News / Poland A and Ukraine B. Compare how far Poland has advanced. [282]


To explain quickly, in Lwów in 1918 - there was some sort of mass lawlessness that resulted in the death of something like 250 Ukrainians and a smaller number of Jews. It's a small event in the context of the dying days of WWI and the subsequent trouble Poland had - but still significant -

(worth pointing out by the way - I tend to use the name commonly in use at the time when talking about history - hence Lwów for times before WW2 and L'viv nowadays -seems fair, I think? Although in Poland, I end up using Lwów to Poles anyway...)


Yep - it was pretty much senseless on their part as a military tactic - it just screams of a desperate need to do something, even though it was completely illogical (no matter how bad Poland was, the Russians were far worse).

Of course, nowadays, they have the benefit of a truly Ukrainian territory - but who would have predicted that the Soviet Union would have broken up in such a way?

News / Kaczyński wants a people-friendly Poland [64]

Pretty much.

Wonder how much public cash was wasted with this?

USA, Canada / Chicago's 1.1 million Polish Americans celebrated Constitution Day [47]

I wonder how many of them acted in accordance with their obligations under article XI.

News / Kaczyński wants a people-friendly Poland [64]


Yes - the people don't trust Kaczynski, it's as simple as that. He can talk all he likes - but his behaviour post-election this year has well and firmly turned people against him.

All this talk is just that - talk.

Until PiS convince the electorate that they're trustworthy (and so far, the SLD are doing a far better job of that) - they're going to remain in the political wilderness.

USA, Canada / Going back to the Old Country of Poland after more than 25 years! (from USA) [249]

That's fair enough ;)

I wonder if it's legal under EU law to restrict the use of the service in such a way?

USA, Canada / Going back to the Old Country of Poland after more than 25 years! (from USA) [249]


Not anymore. The only companies enforcing such a thing are the tiny ones who shouldn't be used anyway.

Law / What banks are people using in Poland? [50]

mbank?

Language / Super fast Polish language learning strategies from internet polyglots [29]


Can you do this?

News / Poland A and Ukraine B. Compare how far Poland has advanced. [282]

Ukrainians generally don't glorify Bandera - and a pretty large percentage of them hate him. But even his supporters tend to see him in a historical context - and it doesn't affect day-to-day-relations with Poles. Of course, a fringe loony faction supports everything he did - but they're a minority and not worth talking about.

The thing that most Poles tend to forget is just what Bandera was doing was pretty much an act of desperation - they already had been crushed repeatedly throughout history (far more than Poland ever was) - they had been betrayed by the Poles and subsequently oppressed - really, they were desperate. It doesn't excuse the sheer brutality of Bandera's mob, but in such a situation, can you really blame them? Their only hope was to get rid of all the Poles by any means necessary - and don't forget, Poles were also killing Ukrainians in Wolyn too in revenge.


I'd tell them that it was a direct consequence of centuries of oppression towards the Ukrainian minority. I'd also point at events such as the Lwów pogrom as to why Ukrainians ended up resulting to total brutality in order to try and win freedom. For instance - look at the destruction of the Orthodox churches in Wolyn.

But it's history - although the truth should be told, both sides should be working together to present a common view from both sides.

At least me personally, I look at it not from a "right" and "wrong" view - but rather at why these things happened. The events in Ukraine were an absolute tragedy for everyone - it's still amazing to think about what L'viv would have been today if WW2 never happened, isn't it?

Language / Super fast Polish language learning strategies from internet polyglots [29]

The "irishpolyglot" guy is a fraud - I know someone who knows him, and he claims to have passed the C2 exam in German within 3 months. Funnily enough, when asked for the certificate - he won't show it. I've also heard that his German, although he can speak in it, he still makes plenty of mistakes and definitely isn't at the C2 level. As the englishfocused site says - he could already hold a conversation in German before he started.

News / Poland A and Ukraine B. Compare how far Poland has advanced. [282]

Likewise, makes me sick to think about some of the things done by Poles in the past towards Ukrainians.

Neither side is blameless - but we must move on.

Work / Any advice about moving to Katowice area (Zory) to work? [13]


It's the best option by miles - Katowice (as far as I know?) has plenty of work for native speakers, no doubt because it's ugly, depressing and not a nice place to live :P

News / Poland A and Ukraine B. Compare how far Poland has advanced. [282]


During the II RP (which I'm familiar with) - they essentially banned the use of Ukrainian after the Austrians had allowed a certain degree of use in public life. One such great example was the demand that professors at the L'viv university had to swear an oath of allegiance to Poland - which understandably upset the Ukrainian professors.

Work / Any advice about moving to Katowice area (Zory) to work? [13]

Same money though - and even then, are there likely to be much bars there?

It's really not a place I'd advise moving to if the person needs to find work there.

News / Poland A and Ukraine B. Compare how far Poland has advanced. [282]


You might want to brush up on the history of Ukrainian scouting if you want to see a good example of how the Polish behaved towards the Ukrainian minority.


It's sad - I simply cannot understand what drove Poles and Ukrainians to be so horrible towards each other. I can actually sort-of understand the tension between Poles and Jews - but between Poles and Ukrainians, people who are very similar and with a common enemy?

I just wonder how the hell Poland would pay to reconstruct Western Ukraine - Germany hasn't succeeded yet, in spite of the massive transfers from West to East - and Poles have nothing to give...

News / Poland A and Ukraine B. Compare how far Poland has advanced. [282]


Plenty of people are running it. There's a thriving, but small NGO sector there (I know the founder of one), the education system is functioning well enough (though riddled with the same problems that Polish universities have) - all in all, Ukraine is functioning.


Stop reading things online and start speaking to people there. Can you blame them for considering martial law when the flu was taking out society? Makes sense, and anyway, it was a State of Emergency that was declared - just like in Poland whenever something bad happens. Bribes for doctors? Just like Poland.


I suggest you start by looking at what the Ukrainian tax authorities have been doing recently.


So - if it's so bad - why didn't I see that, even when visiting really poor villages in the L'viv oblast?

There's plenty of social order (no sign of it in my five trips so far), the government is functioning, the corruption is being tackled slowly, the economy is growing again, healthcare is actually not much worse than the Polish system and people are most definitely not starving to death there, although it's not an easy life.


Hardly a fair comparison. Ask yourself - who ruled Namibia versus who ruled Ukraine?

News / Poland A and Ukraine B. Compare how far Poland has advanced. [282]


It won't. There's too much at stake from both the West and East point of view for Ukraine to fall - in other words, it suits both Russia and the West for Ukraine to exist as it does.

Ukraine, economically, isn't in terrible shape either. L'viv is starting to steal outsourcing business from Poland, for instance.

The corruption is dreadful, but I've heard first hand from a rather wealthy American business owner there that the new President has been dealing with the worst of it - and that other foreign investors are actually on his side.

All in all, while not a great place to be, it's no bad place either. I'd certainly rather live in Ukraine than Namibia, that's for sure.

News / Poland A and Ukraine B. Compare how far Poland has advanced. [282]


Bear in mind that they did a rather splendid job of removing Poles in the past - what makes you think you can defeat them this time?

Also bear in mind that far more powerful interests will support Ukrainian independence over Polish interests.

Love / Polish girlfriend may be pregnant - what girls from Poland think on having a child without marriage? [54]

Perhaps it's that way in the retarded village you come from, but in the real world, it doesn't work like that.

News / Poland A and Ukraine B. Compare how far Poland has advanced. [282]


Thankfully, we already know that when push comes to shove, Ukrainians are far better at mass murder than Poles ever will be.

Work / Any advice about moving to Katowice area (Zory) to work? [13]

What do you think you could do there?

News / "Poland is flourishing" [62]


No surprise, really.

Poland's done a lot to clean it up - the latest move, of requiring lawyers, doctors and a few others to use a "kasa fiskalna" (machine to produce receipts) wasn't a bad move at all.

News / Poland A and Ukraine B. Compare how far Poland has advanced. [282]


Only from looking around and looking at pictures - it seems to me that the real difference was made with major infrastructure projects.


That's why I don't understand Lewandowski's whining about the EU budget and demanding EU taxation - the money isn't that significant - and - at least to me, shows that the Polish government has got addicted to EU money rather than generating it from within.

Life / Need Some Advice about life in Poland (vehicle, fuel) [24]


GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR.

Not those ******* bloody ****** average speed cameras!

News / "Poland is flourishing" [62]


I think there's going to be a very real debate soon as to where the EU is going - the Euro can't work long term without further political integration.

Still, the EU should never have expanded so fast, so quickly. I'm still of the view that the EU should have stopped at 17 - the previous 15, plus Slovenia and Estonia.

News / Poland A and Ukraine B. Compare how far Poland has advanced. [282]


What, you're not using adblock?

Gazeta.pl is pretty much unusable without it.


That's because most of them want a return to the days of Communism - the thought that they actually have to do a job well is completely beyond them. I suspect most of them would be quite content with Franco-style rule.

News / Poland A and Ukraine B. Compare how far Poland has advanced. [282]


A hell of a lot poorer.

Even today - look at who paid to reconstruct the "oderbrucke" railway bridge in Frankfurt/Swiecko. Not even EU money, but German money.


Indeed. You can even see them in some of the richest gminas around - anyone who drives from Poznan north will know exactly what I'm talking about.

Apparently legislation is on its way to allow local councils to remove anything they don't like, however - instead of the ridiculous current situation where you can advertise whatever the hell you want if you own the land.

Likewise, advertising alongside motorways should be banned.

News / "Poland is flourishing" [62]


Spending your way out of debt is quite a normal tactic in business.

See also : Richard Branson.

Real Estate / Warsaw City in 2020 [58]


They haven't been so stupid as to specify different standards for the second line, have they!? :o

Study / Is there racism in Poznan and hate crime against coloured people (students)? [59]


You'll be fine there - there's a lot of multinational students, including 200 Norwegians and an endless amount of black/Asian people there too. If you do come, there's plenty of accommodation nearby - but I'd actually recommend living in the city centre instead. For what it's worth, the worst trouble I've ever seen with medical students wasn't with Poles, but with rude and drunk medical school students.


Heck, if you come, give me a shout and I'll introduce you to many different people :)


Please stop talking nonsense - seriously. No-one is going to care less about her colour - except perhaps Polish guys that are interested in something "exotic".


Caring, Poland?

Are you sure you didn't visit a different Poland?


Some might argue that this wasn't a problem.

Me, I'm sitting on the fence - although the easiest way to deal with it would be to simply ban the use of hair gel ;)