A full ten years after my tenure at NABC began a slow-burn of a winding down that lasted until 2018, items belonging to me are still being repatriated, presumably unearthed from various hard to reach hiding places within the building.
Others still hang on the wall; maybe some day I’ll care enough to conduct an examination, but probably not. However, I’m grateful for the contents of the most recent box, which included a few books I’ve been seeking.
Also included with the most recent stash was a letter to me from a Polish diplomat named Mariusz Handzlik from March 11, 1996. It adorned a barroom wall for decades.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank you very much for your hospitality and your warm welcome I have received during my visit to your Public House in New Albany.
It was also my pleasure to meet with you and enjoy a great taste of the European beers with a wonderful atmosphere of your place.
With best personal regards.
Sincerely,
Mariusz Handzlik
First Secretary for Political Affairs
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At the time of his visit to New Albany, Pan (mister) Handzlik was posted to his country’s embassy in Washington D.C. I’m unsure exactly why he was here, but my friend and former history professor Frank Thackeray from IU Southeast made the connection to the Public House.
Details elude me, but hosting a European diplomat and chatting over beer was a pinnacle for me and I lived for moments like that. Upon reading this letter for the first time in ages, I immediately googled Mariusz Handzlik, only to learn that he died in 2010.
He was listed on the flight manifest of the Tupolev Tu-154 of the 36th Special Aviation Regiment carrying the President of Poland Lech Kaczyński which crashed near Smolensk-North airport near Pechersk near Smolensk, Russia, on 10 April 2010, killing all aboard.
Handzlik, who was 44, was serving as Minister at the President’s Chancellery, and appeared to be working himself high up the ladder of Poland’s diplomatic corps.
It is entirely possible that Frank informed me of his passing previously; after all, the Smolensk air disaster of 2010 is a significant event in recent history Polish-Russian relations. If so, I simply forgot about it, and offer my apologies along with condolences.
But I want to be sure to acknowledge...Read more
