..is (at least by folklore accounts), Chicago, Illinois.
It is so hard to know what to say, to express to these folks. To be Polish, by definition, is to carry a burden of true suffering in one's family history. Not the American-style neurotic suffering of 'Mom and Dad only bought me a Toyota sedan instead of sports-car, they never loved me...' sort of stuff.
Real suffering. Parts of the family tree that went away because everyone was killed. Poverty. Political oppression. Conquering armies staging massacres, bombing their cities into rubble. The shame of having the Nazis locate those camps on their soil. Real suffering.
So many emigrated to Chicago in search of a better life. If you read the Chicago papers, you don't see accounts of Polish druglords running gangs that terrorize and shoot up neighborhoods. It's the 'unrung bell' that doesn't get heard or discussed, since the daily brutalities of the city's life leave no room for that.
Contrast that with this.
These folks aren't perfect, but they may have something to teach us in coming days, if we have ears to listen and eyes to see.
and...
The Chicago Tribune published a photo gallery of mourning from around the world.
1 comment:
Poland is the one place in Europe where the Christian faith is still strong. That will carry these people through in a way that no other European country could go on.
All that not withstanding, it is a huge loss to a small nation that has lost so very much through the years. We must pray for new leaders for these valiant people, even as they morn the loss of these just taken from them.
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