A Wednesday in late February, I found myself in Poland's Presidential Palace, to celebrate the career (to date) of one of the country's most remarkable public servants, Ewa Junczyk-Ziomecka. After four years holding the post of Secretary of State, Junczyk-Ziomecka was heading to New York City to accept the position of Counsel General.
This "Hillary Rodham Clinton of Poland" has accomplished much during her tenure at the Presidential Chancellary. Junczyk-Ziomecka's signature program has been to recognize and celebrate the "Righteous Among Nations" in Poland, that is those individual Poles who rescued Jews during World War II. She has made remarkable strides not only in recognizing those many Polish Catholics who put their lives and the lives of their families on the line to do the right thing, but she has worked tirelessly to improve ties between the Jewish community in Israel and around the world with the Republic of Poland.
Happy to say, her work has borne fruit. Relations are better than they've been in decades. Just last month, David Harris, American Jewish Committee Executive Director, wrote a watershed column for the on-line Jerusalem Post, in effect, heralding a new era in the relations between Poles and Jews, between Poland and Israel. He mentioned many contributing factors, such as the fact that Poland is one of America and Israel's most reliable allies. He briefly reviewed recent Polish history. How could you not notice, he argued, Poland's valiant struggles during World War II and afterward? He drew parallels between Poland's precarious position amidst hostile neighbors then and Israel's today. He cited the Katyn Forest Massacre in which more than 20,000 Polish officers were murdered by the Soviets and buried in mass graves in what is now Belarus. Harris didn't mention, but he should have, a major initiative underway in Poland, which is the construction of a new museum to trace and honor the history of the Jews in Poland, on land donated from the city of Warsaw, and with substantial financial contributions from the Polish government.
A former Ambassador from Israel to Poland spoke on behalf of Junczyk-Ziomecka, and the Jewish community in Poland was well represented at the event. Several prominent Polish Jews, now living in America, traveled to Warsaw to toast the out-going Secretary of State. The heroes of Poland, these Righteous Among Nations, were also in attendance and basked in the limelight, hugging and kissing Junczyk-Ziomecka.
After just five months in Poland, I recognized many new friends and acquaintances amongst the 300 gathered there. Standing in the reception line with Craig Conway, the First Secretary to the US Embassy, I had a chance to discuss Polish-American relations and correct a few misimpressions of my own.
It was not my first in-person meeting with Ewa Junczyk-Ziomecka. In fact, I've broken bread with her several times since arriving in Warsaw last fall, most recently at the Irena Sendler event on February 15 where she spoke on behalf of the president. In fact, I first met her on my 2004 trip, with Simple Living cameras rolling, as we shot "The Poland Special." my PBS series, SimpleLiving. At that time, I was interviewing the then-mayor of Warsaw, Lech Kaczynski, at the Rising '44 Museum, a remarkable institution that he had helped establish. (A year later, Kaczynski was elected president of Poland.) Junczyk-Ziomecka was there back in 2004, acting as his special media advisor.
When I met Lech Kaczynski again last Wednesday night, Poland's president chuckled at my name. To think, here was an American citizen with such a Polish name: Wanda Urbanska. Both first name and last were "typically Polish," he remarked. It gave him pleasure to think that Polish tentacles extend deep into the reaches of America.
Minutes later, First Lady Maria Kaczynska chatted with me in her flawless English as cameras flashed. When I admired her plastic bracelet, decorated with piano keys to celebrate this year of Chopin, without hesitation, the First Lady removed it from her wrist.
"For you," she said.
Talk about Polish hospitality! I shall treasure this token of my sabbatical in Poland and tell the story many more times of the generosity it embodies. As I reflect on this special evening, I am happy. It's high time that the real story of these remarkable, courageous and resilient people is being told. I'm happy to help do the telling. CR
Wanda Urbanska, producer/host of the American television series Simple Living with Wanda Urbanska, promotes environmental stewardship, thoughtful consumption, community involvement and financial responsibility. The daughter of a Polish Nazi-era refugee father, she is a graduate of Harvard University, who went on to a successful writing career in Los Angeles. She is the author of six books, and her work has appeared in such publications as The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, The Chicago Tribune, Vogue and Glamour. She hosted the PBS primetime special, Escape from Affluenza, and has appeared on such programs as the Today Show, CBS This Morning and Oprah, and was heard on NPR’s All Things Considered.
