2021 Consular Report

Raport Konsulatu Honorowego przesłany przez Konsula Honorowego Tadeusza Taube oraz Vice Konsul Honorową Shanę Penn 13 grudnia 2021

Honorary Consulate Report submitted by Honorary Consul Tad Taube and Vice Honorary Consul Shana Penn, 13 December 2021

 I. Charakterystyka urzędu konsularnego kierowanego przez konsula honorowego (lokalizacja siedziby, dostępność dla interesantów, dni i godziny przyjęć, wskazanie, w której z niżej wymienionych dziedzin, dominowały przedsięwzięcia realizowane przez konsula honorowego, szczególne zdarzenia mające miejsce w roku sprawozdawczym). / Characteristics of the consular post headed by the Honorary Consul (location of the Honorary Consualte, accessibility to applicants, days and hours of admission. Please indicate which of the areas below were dominated in Honorary Consul undertakings in 2020, special events taking place in the reporting year).

The Honorary Consulate has moved its headquarters from Belmont to San Francisco, CA. However, during the pandemic, the building in which it is now located is not operating regularly. Therefore like most businesses, the Consulate functions via email, phone, the Internet, and Zoom. We have ably fielded requests through these channels in a timely and efficient manner. We held a formal Flag Raising of the Polish national flag over San Francisco City Hall for a second international gathering via Zoom.  

II. Zrealizowane przedsięwzięcia / completed project and activities:

Działania w dziedzinie konsularnej / activities in consular field:

  1. Consulate's office hours for applicants seeking help with Polish citizenship, Polish Passport, traveling to Poland and others. A total of 102 e-mail and phone queries regarding one of the following: Polish passport, Polish citizenship, student visa, and genealogy research. (See detailed list at the end of this report.)

Termin realizacji / date/ time span of the activity: January 2021 until now

Kto był inicjatorem działania / Who was initiator of the activity?: Honorary Consulate

 

Działania w dziedzinie polonijnej / activities in Polish diaspora field:

  1. Honorary Consulate's inaugural Felix Wierzbicki Award for Pani Krystyna Chciuk's heroic anti-Nazi partisan activism during the Warsaw Uprising and her lifelong achievements in cultivating Polish folk culture in the Bay Area and in the United States

    Termin realizacji / date/ time span of the activity: August 1, 2021

    Kto był inicjatorem działania / Who was initiator of the activity?: Honorary Consul Tad Taube, San Francisco–Kraków Sister Cities Association

  2. Polish Chamber Musicians' Association "Music of Polish-Jewish Composers" event at the Commonwealth Club of California

    Termin realizacji / date/ time span of the activity: November 7, 2021

    Kto był inicjatorem działania / Who was initiator of the activity?: The concert was supported by Taube Philanthropies and promoted by Honorary Consul Tad Taube.

  3. Art Exhibit: "Szancer, Imagine That!" at the Pennisula Jewish Community Center.

    Termin realizacji / date/ time span of the activity: November14, 2021 – ongoing

    Kto był inicjatorem działania / Who was initiator of the activity?: Honorary Consul Tad Taube, San Francisco–Kraków Sister Cities Association, Galicia Jewish Museum (Kraków)

  4. Lecture by Michał Kurtyka: Innovation, People, and Resources: "Will Climate Change Conferences Reinvent Our Civilization?"

    Termin realizacji / date/ time span of the activity: December 10, 2021

    Kto był inicjatorem działania / Who was initiator of the activity?:

    University of California Berkeley’s Polish Student’s Association

    Honorary Consul Tad Taube

 

Działania w dziedzinie dyplomacji publicznej / public diplomacy activities:

  1. Celebration of May 3rd Constitution Day and Polish National Flag Day co-hosted by the Honorary Consulate; Consul General of Poland in Los Angeles; San Francisco Office of the Mayor; SF- Kraków Sister Cities Association

    Termin realizacji / date/ time span of the activity: May 3, 2021

    Kto był inicjatorem działania / Who was initiator of the activity?: International Zoom gathering

  2. Tad Taube and Shana Penn meeting with the Ambassador of Poland to Washington DC

    Termin realizacji / date/ time span of the activity: October 2021

    Kto był inicjatorem działania / Who was initiator of the activity?: Zoom meeting

E-mail queries serviced by the Honorary Consulate of the Republic of Poland, 2021

Topics of queries and numbers per topic:
Polish passport questions – 39
Polish citizenship - 15
Travel to Poland - 5
Stamp and signature of a representative of a Polish government – 1
Request the Polish Flag – 4
Student Visa to Poland – 1
Work Visa to Poland - 1
PESEL number – 1
Polish ID – 2
Notarized signature – 7
Jewish Historical Institute in Los Angeles - 1
Other - 25