Polish Greatness (Blog): Japan

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December 18, 2013

THE POLISH DIASPORA CONCLUSION: FAMOUS POLISH PEOPLE AROUND THE WORLD

The special series: The Polish Diaspora, concludes with this post, Famous Polish People Around the World. The following presentation includes more fascinating stories of contemporary Polish People from countries such as Egypt, Lithuania, Mexico, Russia, and Japan, just to name a few. There is also mention of a famous Polish-Scottish scientist whose discoveries are mind-blowing!

In the past few months I had posted a few blogs highlighting extraordinary Polish men and women - from Canada, the United States, Australia, France, Britain, and Brazil. Some of them may already be familiar to you, others not. Unfortunately I had to omit many personalities. The task of mentioning them all is literally impossible for the limitations of the blog.

Nevertheless, these stories are meant to enlighten and entertain readers about the lives and work of great Polish people around the world. Wherever Polish people have chosen to call home - they have contributed their skills and talent, fascinated us with their brilliant intellect, and charmed us with their intrinsic beauty and grace.

Look to your left. Look to your right. One of you is Polish!

ADAM GIEREK

Adam Gierek was born in Belgium, and is a Polish politician. He is a member of the European Parliament and sits on the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy. He is serves as substitute for the Committee on Culture and Education, as well as member to the Delegations of the EU to Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan Parliamentary Cooperation Committees (for relations with Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Mongolia) and substitute for the Delegation to the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly.

Gierek holds a Master's in Engineering, and Doctorate. Among his positions, he has been Professor at the Silesian University of Technology; from 1972 to 1982 he was the head of the Metallurgical Sciences and Technology Department and Director of the Institute of Materials Engineering; since 1973 he has been member of the Polish Academy of Sciences; from 1982 to 1989 he was visiting Professor at the Technische Universitat in Dresden; and member of the Polish Nuclear Society (PTN) among many other organizations.

AWARDS AND MEDALS

Order of the Banner of Labour, Second Class

Knight's Cross of the Order of Poland Reborn

Gold Medal for Merit for Defense of the Nation

National Education Medal

LUCIA TOPOLANSKY SAAVEDRA

Mrs. Saavedra, nee Lucia Topolansky is the wife of the President of Uruguay, Jose Mujica. She served as Deputy for Montevideo (2000-2005); Agriculture Minister, and Senator. ( In the 2009 Uruguayan general election, she won the most votes for Senator.) She has been a long-time member of the Movement of Popular Participation (MPP) an urban guerilla organization.

(The MPP has been linked with the former guerilla movement known as the Tuparnaros. In the 1960s the Tuparnaros had launched a barrage of political kidnappings, armed propaganda and assassinations. However by 1971 the military unleashed violent bloody reprisals and crushed the movement. Jose Mujica was also a member of the MPP in its heyday.

Lucia Topolansky Saavedra became the first female President of Uruguay on November 26, 2010, albeit temporarily. According to a clause of the Uruguayan Constitution, in the event that the President and Vice-President are both absent from the country, the Presidency rests temporarily in the control of the leader of the largest elected group in the Senate, hence Mrs. Saavedra. However, it lasted only two days. On November 28th, the President and Vice-President both returned to Uruguay.

NADIA LUFTI

Nadia Lufti was born in Egypt - the daughter of an Egyptian father and Polish mother. Lufti became one of the most celebrated actresses in the Golden Age of Egyptian cinema. In fact she took her stage name from a character (Nadia Lotfy) of a smash hit film called La Anam, starring Omarr Shariff. Thus she made her first screen debut in 1958 when Omar Shariff and his beautiful wife, Faten Hamama, were the reigning couple of Arab cinema.

Lufti performed her first dramatic production entitled, Soultan. In her second film, Cairo Station, she took on a smaller role which brought it's director, Youssef Chahine, international acclaim when it was presented at the Berlin Film Festival.

Following this great success, Lufti performed in melodramas and musicals that were then much in demand by Arab audiences, films such as " Al Khataya" (1962). But she finally achieved distinction in the cinematic world by performing in several great films such as Naser Salah el Dine. In this film, she took the role of a Frankish warrior during the Crusades, wearing full armor in battle against her Christian-Arab lover.)

Also very noteworthy, and controversial was the film Lil-Rigal Faqat (1964) translated as For Men Only. In this film, Lufti and her co-star Su'ad Husni portrayed the roles of women geologists who disguise themselves as men in order to find work, and in the process struggle to suppress their romantic feelings to avoid discovery.

In the 1960s Lutfi's career skyrocketed when she starred in two films based on novels published by Naguib Mahfouz, a Nobel-prize winning author. Unfortunately, his novels, Moses, Jesus and Mohammed`, and "Children of Gebelawi" were both banned by religious authorities.

By the end of the 60s, Nadia performed one of her most sensational roles, that of an exotic dancer who seduces a much younger man, in Abi foq al-Shagara (My Father Atop a Tree)

Due to the increase in public demand for movies from the East and East, and that of home videos, Egypt's "Golden Age" of cinema petered out, and with it Lutfi's career sadly faded. In the first decade of her career she churned out almost 50 films, but in the decade that followed, she made only three, her last being in 1981.

Lutfi made an appearance in the press in 2004 when she came to the defence of her long-time friend, Omar Shariff. He was viciously berated by the Arab press when he confided that he intended to allow his grandchildren to decide on their own religious beliefs when they reached age of maturity. (One of them is Jewish).

DANNY SAUCEDO

Danny Saucedo's career was literally launched by the Swedish version of American Idol, though he was eliminated after having reached as far as 6th place in the finals.Nevertheless, he launched into a very successful career releasing numerous singles and albums as a solo artist; in 2006, he released his first single, a cover of Oppna din dorr. It reached number 24 on the Swedish Singles music charts. He was also a member of the Swedish pop trio E.M.D. with Erik Segerstedt and Mattias Andreasson. (2007-2010).

Known as just " Danny " his three singles, "Tokyo, "Play it for the Girls" and "Radio" reached the top of Swedish music charts. The band won a Grammis (Swedish version of the Grammy Awards), for "Jennie Let Me Love You" (Song of the Year -2008). His first single released in the UK is "If Only You" also became a number one hit on the music charts in Russia and Poland.

Saucedos' talents are diverse: not only is he an accomplished musician but he has written songs for Alcazar and Pulse. He has also proven himself on the dance floor and was a contestant on Let's Dance 2008 (the Swedish version of Dancing With The Stars). Saucedon and his partner, Jeanette Carlsson (a professional dancer) won 12th place in the final of the Eurovision Dance Contest in Glasgow. He also made an appearance in a music video for "Victorious", by Swedish singers Velvet and Linda Bengtzing. In 2013, he hosted Melodifestivalen with Gina Dirawi, a Swedish-Palestinian celebrity.

Danny was born in Stockholm Sweden to a Polish father and Bolivian mother. He studied music at the prestigious Adolf Frederik's Music School, named after the great Swedish composer.

Discography as solo artist

Albums
2007 Heart Beats
2008 Set Your Body Free
2011 In the Club

Singles
2006
Oppna din dorr
Tokyo
Play It For the Girls

2007
If Only You (with Therese Grankvist)
Hey (I've Been Feeling Kind of Lonely)

2008
Radio
Need to Know
All on You
Emely (with Sasha Strunin)
Just Like That (with Lazee)

2011
In Your Eyes
In The Club
Tonight

2012
Amazing
All in My Head
Delirious
Todo Al Mundo (Dancing in the Streets).

Discography - As part of E.M.D.

Albums
2008: A State of Mind
2009: A State of Mind (Deluxe Edition)
2009: Välkommen hem
2010: Rewind

Singles
2007: "All for Love"
2008: "Jennie Let Me Love You"
2008: "Alone"
2009: "Baby Goodbye"
2009: "Youngblood"
2009: "Välkommen hem"
2010: "Save Tonight"
2010: "What Is Love"

JOSEF ZIELENIEC, Doc.Ing., CSc.

Dr. Josef Zieleniec has been a member of the European Parliament as well as the European People's Party and worked on Committees on Foreign Affairs and Economic and Monetary Affairs. He was also member of the SNK-ED (a conservative Czech political party). Though he is a Czech politician, he works mostly as an economist.

Before the communist invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1989, Zieleniec worked at the Institute of Research in Engineering Technology and Economics Research, and at the Institute of Economics of the Czechoslovak Academy of Science. He labored tirelessly in finding solutions to transform a centrally planned economy to that of market economy. His research was greatly influential after 1989 when discussions finally took place regarding economic reforms.

In 1990 Zieleniec was co-founder and director of The Center for Economic Research and Graduate Education at the Charles University in Prague - the first Ph.D program of its kind in Central and Eastern Europe, promoting American-style economics. He also became a member of the Scientific Council of the Faculty of Sciences.

Though Dr. Zieleniec was born in Moscow, Russia, and his nationality Czech, he is of Polish descent.

Education

Master's Degree
University of Economics, Prague (1974)
Postgraduate qualification " Candidate of Sciences:"
Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences, Prague (1986)
Senior Lecturer
(Charles University, Prague, 1991)

Accomplishments
1973-1989: Research fellow
since 1997: University teacher (1989-1992)
1998-2003: Businessman
since 1997: Economic advisor
1992-1997: Vice-Chairman of Civic Democratic Party (ODS)
since 2004: Political leader of SNK (Association of Independent Candidates)
1996-2000: Member of the Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Republic
2000-2004: Senator
1992: Minister for Foreign Relations of Czechoslovakia
1993-1997: Foreign Minister of the Czech Republic
1996-1997: Deputy Prime Minister of the Czech Republic

KRISTOFF RACZYNSKI

Kristoff Raczynski is a celebrated film producer, screenwriter and actor, who currently hosts his own television show called, aptly, Kristoff Presenta, broadcast by the Mexican television station TeleHit. He came a very long way from humble beginnings.

Born in Russia to Polish parents, the family immigrated to Mexico City in 1982. In a strange new world, young Kristoff struggled to overcome not only language barriers but found his first jobs as an elephant caretaker in a circus, as well as bagging groceries in supermarkets.

His experiences prepared him well. He was enrolled at the CEA, Televisa's school for the performing arts. And by the 1990s, Kristoff had written, produced and acted in the film Matando Cabos (2004). For the next several years, he performed supporting roles in telenovelas (the equivalent of soap operas) such as Vivo Por Elena (1998); Ramona (2000) and many others.

Kristoff enjoyed top ratings for his television shows, No Te Equivoques (2001) which he co-hosted with Tony Dalton on Televisa TV. It was the Mexican version of "Jackass". In 2005, he collaborated with Horacio Villalobos in TV programs, Valvula De Escape and Desde Gayola. A year later Kristoff hosted the program called ID, which stirred up a great deal of controversy which brought him greater success - his program in Telehit. In 2008 he hosted the show called El Show Del Polaco, which was cancelled several months later. Kristoff wrote a short film in 2012, Confesiones de un Teibol (Confessions of a Tabledance) which was featured in the Cannes Film Festival.

Filmography
"Matando Cabos" (2004)
"Confesiones de un Teibol" (2011)

Telenovelas
"Vivo Por Elena" (1998)
"Ramona" (2000)

TV Shows
"No Te Equivoques" (2000–2003)
"Sexo Con Kristoff" (2007-)
"Cine Con Kristoff"(2007-)
"Gargaras Con Kristoff"(2007-2012)
"El Show Del Polaco" (2008–2009)

ANDRE KUDELSKI

In 1995 he was nominated as "Global Leader for Tomorrow" by the World Economic Forum. A year later he received an Emmy Award from the National Academy of Arts and Sciences for his company's achievements regarding Pay-TV and scrambling systems. In 2002 his name was listed on the Forbes list of the World's Richest People. He was a billionaire. Can you guess his name? He is Andre Kudelski.

Born in Switzerland to a Polish father, Andre earned his engineering degree at the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausaunne (1984), among one of the world' s most prestigious universities. He served as R&D Engineer at Kudelski SA as well as in Silicon Valley before he took over the reigns from his father, Stefan, at Kudelski Group, as President and CEO. He has also been a member of the Board of Directors and Chairman of the Strategy Committee.

Kudelski also sits on the boards of some of the most powerful and prestigious companies in the world, Edipresse Group of Nestle, Swiss International Air Lines, and Dassault Systemes (France) and the list goes on. Moreover he is a member of the Advisory Board of Credit Suisse as well as a member of the management committee of Economie Suisse.

EVA SACHIKO POPIEL

Eva Sachiko Popiel is a popular actress and model working in South Korea. She was born in Tokyo, Japan to a father of British-Polish heritage and Japanese mother. She studied at the prestigious University of Durham. ( It is the third oldest university in England, established in 1832 by an act of Parliament and granted a Royal Charter in 1837.). Eva was enrolled in a joint-honours program of Chinese and Business.

Before relocating to South Korea, she was selected to be the Japanese represenative for L' Oreal (Sept 2003 to August 2005). But it wasn't until 2006 that her popularity soared when she performed in the reality television series, Super Junior Full House.

A year later, Eva was chosen to replace the current English Speed Quiz teacher in the reality show, Star Golden Bell. She has made frequent appearances on Global Talk Show (Korean Broadcasting System) representing the United Kingdom.

Eva also appeared in the television series called Likeable or Not (2007) which reached the highest ratings of any Korean show since 2000 - 43% rating! The show received awards from the KBS network.

ADAM JEZIERSKI

Adam Jezierski has become one of the most successful and celebrated actors in Spain, though his origins are Polish. He was born in Warsaw and immigrated with his family when he was only seven years of age.

Jezierski has acted in theatre and films and television and is best known for the role of Gorka Martinez on the popular television series Fisica o Quimica. It received enormous acclaim as well as controversy for its subject matter, that is, teenage problems struggling to cope with drug abuse, addictions, anorexia, and sexual orientation.

He also acted in the television series Hospital Central, and Cuentame (2007). Among his films were Suenos (2003), Siete (2004), Gordos (2009), Tension sexual no resuelta, and Verbo (2010); Cheers (the Spanish version,2011) and Tormenta (2013.)

JANUSZ LEON WISNIEWSKI

Janusz Leon Wisniewski is a consummate storyteller - weaving scientific fact with thrilling fictional stories. He is a Polish scientist and writer. Among his most celebrated novels is, Samotnosc w sieci (2003) which has been translated into numerous languages including English (Loneliness on the Net.) It has also been made into a film in Poland, which has received rave reviews.

Wisniewski earned his Master Degrees in Physics and in Economics from Nicolaus Copernicus University in Torun, Poland. It's the first institution of higher education in Turin, founded in 1568. He also earned a PhD in Information Technology from Warsaw University of Technology and an Habilitation in Chemistry from the Technical University of Lodz. Incidentally, a PhD is not the highest academic qualification - it is actually the Habilitation, which is earned after a scholar has earned a PhD.

Furthermore, Wisniewski is one of the creators of AutoNom, a computer program which serves as a naming tool for organic substances in chemical compounds. He currently resides and works in Frankfurt, Germany.

Official Website (Polish) http://www.wisniewski.net/

Published Works

2012
Na feisie z moim synem (Wydawinctwo Wielka Litera) ISBN 978-83-63387-01-3

2011
Ukrwienia (WL, Wydawnictwo Literackie) ISBN 978-83-08-04655-5
Łóżko (Świat Książki, Wydawnictwo ) ISBN 978-83-247-2444-4
Zbliżenia (WL, Wydawnictwo Literackie ) ISBN 978-83-08-04456-8

2008
Arytmia uczuć (with Dorota Wellman, Wydawnictwo G +J) ISBN 978-83-60376-99-7
W poszukiwaniu Najważniejszego. Bajka trochę naukowa ( Nasza Księgarnia, Wydawnictwo Sp. z o.o. ) ISBN 978-83-10-11562-1

2007
Czy mężczyźni są światu potrzebni? (Wydawnictwo Literackie) ISBN 978-83-08-04101-7

2006
Molekuły emocji (Wydawnictwo Literackie) ISBN 83-08-03902-2
Opowiadania letnie, a nawet gorące Wydawnictwo Prószyński i S-ka SA ISBN 83-7469-328-2

2005
188 dni i nocy (with Małgorzata Domagalik, Wydawnictwo Santorski & Co) ISBN 83-60207-20-8
Opowieści wigilijne Wydawnictwo Prószyński i S-ka SA ISBN 83-7469-172-7
Intymna teoria względności (Wydawnictwo Literackie) ISBN 83-08-03738-0
10 x miłość Świat Książki ISBN 83-7391-784-5

2004
Los powtórzony Wydawnictwo Prószyński i S-ka SA ISBN 83-7337-756-5

2003
S@motność w Sieci. Tryptyk Wydawnictwa Czarne i Prószyński S-ka) ISBN 83-7337-477-9
Martyna (jako współautor, Wydawnictwo Platforma Mediowa Point Group) ISBN 83-918772-0-5

2002
Zespoły napięć (Wydawnictwo Prószyński i S-ka SA) ISBN 83-7337-887-1

2001
S@motność w Sieci (Wydawnictwa Czarne i Prószyński S-ka) ISBN 83-7255-925-2

KASIA SMUTNIAK

Kasia Smutniak is a popular actress and model. Though she was born in Poland (Katarzyna Anna Smutniak) she has worked in films throughout Europe. She speaks several languages fluently (Polish, Russian, English and Italian.)

Among her many films she appeared in a supporting role in From Paris with Love (2010) starring John Travolta, and Jonathan Rhys Meyers., When the film opened on February 5, 2010, it earned over $8.1 million on the first weekend and ranked #3 among over 2700 movie theatres. But it did not fare well at the box office or with critics. However, The Fourth State, a German film, was praised by Variety for its exceptional musical score and cinematography. Daniel Gottschalk, the cinematographer was nominated for a Deutschen Filmpreis.

Filmography

2000
At the Right Moment

2002
Haker

2004
Ultimo 3: L'infiltrato (movie for TV)
Radio West
Ora per Sempre
13dici a tavola

2006
Questa e la mia terra (TV mini series)
La moglie cinese (TV mini-series)

2007
Giuseppe Moscati (TV movie)
Questa e la mia terra vent'anni dopo (TV series)
Nelle tue mani

2008
Caos calmo
Rino Gaetano: Ma il cielo e sempre piu blu (TV movie)
Camera: The Walking Mountain
Il commissario De Luca (TV mini series)

2009
Goa! 3: Taking on The World
Freedom
Barbarossa (English title: Sword of War)

2010
From Paris With Love
Clash of Civilization over Elevator in Piazza Vittorio
La passione

2012
The Fourth State

2013
In Treatment (TV series)

SERGEY VLADIMIROVICH YASTRZHEMBSKY

“ President Yeltsin and the Russian leadership are convinced that NATO's plans to expand to the east, if realized, could be the West's biggest strategic mistake since the end of the Cold War. ”
Sergey Vladimirovich Yastrzhembsky (CNN World News)

Despite his Polish background, Sergey Vladimirovich Yastrzhembsky, became a high-ranking Russian official, a diplomat, and political spokesman for President Vladimir Putin. Sergey was groomed for the role at the highly prestigious Moscow State Institute for Foreign Relations (the MGIMO). Founded in 1944, it's reputation as an elitist institution quickly became known and prized around the world. The MGIMO has churned out professionals in the field of international relations and diplomacy. However, some are of the opinion that the MGIMO serves also as a fertile recruiting ground for the KGB, but I digress.

He also earned a Ph.D in history at the Soviet Academy of Sciences' Institute of the International Workers' Movement (1979).

Sergey was junior researcher at the Academy of Social Sciences for the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. (1979-81) He was promoted to senior researcher, editorial adviser, and assistant executive secretary at the Global and Socialist Issues magazine, Prague, Czechoslovakia (1981-89) This was followed by a two-year stint as senior researcher at the Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union

From 1990 to 1992 he worked as Deputy editor-in-chief Megapolis magazine, editor-in-chief of the VIP magazine, and served asdeputy general director of the Social and Political Research Fund.

In the period from 1992 to 1998 he served various diplomatic functions, such as director of the Information and Press Department of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Russian representative to Slovakia, Press Attache to President Putin, and Deputy Head of the Presidential Executive Office.

After a brief sojourn as Deputy Prime Minister of Moscow City (1998-2000) he returned to his position as aide to President Putin until 2008 when Dimitry Medvedev was elected to the Presidency.

Sergey served President Putin, as chief spokesperson regarding the Chechnya conflict, and was rewarded by a promotion in 2001 placing him squarely as head of the Kremlin's Information Policy Department, and co-ordinator of Putin's "external communications".

In 2004, Putin appointed Sergey Special Envoy to the European Union in Brussels. By the end of his post in 2008, Sergey warned the EU that the consequences of recognizing Kosovo's independence, would open a "Pandora's box" of separatism in Europe.

At the end of Putin's presidency, Sergey 's position was terminated, though some claim he left the Kremlin of his own accord. Others attest it was the fallout of the power shift.

Sergey has since embarked in the film industry. In 2009 he started his own film company called, Yastreb Film. Only a year later he directed his first film, a documentary called " Sacred Fire of the Himba" which was nominated for the Golden Eagle Award of the Russian National Academy of Motion Picture Arts.

He has also produced numerous documentaries, including a series entitled "Beyond the Passage of Time" which features the lives of traditional African peoples. Since 2011, he has worked as a television host of a Russian programme called Magic of Adventures

VLADEMAR TOMASEVSKI

Vlademar Tomasevski is a Lithuanian politician, member of European Parliament, and sits in the European Conservatives and Reformists Group. And he is of Polish descent.

In 1995 he was elected to the Council of Vilnius district for Electoral Action and in 1999 was elected President of the AWPL, the Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania. A year later, Vlademar was elected to the Seimas (Lithuanian Parliament) winning an astounding 51% of the vote in the city of Salcinikai (near Vilnius). Soon after he became Deputy Major of Vilnius district which he served from 2000 to 2003. In 2004 Tomasevski was re-elected to the Seimas again with 63% of the vote and re-elected again in 2008 with 61% of the vote - eight times more than that of his competitors share.

In the May 2009 presidential elections, Vlademar Tomasevski was the first AWPL candidate entering the presidential race, but he came in fourth with 4.7% of the national vote, while the Dalia Grybauskatie, the Lithuanian Steel Magnolia, won with a landslide.

In June of the same year, Vlademar ran for election to the European Parliament and win 8.4 % of the vote, up from 5.7% in 2004. He was the first candidate of the AWPL to top the list and win election. Tomasevski was appointed to the bureau of the European Conservatives and Reformists, the fifth largest political party of the European Parliament.

For his outstanding accomplishments and commitment to Polish issues, Vlademar Tomasevski with the Commander's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland.

JAMES GIMZEWSKI

I have made one exception in this series, to acknowledge and honour a Scottish genious. Even though Scotland does not qualify as a "nation-state" per se, it warrants our attention and respect. James Gimzewski is a Polish-Scottish physicist who has pioneered research on electrical contact with single atoms and molecules, light emission and molecular imaging using STM. (Scanning Tunneling Microscope). The STM was invented by Gerd Binning and Heinrich Rohrer, which won them the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1986.

Among Gimzewski`s accomplishments, he succeeded in manipulating molecules through the use of STM; discovered molecular abacus using buckyballs; and single molecule rotors; developed nanomechanical sensors, and synthesized carbon nanotubes.

Gimzewski`s interest is in nanoarchitectronics of molecular systems and molecular and biomolecular machines, particularly those with quantum mechanical possibilities for information processing.

He has also conducted research into biophysics, or rather sonocytology (a term which he has coined.) James Gimzewski, and Andrew Pelling (a UCLA grad student) were the first to publish an article on this research in a 2004 issue of Science Magazine.

It was discovered, that by using a modified atomic force microscope (Bioscope AFM), it was possible to detect vibrations of the cell wall of a living cell. And that these vibrations, amplified through the use of specialized computer software, created audible sounds. Even more fascinating was the fact that cancerous cells emitted a sound slightly different from those of healthy cells. Gimzewski and Pelling expect that sonocytology will one day develop practical applications to aid in earlier detection and diagnosis of cancer in patients.

Gimzewski earned his PhD in 1977 from University of Strathclyde in Glasgow. He was group leader at IMB Zurich Research Laboratory where he researched nanoscale science. (1983-2001) He is currently a Professor at UCLA,'s departments of Chemistry and Biochemistry and concurrently leads research in his PicoLab. He also serves as faculty director of the Nano Pico Characterization core lab at the California NanoSystems Institute at UCLA. He has published over 168 research papers, which appear in numerous journals such as Science, Nature, and has been featured in Discover Magazine, the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Scientific American.

AWARDS AND HONOURS

Fellow of the Royal Society (May 2009)
Feynman Prize in Nanotechnology (1997)
The Discover Award for Emerging Fields (1997)
Wires 25 Award (1998) (from Wired Magazine)
Duddell (2001) (from the Institute of Physics, prize for work in nanoscale science)
Two "Outstanding Innovation Awards" from IBM
Fellow of the Institute of Physics
Chartered Physicist
Elected Member to the Royal Academy of Engineering
Scientific Board of Carbon Nanotechnologies Inc
Scientific Board of Veeco Instruments

Albert Einstein once said, "I am enough of an artist to draw freely upon my imagination. Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited, whereas imagination embraces the entire world, stimulating progress, giving birth to evolution."

James Gimzewski is an artist also.

THE POLISH DIASPORA

ABOUT THE POLISH DIASPORA

Polish people have ventured throughout the world as early as the 17th century, when Polish missionaries arrived in Japan for the first time. Polish men crossed the treacherous Atlantic to join the fight for American Independence, and took part in establishing settlements on American soil. (read about Polish-American Hero Tadeusz Kosciuszko)

Throughout Polish history Polish men, women and children emigrated in vast numbers to escape the treachery of invaders from Russia, Prussia and Austria. With the onset of World War II, Poland had been partitioned a fourth time.

Statistics indicate that during the Cold War in Poland (1946 to 1982) there were 1,877,000 Polish people who emigrated. (However, the same data indicates that 1.3 million of them were Aussiedler, settlers in Poland who were of German origin.) Therefore the actual Polish emigration was exceedingly lower. For the most part, Polish emigration was due to either expulsion or the need to escape political terrorism.

While the population of the Republic of Poland is about 60 million people, there are approximately 20 million people of Polish heritage living and working in nations around the world. This make the Polish Diaspora one of the largest in the world.

After Warsaw, the second largest "Polish city" is Chicago, with 1.8 million Polish-Americans. There are 10.6 million Polish people living and working in the United States, 2 million in Germany, and 1.2 million in Brazil.

Whether their reasons, Polish people have emigrated to virtually every country in the world: Canada, the United States, France, the United Kingdom, Australia, Germany, Russia, Austria, Belgium, Switzerland, Sweden, Greece, Brazil, Ukraine, Belarus, Lithuania, Argentina, Czech Republic, Latvia, Italy, South Africa, the Netherlands, Spain, Hungary, Denmark, Romania, Norway, Uruguay, New Zealand, Slovakia, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Moldavia,Venezuela, Israel, United Arab Emirates, Finland, Mexico, Estonia, Luxembourg, Portugal, Bulgaria, Georgia,Chile, Peru, Ireland and Turkey. While the Polish population is much smaller in many of these countries, they also live albeit in minute numbers in countries such as Algeria, Tunisia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Cuba, Malaysia, Thailand, China, the Philippines, Jordan, Iceland and Oceania.

There is no region in the world where Polish people have not ventured forth and prospered.

VIVA IL MONDO! VIVA LA POLONIA!

If you missed any part of this special series, please click the link below for a complete index.

Complete Index of blog posts: THE POLISH DIASPORA

January 27, 2012

THE COURAGE TO SPEAK THE TRUTH: RESPECTING INTERNATIONAL HOLOCAUST REMEMBRANCE DAY

On January 27, 1945 Auschwitz-Birkenau was liberated by soldiers of the First Ukrainian Front, the 322nd Rifle Division of the 60th Army, under the command of Marshal Ivan S. Konev. Soviet troops had been pushing westward in pursuit of the retreating Nazis in what was called the Vistula-Oder Offensive.

When the Soviets reached Auschwitz the Nazi Germans had already evacuated the camp. Tens of thousands of Jewish inmates were forced by their captors on a death march towards Loslau and Gleiwitz in Upper Silesia. Thousands of prisoners died along the way. Those who survived were deported to concentration camps in Germany and Austria. Only 7,500 Jewish inmates remained in Auschwitz, most of them children. Huge piles of cadavers were scattered everywhere - the remains of Jewish prisoners - men, women and children who had been murdered, or who perished of starvation and disease. These and the piles of human ashes and bone, remnants of the gas chambers were all testament to Hitler's Final Solution.

The vast network of Nazi concentration camps and death camps established throughout Europe were managed like efficient "killing factories". By the end of the war a total of about 6 million Jews had been killed by the Nazis.; half of them were Polish Jews and the remainder were Jews who had been deported from all parts of Europe - one million of them were children. Least known is the fact that Hitler also planned to eliminate ethnic Poles, and by the end of the war about 5 million Polish citizens had perished. Though many other peoples had been killed by the Nazis, the Jews and the Poles were the ones singled out for annihilation.

On November 1, 2005 the United Nations General Assembly adopted Resolution 60/7 designating January 27th as International Holocaust Remembrance Day. The following is an excerpt:

Reaffirming that the Holocaust, which resulted in the murder of one third of the Jewish people, along with countless members of other minorities, will forever be a warning to all people of the dangers of hatred, bigotry, racism and prejudice,

1. Resolves that the United Nations will designate 27 January as an annual International Day of Commemoration in memory of the victims of the Holocaust;

2. Urges Member States to develop educational programmes that will inculcate future generations with the lessons of the Holocaust in order to help to prevent future acts of genocide, and in this context commends the Task Force for International Cooperation on Holocaust Education, Remembrance and Research;

3. Rejects any denial of the Holocaust as an historical event, either in full or part;

4. Commends those States which have actively engaged in preserving those sites that served as Nazi death camps, concentration camps, forced labour camps and prisons during the Holocaust;

5. Condemns without reserve all manifestations of religious intolerance, incitement, harassment or violence against persons or communities based on ethnic origin or religious belief, wherever they occur;

6. Requests the Secretary-General to establish a programme of outreach on the subject of the "Holocaust and the United Nations" as well as measures to mobilize civil society for Holocaust remembrance and education, in order to help to prevent future acts of genocide; to report to the General Assembly on the establishment of this programme within six months from the date of the adoption of the present resolution; and to report thereafter on the implementation of the programme at its sixty-third session.

International Holocaust Remembrance Day is more than a day of commemoration and memorials. It serves as a perennial reminder to every nation and citizen thereof that we are
obligated under the principals of natural law to respect one another irregardless of nationality, race, color, or creed.

The following are only excerpts of speeches made on November 1, 2005 by a few of the selected members of delegations who attended the 42nd plenary meeting of the 60th session of the United Nations General Assembly. They speak about the importance of observing International Holocaust Remembrance Day, and the urgency of educating the world about the horrors of the past - so that they do not repeat in the future. These are not words to be taken lightly.

PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA

Speaker: Liu Zhongzin

(Spoke in Chinese)

"Allow me to express, on behalf of the Chinese Government and people, our profound condolences in connection with the 6 million Jewish and other victims of the Holocaust and our sincere sympathy to all the bereaved families and the survivors of the Holocaust.

"Sixty years ago, military aggressors also inflicted untold misery on Asia. Casualties in China alone reached 35 million, of which more than 300,000 died during the 1937 Nanjing Massacre. Like the Jewish people, the people of Asia will never forget that chapter in our history.

"Our purpose in emphasizing such an indelible memory is not to perpetuate hatred but to use history as a mirror and to look into the future. The bitter lessons of the Second World War and the tragedy of the Nazi camps have taught us that the basic values of freedom, democracy, equality, justice and peace cannot be denied.

HASEMITE KINGDOM OF JORDAN

Speaker: Prince Zeid Ra'ad Zeid Al-Hussein

"Sixty years on, we live at a time when it is still difficult for the vast majority of Member States to examine their own national histories to their very limits, particularly their modern histories. And while we should continue to feel great pride in what good we find in them, we must also begin to reckon with what in our national memory is distasteful or perhaps even criminal or terrible. It is therefore extraordinary and encouraging how a few European States have started to follow the example set by Germany many years ago, in beginning a process of recovering memory and in beginning a painful and critical, although ultimately liberating self-examination where their part in the Holocaust is concerned.

"The concentration of evil found within the historical experience that is the Holocaust does, however, bring the point home for all peoples everywhere, Jewish and otherwise. And the principal lesson drawn by 100 members of the General Assembly is that if we are ever to make genocide and the like truly unthinkable in the future, not only must we squarely confront the philosophies of negation within our own socieities, where and whenever they occur, but, if we are to give true meaning to the phrase "Never again", we must also collectively support the existence of the world's only permanent judicial body designed to end impunity for the gravest of crimes - and that body is, of course, the International Criminal Court.......

GUATEMALA

Speaker: Mr. Skinner-Klée

(Spoke in Spanish)

"We are gathered here today in remembrance of the victims of the Holocaust, innocent human beings who were the victims of ethnic and racial hatred and political and social intolerance. The Shoah is the greatest horror suffered by humanity in the twentieth century: the execrable extermination of more than a third of the Jewish people, along with countless members of other minorities who died unjustly and cruelly, murdered only because they were different, only because they were not understood or tolerated.

"Thus, the constructive and peaceful co-existence of peoples depends on mutual respect and mutual
understanding. Unless there is a genuine dialogue among nations and among civilizations, ignorance will persist and the human family will continue to be threatened or once again become its own victim.

"Guatemala knows only too well the horror caused by intolerance. Guatemalans have suffered in their own flesh the maelstrom of violence that afflicted our country merely because some people professed contrary views, held different beliefs or belonged to a different ethnic or social group.

REPUBLIC OF KOREA

Speaker: Mr. Shin Kak-Soo

"Let me begin by joining other delegations in expressing our deepest sympathy in connection with the millions of victims of the Holocaust during the Second World War who were murdered because of their ethnic origins, religious faith or political beliefs, and in condemning in the strongest possible terms the horrific, inhuman crimes against humanity committed by the Nazi regime.

"It goes without saying that such a horrendous tragedy should never be allowed to recur. To our dismay, however, we cannot deny that even today we are witnessing genocide and many crimes against humanity, from Srebrenica to Kigali to Darfur. Those recent acts of genocides and crimes against humanity, still fresh in our memory, compel the international community to redouble its efforts to put in place a reliable and effective security system that deters such heinous crimes and promotes mutual understanding and tolerance among people of all ethnicities, races, cultures and nations.

"As a country that suffered greatly from atrocities committed during the Second World War, the Republic of Korea has decided to become a sponser of the draft resolution on Holocaust remembrance. We believe that proclaiming 27 January as an annual International Day of Commemoration in memory of the victims of the Holocaust is a good way to ensure that the Holocaust's dreadful lessons are not forgotten. We cannot allow the memory of these crimes to fade with the passage of time.

"We also believe strongly that any attempt to deny the Holocaust as a historical reality, in full or in part, must be rejected. It takes courage to tell the truth about the past when that truth is painful or even shameful.

"....Facing up to the truth of history and learning its lessons is not a choice but an obligation. In this regard, we strongly support the draft resolution's recommendation to develop educational programmes that will teach the lessons of the Holocaust to future generations. It is the collective obligation of humanity to promote education and tolerance so that there will never again be a similar tragedy.

BELARUS

Speaker: Mr. Dapkiunas

(Spoke in Russian)

"The draft resolution to be adopted today is a testament to terrible grief and pain. For the people of my country, Belarus, such pain is not an alien experience; it is our pain as well. The flames of blind racial hatred and ethnic exclusion did not only claim countless victims in Belarus. The brutality of the Nazi regime and the incinerating flames of the Holocaust are seared into the soul of the people of Belarus.

"Why, 60 years after the end of the Second World War, are we still returning to this topic - not as a distant and tragic chapter of our history, but as a page in our collective life that has not yet been turned? Why do many millions of poeple throughout the world continue to experience the daily, direct and obvious threat and unbearable suffering that result from ideas of racial superiority and ethnic enmity?

" As long as we live in a world divided into "us and them", as long as we feel that the bitter lessons of history must be learned by others and not by us, as long as we do not do everything in our power to understand and welcome those who do not resemble us, the echoes of the Holocaust will continue to resound in our hearts.....

UKRAINE

Speaker: Mr. Kuchinsky

"The Holocaust is a permanently painful subject not only for the Jewish people but for the world community as a whole. We remember the enormous suffering of those who perished in the death camps at Auschwitz, Buchenwald, Dachau and many other horrific sites, where, in the name of a perverse and inhuman ideology, millions of human beings were deliberately and cruelly exterminated. Jews and gypsies, men and women, children and the elderly - the sons and daughters of different nations, including hundreds of thousands from Ukraine, became the innocent victims of a ruthless political system that caused immense losses to humankind.

"Many thought that the horrors of the Second World War - the camps, the cruelty, the exterminations that took place during the Holocaust - could never happen again. And yet they have - in Cambodia, Srebrenica, Rwanda, and most recently, in Darfur.

"In that respect, we are deeply convinced that the history of the Holocaust must be learned and extensively explained so that a similar tragedy never happens again.

"As we commemorate the victims of the Holocaust, Ukraine cannot but recall the terrible damage which intolerance, violence and aggression caused in the past.....one of the most tragic chapters in Ukraine's history, the Great Famine of 1932-33 - in Ukrainian, Holodomor, which means "death by famine". Deliberately aimed at the very core of the Ukrainian nation, the cruel campaign of terror by hunger carried out by the totalitarian Soviet regime led to the deaths of seven to 10 million innocent men, women and children.

"Ukraine will continue to do its utmost to bring the truth about Holodomor and the Holocaust to the world at large. We believe that it is high time that the international community recognized that crime as an act of genocide against the Ukrainian nation.

FEDERATIVE REPUBLIC OF BRAZIL

Speaker: Mr. Sardenberg

"The Jewish Holocaust is the paradigmatic case of genocide, a crime that until that time lacked a definition and did not allow for legal recourse. None of the Hague Conventions mentioned genocide, nor could the massacres that had taken place be properly judged or their perpetrators punished owing to the lack of a legal definition of genocide.

"Of particular historical resonance in our part of the world are the crimes committed against the indigenous peoples of the America during the colonial period and during the period when slavery was practised. It remains profoundly shocking to the conscience of mankind that those crimes could have reached such inconceivable proportions.

"The fight against the crime of genocide will only be complete when Member States adhere to and implement human rights instruments in both the domestic and the international spheres.

ARGENTINE REPUBLIC

Speaker: Mr. Mayoral

(Spoke in Spanish)

"Collective remembrance is indispenable in world overwhelmed by the need to solve new problems and at a time when young people may think that the Holocaust was an event of history that occurred under specific political circumstances and for reasons that no longer exist. They are wrong. Faced with that possible reaction, we must realize that no country in the world can consider itself immune from a future wave of violence fuelled by intolerance, economics, religious fundamentalism, political intolerance or racial conflict, or even a combination of any of them.

"We are in a crucial moment of history when we are all called upon to make further efforts of generosity in order to face up to new challenges and threats to a future of peace based upon the respect for all persons and peoples. My country believes that task must be carried out within the collective framework of the United Nations. If we want to avoid repeating the cycle of history and avoid another Holocaust and genocide such as occurred in the last century, we must keep alive the memory of what happened, by giving the United Nations powerful tools to effectively protect human rights in all circumstances and at all times.

REPUBLIC OF AUSTRIA

Speaker: Mr. Pfanzelter

"Austria attaches great significance to the draft resolution on Holocaust remembrance and is honoured to be among its earliest sponsers. The designation of 27 January, the day of the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp, as an annual International Day of Commemoration in memory of the victims of the Holocaust is of special significance to all of us. Auschwitz is of global relevance.

"For Austria, this day is a reminder of the dark sides of our past. We feel the agony of knowing that our country lost so many of its Jewish citizens to the Holocaust. At the same time we feel the pain of realizing that far too many Austrians took part in the genocide, a crime of colossal proportions.

"Simon Wisenthal, who passed away a few weeks ago, helped us to come to terms with our past when he said, "For your benefit, learn from our tragedy". He showed us that education and information are powerful tools for preventing the tragic repetition of history.

"Today, we should all remember Simon Wiesenthal's speech to the General Assembly 10 years ago (see A/50/PV.66). He called upon the international community to warn younger generations against prejudices, especially the prejudice of racial hatred, which has led to immeasurable human suffering. Austria is conscious of its responsibility and is taking a broad spectrum of measures to fight anti-Semitism, xenophobia and other forms racism and intolerance at all levels.

"We have successfully initiated national programmes aimed at teaching our young people about the lessons of history. The young generation, representing our future, must be taught that no country and no society can achieve any degree of progress or development without respect for human rights and the dignity of each human being. That is the lesson that the memory of Auschwitz hands down from generation to generation.

VATICAN CITY - THE HOLY SEE

Speaker: Archbishop Miglore

"Remembering is a duty and a common responsibility. That is especially true in the case of the Holocaust. So, my delegation welcomes the draft resolution on Holocaust remembrance and congratulates all those that sponsored it.

"For 60 years, we have had the horror of this kind of crime before us, and yet, history has repeated itself. An international convention against that crime has not prevented the kind of thinking that leads to genocide, the violence that sparks genocide, the injsutices that make it possible or the interests that allow a genocide to be sustained over time. The twentieth century witnessed genocides, atrocities, mass killings and ethnic cleansings which, deplorably, were not confined to just one continent. As we stand before the Holocaust, it is only right that we remember and pledge to make the best collective efforts to ensure that, having now named this crime, the world's nations will recognize it for what it is and prevent it in the future.

"After the Shoah, the first step towards prevention was the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Many more steps forward are needed. In every country, the memory of the Holocaust must be preserved as a commitment to spare future generations such horror.

BOLIVARIAN REPUBLIC OF VENEZUELA

Speaker: Mrs. Nunez de Odreman

(Spoke in Spanish)

"The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela has participated in the adoption by consensus of resolution 60/7 and is in full agreement with the States that sponsored the resolution and endorsed the memorandum of explanation accompanying the draft resolution, which affirmed that the Holocaust constituted a systematic and barbaric attempt to annihilate an entire people in a manner and of a magnitude that has no comparison in the history of humankind.

"We must also recall other Holocaust that took place during that terrible and barbarous conflict and those which came to light at that conflict's end, all equally attributable to founding States of the Unitd Nations that were part of the coalition that defeated the Nazi Fascism exclusively at the military level around the year 1945.

"We are referring to the annihilation of the defenceless population of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, who were victims of a deliberate, devastating destruction by the use of nuclear weapons, without any justification, and to the silent, low-intensity daily annihilation of peoples of the world, whose adults and children are condemned to misery, hunger, ignorance and repression with no escape or hope, as a result of the exploitation and the barbarous, systematic neglect to which they have been submitted during centuries by colonialist and imperialist States and elites that were also the principal actors of the aforementioned war. The annihilation continues today, at the start of the twenty-first century, giving rise to a popular insurgency that seeks to restore justice.

"The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela also shares the concern and sense of urgency with regard to establishing educational programmes to eradicate from the face of the Earth, genocide as a political act to exterminate groups of human beings or entire peoples on the unspeakable pretext of hatred, racism and the fundamentalist, obsessive and messianic blindness that characterizes religious intolerance. We call upon those States that, together with us, supported the resolution to ensure that the educational programmes proposed therein are designed, in a balanced and well-thought out manner, to put an end to holocausts and to raise global awareness of the perversion and crime against humanity that is genocide - including the genocide of the Jewish people, which deserves universal repudiation.

ARAB REPUBLIC OF EGYPT

Speaker: Mr. Abdelaziz

"We fully share and understand the feelings of the sponsors with regard to the need for Holocaust remembrance. We have no objection to designating 27 January as a day of remembrance in connection with the Holocaust because of our firm belief that the victims of genocide, regardless of their religion or ethnic background, should not be forgotten.

"On the other hand, the resolution fails to address the responsibilities of the society in which the Holocaust was perpetrated and its socio-political and racist causes. Furthermore, we should ask ourselves why we should restrict the resolution on the Holocaust forgetting similar crimes of genocide against Christians and Muslims in Rwanda, and against Muslims in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Srebrenica, Sanski Most, Kosovo, and elsewhere.

"We are firm in our belief that the established mechanism, in accordance with the resolution, should apply to the victims of genocide as a whole, worldwide, without discrimination on the basis of religious or ethnic background. We trust that the sponsors will consider our strong reservations and reflect on how to put things back into the right perspective. We reserve the right to do so ourselves.

"We further trust that the General Assembly will attach the same importance to financing other activities in similar resolutions in full. In that context, we reserve the right to assist in the implementation of such resolutions all together, so as to ensure equal treatment for all victims of genocide, including the victims of the Holocaust.

MALAYSIA

Speaker: Ms. Ismael

"My delegation joined the consensus on the resolution on Holocaust remembrance. We condemn the Holocaust, as it constituted a systematic and barbarous attempt to annihilate an entire people in a manner and on a scale that have no parallel in human history. Yet its lessons are universal, and my delegation feels that we should draw on them. There are other events that are no less tragic which would benefit from the lessons learned from the Holocaust.

"In this connection, my delegation would have preferred operative paragraph 2 of the resolution to be broader in scope so as to include inculcating in future generations the lessons not only of the Holocaust, but also other acts of genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity.

REPUBLIC OF INDONESIA

Speaker: Mr. Anshor

"I am pleased to explain my delegation's position with regard to the resolution that has just been adopted. My delegation went along with its adoption on the basis of a number of understandings.

"First, we recognize that the Holocaust represents a dark episode in human civilization, whose lessons must never be forgottten if we are to save future generations from similar atrocities. However, the Holocaust is not the only human tragedy that provides such lessons. There are numerous others that send an equally strong message and warning to all people of the dangers of hatred, bigotry, racism and prejudice. Human history, whether classical or contemporary, registers a long list of human tragedies. Therefore, we would have preferred it if the sponsors, in formalizing and institutionalizing Holocaust remembrance and education within the United Nations system through the resolution, ahd given equal attention to other human tragedies.

JAPAN

Speaker: Mr. Ozawa

"My delegation wishes to exercise its right reply in connection with the statement made by the representative of China regarding atrocities during the Second World War in Asia. Mistakes made in our past history must be remembered. We must learn from them and resolve never to allow them to happen again. Only by learning from the past can humanity make progress in the future.

"On the occasion of the recent Asia-Africa summit in Indonesia, Prime Minister Koizumi stated,

"In the past Japan, through its colonial rule and aggression, caused tremendous damage and suffering to the people of many countries, particularly to those of Asian nations. Japan squarely faces those facts of history in a spirit of humility. And with a feeling of deep remorse and hearfelt apology always engraved in mind, Japan has resolutely and consistently maintained since the end of the Second World War never to turn into a military power but to be an economic power and its principle of resolving all matters by peaceful means without recourse to the use of force.

"Japan once again states its resolve to contribute to the peace and prosperity of the world, in the future as well, prizing the relationship of trust it enjoys with the nations of the world."

These are very sobering words amidst a world hell-bent on destroying each other in the name of national or cultural self-preservation. While it is of utmost importance to remember the Holocaust, we must also acknowledge the horrendous genocides that have been perpetrated against other peoples since the end of World War II.

But I must add a word of caution here. The term "Holocaust" must never be appropriated to describe any other genocide. "The Holocaust" uniquely refers to the tragedy of the Jewish people, just as the word "Shoah" cannnot be used to categorize other genocides. The delegate from the Ukraine, Mr. Kuchinsky addressed this issue though indirectly, by mentioning the terrible genocide suffered by the Ukrainian people in the Great Famine of 1932-33. He did not refer to it as "the Holocaust", but rather the "Holodomor".

I strongly support this Resolution and do not approve of any attempt to alter the content of its assertions. I do however strongly recommend that the United Nations consider the idea of adopting (many) subsequent resolutions that address each genocide separately. This strategy can only serve to magnify the urgency which is needed to deal with our global conflicts. Because, when we are faced with an overwhelming plethora of United Nations resolutions on genocides, it will force us to look at the enormity of our evils - so that we can no longer bear to let it continue.

If the word "Holocaust" falls into misuse, it will become a kind of repository for the history of all the genocides of the world - past, present and (God forbid) the future. This will serve only to blur our collective vision of the past and dilute our understanding of the historic details.

I conclude this blog post with the words of Elie Wiesel: (he was a Holocaust survivor, and became a renowned author, professor, and is a Nobel Laureate.)

"Not every victim was a Jew,

but every Jew was a victim"

Please donate funds to the Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum in Poland so that they may preserve it as an historical site. Teams of highly qualified specialists in landmark preservation work tirelessly to preserve all the artifacts and structures on the site. Click on the following link to visit their website, and please donate generously. Thank you.

AUSCHWITZ-BIRKENAU MUSEUM