Official handing over of the documentation about the Polish Righteous Among the Nations by Minister Ewa Junczyk-Ziomecka
On February 24, there was a ceremony of calling away Minister Ewa Junczyk-Ziomecka from the position of Secretary of State in the Chancellery of the President of Poland, which was connected to her being appointed as a Consul General of Poland in New York, starting on March 1, 2010. During the ceremony, Minister Junczyk-Ziomecka handed over the most important documents about the Polish Righteous kept in the archives of the Chancellery of the President of Poland, accumulated throughout the four years of Minister’s tenure. The documents were received by Mrs. Ewa Wierzyńska, the Deputy Director of the Museum of the History of Polish Jews, who supervises the Polish Righteous – Recalling Forgotten History project.
The Polish Righteous – Recalling Forgotten History program was initiated in 2007 by Minister Junczyk-Ziomecka. Thanks to her determination and perseverance, the Polish Righteous were introduced to the pantheon of Polish national heroes.
During the four years of her term of office, there were four ceremonies of honoring Polish Righteous with high national distinctions by the President of Poland: twice in Warsaw and once in Łódź and Rzeszów. Moreover, the Museum of the History of Polish Jews cooperated to publish three albums presenting the Righteous and their stories and two visits were paid by the Polish Righteous to USA and Canada. At the moment, their stories are presented as part of a multimedia exhibition on tour in Italy. However, the most significant is the Polish Righteous – Recalling Forgotten History program.
The documents handed over by Minister Junczyk-Ziomecka will enrich the program’s resources. They include among others: the original resolution of the Senate dated March 14, 2007 on honoring the activity of Mrs. Irena Sendler and Council to Aid Jews “Żegota” and Irena Sendler’s list to Senators; the original letter of the then Deputy Prime Minister of Israel, Shimon Peres, supporting Mrs. Irena Sendler as a candidate to the Nobel Peace Prize; an extensive documentation of efforts to nominate Irena Sendler to the Peace Prize Nobel, including letters from Poland and abroad supporting the initiative of the President of Poland, Lech Kaczyński; Irena Sendler’s written account submitted to Yad Vashem in Jerusalem in 1960s; professor Aleksander Skotnicki’s book entitled “Jan Karski. The Man Who Wanted to Stop the Holocaust”; film material about Council to Aid Jews “Żegota”, Mrs. Irena Sendler and Righteous Among the Nations prepared by the Presidential Chancellery; and a series of seven movies about the Polish Righteous Among the Nations directed by Małgorzata Imielska.
