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Polish Cultural Days 2014  organized by Tri-City Polonez Association 

 

June 14th, 2014 - hosted by Vancouver Polish Theatre in its 10th Anniversary  'Tajemnice Ordonki' presented by  invited guests from Totonto: Maria Nowotarska plays friend of Ordonka-Zofia Bajkowska, and Agata Pilitowska was excellent in the role of Ordonka. 

 

Photos  J. Dobrowolska       Read more about this great evening in Blog by B. Pacak-Gamalski (in Polish) 

 

July 13, 2014 - Polonez Tri-City Picnic  in Burnaby Marine Park 

 

July 27th, 2014 -  Mass to commemorate the 70th Anniversary of Warsaw Uprising 

 

The Warsaw Uprising (Polish: powstanie warszawskie) was a major World War II operation by the Polish resistance Home Army (Polish: Armia Krajowa) to liberateWarsaw from Nazi Germany. The rebellion was timed to coincide with the Soviet Union'sRed Army approaching the eastern suburbs of the city and the retreat of German forces. However, the Soviet advance stopped short, enabling the Germans to regroup and demolish the city while defeating the Polish resistance, which fought for 63 days with little outside support. The Uprising was the largest single military effort taken by any European resistance movement during World War II.

The uprising began on 1 August 1944, as part of a nationwide plan, Operation Tempest, when the Soviet Army approached Warsaw. The main Polish objectives were to drive the German occupiers from the city and help with the larger fight against Germany and theAxis powers. Secondary political objectives were to liberate Warsaw before the Soviets, to underscore Polish sovereignty by empowering the Polish Underground State before the Soviet-backed Polish Committee of National Liberation could assume control. Also, short-term causes included the threat of a German round-up of able-bodied Poles, and Moscow radio calling for the Uprising to begin.

Initially, the Poles established control over most of central Warsaw, but the Soviets ignored Polish attempts to establish radio contact and did not advance beyond the city limits. Intense street fighting between the Germans and Poles continued. By 14 September, Polish forces under Soviet high command occupied the east bank of theVistula river opposite the insurgents' positions; but only 1,200 men made it across to the west bank, and they were not reinforced by the bulk of the Red Army. This, and the lack of Soviet air support from a base 5 minutes flying time away, led to allegations thatJoseph Stalin tactically halted his forces to let the operation fail and allow the Polish insurrectionists to be crushed.

Changes in the Consulate of The Republic of Poland

 

Time came for Vancouver area to say goodbye to Mr. Krzysztof Czapla, the longtime Consul General RP who has been working with Polonia Organizations in our area for several years  as well as representing Republic of Poland in Western Canada. For all the work and friendship we are sad to say good bye, but at the same time on behalf of Polish-Canadian Community would like to wish Mr. Czapla best health for him and his family and all the best in his future endeavors. 

 

Mr Krzysztof Olendzki - New Consul General RP in Vancouver started his service in September 2014. 

 

We are welcoming him and wishing all the best and many years of successful service in Canada. Please find few facts about his impressive career. 

 

 

Krzysztof Olendzki - biography

He graduated from the Faculty of History at the University of Warsaw . He was a PhD student at the Institute of History of the Polish Academy of Sciences , Scuola Superiore di then Studi Storici dell'Universita di San Marino, where he defended his doctoral dissertation in 1995, nostryfikowanÄ… followed by the Faculty of History at the University of Warsaw. He received a scholarship at the European University Institute inFlorence .

He worked at the State Scientific Publishing House (1987-1988), and in the years 1997-1999 in Scientific Publishing PWN . He was editor of the editor of the encyclopedia about Poland in English entitled Poland. An encyclopedic Guide. He was a scientific assistant at the Archives of the University of Warsaw (1987-1988), and since 1992 assistant and then associate professor in the Department of Economic and Social History School of Economics . In the periods 1996-1999 and 2001-2003 he served as Deputy Director of the European Studies Program conducted jointly by the School of Economics and Political Science Institute in Paris .

From 1998 to 1999 he served as minister counselor in the Department of Western European Foreign Minister . Then for two years he was deputy director of the Polish Institute and the First Secretary of the Polish Embassy in Rome . In 2001-2004 he served as adviser to the minister, and secretary and adviser in the Department of Strategy and Foreign Policy Planning Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In 2004-2006 he worked as a counselor for political affairs at the Polish Embassy in Tallinn . From December 2007 to September 2008 he served as Deputy Director of the Department of Public and Cultural Diplomacy Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

From 12 January 2006 to 3 December 2007 he held the office of Secretary of State in the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage , from January 19, 2007 was also the attorney for the government. organization of the international exhibition EXPO 2012 in Wroclaw .

August 20, 2008 he was appointed ambassador of the Republic of Poland in Tunisia [1] , was dismissed with effect from 31 January 2012 [2] . In the period from March 2012 to September 2014 he worked as Foreign Minister in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs: Deputy Director of the Department of Development Assistance, deputy director, then director of the Department of Africa and the Middle East, and deputy director of the Office of Infrastructure Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In September 2014 was Consul General of Poland in Vancouver .

Distinctions

In 2012, for outstanding contribution in the foreign service, for achievements in undertaken for the benefit of the country work and diplomatic activity, awarded the Knight's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta Polish [3] .

 

 

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