It was a pleasure to be invited to be a part of the Unity Project, highlighting the achievements of Polish-born Australians who have made a significant contribution to Australian business, art, science and society. The below-attached podcast contains several individual stories. Each story speaks of a journey of migration, career building and making Australia home. These are our stories – each contributing to the story of unity.

Polish-born individuals have a long history in the story of Australia, dating back to 1696 when ten citizens joined a Dutch exploration expedition. Small pockets of migration have continued throughout the years with a more substantial community development after World War II.

2022 marks fifty years of diplomatic relations between Poland and Australia and notable professionals are being honoured for their work across many industries. Join us in celebrating their achievements.

Join me in celebrating the 50th anniversary of Australia-Poland diplomatic relations:

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/pabf_polish-born-people-have-a-long-history-in-activity-6902009130614190080-0KUm

Best luck to the Ukrainian defence forces! Defend your home. If you lose, your nation will face years of occupation. It will face mass murders and mass deportations to Syberia of the best and brightest. Remember what the Soviets did to Poles when they started WWII together with Hitler in September 1939. Remember Katyn!

To equal combat chances, NATO should offer to Ukraine a no-fly zone for Russian military planes. The current sanctions are inadequate.

On 17 February I was a speaker on a Tuidang rally held at Martin place in Sydney. Tuidang, literally means “withdraw from the Communist Party”. It is a non-violent movement that emerged in China that encourages Chinese people to renounce their ties to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Participation in the movement means making a public declaration (typically using an alias) to disavow any previous ties with the CCP or its affiliated organizations, such as the Communist Youth League or Young Pioneers.

The Tuidang movement began in late 2004 after the publication of an editorial series in the overseas Chinese newspaper the Epoch Times. Today, over 390 million names have been posted to the Epoch Times website ( https://global.tuidang.org/ ) renouncing Communist Party organizations.

Mr Lech Walesa – former President of Poland – said:
“This movement, this history’s tsunami, as I deeply believe, nothing is able to stop it anymore. No one can stop a spirit of freedom and truth.”
https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/lech-walesa-former-polish-president-says-chinas-tuidang-movement-is-historys-tsunami-300099362.html

If you are interested in supporting this initiative you may wish to sigh the End CCP petition ( https://endccp.com/ ) which is linked to the Tuidang website and is approaching 2 million signatures.

My address to the rally is here 2022-02-17 End Chinese Communist Party .

Below enclosed is an interesting article (in Polish) titled “Postawy wobec narodzin ‘Solidarnosci’ i wprowadzenia stanu wojennego na przykladzie Polonii australijskiej (wybrane przyklady)” by Professor Patryk Pleskot of Instytut Pamieci Narodowej (IPN). Prof. Plescot is a historian, political scientist, graduate from Warsaw University and Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales in Paris. He obtained his ‘habilitation’ title at the Institute of Political Studies (Polish Academy of Sciences) in 2015. Since 2007 he works at the Institute of National Remembrance in Warsaw (recently as a main specialist and project coordinator) from 2015 to 2021– as a professor at the Witold Pilecki State University of Malopolska in Oswiecim and from 2021 as a professor at the University of Rzeszow. In 2013 he was visiting fellow at the University of Western Sydney. He is a member of the Polish American Historical Association (PAHA) and the Baltic Intelligence and Security Studies Association (BISSA), as well as member of editorial board of the periodical ‘Pamiec i Sprawiedliwosc’ (‘Memory and Justice’). Area of his scientific interest consists of French history and historiography, political, cultural and social history of communist Poland, as well as migration studies, activities of Polish diaspora after 1945 and the history of Polish intelligence and counter-espionage apparatus. He is an author, co-author and editor of more than 20 books and about 120 scientific articles, i.a.; Niewiadomski: to kill the President (2012) – nomination for the ‘Best Varsaviana 2012/2013’ Award; Foreigners in Warsaw 1945–1989 (2012) – nomination for the ‘Best Varsaviana 2012/2013’ Award; Troublesome miss ‘S’. Political attitudes of the West towards Solidarity movement, 1980–1989 (2013) – ‘Best Historical Book of the Year 2013’ Award; Klio Award; City of the death. Question of political murders in Warsaw, 1956–1989 (2015) – Klio Award; Mountains and Files. A spoken biography of Andrzej Paczkowski (2019) – ‘Nagrody Historyczne Polityki’ Award (2020).

2021 Postawy wobec narodzin „Solidarnosci” i wprowadzenia stanu wojennego w Australii by Patryk Pleskot