of experience to his Kresy-Siberia work which he handles with as much professionalism as he has all his work. Since 2008, he has traveled frequently to Warsaw and London, and as needed to Montreal, Toronto, Winnipeg, Hartford, New York, Washington, Cleveland, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and points in between.
It is not surprising, therefore, that Wiśniowski attracted so many outstanding people to the K-S Executive. To name only a few, in Canada, Krystyna Szypowska has extensive experience as a project manager at Bell Canada and Nortel International and Henry Sokolowski is a successful entrepreneur; Eva Szegidewicz is in administration of one of the largest school commissions in the UK, and Maria Szonert (US) and Louise Blazejowski (AUS) are both lawyers. Dozens of volunteers with various professional backgrounds contribute valuable work on an occasional basis.
Apart from creating the museum, K-S members are involved in organizing educational events in their communities. Two particularly interesting ones came to our attention.
In February 2011, K-S in Australia co-sponsored a joint program with the Australian Society of Polish Jews – some of whom had been deported to Siberia – titled “The Forgotten Deportees – Polish Exiles in Siberia.” It was presented at the Jewish Holocaust Centre in Melbourne.
And this about a younger generation – of non Poles: In the UK, students at the City of Ely College in Cambridgeshire are preparing a play about General Anders and the Polish II Corps. To research the story, the 33 young participants and their teachers interviewed a number of Polish veterans and visited the Imperial War Museum and the Sikorski Institute assisted by K-S (UK director) Mirka Wojnar.
The “second generation” of Kresy-Siberia is a credit to the great wartime generation before them and a model for the younger generation now establishing itself professionally.
Stefan Wiśniowski and the Kresy-Siberia Group launched the museum project because they recognized that they share a history of wartime loss, loss of family, of home and of homeland. Despite that, they have remained loyal to their roots, even to the 2nd and 3rd generation. The museum is a living memorial to those who could not speak for themselves and a legacy to pass on to future generations.
Once the K-S Foundations were established, fundraising could begin. With support from Polish organizations, corporate sponsors and individuals, as well as support from the Senate of Poland, Wspolnota Polska, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Culture, the work progressed. Major institutions signed agreements to cooperate, among them the Institute of National Memory and the National Archives in Warsaw, the Hoover Institution at Stanford, and the Pilsudski Institute in NY. Honorary Patrons include Bogdan Borusewicz, Speaker of the Senate of Poland and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Radosław Sikorski. Finally, Honorary Chaplains are Fr. Lucjan Królikowski (USA) and the Chief Rabbi of Poland, Michael Schudrich.
In 2010, KSVM established an office in Warsaw under the direction of Aneta Hoffman who works with an IT specialist, two archivists and the KSVM Executive.
The museum’s galleries provide a wealth of information about the forced deportation of Poles that took them from cities and villages in the Eastern Borderlands to the forbidding arctic regions of Russia, the endless forests and steppes of Siberia, the mountains and deserts of Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and finally across the Caspian Sea to freedom in Iran. Even then, their odyssey was not over as they moved on to India and the Middle East, Africa, New Zealand and Mexico in search of temporary refuge until they could go home. When their homeland was turned over to the regime that had enslaved them, they sought refuge again, a permanent home, and finally found it in Canada, the United States, Britain and Australia.
These incredible journeys are documented with photographs, some grim, some joyful, and many exotic; the characters include children, mothers and teachers, soldiers and generals, statesmen and dictators, colonial officials, maharajas and ordinary people of the countries the Poles passed through. Eight of the planned 30 galleries are now open, their exhibits telling a story of suffering, of hope and perseverance, of love and friendship, and of heartbreaking loss and success in their new homelands.
The museum is, and always will be, a work in progress; at present, while most Polish pages are complete, many of the English are still in preparation. Nevertheless, even if Polish is not your first language, a tour of the museum’s galleries will enable you to follow this Polish odyssey.
KSVM: Important, informative, and impressive. CR
The Map:
The Kresy are lands adjacent to Poland – once part of Poland, today they are the territories of Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania. The map shows the Kresy locations, as well as the locations of Kresy emigrees now scattered around the globe, throughout the U.K., Sweden, France, New Zealand, Australia, U.S., Canada, and of course – Poland.
Cities include: London, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Manchester, Stockholm, Wellington, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Hamilton, Winnipeg, Regina, Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver, New York, Boston, Hartford, Chicago, Cleveland, Buffalo, Detroit, LA & SF, Minneapolis, Houston.
The Kresy-Siberia Virtual Museum – "Identity and Culture" Exhibit by Wesley Adamczyk
Related: Volunteers Needed for the Kresy-Siberia Virtual Museum
