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Tracing 700 Years of Armenian Heritage in Poland

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Tracing 700 years of Armenian heritage in Poland Cemeteries, khachkars, churches and bakeries all point to the Armenian presence in Poland which stretches far back to medieval times. Though often overlooked, Armenian communities once played a vital role in trade, diplomacy and culture, traces of which remain in cities dotted around Poland. A new wave of Armenian migration is mixing with the ‘Old Polish Armenian’ communities, adding a fresh influence to the enduring legacy of Armenian heritage in Poland. If you want to glimpse a country's multicultural heritage, a cemetery is a good place to start. On a snowy winter's afternoon in Warsaw's Powązki Cemetery, I read scraps of evidence relating to Poland's ethnic compositions, links to empires, wars and border shifts. Dr Zahorowski (1802-1878) was born in Vilnius and died in Warsaw (all cities named are using the contemporary spelling - author’s note); Leopold Kronenberg (1812-1878) was a Jewish banker in the Russian partit...
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Fighting Global Authoritarianism

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  An interview with Samuel Chu, a community organizer for human rights and democracy. OTTILIE TABBERER: You are an internationally wanted fugitive. How does it feel to have such a label? SAMUEL CHU: I've had a lot of opportunities to reflect on my status. It's been almost four years and I think it reflects the fact that fighting and organizing for democracy works. It threatens across borders the regimes that are being targeted. I didn't set out to be a wanted fugitive. It was never my career goal. But what I have always been, looking back on my career, is a serial offender when it comes to making democracy work in places where it hasn't. And that's true particularly in the United States, where I've spent most of my adult life. Does this give you a boost, a cause for hope? I am always in this tension, I don't necessarily consider myself an optimist or idealist, I think a lot of people think that I sound like an idealist because I constantly see opportu...
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The Lithuanian Song Festival: 100 years of tradition

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The Lithuanian Song Festival: 100 years of tradition Lithuania’s song festival, Dainų šventė , celebrated its 100 th anniversary in July. It stands as Lithuania’s paramount cultural phenomenon, involving tens of thousands of Lithuanians and several diaspora choirs from the US, Canda, Mexico, Brazil and Scotland. Yet despite sharing similar festivals, the presence of choirs from the other Baltic countries is a rare sight to see. An old woman blows kisses onto the procession from her flat window. She's dressed in national costume and an array of amber beads. Among the crowds lining the streets, other elderly ladies in similar dress sit on benches, too old to march the three kilometres from Vilnius’ Cathedral Square to Vingis Park, the festival grounds, but keen to be part of the Lithuanian Song Festival parade.     I am with my Latvian choir, Ziemelu Balsis, whom I met in Estonia, and we process in strict formation through the streets with the flags of Estonia and Latvia ...
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