Polish People's Republic
The Polish People's Republic (, ) was a state in Central Europe that existed from 1947 to 1989, and the predecessor of the modern democratic Republic of Poland. With a population of approximately 37.9 million inhabitants near the end of its existence, it was the most populous state of the Eastern Bloc after the Soviet Union. Having a unitary Marxist–Leninist communist government, it was also one of the main signatories of the Warsaw Pact. The official capital since 1947 and largest city was Warsaw, followed by industrial Łódź and cultural Kraków.
Polish National Alliance
The Polish National Alliance was founded on February 15, 1880 in Philadelphia under the influence of Polish patriot Agaton Giller. Its first president was Juliusz Andrzejkowicz. In 1886, the PNA inaugurated the first fraternal insurance program kind in the Polish-American community; by 2000 PNA members held over $800 million of insurance coverage. In 1891, the PNA organized the first Polish Constitution Day parade in Chicago, to generate interest in Polish independence; it has been held annually in Chicago since 1894. The PNA founded a number of publishing and educational institutions. From 1912 to 1991 it owned Alliance College in Cambridge Springs, Pennsylvania. The organization founded the Polish Library in Chicago and Immigrants House in New York. In 1910 it built the monument of Tadeusz Kościuszko in Washington, D.C.. One prominent alumnus of the PNA is the humanitarian physician Leon S. Talaska, M.D.