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Polish American Strategic Initiative
Educational Organization

Only Truth Is Interesting

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Welcome to PASI EDU

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PASI EDU is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to educating the Polish American community and American public on Polish and Polish-American history, culture, science, and relevant current events.

There is much about Poland and American Polonia of which we are justifiably proud and must be shared because it constitutes an important part of European and American history and culture. However, our review of information sources available to the public continues to reveal significant material omissions, misrepresentations, and falsifications. These sources include public school curricula and textbooks, media news outlets, popular websites, historical literature, and other public domain content. We address these deficiencies by presenting the facts and following our motto: “Only Truth is Interesting.”

Join with us and discover a wide array of important and compelling facts, many of which are little-known but remain significant because they constitute what is known to be true.

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Learn About Modern Polish History, Science, and Culture

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There are many significant facts about various aspects of modern Polish history, science, and culture that are little-known but have influenced our lives in different ways. We encourage everyone – students, teachers, parents, and community members – to learn more about them by joining PASI EDU and taking advantage of our educational content and materials.

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Millions Savor Flavor of Poland Help educate the public about Polish cuisine and culture by donating to Flavor of Poland

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Aleksandra shows viewers how to make Chruścicki (Angel Wings), which are traditionally served for Fat Thursday.

PASI EDU’s Susan Gorga interviews Culinary-Travel Host Aleksandra August

News and Articles
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Slawosz Uznanski ready for NASA training in Houston. Photo: esa.int/spaceflight

Polish astronaut to join multinational crew on International Space Station

Polish astronaut to join multinational crew on International Space Station.

Polish astronaut Slawosz Uznanski is set to join a multinational crew on a mission to the International Space Station (ISS) next year, the Polish Space Agency has announced.

Uznanski wrote in a social media post on Friday that he was moving to Houston to "begin training at Axiom Space, followed by sessions at SpaceX and NASA."

The Polish mission to the International Space Station is scheduled for 2025 and "will focus on testing Polish technologies and conducting scientific experiments," Uznanski said.

The mission, which will last around 14 days, includes veteran astronaut Peggy Whitson from the United States as the mission commander.

Whitson, 64, a biochemist, has the distinction of being the first woman to command the ISS and holds records for the longest cumulative space time and the most spacewalks by a woman.

She became the oldest woman to fly in space in 2016.

Joining Whitson and Uznanski are Shubanshu Shukla from India, a 41-year-old Indian Air Force commander who was part of his country’s first manned spaceflight team; and Tibor Kapu from Hungary, a 33-year-old who was selected in May to participate in a mission aboard the SpaceX Crew Dragon.

The mission, dubbed Ax-4, is part of a commercial crew program by Axiom Space.

It marks a significant step for Poland, stemming from a technology mission agreement signed between Poland’s Ministry of Development and Technology and the European Space Agency (ESA).

The Polish Space Agency (POLSA), acting as the executing agency, will focus primarily on experiments developed by the Polish space sector under ESA’s guidance.

The astronauts will launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Their stay on the ISS will include a series of experiments tailored to test various space technologies.

Before their departure, the crew must receive approval from the international committee responsible for the ISS, ensuring all international standards and requirements are met.

Source: Polish Press Agency (Polska Agencja Prasowa)

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Prof. Fabricio Wichrowski in the studio of the Polish Radio for Abroad. Photo: Halina Ostas/PRdZ

Polonia in Brazil returns to its roots - The Polish language is important for maintaining national identity

Polonia in Brazil returns to its roots - The Polish language is important for maintaining national identity

The Brazilian Polish community has achieved something unprecedented in its history - Polish has joined the ranks of official languages in the Municipality of Aurea in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, alongside Portuguese, the official language of the Federative Republic of Brazil. The initiator of this undertaking was Prof. Fabricio Wichrowski, a Brazilian scientist with Polish roots, who has been promoting Polish culture and language in Brazil for years.

Professor Fabricio Wichrowski, archaeologist, historian and lecturer at the University of Passo Fundo in Brazil, Polish activist representing the Polish ethnic group in the Council for Linguistic Diversity in Rio Grande do Sul, was interviewed by Halina Ostas.

Professor Fabricio Wichrowski is an archaeologist, historian and lecturer at the University of Passo Fundo in Brazil. He is also a Polish activist representing the Polish ethnic group in the Council for Linguistic Diversity in Rio Grande do Sul. He is also co-director of the Department of Polish-Brazilian Studies at the University of Passo Fundo.

He is the initiator and author of several draft laws on the co-official status of the Polish language in Brazilian municipalities inhabited by descendants of Polish emigrants. Thanks to this, municipalities have a legal basis for acting on behalf of the Polish diaspora.

“This is an unquestionable proof of recognition of the contribution of Poles to the social and cultural development of Brazil, and especially places such as Aurea, which is called the "capital of Poles in Brazil". This is an official title, it is registered, precisely because 95 percent of the community has Polish roots. This is the largest percentage of Poles in Brazil. And there, Polish has gained the status of an official language, next to Portuguese” - says Prof. Fabrizio Wichrowski.

“I have additional information that this project is still ongoing and not only in Aurea, but also in twelve Brazilian municipalities settled by Poles, Polish is a co-official language, alongside Portuguese. Maybe ‘co-official’ is not the best translation, but it means that it has the same status, that it is an official language alongside Portuguese.”

“I myself come from Aurea, my parents and sister still live there. Now it is important for Poles in Aurea to complete the construction of the Polish Cultural Center.”

Prof. Fabrizio Wichrowski is also the originator and initiator of the project of inventory of the Polish language in Brazil. In 2023, the project received funding from the Brazilian Ministry of Culture. It will be the largest research and development project on the Polish language ever conducted outside of Poland.

The project aims to include the Brazilian version of the Polish language on the national list of intangible cultural heritage. The results of the research will be sent to the Brazilian Office for the Protection of Monuments for analysis and recognition of the language as national cultural heritage. “This will result - in addition to formal recognition - in a legal obligation of the Republic of Brazil to preserve the Polish language as a living testimony of the social and cultural development of the country” - says the Polish-Brazilian scientist.

“From now on, Poles in Brazil can apply for the Polish Card, because previously it only covered the countries of the former Soviet Union, and there is a growing interest in learning Polish. It is true that not everyone wants to move to Poland, although they love Poland, but they want to have some document confirming that they belong to the Polish nation. Sometimes it was said that Poles do not have a flag because they emigrated during the partitions, when Poland was not on the map. My grandparents, for example, had a Russian passport. They said: ‘Poles without a flag’. Now we have access to the Polish Card and it is a document that shows belonging to the Polish nation. Now more and more Brazilians of Polish origin want to learn Polish and even go to study in Poland, returning to their Polish roots.”

The scientist has been working for years to promote academic cooperation between Brazil and Poland by organizing cultural events, lectures, publications and promoting institutional cooperation agreements. He is currently doing a postdoctoral internship at the University of Wroclaw as part of a scholarship awarded by the Brazilian Ministry of Education.

He is the author of dozens of books and articles in Portuguese, English and Polish. Among others: Brazil-Poland: Historical and Cultural Dialogues, a publication commemorating the centenary of diplomatic relations between Brazil and Poland, published in 2020 with the support of the Brazilian Embassy in Warsaw; Polish Brazilians published in 2021 and Polish Identity in Brazil: International Legal and Economic Aspects, published in 2023.

Source: Polskie Radio

Polish stamp commemorating the Warsaw Uprising.

A commemorative stamp for the 80th anniversary of the Warsaw Uprising (2024). Roch Stefaniak/Poczta Polska

Polish Post commemorates the Warsaw Uprising

Polish Post commemorates the Warsaw Uprising

In honor of the 80th anniversary of the 1944 events, the Polish Post (Poczta Polska) released 90,000 memorial postage stamps on the Polish market.

The stamp, valuated at 10 PLN, features insurgents at a firing position in the ruined entrance of the Church of the Holy Cross on Krakowskie Przedmiescie in Warsaw. The graphic design was created by Roch Stefaniak based on an archival photograph by Sylwester Braun, colorized by Orka Production Studio.

The Scout Field Mail, which began operations on August 6, 1944, a few days after the outbreak of the Warsaw Uprising, played a crucial role for the insurgents fighting against the Nazis. The communication and delivery of mail between the insurgents was managed by young members of the so-called Gray Ranks, as reported by Poczta Polska via social media.

During the Warsaw Uprising the Gray Ranks were the clandestine Polish underground scouting organization that played a crucial role in organizing and supporting the resistance against Nazi German forces.

Recently, archives revealed that Jadwiga Pobożz, who served as a telephone operator during the Warsaw Uprising, was one of the couriers. She succumbed to gunshot wounds on August 30, 1944.

Source: /Polskie Radio/PAP/Poczta Polska/x.com/Facebook

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