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


I would argue that the Church's inaction during those times actually helped the Axis along their way - but then again, the Vatican was heavily bribed by Mussolini - and arguably had their interests served by him, too.

When you think that there must have been around 300-400 million Catholics during WW2 - Poland really was betrayed.

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


In the face of known, unspeakable horrors - yes, you can. There was absolutely no reason to stay neutral when the Croatians were doing horrible, horrible things to Serbs and others. And they didn't try and promote peace - in fact, quite the opposite there. They were actively involved in fuelling Croatian nationalism - all because they were afraid that the Croatian church might break away from Rome.


You can't forgive the blatant escape routes provided to many Axis WW2 types...

Study / Secondary education in Poland [20]


Liceum is usually the route nowadays - technical schools are dying, for reasons that are too complicated to go into here.

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


You think? I like the speed limits in Poland, except the 90km/h limit on rural roads when some could easily be 100km/h. There's one spot on the road between Poznan and Kostrzyn where you can easily do 120km/h on a 90km/h bit of road - it's long, straight and absolutely empty.

Can't complain about the 140km/h motorway limit though, nor the 120km/h expressway limit.

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


An interesting question - did he work in any way for the USA after 1989? I suspect we won't find out the answer to that, but it could be interesting to look at potential links between him and the AWS government in Poland. As I recall - the Americans were pushing the parties into the AWS coalition - and his visit to Poland (with his sudden right-wing feelings)..hmm.

Enough there to make you wonder if he really was on the Polish side, at least.


From a left wing point of view, he could be seen as a spy and traitor who betrayed Poland for the sake of easy cash.

From a right wing point of view, he betrayed Poland as an very senior army officer - and the army was always strongly associated (not so much now, I don't think?) with the identity of Poland. He was also (obviously) a very senior communist - so enough reason to hate him from a right wing perspective.


I can only say one thing - his son suffered a mysterious accident while sailing. Sailing isn't exactly a poor man's hobby...

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


Example in Poznan : Hetmanska, between Rondo Staroleka and the McDonalds/BP garage. I always drive along there at 80km/h (70 limit) - and without fail, someone will be tailgating - who will then pass in a dangerous move and speed off. Insane.

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


Just get out there and drive.

My advice would be to book a 2 hour lesson with a driving school beforehand, just to get clued up on some differences (such as the difference between the green arrows) and the priority rules - and also to get used to the Polish way of driving. You won't need more than that.

Work / English native speaker without a teaching experience moved to Poland and got a job [66]


I was always taught 1/3rd teacher, 2/3rds students.

Whether it's good or not, I don't know...

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


Oh yes you can. The refusal of the Vatican to reject them (along with the Croatian Utashe and others such as the infamous Rydzyk) is one big issue within the Catholic Church - many Catholics stand on the edge for that exact reason.

Law / Setting up a sole trader business and becoming a resident in Poland - Procedure? [32]


No need for a lawyer for routine self-employment.


That's not generally how it works - rather they'll just deal with you through the legal system. There's no real system of bankruptcy in Poland, so they don't need to control you when they can merely take everything you have.

Law / Setting up a sole trader business and becoming a resident in Poland - Procedure? [32]


It makes you very lucky that they haven't fallen into line with other EU countries in this respect. The bizzare agreement that allows Americans to set up as self-employed here isn't common in the EU.


Most EU countries do not allow self-employment by non-EU nationals, actually. Luxembourg for instance will not allow it unless they're happy with the person applying - which means in practice that anyone that isn't a professional or who isn't investing a serious amount of cash isn't welcome.

Law / Setting up a sole trader business and becoming a resident in Poland - Procedure? [32]


You should consider yourself lucky that you were even allowed to set up a business in the first place for obtaining a residence permit - many European countries don't allow it.


Normal in every country. Try doing business in France and you'll soon learn what "bureaucracy" really means. Even EU citizens have a hell of a hard time there.

The real issue in Poland is the lack of sense of urgency.

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


Quite possible, given the nationalist slogans painted. In fact, it's easy to see why Kuklinski could be hated by a cross section of Polish society..


MediaWatch really does seem to struggle

What is it with people talking about the "Enemy Within" who are totally unable to back it up with actual names? It's exactly what rabid Kaczynski fans do - they know "The truth" but they won't actually tell us.


The amount of socialists who became distinctly Right in their social politics after 1989 is very curious, actually. It's even repeated in the vast amount of PiS supporters who want socialist policies yet who claim to be right wing. It does make me wonder if Poland had been allowed to pursue a specifically Polish type of communism (hard right wing socially, hard left wing economically), perhaps it would still be around.

Travel / Hostels in Poland (Oki Doki, Flamingo, Yellow)? [8]


Avoid. I stayed there, and they not only completely ****** up with ordering a taxi, but the place was freezing in winter. And the guy working there overnight was sleeping (24 hour reception, my ass) in a side room on a dirty old mattress.


Be warned - at night, the entrance is down a dirty, reeking of **** alleyway, across from a strip club.

Language / New Dialects in Western and Northern Poland [24]


Do you know if all the exams are in Kashubian, or just the mother tongue one?

UK, Ireland / Common pitfalls for Poles learning English [187]

I bet you that you couldn't pronounce many place names properly.

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


Who? We need names, MediaWatch.


Or perhaps it's the actions of people who see him as having betrayed Poland? The fact that the statue was covered in nationalist slogans certainly suggests that it was the work of right wingers in this case.

But who is the Enemy Within MediaWatch? We need names!


Would you, after having spectacularly betrayed your country and left it open to being destroyed?

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


What is interesting is that Poland very reluctantly pardoned him - and it seems that Poland only did so after very heavy pressure from the Americans.

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

For me, it shows the interesting double standards at play - his family were known socialists, he had risen to a high position within the Army which must have meant total obedience to the Party - and this, from Wikipedia - if it's true, then...


He would surely never have risen to such a position without being highly trusted by those in charge.

What's also interesting is the claim that unless Poland pardoned him, the US would block Polish accession to NATO. Wonder if it's true?

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


While it's completely understandable that very low level officers and soldiers may choose to completely disregard the oath - he simply wouldn't have risen to the position that he did without stamping on a few faces along the way.

Law / Buying a car in Poland for export [48]


Would you want to test this with the police in different countries, though?

I wonder - are you allowed to scrap a car if you aren't the legal owner on the documents? I can't imagine that the Estonians would be too happy to deal with a situation like this.

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


Are you sure he wasn't motivated by a hell of a lot of cash?

As a high profile turncoat, he certainly would have enjoyed considerable....financial privilege. Betraying the Polish army and the legitimate Polish state for a few dollars is deplorable.

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


Especially as the Polish Army was well regarded all the way through to 1981.

Law / Buying a car in Poland for export [48]


Basically : no.

It is possible, but not easy or doable within any sort of short timescale.

News / US-POLAND special relationship [20]


Not really. Poland is a useful puppet for America, but that's about it.

Food / Anybody in Poland actually eats soup-mix soups? [27]

No, it was a comment about how he, as an American, wouldn't know about fresh food in Poland.

Though I can see how it can be taken as a generic insult towards American food :)

Food / Anybody in Poland actually eats soup-mix soups? [27]

It was a comment about how Polonius lives in America and doesn't know what's going on in Poland except what he reads online. Nothing to do with being "anti-America".

Food / Anybody in Poland actually eats soup-mix soups? [27]


I'm saying that it's not in the culture to take a long break for lunch. Nothing to do with hard work, but more to do with time for eating.

Law / Driving Licence in Warsaw - how many times? (foreigners) [3]

I passed first time in Poznan, as a foreigner.

They will be fair and honest with you - the test is recorded on four cameras, as well as a microphone inside the car. For that reason, they will be absolutely fair - they aren't more or less strict with foreigners. If someone has failed 10 times - then they were likely a terrible driver.

Just drive properly and don't give them a reason to fail you.

Food / Anybody in Poland actually eats soup-mix soups? [27]


I know, I know...it was more of a comment about Polonius being American, not Polish ;)

(I hear very good things about seafood in California)


It's a fair response when used against someone who hasn't ever lived in Poland and who knows nothing about Poland except what he reads on websites like freepl.info ;)

Saying that Polish shelves are "groaning under the weight" of these things is insane when anyone who lives here knows that one of the greatest things about Poland is the way that there are decent food shops everywhere. Sure, you can buy plenty of junk too, but what else do people have time for when the working culture is for working 8 hours straight rather than a proper lunch break?