Polish in Cleveland

Madame Marie Sklodowska Curie Statue Dedication - June 7, 2009
Dr. Marie Siemionow, Diane Karpinski, Ben Stefanski, Dennis Kucinich, John Borkowski and more

Judge Diane Karpinski and Ben Steffanski
with the newly dedicated bust of Madame Curie

---

Placing wreath at Sienkiewicz statue on Constitution Day

St Casimir Pastor Rev. Monsignor Leo Telesz

---

Polish marchers at One World Day
in the Cleveland Cultural Gardens

Polish Cultural Garden in Cleveland

---

Copernicus statue at Polish Cultural Garden

---

Submit your Cleveland Polish jobs, classes and other opportunities.

Frances Kaszubski, Stella Walsh and the Polish Falcons
by Judge Diane Karpinski who was one of the Fisher Foods Pigtail Basketball players that Frances Kaszubski helped organize at St. Thomas Aquinas grade school.

Growing up in Ducktown - Part 1 by Dave Roman
Growing up near Harvard and East 71st

Growing up in Ducktown - Part 2 by Dave Roman
Working for Richman brothers & kids at play

Growing up in Ducktown - Part 3 by Dave Roman
Shopping, driving and a simpler time

Push Not the River by James Conroyd Martin
Review of the book about 18th Century Poland and the Third of May Constitution

Submit your Cleveland Polish Feedback and Memories.

Tell us about the music, food, holidays, traditions, costumes, language and other qualities that make the Polish so special.

Legend of the Hejnal
History (and video) of this short musical piece

Hymn of the Moravian Nuns of Bethlehem
at the Consecration of Pulaski's Banner
Poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Pulaski Square in Cleveland, Ohio
Tribute to the great Polish General

---

Poland is an ancient nation that was conceived near the middle of the 10th century. Its golden age occurred in the 16th century. During the following century, the strengthening of the gentry and internal disorders weakened the nation.

In a series of agreements between 1772 and 1795, Russia, Prussia, and Austria partitioned Poland amongst themselves. Poland regained its independence in 1918 only to be overrun by Germany and the Soviet Union in World War II. It became a Soviet satellite state following the war, but its government was comparatively tolerant and progressive.

Labor turmoil in 1980 led to the formation of the independent trade union "Solidarity" that over time became a political force and by 1990 had swept parliamentary elections and the presidency.

A "shock therapy" program during the early 1990s enabled the country to transform its economy into one of the most robust in Central Europe, but Poland still faces the lingering challenges of high unemployment, underdeveloped and dilapidated infrastructure, and a poor rural underclass. Solidarity suffered a major defeat in the 2001 parliamentary elections when it failed to elect a single deputy to the lower house of Parliament, and the new leaders of the Solidarity Trade Union subsequently pledged to reduce the Trade Union's political role.

Poland joined NATO in 1999 and the European Union in 2004. With its transformation to a democratic, market-oriented country largely completed, Poland is an increasingly active member of Euro-Atlantic organizations.

(facts courtesy of CIA World Fact Book)

---