Fi2W Reporter Ewa Kern-Jedrychowska was a guest on WNYC’s Brian Lehrer Show today. She talked about what changes in NYC’s Polish community the 2010 Census will reveal.
Can traditional Polish music sound funky? Or Asian? Or bluesy? The members of the Warsaw Village Band think it can, but some Polish immigrants in New York beg to disagree.
“While there are anti-Semites in this country, there is even a larger number –and that group is growing faster– of people opposing anti-Semites, the anti-anti-Semites.”
[ Rabbi Michael Schudrich ]
Zygmunt Rolat at the ceremony to launch construction of the museum. Rabbi Schudrich is on the right. (Photo: Krzysztof Slomka)
The history of Jews in Poland is long and not without controversy, especially due to their persecution during World War II. The fact is, until that war started Warsaw was a center of Europe’s Jewish community.
Now, construction has started there on the Museum of the History of Polish Jews.
An artist's rendering of the museum. (Image: Museum of the History of Polish Jews)
It will not simply be a museum about the Holocaust. The museum team wants to focus more broadly on centuries of Jewish life and achievements in Poland.
Feet in 2 Worlds reporter Ewa Kern-Jedrychowska produced a radio piece about the museum from Warsaw that aired Tuesday on PRI’s The World.
You can listen to the story here or you can visit The World‘s page.
[audio:http://64.71.145.108/audio/0825095.mp3]
A cantor at the ceremony. (Photo: Krzysztof Slomka)
You can see more pictures at the Feet in 2 Worlds Flickr page.
Greenpoint, Brooklyn’s Polish neighborhood. (Photos: E. Kern-Jedrychowska)
A New Generation of Polish-Americans, a story by Feet in 2 Worlds and Polish Daily News reporter Ewa Kern-Jedrychowska, is the main feature on this week’s NPR show Latino USA (find your NPR station here).
From the Latino USA website:
The history of Poland hasn’t always been pretty.
While historians would say the country was born in 966 when its ruler became Christianized, it’s territorial boundaries haven’t been well-defined throughout the ages. In fact, from 1795 to 1918, Poland didn’t exist as a nation and the territory was divided among the kingdoms of Prussia, Austria, and Russia.
Constantly invaded, partitioned, borders redrawn, and territory occupied, the Poles themselves led a workers’ revolution in the 1980s that threw off the shackles of Soviet-led communism and inspired the world with the word: “Solidarity.”
Throughout most of the 20th Century, however, many Poles yearned for the freedom and security of America. But for the younger generation who grew up after the fall of Communism, those yearnings of their parents and grandparents just aren’t resonating.
You can listen to the story below:
[audio:http://latinousa.kut.org/wp-content/lusaaudio/838_seg01.mp3]Or you can listen to the story while watching a photo slideshow at the Latino USA website.
You can read more of Ewa’s Feet In 2 Worlds pieces on Polish-Americans here.
Poles going back to Poland, a trend that was first noticed two years ago, may be getting a boost from the economic crisis in the U.S. Speaking recently on WNYC’s Brian Lehrer Show, FI2W journalist Ewa Kern-Jedrychowska talked about the growing number of Poles who are returning to their home country for economic reasons.
A variety of factors have encouraged reverse migration, chief among them is Poland’s admission into the European Union four years ago. EU membership has opened up work opportunities for Polish citizens in a number of European countries. Ewa, who reports for Nowy Dziennik/The Polish Daily News, also noted that some younger Poles have moved to Poland in the belief that their American education gives them a competitive advantage in Poland’s economy. But she also said that like the U.S., Poland is experiencing an economic slowdown, so the benefits of moving to the Eastern European country may not be as great today as they have been in recent years.
Press play below to listen to Ewa on WNYC or click here to visit the show’s page.
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Ewa was recently honored by New York City Comptroller William C. Thompson, Jr. at a Polish-American Heritage Celebration. Thompson hailed Ewa’s “truly impressive record of achievement that augurs a great body of work still to come.”
Feet In Two Worlds reporter Ewa Kern-Jedrychowska recently produced a feature story for WNYC News. Her radio piece about New York Poles returning to Poland aired locally during NPR’s All Things Considered.
From WNYC News:
The troubling economic times here are making some immigrants think about going home. Nineteen years after the collapse of communism and four years after joining the European Union, Poland is booming and young Poles in the United States want to profit from these changes.
They’re following the example of Irish immigrants who have been lured home by the Irish economic miracle. For undocumented immigrants the decision to return is sped up by anti-immigrant sentiment that is forcing out foreign workers from many parts of the world. As part of our occasional series, Feet in Two Worlds, Ewa Kern-Jedrychowska, of the Polish Daily News has this report.
Feet in 2 Worlds reporters are providing unique immigrant perspectives on the presidential campaigns with daily appearances on WNYC’s Brian Lehrer Show this week from the Democratic National Convention in Denver.
Today, Feet in 2 World’s Pilar Marrero, political editor and columnist for Los Angeles’ La Opinión newspaper, analyzed the McCain and Obama campaigns’ efforts to court Latino voters. Click here to hear Pilar’s take on the most recent Latino voter poll, the latest controversy over Latino elected officials’ candidate endorsements, and the impact of the largest-scale Spanish-language outreach effort in election history.
Tomorrow, Ewa-Kern-Jedrychowska, reporter for New York-based Polish-language newspaper Nowy-Dziennik and Feet in 2 Worlds contributor, will discuss Polish-American voters’ attitudes and policy priorities. Tune in to The Brian Lehrer Show on FM 93.9, AM 820 or www.WNYC.org at 10:40 am EST to hear Ewa.
Yesterday, our reporter Aswini Anburajan dissected Indian-American political donors, their support for the proposed India-US nuclear deal, and the emerging political partnership between the American Jewish Committee and Indian-American campaign donors that was showcased at a Denver breakfast forum. Click here to listen to Aswini’s talk with Brian Lehrer.
Feet in 2 Worlds convention coverage is part of our collaboration with New York Community Media Alliance.
Editor’s note: WNYC’s website and streaming capabilities are set up slightly differently during the conventions. In order to listen to Pilar and Aswini’s interviews you must first download the first hour of Brian’s show, then fast forward to around 40 minutes past the hour (or just listen to the entire hour of excellent reporting and conversation!).
In “Ground Zero May Be Making Even Well-Protected Workers Sick,” Feet in Two Worlds reporter Ewa Kern-Jedrychowska describes the plight of Polish asbestos workers who participated in the cleanup after the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center.
Ewa reports that toxic chemicals at the site are suspected of killing an alarming number of these workers, and that many others have lost their jobs due to illness or changes in immigration laws that were implemented after 9/11.
Ewa’s story aired on September 11, 2007, during Morning Edition, as part of WNYC’s coverage of the 6th anniversary of the September 11 attacks. Press play to hear the story.
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Polish stores in Greenpoint, Brooklyn (Anna Majkowska/Flickr)
Ewa Kern-Jedrychowska’s recent story on WNYC focused on long-time Polish residents of Greenpoint, Brooklyn, who are being forced out of their apartments by high rents and landlord harassment. She also reported that many in Greenpoint’s Polish community welcome the recent changes to their neighborhood, including new businesses and a major infusion of city funds to revitalize McCarren Park.
Click here to see the story on WNYC’s website or press play below to listen.
[audio:http://audio.wnyc.org/news/news070523_greenpoint_jedrychowska.mp3]Ewa’s story aired on May 23, 2007, and was WNYC’s #1 most emailed story for the week of May 28, 2007. You can also read Ewa’s article about the making of her story here.
To read what other websites are saying about the Greenpoint story and the issues it raises, click on the links below.
http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2007/05/24/waiting-for-help-in-greenpoint/
http://www.gothamcityinsider.com/2007/05/feet-in-two-worlds-greenpoint-brooklyn.html
http://nycslav.blogspot.com/2007/05/polish-greenpoint-endangered-cultural.html
