Iron or Steel: A Memoir on Living Dreams

By Marek Maria Pienkowski and Linda M. Best

Marek Maria Pienkowski was born in Lodz, Poland, on Sept. 8, 1945, with a hereditary title of nobility in the country enduring the tribulations of World War II longer than any other in Europe.

Pienkowski's rebellion against Poland's loss of independence after the war began at age five or six, when he became a founding member, with two friends, of the modestly-named Organization to Liberate Poland. The trio recognized that liberation required secret identities, so the author was Snake and his friends were Fox and Wolf.

His conflicts with the Polish Communist Party escalated to the point where he left Poland rather than accepting an offer of party membership. He eventually made his way to the United States, where he pursued opportunities in Philadelphia, Baltimore, East Lansing, and Detroit before settling in Knoxville, Tennessee.

A noted Polish-American scientist, biomedical entrepreneur, and founder of a network of clinics, Dr. Pienkowski advanced cancer research, genetic engineering, and treatment of immunological disease. He has been a prolific patron of the arts, formally accredited cultural ambassador, and counselor to US governors, representatives, senators, and presidents.

From breaking the suffocating confines of Communist rule to making groundbreaking medical discoveries, achieving great financial success, and acting to bring human cultures together, the author looks back at his extraordinary life in this inspirational memoir.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Archway Publishing
• Release date: Jun 7, 2018
• ISBN: 9781480862173

Marek Maria Pienkowski

Marek Maria Pienkowski, M.D., Ph.D., is a noted Polish-American medical researcher, physician, and medical entrepreneur known for groundbreaking scientific discoveries across a broad set of medical specialties. He is also a formally-accredited cultural ambassador for artistic, scientific, and business dialogue between the United States of America and Poland. Linda Best, Ed.D., is a published author, professor emerita of writing and former chair of the English Department of Kean University, Union, New Jersey.

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Copyright © 2018 Marek Maria Pienkowski with Linda M. Best .

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author and the publisher make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and in some cases, names of people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Illustrations by Anna Maria Szalwa.

Cover Photograph of Marek Maria Pienkowski by Bill Waldorf, Waldorf Studios, Knoxville, TN.

ISBN: 978-1-4808-6215-9 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4808-6216-6 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4808-6217-3 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2018905605

Archway Publishing rev. date: 5/25/2018

For my children with love,

so they will better understand my life and their roots.

Contents

Preface

Prologue

Chapter 1—Prodigy and Revolutionary

A Noble Family Buffeted by the Tides of History

The Comfort of Family Amidst the Specter of Fear

A Sudden Flight to Freedom

New Roots in a New Land

Chapter 2—Is He Made of Iron or Steel?

Learning Medicine and the World

On the Cutting Edge of Scientific Discovery

A Career Takes Shape

A Crossroads: Academia, Research, or Practice?

Chapter 3—Physician and Entrepreneur

Doctor as Patient: The Art of Healing

My Principles for Medical Practice

The Physician’s Ultimate Focus

Developing Business Acumen

Changing the World, One Company at a Time

The Cancer in American Medicine

Changing the Dynamic in American Medicine

Curing the Cancer in Medicine

Photographs

Chapter 4—Philosophical Insights on Art and Science

Art as a Positive and Aesthetic Experience

Art as a Pienkowski Family Tradition

Science as a Human Undertaking

Personal Artistic Endeavors

Chapter 5—Finding Fulfillment

An Engaged Citizen

A Patron of Art and Culture

A Cultural Diplomat

Chapter 6—A Noble Heritage

Reclaiming A Family’s Legacy

Love of the Land

Heritage and Tradition

The Family at Pieńków Estate

Chapter 7—Reflections

Epilogue, Living Dreams

Personal Publications

Preface

Iron or Steel began in the Pienkowski Clinic office, where the walls themselves tell the story of a life of accomplishment. Certificates from leading scientific and medical institutions. Titles bestowed by governors and state legislatures. A photograph standing with a President of the United States, signed with his note of appreciation. Original art works by Twentieth Century Masters. An architectural rendering of a magnificent Polish residence and gallery….

We were to spend many hours there over the course of two years, envisioning this book, shaping sections and chapters, and engaging in the ongoing loop of writing, reviewing, and revising. Together we made major decisions about the book’s features. The most important was to adopt a topical rather than a chronological organization, reflecting the great breadth of Dr. Pienkowski’s life experiences and fields of accomplishment. The fascinating life stories that Dr. Pienkowski related in his office, spanning tumultuous geopolitical events, scientific and medical innovations, the Polish-American experience, and so many other substantive topics, came together as a bio/memoir, the genre that encompasses both personal recollections and an omniscient viewpoint for stage setting. Anna Maria Szalwa of Poland enhanced the book’s content with her exquisite graphic art. We are deeply grateful for her contributions.

Author Laurence Best became part of the team, assisting with scientific and historic content. Conversation came easily; we discovered our shared values for European culture, the power of storytelling, and the importance of personal stories for future generations.

Travels in Poland kicked off an intensive seven-month period of research that included interviews, reading, cataloguing relevant artifacts, and participation in Polish-American cultural events in both countries. The tangible results are deeper than the text printed here. We have the satisfaction of having probed, verified, and assembled all aspects of a life story to craft a legend of courage and resilience. In the process, our working relationship evolved into a deep friendship, the sharing of our personal stories, and the ability to work on the content of Iron or Steel with the level of critical thought and honesty that ensured both authenticity and raw emotion.

Marek Maria Pienkowski, M.D., Ph.D.

Linda Best, Ed.D.

Prologue

A satellite view of southeast Poland captures an unexpected, astonishing phenomenon, a lake with an island connected to land by a narrow causeway, and, on the island, a huge and magnificent American-style mansion. The scene on the ground is breathtaking. The imposing edifice was designed by the owner himself. Acres and acres of meadows and forests surround the residence, and a herd of elk is plainly visible near the lake.

It is Spring 2015, and the mansion is a hub of activity as the setting for the commemoration of one of the leading lights of the Polish theater.

The plays of the avant-garde director Leszek Mądzik are known for movement and striking images with sound yet without words, works that frequently encompass philosophical reflection on life and passing. The master is presenting one of his plays this weekend, performed by his troupe of students from the Academy of Fine Arts now starting to arrive from Poland’s capital city, Warsaw. The event is drawing cultural and political leaders from a number of provinces in the country; a crew for the regional television network is on hand to report on the event.

Guests arrive from points across Poland. Many drive. The American writers take the modern high-speed train from Warsaw to Lublin, the regional capital. On the way, they encounter rural Poland: nicely kept stone buildings with gardens and orderly farms.

There they are met at the train station by one of the very few Cadillacs in Poland. The driver speaks no English but will grudgingly admit to speaking Russian to someone who can address him in that language. For the next several hours, the Cadillac will be more than a luxury vehicle—it will be a time machine. The journey through time begins as the Americans witness through its windows the departure of the futuristic train that brought them to the bustling city of Lublin, with its contemporary apartment blocks and modern superhighways. The suburbs are a vision from the US Fifties, newish-looking single homes with ample indication of family life and children at play. Beyond the outskirts of the city, the homes are farther apart and clearly older, although well-kept. For some, the primary source of water is a stone wishing well, with its little roof, crank, and bucket. Occasionally, they pass through charming villages that would have been familiar to people living centuries ago but for the asphalt, automobiles, and telephone poles. There is something special about these telephone poles—on top of each is a platform, and on these platforms are storks. Many storks, standing in huge nests. The sight of parents feeding baby storks is poignant. Their host has told them if the land is ecologically good, there will be frogs, and if there are frogs, there will be storks. The land here is clearly very good.

Following their journey on a smartphone map, the Americans might be forgiven for becoming a bit nervous. They’ve been driven eastward for some time by a driver who speaks no English, and they are fast approaching the Ukrainian border, now only a few miles away. They can be excused for feeling relief when, on the corner of the map, there appears a round blue circle with a dot in the middle.

The Americans perk up when they pass a large sign that reads Pieńków. The name is familiar to them, and they realize the sites they now begin to see, such as the modern-looking agricultural complex, belong to their host. They also see American Angus cattle, otherwise unknown in Europe, and a beautiful herd of horses.

In due time they turn onto a long private road, follow it for miles through open countryside, and finally see the mansion arising in the distance. The causeway is blocked by a large metal gate with a distinctive coat of arms, a complex set of dynamic forms. The most recognizable figures are a trumpet and a crown. It is a work of art in its own right.

The driver presses a button on the remote and the gate lumbers open. They drive over the causeway to the house, which is fronted by three flagpoles standing before a copse of birch trees. The first flagpole unsurprisingly flies the red and white Polish flag. The second flies a flag bearing the same coat of arms as the gate, and the third flies a flag that is familiar to American guests of the host, the flag of the US State of Tennessee.

The driveway circles the birches, following the three wings of the mansion. Around the entire circle are dozens of placards, each mounted on sturdy wooden posts. These are blowups of the original posters for the plays of Leszek Mądzik, with their fantastical images and arresting graphics.

The Cadillac stops under the large overhang, and at the door, greeting his guests, is the trim and elegant figure of their host, the noted researcher, physician, entrepreneur, patron of the arts, cultural ambassador, and advisor to national leaders. A scientist who advanced cancer research, genetic engineering, cloning, and therapies for allergic disease. A pioneer for treatments for allergic, sinus, and immunological disorders whose clinics have served 50,000 active patients. A biomedical entrepreneur for novel approaches to cloning and the production of human proteins in animal milk. An agricultural innovator who couples the best of American and European agricultural approaches. A formally-accredited cultural ambassador for artistic, scientific, and business dialogue between Poland and the United States. A counselor on medical policy to US governors, representatives, senators, and presidents. The host for this weekend’s celebration of art and culture, Count Marek Maria Pienkowski, M.D, Ph.D.

CHAPTER 1

Prodigy and Revolutionary

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A MIDST THE TUMULT AND DIVISION FOLLOWING World War II, Marek Maria Pienkowski was born in Łódź, Poland, to Jan Franciszek Pienkowski and Danuta Janina Pienkowska on September 8, 1945. His parents selected names for their first and only son that reflected the traditions of Polish Catholicism. His first name, Marek (Mark in English), followed the custom of naming children after the Christian saints, and Maria, an uncommon but not unknown middle name for a male, was chosen to venerate the Blessed Virgin Mary, an iconic and revered figure in his country, whose birth date is also September 8 th . According to stories passed down through the generations, Marek’s family name, Pienkowski, ¹ was ennobled because one of his ancestors warned the King of Poland of an assassination plot against him. The trumpet on the Pienkowski coat of arms recognizes this event.

Poland bore the brunt of war longer than any other country in Europe, and Polish life and society were decimated as a result. The catastrophe began with the 1939 Nazi invasion that triggered the war, and, one month later, the partition of Poland between the Soviet Union and Germany. The cataclysm continued during Nazi control of Poland, following their invasion of the Soviet Union, with the slaughter of nearly six million Polish citizens, including three million Polish Jews. It continued as the Red Army drove the Wehrmacht from Poland and the Soviets annexed large sections of Poland, and the Allies—the US and Britain—concurred with this dismemberment at conferences in Yalta and Potsdam. What remained of Poland became, as had happened so many times before, a satellite country ruled from Moscow.

Even before the war, Poland had endured wrenching change. There was a rapid shift from an agrarian to an industrial society, migration of the landed aristocracy and thousands of peasants to urban areas, financial disarray, and the breakdown of traditional social classes. The war and Soviet domination brought sudden ethnic homogeneity resulting from Nazi extermination of the Jews, repression and censorship, the emergence of state health care, and a Catholic Church that opposed repression. These changes had a profound effect on Marek’s childhood and later outlook on life.

The sweeping changes that were altering life in post-war Poland intensified rather than reduced frustration among Polish citizens. Labor workers were at the forefront of calls for change. With Stalin’s death in 1953, the Soviet grip over Poland had loosened somewhat, but Soviet anger with protests by Polish workers led to the selection of hard-liner Wladyslaw Gomulka as the leader of the Polish Communist Party. Under Gomulka, repression and suppression of intellectual freedom intensified. University uprisings were common, and Gomulka’s propensity for the use of deadly force shocked the nation. After rioting over economic conditions in the late 1960s, reformer Edward Gierek replaced Gomulka as Communist Party chief. Polish Cardinal Karol Wojtyla, a staunch opponent of communism, succeeded the late John Paul I as Pope, taking the name John Paul II. John Paul II’s steadfastness and the burgeoning Solidarity movement brought hope to a Poland worn down by decades of oppression.

Marek’s family, like every Polish family, was impacted by conditions in Poland and sociopolitical change during these tumultuous two decades, but the family’s standing as land-owners meant that their safety and their properties were constantly under special threat. Impacts on their family life reverberated for decades to follow. For example, when Marek married in the United States in 1981, his parents were not allowed to leave Poland to participate in the celebration. Instead, his parents, his wife, and he gathered in Stockholm, Sweden, after the honeymoon. Overall, personal losses were profound, but would later be rectified in part by Marek himself.

Marek reacted to conditions in his country by engaging in anti-government thinking and activities. Most important, growing up in war-torn Poland, he developed a fierce love of his homeland that defined his professional life and resulted in his frequent travel to Poland from the US when his movement between the two countries was no longer restricted.

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A Noble Family Buffeted by the Tides of History

World War II and its aftermath was an utter disaster for Poland, for the Polish people, and for my family. My parents barely survived. My father was a high officer in the Polish Resistance, and the Nazis once held my mother, pregnant with me at the time, hostage in a basement in the hopes of capturing him. Even after they were reunited, our family position and holdings had been washed away by the great tides of history that had flooded over Poland.

At first my parents couldn’t imagine the possibility of recapturing what they had lost. They certainly didn’t talk about it. Stalinist rule inspired trepidation within families; the well-founded fear that a child would hear and repeat damning words existed. The reign of terror continued as Stalin’s hand-picked Polish Communist leader Gomulka served as head of state. Only after the deaths of these two men did the terror abate and my father was able to resume wearing his signet ring. But he still covered the family coat of arms on it with a gold plate and claimed that it was a gift from my wife when asked about it. The terror might have lessened, but suspicion of aristocratic background could still mean a midnight pounding on the door and disappearance into the GULAG. After all, the Soviet Union was ruthlessly eliminating nobility in neighboring Ukraine, just as they had done in the early days of the Russian Revolution. I somehow found the presence of mind to never question my father about the ring or our circumstances, nor did I then try to research our family story. The