Pilsudski Institute Honored

Brooklyn, NY .. When the Downstate New York Division of the Polish American Congress holds its Annual Awards Banquet in October, it will pay special tribute to one of the Polish community's oldest organizations, the Jozef Pilsudski Institute of America.
 
Located today at 180 Second Avenue on New York's Lower East Side, the 69 year-old Institute functions as a museum, an archive and a research center devoted to the study of modern Polish history.
 
The Institute's collection contains approximately a million pages of archival documents related to Polish history, thousands of books, extensive collections of maps, photographs, stamps, medals and valuable paintings.
 
Preservation of Polish history and culture is the primary activity of the Institute. It sponsors conferences, seminars and book discussions as well as frequent showings of documentary and historical films about Polish history and culture.
 
Founded in New York in 1943 at the height of World War II, the Institute offered safe haven to the collections and archives possessed by the Jozef Pilsudski Institute of Warsaw, Poland prior to Hitler's invasion in 1939.
 
Recognizing that the war would soon begin, the directors of Warsaw's Pilsudski Institute had the foresight to move out their priceless artifacts and collections (the Belweder Archives) before the Germans could get their hands on them and steal or destroy them.  They were first transported to Romania and later to France and Portugal before finally reaching the United States.
 
As incredible as it may sound, the work at the New York Pilsudski Institute is performed mostly by volunteers. They are highly dedicated and proficient individuals who use the newest available technology that allows much of the Institute's collections to be viewed on the internet.
 
The Downstate Polish American Congress 2012 Awards Banquet will be held at Brooklyn's Polonaise Terrace on Sunday, October 14th starting at 4:00 p.m.
 
Contact:  Frank Milewski
               (516) 352-7125
               pacdny@verizon.net