Feedback / Is the Administrator of the P.F. a Native Pole ? [80]


I give up, Paulina - you're absolutely hopeless.

Feedback / Is the Administrator of the P.F. a Native Pole ? [80]


With you personally? None whatsoever. This is a WWW forum, not real life.


Then why are you constantly arguing with people about what you think are negative remarks about Poland? Why on earth are you so defensive all the time?


Sigh! I was saying that you need to learn to accept different opinions and views; even if you don't like them.


Yes. There's a whole world waiting for you outside of Poland ... :)

Feedback / Is the Administrator of the P.F. a Native Pole ? [80]


No matter where, a local has almost always a much more idealistic and positive view of his/her country than an expat/ foreigner. I strongly believe that it takes physical distance to see what's really going on at home (like the "...as an American in Canada, it's given me the opportunity to see my country from an external point of view." above). You should try it one day. Perhaps you will then understand that stuff like this...


only happens in your head, Paulina. And I mean that in the nicest way possible!

Feedback / Is the Administrator of the P.F. a Native Pole ? [80]


Including yourself? I really liked this quote (taken from a web site that tries to explain "why people hate Americans"):

"As for hating the States....as an American in Canada, it's given me the opportunity to see my country from an external point of view. And there's a lot of bad sh*it going on in it. But there are a lot of good things as well."

Get my drift?

Feedback / Is the Administrator of the P.F. a Native Pole ? [80]

Here's the address (scroll down to the bottom of the page): polishforums.com/about-us/

News / Poland: A Successful case of low criminality in Europe? [97]


It always depends what places you visit (big cities or countryside for example), how big your budget is, if you travel in a group or with locals, how comfortable you are to communicate in the local language, and many other factors. My experience is that as long as you are aware what's going on around you, nothing much will really happen. Of course, if you run into a gang area without knowing it then you're screwed no matter what. By the way: I was surprised that you put NZ on the top spot of your list. New Zealand in general and the North Island in particular has a huge gang, crime and drug problem, but as a tourist you might not notice it right away. You have to live there.

News / Poland: A Successful case of low criminality in Europe? [97]


I cannot find a single post in this thread which claims that Poland is less developed in terms of human rights than other countries. What are you referring to, Levi?


Huh? Please show me where I said that Poland is not as developed as the west in terms of its human rights situation. Poland was ahead, now most of the west has caught up and they are all comparable. What's your problem? Aaaah ... I see ...


Wonder why people think you're too aggressive... :)


You don't get it, do you? The past of the Muslim world has nothing to do with how it looks today (only in certain areas, of course). Same for Poland: if you were on the forefront of human rights in Europe 50 years ago or 500 years ago doesn't matter. There is no difference between Poland and western Europe in this respect anymore. What is negative about this?

Stop being such a wuss, Paulina, really. Not every comment about Poland is meant negatively, not every criticism of Poland is anti-Polish. That's exactly the problem that you, some other Poles and a handful of nationalist Polonia nutters have: you take everything personal and far too serious. Jeez.

Genealogy / Possible variants of Polish surname Switzijnck [6]


Here's a list of breweries from before 1945 that had German founders/owners:
brauwesen-historisch.de/1945.html

The German name Schwitzing and its variations are not among them so I think we can eliminate that possibility. Provided that the information that the family owned a brewery is correct, of course.

News / Poland: A Successful case of low criminality in Europe? [97]


What does that have to do with the present? During medieval times, the Muslim world was the leader in science for example, and look at them now.

Genealogy / Possible variants of Polish surname Switzijnck [6]

Could be a variation of the German family name Schwitzing.

Life / Can many young Poles speak German? [72]


That is true, although Germans are generally thrilled if you try to speak their language. You make friends much easier with a little bit of German, and most of the locals will be more than happy to help you in case you need it. What they hate though is when foreigners come to their country, do not give a sh*it about learning the language, and then run to the dole office immediately after arrival to collect their money.



Taken from "AN" experience? And you base your whole judgement on that? No wonder that they didn't like you over there.

Life / Can many young Poles speak German? [72]


There are several reasons why English is slowly taking over. German as a language is simply too difficult for many, and both Britain and the US are culturally imperialist, if you know what I mean. Music and movies, software development - all of that and much more is mostly in English. No wonder that young people prefer English, and languages like French or German become less and less important. On the other hand though Polish people should keep in mind that the biggest job market of Europe is just across the border. But to land a decent job there, you'll need to be fluent in German. English or any other second language is a plus, but German is an absolute must. Plumber in Britain or engineer in Germany ... your career choice (exaggerating on purpose) ... :)

Life / Can many young Poles speak German? [72]

See for yourself: paiz.gov.pl/publications/foreign_investors_in_poland

The more foreign investors, the higher the demand for English, German, French and Spanish language skills.


Many employees in Polish state archives for example don't understand English, but are fluent in German. They can even read the old scripts.

History / The Riga Peace Treaty [64]


There were female members called "Wehrmachtshelferin", but they didn't see combat on the ground AFAIK.

Quote:
"After 1943, as Allied air attacks on German cities increased, many BDM girls went into paramilitary and military services ("Wehrmachtshelferin"), where they served as Flak Helpers, signals auxiliaries, searchlight operators, and office staff. Unlike male HJs, BDM girls took little part in the actual fighting or operation of weaponry, although some Flak Helferinnen operated anti-aircraft guns."

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/League_of_German_Girls#Wartime_service

History / The righteous among Ukrainians, massacres in "Wołyń" during WW2 [12]

Why so sarcastic, Harry?

yadvashem.org/yv/en/righteous/pdf/resources/german_righteous_among_the_nations.pdf
spiegel.de/spiegel/print/d-17596399.html

Love / Polish girls hard in relationships [156]


That reminds me of an old joke:

"When I was 14, I hoped that one day I would have a girlfriend. When I was 16 I got a girlfriend, but there was no passion, so I decided I needed a passionate girl with a zest for life. At university I dated a passionate girl, but she was too emotional. Everything was an emergency; she was a drama queen, cried all the time and threatened suicide. So I decided I needed a girl with stability. When I was 25 I found a very stable girl, but she was boring. She was totally predictable and never got excited about anything. Life became so dull that I decided that I needed a girl with some excitement. When I was 28 I found an exciting girl, but I couldn't keep up with her. She rushed from one thing to another, never settling on anything. She did mad impetuous things and made me miserable as often as happy. She was great fun initially and very energetic, but directionless. So I decided to find a girl with some real ambition. When I turned 31, I found a smart ambitious girl with her feet planted firmly on the ground and married her. She was so ambitious that she divorced me and took everything I owned. I am now older and wiser, and am looking for a girl with big tits."

News / Why no reprivatisation in Poland? Holocaust-era property ownership. [119]


I wouldn't even mention it, but certain people here on PF come up with this sh*it over and over and over again, you know...


Yes


I will remind you next time you will whinge about the annexation of Poland during the partitions, mate... :)


Commie propaganda BS.

News / Why no reprivatisation in Poland? Holocaust-era property ownership. [119]


I was referring to this:


.
.


Are you for real? Yes, many fled from the Red Army, but millions of others were "asked" by Polish and Soviet troops to get the f*uck out. And when they did, many of them were robbed of their valuable possessions including family photos and documents.


So you're one of those nut jobs who claim that Berlin is actually Polish?


Until the early 1950's when many of the remaining Germans were finally expelled. Polish citizens or not.

News / Why no reprivatisation in Poland? Holocaust-era property ownership. [119]

Well, the Soviets helped themselves during and after the war, of course, but they also made sure that 'little Poland' got a good chunk of German territory after the owners had been forcefully expelled... . Poland shouldn't hide behind her Soviet occupiers and just accept that this particular era is part of Polish history.

I believe that the Polish government is so hesitant to return former Jewish property because they would run the risk that the descendants of the expelled Germans would demand their old houses back as well. It's all stupid politics.

Genealogy / If your ancestors were in the "Wehrmacht"... [217]

I have to disagree with that. Live in Germany for a while and you will see that exactly the opposite is true. They are openly admitting what happened during WW2 (can't hide it anyway), and they will never evade an attempt to discuss the topic. The younger generations are often times not willing to accept the blame for something that their great grandparents did though, but that's totally understandable IMO. There is no collective guilt in all eternity, even if certain governments would like to see it that way. If there would, almost every freakin' nation on the planet would be to blame for some dirty little secret in their past.

Genealogy / If your ancestors were in the "Wehrmacht"... [217]

A Polish language newspaper from New York? I wouldn't trust any American news outlet when it comes to reporting from Europe. Most of the time they don't even know where to find that continent on the map... :)

Are you sure they weren't talking about Obama?

nytimes.com/2012/05/31/world/europe/poland-bristles-as-obama-says-polish-death-camps.html

News / Why no reprivatisation in Poland? Holocaust-era property ownership. [119]


After the war? Guess...

Genealogy / If your ancestors were in the "Wehrmacht"... [217]


Hard to believe. Do you have a source for that?

History / Why is it ok to represent Polish history of WWII inaccurately in the film "Our Fathers, Our Mothers"? [36]


Have at least the courtesy to read the thread before posting here ***. We were talking about historic books from pre WW1.

History / Why is it ok to represent Polish history of WWII inaccurately in the film "Our Fathers, Our Mothers"? [36]

Unfortunately, you and your nationalistic Polonia ilk will never ever admit that Poland has progressed in the right direction. Instead you are stuck in the WW2 era with all the old enemies in your head. I've said it on various occasions already: move on, don't live in the past all the time. Anyway, I'm not doing your homework. Visit the online archives and read up yourself - if you are able to understand Polish or German that is, of course.

On a personal note: I'm sure you are a nice guy, but sometimes you really come across like an arrogant twat. Me too, I know ... :)

History / Why is it ok to represent Polish history of WWII inaccurately in the film "Our Fathers, Our Mothers"? [36]


That prevents you from visiting the web sites of the Polish state archives and browse the content yourself? What kind of WWW do you have at home? Bongos? :)

Thankfully, Poland has been providing tens of thousands of books, magazines and documents online in both Polish and German over the past five years or so, and the collections are growing fast. They are finally fighting the old post WW2 commie propaganda in the heads of people and are developing a much more balanced approach to Polish history - showing both negative AND positive aspects of the Prussian, Austrian (and occasionally Russian) times for example. Which makes genealogical research much much easier as well.

History / Why is it ok to represent Polish history of WWII inaccurately in the film "Our Fathers, Our Mothers"? [36]

Dan, do me a favor and check the POLISH state archives. It's all out there for everyone to read.

Sorry, but claims like this one ...


... are just plain nonsense

History / Why is it ok to represent Polish history of WWII inaccurately in the film "Our Fathers, Our Mothers"? [36]


Got some links for that claim?

In the meantime I'd suggest you check the Polish state archives online for scientific literature from that time frame. It might surprise you that most German historians and scientists were actually quite neutral (and oftentimes even positive) when it came to Polish history.

Genealogy / How Polish am I? What is the correct formula? [58]


The case of the Native Americans and Alaska Natives is a little different because they are officially considered a race and not an ethnicity (see iowadatacenter.org/aboutdata/raceclassification for example). Neighboring tribes mixed as well through 'intermarriages', so again: after several generations ethnicity (or being the offspring of a member of another tribe) becomes meaningless.

Genealogy / How Polish am I? What is the correct formula? [58]


Yes, that's called implex, pedigree collapse or Ahnenschwund.


Ethnicity is meaningless after a few generations. People mix.