>> DR.
ALBERT TOURS THE POLISH CENTER OF LEARNING AND
DISCOVERY.
HIS MOTHER WAS BORN IN POLAND IN A HOUSE SIMILAR TO THE COTTAGE
ON DISPLAY AT CENTER.
>> IT WAS A LOG CABIN WITH ROUGH LOGS AND THERE WAS NOTHING THAT
WOULD TOGETHER WITH MOSS.
WHEN IT WAS VERY DRY, THEY PLUGGED UP THE CRACKS.
WHAT FASCINATES ME IS THE ROOFS WERE MADE OUT OF RYE STRAW.
>> HE GREW UP IN MASSACHUSETTS.
HIS MOTHER CAME FROM POLAND WITH HIS SISTER WHEN SHE WAS A
TEENAGER.
>> FIVE OF MY BROTHER'S SISTERSES GRADUATED FROM HIGH
SCHOOL WHERE WE HAD NO HEAT, NO ELECTRICITY.
>> HIS FAMILY PERSEVERED THROUGH DIFFICULT TIMES.
A SIMILAR STORY TO IMMIGRANTS WHO CAME TO THE AMERICAS LOOKING
FOR A BETTER LIFE.
THE STORY OF HOW POLLS PURSUE THE AMERICAN DREAM HAS BECOME
THE TOPIC OF THE BOOK, "POLISH HERITAGE: A HISTORY OF A PROUD
COMMUNITY IN WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS" WRITTEN BY
HISTORIAN JOSEPH CAR VALO AND THE EXECUTIVE EDITOR OF THE
SPRINGFIELD REPUBLICAN.
POLISH CENTER OF DISCOVERY AND LEARNING PARTNERED TO WRITE THE
BOOK, WHICH CAR VALO SAYS IS THE LARGEST IN THE SERIES AT 448
PAGES.
>> THE THEME IS ABOUT REALLY THE FOCUS ON THOSE EARLY IMMIGRANT
GENERATIONS AND HOW THEY HAD TO -- WHAT THEY HAD TO OVERCOME TO
CREATE THE FOUNDATION FOR FUTURE GENERATIONS.
>> THE BOOK DETAILS HOW THEY WERE PRESENT DURING COLONIAL
TIMES AND WERE INVOLVED IN THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.
THE FIRST MAJOR WAVE OF IMMIGRANTS CAME IN THE 1880s.
>> WHEN POLAND WAS SEPARATED IN THE 1790s AND THEN CEASED TO BE
AN INDEPENDENT NATION AND THEN GERMANY, RUSSIA, AND AUSTRIA
SEPARATED THE POLISH PEOPLE IN SIGNIFICANT WAYS AND HAD
DIFFERENT EXPERIENCES ABOUT WHICH NATION CONTROLLED THEIR
DESTINY, THE FIRST WAVE CAME OUT OF GA LEE SHA.
THE AGRICULTURAL DEPRESSIONS, ALSO THE RESTRICTION ON LAND.
IF YOU HAD A LARGE ENOUGH FAMILY, WHAT DID THE YOUNGEST
SONS DO?
THEY CAN'T SPLIT UP THE FARM.
SO THEY CAME TO THE UNITED STATES LOOKING FOR
OPPORTUNITIES.
>> THOSE IMMIGRANTS, CAR VALO SAYS, WERE RECRUITED TO WORK IN
THE MILLS.
>> THE MILLS, THE DWIGHT MILLS IN CHICK PE, THE LUDLOW
MANUFACTURING ASSOCIATES AND INDIAN ORCHARD WERE LOOKING FOR
WORKERS.
THEY HAD BROCHURES.
IN OUR BOOK WE SHOW THE BROCHURES PRINTED TO ATTRACT
SPECIFICALLY THE WORKERS FROM GA LEE SHA LOOKING FOR PLACES TO
WORK IN AMERICA.
IT SHOWED HOW THEY HAD THE HOUSING, RECREATIONAL
FACILITIES, SCHOOLS.
>> THERE WAS 100 YEARS POLAND DIDN'T EVEN -- THERE WAS NO
POLAND, MY GRANDPARENT WERE BORN IN HUNGARY "EMPIRE."
>> HIS COUSIN OWNED BLUE BIRD ACRES.
>> THIS IS A STORY OF THE INTENSE AMOUNT OF TRIALS AND
TRIBULATIONS THAT THE POLISH PEOPLE HAD TO OVERCOME.
THEY THOUGHT THINGS WERE GOING TO BE BETTER AND ALL OF A SUDDEN
THEY HAD A NEW PLOT THAT WAS SHIPPING THEM OFF TO LABOR CAMPS
OR JUST WHOLESALE KILLING OR THERE WAS FAMINE.
THESE ARE THE MAJOR THINGS THAT REALLY KIND OF TRIGGERED THE
DIFFERENT TIMES WHEN PEOPLE DECIDED THAT IN WAVES THAT THEY
WOULD COME OVER HERE.
>> THE BOOK FEATURES A STORY ABOUT CHESTER WHO AS A YOUNG BY
WAS TAKEN WITH HIS FAMILY TO A SLAVE LABOR CAMP.
>> AFTER THE GERMANS INVADED RUSSIA IN 1941, HIS FAMILY WAS
SCATTERED.
HE LATER JOINED A PARATROOPER UNIT IN ENGLAND.
THE WORLD WAR II VETERAN DIED IN 2015.
RON LEK, THE ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR OF THE CENTER, SAYS THERE ARE
STORIES TO BE TOLD.
>> WE LIKE TO TELL PEOPLE STORIES AND BY TELLING PEOPLE'S
STORIES, WE TELL THE STORIES OF THE POLISH AMERICAS OF THE
UNITED STATES.
WE TALK ABOUT POLISH HISTORY.
WE TALK ABOUT WORLD HISTORY.
WE TALK ABOUT IMMIGRATION.
SO WE TELL THE WHOLE STORY OF HOW PEOPLE CAME HERE TO THE
UNITED STATES.
>> THE BOOK ALSO DOCUMENTS THE STRONG FAITH OF THE POLISH
PEOPLE AND THE ROLE OF THE ST.
JOHN PAUL II.
>> NOT ONLY WAS HE A RELIGIOUS LEADER, HE WAS A POLITICAL
LEADER BECAUSE HE HELPED WITH THE SOLIDARITY MOVEMENT, WHICH
LED TO THE FALL OF COMMUNISM IN POLAND AND LED TO THE CREATION
OF FREE POLISH COUNTRY.
>> THE NEW BOOK TELLS THE STORIES OF POLISH IMMIGRANTS,
WHAT THEY OVERCAME, AND HOW THEY SHAPED WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS.