Exhibits
Check the Loft Lobby and visit our UPPER SILESIA EXHIBIT.
This year’s festival features the vibrant and diverse region of Upper Silesia (Górny Śląsk). Silesia is a region of Central Europe whose national affiliations have changed many times over the centuries. Today, it is located mostly in Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic and Germany. In Poland, it consists of Lower Silesia and Upper Silesia. Upper Silesia includes two voivodships or provinces, Śląskie and Opolskie, and is in the southeastern part of the historical and geographical region of Silesia in southern Poland.
Upper Silesia, the biggest industrial area in Poland, with its capital city of Katowice, is also one of the most attractive ones – from a visitor’s point of view. Built on coal, it is reinventing and redefining itself into a region of modernization and innovation. You will find old mines which have been turned into underground trails and the mine shafts into art galleries. You can boat along flooded tunnels and take the world’s oldest, still in use, narrow gauge train. Vast fortunes made in the 19th century in coal and ore have produced a diversity of marvelous residencies across the landscape. Today some of them have been turned into luxurious hotels.
Check the HISTORICAL EXHIBITS AREA and visit:
POLISH WINGS IN WWII
This exhibit honors young Polish pilots during WWII who sacrificed their lives for the freedom of their country. Highlighted are memoirs, Podniebna kawaleria, of Cpt. Witold Aleksander Herbst, a WWII veteran and fighter pilot of the 303 and 308 RAF Polish Squadrons.
MILITARY MEMORABILIA
Antek Haapasaari-Olpinski, a scholar of Polish history, will present a collection of Polish military uniforms, equipment, books, and artwork honoring the role of Poland in WWII.
SOLIDARITY
Hear local stories and see archival materials collected from members who fought for Poland’s freedom more than 35 years ago. Special thanks to Andrzej Mróz.
