NEWS

Like every Saturday, the Treasury of Polish Armenians opened its doors to visitors, but June 15 was a special day because Mr. Tomasz Kuba Kozłowski from the History Meeting House invited two groups of long-time lovers of historical walks to the headquarters of the Polish Armenian Culture and Heritage Foundation – the Warsaw Initiative Kresowa History Meeting House. The main topic of the meeting with history this time were Polish Armenians. The special guest of the meeting at the Armenian Treasury, invited by the Foundation, was the parish priest of the Armenian Northern Parish in Gdańsk, parish priest and guardian of the Sanctuary of the miraculous image of Our Lady of Grace from Stanisławów, Father Cezary Annusewicz. The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Grace from Stanisławów is located in the church of St. Peter and Paul, at the Żabi Kruk ( Frog Kruk) street in Gdańsk. After an extensive introduction by Mr. Kuba Kozłowski, the guests were first shown around the museum exhibition – The Treasury of Polish Armenians. Then in the second room, sitting down, they had the opportunity to listen to the story of Fr. Cezary Annusewicz about the fate of the miraculous painting from Stanisławów and the history of the church at the Frog Kruk. However this was not the end of the attractions, because they also had the opportunity to watch archival short films and photographs from the coronation with papal crowns of this miraculous image, which took place 87 years ago, on May 30, 1937 in Stanisławów. Father C. Annusewicz gave our guests commemorative books and medallions, which, thanks to the efforts of the last parish priest in Stanisławów, the late. priest Kazimierz Filipiak, were saved and after World War II they were brought to the church in Gdańsk. The guests also saw our temporary exhibition “Suitcase of memories – Zachariasz Gregorowicz (1884-1961)”. There was no end to questions about various details. Those interested received maps with a walk along the Armenian trail in the Old and New Town, plans of the Old Powązki Cemetery with Armenian burials marked, and bookmarks with the Armenian alphabet. This Saturday was extremely intense, because the first guests arrived well before… 11:00, and we said goodbye to the last ones at approx. 18:00. I hope that everyone left satisfied and full of impressions, many people promised to pay the visit again with their loved ones.

mot, fot.Monika Agopsowicz; Władysław Deńca

The tenth anniversary issue of “Lehahayer ” the Journal devoted to the history of Polish Armenians” has been published. “Including Year 10, which we are presenting to readers this year, we have published 84 articles and source editions, 17 scientific contributions, 18 reviews and 5 occasional texts by 60 researchers from Poland, Armenia, Ukraine and Belarus – i.e. from modern countries , on the lands where the history of Polish Armenians once took place – as well as from France, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Italy, Sweden, Belgium and Great Britain” – write in the introduction the creators and editors of this scientific journal – Andrzej A. Zięba and Krzysztof Stopka.
It is thanks to their determination and hard work, with the financial support of the Lanckoroński Foundation and the Faculty of History of the Jagiellonian University as well as cooperation with Księgarnia Akademicka which is a unique magazine that has been published since 2010. It is invaluable for the development of research on the history and culture of Polish Armenians and those associated with Poland.
We wish you further fruitful years in the field of Armenian studies!
The team of the Polish Armenian Culture and Heritage Foundation!

Yesterday, on May 21, 2024, the Palace of the Republic of Poland was grandly opened, which has now become the treasury of the National Library presenting its most valuable objects. Among them, one of the most valuable Armenian manuscripts – the Skewra Gospel, called the Lviv Gospel, is the most valuable object in the legacy of Polish Armenians, which consists of resources saved after World War II from Armenian-Catholic parishes from the former Eastern Borderlands. Carefully and prudently hidden throughout the post-war years, it saw the light of day only in safe times, and due to its priceless value, in 2006 it was deposited in the National Library. Earlier, in Poland, it was presented at the “Armenian Exhibition in Lviv” in 1932. So, after almost 100 years, we can admire the original of this work again. Visiting the exhibition where the National Library made available real pearls from its resources, the oldest manuscripts, prints and sheet music – was not an easy matter, because there were proverbial crowds of people willing to do so. A coherent team of the Foundation for the Culture and Heritage of Polish Armenians, supported by their closest friends, led by Vahram Mhitaryan, an Armenian director who is currently making a film about the fate of the Gospel Book, went to visit the exhibition at around 11 p.m. We were exceptionally lucky to have a “personal” guide, arranged in advance by Vahram, Dr. Maciej Szablewski, head of the Collections Access Department of the National Library. Our Guide showed us around subsequent rooms of the Palace, telling us about the extraordinary exhibits, and over time, the group of concerned people grew into almost a crowd of people concerned.
The final stage of the tour is an extremely moving room in which, against the background of animations and inscriptions, an urn with what the then employees of the Library found after the Warsaw Uprising is presented – ashes and volumes crumbling to dust – the German invader burned our national heritage!
We finished visiting this exceptionally interesting exhibition at 1:00 a group photo, of course, at the display case with the Skewra Gospels. A truly moving experience!

mot, photo: Mag

The twentieth Night of Museums in Poland and the fifth at the Polish Armenian Culture and Heritage Foundation is already behind us. Our Armenian offer turned out to be interesting again and attracted a lot of visitors of all ages. We had something nice for everyone. Starting with one and a half-two hour walks with Warsaw guide Eliza Korzeniewska in the footsteps of Polish Armenians in the Old Town, through a tour of the Treasury of Polish Armenians and the temporary exhibition “Suitcase of memories – Zachariasz Gregorowicz (1884-1961)”, to short films of the POLONIKA Institute about the Armenian cathedral in Lviv – a cartoon for children and a documentary story for adults. We opened the Foundation’s doors at 3 p.m. and until 23 we were constantly giving tours. Each of the seven volunteers had their hands full: Hania, Monika, Marina, Krysia, Danek, Armen and Wojtek. Our little bookstore was open, and those who were thirsty were given water, and everyone received a cookie for making an entry in the commemorative book. We heard that our place was not only interesting, but also nice. And how many interesting people we had apleasure to meet: Armenians, descendants of Polish Armenians, historians, our neighbors from Świętojerska and the surrounding area, people from the borderlands, including those from the West! One of the visitors, Tatevek Shekoyan, spontaneously sang beautiful Armenian songs – Komitas and folk songs – several times.
magician, photo: Marina Khanamiryan, Danek Deńca

May 11, at noon at 12:00, we opened a new, this time temporary exhibition at the headquarters of the Polish Armenian Culture and Heritage Foundation: “Zachariasz Gregorowicz 1884-1961 – Suitcase of memories”. The pretext for organizing this exhibition were the contents of a suitcase that was in the collection of the Gregorowicz family. It was filled with souvenirs, documents, and photographs of Zachariasz – the great-grandfather of Kasia, who became friends with the Foundation last year and is a member of our team. The exhibition was prepared by Hanna Kopczyńska-Kłos in cooperation with Kasia Gregorowicz, the poster is by Zuzanna Kłos, the boards and leaflet are by Maria Ohanowicz-Tarasiuk. A large group of Foundation supporters came to the opening of the exhibition, including: representatives of many Armenian families. People who came to our headquarters for the first time also had the opportunity to see the permanent exhibition “Treasury of Polish Armenians”.
Leaflet
We invite everyone willing to visit two exhibitions, the next opportunity is Saturday’s Night of Museums.
mot, photos Franciszek Wasyl

We met Sister Miriam Isakowicz on January 18, 2024 in Radwanowice at the funeral of Fr. Tadeusz Isakowicz-Zaleski, her nephew. Shortly afterwards, five of us visited her in Laski and promised to meet again – with ArmenianHoly Mass for his soul. And so, on a hot Saturday, April 7, Fr. Józef Naumowicz presided over the Holy Mass. in the “home” chapel of Fr. Władysław Korniłowicz (1884-1946), collaborator of Blessed Mother Czacka, co-founder and spiritual director of the Center for the Blind in Laski. The celebrant mentioned the great value of prayers for Fr. Tadeusz and drew attention to the graces that the deceased can ask God for us, for Polish Armenians and for our ritual.
Sister Miriam told us about her life with humor and eloquence at the Retreat House. When asked how she discovered her vocation to serve the blind, she said: – During the first year of my mathematics studies in Krakow, I belonged to the “choir” led by Fr. Karol Wojtyła, we were joined by blind people who sang beautifully: Genia Pęcak and her brother Janek. At one meeting, Fr. Wojtyła decided: “You will be bringing along Genia to the meetings.”

Professor Krzysztof Stopka recollects the Exhibition in Krakow (Cracow)

At the headquarters of the Foundation for the Culture and Heritage of Polish Armenians on February 25, 2023, a solemn promotion of the publication “Women with Pastorals. Portraits of the Duchess of the Benedictine Armenian Nuns in Lviv; history, contexts, comments” was held.

We were honored by the presence of many important guests, including Professor Antoni Kamiñski from the Polish Academy of Sciences – Academy of Kresy Heritage, Dorota Janiszewska-Jakubiak – Director of the National Institute of Polish Cultural Heritage abroad “POLONIKA”, Polish ambassadors in Armenia – Marianna and Tomasz Knoths and Jadwiga and Jerzy Nowakowskis, Priest Professor Jozef Naumowicz, PriestPrelate Aleksander Seniuk, representatives of the media, many supporters and friends of the Foundation.

The participants of the meeting

However, the most important guests from Krakow were Professor Krzysztof Stopka, director of the Jagiellonian University museum, Collegium Maius and the authors of the publication Professor Andrzej A. Zięba – director of the Center for Research on the Culture of Polish Armenians, Jolanta Pollesch – Chief Conservator of the Jagiellonian University museum and Jolanta Sławinska, art historian of Krakow’s Collegium Maius. Among the authors was also our friend Monika Agopsowicz. The others – Tomasz Krzyżowski, Marcin Łukasz Majewski and Marek Stasiowski unfortunately could not take part in this meeting.

read more…

The next, 9th issue of the Lehahayer magazine edited by Andrzej A. Zieba has been published.

Marcin Łukasz Majewski opens this issue with an article devoted to the records of the Armenian parish in Zamość. Andrzej A.Zięba writes about the manuscript songbook of the Armenian Benedictine nun Antonina Grzegowiczówna from 1757. Among the published publications, we will find an article devoted to the Benedictine nuns of the Latin and Armenian rites, their mutual relations and coexistence until the time of expatriation from Lviv to the new borders of Poland – written by Urszula Ososko

Tomasz Krzyżowski studied old prints from the collection of Archbishop Józef Teodorowicz, and in the second material he dealt with the topic of plans to create a Slavic-Armenian-Catholic church union in the 1930s.
Ewa Siemieniec-Gołaś explored the scientific achievements of Professor Edward Tryjarski in terms of his research on the Armenian-Kipchak language. Of course, these are not all the materials included in this interesting magazine.

More archives saved within the framework of the latest edition of the competition “Supporting archival activities”. We start with summaries therefore.
At the beginning, Discovery in the Foundation for Culture and Heritage of Polish Armenians.

– Such an entry appeared on the website of the State Archives

https://www.facebook.com/ArchiwaPanstwowe/?locale=pl¬_PL

In the archives of the Foundation for the Culture and Heritage of Polish Armenians the oldest Armenian record books from the Armenian church in Stanislawów have undergone full conservation; the book of baptisms 1703-1783 and the book of deaths 1715-1829. They have been disinfected and fully preserved. During the conservation work the extraordinary discovery was made. In the leather bindings of the books 54 cards from the 18th century were found. The find was extracted from its covers, separated and cleaned. The procedures carried out thus allow not only for safe research on the contents of the books, but also on those hitherto unknown manuscripts, which may turn out to be valuable material for historians. Thanks to conservation the process of destruction of the oldest Armenian record books kept in the Archives of the Foundation for Culture and Heritage of Polish Armenians has been stopped. The books have been secured and they can be safely used without exposing the material to destruction and health of users to the action of microorganisms.

One of the preserved books can be seen in the permanent exhibition at the Foundation’s headquarters (Warsaw, 12 Świętojerska str.)

As the conservator Hanna Machaj says – an important stage of the conservation work was the separation of the covers containing valuable manuscript cards from the leather binding and the full conservation of these cards. The surface of the covers and the leather were covered with a thick layer of dirt. Due to the great weakness and fragility of the paper base of the manuscripts and its susceptibility to mechanical damage the separation and cleaning of the manuscripts was very difficult. We successfully cleaned the cards of mold, dust and other dirt. We numbered them with a pencil and separated them one by one from the rest.

The procedures carried out allow for safe research on these hitherto unknown manuscripts, which may turn out to be valuable material for historians. We presume that among them there are several pages of the Kipchak-Armenian glossary, another part of which had already been discovered in another book from the archives and compiled.

Elaboration of the Legacy

In addition, as part of the Foundation’s work, the legacy of Leon Ter-Oganjan, an important activist of the Armenian community in Warsaw was developed, recorded and packaged. The list of units can be found in the “Search in the Archives”(“Szukaj w Archiwach”) service. They are also available on the Foundation’s website in the Virtual Archive of Polish Armenians.

Yesterday, March 11, 2023, Olga (first from the right in the photo) took her first steps in guiding around our exhibition. For a debut, she does it very well.
There were visitors who thoroughly learned every detail. Thanks to our multimedia, they watched, among others, in the historical photo the altar from the church in Kamieniec Podolski and in it the painting that hangs on the exhibition. They also learned the history of the image of the Mother of God from this church, which was also presented by Jozef Brandt in his painting “The Armenian Mother of God” from 1870.(We have a life-size copy of this painting.)
Other guests were particularly interested in our publications as well as in publications of the Center for Research on Armenian Culture in Poland and the Armenian Cultural Society.
With great pleasure we were taking round Marianna (and her mother) the schoolgirl , who is preparing the presentation about Polish Armenians in her school. We have already invited her class and even the whole school to see our exhibition.
We encouraged everyone to come to our Armenian holy mass and to visit us on the Night of Museums on Saturday, May 13, 2023. Then, in addition to visiting the exhibition, it will be possible to walk together with our friendly guides.
Some of the people visiting us made an appointment by phone, what we encourage you to do – tel. 502 421 944. We are open every Saturday from 14.00 to 17.00 without making an appointment and we will always be willing to adapt to your expectations.

Foundation team