On the morning of Wednesday 5th February 2025, the Polish Social and Cultural Association (POSK) building in Hammersmith had the honour and the pleasure of a visit from His Majesty King Charles III.
In the wake of his recent visit to Poland, and especially after the experience of visiting the former German Nazi Concentration and Extermination Camp at Auschwitz-Birkenau in present day Poland, His Majesty had expressed a wish to visit a Polish community centre in London and discuss his experiences of Poland with them.
His Majesty arrived at 1120 and was introduced at the lobby entrance of the building to the Polish Ambassador, Piotr Wilczek, to the POSK Chairman, Marcin Kalinowski, and to the remaining Board of Trustees, all of whom are volunteers. He was reminded that 15 years ago he visited the same building as HRH the Prince of Wales, prior to an earlier visit to Poland, and on that occasion he had been accompanied by his wife, the Duchess of Cornwall.
The King was guided around an exhibition in the Gallery of paintings by Polish wartime artist, set designer and actor, Feliks Fabian, who depicted scenes from his home in Poland and his subsequent travels. He had followed the combat route of the Polish Second Corps in the Middle East and Italy, after the War moved to Argentina and settled eventually in London. The paintings come from the rich collection of the late Lili Stern-Pohlmann, a survivor of the Holocaust in Eastern Poland, who later became an interpreter and patron of the arts. The King was guided around the exhibition by art historian and painter Joanna Ciechanowska and by Dr Dobrosława Platt, who is Director of the Library in POSK, the largest Polish library outside Poland.
His Majesty then proceeded to the Malinowa Room two floors up, where he arrived at 1130 and chatted to around 100 POSK members and staff employees, separated into seven groups. Guests talked about their activities in the community and about their life in the United Kingdom. They included, war veterans, Saturday school teachers, folk lore artists, writers, actors, journalists, scout leaders, accountants, engineers and many other walks of life. A young pianist, Joanna Kacperek, played Chopin pieces and a group of young people from the Theatre of POSK for Children (TPD), under the direction of POSK Culture Director Żaneta Brudzińska, sang popular Polish songs, including The Red Poppies of Monte Cassino and My Heart in my Knapsack, and were warmly congratulated by the King.
The royal party and the guests were served by Łowiczanka Restaurant staff with hot and cold finger food served from seven covered hot plates which were labelled with the names of the Polish dish being served.
The atmosphere was friendly and relaxed and there were no formal speeches. At 1200 His Majesty took his leave and departed the building. Those attending the meeting expressed their pleasure and satisfaction at the meeting having taken place.
The Polish Social and Cultural Association building is one of the largest centres of Polish community life in the world. The charity was founded in 1964 by post-war Polish political exiles and the current building was erected in the 1970s to house the famous Polish Library which was threatened with dispersal. POSK includes a theatre, a concert hall, a restaurant, a gallery, a bookshop, many offices and meeting rooms, and consists of a total of 187 separate rooms. Its main beneficiaries are the children and grandchildren of the original post-war arrivals, as well as the masses of enterprising young Poles who arrived here after 2004 when Poland joined the European Union.
“We treat the arrival of His Majesty as the ultimate seal of approval for the presence of the Polish community in this country” said POSK Communication Director, Wiktor Moszczynski, “but we are very proud of our Polish heritage and of the satisfactory way we have become integrated in British society today, and our POSK building is the living proof that we are here to stay.”
PHOTOS – Kornelia Balul/Cori Photography
