The Canadian-Polish Congress ( pl, Kongres Polonii Kanadyjskiej, KPK, CPC) is a Canadian not-for-profit organization federally integrated on the 7th of February 1933 in

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749 ...

Manitoba Manitoba ( ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population o ...

which was previously known as the Federation of Polish Societies in Canada. The Canadian Polish Congress serves as the central umbrella organization for some 150 affiliated Polish-Canadian social, cultural, charitable, educational and professional organizations throughout

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...

. The organisation listed on the WM Fares Wall of Tribute was founded in 1944, it is the main advocacy group for the Polish community in Canada and promotes awareness of Poland's history and cultural heritage, and the contribution of Polish Canadians to Canadian institutions, culture and society. Its subdivided area of activity spreads all over Canada and includes districts of

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest T ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, for ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

and

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirte ...

History

The KPK was founded in 1944 as an umbrella association of 115 different organizations. From the beginning, prior to the arrival of exiled Polish combatants in 1946, the KPK was political, excluding communists from the organization and supporting the

Polish government-in-exile The Polish government-in-exile, officially known as the Government of the Republic of Poland in exile ( pl, Rząd Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej na uchodźstwie), was the government in exile of Poland formed in the aftermath of the Invasion of Pola ...

.Payseur, Eric L. "Gendering the Generations: Polish-Canadian Women in the 1950s and 1970s." Polish American Studies 68.2 (2011): 85-105.
/ref> In the post-war period, the KPK was dominated by WWII veterans associated with the Polish Combatants Association.Clements, Chris. "Voluntary Ethnic Groups and the Canadian Polish Congress’ Role in Cold War Canada." Oral History Forum d'histoire orale. Vol. 1. 2015.
/ref> In the 1950s, under the presidency of

Tadeusz Brzeziński Tadeusz Brzeziński (February 21, 1896 – January 7, 1990) was a Polish diplomat and consular official. He was the father of Zbigniew Brzezinski, President Jimmy Carter's national security adviser. Life and career Brzeziński was born in the ...

, the KPK was involved in the transfer of the

Wawel Castle The Wawel Royal Castle (; ''Zamek Królewski na Wawelu'') and the Wawel Hill on which it sits constitute the most historically and culturally significant site in Poland. A fortified residency on the Vistula River in Kraków, it was established ...

treasures and a number of Chopin manuscripts, under its safekeeping since World War II, to Poland. In 1973, the left of centre Polish Alliance of Canada (PAC, founded in 1907) left the KPK in disagreement over the proponents of total independence of Poland that controlled the KPK, the close ties between the KPK and the government in exile, and accusations that the PAC was pro-communist. The disagreement between the PAC and KPK started to surface in the late 1960s, with the PAC advocating that the main focus of Polish-Canadian organizations should be assimilation and integration in Canada while promoting Polish culture, and opposing a non-Canadian political focus. In 1982, following the emergence of

Solidarity ''Solidarity'' is an awareness of shared interests, objectives, standards, and sympathies creating a psychological sense of unity of groups or classes. It is based on class collaboration.''Merriam Webster'', http://www.merriam-webster.com/dicti ...

, the PAC rejoined the KPK. The KPK spearheaded the construction of the Katyn monument in Toronto in 1980, being the first such monument in the world erected in a public place. The KPK was a vocal supporter of Poland’s Solidarity movement. In 1981 and 1982, the KPK staged widespread protests in Canadian cities in support of Solidarity and in opposition to the Soviet Union and the imposition of martial law in Poland. The KPK, in what Clements describes as "the most contentious tone the CPC PKhad recorded in its history", urged the Canadian government to take action against the Polish authorities and to accept Polish political refugees. KPK's demands were largely rejected by Canadian Prime Minister

Pierre Trudeau Joseph Philippe Pierre Yves Elliott Trudeau ( , ; October 18, 1919 – September 28, 2000), also referred to by his initials PET, was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 15th prime minister of Canada from 1968 to 1979 and ...

, though they did succeed in getting Trudeau to address Parliament in January 1982 in support of loosening the martial law restrictions in Poland. The KPK spearheaded the founding of the Chair of Polish History at the University of Toronto and established the Council for the Support of Polish Studies at the University of Toronto to sustain Polish language and literature studies. In 2014 the KPK was said to represent about 150 Polish-Canadian organizations. That year also saw an academic conference in Poland dedicated to the history and activities of the KPK. As of mid-2010s, the KPK is involved in the construction of a Memorial to the Victims of Communism – Canada, a Land of Refuge in Ottawa. In 2021, the youngest President of KPK history was elected into the KPK BC branch at the age of 29, Michael Dembek.

Views

The KPK's ideology is conservative, anti-communist, and supportive of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...

.Polec, Patryk. "From Hurrah Revolutionaries to Polish Patriots: The Rise of Polish Canadian Radicalism, 1918-1939." Polish American Studies 68.2 (2011): 43-66. While Poland was under communist rule, the KPK distinguished between the government and the people of Poland. Member organizations were forbidden to have contact with the Polish government, and communists or those sympathetic to communists were barred from positions in KPK member organizations. The KPK supports the Catholic Church, and statements or resolutions in support of the Church have been made at nearly every KPK convention. The KPK is engaged in information-providing and anti-defamation activities, and was instrumental in securing two rulings by the Ontario Press Council regarding the misuse of “Polish concentration camps.” The KPK has advocated that a central focus of the "mass atrocities section" in the Canadian Museum for Human Rights should be on "the injury caused to Poles and other Eastern Europeans by Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia". The KPK protested against "rewriting history" in '' Our Class'',Levin, Laura, Belarie Zatzman, and Joel Greenberg.
Studio 180’s Political Engagements: Finding the Jewish Soul in Canadian Theatre
" Canadian Theatre Review 153 (2013): 50-55. a theatre play whose historical accuracy has been questioned by others.

Charitable Foundations

The following foundations are associated with the Canadian Polish Congress: * Charitable Foundation of the Canadian Polish Congress * Canadian Polish Millennium Fund * W. Reymont Foundation *

Adam Mickiewicz Adam Bernard Mickiewicz (; 24 December 179826 November 1855) was a Polish poet, dramatist, essayist, publicist, translator and political activist. He is regarded as national poet in Poland, Lithuania and Belarus. A principal figure in Polish Ro ...

Foundation of Canada * Polish Heritage Foundation of Canada

References

External links

Canadian Polish Congress - Home
Official Website

History

Views

Charitable Foundations

See also

Archives

References

External links

Further reading