The Establishment of Israel and Destruction of Poland

Some 20 people braved record cold yesterday to watch two new documentary films screened at the Gallery Theatre in Chicago as part of the 31st annual Polish Film Festival in America. You could blame the low turnout on the weather, but I suspect that even a balmy autumn evening would not have produced much of […]

The Brodacki Boys and PTSD

Not until 1980 did psychiatry establish the term “post traumatic stress disorder,” to describe war-related trauma. Although surely it has existed for as long as war itself, PTSD used to be called battle fatigue or shell shock. As recently as World War I, many psychiatric casualties were seen simply as cowards. Three of my mother’s […]

Iranian Librarians Examine
Historical Connections to Poland

Some 40 Iranian librarians, film critics, and other subject specialists met at the National Library in Tehran December 22 to examine the historical connections between Iran and Poland, especially with regard to the little-known story of how Iran helped Polish refugees escape to the West after being deported from their homeland to slave labor camps […]

Where Is the Welcome Wagon
for the Refugee Caravan?

I don’t know how I could be any more American. I believe in the rule of law. I believe the American Constitution is the greatest ever written. My freedom is what I treasure most in life. I have been around the world and have observed cultural and political environments in nations such as Pakistan, Ethiopia, […]

Toxic Polarization in Poland

“As in many other European countries, Polish society has become increasingly polarized in recent years. The main divide is strongly linked to feelings about national autonomy and identity. It is, broadly speaking, between those who want a Poland ever more closely integrated with Western Europe politically, culturally, and economically, and those who believe deeper integration, […]

Previous Posts

My Mother’s Marriage License
06.22.2019
Iranian Librarians Examine
Historical Connections to Poland
12.23.2018
The Interview with James Frey that Never Happened
12.17.2018
The Demon of Warsaw
12.01.2018

Next Page »