The initiative to honour Hoover comes from the Jan Karski Society, which said what he did for Poland and Poles was unprecedented.
“He remains in Polish memory as a man who organized the largest humanitarian aid [effort], thanks to which newly-independent Poland, returning to the map of Europe, was spared famine and epidemics,” the society said.
Following World War I, a charity initiated and led by Hoover is said to have collected 400,000 tonnes of food products for Poland, in this way providing meals to over 1.3 million children in 3,000 Polish towns and villages.
One of Hoover’s best known charity events was the “Invisible Guest Dinner” organized in 1920 at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York.
A thousand people responded to his invitation, each paying USD 1,000 to attend the event, at which all that was served was a modest meal consisting of potatoes, rice and a cup of cocoa. The dinner raised USD 1 million in aid for the Polish people.
Hoover’s friends included Polish pianist and statesman Ignacy Jan Paderewski. They worked closely in assisting Poland in its post-World War I reconstruction.
In 1919, Hoover visited Warsaw, Lviv and Kraków. He held an honorary doctorate from the Jagiellonian University in Kraków. In 1922, the Polish parliament awarded him the title of Honorary Citizen of Poland.
Hoover was also involved in providing humanitarian assistance to Poland after World War II. He died in 1964.
The Herbert Hoover roundabout in Kraków is located close to the Balice International Airport and the Vistula River.
(mk/pk)