Language used here - how come this forum is all in English?

How come this forum is all in English? And why are there more English people than Poles? Is this a sinister version of 'Polska da się lubić'?

As it says on the homepage, it's "Poland for Tourists and Expats".

It's clearly not aimed at Polish speakers.

And it's an American site - most "Polish-Americans" can't even speak Polish anyway.

there is a polish only area..

really???? where where where??

You only see it if you're not logged in.

They keep changing it, though.

Right now, it says "All about Poland. Polish News and More".

There never seems to be much "Polish News" on here, either... lol :)

This site is aimed at ppl who want to know about Poland. Maybe because they plan to visit Poland, maybe plan to go live there, have an interest in Polish history, customs, food and the like or are of Polish descent or have a general interest in Poland. This site is not per definition aimed at Poles. And since there are more other ppl than there are Poles in this world, it might be handier to carry the English language if you want to reach those other ppl :)

Hope this helps.

>^..^<

M-G (always glad to help)

Merged: PBF (Pole-Bashing Forum) instead of PF?

I don't know if any statistics are kept on the negativity towards Poland, Poles and things Polish displayed by all-too-many PF threads and posts, but a casual observation might suggest that PBF (Pole-Bashing Forum) would be a more apt abbreviation. Any comments on this?

Yes, the amount of damage done to the image and reputation of this wonderful country by racist scum from North America who pretend to be Polish is a disgrace. Why must those idiots bash Poland and Poles so much?!

It's an utter travesty, I thoroughly support the banning of such racist scum. They're bringing a bad name to Poland, and should be dealt with at the earliest possible convenience.

We could also ban those with clear alcohol problems, particularly as they lower the tone of the forum during one of their frequent hangovers.

You, probably, just read what some non-Poles say. If you really look at all the threads and what some Poles write, then you might find bashings of people from all over the world. Just don't pretend to be saints cause you are not and don't look for the a splinter in the eye of your neighbor, when there is a log in one's own eye. This ridiculous double-faceness is the major reason for much of critique to which Poles are so hypersensative.

What about the basic human right of free speech? :):):)


Hey, leave me alone, when I am sober, I try to write sensibly, so there is balance in nature. :):):)

The very earliest possible convenience.


Well, that and racist idiots from North America pretending to be Poles and so harming the reputation of this excellent country.

lol


oh so the homo rant has worn off, time for a pole-bashing saga, cool :)

Yes, these North Americans... ;)

So, so true.


That right is suspended for anyone who spends more than 5 seconds a day thinking about Jews :P


;)

Not you, that rule is also suspended for those who admit to being drunk :P


I actually get the impression that they come here because their views aren't welcome in America. Seems to me like they come here, looking for this wonderful racist paradise - only to discover that they're the victims of racism. Certainly explains the bitterness.

I would think that people are attracted to such a forum because they are interested in things Polish for practical, personal, cultural or other reasons. Polonians (people of Polish descent not born in Poland) are often proud of their heritage and want to learn more about it. Some have dropped round, stayed a bit and exited because of all the Pole-bashing which was not to their liking. Is there any similar Ukrainian Forum in English? If so, does it stand out for its anti-Ukrainianism?

expatua - It doesn't stand out for anything, because racism, homophobia, etc are all banned on there.


Aww. My heart bleeds.

definitely PF could do without few posters here, they contribution is almost nonexistent, on the other hand they bring to PF a vile atmosphere.
the other issue is moderating (also mods) and adm philosophy or rather lack of such but his prejudice about freedom of speech.
However it all had been discussed in endless and pointless threads and posts. I come to the point that I don't care anymore, I visit the forum now and then, less and less.

I don't need PF, I only feel sorry for dudes who do not know Polish language and come to the PF to learn about Poland.

My suggestion: rename PF to *enter owner name* forum about Poland or Poland according to Brits and two mongrels and be done with that.
Let me ask you Polonious3 you know the lingo, why don't you post on some polish forums ?
You often ask about opinion of Poles - on PF there are few and between of them.

Off you go then.

There are some Ukrainian forums (e.g., ukraine.com/forums) where you'll find people criticizing Ukraine, its people and their history. Oftentimes, those are people from across the border :) (in both directions ;) But there are different people - it is Internet, not GlorificationNet. Look at some of my threads which I intended to post as a sign of friendship with Poland and attempt to find great moments in our history - it was filled in no time by Polish pure-breds with chauvinism and other crap. So, to say that everyone bashes innocent Poles and they like angels defend their holiness, while justifyingly spilling dirt on others is ridiculous.

Every country does that, and to a much larger extent than Poland - look at the French, after the WW2 French elites
put a lot of effort and money to convincing the French that during WW2 they resisted Hitler, and that collabolators
were a tiny and disdained minority of the French nation. They never mentioned that the French army at the moment
of surrendering still had more tanks, planes and resources than Wehrmacht, that the German occupational forces
in France numbered 40 thousand (at the peak!), the average age of those soldiers was 48 and it was more than enough
to handle the entire "resistance" - about which so many books were written, films made, monuments built and is so celebrated
and commemorated every year. Resistance my arse.
Or the Danes, all they seem to remember from the German occupation is the story of saving a couple of hundreds of Jews.
They seem to have forgotten the daily, mass collaboration with the Germans and tens of thousands (in such a small country)
Danish men in SS units.

Every country tries to present their view of history and it's OK, but somehow Poland should apologize everyone
around and don't try to explain our point of view. It's a good thing that ordinary Polish people have enough common
sense and decency to defend their country, as opposed to some "Polish" politicians who seem, with their slave prostitutes'
mentality, to value a couple of pats on the back from foreigners over the honour of their country and historical truth.


I am for the friendship, brotherhood and all that, Nat, but it would help if you weren't denying the UPA bestiality, celebrating your
SS Hitler's lapdogs and calling the eye-witness stories of Wolyn massacres survivors "Polish fairy tales". Otherwise, all your Polish-Ukrainian
friendship stuff is just empty talk.

The difference is that I have never met a Frenchman or a Dane who actually lies when one points out the inconvenient bits of history to them. Mention collaboration to a Frenchman and he'll probably reply with something along the lines of "You English are lucky that you never had to face the hard choices of the time; you were never occupied by the Nazis" (I always enjoy pointing out that part of the kingdom was actually occupied for the Nazis but that there was far far less collaboration there than in France). However, Poles will very very often say things like "You British betrayed us in 1939!" (but not a single Pole has ever been able to point out which part of the Anglo-Polish treaty Britain failed to stick to or to explain what Britain could have done in September/October 1939 but failed to do), "You sold us at Yalta" (but not a single Pole has ever been able to explain how securing a pledge from all parties for free and fair elections in Poland is 'selling' or what price Britain received for a supposed sale). And just look at the wikipedia articles about Poles who took part in the holocaust: they are all either vandalised by having the nationality of the subject changed or simply deleted as irrelevant!


You mean like the fact which so many Poles lie about: representatives of both the Polish government and the free Polish forces being invited to take part in the London Victory parade of 1946?

That is caused mainly by the straightforwardness of our people. We are honest and frank, and we like
calling a spade a spade, that's all.


It's not about the letter of the treaty, but the spirit of it. Anyway - if the treaty had said openly:
"We Brits will manipulate you into a war with Germany (and most probably Soviet Union as well),
and when they invade you, we will declare war against Germany without undertaking any substantial
military action", I dare to doubt that Poland would have signed such treaty.

Anyway, I can live with the fact that Britain shamelessly betrayed us, but why did they press us on
delaying the mobilization in August '39 (which resulted in many of our units forming under German bombs
and our defensive potential significantly decreased.)

Having said that - I don't blame the UK for Poland's defeat in 1939. I blame our politicians for allying
Poland to France and Great Britain, but that's a different story.


Peace and Quiet - that was quite a lot after the war. "Let's just give those lousy Polacks to the Soviets,
why should we worry about them. We will have our peace and quiet, tea at 5 o'clock and stuff, and our
dear Polish allies will suffer under the Soviet yoke." How noble.


I must have missed the thread in which you posted the actual invitation, Harry. Would you be so kind
and post a link to it for us. Thanks.

Agreed. It was sheer stupidity on Poland's part - and I cannot understand why they did it.

It would've made far more sense to ally with the neighbouring countries (who also had a hell of a lot to lose from the Soviets/Germans) from 1920 onwards - they might not have been much individually, but a military alliance made up of newly-independent countries such as Poland, the Baltic countries, Hungary, Romania, Yugoslavia et al would've been a powerful force at the time and would've discouraged German/Soviet expansionism.

That's one solution (and a very sensible one, if Czechoslovakia was also invited to the alliance.)
The other would be agreeing to one of the repeated German invitations to anti-comintern alliance
and marching on SU together with Wehrmacht. The war would be won, we would probably lose Gdańsk
and part of Silesia, but gain territories in the east. We would also avoid the terrifying population loses,
and even if Germans had lost the war, we wouldn't have ended up worse off than other Hitler's allies
(Hungary, Romania or Finland for example.)

Sadly few Poles are honest or frank about Polish history, as you go on to demonstrate very well.


As is traditional at this point, I will ask you to go into detail about exactly what Britain could have done in September/October 1939 but did not do. You will, as is traditional, completely fail to answer the question. Given that you can't come up with a single thing, why should the Polish government of the time have expected Britain to do any more than she did?


No matter how many times you tell that lie, it will still remain just a lie. All you do is make all Poles look bad by continuing to lie even when every body has noticed that you are lying.


Possibly if Poland hadn't spent 20 years thoroughly putting up the back of every country near her, Poland might have been able to find allies who were in a better position to help Poland. Czecholslovakia, for example, had a very decent army with good tanks and an extensive defensive line. However, instead of siding with Czechoslovakia, Poland joined the Nazi invasion in 1938!


Remind me which nation planned a post-war attack to liberate Poland. And which country shot the plan down in flames.


I would suggest you contact the publishers of General Anders' memoirs and tell them that the good general was lying about the invitations to the Victory Parade and that you demand that they either produce a copy of the invitations or amend his books to reflect the truth as you know it.

Not forcing us into stopping the mobilization, for instance, would be quite helpful.

Oh, sorry - that's August. You said September/October. Gee, I don't know... let's see:

Royal Air Force was quite strong then, wasn't it? How about bombing the hell out of Germans, for
example, no? The Royal Navy was supposed to be the strongest in the world at that time - how
about sinking the entire feckin Kriegsmarine? That might somewhat decrease the German war potential, no?

The Brits couldn't even put themselves to the trifling inconvenience of diplomatically inducing the French
to move their arses off the trenches and invade Germany from the West, when all the best Wehrmacht
units were fighting in Poland.

But NOOOOOOO, they didn't betray us - not at all. *rolling eyes*


No matter what Joseph Goebbels, of whom you are, it would seem, a faithful admirer, says - a lie won't
become a truth, even if you repeat it a thousand times. That's why you can stop accusing me of lying,
because, quite obviously, you are the one who is doing all the lying here.


That is correct. Failing to form a strong and reliable alliance with Czechoslovakia was one of the biggest
mistakes that Poland made in the interwar period (having said that - considering Czech actions during
Polish-Soviet war, like not granting military access to Hungary or stopping the trains with military supplies
for us, so they had to go through Romania, it was difficult to form an alliance with country that was
so hostile towards us.)
I would even be inclined to agree that taking back Zaolzie (even though rightful and fully justified action)
was a mistake on our part.


:-)

I have a feeling that we are venturing into the area of cabaret and humorous writing. Wrong thread, I think.


No... please... and I mean PLEEEEEEEASE - don't tell me that your entire argument hinges upon some
memoirs of a man, who could have, or I should say, most likely did have certain obligations towards
Great Britain?


No. I gently request that YOU produce a copy of that mythical invitation. If you can't do that,
it would seem quite reasonable to shut the f*ck up and stop lying.

shut your face

Yaaaawn. Zee War never ends...

Heh, I remember vividly one class from my high school days when our teacher gave us an assignment to write an essay about the wartime Denmark. Obviously most of us wrote the usual bull about the handful of Danish saboteurs. Our teacher got so mad at us, giving us a lengthy lecture about Fri Korps Danmark and the official 1940-1943 economic cooperation with Nazi Germany and the fact that the allies had been considering dividing and occupying Denmark, similarly to Germany and Austria – an idea championed big time by Soviets as they had had their eyes set on Bornholm. Mind you they left the island, very reluctantly, in April 1946.

Am I blaming Russians here? Oops must be my Polish blood ;)

So yea, Torq, we know… the difference is we don’t mooooooaaaaaaaaaan about history 24/7 making each flash back more glorious then the previous one. I think the general idea is to learn from the mistakes and then move on, preferably to something like this (from Wiki):

“ Denmark, with a mixed market capitalist economy and a large welfare state,[6] ranks as having the world's highest level of income equality.[7] Denmark has frequently ranked as the happiest[8][9] and least corrupt country in the world.”

:)