The Polish-American Forum “March to Solidarity” was held at the National Shrine of Our Lady of Czestochowa in Doylestown on 21September 2024. The event as attended by the President of the Institute of National Remembrance Karol Nawrocki Ph.D.

- Despite the enormous sacrifice of the Polish people,1945 did not bring Poland its freedom. It brought our homeland enslavement by the Soviet Union. However, even today, we must continue to fight against the use of the word 'liberation' in reference to 1945 in Poland. The IPN is fighting against symbols of Soviet propaganda. We have removed 41 propaganda objects from public space in Poland in the past two years, and at least 19 more remain. There is still much to be done in terms of memory policy - said the President of the Institute of National Remembrance Karol Nawrocki in an interview with the Chairman of the Smolensk Disaster Commemoration Committee Tadeusz Antoniak.

During the Forum, Rafal Leśkiewicz Ph.D., the IPN Spokesperson, delivered a lecture on the murder of priests in the People's Republic of Poland, during the period of Martial Law and Solidarity up until 1989. The Director of the IPN International Cooperation Office Agnieszka Jędrzak spoke about the Institute's flagship project and exhibition “Trails of Hope. The Odyssey of Freedom” the opening of which took place moments later.

Józefa Myćko Nida's granddaughter Kathryn Kalucki and Ida Nowakowska, involved in cultivating the memory of Józefa Myćko Nida, received commemorative photographs from the IPN President and the Director of the Office of International Cooperation.

Józefa Myćka Nida was born in 1915 in Niebocko, in southeastern Poland.On 5 February 1940, she and her family were deported to Siberia. In 1942, she was evacuated to Iran with the Polish Army under the command of General Władysław Anders, and later to the Polish settlement in Valivade, India. After the war, she left for Great Britain and then the USA. She died in 2007 and was buried in the National Shrine of Our Lady of Częstochowa in Doylestown, Pennsylvania. In the photo: Józefa Myćka Nida (first from the right) in Valivade, 1943–1947 (Photo: Kathryn Kalucki family archive).

The event was also attended by MP Antoni Macierewicz and Helena Knapczyk, who was exiled to Siberia during World War II.

The Forum ended with a concert of patriotic songs from the “Solidarity” period.

IPN President Karol Nawrocki, along with Kathryn Kalucki, Ida Nowakowska and Agnieszka Jędrzak also visited the Polish cemetery at the National Shrine of Our Lady of Czestochowa in Doylestown, where the grave of Józefa Myćko Nida is located.

Typing course in Valivade-Kolhapur, 1943–1947 (Photo: Kathryn Kalucki family archive – granddaughter of Józefa Myćka Nida)

More:

The Trails of Hope. The Odyssey of Freedom website