Kresy-Siberia "Keep Their Memory Alive"

"Welcome from Glasgow!"

"Welcome from Massachusetts!"

"Welcome from Alberta! I found these records of your dad!"

"Welcome from Auckland!"

"Welcome from Italy!"

Our donors know that one of the great things Kresy-Siberia Foundation does is provide a community where people around the world can connect with others who share their family stories and interests. To date, almost three thousand members (2,784, to be exact!) have joined our mission to keep the memory alive. 

And it is indeed alive and thriving! Here is a bit more current information on our worldwide community.

In terms of requests to become members, this year alone, as of early December, our team fielded 486 requests, of which 124 applications were approved.

Most Kresy-Siberia members are English-speaking. However, roughly five percent of our members are from Poland and communicate in Polish. 

The main reason people reach out to join is because they are descendants. We also have some academics who join for research purposes. Sometimes people are joining to help a friend find their family records. 

One thing all our members have in common, though, is that they all have questions, and stories to share, and they are thrilled to find such a community and resource.

Welcome to the family! We are so happy you're here.

This summer our founder, Stefan Wisniowski, returned to his native Canada to visit family and touch base with Kresy-Siberia Foundation members. Despite a stroke that severely affected his speech in 2022, Stefan continues to travel and advocate on behalf of the Foundation. 

Returning to Sydney from Vancouver, officious and uncomprehending airline officials stopped Stefan from boarding three successive flights.  Finally, two days after he was scheduled to, he was allowed to leave for his home of Sydney.

Here were, on a milder scale, echoes from the past:  ill-informed and suspicious bureaucrats at a border, lacking agency on the one hand; a tired and health-compromised traveller on the other, struggling to be understood, wanting only to go home, see his loved ones, and rest. 

A little story, with a happy ending, but trying nonetheless and full of uncertainty and worry for the traveler and his relatives at the time.  When we find ourselves facing moments like these, we draw on the memories of our family members and their history-making encounters at the borders of their countries. Like Stefan, we are able to meet them with equanimity and cheer.

Because, we know, these are nothing. We'll get home eventually, one way or another.

And we think of those who never got home.