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ACROSS THE GLOBE
THUG OFFICER SENTENCED. Chicago Police Officer Anthony Abbate was found guilty of one count
of aggravated battery in the beating of Karolina Obrycka, a bartender at a Northwest side bar in February 2007. Abbate was previously indicted on 15 counts, including intimidation of a witness and
aggravated battery.
In testifying, Abbate, who stands 6 foot 1 and weighs more than 250 pounds, contended he retaliated
against Obrycka after she threw him into a shelf, causing him to hit his head. He had stepped behind the bar without permission at Jesse’s Short Stop Inn.
The case hung on the security videotape, which had sparked outrage, contributed to the sudden
retirement of Police Supt. Philip Cline and prompted an overhaul of the agency that investigates allegations of police misconduct.
Abbate has been suspended without pay, and a police spokesman said the department is seeking to
fire him. Abbate and attorneys from both sides declined to comment after the verdict because of a gag order issued by the judge.
In a post-press update, Abbate was given only a 2-year probation and anger management classes. Cook
County Circuit Judge John Fleming also gave Anthony Abbate, 40, a home curfew of 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. and ordered him to perform 130 hours of community service.
Obrycka expressed disappointment over Abbate's sentence, his refusal to apologize, and his
attorney’s persistent claim that she was to blame. "I couldn't listen. I started to feel shaky and sweaty, and I just felt very weak, so I left outside," she said. His attorney said
Obrycka's pending civil lawsuit kept Abbate from apologizing."
TALIBAN TARGETING POLISH TROOPS. Gazeta Wyborcza reports Taliban rebels in Afghanistan have been zeroing in on Polish troops. Last month, they successfully hit a Polish armored vehicle and have been shelling Polish bases. The Defense Ministry is asking the Americans for help and preparing reinforcements.
The Taliban has learned how to destroy Cougar armed vehicles, used by the Poles, by repositioning
improvised explosive devices in the vehicles’ paths.
The Polish units in Afghanistan have been stripped of much of their equipment. The 12th Mechanized
Brigade in Szczecin, for instance, has only a couple of Polish-made Rosomak personnel carriers left. None are armored and fit for Afghanistan.
The Polish troops in Afghanistan are also expressing alarm at the fact that the Taliban have been
shelling their bases with increasing accuracy.
“We are like shooting targets. It’s a miracle no one has been hit yet,” says an
ensign at one of the bases.
COUNTING ON MISSILES. Poland is counting on American Patriot missiles being installed on its
soil, regardless of whether the United States makes decides to create an anti-missile base there. While reviewing the cost-effectiveness of the project, Washington has stressed the importance of military
cooperation with Poland. Warsaw regards the missiles as an important symbol of the US commitment at a time when Russia is again flexing its muscles in foreign and security policy. About 100 U.S. soldiers
and 196 Patriot missiles are to be deployed in the country by year end, but Polish officials are worried that these may be only unarmed training missiles.
WOULD-BE ASSASSIN SEEKS BAPTISM. Ali Agca, who tried to assassinate Pope John Paul II in
1981, now wants to be baptized in the Vatican.
According to the Turkish Daily Today’s Zaman, Agca expressed to his attorney he is hoping to
visit the tomb of John Paul II and meet with Benedict XVI.
Agca shot John Paul II on May 13, 1981 in St. Peter’s Square. Later, John Paul II visited him
in jail and forgave him. He is currently jailed in a Turkish prison for other crimes, but will be released next January.
U2 HELPS MARK ANNIVERSARY. The legendary Irish rock group U2 has allowed free use of one of
its hits to memorialize the Polish-led freedom upsurge which led to the collapse of communism. U2’s 1983 song “New Year’s Day,” inspired by Poland’s Solidarity movement, has
been used in a European Union TV spot to mark the breakthrough’s 20th anniversary. The spot highlights the partially democratic elections of June 1989, the Soviet bloc’s first non-communist
government and Poland’s admission to NATO and the EU. (More information at: www.U2.com.)
AMERICAN POLONIA AT A GLANCE
LAKEWOOD, Calif — Stephen J. Danko, Ph.D., PLCGS, will be the main speaker at a Family
History Seminar presented by the Polish Genealogical Society of California, Sat., Aug. 22, 2009. There will be a 9:00 a.m. check-in, and seminar runs from 9:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. The event takes places at
the Weingart Senior Center, 5220 Oliva Ave., located two miles north of the Long Beach Airport, near the intersection of Lakewood and Del Amo Boulevards.
Lectures include: “Genealogy and the Changing Map of Eastern Europe,” “A New Look
at Immigrant Passenger Manifests,” “Using DNA and Indirect Evidence to Establish Family Relationships,” and “Genealogy Blogs: New Ways to Disseminate Genealogy.”
The registration fee ($40 for members, $50.00 for non-members) includes a morning snack, and a
Polish luncheon.
For more information call or email (310) 378-0877; president@pgsca.org, or visit www.pgsca.org.
CHICAGO — The Polish Arts Club of Chicago, an affiliate of the American Council for
Polish Culture, held an installation luncheon June 14, 2009 at the Park Ridge Country Club. Following lunch, a musical presentation was given by the 2008 Polish Arts Club music contest winner, cellist
Helen Weberpol.
CHICAGO — Naród Polski, the newspaper of the Polish Roman Catholic Union of America
(PRCUA), is now available digitally. The newspaper, edited by Kathryn Rosypal and Lidia Kowalewicz, includes 13 pages in English and seven pages in Polish.
As of May 4th publication, all subscribers, as well as visitors, can go to the PRCUA website www.PRCUA.org/NarodPolski to download the full 20-page, colored, digital publication. It appears in a graphic, highly readable, and environmentally friendly PDF format. The digital newspaper is free-of-charge to anyone who wants it.
The printed version of Naród Polski will continue to be mailed to all PRCUA members who currently
receive the publication in the mail.
MINNEAPOLIS — Seventy-five cartons of clothing, school supplies, and other goods weighing
over 1800 pounds were sent to 49 Polish orphanages by St. Agnes Men’s Club in St. Paul and Polamer Parcel in Minneapolis.
Donations are being accepted to cover the cost of shipping, which was $2,181. Please send
contributions to: St. Agnes Men’s Club, c/o Bernard Koalska, 95 West Rose Ave., St. Paul, MN 55117-1827. Upon request, Koalska will provide donors with a list of orphanages.
PORT WASHINGTON, N.Y. — The Polish American Museum’s Third Annual Founders
Scholarship Awards and Concert was held on May 3, 2009. The 2009 scholarship awards, two in the amount of $500 to each recipient, were given to:
Christopher Osman, a student at North Shore High School, Glen Head. He will be attending the School
of Engineering at the Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee in the fall; and,
Natalie Sliwowski, a student At Islip High School, Islip. She will be attending College of Brown
University, Providence, Rhode Island majoring in International Relations.
Colleen Stack, a freshman at the Friends Academy, Locust Valley entertained with her musical
selections by Paderewski, Chopin, Gottschalk and others.
SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Robert Synakowski, president of the Syracuse Polish Home is the
“Pole of the Year.”
An officer of the Polish Home, Synakowski is following a path started by his grandfather and
father.
A graduate of the Westminster Choir College in Princeton, N.J., he also studied at the Jagiellonian
University in Krakow, Poland, originally going to teach with the Kosciuszko Foundation. Synakowski fell in love with the country, the people and the food staying for three years teaching the English
language.
Currently, he teaches English at the Seymour Dual Language Academy in Syracuse, where his students
are from Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic and Cuba.
Synakowski is interested in Polish history as well as Polish American history, including the
history of our Central New York Polish Community.
He was elected vice-president of the Polish Home in 2002, and president in 2004. He became involved
in the Polish Home to help re-embrace Polish culture and introduce other aspects besides polkas and pierogies, such as the Polish Cafe atmosphere, more diverse foods and Polish beer.
The Polish Home was originally founded to “Americanize” Polish immigrants. Synakowski
believes its mission now should be to “Polonize” Americans.
Membership has grown considerably by expanding their horizons beyond the original Polish
neighborhood and into the greater Syracuse area. To get the word out, The Polish Home now prints a monthly newsletter, and maintains a web site.
PITTSBURGH — The Western Pennsylvania Polish Community will gather Wednesday, August 26 at
St. Paul’s Cathedral in Oakland for a special commemoration of the miraculous image of Our Lady of Czestochowa, known as the Black Madonna and the Queen of Poland. The celebration will
include the celebration of mass at 7:00 p.m. by His Excellency, the Most Reverend David Zubik, Bishop-Ordinary of the Diocese of Pittsburgh, followed by a community reception.
The August 26 events are sponsored by the Polish Falcons of America in cooperation with the Polish
Clergy Association of Pittsburgh and neighboring dioceses of Greensburg and Altoona-Johnstown.
Information on the event, including group access and chartered bus parking, can be obtained by
contacting the Polish Falcons of America, (412) 922-2244 or email: info@polishfalcons.org. Information is also posted on the organization’s web site at: www.polishfalcons.org
WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senator Barbara A. Mikulski (D-Md.) applauded the Senate’s
passage of a resolution commemorating the 20th anniversary of the end of communist government in Poland. Senator Mikulski introduced the resolution, which was cosponsored by a bipartisan group of her
Senate colleagues.
“In the aftermath of the Second World War, the people of Poland found themselves under the
oppression of a harsh communist government put in place by their Soviet occupiers.” Senator Mikulski said. “They did not choose communism — it was forced upon them.”
After over 40 years of struggle, in early 1989 the historic Round Table discussions were held
between the communist government of Poland and representatives of the democratic opposition on a peaceful transfer of power. As a result, on June 4, 1989 the first democratic parliamentary elections in
Poland were held. This date is symbolically celebrated as the fall of communism in Poland.
“This anniversary is a great occasion for the Polish people, for the government of Poland,
and the history of the relationship between the United States and Poland,” said Mikulski.
“It is fitting that the Senate commemorate this
anniversary, that we express our admiration for the resolve that the Polish people demonstrated in the face of political oppression under communist rule, that we congratulate the people of Poland for
their accomplishments in the years since the end of communist rule, and that we express our appreciation for the close friendship of between the United States and Poland.”
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