Kosciuszko in New York
There are always extraordinary things to see and do in New York City, and moments of unimaginable beauty. Some of the most exceptional moments in the city are when a still exterior starts to give way, revealing its exceptional secrets. Everyone has a thousand stories here, amending the idea that we all have one novel in us. Here, there are volumes, and although it is impossible to hear all of them, it’s important to try. In this regard, Polish tradition starts to dovetail with Jewish tradition in terms of the place that memory holds in the hierarchy of being.
The Kosciuszko Foundation in the city is a remarkable place. There is a feeling of overwhelming austerity here, that serves to underplay the importance of the work they do. It began in the 1920s, with a mission of helping to improve understanding between Polish culture and the cultures in the U.S. There are many different arms to the organization, with a number of events throughout the year. These include some remarkable works of art, which the foundation helps to support, such as Marc P. Smith’s excellent play, ” Karski .” This is a work about a Polish national hero who, while living in exile in London, managed to sneak back into the Warsaw ghetto during the Holocaust, in order to report what was happening to the rest of the world.
It’s a remarkable story about a time that cannot be forgotten, and this is the kind of work that gets the foundation’s attention. Its namesake, Thaddeus Kosciuszko, stood up for the rights of Native Americans, warned the world again Bonaparte, and even tried to buy Jefferson’s slaves their freedom. He’s a remarkable figure, having anticipated how a social conscience would perceive the world over a hundred years before his time, and stands for a remarkable organization. It’s worth a visit, while enjoying New York City and its hotels , and touching Polish culture, of the past and of the absolute present.
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