Welcome to the Polish Heritage Club - Madison
The Polish Heritage Club of Wisconsin - Madison is a volunteer, non-profit organization of diverse individuals and families striving to enrich, expand, preserve, and promote our Polish roots and culture.
Polish Fest in Milwaukee - June 19-21
Polish Fest starts Friday, June 19th at noon in Milwaukee at the Summerfest grounds. Check out the event's website for more info including admission prices and a schedule of events.
PHCWI Book Group Meeting on July 13
Douglas Jacobson is an engineer, business owner, and WWII history enthusiast. Inspired by the wartime experiences of his Belgian relatives and his own Polish ancestry, he began a five-year research effort that resulted in his debut novel, Night of Flames. From his website:
Night of Flames paints a vivid and terrifying picture of war-torn Europe during WWII. It’s the tale of a Krakow university professor Anna and her husband Jan, a Polish cavalryman. Separated and forced to flee occupied Poland, Anna soon finds herself caught up in the Belgian Resistance, while Jan becomes embedded in British Intelligence efforts to contact the Resistance in Poland. He seizes this opportunity to search for his lost wife Anna. Through the long night of Nazi occupation, Anna, Jan and the ordinary people of two countries fight a covert war of sabotage and resistance against the overwhelming might of the German war machine.
This year is the 70th anniversary of the German invasion of Poland. The PHCWI has nominated Douglas Jacobson as a presenter at October's Wisconsin Book Festival.
Survey of Polish Theater class at MATC Downtown
MATC will be offering a class on Polish theater this summer. It starts on 7/15 and will run for 6 weeks every Wednesday night from 6 - 8 PM. Check out the MATC website for more info.
Wisconsin Historical Museum Exhibit
The current two year Wisconsin Historical Society Museum on the Capital Square exhibit Odd Wisconsin
shows a wide variety of "curious and authentic artifacts, documents, and images."Included is the sweater worn by UW-Madison Veternarian Tadeusz Kowalczyk while a prisoner at Aushwitz. Born in Dombrowa, Poland in 1909, he received his diploma a veterninary sugeon in 1937 from the University of Warsaw. He was arrested by German soldiers in 1940 while tending animals at Polish President Wladyslaw Raczkiewicz's summer home in SW Poland. After five years of imprisonment in three concentration camps, he immigrated to the U.S. and Madison. From 1949 to the time of his death, Mr. Kowalczyk was responsible for the veterinary services given to the University herds. Beginning as an instructor while he completed his graduate studies, he became assisant professor in 1957 and full professor in 1968. He died in 1970 in a Madison hospital following heart surgery.
For pictures and more information, including his writings, see the Wisconsin Historical Society website.