Polish American Congress
Western New York Division
Polish American Congress Western New York Division
P.O. Box 1242
Buffalo, NY 14240
United States
administ
K A T Y N 1940
Richard B. Solecki President Polish American Congress, WNY Division welcomes Marek Skulimowski Deputy Consul General of Poland in New York City to the opening of the Katyn Massacre Exhibit.
The Oscar-nominated film Katyn will be shown on Sun., Oct. 17 at 2 p.m. at the Central Library in Buffalo. The screening of the English-subtitled film coincides with the closing of the traveling exhibit entitled “Katyn. Massacre. Politics. Morality” on view at the library until the morning of Oct. 18.
The film’s director, Andrzej Wajda, fulfilled his lifelong dream of telling the story of his father, who was among the thousands of Poles murdered in Katyn. Wajda chose Poland’s best actors to tell the story.
A poignant local connection was discovered during the exhibit’s presence in Buffalo. The photos of two Buffalo-born men are featured on a panel dedicated to U.S. born victims of the massacre. Those men were Reserve Lt. Henryk Franciszek Adamski and Sgt. Major Wincenty Blaszak. A copy of Adamski’s baptismal certificate next to his photo lists him as living at 919 Clinton St., Buffalo.
A former Buffalo resident now living in Rochester, Robert Johnson, noticed the photo on the internet, and realized that Henryk Adamski was his mother’s first cousin. Johnson made an emotional trip to view the photo personally and to share the news with his sister in Williamsville.
Johnson will be present at Sunday’s screening along with Casimir and Vitold Soron. The Soron brothers’ father was pressured to leave his Buffalo-based radio program in 1944 after refusing to stop reporting about Soviet actions against Poland during the war.
Local genealogical researchers Monica Rzepka and Ed Kornowski are aiding in the research of both the Adamski and Blaszak families to see whether any other descendants may remain. Especially scant seems to be information about the Blaszak family.
Admission to the film and exhibit is free. The library’s hours are 1-5 p.m. on Sunday. Those who would like to have one last look at the exhibit are encouraged to arrive before the 2 p.m. screening.
The English-language exhibit was created in Poland by the Council to Protect the Memory of Combat and Martyrdom. It began its journey in the U.S. at the U.S. Senate and will travel next to Cleveland.
Sponsors of the exhibit’s presence in Buffalo are the Buffalo and Erie County Public Library, the Polish American Congress, WNY Div., the Polish Legacy Project of Buffalo-WWII and the Kosciuszko Foundation, WNY Chapter.
Robert Johnson points out a photo of Henryk Adamski, his mother’s first cousin who was a Polish Army officer born in Buffalo and killed in Katyn by the Soviets.
The exhibit “Katyn Massacre, Politics, Morality” is on display at the downtown branch of the Buffalo and Erie County Public Library until the morning of Oct. 18. Below is a panel showing Buffalo native Wincenty Blaszak who was also murdered at Katyn.
From Am-Pol Eagle:
Katyn Exhibit opens at Buffalo and Erie County Public Library
KATYN: MASSACRE, POLITICS, MORALITY: Sponsors of the Katyn Massacre Exhibit at the downtown branch of the Buffalo and Erie County Public Library welcomed guests at an opening night reception on Sept. 28. From left to right are: Polish American Congress WNY Division President Richard Solecki, Polish Legacy Project -WWII Chairman Andy Golebiowski, PAC Vice President Bernadine (Dina) Szymanski, Kosciuszko Foundation WNY Chapter President Christopher Golinski and Stanton Hudson, Chief Development & Communications Officer, Buffalo & Erie County Public
During the exhibits' opening reception Joseph Wilk examined the panels and remarked: “If my grandfather didn’t escape, I wouldn’t be standing here.” His brother, Anthony Wilk provided the Am-Pol Eagle with a translation of a 1949 article from Dziennik Dla Wszystkich (Everybody’s Daily). Their grandfather Stanislaw Wilk was an officer of the 22nd Uhlan Regiment during World War II and fought in battles near the villages of Zofianka and Krzemien before being surrounded by Germans on one side and Russians on the other. With no way out, they surrendered to the Russians.
In the Dziennik interview, Stanislaw Wilk stated, “In Lwow they surrounded the officers, among whom were many rank and file, and loaded them onto a freight train and transported them to Russia.”
Wilk stated: “I was in the group of officers who were later killed in Katyn. I was able to escape through the window of a railcar. I never saw those people again, nor did I hear about them. But after the Katyn crime was discovered, I read some of their names as the ones who were killed in Katyn.”
“If he didn’t get off that train, I wouldn’t be standing here,” Joseph remarked. The Wilks found maps in the exhibit and could point to where their grandparents and father lived in Brody, where the NKVD, the Soviet secret police, arrested them after his escape. Stanislaw was sentenced to death, “pardoned,” and then sentenced to a “rehabilitation camp” in Kiev. In 1941, when many Poles were released to fight in General Anders army, Stanislaw was sent to the brickworks in Szymerla in the region of Kazan. He would later escape and join the Polish army earning the Order of Virtuti Militari Cross, the Monte Cassino Cross, the Cross of Merit and other medals.
Also viewing the exhibit was Janusz Nieduzak of Buffalo, a Polish army veteran and commander of SPK Post 33. Nieduzak, who fought in World War II, said the exhibit was “important to let people know” about the Katyn Massacre. He said it tells the story of “evil beyond human imagination.” Nieduzak added, “But as a Polish veteran and a Christian we should forgive but never forget – not now, not ever.”
With Nieduzak was fellow Polish SPK veteran Henry Maziarczyk who recalled how the story of Katyn was something that was not spoken about. He said, “We were told to keep our mouth shut and not say anything.” Although the blame for the massacre was initially placed on the Germans, Maziarczyk said, “We were convinced it was the Russians.”
Polish American Congress, WNY Division President Richard Solecki welcomed the guests to the exhibit and noted that just recently the Russians gave to Poland files regarding what Solecki called a “carefully planned” massacre.
Stanton Hudson, chief development and communications officer for the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library, said the library is a place to preserve stories and they come in many forms. He said the library was pleased to host the exhibit and “the story of Katyn is an important one, one the world was late to learn.”
There were two people from Buffalo who were killed in Katyn according to Polish Legacy Project -WWII Chairman Andy Golebiowski. He said there were other displaced persons who came to Buffalo who had relatives murdered there. For many years, Golebiowski said the story of Katyn was told in Polish and he was very excited it was now being explained “in English on Main Street, USA.”
Kosciuszko Foundation WNY Chapter President Christopher Golinski said that like many folks, he is continuing to learn about Katyn. “This exhibit is for people like me,” he remarked.
The exhibit is hosted by the Buffalo and Erie County Public Library and sponsored by the Polish American Congress, WNY Division; Kosciuszko Foundation, WNY Chapter; and Polish Legacy Project – WWII.
Caption to read: Marek Skulimowski Deputy Consul General of Poland in New York City attends opening of Katyn Massacre Exhibit on display in Buffalo, New York.
From the left: Father Tadeusz Bocianowski, Danuta Nycz, Richard Solecki, President PAC, WNY Division, Mira Szramel Principal Polish Saturday School, Helena Golebiowski, Marek Skulimowski Deputy Consul General of Poland in New York City, Bernadin Szymanski Vice President PAC, WNY Division and Chairperson of the Katyn Massacre Exhibit.
From Am-Pol Eagle:
More Buffalo bloodlines traced to Katyn
Henryk Adamski of Buffalo, at right, was among the victims of the Katyn Forest Massacre.
When the traveling photo exhibit “Katyn: Massacre, Politics, Morality” first arrived in Buffalo late last month, local organizers setting up the display were surprised to learn that two of the victims of this World War II atrocity by the Soviets were born in Buffalo.
Then, through a simple promotional announcement on the internet site Facebook, a Rochester man came forward and discovered through additional research that he was a relative of one Buffalo-born victim. As previously reported in the Am-Pol Eagle, Robert Johnson discovered that murdered Polish military officer Henryk Adamski was his mother’s first cousin.
Now, a second Western New Yorker has come forward with more tales about Henryk Adamski. His niece, Nancy Adamski, lives in the Buffalo area. She told the Am-Pol Eagle she was previously aware of her uncle’s fate but was overcome with new emotions including surprise when she saw his photo included with a recent Buffalo News story promoting the Katyn exhibit.
“I picked up the paper and I was looking through when all of a sudden it hit me, that picture,” said Adamski. “And then I looked and thought…Oh my God, it’s my uncle!”
She recognized it easily because it matched a picture passed on to her by her late father. The following day she was at the Buffalo and Erie County Library’s downtown branch to see the exhibit. She returned to view Andrej Wajda’s film “Katyn” last Sunday and meet up with her cousin, Robert Johnson, whom she says she last saw at a family wake.
Adamski first became familiar with the Katyn Massacre in 1980, upon the unveiling of the memorial sculpture in Buffalo’s City Hall. She is convinced her father had told stories of the massacre but she admitted that as a youngster “you don’t absorb as much.” Now, many years later, she says it’s “very emotional” knowing the family’s connection to Katyn.
She offered some family history, including why it was believed Henryk Adamski moved to Poland after a childhood in Buffalo. Although admitting she doesn’t have a fully accurate account, it was believed her uncle, along with her father and other uncle, went back to Poland to help manage her great-grandmother’s farm when she took ill.
When her father turned 21 years old, he opted to return to the United States while Henryk chose to stay behind. But before they parted ways, there was reportedly a promise made, but one that tragedy left unfulfilled.
“My father always mentioned this, but his brother (Henryk) said he would come and visit some day,” said Adamski. “But he joined the Polish Army and was later killed.”
Although Adamski’s other uncle never visited the United States, the relatives stayed in contact. Finally, in 1972, family members reunited when Nancy Adamski and her parents visited Poland.
As previously reported in the Am-Pol Eagle, local genealogical researchers are currently working to determine if there are any other surviving relatives of Henryk Adamski and fellow Buffalo-born Katyn victim Wincenty Blaszak.
Nancy Adamski says through her own family correspondence, she knows of one direct descendant living in the land to where she and her mother fled from the Soviets.
“My uncle Henryk, he had a wife and a daughter and they fled to Australia,” said Adamski. “Since then, I know my aunt has passed away but the daughter is still living there.”
Last updated on May 11th, 2012
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Polish American Congress Western New York Division
P.O. Box 1242
Buffalo, NY 14240
United States
administ
