Poland Remembers, Polska pamięta

On Monday, 25 May 2026, the Polish Combatants’ Hall at 206 Beverley Street was host to a gathering of historic importance. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Defence of Poland, Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz, paid an official visit to SPK Branch No. 20 in honour of the 80th anniversary of SPK Canada — bringing with him a distinguished delegation of Polish state representatives and leaders of Canadian Polonia.

For SPK Branch No. 20 and Toronto’s Polonia community, this was a moment of deep meaning: a testament that Poland remembers her veterans abroad, and that the institution they built over eight decades on Canadian soil continues to be recognised and honoured at the highest levels of the Polish state.

Among those present were Ambassador of Poland Witold Dzielski; Under-Secretary of State Magdalena Sobkowiak-Czarnecka; Defence Attaché Cdr. Paweł Podgórny; Consul General of Poland in Toronto Marek Ciesielczuk; and President of the Canadian Polish Congress Dominik Roszak. The event was hosted by Branch No. 20 President Janek Wielgosz and SPK Canada President Monika Kardyś.

Deputy Prime Minister Kosiniak-Kamysz arrives at the Polish Combatants’ Hall

The delegation enters the Polish Combatants’ Hall on Beverley Street

The visit opened with a tour of the Branch’s military museum, led by curator and Vice-President Jan Kamiński. He guided the Deputy Prime Minister through the wartime service of SPK’s founding veterans: soldiers of the 1st Polish Armoured Division, the 2nd Polish Corps, the Polish Air Force, the 1st Independent Parachute Brigade, and the Home Army.

Curator Janek Kamiński guides Deputy Prime Minister Kosiniak-Kamysz through the museum’s wartime collections

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Discussing the Museum collection with the Deputy Prime Minister

Kosiniak-Kamysz signs the Branch 20 Museum Guest Book

The ceremony was held in the dining room, framed by the seven large painted tapestries created between 1974 and 1976 by Eugene Chruścicki — a Polish-Canadian artist and fellow veteran of the Second World War. His oil-on-textile works depict historic Polish cities and landscapes: Kraków, Warsaw, Poznań, Wawel, Gdynia, Lwów, and Wilno. On this occasion they were more than decoration; they were a backdrop of living memory, a testament to everything these veterans had left behind and fought to preserve.

The ceremony in the dining room of the Polish Combatants’ Hall

Speeches were delivered by Branch President Janek Wielgosz, Ambassador of Poland Witold Dzielski, Deputy Prime Minister Kosiniak-Kamysz, and SPK Canada President Monika Kardyś. Deputy Prime Minister Kosiniak-Kamysz presented both Branch No. 20 and the SPK Canada Head Executive Board with commemorative plaques marking the 80th anniversary of the association.

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Branch President Janek Wielgosz addresses the gathering

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Deputy Prime Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz addresses SPK members and Polonia

SPK Canada President Monika Kardyś

Deputy Prime Minister Kosiniak-Kamysz presents a commemorative plaque to SPK Branch No. 20

The central focus of the ceremony was the conferral of the Gold Medal of the Polish Armed Forces on four deserving recipients, presented by Deputy Prime Minister Kosiniak-Kamysz.

Edward Zimny, aged 103, receives the Gold Medal of the Polish Armed Forces

Stanisława Gryz, aged 107, receives the Gold Medal of the Polish Armed Forces

Jan Kamiński, Vice-President of Branch No. 20 and Museum Curator, receives the Gold Medal (Photo credit: Polish Ministry of National Defence)

Józef Semrau, Secretary General of SPK Canada, receives the Gold Medal (Photo credit: Polish Ministry of National Defence)

The most important guests of the day were two centenarian veterans of the Second World War, whose lives trace the central experiences of their generation: the deportations, the resistance, the long road with General Anders’ army, and the building of a new life in Canada.

Edward Zimny

Born 27 May 1923, Lwów · aged 103
2nd Polish Corps · Monte Cassino

Born in Lwów, deported to Kazakhstan in 1940, he enlisted in General Anders’ 2nd Polish Corps with his sister, serving in a signals unit and fighting at Monte Cassino. Unable to return to Soviet-occupied Lwów, he emigrated to Canada, where he lives in Toronto as the patriarch of a family of nine descendants across three generations.

Stanisława Gryz

Born 2 November 1918, Skały · aged 107
Peasants’ Battalions · Świętokrzyskie Mountains

During the German occupation she served with the Peasants’ Battalions in the Świętokrzyskie Mountains as a liaison courier and medic. She stil recites Polish poetry from memory, with a particular fondness for verses about Tadeusz Kościuszko. She will turn 108 in November 2026.

The visit by Poland’s Deputy Prime Minister to the Polish Combatants’ Hall was a confirmation of a bond that has endured for eighty years: between the veterans who built this institution and the country they fought for; between the Polish state and its diaspora; between the past and the generations who must carry it forward.

SPK Canada and Branch 20 Leadership Outside the Polish Combatants’ Hall