Two businesses in Little Poland opened their hearts to help the people of Ukraine and now they say they've received offensive and even threatening letters in return.
“When we received the letter, we were in shock,” said Ela Konferowicz, owner of Belvedere Cafe & Restaurant.
The letter was sent just days after a fundraiser for Ukraine hosted at her New Britain restaurant.
She read us the threatening letter she received first in Polish and then she translated it into English.
Get top local stories in Connecticut delivered to you every morning. Sign up for NBC Connecticut's News Headlines newsletter.
“It means if we’ll still be helping Ukrainian people, they will burn my restaurant and my house," Konferowicz said.
We spoke to Konferowicz from Poland, where she learned she received the letter.
“I’m not scared any more. First, I was scared for one second, but then actually this gave me more power that we should be more stronger and we should help even more," she said.
Local
Down the road in Little Poland, attorney Adrian Baron said he got a letter, too.
“Yeah, I received a card, a Christmas card, and on the back in black marker there was scrawled some insults, asking why am I helping Ukrainian people," Baron said.
The head of the Polonia Business Association has been doing some pro bono work for Ukrainians. He brushed off the insults at first, but when he heard of the threat down the road, he said he has since reported what he received to police.
“To threaten to burn down somebody's business because you don't agree with their fundraising efforts is insane," he said.
Sandy Briggs traveled from Woodbury to have lunch at the Belvedere after she heard of the threatening letter.
“I said 'are you kidding me?' This is just like craziness, so I felt in my heart I have got to find this restaurant," Briggs said.
Baron said police are investigating, as people in Little Poland continue to help their neighbors overseas.
Rachel Zaniewski, the public affairs specialist for the mayor’s office, could only tell NBC Connecticut Friday that an officer has reached out to the restaurant and attorney.
“There's been so much positive support for helping Ukrainians at this time. We were just kind of baffled that anybody would take any umbrage to that,” said Baron.
“No matter what, no matter if we will get other threats, we will be still helping them,” said Konferowicz.
