BY KYLIE VOLAVONGSA | news@queensledger.com
Last Sunday, Polish President Karol Nawrocki and Prime Minister Donald Tusk paid a visit to Christ the King High School in Middle Village.
As the auditorium filled with visitors young and old, Nawrocki awarded prominent figures of New York’s Polish community with state decorations, including a Gold Cross of Merit for boxing legend Zbigniew “Ziggy” Rozalski. In Polish, Nawrocki then delivered an address themed “Polskie serce Ameryki” — in English, “The Polish Heart of America.”
The Gold Cross was also bestowed upon Malgorzata Starzec, Anna Tracz, Ewa Zalusiska, James Lawicki, and Brian Rusk. A separate award — the Knight’s Cross of the Order of Merit — was given to Michal Jan Czyewski, Dr. Bogdan Horbal, Rev. Grzegorz Markulak, Rev. Wieslaw Strzdala, and Wojciech Zibowicz.
Victoria Siebor attended with fellow members of the Polish Youth Association, headquartered in Manhattan. She wanted to ensure that there would be a strong space for them and others of Polish heritage in the current government’s interests.
“It’s great to hear that there’s a commitment to making sure that people in the US have strong ties to Poland,” Siebor said. “This president has recognized a lot of religious figures, like the head of my church, but it was very cool to see him recognize a combination of figures in sports and other members of the community.”
Also in attendance was Donna DeLuca, director of admissions at St. Stanislaus Kostka Catholic Academy, to watch the Copernicus Children’s Choir’s bilingual performance after Nawrocki’s speech.
“It was an amazing event, because it’s the 130th anniversary of our parish church. To see them sing in front of the president, it was a surreal experience for all of us and you could really feel the excitement and energy in the room,” DeLuca said. (The church is marking another milestone, too: the 300th anniversary of the canonization of its patron saint.)
This is the second time Polish officials have held a ceremony at Christ the King, with then-president Andrzej Duda leading a similar address in 2023. Before heading to the high school, though, Nawrocki and First Lady Marta Nawrocka also attended Mass at St. Stan’s in Greenpoint, and they unveiled a commemorative plaque at the church.
In a preview leading up to the appearance, the online outlet Poland.US emphasized the importance to Polish politicians of maintaining close ties with the country’s diaspora in New York City: “Their visibility provides relations between Warsaw and Washington with a social foundation that leadership talks alone cannot replace.”
The rest of Nawrocki’s visit was more strictly diplomatic. The president attended the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly, opened the Wednesday afternoon debate as a speaker, and, with his wife, joined President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump at an evening welcome reception.
