Polish American Congress on Katyń Monument in Jersey City - Open Letters

25 sierpnia, 2018

OPEN LETTER TO KATYŃ FOREST MASSACRE MEMORIAL COMMITTEE, INC.

Polish American Congress·Friday, August 24, 2018

I am writing to request that the Katyń Forest Massacre Memorial Committee, Inc. remove the POLISH AMERICAN CONGRESS (PAC) from the list of organizations that support the re-location of Andrzej Pityński's Katyń Monument from Exchange Place to York Street, in Jersey City, New Jersey.

On 4 June 2018, at the Jersey City Engineer's Office, I signed, on behalf of the PAC, what I thought was an attendance sheet to record the participants at this meeting. In fact, I signed in error a petition to move the Katyń Monument. There were numerous side conversations, and histrionics at this stormy meeting, which diverted my attention.

Let me make it clear that the POLISH AMERICAN CONGRESS always supported keeping the Katyń Monument in Exchange Place. This position first was presented to Mayor Steven Fulop by PAC President Frank J. Spula, in his letter of 7 May 2018, composed BEFORE the plan to build a upscale tavern in Exchange Place was open for public inspection. My op-ed article, "Open Letter to the Members of the Jersey City Council", published in the 13 June 2018 issue of THE JERSEY JOURNAL re-iterates President Spula's position. Please see the letter and the article attached.

Please let me know when you have removed the POLISH AMERICAN CONGRESS from the list of organizations that want to move the Katyń Monument. Thank you in advance for your compliance.

Sincerely,

John Czop, Director of Policy Planning

OPEN LETTER FROM THE POLISH AMERICAN CONGRESS TO THE JERSEY CITY COUNCIL written by John Czop

Polish American Congress·Wednesday, June 13, 2018

Dear Members of the Jersey City Council:

The Katyń Forest Massacre Memorial Committee has been, for nearly thirty years, a member organization of the Polish American Congress's (PAC) New Jersey Division. Organized in Buffalo, New York, in 1944, the PAC's purpose was to persuade President Franklin D. Roosevelt to require the Soviet Union's Dictator Joseph Stalin to promise to restore Poland, which fought Nazi Germany from start-to-finish during World War II, within her borders of September 1,1939.

Today, the PAC'S mission is to persuade official governmental and public opinion that a strong a truly sovereign Poland protects United States national security interests and promotes the American values of political freedom and free enterprise in East Central Europe. The PAC is an umbrella, or supra-organization, whose membership includes individuals and leading Polish American associations and represents over 10 million Polish Americans throughout our country.

Andrzej Pityński's Katyń Monument at Exchange Place is a powerful statue that affirms and presents to the public the continuing relevance of the PAC'S mission. Moreover, Mr. Frank J. Spula, national president of the PAC, recently wrote to Mayor Steven Fulop to request a full and complete statement of all the facts, especially the costs, involved in relocating Pitynski's magnificent bronze statue, in order to prepare a plausible plan with specific information to ensure a safe and secure future for the Katyń Monument.

These sensible requirements are NOT fulfilled by Ord. 18-057, which calls for the re-location of the Katyń Monument. Ordinance 18-057 is vague. This is why I ask you to vote against it upon its second reading at the Jersey City Council Meeting on Wednesday 13 June 2018.

Ordinance 18-057 should, but does NOT, include explanations of how much it will cost to move the Monument. This omission makes it impossible for you to decide on the costs versus the benefits of moving the Katyn Monument. At recent City Council Meetings, numerous Jersey City taxpayers have asked how much will it cost to move the Katyń Monument. A Jersey City taxpayer who spoke at the 23 May City Council meeting, Ms. Jeanne Daly, received strong applause when she suggested that money to move the Katyń Monument could be better spent on other projects of immediate and direct benefit to needy Jersey City residents.

Moreover, I encourage you to be sure that you have from official Jersey City Departments, and especially the Department of Engineering, precise answers to the costs and benefits of moving the Katyń Monument. I participated in the Monday 4 June 2018 meeting, from 12:00 noon until 1:30 p.m., at the Jersey City Engineering Department, 13-15 Linden Ave. Mr. David Juzmeski, P.E., P.P. participated in this meeting at the request of the Katyń Forest Massacre Memorial Committee. In answer to this writer's question, he said that he needs more specific information on how and where the Katyń Monument may be re-located BEFORE he can advise the Katyń Forest Massacre Memorial Committee on the soundness of Jersey City's plan.

More information also is required about The Exchange Place Alliance Special Improvement District, a not-for-profit corporation established at the initiative of Mayor Fulop, which first proposed removing Pityński's Monument from Exchange Place. Why were no members of the Jersey City Council serving in this organization? This writer read the sketchy Minutes of the Exchange Place Alliance Special Improvement District, which leave unanswered many important questions.

I strongly encourage you to be sure that you have plausible answers to how and precisely where, at the foot of York Street, the Katyń Monument may be re-located and how much this will cost so you may make a well informed decision. Ordinance 18-057 does NOT include this important information. Therefore, it would be most prudent for the Jersey City Council to vote against Ordinance 18-057 upon its second reading scheduled for Wednesday 13 June 2018 at the Jersey City Council Meeting.

Sincerely,

John Czop Director of Policy Planning National Office Polish American Congress