How do Polish view others

Americans don't like the French and it is mutual. My sister went to Poland via Paris and stayed there a few days. When she talked in English to the ordinary French people she met, and was asked where she was from (accent) she was saying - "from United States". She could 'feel" the chill in the conversation after that, but when she said she was Polish, they were much nicer. Isn't it strange?

I’m not Polish but my Polish friends have all indicated a dislike of Russians, Germans, and French in that order- I’ve never heard a Pole say a kind word for a Russian, but I also note they don’t class Ukrainians as Russian.

And I have heard plenty of nasty things said about Roma and Jew, in that order.

I’m not saying all Poles [I only have met about 100 to the extent of having deep conversations] fit this mould, but I imagine that these prejudices are common among Polish.

I hope (and think) that you may be wrong about the 50 year developmet of Poland.

The young Poles I have met are sooooo energetic, such natural winners in the workplace and often extremely well educated, they hold the key to the future. OK....we may have to loan Poland a few from here in the UK....but you know what I mean.

The EC development funding could do for Poland what it did for Ireland, and that hasn't taken very long.

I also think that the Polish/English connection is going to be very strong in the financial and banking sectors, and that will hand Poland a great deal of real expertise on a plate.

If only you could get rid of the terrible twins!!

Well...good news :)

Im Polish,I Like Russians, Ukrainians, Czechs, I love my slavic brothers. Stop saying Poles dislike Ukrainians you dumbass. As long as we are Germany neighbours(so, from the beginning) we hate them, and this wont change. Die Germans.

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That's interesting, because I've had a few bad experiences with Czechs as an Englishman.

One turned out to be quite a thief and a liar.

What amused me was the fact that the thief and liar called Polish people, "More stupid than chickens"

When working last year with many young Poles, I was very popular because I talked to them about Poland and always listened to any problems they had.

One boy would stand in the background saying nothing, and I guessed he was just shy or something. The one day he walked up to time and asked, "Do you like little Lithuania?"

"Yes, I'm sure I would," I replied.

"Oh good! I need CV in English writing!"

He got it done of course....how could I refuse?

kowalski, i wouldnt say polish and german culture is the same, i can understand if you said polish and russian/ukrainian culture is the same but german? i think poles and all east europeans tend not to like each other. poles and russians ( very similar, hate each other) serbs and croats (very similar, hate each other) its weird and doesnt make sence but whatever. i think its more of the older slavs that have this feeling towards each other or the ones who live there still obviosly, i live in canada and alot of my buddys are poles, russians, serbs and no body cares were all slavic and thats it.

Personally speaking, I don't like overgeneralisation - Poles hate Russians, Pakistans hate Indians, etc. The truth is that this is rather a "state's policy" expressed by media and many people tend to see it as a general attitude of the whole nation. It's wrong. We can hate just individuals (and this is something normal, for there are a lot of freaks who are so hostile and prejudiced against others), but not the whole countries. That's all.

Yeah...but thats all that is reported from lots of states.......cos individuals are not allowed to express their own opinions...if they do, its jail or harassment........so as its the perception...that no one contradicts the current nutter in power ....then everyone thinks the whole country thinks the same.......!

PS...about 100 of the worlds countries are run by "nutters"...do I have to list them?....lol

******** is what you are saying ,'Polish dilsike that'like that'
OMFG ,gyus i can say same about every other nations ,stop saying that everyone is the same ...
iam not polish ,neither bristish/american etc etc ,sorry for english

You forgot to mention that Germans and French hate each other too.

This kind of general statements is pretty obsolete nowadays. Children are not born with their hate toward a certain nation. This comes later when some people begin to hate based on the history between the nations.

Just watch the Palestinian 5 year old boys throwing stones at Jews.

You have heard true...germans do think that they are superior.
Although I do not hate germans, I have nothing really to do with them. I dont love nor hate them.

Lithuanians... its like any other country, and its good to know that wentka has some lithania in herself aswell :)

my friends had bad experiences with that .. some told me that french want to use french language even if they understand english and so they r not very hospital( i speak about the shops and offices) ...and i also heard 1 thing : people from paris are very linked to paris way to pronounce french words and they often pretend not to understand other french speaking their own way.

in italy i know many people that like french language for its looking elegant ( i don't agree) ,but many others dislike them because they r too proud of themselves in many things : food, culture, monuments... and they r always in competition with us italians.

...u all know Monica Bellucci,right? well , she is italian but since she has been living in france she magically '' forgot'' italian and now she only speaks french...isn't that a ridiculous ,fool thing too?

I like them :)

:) :)...good then!...i

Id like to visit there someday!...lol i like to visit everyplace someday :)... but hm... lets see...


Ur right... and even being slavic should stop us from meeting other people... however, I feel kowalski has something to do with german... if so... then so sorry to say that germans are not like Poles in any way whatsoever! And let german be away from the warmth of friendship and the heat of hatred from any nation. You dont deserve hatred, sympathy or love (atleast that is my personal opinion, which i share with many poles, and also probably with many people around the GLOBE!!!).

i like germany greatly - i am fortunate enough to have lived there for some time and have had the pleasure of dating some beautiful german women... well... one in particular... :)

that said... i am hardpushed to see many similarities between the two countries... other than at a pretty base level... which suprises me to an extent given their proximity and the history they share...

i of course understand the animosity of many poles towards germans... i think its a pity though as both a great countries and potentially have a lot to give and share with each other...

I've lived in France (being half french) and lived in Germany JHQ Rheindalen. France rocked, I enjoyed Germany but being stuck on a military base wasn't too exciting, however, we were only 20 minutes from Holland :) So Germany was quite hazy for me:)

True the Poles and Germans have history but hey don't we all. Europeans in general get along with each other. it tends to be us English that cause problems especially the travelling chav element. They have practically ruined the South of Spain. Costa Del Crime etc.

Everything will be good when we will get back Lwow Minsk Kiev And Riga and of course Vilnius. Polish people are greedy people we like to conquer other Slavic so called "brothers" and let them work on our big plantages as slaves. just read about how we the threated Ukrainian people on our plantages in our glory days :)

Your comment is a classic illustration of a gross generalization. To put things into perspective, would you mind illustrating the master-slave relationship between the Poles and Lithuanians under the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth?

Funny that you say that about the Germans. Germans can't be compared to Slavs because the idea of a "german" is something relativley new. Germany as a state, was only formalized in the late 1800's by Bismark. If we agree to say that they think they are superior, it could be explained by the fact that their need for discipline comes from their need of structure. Without structire and a hiarchical system they can not function and fall into chaos. The down side of the German nation is that at times they are vounreable to negative types of structure (nudge, nudge, wink, wink you know what I mean)

I have been reading the posts and all are interesting, but what I want to know is what is Poland's idea of beauty and are their views of what is beautiful unique to place????

I wonder what nations feel sympathy to Poles? To my mind there are no such nations. In the USA Poles are considered to be morons. Just think of the huge number of biting and even brutal anycdotes about mental abilities of Poles and their other qualities. In fact the polish nationality plays a role of a laughing-stock there. In Italy, France, England and Sweden they usually do some dirty, low paid jobs and the attitude to them is appropriate to their position in these countries.

I totally agree. dont know why but some of polish people dony like Germans.
but frankly speaking, I dont know if I'm strange or just I'm too exotic for Germans, but I cant make German friends. and I couldnt even when I was leaving in Germany... my friends from Germany are Australians !!

The truth is that it will take some time before both sides will completely forget about our history. On the surface everything is OK, we have the XXI century and we are civilized people. But the fact is that somewhere inside Germans do fell superior to poles, and poles feel hate to Germans. It's stronger than us.

For almost 200 years Germans were being taught that Poles are inferior, and some beliefs are hard to uproot. Especially since there are still people living that remember the WWII. I don't hate Germans. I see the similarities between us, and I have some German friends, but at the same time I know that it would take only one spark to get back to the previous situation.

Is this something personal or all you friends feel this way?

Is their an undercurrent at higher levels as to how the country feels in its dealings with German, especially the recent debacle where they insulted to your president?


Was this at school, political level at home or all three?

Have German views towards your country really changed?

In Ireland, EE people were almost "exotic" by there rarity until about 6/7 years ago.....now we realise they are long lost cousins who just speak Irish/English with an accent!

The feelings of being victims/exploited/supposedly inferior......are powerful bonding mechanisms.....but things are and have changed....:)

To go back to the previous situation you need a German government demanding border changes. But that won't happen. There also won't be a German government backing people to go to the European court and demand prior '45 property or money. It's simply over, the WWII generation is dying out at this moment. The young Germans have no desire to "go to conquer Silesia". The truth is that most Germans are simply ignoring Poland.

Um, nooooo. We don't accept what our TVs say as holy words. We laugh at them as much as we laugh at George Bush.

We laugh at people from theocratically oppressed and/or much poorer and weaker countries pointing their fingers and daring to laugh at us, too.

He who laughs last, lasts. So to speak.

Now about that France-America thing:

Americans like my grandfather, who fought in WWII, do not like the French. They have their reasons, some justified, some not. But since he isn't here with me today, I won't attempt to speak for him. At age 91, he's still pretty feisty and I don't want to cross him!

There are as many reasons not to like the French or their policies as they say they have reasons not to like us. Both countries have made mistakes, which seriously affected one another on the world stage and economically, but to which neither will admit.

I can usually take the America bashing, but tonite, I am so tired of it. Everywhere I go on any forum anywhere on the internet I find a slap in the face. Ironic, since without us, the internet would not exist. Don't believe me? Just ask Al Gore!

Everyone wants us to stop being the world's police force, to stop using our might and our muscle to control the world, but they haven't thought about what it would really mean if we did. We go where we are asked to go, and where others are afraid to go.

Have you heard what Colin Powell said, when America was accused of "empire building" in Iraq? He said "The US has sent many young men and women into great peril to fight for another's freedom, and the only thing we have ever asked for in return is enough ground to bury them with".

People worship our culture at the same time that they denigrate us for it. They complain about our greed, as in ever increasing numbers, they come here to live and study and work for extended periods to reap their own rewards---rewards not possible in their own countries. They decry our lack of universal health, while their own systems collapse under their own weight and fail to give good care to all who need it.

They tax the life out of any one of us working elsewhere, but try to exempt themselves from our tax laws here. They scream if our laws and civil protections are not extended to them here, while we are forced to follow their archaic and oppressive laws wherever they are. Because of their own work ethic and culture, or corruption, they've killed their own economy, and quite possibly their economic future, but they say we are lazy and greedy and deserve any economic downturn we experience.

There is no mandatory vacation here, so after 10 years with a company if you get five weeks off, that's a miracle. We don't go on strike every five minutes. Why would we? Less than 7% of our workforce belong to unions here. Nor do we advocate for the 30 hour work week and the 2 hour lunch. We mostly get paid by the hour, so taking time off means we can't pay the bills. We're not dumb enough to advocate for something that cuts our own pay! We don't have paid maternity leave nor mandatory sick days here, either.

And, since most of our genetic bloodlines hail originally from Germany and the UK, with a hefty (pardon the pun) sprinkling of Eastern European genes, I guess it's not really an AMERICAN fault that we like food so much and are so fat!

It is not a simple matter of dislike, it is much more complicated than that. It is arrogance on both sides and fear, too, perhaps.

Among the problems specific to France that still rankle would be:

The Vichy Regime and the attitude of "it doesn't matter, it's over, we will not discuss it".

Anti-Semiticism and its effect on French foreign policy; it's has helped to foster current and past collaboration with Islamic-led nations in the Middle East and in Africa, or those sympathetic to that cause. These are nations which hate us, Israel and most of Europe. And that does not bode well for any of our futures.

A problem for WWII VETS: de Gaulle asked for our help in liberating Paris. He agreed to a strategic battle plan that would be the safest and best way for all, as we fought our way there thru the still-occupied parts of France. He changed his mind mid-course, and did not tell anyone, putting our troops, the English, and his own people at risk and took off straight for Paris. He then stood up in that city and told the French that only French people could appreciate France, that only French people could truly relish this hard-won victory, which was the result of French sacrifice and struggle, and that this victory was one only French people should celebrate.

US Soldiers sent to fight in WWII: 16,112,556. Dead: 291,557. Wounded: 670,846.
French soldiers sent to fight on US soil any time in the past 100 years: 0

A biggie for Vietnam Vets: From 1854-1954, Vietnam was a French colony, folks. And not by invitation from the Vietnamese, either. We were there only from 1957 (in an advisory capacity) to 1975 (as fallen figureheads). Somehow, we got blamed for all of that mess, too.

A biggie for Iraq War I vets: the refusal of France to allow us to fly over their airspace or land there to refuel, on our way to securing Kuwait's safety

A biggie for Iraq War II vets and soldiers currently serving: French state companies and private businessess doing business with the enemy, as if it were business as usual over there

So, say what you will. We all have problems, least of which is the annoying ability to call each other fools, at the same time we show the world our own stupidity by doing so.

ba-dum- tum

well i thought Ireland featured in the poles 'like list'?

And Ive encountered the 'we hate the germans cos they think they are better than us' thing. its just as bad as the irish, 'we hate the english, 700 years of occuption etc etc.'

My gf though, has a fascintation with the Russian language and wishes to learn it...i dont really have a position, I like the Choral music and the hats :P hehe ok ok, it goes deeper than that, i like alot of cultures really, elements thereof. But i havent come across pole not liking russia attitude but i can understand if they do! (that whole catholic priests as secret police spies...yea)

Every country has there rivals and there friends, generally speaking

Hi. I'm of Polish-Lithunanikan plus Kashubian(a weird kind of Germanic-Goth/Polish-mixed ethnic minority in the , in the area in an up tp 1km around Gdansk or in Geman Danzig since mid medevial times. In addition to... born and raised in West-Germany ,Dusseldorf, then moved to Sopot - German. Ostseebad Zoppot- and ever-since

fully identifying myself with the place and heritage of the ol free-city state of Danzig and kashubian suroundings. I'm a kind of a present incarnation of Oskar Matzerath of Gunnter Grass' "Tin-drum".

As of 1945, when Poland, the most faithful and most effective ally in combat, of the western allies during WWII - a won battle of England without them would be naked fiction- were sold bt Churchill to Stalin at the Jalta conference,where post-war Europe has been divided by ally-treaty into eastern and western blocks-Poles still view the outside world through a a sort of semi-paranoid, as well as a suspissious lens. You have o take into account that

6 million out of 32 million civillians were killed,half by invading Nazi-Germany and half byUSSR, most of which formed the intellectual elite. Half a century of kommunism, which was the most liberal in the entire Eastern Block, anyway, cultivated a sort of civil orphanage with little or no relation to national treasures if identity, as in evry heatlhy nation, cherrished by the intellectual national elite, which was missing. It's also worth to bear in mind that, first, the Polish state didn't exist from 1792 to 1918, due to a threesome partition among Prussia - Germany- , Austro-Hungary and Russia, the main foe to date. In the heart I'm a Pole, but the heart ticks somewhat, German though. For Polish circumstances it' paradox, i know... .

Now, Poland is in the EU. But it looks to be still quite infantile as an operative identity, both, i terms of state rule-especially current foreign and domestic state policie reminding me of Germany in its early 193o's (view: youtube: search:"Rammstein Kaczynski".

By delault Poles are westerphiles, but at the same time, like a yooung adult, an orphan as a child it still lacks of the appropriate self-esteam to play along the centtury old societies of the UK, France and even Germany, for instance.

The average Pole is anti-Russian, pro-American - only because the USA is the pnly westwrn country which never invaded Poland.,suspissious towards German, though pragmatic about economical co-operation, with an overdrive anxieusity and coplex with regard to the culures of France, the UK, Scandinavia, even Germany, and well the USA.

Poland is 99,999% white, 9o% katholic, 65% of which REALLY katholic in a late 19th century style. It helped to crush communism 1-2 years ago, but now it criplles the cath-up with the global First-world mentalities of the presence.

You are welcome to meet me for a drink in Sopot, Berlin or London for a thorough ninsight on Polish social paranoias...
regards, Radziej

Good reply, Bookratt. What smug, snide comments I've read here! I'm very proud to be from the United States of America - the greatest country in the world! And I'm VERY grateful for all my European ancestors who took that big boat ride across the Atlantic!

Are you really happy with your governments current foreign policy?

Young american men are dying every day if you dont read the papers.


Who raped, pillaged and nearly wiped out the indigenous people's.

Wear that pride on your chest son!!!!!!