1 the Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training Foreign Affairs

The Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training Foreign Affairs Oral History Project ANNA ROMANSKI Interviewed by: Charles Stuart Kennedy Initial interview date: June 30, 2005 Copyright 2007 ADST TABLE OF CONTENTS Background So iet Union" Guide $Education USA& USIA E(hibit 1969 ,arriage Entered State Department in 197. Hamburg Germany" Deputy Public Affairs Officer 197.-1976 0arsa12 Poland" Assistant Cultural Affairs Officer 1976-1979 State Department2 FSI" Chinese language training 1979-1980 American Institute in Tai1an" Chinese language training 1980-1981 Beijing2 China" Assistant Cultural Affairs Officer 1981-1983 0ashington DC2 7oice of America" Policy Officer of Europe 1983 0ashington DC" USIA 8outh E(change Officer 1983-1986 Bonn2 Germany" Assistant Cultural Affairs Officer 1986-1987 Berlin2 Germany" Branch Cultural Affairs Officer 1987-1991 0ashington DC" USIA Centers ,anagement Coordinator 1991-1993 0ashington DC" USIA Career Counselor 1993-1996 ,unich2 Germany" Public Affairs Officer 1996-2000 0ashington DC" European Bureau2 Public Diplomacy Officer 2000-2003 Retirement 2003 1 INTERVIEW Q: Today is the eleventh of May 2006. This is an interview with Anna Romanski. This first part is to make up for a blank tape that was done. Something happened in our regular interview. Anna, could you tell me when and where you were born and a little bit about the Romanski family, RO,ANSKI: I 1as born in England in 19.7. ,y parents 1ere Polish refugees. The Romanski side of the family came from a to1n called Tarnopol2 1hich had been part of Poland but is no1 located in the Ukraine. It?s not ery far from the Ukrainian capital city 1hich the Poles call L o . To the Ukrainians2 itAs L i . After the dislocations of 0orld 0ar II2 ho1e er2 most of the family ended up in Kato1ice2 1hich is located in the industrial south of Poland2 a coal mining region. Q: On your mother.s side, where did they come from, RO,ANSKI: ,y mother?s side of the family came from a little to1n called Golina and 0arta near the larger city of PoBnan2 about mid1ay bet1een 0arsa1 and Berlin2 i.e. about a four hour dri e from each Cat least it 1as in those daysD. Q: /hat did you hear from your parents about why they got out, I assume the name Romanski is Polish. So many refugees are coming out because...who were able to get out were coming from the Pale, from the Jewish side. 1our parents were pure Polish. RO,ANSKI: Right. ,y fatherAs side of the family left because2 in the dislocations of 1ar2 they 1ere displaced. As a result of 0orld 0ar II2 Poland acEuired lands to the 1est that 1ere formerly in Germany but lost lands in the east. Boundaries change. That part of Poland 1as no longer in Poland2 so there 1as no point in trying to go back. I think maybe no1 one could try to make a claim but2 at that time2 one couldnAt. I don?t kno1 1hat kind of documentation my father 1ould ha e had in any case. ,y mother?s sister had emigrated to the United States by marrying an American soldier2 so 1e had family ties in the U. S. Basically2 my aunt brought us o er. Q: /here did you grow up, RO,ANSKI: E(cept for four years in England2 1hich I largely don?t remember2 I gre1 up in Ne1 Fersey. Q: /here in New Jersey, RO,ANSKI: Belford2 Ne1 Fersey2 1hich is not far from the Atlantic Ocean near Asbury Park2 about .0 miles south of Ne1 8ork City. 2 Q: /hat sort of place was this, RO,ANSKI: It 1as a typical suburb -- not ery e(citing. Q: /hat were your father and mother doing when you got to New Jersey, RO,ANSKI: ,y father became a factory 1orker. ,y mother initially 1as not employed. I ha e t1o younger brothers and a sister so she stayed home 1ith the kids. E entually2 she started 1orking in stores as a clerk or similar types of employment. Q: /ere you growing up in what amounted to a Polish neighborhood or a mi3ed neighborhood, /hat was it like, RO,ANSKI: No2 it 1as not at all a Polish neighborhood. There are some Polish neighborhoods in Northern Ne1 Fersey. Not ery far from 1here 1e li ed2 in Perth Amboy2 I think there 1as Euite a large Polish community. Nonetheless2 1e 1ere off on our o1n because that?s 1here 1e had happened to land. I did gro1 up speaking some Polish2 because I 1as the eldest child. I remembered enough Polish so that I could speak 1ith my mother2 aunt and father. Once the children started to go to school2 our family s1itched to English so that my parents could learn the language to help their employment prospects. They used us as informal tutors. Q: I take it that fairly soon you didn.t feel that you were growing up in a Polish household. RO,ANSKI: That?s right. E en 1hen I 1as in elementary school2 1e didn?t feel ery Polish e(cept that I 1ould often spend summers 1ith my aunt 1ho li ed in 0ashington2 D. C. She insisted that I retain my Polish because she claimed it 1ould come in ery handy. She 1ould insist on speaking Polish 1ith me. As a result2 I retained my Polish. The rest of my siblings didn?t. Despite the GAmericaniBationG of our family2 1e did of course retain traditions2 generally centering around holidays such as Christmas and Easter. Q: /as there any sort of feeling about Free Poland and that sort of thing, RO,ANSKI: Certainly on the part of my aunt2 there 1as. She 1as a great Polish patriot. That 1as one of the reasons 1hy she insisted that I learn Polish. As you kno12 Poland is one of the countries 1here the diaspora2 by 1hich I mean Poles li ing in parts of the 1orld outside of Poland2 1as ery important in maintaining the identity of Poland: Polish culture2 Polish language2 Polish ci iliBation. ,y aunt 1ould bring up the elephant and the Polish Euestion. That is to say2 she 1ould raise Poland at any occasion 1hether appropriate or not. Had her feelings been less strong2 I probably 1ouldn?t ha e ended up speaking Polish. I ha e retained some fluency in Polish e en to this day2 although I ne er ha e occasion to speak it. Q: How did you find elementary school and earlier even. How did you take to education, 3 RO,ANSKI: I 1as a good student. I enjoyed learning. School 1as fun initially. It got tougher in high school2 but I 1as al1ays studious so I did Euite 1ell academically. Q: How about reading, RO,ANSKI: I liked reading ery much. I read a lot2 but not as much2 I?m sure2 as a lot of other future officers. Q: Can you think of any sort of books that you particularly liked as a kid, RO,ANSKI: I can?t2 really. I can?t think of anything that 1as particularly influential2 especially not in terms of choosing a career in the Foreign Ser ice. Q: /hat was your school like, and what is the name of it, RO,ANSKI: ,y family mo ed a fe1 times so I attended se eral public elementary schools. If you are referring to high school2 I attended ,iddleto1n To1nship High School. At that time2 there 1as only one high school for the entire to1nship. In my part of the state2 Ne1 Fersey is organiBed in a to1nship system2 1here small to1ns join up to form to1nships. 0hen I attended2 it 1as Euite a large high school 1ith a ariety of programs2 catering to a fairly large population. I can?t remember the siBe of the high school2 but I do remember that there 1ere 702 persons in my high school graduating class. I remember because I graduated second in my class. ,y aunt 1as al1ays disappointed that I hadnAt graduated first2 but I thought I had done Euite 1ell just to get that far. Q: Throughout your schooling, before we get to college, what sort of courses particularly turned you on and didn.t turn you on, RO,ANSKI: I al1ays liked languages. Our high school at that time 1as Euite large. 0e 1ere still feeling the effect of the So iet Sputnik launch2 so I started taking Russian in high school. They had just started the program so I had a couple of years of Russian in high school. I also took Latin because the guidance counselor insisted that one couldn?t learn a foreign language if one hadnAt studied Latin. That2 of course2 1as not true" but it turned out to be Euite useful nonetheless2 because 1e had ne er been taught grammar in English class. Grammar 1as not fashionable in those days2 but it 1as 1orth learning e en if Latin 1asn?t particularly useful. I also learned French. The other courses that I liked 1ere English and history. The courses I didn?t particularly like 1ere math and typing2 both of 1hich I had to take for college prep. Q: At home, I assume your family was Catholic, is this right, RO,ANSKI: That is correct. Q: How Catholic was your family, . RO,ANSKI: I 1ould say that 1e 1ere regular church goers but not tremendously de out. 0e ne er fasted during Lent for e(ample and my mother made fasting sound like an outdated practice. 0e did not gro1 up in a Polish community2 so there 1as no Polish Catholic church in our area -- unlike some other parts of Ne1 Fersay.

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