For Polish Americans, Christmas is more than just one day

Brooklyn, N.Y. .. In America’s Polish community, Christmas is more than just one day. It’s a season. They don’t merely sing about the twelve days of Christmas. They observe them. When the Downstate New York Division of the Polish American Congress holds its annual Christmas party – the “Oplatek” – it customarily does it on the twelfth day, Epiphany Sunday. Epiphany Sunday commemorates the visit the Wise Men from the East paid to the “Little Town of Bethlehem.” Deviating a bit from the script this year, however, one of the visitors who came to the Polish American Congress “Oplatek” was someone from the West. The Northwest, to be precise.

It was the Borough President of Manhattan, Scott Stringer (left), who crossed the river from Manhattan to come to Brooklyn’s Polonaise Terrace and congratulate Chet Szarejko (center), vice president and chairman of the PAC’s Political Activities Committee. Shown with them is Frank Milewski, president of the Downstate Congress. The Congress uses every possible public occasion to honor outstanding individuals who distinguish themselves by their efforts to benefit the Polish American community, according to Milewski. “This year it was one of our own,” he said, referring to the political recognition and respect Szarejko’s committee has won for the Polish American Congress.

One of Szarejko’s accomplishments was the assistance his committee gave the Polish Consulate in Manhattan to get New York City’s approval to name the corner where the Consulate building is located as “Jan Karski Corner.” The Consulate’s intent was to honor Poland’s World War II hero who today is called “the man who tried to stop the Holocaust.” Borough President Stringer gave the project his full support at the time Szarejko was pushing to get New York’s approval for the Karski memorial. At every annual “Oplatek” the Congress invites one of the community’s Polish Supplementary Schools to have its children present and perform a Nativity Play. This year it was the newly formed school from Our Lady of Czestochowa/St.Casimir Parish in South Brooklyn which conveyed the true meaning of Christmas at the event.

Frank Milewski——Bio and Archives

Frank Milewski is the New York City Division President of the Polish American Congress