Dear Jan and group,
Thank you for expressing my sentiments exactly. ?For years I wondered what makes the Poles different from the Jews? ?Why does everyone know their story and absolutely no one knows our story? ?Recently I have been corresponding with someone who has helped me understand this multi-faceted question a little bit better.
Jan, the deportees who were fortunate enough to survive immigrated all over the world, including the US (my father and his siblings), Canada, the UK, New Zealand, Australia, Poland, Israel, and I am sure other countries.
I agree with you that the Holocaust Museum is not the place for us.
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There is not much out there to help us. ??Unless you know exactly what you
are looking for, you won't find it just by going to your library. ?YES, we
should have some kind of register for those who were victims of the camps. ?
YES, we should do something to make the world aware of what really happened
there, and YES, we need a way to find those who were taken to the camps, and
never returned to their homeland! ?
I am not the one to say exactly WHAT it is that we should do, but I
definitely feel that we should do something. ?I don't think that the
Holocaust Museum is the place for us. ?I believe that it is just for the Jews
who were victims of the Nazi's idea of the "perfect world". ?But I do feel
that we have an obligation to our ancestors to make the world aware of what
happened to them at the hands of the Russians. ?
I live in a small town in South Carolina, I think I am the only Pole in town!
There is not a lot of interaction between us yankees, and those who are
native to the south. ?But, there is a small college nearby, where I went last
week to hear Lech Walesa, and I was truly expecting to be one of maybe 10
people there. ?I was amazed to find a packed house!!! ?And to see so many
Polish looking people there! ?I had spoken to a professor of chemistry who is
from Czestohowa. ?she translated a letter for me. ?She is the one who
introduced Lech Walesa, in Polish AND in English!! ?I think that I would like
to try to contact her again, and see what she has to say about our situation.
I also know that there are some Polish students at this little Baptist
college!! ?I will try to make some contact with them as well. ?Maybe they can
help. ?Maybe they can tell us more. ?That is supposing that they even KNOW
anything about what the Russians did.
As for Janie's original question, yes, the Museum in Washington is really
geared mainly for Jews, survivors, and those who were killed by the Nazis. ?
We don't need to steal their thunder. What we need is to find organizers like
they have!!! ?I think that's the difference. ?They were organized, there were
people who wanted to make sure the world knew what happened to them. ?Our
people didn't get to come to the US, they either died, or they went someplace
else. ?They just wanted to forget!!
We need help with this. ?I am open to suggestions! ?And I thank you ALL for
all you have taught me in this short time!
Jan Birkner
