jarek
Every year in December, Esperantists worldwide celebrate “Zamenhof Days” with great solemnity. The festivities commemorate the birth of Ludwik Zamenhof, the creator of the Esperanto language and Esperanto idea, who was born on December 15, 1859 in Białystok.
The Center for Intercultural Education also dedicated its December club meeting to Ludwik Zamenhof and Esperanto. A significant surprise for the thirty-some participants was the presence of … Ludwik Zamenhof himself, who addressed the attendees with a few heartfelt words.
The celebration of Zamenhof’s birthday by Esperantists takes various forms. There are short one-day or several-hour ceremonies of an intimate nature, and often open events for a broad audience. In larger Esperanto communities, the festivities can last for several days. During these celebrations, there are meetings and lectures on the life and activities of L. Zamenhof, integration meetings with a traditional birthday cake, laying flowers at monuments, exhibitions of books in Esperanto (both original and translations), film screenings, concerts, performances, contests, and excursions. Esperantists also “gather” at virtual meetings. Often, Zamenhof Day celebrations are an opportunity to showcase Jewish culture, its significance in the life of nations and cities.
We watched a play titled “Tych miasteczek nie ma już” (These little towns are no more) performed by the “Gwiazdeczki” group (affiliated with SUTW). The play features fellow Esperantists and aligns with one of the activities of our CEM, presenting the diversity of Jewish culture.
The next part of the meeting involved presenting the profiles of Esperantists from Nowy Sącz: Stanisława Tyrkiel, Maria Kosiaty, and Maria Budacz. These individuals were actively involved in the Polish Esperanto Association branch in Nowy Sącz and the Esperanto Club at the City Cultural Center from the 1960s to the early 21st century. Mrs. Stanisława Tyrkiel played a crucial role, writing chronicles for the PEA branch and Esperanto Club, which have become valuable documents illustrating the activities of Esperantists in Nowy Sącz. These chronicles were donated to the Regional Museum in Nowy Sącz. The information about the donation agreement between the Intercultural Education Center and the Regional Museum was also a significant part of the meeting.
The festive meeting at CEM dedicated to the creator of Esperanto concluded with the enjoyment of a traditional birthday cake.
Information about the activities of Esperantists related to the December celebrations of “Zamenhof Days” can be found on the Eventa Servo website (“event service”). This website collects and disseminates information about Esperanto events worldwide.
Eventa Servo was established in 2017 by the Brazilian Fernando Chayani, who hails from a small town with few Esperantists and infrequent Esperanto meetings. The idea was to create a service that would enable similar individuals to participate in Esperanto events. In April 2019, Chayani handed over the service to the Universal Esperanto Association (UEA), and since then, both UEA and TEJO recommend Eventa Servo as a platform for sharing information about global, national, and local Esperanto events such as congresses, meetings, courses, and others.
Translation by Admin
After the summer travels, members of the Center for International Education returned to classes at the Municipal Cultural Center. During Esperanto language courses, conducted by volunteer Jolanta Kieres, participants had the opportunity to improve their language skills. “Students” from the University of the Third Age also joined the group of people willing to learn Esperanto.
Important events at the Center for International Education are monthly club meetings attended by approximately 30 people.
During the October meeting, participants of the 108th World Esperanto Congress shared their impressions of their stay in Turin, where the event took place, and their visits to Milan and the Aosta Valley. They recalled with great delight the “miracle of nature” that is the Postojna Cave in Slovakia, which they visited on their way back from the Congress.
The next meeting in our club took place on November 13, 2023. It was dedicated to the 105th anniversary of Poland regaining independence. During the meeting, a performance titled “With Literature, Poetry, and Song on the 100th Anniversary of Independent Poland” was presented. This program was realized in 2018 and has been presented several times in various places such as the Małopolska Center of Culture “Sokół,” the Municipal Center for Culture, the W. Orkan School Center in Marcinkowice and also in Warsaw at the Ministry of Family, Labor, and Social Policy.
For the group that appeared in this program, the new look at this program was a special “moment of memory and reminiscence,” and those who watched it for the first time had the opportunity to discover previously unknown aspects of of the activities of the Center for International Education. However, everyone, along with the actors, sang Legionnaire Songs, which were part of the performance
A Few Observations from the World Esperanto Congress in Turin
At the turn of July and August, the 108th World Esperanto Congress took place in Turin. Some considered it to be too crowded (with over 1200 people), while others found it rather modest for a centrally located European city. Poland was represented by several dozen people, including a group of 15 from Nowy Sącz who travelled by a small bus, which turned out to be a very convenient solution as it allowed for additional sightseeing along the way, such as visiting the Postojna Caves in Slovenia.
The theme of the congress was “Migration – a Fusion of Human Values,” which is very relevant in Europe. Italy has a strong Esperanto community, as evident from their annual Italian congresses. They made an effort to provide a rich program and excellent organizational conditions.
Everything took place in the vast complex of the Turin Polytechnic University, which has around 36,000 students. Many participants stayed in dormitories near the congress center, not luxurious but reasonably priced. The congress center building had many air-conditioned halls, which allowed for simultaneous lectures and concerts. The main events took place in the Zamenhof Hall, located in a beautifully renovated building that used to be a train repair workshop and is now designated for cultural events.
The first major concert was the national evening, but unfortunately, it was a disappointment for most attendees. The artists, groups, and speakers failed to elicit positive reactions from the audience. A particularly unsuccessful element was expert’s lecture on Dante and the recitation of excerpts from the “Divine Comedy” in various languages, which would have been great for an audience of specialists and those interested in the subject, but not suitable for a national evening. The evening concluded with a magician’s performance, but his tricks were only visible to those in the first two rows, leaving the others unable to see.
Other general events were more successful and at the appropriate level. The invaluable comedy duo of Georgo Handzlik and Saŝa Pilipowicz presented several new sketches, with the funniest one being “Ekskurso,” which humorously highlighted the problems of a semi-automatic telephone booking system for trips.
Concerts, as always, garnered significant interest. There were veteran artists like Kajto, Michael Bronŝtajn, JomO, Kimio, and newcomers like Grazią Barboni and Birda Flut triopo.
A significant attraction was the ball in the Royal Palace gardens, which was open to all participants free of charge.
One of the standard features of congresses is Esperanto courses and the opportunity to take the KER (Esperanto Exam of Competency) exams and language courses of the host country, in this case, Italian.
We could learn not only about the language but also about Italy from several lectures, for example, “The Etruscans – Italy’s Aborigines” or “Maria Montessori – a great educator famous in many countries for her unique educational system for children.
Esperantists who had previously observed the auction during UK did not miss it this time either. The organizers found a worthy successor to Professor Tonkin (who, due to health reasons, can no longer conduct the auction) in Boris Mandriola. His theatrical voice and humorous comments won the audience’s favor and allowed for the collection of a substantial sum to support the 109th congress in Tanzania.
Our distinguished Polish Esperantist, Roman Dobrzyński, almost daily showed his films and provided commentary on his rich activities in the Esperanto movement worldwide and the interesting places he had visited.
The Piedmont region is exceptionally worth visiting, so excursions were organized to all the most interesting places.
Our group, having its own vehicle, planned visits to Milan and the Aosta Valley, including the cities of Aosta and the Fénis Castle, reaching as far as the base of Mont Blanc.
In Milan, we started by seeing Leonardo da Vinci’s “The Last Supper,” for which tickets need to be ordered well in advance. Although the time allocated for admiring the fresco is only 15 minutes, there are always crowds eager to see it.
The next stop was La Scala Museum. Visitors could also sit in a box and experience a bit of the opera performance atmosphere. Many artists dream of performing here, and many famous spectators have occupied seats in the audience.
However, Milan is primarily known for its Cathedral adorned with hundreds of lace-like sculptures that cover the entire building. What is most impressive is not the interior but rather a walk on the designated paths on the roof, where you can see these works of art up close.
Being in Turin, of course, we also explored the city.
In the chapel where the “Shroud of Turin” is kept, the most famous fabric in the world, you can watch a film about the shroud in Polish language. The original shroud is only made available on very important church holidays.
There are two places in the city that offer magnificent views of the city. One is the Basilica of Superga with a 75-meter-high dome and a crypt containing 62 tombs of the famous Savoy family.
The other is the Mole Antonelliana (the tower), a symbol of the city that is featured in all materials about Turin.
Sports enthusiasts will find the Olympic Stadium and Juventus Turin’s stadium here. Car enthusiasts know that the Fiat factory is located in Turin, and those interested in more ordinary things can visit the Lavazza Museum.
It’s a pity that the congress only lasts for a week. It’s a bit too short to fully participate in the program and explore all these wonderful places.
Bożena Kocyk
In Siedlce, this year, from July 20th to July 23rd, the 40th Congress of the Polish Esperanto Association took place. It was exceptionally well-attended, and it was further honored by the presence of Zbigniew Antoni Kruszewski, the 90-year-old grandson of Antoni Grabowski, who was granted honorary membership in the PEA.
CEM (Central Esperanto Meeting) was represented by three Esperantists. Event took place in the halls and the building of the library at the Siedlce University of Natural and Humanistic Sciences. As usual, there were interesting lectures, such as the one by Radio Maciej Jaskot’s editor, titled “Let’s Take Care of Our Language.” The connections with Siedlce by Ady Sikorska-Fighiera were presented by Roman Dobrzyński, who also has family ties to the area.
Esperantists in Siedlce celebrated the 115th anniversary of their Esperanto movement together with all the participants. There was communal singing with Halina Różanek and a white and green jubilee cake.
Blind poet Halina Kuropatnicka Salamon from Wrocław read her poems, and Kaŝi and Wojtek Ławnikiewicz performed in both Polish and Esperanto. With local guides, we explored the most important places and monuments in Siedlce, learning about Princess Aleksandra Ogińska, who was important for the city. Not only the city but also the surrounding areas were presented in an interesting way by a history and photography enthusiast and the vice-director of the Regional Museum in Siedlce, Sławomir Kordaczuk.
On the last day, John Magessa from Tanzania spoke in an incredibly interesting way about Aruŝa, the city at the foot of Mount Kilimanjaro, where the next World Esperanto Congress will take place. Świętosław Fortuna, on the other hand, invited everyone to the next PEA congress in Kalisz next year.
Bożena Kocyk
We completed our educational activities in June. This does not mean that CEM’s activities have been suspended for the summer. In July, important events took place for the organization and the Esperanto community.
An important event for us was a gathering to celebrate Jola Kieres’ 80th birthday – our Esperanto Language Teacher. Jola is a great promoter of the Esperanto language and has been serving as the president of the Esperantists Club at the Municipal Center for Culture for several decades. She was also one of the founders of the Association and currently holds the position of Vice President of CEM’s board. Jola leads the Senior Doctor’s Club at the Nowy Sącz branch of the District Medical Chamber. She is an active student at SUTW and enthusiastically performs with the theater group “Gwiazdeczki.” She travels the world.
We all admire her intellectual and physical activity. Above all, we can say and write that Jola is a wonderful person, a wonderful friend. She has created an incomparable Esperanto family in our Association, which gathered in large numbers (30 people!) at the jubilee meeting. There were wishes, flowers, toasts, and songs. The Polish language intertwined with Esperanto. The several-hour meeting took place in a very joyful and family atmosphere.
We wish our jubilarian many happy years in good health and with the same sense of humor as before. Jolu, may you live for a 100 years!
Additionally, in July, the 40th Polish Esperanto Congress took place in Siedlce. A CEM delegation consisting of Bożena Kocyk, Jolanta Kieres, and Marian Kocyk participated in the congress.
In Turin, Italy, on July 29th, the 108th World Esperanto Congress began and will last until August 5th. A 16-member group from CEM attended the congress. CEM.
