Quigleys Pays Tribute to Wojciech Seweryn

Today, Congressman Quigley delivered the following remarks on House floor:

Madam Speaker, last night I spoke of the great tragedy that has befallen Poland. Today, I rise to honor a great man, artist and activist who was also killed in the plane crash that took the Polish president and 95 others.

One of my constituents, Wojciech Seweryn, was aboard the plane on his way to participate in the commemorative events, planned to honor those 20,000 Poles who died in Katyn some 70 years ago.

A Polish artist and influential member of Chicago's Polish community, Mr. Seweryn's father died at Katyn and Seweryn himself spearheaded the construction of a memorial to the event at a cemetery in Niles, Illinois.

Seweryn was on hand last year when the monument was dedicated, as he was at many important events in the Chicago's Polish community.

Poles in Chicago make up the largest ethnically Polish population of any city outside of Poland, second only to Warsaw, the capital of Poland.

The Polish-American community will undoubtedly struggle to fill the void left by many but particularly Mr. Seweryn and all those lost a few short days ago.