Genealogy / Searching for info on my Grandfather, Kolata [17]

Yes, Kolata is possible. But around 600 people in Poland use the Kołata speling and only some 40 spell it Kolata. So statistcially Kołata is the more likjely choice, esp. since Polish accent amrks are routinely dropped in the West.

Genealogy / Searching for info on my Grandfather, Kolata [17]

GUNIA: a thick woollen cloth forming part of a Polish highlander's regional attire.

KO£ATA: from Polish verb kołatać (to rattle, use door knocker): or topo nick from the village of Kołata.

NOTE: Pearl is not a Polish first name; many woman named Pelagia for some reason renamed themselves Pearl in the USA.

For more information please contact polonius@gazeta.pl:

Genealogy / Looking for Langowski and Hyntnik from Lomza area. [4]

LANGOWSKI: root-word German and Yiddish adjective lang (long); could have originated both as a patronymic tag (son of someone nicknamed Long) or toponymic nick for someone from Langowo.

CHĘTNIK: root-wrod Polish adj. chętny (eager, willing); Hyntnik is an attempt of phonetic respelling in America. The proof of that is that the £omża area is Poland's Chętnik stronghold..

Travel / Driving in Poland, are there any rules at all? [149]

A good anti-theft device in Poland is to drive something no thief would want. An old beat-up Fiat Uno or Polonez is .good.. Also a make on the rare side liek a Lancia Ypsilon, Chevy Aveo or Skoda Citigo -- they stand out in traffic becuase there are still too few of them on the road and aren't needed for parts at a 'dziupla' (chop shop) because there's little demand so far. Oh yes, there's a 500 złotys fine for chatting over a cellphone while driving. A loudspeaker is OK though.

Genealogy / DOBROUOSKY, Julia born Danzig about 1850 [4]

DOBROWOLSKI may have been the original form of this poipular Polish surname. Whether it got deformed to some extent in Germany and ednded up in that form in Birtain or was additionally Anglo-mangled there is difficult to say. As an aside, some of those named Dobrowolski were Jews who converted to Catholicism 'of their own free will'. The root of Dobrowolskiis dobra (good) and wola (will).

Food / Cooking Polish kiszka [99]

If you haven't tried it, don't knock it! Admittedly a nip of 50% wódka is highly recommended to promote digestion.

Food / Cooking Polish kiszka [99]

No, what is called kaszanka in Poland is sold at butcher's across Polish Amewrica as kiszka. There was even a comical hit back when called 'Who stole the kiszka from the butcher's shop?'

And contrary to your erroneous information, kaszanka is fully cooked. Most prefer it warmed up, even crusty, but it can be eaten just as it comes (not raw -- it''s fully cooked). Same wioh parówki (wieners), Most eat them hot off the grill but they too are fully cooked and can be eaten just as they are.

Food / Cooking Polish kiszka [99]

Kaszanka (as it's called in Poland) or kiszka (by the US Polonia) is not raw but sold fully cooked. Most people fry or bake it and serve it warm but it can be consumed like any cold cut.

Food / Stuffed cabbage - gołąbki - recipe [59]

Have never tried this, but I heard a whole head of cabbage can be frozen in the freezer. After thawing it can be used as a gołąbki wrap without the usual scalding in a pot of boiling water. The freezing supposedly softens the cabbage leaves. Anyone ever tried this?

UK, Ireland / Increasingly more Polish children born and educated in UK can't write/read! [51]

This is strictly impressionistic (I haven't conducted a formal study in the area), but I feel this is an indivdual thing. I know of a case of a 4-year-old child raised in Poland by a British father and Lebanese wife who in a single room could speak to her dad in English, automatically switch into in French with her mum, address granddad in Arabic and her nanny in Polish without missing a beat. My own personal experience of having been raised bilingually (Polsih & English) was that I was able to pick up a third, foourth and fifth language with much greater facility than by monoglot classmates.

UK, Ireland / Increasingly more Polish children born and educated in UK can't write/read! [51]

It's surprising thta someone (Concerned) who has provided what appears to be informative, well-considered, reasonable and sincere input has to be discredited and ridiculed, but such -- I reckon -- are the realities of some PF-ers with a permanent chip on their shoulder.

I found this interesting esp. since the PolAm expeirences I am most fmailair with were quite different. The children of Polish-born immigrants have usually mastered good English and retained various levels of Polish ospoke to their parents in Englihs whilst the parents responded in Polish, and each side understood the other without being able to to readily articulate the other language. From what Concerned described on the UK scene, one migth presume that the Polish kids there interact mainly with their own kind in Polish, broken English or a hybrid thereof. Is that indeed the case?

Genealogy / Being ashamed of Polish ancestry? [156]

I am speaking aboutnot Poland but Polish America or the US Polonia back when contuiguous Polish neighbourhoods existed. And I was comparing stateside PolAms to mainstream Anglos. or run-of-the-mill WASP types or WASP wannabes.

I agree that tastes differ, but cotton fluff stuff has absioltuely no redeeming qualities. Oh sorry, it has two: it's cheap and does a good job shining boots, better than a flannel cloth!

Genealogy / Being ashamed of Polish ancestry? [156]

I didn't really get into the culinary field, but back when contiguous Polish neighbourhoods existed food quality and eating habits were way above the Heinz 57 level. You had to go to a Polish bakery to get real bread with a shiny crackly crust, a pleasantly rye-tinged aroma and a nice springy body on the inside, instead of that hideous cotton fluff stuff Anglos call 'white bread'. Same with meat -- the Anglos tucked in tonnes of pre-minced suety hamburger in every size, shape and form -- burgers, casseroles, Hamburger Helper, chili soup, etc. -- and opted for supermarket solid meat sealed in cellophane and styrofoam. At the Polish meat market, the customer could inspect all sides of the meat, chat wioth the butcher and get exactly what he wanted and PolAm shoppers were willing to pay a bit more for the better quality and more personalised service.

Genealogy / Being ashamed of Polish ancestry? [156]

Unlike those ashamed of or uncomfortable with their Polish heritage, I have always been proud of it and have even felt superior compared to other American kids. Even something as basic as getting presents right after Wigilia supper, when the poor 200% American kids had to wait till Christmas morning, made me feel privileged. And the lavish Polish-American wedding outshone the cheap low-key affairs of many Heinz 57s (the term for WASP-imitating Americans) serving just champagne and gummy little canapés.

Being raised bilingually went beyond knowing a second language, it was more like seeing the world with an extra pair of eyes. My monoglot classmates were poorer for that lack of linguistic and cultural breadth. When I began studying German 101 many of them couldn't fathom why it had to be 'für dich'. If for is für and you is du, then shouldn't it be just für du? That was the normal way of things for anyone familiar with declensions and conjugations.

When I paid my first visit to Poland back in the PRL era, I quickly realised that the average Polish ‘maturzysta’ could run intellectual circles round the average American high school senior, and that held true for other classes and groups as well. Poles were far more interested in and curious about the world they lived in regardless of the iron curtain. As a state, Poland has had a relatively good track record in victimological terms. The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth’s lack of colonialisation and relatively low victim body count compares favourably with the rapacious Western countries. And the tradition of struggle 'for your freedom and ours' is another thing to be proud of. These are but a handful of spot impressions, but books could be written on the subject.

Genealogy / Zaucha ancestry [12]

ZA£UCHA/ZAUCHA: these are variant spellings of a name traceable to the prefix za (beyond) and łęg or ług (Old Polish for a marshy meadow). Apart from the topographic origin suggested above, it might also trace back to such toponmyic roots as the localities as Załuki, Załuski or Załęże.

Genealogy / Being ashamed of Polish ancestry? [156]

Dunno about anybody else, but I'd be ashamed to be called an Anglo, WASP, Brit or suchlike. In terms of geographic extent, the Brits subjugated more people than even the Russians. They conquered, killed, enslaved, exploited and otherwise persecuted entire native populations around the globe. Indeed, the sun never did set on the Union Jack, under which such crimes were committed. In America, it was mainly the Anglos who exterminated the Indians, introduced Negro slavery and persecuted non-WASPs. To top it off, the arrogant Anglos jabbering away in that God-forsaken tongue of theirs, contaminating perfectly good tea with milk (ugghh!) and swilling their medicinal-tasting whisky have the gall to act superior to the rest of mankind!

Genealogy / Looking for family in Poland: Włodarski. [13]

Iwona Dakiniewicz is a professional genealogist who specialises in tracking down long-lost relatives in Poland. Why not give her a go: genealogy@pro.onet.pl

¡Buena suerte, Eduardo!

Love / More loveless sex of Poles living in the regained lands [73]

An oath made under duress to the proxy of a foreign occupying power is not binding.

History / Polish Officer in NATO, Col. Ryszard Kukliński. [145]

Yes, they have done more to keep Poland in Soivet subjugation than any of us have, that's for sure. Gierek tried to pull the wool over Poles' eyes by sweetening things with Pepsi, Marlboro and Berliet buses, but it was he who enshriend a permanent pledge of allegiance to Moscow in the new Prl-ian constitution.

Love / More loveless sex of Poles living in the regained lands [73]

Nobody said Poles never make mistakes, never sin, never commit crimes or get divorced...but the divorce rate is lower than in many other countries. In other words, there is less of that odious perjury or oath-breaking that Dupadomine so deplores.

You were warned more than once .

History / Polish Officer in NATO, Col. Ryszard Kukliński. [145]


That formulation really hits the nail on the head. Bravo!

Love / More loveless sex of Poles living in the regained lands [73]

No, by the world media. Look through any of the reportss about, let's say Palikot's showing or the adbotion issue in the files of the AP, NY Times, Newsweek, Reuters, Wasungton Post, etc. and you will see time and again the phrase 'staunchly Catholic Poland' or 'devoutly Catholic country'. Remember -- I am only repeating that the world media call Poland. This is not

a discussion on the degree of staunchness.

Love / More loveless sex of Poles living in the regained lands [73]

Under the Cahtolic belief system. I'm sure you know I'm a Catholic. And Poland is constantly referred to as a staunchly Catholic country innit?.

Love / More loveless sex of Poles living in the regained lands [73]

As I said illicit sex is pre- or extra-martial. Full stop.

Love / More loveless sex of Poles living in the regained lands [73]

Illicit (ie pre- and extra-martial) coitus and/or multiple partners. Reckon in pub parlance that's called 'sleeping around'.
So, according those who equate affluence with promiscuity, infidelity is part and parcel of being better to do.

Love / More loveless sex of Poles living in the regained lands [73]

OK, so affluence breeds promiscuity. Everyone has a right to their point of view and I can accept that some people hold such views.

Love / More loveless sex of Poles living in the regained lands [73]

Let's accept for the sake of argument that aflluence breeds immorality, but what about the leftism? Traditonally that was the consituterncy of the poor urban proletariat. The ex-commies (SLD) have always done better at the polls in the 'recovered' lands than elsewhere.

Love / More loveless sex of Poles living in the regained lands [73]

No-one is saying that provinces resettled by the uprooted are the sole factor but it can be a contributing factor. Demographics, urbanisation and industrailisation may also play a role.

It is a fact however that the ex-German terriories are less churchgoing and more leftist. Why would this be the case? The eastern half of Poland annexed by Uncle Joe, from which the repartiates came, was staunchly Catholic. Did the resettlers fail to pass these values on to their post-war-born descendants? And why the pro-leftism? These are point to ponder.

Life / Supermarket culture rules in Poland? [18]

There used to be the Centrala Rybna (Fish Central) shops, of coruse state-owned.,which stoicked only fish and some seafood (kalmary and tinned things).. They had outlets all over the country. Yes, I'm quite aware of Hala Mirowska and Hala Marymoncka and some of the smaller bazarki scattered about, but. I was thinking more in terms of small, family-run corner shops. Maybe Poland should bring in some ...