October is Polish American Heritage Month. Sponsored by the Polish American Congress, groups across America’s Polonia celebrate Polonia’s rich background in the United States.
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1608. First Poles arrive in America aboard the Mary & Margaret to work as skilled craftsmen at settlement in Jamestown (Virginia). They would later stage the first labor strike in America because they were excluded from the colony’s political decisions.
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1922. Birth of William Swiacki (†1976), New York Giants and Detroit Lions tight end, drafted from Columbia University in 1946.
1944. Nazi troops crushed the 2-month-old (63 days) Warsaw Uprising, during which a quarter-million people were killed.
1412. Union of Horodio cements friendship of Poland and Lithuania.
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1501.Union of Mielnik, an attempt to unite the Kingdom of Poland with the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. It was not ratified by the Lithuanian Seimas or by the Polish Sejm Despite the failure to unify two countries into a single state, Poland and Lithuania were under a personal union until the Union of Lublin of 1569.
1996. Poland’s Wislawa Szymborski awarded Nobel Prize for Literature.
1923. Birth of composer and conductor Stanislaw Skrowaczewski (†2017).
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ST. FRANCIS
Po świętym Franciszku chodzi bydło po owsisku.
After St. Francis the cattle walk through fields where oats once grew.
1705. Stanislaw Leszczynski crowned King of Poland, the first crowned in Warsaw.
1911. Birth of bandleader Frank Wojnarowski, composer of “Matka” and other treasured Polish American songs.
1979. Pope John Paul II’s first visit to United States begins.
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ST. FAUSTINA
Maria Faustyna Kowalska (1905-1938), also known as Saint Maria Faustyna Kowalska of the Blessed Sacrament, was a Polish Roman Catholic nun and mystic. Her apparitions of Jesus Christ inspired the Roman Catholic devotion to the Divine Mercy and earned her the title of "Secretary of Divine Mercy."
1861. Death of Antoni Fijalkowski, Archbishop Metropolitan of Warsaw and spiritual leader of the nation during the partitions of Poland.
1763. Death of Augustus III the Saxon. (b. 17 October 1696). King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1734 until 1763, as well as Elector of Saxony in the Holy Roman Empire from 1733 until 1763 where he was known as Frederick Augustus II.
1983. Lech Walesa awarded Nobel Peace Prize.
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1979. President Jimmy Carter greeted Pope John II at the White House. The visit marked the first time a pope had been there. It was, Time magazine noted, “a happening that would have been inconceivable in U.S. politics just two decades ago.” Carter welcomed the Polish-born pontiff on the North Portico in his native tongue: “Niech będzie Bóg pochwalony” (“May God be praised”). In response, the pope said in English: “It gives me great joy to be the first pope in history to come to the capital of this nation, and I thank almighty God for this blessing.”
1788. The Polish Diet decided to hold a four-year session.
1873. Death of Sir Pawel Strzelecki (b. 1797), explorer of Australian continent who named its largest mountain after Tadeusz Kościuszko.
1882. Birth of Karol Szymanowski, Polish composer, in Timoshovka, Ukraine. (d. 1937)
1986. Most Rev. John F. Swantek elected Prime Bishop of the Polish National Catholic Church.
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ST. MARK
Gdy Św. Marek, z mrozem przybywa,
Babie Lato, Krótkie bywa.
If it is freezing on St. Mark’s, Indian Summer will be short.
1943. Execution in Soviet gulag of Eugeniusz Bodo (nee Bohdan Eugene Junod), film director, producer, and one of the most popular Polish actors and comedians of the interwar period.
1944. Founding of the Marie Curie-Sklodowska Institute in Lublin.
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ST. BRIGID
O Swietej Brigidzie, Babie lato przyjdzie.
About the St. Brigid’s day, Indian summer will arrive.
1910. Death of Maria Konopnicka, poet, novelist, translator and
essayist from Lwow, Poland.
1960. U.S. stamp issued to honor Ignacy Jan Paderewski.
1982. All labor organizations in Poland, including Solidarity, banned by Communist-controlled government.
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1944. Heinrich Himmler ordered the complete destruction of Warsaw in retaliation for the outbreak of the uprising. An example of the bestiality of the German fight against Polish culture, the destruction of Warsaw did not serve any military or colonial purpose; it was carried out solely as an act of reprisal.
2003. Death of Msgr. John Gabalski, fifth pastor of St. Stanislaus Parish, mother church of Buffalo Polonia.
1979. Czeslaw Milosz awarded Nobel Prize for literature.
1435. Death of Pawel Wlodkowic, model for Shakespeare’s Polonius (Hamlet).
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1982. Pope John Paul II canonizes Maximilian Maria Kolbe (1894-1941), a Polish Franciscan friar, who volunteered to die in place of another inmate at Auschwitz concentration camp.
1982. U.S. imposes sanctions against Poland for banning Solidarity trade union.
1733. France declares war on Austria over the question of Polish succession.
1794. Russian Army under Gen. Alexander Suvorov takes Warsaw and captures Tadeus Kosciusko at Maciejowice. T. Vavzeckis was became the new commander of the revolutionary forces.
1899. Death of Mother Angela Truszkowska (b. 1825), founder of the Felician Sisters.
1945. The Polish Arts Club of Buffalo is founded.
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1903. Birth of Kazimierz Kordylewski (†1981), in Poznan, astronomer who discovered clouds of dust, believed to be particles left over from our moon. These clouds are now named after him.
1779. Date traditionally observed in American Polonia as Pułaski Day in honor of death of Casimir Pułaski, 34, Polish-born American patriot, who died from battle wounds suffered at Savannah, Georgia. In 2005, his alleged remains were reinterned in a monument named in his honor in Savannah.
1968. Birth of actress and singer Jane Krakowski, best known for her role as Jenna Maroney on the sitcom 30 Rock, for which she received four Primetime Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series. She also received acclaim for her performance as Elaine Vassal on Ally McBeal, for which she was nominated for a Golden Globe Award.
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1891. Edith Stein was born to a Jewish family at Breslau. Through her passionate study of philosophy, she searched after truth and found it in reading the autobiography of St. Teresa of Jesus. In 1922 she was baptized a Catholic and in 1933 she entered the Carmel of Cologne where she took the name Teresa Benedicta of the Cross. She was gassed and cremated at Auschwitz on August 9, 1942, during the Nazi persecution and died a martyr for the Christian faith after having offered her holocaust for the people of Israel.
1672. Signing of the Peace of Buczacz (also said to be signed on the 16 or 18), in Buczacz (now Buchach, Ukraine) between the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Ottoman Empire, ending the first phase of the Polish-Ottoman War (1672-1676). Hostilities resumed in the spring of 1673 as the Sejm never ratified the treaty.
1840. Birth of Helena (Modjeska) Modrzejewska (d. April 8, 1909), Polish American stage actress, in Krakow, Poland. She was a renowned actress specializing in Shakespearean and tragic roles and is considered one of the greatest Polish actresses in history.
1935. Birth of former New York Yankees shortstop and sportscaster Tony Klubek.
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ST. EDWARD
Na Edwarda jesień twarda.
On St. Edward’s Day, the autumn is hard.
1926. Birth of Wladek “Killer” Kowalski (†2008), who wrestled in over 6,000 matches from 1947 to 1977.
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1864. Birth of Polish novelist and dramatist Stefan Żeromski (†1925). He was a member of the Young Poland movement at the turn of the 20th century. Żeromski often touched upon social issues in his works and is sometimes called the “conscience of Polish literature.”
1943. Some 300 of 600 prisoners escaped from the Nazi’s Sobibor death camp in occupied Poland. The event was later documented in the book “Escape from Sobibor” by Richard Rashke (1982) and the film of the same name with Alan Arkin. Josef Vallaster, an Austrian guard, was among 11 SS officers and 11 Ukrainians killed in the escape. Most of the escaped prisoners were killed as they fled. Only 50 prisoners survived the war. Vallaster had operated the motor that funneled gas into Sobibor’s shower rooms.
1773. Poland creates the Commission of National Education.
1903. Birth of Stefan Jarosz, geographer who explored Alaska.
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ST. HEDWIG
In old Poland, the last of the crops are harvested around the feast of St. Hedwig
Św. Jadwiga, jesli deszcz nie pada,
To do kapusty Pan Bog miodunada.
On St. Hedwig’s, if it’s not raining
God grants honey to the cabbage.
1817. Death of Tadeusz A.B. Kosciusko (b. 1746), Polish Lt-Gen. and American Revolution freedom fighter, in Solothurn, Switzerland..
1582. Poland adopts the Gregorian calendar.
1910. Death of boxing legend Stanislaw (Keciel) Ketchel.
1945. Poland, not present at United Nations organizing conference earlier in the year, signs UN Charter, and is considered one of the five founding member states.
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1384. Coronation of Jadwiga, the first female monarch of the Kingdom of Poland, reigning this day until her death. She was the youngest daughter of Louis the Great, King of Hungary and Poland, and his wife Elizabeth of Bosnia. Jadwiga was a member of the Capetian House of Anjou, but she had more close forebears among the Polish Piasts. In 1997 she was canonized by the Roman Catholic Church.
1978. Cardinal Karol Wojtyla, 58, named Pope John Paul II, the 264 pope and the first non-Italian pope since Adrian VI in 1522. He is the first-ever Polish pontiff (d. 2005).
1940. Nazi SS troops form the Warsaw Ghetto.
1886. Birth of David Ben-Gurion (d.1973), Israeli statesman, in Plonsk, Poland. He was the 1st PM of Israel and served from 1948-53 and in 1955.
1973. Death of swing and jazz drummer Gene Krupa.
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1676. Signing of the Treaty of Żurawno concludes the Polish-Ottoman War.
1777. Americans win crucial Revolutionary War Battle of Saratoga. Victory is credited in large to engineering feats of Tadeusz Kościuszko.
1849. Death of Polish composer and pianist Fryderyk Chopin, 39, in Paris.
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ST. LUKE
All field work should be completed by this day.
“Sw. Lukasz, co w polu szukasz?
St. Luke’s Day, what are you looking for in the fields?”
1922. Birth of artist and sculptor Richard Stankiewicz (†1983) in Philadelphia.
1981. General Wojciech Jaruzelski is made head of the Polish Communist [United Workers] Party.
1815. Free City of Kraków proclaimed.
1776. Thaddeus Kościuszko, 30, Polish and American patriot, is given a commission in the American Revolutionary Army.
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1984. Abduction and murder of Fr. Jerzy Popiełuszko (b. 1947), Roman Catholic priest from Poland, associated with the Solidarity union. He was murdered by three agents of the Polish communist internal intelligence agency, Security Service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, who were shortly thereafter tried and convicted of the murder. He has been recognized as a martyr by the Catholic Church, and was beatified on 6 June 6, 2010.
1466. Treaty of Torun ended the 13-year War of the Cities (1454-1466), between the Teutonic knights and their own disaffected subjects in Prussia. The Peace of Thorn (Torún) ended the war between the Teutonic knights (a German military and religious order) and their subjects in Prussia, led by King Casimir IV (1427-1492) of Poland. Poland was given Pomerelia and West Prussia, and the knights retained East Prussia, with a new capital at Königsberg (Kaliningrad). The knights, formerly strictly a German order, were forced to accept Poles as members and their grand master became a vassal of the Polish king.
1813. Death of Józef Poniatowski, general in Napoleon’s army.
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1948. Birth of Congressman Robert Borski, of Pennsylvania.
1982. Death of Korczak Ziolkowski, sculptor of the Crazy Horse Memorial in the Black Hills of South Dakota.
1990. Plaque honoring abolitionist John Brown supporter, Polish poet Cyprian Norwid, unvieled at Harper’s Ferry.
1905. Following the Revolution in the Kingdom of Poland (1905–1907), also known as the Polish Revolution of 1905 —a major part of the Russian Revolution of 1905 in Russian-partitioned Poland — Russian tsar Nikolai II Alexandrovich Romanov allowed Polish people to speak Polish.
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ST. URSULA
Od świętej Urszuli chłop się kożuchem otuli.
From Saint Ursula on, men sheepskin coat don.
1890. Death of John Strentzel, physician and horticulturist who came to California as a ’49er.
1914. Battle of Warsaw ended with a German defeat.
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1978. Cardinal Karol Wojtyla of Krakow, Poland is installed as Pope John Paul II.
1990. Birth of Actor Jonathan Lipnicki (“Stuart Little,” “Jerry Maguire,” “The Little Vampire”)
1940. Stan “Stas” Jasinski, age 25, broadcasts his first Polish radio program in Buffalo. Undoubtedly the greatest Polish broadcaster in the history of Buffalo Polonia, he later establishes a radio station, television station, and is inducted in the International Polka Association Hall of Fame. He also is the recipient of numerous civic awards. He retired from broadcasting June 4, 2000 after a remarkable 60 years on the radio. (†2005).
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1870. Polish Museum established in Rapperswil, Switzerland, by Count Władysław Broel-Plater, who rented and renovated a thirteenth-century castle from the Rapperswil commune. Financed by the Polish landed gentry, the museum was gradually expanded and eventually boasted a library, archives, and a publishing house. After Poland regained independence, the collections of the museum and library were moved to Warsaw. Unfortunately, most of it was burned during World War II.
1885. Birth of Jan Czochralski (†1953), chemist known for the Czochralski process of growing single crystals used in the production of semiconductor wafers. He also helped to develop a hand grenade for Poland’s Home Army during World War II.
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1656. Treaty of Vilnius, a a truce during the Russo-Polish War (1654–67) and an anti-Swedish alliance in the contemporaneous Second Northern War. In return for ceasing hostilities and fighting Sweden alongside Poland–Lithuania, the treaty promised Alexis of Russia succession in Poland after John II Casimir Vasa’s death
1795. Third Partition of Poland, which removed the country from a political map of Europe.
1919. Birth of Frank Piasecki, inventor of the tandem-rotor helicopter.
1916. Birth of Polish American philanthropist and businessman Edward Piszek.
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1867. Birth of Jozef Dowbor-Musnicki (†1937), Polish military officer
and commander of the Greater Poland Uprising.
1891. Death of Pawel Stelmach, writer, and promoter of Polish heritage in Cieszyn, Silesia.
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1910. Birth of Cardinal John Krol, Archbishop of Philadelphia, and Polonian activist.
1940. Death of painter Olga Boznanska.
1939. The arrest of Polish President Stefan Starzynski by the Gestapo in Warsaw.
1946. Birth of television gameshow “Wheel of Fortune” host Pat Sajak.
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1991. First free elections held in Poland since World War II
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ST. SIMON
Na Świeto Szymona,
babie lato już kona.
On St. Simon’s Day,
Indian Summer is dying.
1550. Birth of St. Stanislaus Kostka (†1568). He was a Polish novice of the Society of Jesus. In 1606, Pope Paul V authorized his public worship in the Church, which led to his beatification. He was the first blessed Jesuit in the history of the Church. He was canonized in 1726.
1138. Death of Bolesław III Wrymouth; birth of Casimir II the Just
1824. Birth of Rev. Leopold Bonawentura Moczygemba the founder of the first permanent Polish settlement in the United States at Panna Maria, Texas.
1138. Death of Boleslaw III Krzywusty, was a Prince of Lesser Poland, Silesia and Sandomierz between 1102-1107 and over the whole Poland between 1107-1138.
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1924. Birth of Zbigniew Herbert (†1998), influential Polish poet, essayist, and moralist. He was a member of the Polish resistance movement during World War II.
1611. Hetman Stefan Zolkiewski returns to Warsaw from conquering the Muskovites brings with him the captured Czar.
1944. Polish 1st Corps, commanded by General Stanisław Maczek, takes Breda, Holland as part of the Allied invasion of Western Europe.
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1790. Birth of Karol Lipinski (†1861), virtuoso violinist and composer.
1939. USSR and Germany agreed on partitioning Poland. Hitler deports Jews.
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ALL HALLOW'S EVE
1940. Nazis declare this day as the deadline for Warsaw Jews to move into the Warsaw Ghetto.
