There are no meaningless “names . Every family name originally had its meaning. Zalewski derived from Za Lasem (ski is the Polish possessive form), which means Beyond Forest. In the United States there are many apparently meaningless names, because, having been brought from non-Anglo countries, the foreign names were gradually misspelled beyond recognition. If we would approach these names in other tongues, we would find that they too were derived from compound descriptions hence nicknames like Skinny, Curley, Knock-kneed, Skinflint, or Smith (one of the most ancient that describe professions).

The meaning of its name has a profound influence on the members of a family. For that reason, among the muchly historic Poles, the family name is the most sacred heritage a person will possess. Thus, the Poles never change their names, unless they are peasant immigrants, shamed into assuming English names by the mono-lingual Anglomericans, who themselves would never stop to adopt a foreign name. (Yet English names are foreign to foreigners, but the Americans are insensitive to such delicacies of feeling.) Most Poles look with contempt upon alternames, regarding them as opportunists, which is considered equivalent to betrayal of one s Ancestor's historicity.

Zalewski, until recently, commuted flying between Los Angeles and Japan. After serving his number of years in the American Army during the war, he was discharged, but remained in Indonesia. He proceeded to construct himself a plane of odds and pieces, till it rose and carried him wherever there was need for him. He brought medicine to the afflicted and help to the helpless, flying between godforgotten islands, for he knew God was too busy attending to those who communicated with Him in Latin or Hebrew.

Now! This is a Pole who deserves respect, for he was not educated in Poland, where he would have stunk up the air in anthill cafes. Zalewski did all his humanitarian work on his own, without funds or assistance from anywhere. I am proud of his Polish origin and am happy to have known him.