History / History of the crime ; Bandera, UPA and Podole Polish land. [116]


Seriously? Whow, I've never heard that from a Pole before.

News / Does Poland count in Europe or is it ignored? [428]


But to take advantage of those markets and to be competitive Poland would to have to have her own high quality products that are in demand. With your current production base you don't stand a chance.


I know that you are quite optimistic when it comes to the economic growth in Poland; we talked about that before. I on the other hand believe that Poland cannot sustain these growth rates when the country has no own competitive and sought after products and is dependent on investments from foreign corporations. Remember Ireland - I can only repeat myself.


LOL


The Polish population is shrinking, too. Let the local economy go down the drain and you will see even more population decrease. Same would be true by the way, if Poland would do very well economically. Just look west and see what happens in Germany, France and all the other countries. People are too selfish nowadays to raise kids.


Very good point! Maybe we will see a competition for Europe's young people in the future.

News / Does Poland count in Europe or is it ignored? [428]


The problem is that with Germany going down the rest of Europe including Poland would also be severely weakened economically. Whether Poland would be able to take advantage of such a situation, that I doubt at the moment. Not to mention that without Germany (paying) there would be no EU.

Life / THE BRITISH ARE COMING!!! [30]


That's what I thought, too. Reminds me a little bit of those "secret travel tips" to hidden places. Someone finds a beautiful spot and talks about it, and then it takes only a few more years before the tourist industry moves in and ruins the place.

News / Does Poland count in Europe or is it ignored? [428]


Under different circumstances Poland could have been the bridge, but that spot has long been occupied by (West) Germany. Economically, Poland is not strong enough to fill that position and she will probably never be. Being the cultural bridge between the east and west is a whole different story, of course.


Why? Because you European pussies cannot play football/ rugby like real men? ;)

News / Does Poland count in Europe or is it ignored? [428]


Okay, but the German 10% will be about the partitions, WW1 and WW2 ... ;)


Aussie Rules!

News / Does Poland count in Europe or is it ignored? [428]


I guess the blinkered view depends on which side of the border you're standing. In the case of Poland and Germany: mix both their versions of history and you will get the correct one.

News / Does Poland count in Europe or is it ignored? [428]


Even if ... I've still got a valid point, don't I? ;)

News / Does Poland count in Europe or is it ignored? [428]


Which doesn't include Polish politicians, it seems. And I would love to see a poll carried out amongst the Polish population to check the above.


I guess that's more of a half truth. The Nazi Gauleitungen almost always held back information about the nearing frontlines and the advance of enemy forces. And even if the local population was aware of it they were ordered by the Gauleitung to stay and fight (usually old men and juveniles). When permission was finally given to evacuate, it was usually too late and the Red Army simply overran everything - including the refugee treks.


Who gives a f*ck? You could as well ask who took the land of the Teutonic Order centuries before that. Doesn't make much sense either. There were always imperialistic countries which expanded on the expense of their neighbors. What happened to Poland (the partitions) is nothing out of the ordinary.

News / Does Poland count in Europe or is it ignored? [428]

pawian

Isn't Steinbach just a scapegoat/ instrument for the Polish government to avoid/ suppress any discussion about the ethnic cleansing which happened in Silesia, Pomerania and East Prussia after the war? Having this chapter of history covered in debth in the documentation centre might not be in the interest of the Polish government, I would assume.

History / The Poms who stood by the Poles in WW2 [156]


Very true, and it's repeated over and over and over again.


Because I'm Australian...

historylearningsite.co.uk/gallipoli.htm

History / The Poms who stood by the Poles in WW2 [156]


Churchill was a fu**ing war criminal who should've been executed for Gallipoli during WW1.

History / The Poms who stood by the Poles in WW2 [156]


Sure. That's why the Americans hooked up with the Taliban to fight the Soviets in Afghanistan, or why they cooperated with Saddam.

History / The Poms who stood by the Poles in WW2 [156]


They weren't considered the enemy as long as they provided the cannon fodder to fight the Germans. The US were very good in financing this fight and providing equipment, but that was pretty much it for quite some time.


The Soviets would have overrun Europe without the American involvement, I agree.

History / The Poms who stood by the Poles in WW2 [156]


What's the difference between a German and a British/ Polish a**hole?


No, it was actually the Red Army which defeated the Germans. Without their sacrifice there wouldn't have been a D-Day. At least not in 1944.

History / The Poms who stood by the Poles in WW2 [156]

ShortHairThug

Sorry, I have no idea what you're talking about.


You're welcome.

History / The Poms who stood by the Poles in WW2 [156]

Do I really have to answer?

But how can the "British Expeditionary Force limping back to the Island" (quoting you) be considered to step on Germany's toes?

History / The Poms who stood by the Poles in WW2 [156]

Sorry, what do you mean? I was hinting at the bombing raids of the British and American airforces on European cities.

History / The Poms who stood by the Poles in WW2 [156]


Well, dropping bombs on civilians is not particularly brave, is it? Not that the Germans were any better in this respect. Battle of Britain ... you're correct, of course.

History / The Poms who stood by the Poles in WW2 [156]


Yup, especially during the time between Dunkirk and D-Day... ;)


I'm not Polish.

History / The Poms who stood by the Poles in WW2 [156]

ShortHairThug

Did I ask an inconvenient question?


Europe was left to the Nazis for almost 5 years, and yes, I know what the ultimate price for that was. Besides: I don't believe that Britain stood up for Poland because it was a noble cause or because they wanted to protect humanity from the evil Nazis. It was all about their own power and influence in the world.

History / The Poms who stood by the Poles in WW2 [156]


Britain's decision to support Poland cost millions upon millions of lifes; both soldiers and civilians. I wonder if the British politicians would have decided differently if they would've known what the price of WW2 would be in the end.


Why did they sign the treaty with Poland then?

History / Good Polish History resource (book), any suggestions? [11]

mylesg

There is no Polish history after 1989. Actually, there isn't even a history after 1945. Everything happened before WW2 and then ... nothing ... ;)

This seems to be a good starter with lots of resources mentioned:
euij-tc.org/pub/research_papers/20060916_TUFS_International_Symposium/The_Polish_Historiography_on_Contemporary_History_after_1989.pdf

Genealogy / I'm Polish and Russian but there's drama.... [14]

Lmmozeleski

Forgot one really important link:

deathindexes.com/ssdi.html

Select one of the sources and enter your grandfather's name. He should show up in the index. At least you should be able to find his SSN and go from there. Where was the SSN issued and when, and under what (messed up) family name? This gives you an indication at which port your grandfather arrived and where he stayed after coming to the US. Once you know the port you can look up the ship's manifest to gather more information. And don't forget the Naturalization Record. It holds lots of information about your grandpa.

Genealogy / I'm Polish and Russian but there's drama.... [14]

Lmmozeleski

Some web sites that might be of help for you:

ellisisland.org
immigrantships.net
familysearch.org

Life / Wonderful Poland.......but the attitude of Polish people [150]

Wroclaw Boy

You're right: 9/11, the Iraq War, Vietnam, Rwanda ... all Hitler's fault. Bastard. :)

Life / Wonderful Poland.......but the attitude of Polish people [150]


Which is good. But Poland's past cannot be used as an excuse for racist behaviour in my eyes.

Life / I want to leave Poland [82]

Seanus

loveMyCountry is probably the last Pole amongst all those British expats in Poland. ;)

Food / Whatever happened to gęsina? [6]


??????????

Just cross the border and go shopping in Germany.

History / 9th November 1989: And the wall came tumbling down [113]


For opening the Iron Curtain and bringing down the Wall: Michail Gorbachev, Ronald Reagan, Lech Wałęsa, Helmut Kohl.

Thatcher was just a stupid b*tch. She later tried to prevent the German unification from happening and was whinging that "we (the Brits) have won the war...".