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Edward Moskal

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Edward Moskal (May 21, 1924 - March 22, 2005) was the outspoken President of the Polish National Alliance and chairman of Polish American Congress (PNA).

Life and work

Moskal, a former insurance broker and alumnus of Chicago's St. John Cantius School, was born to a Polish immigrant couple who were proprietors in the restaurant and catering businesses.

After a three-year service in the U.S. Army, Moskal joined the PNA in 1942, jump-starting a 60-plus-year career that would lead him to a private meeting with Pope John Paul II, several humanitarian-related trips to Poland, efforts to help Poland join NATO and an appointment by United States President Bill Clinton to accompany Vice President Al Gore at the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising anniversary ceremonies in Warsaw.

Moskal was named national treasurer of the Polish National Alliance in 1967. He left the position when he was elected PNA's president in 1988, following after Alojzy Mazewski. He was re-elected in 2003. He was also elected as President of the Polish American Congress, an umbrella organization of 1,200 Polish-American fraternal, veteran and cultural groups, in 1988 and served in that office until his death.

During his term as President her computerized operations, completed the initiation of broadcasting by radio station WPNA (1490 AM) in the Chicago area and included banking institutions under the name of Alliance FSB with branches in Niles and Chicago, Illinois. During this period smaller Polish American fraternal groups merged with the PNA, which had become the largest ethnic fraternal organization in the United States.

Poland's President Lech Wałęsa awarded Moskal the second highest civilian honor of the Republic of Poland, the Commander's Cross with Star. He was also made an honorary citizen of the city of Kraków, Poland. The title of Honorary Doctor was bestowed upon him by the University of Poznań Medical School in 1997.

In 2002, when Rahm Emanuel pursued the U.S. House seat in the 5th District of Illinois, Moskal supported former Illinois State Representative Nancy Kaszak. Moskal called Emanuel a "millionaire carpetbagger who knows nothing" about "our heritage". Moskal also charged that Emanuel had dual citizenship with Israel and had served in the Israeli Army.[1] Emanuel's father was an Israeli immigrant. Emanuel was a civilian volunteer assisting the Israel Defense Forces for a short time during the 1991 Gulf War.[2][3]

Edward Moskal died on March 22, 2005, aged 80, in Chicago following a long illness.

  1. ^ Wilgoren, Jodi (March 6, 2002). "Ethnic Comments Rattle Race for Congress". New York Times.
  2. ^ Sweet, Lynn (November 7, 2008). "Rahm Emanuel, enforcer". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved November 11, 2008.
  3. ^ Simon, Roger (February 3, 1997). "The man who would be [[George Stephanopoulos|George]]: Rahm Emanuel, centrist of the universe". The New Republic (paid access). 216 (5): 17. {{cite journal}}: URL–wikilink conflict (help)
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