After Years of Rebuffs From U.S., Poles Open Los Angeles Consulate

For years the Polish government had tried to open a consulate in Los Angeles. For years the U.S. State Department said no. Remarkably, many Polish immigrants didn’t want one in Los Angeles either.

“We did not want to have the communist agents here,” explained Chris C. Kolski, president of the Polish American Congress. The fear was espionage. A Los Angeles operation, the thinking went, would be too convenient for attaches who might be overly intrigued with the secrets of Southern California’s aerospace industry or the Silicon Valley.

Now that the communist threat is yesterday’s news, Kolski happily joined in a ceremony Thursday opening Los Angeles’ first Polish consulate. Dozen of Polish immigrants, local dignitaries and representatives of 19 other Los Angeles consulates joined in the wine-and-cheese event.

Polish Ambassador Kazimierz Dziewanowski offered a glowing tribute to U.S.-Polish relations, expressed gratitude to the U.S. government for forgiving much of Poland’s large debt and raised a toast to President Bush.

“This is the right time and the right place,” the ambassador said. “The relationships between Poland and the United States were never so good, never so friendly, as they are right now.”

Mayor Tom Bradley in turn offered a toast to Polish President Lech Walesa, who visited Los Angeles in March. In a rhetorical flourish, Mike Antonovich, chairman of the Board of Supervisors, credited the Poles for “putting the hammer and sickle on the junk pile of history, joining the swastika.”

As Dziewanowski put it, Poland still faces “a rough road” in replacing its communist economy with a free-market system. In addition to providing services for people traveling to and from Poland, there is hope the consulate will play a role in encouraging business ties to Poland, officials said.

Polish officials said there are more than 150,000 transplanted Poles living in greater Los Angeles. In addition to the new consulate, the Polish government has consulates in Chicago and New York and an embassy in Washington.

Polish officials portrayed the Los Angeles consulate as an outpost in a brave, new world. While U.S. officials once feared communist spies, now Polish scientists will be traveling to California to visit the Silicon Valley computer industry on an official basis, suggested Kryzysztof J. Ziebinski, a spokesman for Lot Polish Airlines. Lot is beginning its first nonstop flights from Los Angeles to Warsaw today.

The consulate also will encourage Polish cultural pride, suggested Wojceich and Lila Sobolewski. Although they have lived in Los Angeles for 15 years, the Sobolewskis have made sure that their 13-year-old daughter, Ania, learned their native tongue.

Even so, Ania’s allegiances are very much her own. Her parents recalled what the girl had to say after they toured Poland two years ago.

“She said, ‘It was fun. It was nice. . . . Mama, I don’t want to hurt your feelings, but I’m American. I’m Californian. And I’m a Valley Girl.’ ”

“And maybe fourth,” Wojceich Sobolewski added with a shrug, “she would say she is Polish.”

BACKGROUND

As of last August, 52 countries had consulates in Los Angeles, according to the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce. More than half have their offices along Wilshire Boulevard. Consular offices issue passports and other documents to citizens of the sponsoring country who live in the area. They also issue visas to Americans wishing to travel in the country, look after the interests of citizens and businesses under treaties and other international agreements, report to home governments on political and economic conditions and promote trade and tourism.