History Books
Choral Patriotism: The Polish Singers
Alliance of America, 1888-1998
by Stanislaus A. BlejwasItem 1-660
Was $22.50. Now only $9.95!
Boydell & Brewer, 2005
396 pp., illus.
6.20 x 9.30 x 1.20
This book examines the history of the Polish Singers Alliance of America as an ideological organization. As a case study of an immigrant cultural organization that evolved demographically into an ethnic organization of the succeeding generations, it documents the extent to which the politics of the homeland engaged an immigrant and ethnic community over a century.
This is a study of immigrant nationalism, as articulated by immigrant and ethnic singing societies. The survival of the Alliance as an ideological organization suggests considerations about the ability of an immigrant and ethnic culture to resist and to adapt to America's assimilative powers.
“This is a superb treatment of the formation and expansion of the oldest Polish-American cultural organization in North America. Professor Blejwas makes the times come alive as he interweaves history with the growth of the PSAA.”
— Frances Gates
The Polish Presence in
American Screen Images
by Joseph ZurawskiPublished by the Polish Museum of America.
Was $29.95. Now only $12.95!
Item 2-682
Softcover, 355 pp., 6″ x 9″; 2018
The most complete, objective and accurate analysis of the presentation of Polish Americans and their heritage as viewed on movie theaters and on television screens in American since 1894.
Prominent author, educator and Polish American activist Joseph W. Zurawski identifies and analyzes more than 1300 films shown in the United States that feature or identify a Polish American character or reference.
Wearing the Letter P
Polish Women as Forced Laborers in Nazi Germany, 1939-1945by Sophie Hodorowicz-Knab
Item 1-642
pb. 304 pages
6 x 9 inches
An unflinching, detailed portrait of a forgotten group of Nazi forced labor survivors.
Written by the daughter of Polish forced laborers,Wearing the Letter P gives a voice to women who were taken from their homes as young as 12 years old and subjected to slave labor conditions, starvation, sexual exploitation, and forced abortions and child separation — all while Nazi propaganda depicted them as well-cared-for volunteers. Knab provides an important contribution to World War II history, based on archival records from the U.S. and Europe, family records, war crime trials, and previously unpublished victim accounts.
For years Sophie Hodorowicz Knab's mother was unable to discuss or answer questions about this period of her life. Compelled to learn more about her mother's experience and that of other Polish women, Knab began a personal and emotional quest. Over the course of 14 years, she conducted extensive research of postwar trial testimonies housed in archives in the U.S., London, and in Warsaw to piece together facts and individual stories from this singular and often-overlooked aspect of World War II history. As mothers, wives, daughters, and sisters, female Polish forced laborers faced a unique set of challenges and often unspeakable conditions because of their gender. Required to sew a large letter "P" onto their jackets, thousands of women were taken from their homes in Poland and forced to work for the Reich across Germany for months and years on end.
Even before the invasion of Poland in September 1939, Hitler and his top officials had designated the Polish people as Untermensch, or "subhuman": "Poland shall be treated as a colony; the Poles shall be the slaves of the Greater German world Empire. "
Knab explains how it all happened, from the beginning of occupation in Poland to liberation: the roundups; the horrors of transit camps; the living and working conditions of Polish women in agriculture and industry; and the anguish of sexual exploitation and forced abortions--all under the constant threat of concentration camps. Knab draws from documents, government and family records, rare photos, and most importantly, numerous victim accounts and diaries, letters and trial testimonies, finally bringing to light to the atrocities that they endured.
Sophie Hodorowicz Knab is a bestselling author of several Polish-interest books, including Polish Customs, Traditions and Folklore, and The Polish Country Kitchen Cookbook.
