Polish Embassy Summer Newsletter
Latest News from Poland  
NATO summit is a success for Poland and the Alliance
President Duda stressed that the Warsaw NATO summit (July 8-9) had clearly shown the unity, cohesion and solidarity of the Alliance. Read more

Read the official Warsaw Summit Communiqué 
Minister Waszczykowski attends anti-ISIL summit in Washington
The July 21 Global Coalition to Counter ISIL Summit included representatives of 40 countries, the EU, the UN, and NATO who gathered to discuss the fight against the IS.

"We militarily support the Coalition by sending F-16 aircraft for reconnaissance flights, and by advising and training Iraqi special forces; we also provide humanitarian assistance to refugees from the areas affected by fighting against the IS” declared Minister Witold Waszczykowski. Link
World Youth Day
This summer Kraków will host World Youth Day from July 25 - 31. 

World Youth Day (WYD) is a massive international event, organised by the Catholic Church, regularly attracting more than a m illion people from all around the world in a celebration of faith. It is celebrated every three years and is presided over by the Holy Father.

Pope Francis will travel to Poland from July 27-31 and is expected to visit  Czestochowa and Kraków where he will preside over mass with World Youth Day pilgrims.  Link
V4 Presidency
 On July 1, Poland took over the one-year presidency of the Visegrad Group (V4), Central Europe’s chief organization of regional cooperation.   Link  
President Duda visits DC
President Andrzej Duda headed the Polish Delegation to the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington, DC.

While in the US Capital, in addition to attending the Summit, President Duda met with President Barack Obama and visited the Capitol. President Duda also met with the Polish-American Community at a speical event held at the Polish Embassy and toured the Library of Congress where the President had a chance to examine the special 1926 Polish Declaration of Friendship and Admiration.

Read more here and here
Polish Prime Minister in the US

At the United Nations headquarters in New York, Prime Minister Beata Szydło signed on behalf of Poland the global climate agreement successfully negotiated in Paris at the end of 2015. After the ceremony, Prime Minister Beata Szydło met UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. Link 

While in the United States Prime Minister Szydło also met with the Polish diaspora in America. The meeting was organized in American Czestochowa in Doylestown, Pennsylvania. Link 

Call for Participants
Poland in the Heart of European History
Poland's Institute for National Remembrance is organizing a Professional Training for History Teachers and Educators "Poland in the Heart of European History" - Apply Today! 

August 21 - September 1, 2016
Jabłonna, Poland

All costs are covered by the Institute of National Remembrance. Link
 Culture and Events 
World Youth Day Stateside Experience

Our Embassy is proud to suport Kraków in the Capital, an all-day youth festival which will be held on July 30 at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. The event will bring a taste of World Youth Day in Kraków, Poland, to the US capital, with catechesis talks, prayers in different languages, Stations of the Cross, a Vigil Mass, a concert, and even pierogies and kielbasa. Be sure to stop by our Embassy's booth!  

More information  here and here
CinePolska Film Series
On Wednesday, June 29th the Embassy of the Republic of Poland together with the Avalon Theatre inaugurated the CinePolska Film Series.

This collaboration will showcase the best in filmmaking from Poland focusing on recent productions while also from time to time presenting well known classics of Polish cinema. The inaugural screening presented These Daughters of Mine, by Kinga Dębska, a bitter-sweet family story awarded at the Gdynia Film Festival.

The next CinePolska film screening will be on August 31 at the Avalon Theatre. Zapraszamy!
The Innocents
The Innocents, a French-Polish-Belgian coproduction filmed in Poland's Warmia region is  currently being shown at Bethesda Row Cinema.

In 1945 Poland, a young French Red Cross doctor who is sent to assist the survivors of the German camps discovers several nuns in advanced states of pregnancy during a visit to a nearby convent.

Directed by Anne Fontaine, starring Lou de Laâge, Agata Kulesza, Agata Buzek and Vincent Macaigne.
AFI DOCS
Snails directed by Grzegorz Szczepaniak won the 2016 #AFIDOCS Audience Award - Best Short.

In total three Polish documentaries were screened in Washington, DC and Silver Spring, MD during the 2016 AFI DOCS Documentary Festival:  Snails, The Great Theatre and Two Worlds 

Maciej Adamek, director of Two Worlds, was present for a discussion following the screenings of his documentary.
2016 EU Open House
Over 2,200 guests visited the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Washington, DC on Saturday, May 14th during the 10th annual EU Open House Day.

This year our Embassy offered American visitors a trip through the digital world of video games created by Polish studios. Visitors could explore the video game world by playing one of 14 different games, both classics as well as the latest releases, including the renowned Witcher series.  Link  Video
    Sports 
Monitoring The News
July 5:  A trailer was released for the movie Imperium which contained scenes depicting Polish national symbols in a disturbing context. Our Embassy immediately contacted Lionsgate, the distributors of Imperium, who apologized for the misunderstanding and promptly removed the frames in question from the trailer and movie. Link

July 6: The New York Times Editorial Board published an opinion piece entitled "Poland Drifts in the Wrong Direction." Deputy Chief of Mission Maciej Pisarski responded with a letter from the Embassy.  Link 

July 9: The Daily Beast news website published an article titled “Touring Auschwitz the Week after Elie Wiesel’s Death,” which featured the phrase “Polish concentration camp.” After our embassy intervened on Twitter, the phrase was amended to read “concentration camp in Nazi-occupied Poland.”  Link

July 17: Our Embassy found another instance of the defective code of memory in the article “Beyond Anne Frank: The Dutch Tell Their Full Holocaust Story” in The New York Times. Following our embassy’s intervention, the misleading phrase “Sobibor death camp in Poland” was changed for “Sobibor death camp in Nazi-occupied Poland” in the article’s digital version.  
Link
 We wish to thank all those individuals and organizations who continue to assist our Embassy in monitoring the press. Dziękujemy! 
     Good Read
As Pure a Son of Liberty as I Have Ever Known
The Association Press writes about the Thaddeus Kosciuszko National Memorial in Philadelphia, the smallest site in the National Park Service.

"We hope that [visitors] walk away with a sense of who Kosciuszko was and what he did for the United States, and his dedication to liberty — liberty for all." Read the article here


    Did You Know?
Ignacy Jan Paderewski Remembered

June 29th marked the 75th anniversary of the passing of Ignacy Jan Paderewski, renowned Polish pianist, composer and statesman.

 Paderewski passed away in 1941 while on a concert tour to the United States benefiting the Polish Relief Fund.

President Franklin Delano Roosevelt had Paderewski's remains transported to Washington, DC, where was then interred with honors at the U.S.S. Maine Mast Memorial at Arlington National Cemetary. Paderewski's body was to remain at Arlington National Cemetary "until such time as it can be sent to a free Poland for burial."

Thanks to the efforts of numerous individuals including General Edward Rowny, Paderewski's remains were returned to Poland in 1992 where on July 4th he was buried in the crypts below St. John's Archcathedral, Warsaw. Present at the ceremony were Presidents George H.W. Bush and Lech Walesa. Learn more here

Embassy of the Republic of Poland
2640 16th St NW
Washington, DC 20009

(202) 499 1730
Washington.press@msz.gov.pl
Washington.mfa.gov.pl