“Getting PolAms hooked on their heritage”
Strybel, Polonia’s “Man in Warsaw” dies
Robert Strybel’s recent death (August 10, 2025) in Warsaw, ended a life devoted to serving the Polish-American community. Polonia’s long-standing Warsaw correspondent had spent his adult life keeping the Polish-American community informed of current events in Poland and generating interest in all facets of its cultural heritage. At intervals, he had also taught Polish-related subjects in the US at the college, high school and adult-education levels in addition to authoring six Polish-themed books.
Polonia’s “Man in Warsaw” was born in 1941 in Detroit’s once predominantly Polish enclave-suburb of Hamtramck. He spent a good deal of his childhood with his four Polish-born grandparents, learning the language, lore and traditions of his Old World ancestors. Strybel studied journalism and foreign languages (German, French, Polish, Russian and Spanish) and got his Master’s Degree in Polish Studies from the University of Wisconsin. His first teaching job was that of Polish language instructor and history lecturer at St. Mary’s College and Saints Cyril and Methodius Seminary of Polonia’s Orchard Lake Schools near Detroit.
Strybel later received a Kościuszko Foundation scholarship to pursue doctoral studies in Polish literature at Warsaw University, but – as he used to tell it – “instead of me getting a PhD, a pretty Warsaw coed got an MRS degree.”
In 1971, Strybel became the first accredited Polish-American Warsaw correspondent, and over the years his articles had appeared in more than three dozen publications, most of which are no longer published. Poland’s longest-serving American correspondent, he reported on every major Polish development. That included the 1970 food-price riots, the rise and fall of Solidarity (1980-81), the visits, death and canonization of Pope John Paul II, the collapse of communism (1989) as well as Poland’s admission to NATO (1999) and the European Union (2004).
He also covered the country’s worst peacetime tragedy disaster – the 2010 plane crash in Smolensk, Russia that killed President and Mrs. Lech Kaczyński and 94 other top-level political and military figures. In 1980, he began working at the Warsaw Bureau of Reuters News Agency. He also did translations and tutored English.
Asked about his mission in life, Strybel would usually reply that its main purpose was “to get fellow Polish Americans hooked on their heritage”. He did so by promoting pride in our Polish heritage, its history, traditions, foods, family research and travel to Poland. For decades his “Ask Our Man in Poland” column enabled readers to submit questions on a wide range of Polish and Polonian topics and receive answers in print or at least get pointed in the right direction.
In the late 1980s, Rob teamed up with his Polish-born (late) wife Majka (Maria), to write “Polish Heritage Cookery”, said to be the biggest Polish cookbook ever published in English. He later produced the follow-up “Polish Holiday Cookery”, both published by New York’s Hippocrene Books. His major non-culinary work was “Polish/Polonian Heritage & Lifestyles”, issued as an e-book by Amazon. A handbook containing most everything a PolAm needs to know, it showcased numerous ways of enriching the American mainstream with our Polish and Polonian heritage.
Like his father, the Strybels’ only son Lesław (born in 1972) was raised bilingually and biculturally. Les got his Master’s degree in American Studies at Warsaw University under a cooperative arrangement with Indiana University and has worked as an English teacher and musician. He has been the heart and soul behind the rock groups Partia and later Komety (www.komety.com) which he set up in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.
