Premier Screening of the Officer's Wife - Merseyside Polonia

Merseyside Polonia with the cooperation of Kresy-Siberia UK would like to invite you to The Liverpool Premiere of THE OFFICER'S WIFE, a film of The Katyn Massacre during WW2.  There will be Q&A session with the Director Piotr Uzarowicz after the film.

The OFFICER’S WIFE will be introduced by the Consul General of the Republic of Poland Mr. Lukasz Lutostanski and screened in English.
The music score was composed by the Academy-Award winner Jan A.P. Kaczmarek who also Produced the film.

Join us on:

Thursday 20th September 2012
6.30 pm-9:30 pm
Picturehouse at Fact, 88 Wood Street,
Liverpool, L1 4DQ








Piotr Uzarowicz is an acclaimed Director of theater and film in Chicago and Los Angeles. The first time he heard about Katyn was in Polish history lessons in Saturday School in Chicago. At the same time he heard at home that his grandfather was killed at Katyn....

Piotr in one of the interviews said:
"That's what shocked me at this time was the fact that England and the United States knew about the Katyn massacre and had their huge part in hiding the truth. And in fact they are still doing this! I was very upset! I decided to make a film..."

The family tragedy that is a direct result of Katyn is rarely, if ever, discussed. Two million families (mostly wives, children and direct relatives of the murdered officers) were taken from their homes in Poland and deported to Siberia by the Soviets at the start of World War II. Over half were dead within one year. This documentary is their story. Today, the survivors’ journey leads to Strasbourg where the European Human Rights Court deliberates on the case of the murdered officers. With this in mind, the film plunges into the depths of the former Soviet Union to retrace the officers’ and families’ final footsteps and to bear witness to their last moments. But can any ruling really deliver justice and heal a family 70 years after the crime?

Tickets for this exclusive screening in price £8.80 you can book online:
http://www.picturehouses.co.uk/cinema/Picturehouse_At_Fact/film/The_Officers_Wife/show/g2varm/

Check our event on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/412333545490087/

For more information visit the official webside: http://www.theofficerswifemovie.com/

Merseyside Polonia Team

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Merseyside Polonia we współpracy z Kresy-Siberia UK pragnie zaprosić Państwa na premierę filmu "ŻONA OFICERA", który prezentuje historie zbrodni Katyńskiej w okresie II wojny Światowej oraz na spotkanie z reżyserem Piotrem Uzarowiczem zaraz po projekcji.

Spotkanie zostanie otwarte przez Konsula Generalnego RP Pana Pana Łukasza Lutostańskiego.

"Żona oficera" będzie wyświetlana w języku angielskim.
Kompozytorem muzyki do filmu i producentem jest laureat Oscara Jan A.P. Kaczmarek.

Dołączcie do nas w:
Czwartek, 20 Września 2012
18:30-21:30
Kino Fact, 88 Wood Street,
Liverpool, L1 4DQ

Piotr Uzarowicz, wychowany w Chicago, mieszkający w Los Angeles reżyser, autor filmu dokumentalnego „Żona oficera”, o Katyniu usłyszał po raz pierwszy na lekcji historii w polskiej szkole sobotniej w Chicago. W tym samym czasie usłyszał w domu, że jego dziadek zginął w Katyniu.

W jednym z wywiadów Piotr powiedział:

"To, co mnie wtedy zszokowało, to fakt, że Anglia i Stany Zjednoczone wiedziały o zbrodni katyńskiej i miały swój potężny udział w ukrywaniu prawdy. I właściwie do dzisiaj nie mówią inaczej! Bardzo się zdenerwowałem! I pomyślałem o zrobieniu filmu."

Tragedia rodzinna, która jest bezpośrednim wynikiem Katynia rzadko, jeśli w ogóle, przedmiotem dyskusji. Dwa miliony rodzin (głównie żony, dzieci oraz bliscy krewni zamordowanych oficerów) zostały zmuszone do opuszczenia ich domów w Polsce i deportowane na Syberię przez Sowietów na początku II wojny światowej. Ponad połowa zmarła w ciągu jednego roku. Ten dokument jest ich historią. Dziś podróż wiedzie ocalałych do Strasburga, gdzie Europejski Trybunał Praw Człowieka obraduje nad sprawą pomordowanych oficerów. Mając to na uwadze filmowcy podążają w głąb Związku Radzieckiego krokami funkcjonariuszy i rodzin, próbują odtworzyć ich losy aż po ostatnie chwile. Chcą pokazać światu prawdę. Ale czy można mówić o sprawiedliwości, czy można uzdrowić rodzinę 70 lat po zbrodni?

Bilety na tę unikatową projekcje w cenie £8.80 można nabyć online:http://www.picturehouses.co.uk/cinema/Picturehouse_At_Fact/film/The_Officers_Wife/show/g2varm/

Odwiedźcie nas na  facebooku: https://www.facebook.com/events/412333545490087/

Więcej informacji znajdziecie na oficjalnej stronie filmu: http://www.theofficerswifemovie.com/


Honorata Mikolajew
Project Manager
Merseyside Polonia

Mobile: 07519070129
E-mail:  films@merseysidepolonia.com
www.merseysidepolonia.com
Facebook: Merseyside Polonia


General enquires:
Tel. 07531723006
E-mail:   info@merseysidepolonia.com

Address for correspondence:
22 Eastern Drive
Liverpool L19 0NB, England

Developing positive relations between
the Polish Community and local residents

Liverpool - Sefton - Wirral - Knowsley - St Helens

Tall Ships from the Irish Regatta moored at Albert Dock, Liverpool

My mate Stan (aka The Aga Man) and I had a walk down to the Albert Dock on September 1st to see the Tall Ships which had sailed in as part of the Irish Regatta.

I am still madly in love with my new phone and its camera, so I had to take some pics. These are amongst the most arty and staged. The yellow submarine, more of a barge than a Tall Ship was an added bonus. Enjoy!

Tall ship with Liver Building and Mann Island in distance and artful lamppost echoing mast position

Tall Ship appropriately moored in front of Maritime Museum with pump house chimney reflecting mast position

 

Utterly delightful Yellow Submarine Barge painted in rainbow colours, "Want one!"

Success story from Heritage Open Weekend

The Phillips Graves on the front row of the cemetery

Just a little story that I thought you might like...

Yesterday was Heritage Open Weekend at Deane Road Jewish Cemetery and was our first real test. The cemetery has been refurbished, the guides were on hand and all systems were go, ready to welcome the first visitors since the project was finished.

A tall man with grey hair and a beard and boundless enthusiasm turned up at 11am,  without looking at the evaluation sheets I think he was Douglas Jackson from Wiltshire.


He was holding a sheet of paper containing the names of 10 of his relatives whose graves he was hoping to discover. The first two were Phillips, Elizabeth and Isaac. And lo and behold their graves were on the front row, facing him, as he started to tell me what he was looking for.

The next names, Caroline Jackson and her husband, were on the third row from the front.
And all four graves have only been re-erected within the last 6 months after laying on the ground for decades.

You can see a small film clip here

It was like a slightly surreal Anneka Rice moment, where she would rush in, find the clue and then run back to the helicopter to fly to the next one. 

"Hello I want to find some graves, oh there they are, and over there too.... thanks very much, marvellous, off to the next clue"

Not at all like the usual hours it takes to meander up and down and dig at moss with the tips of your shoes and poke your fingers behind ivy tendrils. Shaking  your head and saying "I think it must be a row further back, perhaps it is underneath the one that fell over...?"

(To be fair, he did have to look at bit harder for the next graves but to say we found the first 4 within a moment was simply amazing).

He told me that if we doubted the importance of our open day, and whether we were right to spend so many hours waiting to greet our visitors then we should tell ourselves, that as far as he was concerned, for his visit alone it was worth it. Awww! 

Later when we asked him how he had found out about the cemetery, he said he had known about it for decades but had thought it to be still overgrown and impassable. He had only heard about the restoration and the open days when talking to "Someone from the council, from Liverpool, on holiday in Moscow. A middle-aged man".

If you are that man, do please get in touch, I want to shake your hand!

#It'sLiverpool

Reconsecration of Deane Road Jewish Cemetery

Before and After - photo by Keith Lloyd

Deane Road Jewish Cemetery, Kensington, Liverpool celebrated the completion of its more than half-a-million pounds restoration at a formal reconsecration service yesterday, Sunday 2nd September 2012 at 1.30pm.

The service was given by Rabbi Mordechai Wollenberg from Childwall Synagogue, who also made a speech, followed by Saul Marks, from Liverpool Old Hebrew Congregation (who said very nice things about me and gave me flowers and made me cry) and Bill Maynard member of the Heritage Lottery Fund North West Committee. The HLF generously funded over 80% of this exciting project, with the balance coming from private donations or contributions-in-kind of time from volunteers.

The service was attended by members of the hard-working committee of volunteers who have driven the project for more than 5 years, some of the project’s patrons - Professor E Rex Makin who has been a very generous donor to the project and Rt hon Jane Kennedy. Also there were our two staff members Annette Birch and Carol Ramsay, who I manage, along with some of the contractors who have carried out the work and many of the volunteers who have worked in the cemetery - including local churches, police and council staff. They were joined by the Deputy Lord Mayor of Liverpool, Councillor Gary Millar and members of the Jewish Community, including descendants of some of the people buried in the cemetery.

Today, September 3rd also sees the 175th anniversary of the opening of the cemetery in September 1837 so the timing could not have been better.

And if you want to come and see it, this important Grade II listed Victorian Cemetery is featured in the Heritage Open Days 2012 programme for the first time this year and will be open on several occasions during September to ensure that as many people as possible are able to visit during this special month.

I believe this is a good news story for Liverpool’s heritage. It is wonderful to see a derelict site restored to its former glory and I am particularly delighted that we can now offer School visits so that Liverpool children can learn more about the people who shaped the city. This occasion marks the fulfilment of the dreams that have driven our volunteers through a very tough project and one that we wondered sometimes whether we would ever see.

Speaking at the service, Bill Maynard from HLF said “It is wonderful that HLF has been able to support the vital restoration of Deane Road Jewish Cemetery. As a final resting place for some of Victorian Liverpool’s most influential figures, this has huge significance to the local community. Thanks to the work that has been carried out here, this fascinating historic site will be preserved for many years to come.”

Potted history of the restoration project

Deane Road Jewish Cemetery has secured almost half a million pounds for its restoration plans from the National Lottery through the Heritage Lottery Fund. The funds have  allowed for the full restoration of the cemetery; the repair of boundary walls, restoration of the Grade II listed archway, above which is inscribed “Here the weary are at rest”, the re-erection of fallen gravestones, safe paths around the cemetery and the provision of a new purpose-built visitors centre and formal gardens. The cemetery is the final resting place of many important Victorian Liverpool Jews like David Lewis of Lewis’s store fame, the family of H Samuel (Jewellers), Charles Mozley, first Jewish Mayor of Liverpool and Dr Sigismund Lewis, pioneer of programmes of school vaccinations in the city and doctor to the Cunard Line. Over 1700 people were buried in the Deane Road cemetery between 1837 and 1904, with a few reserved plots being filled later, up until 1929.

From this...

The view from the steps of the cemetery looking towards the front row of graves 1991

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

...To this

Cemetery on Reconsecration Day September 2012

 A short history of the cemetery itself

Deane Road Cemetery is the oldest surviving Jewish cemetery in Liverpool. It was opened in 1837 and closed for regular burials in 1904. The last reserved plot was filled in 1929. It is the property of the Liverpool Old Hebrew Congregation, which has worshipped at the beautiful Princes Road Synagogue since 1874.

Although there are references to Jews living in Liverpool in the 1750s, it was not until the 1770s that a permanent community was established in the city. The families were mostly of Prussian and Dutch origin and were skilled artisans, such as silversmiths and watchmakers. They were financially very comfortable and quickly assimilated into the English upper-middle classes.

As the second city of the British Empire, Victorian Liverpool continued to attract successful Jewish merchants from across the country and Europe, including various families of Bavarian cotton barons in the 1860s and 1870s. Consequently, many of the people buried here were among the rich and famous of the day, including David Lewis, the retail mogul who founded the chain of Lewis’s department stores.

Sadly, the cemetery became derelict soon after its closure, and became very badly overgrown. In the second half of the 20th Century, it was a target for trespassers, fly-tippers and vandals. A number of restoration attempts failed for a variety of reasons, until a committee of local volunteers secured nearly £500,000 from the National Lottery through the  Heritage Lottery Fund to repair and restore the fabric of the cemetery, re-erect the fallen tombstones and establish a regular tours programme. After ten consecutive years’ work on the cemetery, it was reconsecrated in September 2012, exactly 175 years since the first burial here.

There were lots of thank you speeches yesterday, although I didn't give one myself, so I want to take this opportunity to personally thank the following people for their support and help in getting us to this point and through the various stages. Our fabulous committee of course, chaired by Saul Marks - Arnold Lewis, Muriel Sumner, Lisa Shearwood-Vingoe, Maria Curran, Cath Taylor and David Grantham; our staff Annette Birch and Carol Ramsay; the people who got us through the plans and the build, Kate Dickson, Peter Hamilton, Neil Hutchinson, Richard Burke and Dave Hollywood; Rex Makin and Miranda Rijks for their generous financial support when it was most needed, Ruth Webster for starting us off, Sally Smith from HLF for holding our hand, Larry Murphy for encouraging volunteers to come and tackle the undergrowth when we first started and everyone at the Probation Service for their unstinting support year on year ever since.

It has been a huge undertaking, I am very proud of what we achieved and I hope that lots of genealogists, school children, historians, descendants, local people and cemetery lovers will find the time to come and have a look around for themselves.