Left to right: Dr. Piotr Moncarz, Polish Hon. Consul Tad Taube, Polish Consul General Mariusz Brymora, Polish Hon. Consul Christopher Kerosky, Taube Philanthropies Executive Director Shana Penn.
On May 2, 2016, in honor of Poland's National Constitution Day, Poland's Consul General Mariusz Brymora, Hon. Consul Tad Taube, Hon. Consul Christopher Kerosky and San Francisco Mayor's Chief of Staff, Steve Kawa, raised the Polish flag at San Francisco City Hall. In attendance were San Francisco city officials and Polish American community leaders.
Consul General Brymora, who presides over the western region of the U.S., and Hon. Consuls Taube and Kerosky each received a proclamation by Mayor Lee declaring May 2 "Polish American Friendship and Heritage Day." Consul General Mariusz Brymora presented Steve Kawa with a book of photographs of Poland, and Steve Kawa expressed Mayor Lee's desire to visit Poland in the near future.
Following the flag-raising ceremony, Consul General Brymora presented Hon. Consul Tad Taube with the Commander's Cross of the Star of the Order of Merit, Poland's highest level official state distinction for a foreign civilian. Brymora cited Taube's support of the new POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews, in Warsaw, as well as the Jewish Culture Festival held annually in Krakow. The award was officially granted to Taube in June 2015 by then President of Poland, Bronislaw Komorowski. Taube was honored by the award, which he adds to his Commander's Cross of the Order of Merit, which he received in 2004.
Both Hon. Consuls Taube and Kerosky praised the work of Consul General Brymora. After the ceremony, guests attended the opening of a photography exhibit on Polish anti-Nazi partisan, Jan Karski, which is on display in the Trophy Room of the San Francisco War Memorial Veterans' Building, through May 12.
