Constitution Parallels

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While planning the Polish Constitution Day Parade to be held Sunday, May 1, 2022, in Polish Village, I had the pleasure to meet Dr. Mitchell Bienia from the Polish American Congress. The parade and after party are brought to you in partnership with the Ohio Division of the Polish American Congress, Polish Village Parma, Inc., the City of Parma, and Cuyahoga Arts & Culture. Mitch is definitely proud of his Polish heritage. It would take a whole page to list his accomplishments and that’s not the focus of this article. The focus is the conversation I had with him and the education I obtained from it.

The Polish Constitution was adopted on May 3, 1791.The purpose was to create and establish a form of government called a constitutional monarchy. A constitutional monarchy limited the power of the monarch by establishing laws  by which  he must abide, and spreads it to various components of the government. Each with it’s own set of powers and rules. This form of government has a clear division of executive, legislative, and judiciary powers. Sound familiar? It should, it was modelled after our own U. S. Constitution. Poland was the first European country and the world’s second to adopt this form of government. Some key points from the Polish Constitution I’d like to point out are that it guaranteed a wide range of civic rights. It placed peasants under the protection of law, and abolished serfdom. It allowed religious freedom.

Unfortunately it didn’t last. Poland was attacked, conquered and occupied for the next 123 years. In 1916, at the end of World War I, President Roosevelt demanded that Poland be re-established as an independent country. That lasted 21 years. Next comes World War II. Germany and Russia invaded Poland in 1939, and followed another 50 years under communist Russian rule. In 1989 Poland overthrew communism. So not once, not twice, but three times the people of Poland fought for their freedom, and that constitution they created in 1791 was their beacon of hope for their independence, freedom and democracy.

With events evolving around the world as they are today, with Ukraine bordering Poland, with Poland welcoming their Ukraine brothers with open arms, it’s important to remember May 3, 1791, and celebrate the freedom and independence of Poland.

The weekend kicks off on April 29th, Friday with a Polish Happy Hour at the Ridge Road Tavern at 5587 Ridge Rd. Cost is $20, and includes food and beverages. There also will be games. Saturday, April 30th, A Taste of Polish Culture, tour the Polish Museum and Garden Cultural Program, located at 6501 Lansing Avenue in Slavic Village. Sunday, May 1st starts with a mass at St Charles Borromeo Catholic Church on Ridge Rd. A festival celebration at the Unity Catholic Federal Credit Union parking lot runs from noon to 6:00 PM. The parade begins at 3:00 PM at the Parma Circle on Ridge and travels north to the Unity parking lot.

I hope you will join us for this weekend long celebration. Celebrate at Ridge Road Tavern  Visit and tour the Polish Museum.  Enjoy the parade. Come to the celebration at Unity Credit Union parking lot to party, dance to polka music, watch the Polish dancers entertain you in their beautiful costumes, fill your stomach with the delicious food, and toast the Polish culture with us.