Apr. 2025

Apr 1

Some alert readers (ARs) will recall that it has previously been reported in this space that Stanislaw Francizek Musial, aka Stanley Frank Musial, aka Stan The Man, was born in Donora, PA on November 21, 1920. Six months earlier, on May 18, 1920, Karol Josef Wojtyla, aka Pope John Paul II, was born in Wadowice, Poland. Most ARs would almost certainly agree that Stan Musial is the most famous Polish-American who ever lived in St. Louis; and Pope John Paul is the most famous Pole who ever visited St. Louis.

The most prominent local tribute to Stan Musial is the bridge across the Mississippi River that was named for him in 2013 and is informally known as The Stan Span. As some ARs will remember, the tributes to Pope John Paul when he visited St. Louis in January of 1999 included Schlafly Holy Smoke Papal Porter, which we brewed for the occasion. This was our unique blend of two styles the Pope would have tasted as a young adult in Poland: Baltic porter and Rauchbier (smoked beer).

Five months after the papal visit The Angel of Harmony was installed in front of the Cathedral Basilica on Lindell. As was reported in this space in October of last year, this sculpture, which had been donated by my mother, had been maliciously vandalized one month earlier in September, 2024. The vandalism was doubly hurtful to me. It was an attack not only on my mother's memory, but also on the message she wanted to convey of the need for racial and religious tolerance in a polarized world.

What I did not include in my October column was the story of Wiktor Szostalo, the sculptor who created The Angel of Harmony. Wiktor was born in Pasvalys, Lithuanian SSR (now Lithuania) in 1952 and moved with his family to Kolobrzeg, Poland as a child in 1958. In 1978 he received an MFA in painting and sculpture from The Academy of Fine Arts in Cracow.

He later became one of the founders of the Solidarity movement in Kolobrzeg and in March of 1981 was elected the first Chairman of the Regional Board of Solidarity. In this capacity he served on the National Committee of Solidarity, which was headed by Lech Walesa.

Wiktor's commitment to justice, especially for the marginalized, was in part inspired by his father, a theologian who had helped smuggle Jews out of the Vilnius ghetto during the Holocaust. As he explains, "My dad risked his life for two years doing that, so that was a big inspiration for me to both get involved in the pro-democracy movement and also religious art."

Because of his involvement in Solidarity, of which Pope John Paul II was a prominent supporter, Wiktor was imprisoned by the Communist regime in Poland in December of 1981. Following his release from prison he was granted political asylum in the United States. He became a US citizen in 1990 and now lives and works in both St. Louis and Kolobrzeg.

Consistent with his support for Solidarity nearly two decades earlier, Pope John Paul II spoke the following words in St. Louis on January 27, 1999:

“America will remain a beacon of freedom for the world as long as it stands for those moral truths which are at the heart of its historical experience. And so, America, if you want peace, work for justice.”

These words, which are as valid today as they were when spoken, are among the quotations inscribed on the pedestal of The Angel of Harmony.

Several months after the attack on The Angel of Harmony I ran into Wiktor at The Schlafly Tap Room. I was dressed in a kilt for our celebration of the birthday of the Scottish poet Robert Burns 26 years (almost to the day) after Pope John Paul II had zoomed down Olive Street past The Tap Room in his Popemobile.

As I was sipping Scotch Ale with the Polish sculptor our conversation turned to The Angel of Harmony, which he was restoring in his studio in Granite City. My wife and I accepted his invitation to visit his studio and see how the restoration was progressing. He told us he expected it to be completed in time for Easter.

As we drove over the Musial Bridge on our way back to St. Louis, it occurred to me that not only was St. Louis the home of the best Polish baseball player ever to play the game. It was also the home of a world-renowned Polish sculptor. Another source of pride for our city.

Tom Schlafly
Chairman
Schlafly | The Saint Louis Brewery