Winkler, Wojciech A.

Wojciech Antoni Winkler See Resume
December 22, 1916 - June 12, 2000
Wojciech Winkler was born in Bedzin, Poland, to Edward Winkler and Helena Szulc on December 22, 1916.
While his professional accomplishments are noteworthy, his legacy is tied most strongly to the contributions he made in the fight for Polish independence from the Nazis during World War II and then from communism, a fight that he led for almost 50 years.
Serving in the Polish Air Force Reserves, he enlisted in a cavalry unit when the airforce was destroyed in the first days of the Nazi invasion of Poland. During the German occupation, he served as Director of Civil Resistance for the Warsaw District in the Polish Underground State. During the Uprising of Warsaw in 1944, he took part in hand-to-hand combat.
It was also during this time, on October 5, 1943, that Wojciech married the true love of his life, Halina Owsiana. Halina not only became his wife and mother of his two daughters, but also his companion in the continued struggles for Polish independence.
After the fall of Warsaw, as the communists moved in to Poland, Wojciech and Halina escaped to avoid certain captivity and likely death. Wojciech joined the 2nd Polish Corps in Italy and was assigned to serve in the Bureau of Planning at the 2nd Corps Command. When the Polish units were transferred to England, he became a lecturer on engineering subjects in various military schools.
His civilian career began in 1948 in England. Having graduated in 1941 from the Engineering College of Warsaw, Poland, he concluded postgraduate work in 1953 at the Manchester College of Technology in Manchester, England, in Industrial Administration. His mastery of mechanical design, design supervision, project engineering and construction supervision in the field of materials handling, port facilities and ore processing took him across five continents over the next 40 years. He worked on some of the world's largest industrial projects, including coal mining facilities in South Africa, the world's largest smelting plant in Australia and the port facilities in Pusan, Korea.
In 1953, he emigrated to the United States and became a naturalized citizen five years later. A political activist and leader in Europe, he continued to work as a civic leader and activist for Poland's independence in America, founding and chairing many Polish American associations. For the Polish American Congress he served as President of the Northern California Division, Political Committee Chairman as well as National Vice President and National Chairman of the East Central European Affairs Commission. He also founded and served as the Chairman of the Americans from East Central Europe Coordinating Committee for the purposes of coordinating lobbying efforts to help guide U.S. positions on issues affecting these countries.
In 1998, the Polish American Congress recognized him for initiating lobbying efforts that eventually resulted in Poland's admission to NATO.
He organized a three-day celebration of the Polish Millennium in 1966, a historical and cultural event that involved many Polish and American dignitaries in Northern California. He also organized the first charter plane trip from California to Poland in 1963 providing the means for many Polish Americans, including himself, to return to Poland to see their relatives and their homeland for the first time since the War.
Wojciech received numerous honors during his lifetime including 7 medals, among them, the Commander's Cross -- Polonia Restituta -- from the Polish President Lech Walesa in 1993, the highest honor a civilian can receive. He also received the Defenders, Fighters, Liberators of Warsaw medal from the Polish government in 1999 for his activities in the Polish Underground from 1939 to 1945. In 1968 he received the Polish Home Army Cross from General T. Pelczynski, former Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Polish Home Army, for his role as Director of Civil Resistance for the Warsaw District and for his activities during the Warsaw Uprising.
Aside from his professional and political activities, he also devoted time to writing, authoring several technical papers published in American technical journals. He also wrote several articles in U.S., Polish and international publications on subjects relating to Poland. His two books: Winklerlowie, Historia Jednego Indygenatu, and Emigrant, were both published in Polish. Emigrant, his memoirs, are in the final stages of translation into English. His writing received the 3rd Literature Award from the Historical Commission of the Home Army Foundation for "50 Years Ago in Poland".
Wojciech was the devoted husband of Halina, father of Agnieszka Winkler and Malgorzata Schaefer, grandfather of Renata Ritcheson, Dana Sworakowski, Nicole Winkler-Schaefer and Tessa Winkler-Schaefer, great grandfather of Nicolas and Daniel Ritcheson, uncle to Jacek Kaczorowski and friend to many. He will be very much missed.
From: Memoirs of Polish Patriots of Northern California