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Posts by Gruffi_Gummi  

Joined: 2 Jul 2011 / Male ♂
Last Post: 16 Nov 2012
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Posts: Total: 106 / In This Archive: 71

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Gruffi_Gummi   
8 Dec 2011
History / Question about land of former Poland/modern Belarus [11]

According to the 1921 cenzus for Województwo Nowogródzkie, it was 8.9%. Naturally, the distribution was not uniform.
pl.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Plik:Woj.nowogr%C3%B3dzkie-Polska_spis_powszechny_1921.pdf&page=47

in which the Poles living there were moved to Lower Silesia

Oh, one more off-topic thing for the sake of correctness: People from the Lwów (Lviv) area were moved to Lower Silesia. Those from the areas you asked about were resettled to Pomerania (Kashubia).
Gruffi_Gummi   
9 Dec 2011
History / Question about land of former Poland/modern Belarus [11]

1. I have no idea, and probably nobody knows, except German Einsatzgruppen.
2. 1944-1946 and 1955-1959.
3. Probably very low. Jews preferred marrying within their own community, and the same applied to Poles. Defying the cultural and religious pressure was always difficult, and even today intercultural/interfaith relationships face obstacles. Consider, for example, this Rabbi's response to a question regarding an interfaith marriage:

"For Jews, "marrying within the faith" isn't a cultural preference or prejudice. Rather, it is one the commandments G-d gave us at Mount Sinai. A Jew who marries a
non-Jew transgresses a Torah prohibition. The practice of not "intermarrying" is in fact one of the oldest features of Judaism (...) We were chosen as a permanent protest group against idolatry and immorality. Intermarriage is therefore antithetical to the Jewish purpose and to the Jewish identity."

4. Related to 1. In this case, the personnel files of Urząd Bezpieczeństwa (communist secret police) may hold the largest part of the answer.
Gruffi_Gummi   
9 Dec 2011
History / Question about land of former Poland/modern Belarus [11]

Both the Ashkenazi phenotype (the "European" looks) and DNA suggest at least some mixing of the genetic material with other Europeans, although those brave souls who were enriching their communities' gene pools were doing it largely without the blessing of either a priest or a rabbi. :) In Poland, this dates back at least to Casimir III the Great and Esther.
Gruffi_Gummi   
11 Dec 2011
Love / Amount of money for gift (I have a girlfriend in Poland) [56]

Imagine that I have an American gf, and am sending her a Christmas card with a $20 bill tucked in...
This would be a very short-lived relationship.

1. A friend or a girlfriend?
A small, nice gift worth $20 (but not money!) is appropriate for a friend. But if you are talking about a relationship, then sending a $20 bill would be rather rude, especially considering the undertones present in you post (and that's why you got these replies).

2. If she is a girlfriend, then an acceptable minimum is a $50 gift card. If you don't have money, it's also ok to shop around for something inexpensive, but nice and unique (for me, a silver Navajo bracelet bought at Four Corners worked like a charm). Generally, don't expect that a "Polack" girlfriend (as you nicely called her) would have different expectations than an American one.

3. Women are expensive. This is a fact of life. Get over it. TANSTAAFL, and "you get what you pay for" apply. :)
Gruffi_Gummi   
13 Dec 2011
History / Are there still communists in Poland? [58]

What do you guys think about it? . Lenin also attacked Poland but he didn't succeed, are those people who have that picture traitors? .

In the United States, such people would be considered traitors. But in Poland the population is being conditioned to reject patriotism in its commonly recognized meaning.
Gruffi_Gummi   
13 Dec 2011
Study / Racism in Czestochowa? I'm a black student from France. [14]

This is usually not racism per se. This is simply a reaction to someone different. Folks in big cities are used to foreign students and employees of multi-national companies. Conversely, for people from small towns a black or Asian person is still something exotic, and there is some small chance that you may draw some looks and comments that definitely are insensitive, and may be perceived as racist. Please be advised, however, that there is no cultural background in Poland for REAL racism (i.e. the sense of inherent inferiority of certain races). No history of slavery, colonialism and so on. So, the best advice I can give you is: be tolerant to country bumpkins. :)
Gruffi_Gummi   
14 Dec 2011
Work / (English and teaching in Poland) Help needed urgently re a VISA [13]

Maybe this is a naive advice: you are a British citizen, so dealing with the immigration bureaucracy in Britain will be probably easier for you. If possible, marry her, get all the British paperwork for her, so she can come to Poland as a Briton, without worrying about visas, work permits etc.
Gruffi_Gummi   
15 Dec 2011
Life / Why are Polish people so obsessed with race? [160]

I have met different nationalities from around Europe but Polish seem to be obsessed with peoples race.

Personally I don't care. I am married to an East Asian.
Gruffi_Gummi   
15 Dec 2011
News / Polish Doctor Burzynski finds a cure for incurable cancer [22]

Various cancer survivors are presented in the film who chose these medicines instead of surgery, chemotherapy or radiation

I assume graves of the people who didn't survive are not presented, to balance the message?
The efficacy of a treatment is not measured by PR stunts. It is established by clinical trials. Antineoplastons have failed such trials, as far as I know.
Gruffi_Gummi   
16 Dec 2011
USA, Canada / Where do most Polish-Americans identify on the political spectrum? [142]

Do Polish-Americans tend to be right-wing, left-wing, or what?

They consistently tend to vote Democratic, although after what Roosevelt and his party did to Poland this is just a proof that Polish jokes are not without merit.

Personally, I am a libertarian, and a Ron Paul supporter.
Gruffi_Gummi   
18 Dec 2011
History / Question about land of former Poland/modern Belarus [11]

Gruffi, it turns out what you said was not entirely true

It does not have to be true in 100% of cases. However, generally it is true that organized resettlements were done along the lines I described. Lwów -> Wrocław, Wileńszczyzna -> Pomorze. The latter applies to part of my own family; they have been resettled from a village near Nowa Wilejka, a region that now belongs to Belarus, to Kashubia. Conversely, there is a running joke (not devoid of merit) among Polish scientists that Wrocław University is actually a renamed Lwów University.
Gruffi_Gummi   
19 Dec 2011
Love / Do Polish women fight about everything? [39]

Women DO fight, especially during the pre-menstrual phase of the estrous cycle. Conversely, during the estrus she will be sweet to you. Amuse yourself by plotting the emotional changes against time. It's biology that shaped them this way: when a woman does not get pregnant, it is evolutionarily preferred if she attempts to switch partners (by being a b.tch to the current one). There was an article in The Lancet some time ago about this mechanism. Now, it is about your luck if your particular specimen can keep this more or less under the control of her brain, or not.
Gruffi_Gummi   
19 Dec 2011
Life / Is parity the answer for Polish women? [262]

Parity, just as other implementations of affirmative action, will have the following effect: it will be harder for competent individuals belonging to protected groups to qualify. How so? Because where competence counts, others with subject them to a tougher scrutiny, to verify that they are indeed competent, rather than just piggybacking on AA policies. Where competence does not count so much, they will be crowded out by legions of those, whose competence is defined solely by belonging to protected groups.
Gruffi_Gummi   
19 Dec 2011
UK, Ireland / Polish is an official language in the UK? [68]

The key point here, I think, is that it IS indeed only a modicum of respect to at least learn the fluent, survival basics of the target language of the country in which one has decided to or even is obliged to make one's home, end of story

I completely agree! After all, if Poles decide that UK is a better place for them to live than Poland, then it doesn't make much sense attempting to transform the said UK into another copy of Poland. Assimilate (nobody is expecting a 100% assimilation though) and be respectful to the culture of the host country!
Gruffi_Gummi   
20 Dec 2011
Food / Borscht - Zurek / Bialy barszcz recipe [153]

Vinegar and starch? It's barbarity! :) (no offense, please!)
This should be made from the same fermented stuff that is used for making bread (sourdough, just a little diluted). Other ingredients: sausage (either raw or smoked, sweet Italian sausage available in US grocery stores works fine), a potato cut into cubes, a bullion cube, some garlic, black pepper, marjoram, a bay leaf. Just before serving, add a spoon of sour cream.

Names for this soup: żurek, zalewajka.

I have never tried making this with vinegar, but quite conceivably using fermented rye flour produces a "milder" taste (this should be no surprise to any winemaker).
Gruffi_Gummi   
20 Dec 2011
UK, Ireland / Polish is an official language in the UK? [68]

how would you suggest they learn if they are working all day and too knackered to do anything else when they finish work?

1. Open a beer
2. Turn on the TV, put some good movie in the DVD player. In English. Turn the English subtitles on.
3. Enjoy
4. Repeat the process every evening.
Gruffi_Gummi   
20 Dec 2011
History / In Memory of victims, who had their lives cruelly taken at Treblinka Death Camp in Poland [104]

The wedding of Christianity with Enlightenment as had taken place successfully in France (...) (...) the concepts of liberty, equality, fraternity(...)

I'll play a devil's advocate: what about the concept of the guillotine that accompanied the previous three?

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Revolution#The_guillotine_as_a_symbol

Perhaps WWII Germany was just following and "perfecting" that tradition of disregard for human life?
Gruffi_Gummi   
21 Dec 2011
History / In Memory of victims, who had their lives cruelly taken at Treblinka Death Camp in Poland [104]

Actually, guillotining is an antithesis of "liberty, equality, fraternity". Your analysis of the reasons for the Holocaust genocide involved lamenting the different fate of the "Liberté, égalité, fraternité" principles in, respectively, France and Germany. I just pointed out that the fate wasn't so much different...
Gruffi_Gummi   
21 Dec 2011
History / In Memory of victims, who had their lives cruelly taken at Treblinka Death Camp in Poland [104]

Where the Jews, Sinti-Roma the "oppressors"?

Well, as for Jews, wasn't this the Nazis' rationale for genocide?

calvin.edu/academic/cas/gpa/sturmer.htm

Some quotes:

This issue accuses Jews of every manner of economic misdeed. The cartoon is titled "Demon Money." A Jewish monster, engraved with the Star of David and the symbols for the American dollar and British pound has its claws on the planet.

Gruffi_Gummi   
21 Dec 2011
History / In Memory of victims, who had their lives cruelly taken at Treblinka Death Camp in Poland [104]

If you or anyone else on PF believes such bilge, then you're dyed-in the-wool Jew haters!!!

How can you consider yourself a historian if you are emotionally unable to use appropriate sources? If you want to research the minds of WWII-era Germans and their rationale for wholesale murder, then you MUST refer to sources like Der Stürmer! If you plainly REFUSE, then you are a quack, not a scientist. But you do more than refuse - you dare to attribute materials someone else wants to study personally to the researcher, and this is precisely as rational, as refusing to shake hands with an HIV researcher, because you may get infected. Got it?

Naturally, the world is full of imbeciles. The professor who studies propaganda (with the focus on WWII German and GDR political propaganda) and who posted these reference materials, sometimes receives equally idiotic comments.

calvin.edu/academic/cas/gpa/faq.htm

Every now and then I get an unhappy surfer who believes that putting this material on the web must mean I am sympathetic to it. I encourage such people to read my published works on the topic.

Normally, I am quite tolerant to people from the left side of the bell curve, but you, my friend, claim to be a historian and this raises the bar a little.

You've only just realised, Lyzko?

No, he just waited for an excuse to proclaim this again. The evolution of this thread is a PERFECT reference material for the study of virulent Jewish anti-Polonism - a relevant to the discussion, legitimate reference, clearly (and even redundantly) marked as a quote, serving as a lame excuse to start and anti-Polish rant in #56...
Gruffi_Gummi   
21 Dec 2011
History / In Memory of victims, who had their lives cruelly taken at Treblinka Death Camp in Poland [104]

Not really, it's far better to check out what the men themselves had to say.

Pardon me, but are you advocating purposefully excluding available relevant, historical materials from the research? Then this is not research aimed at discovering the truth, but rather at confirming presumptions.

I understand that Der Stürmer is a particularly vile propaganda that may offend some sensitivities, but this is the very propaganda that had created the receptive environment for the Holocaust. This is the factor responsible for the fact that most Germans preferred to look the other way. If you ignore these sources, you will be condemned, like Lyzko, to creating unsupported sociological constructs, based on what your biased mind considers correct, rather than on what really happened in the 1930s Germany.
Gruffi_Gummi   
21 Dec 2011
History / In Memory of victims, who had their lives cruelly taken at Treblinka Death Camp in Poland [104]

It is of course a source of showing the sick mind of Herr Streicher and others, NEVER as a wellspring of historical fact!!!

Ah, the light becomes to dawn. Now scroll up to #55, please, and note that it had been referenced precisely as "a source of showing the sick mind of Herr Streicher and others", in the context of discussing the causes of the Holocaust. NOT as "a wellspring of historical fact" regarding Jews. And this defines your rant #56 alleging my anti-semitism as unjustified, offensive, and arguably as just a manifestation of deeply rooted anti-Polish resentments. Face it: you expect anti-semitism so much, you are on such a short fuse, that you interpreted as an attack on Jews something that clearly wasn't one.
Gruffi_Gummi   
22 Dec 2011
News / Amnesty to Illegal immigrants in Poland [102]

legend: "Only in western (sick) countries has the ethnicity and blood become meaningless."

Absolutely. I am wondering if the "blood" advocates have heard about the Polish national anthem played by Artur Rubinstein, or about the Tatar DNA in Henryk Sienkiewicz.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Rubinstein#Polish_affinity
Gruffi_Gummi   
25 Dec 2011
Love / Malaysian Girl with Polish Guy... any chance together? [16]

niana

I am Polish, my wife is an ethnic Chinese. I can tell you with a substantial certainty that there are no fundamental, cultural factors preventing Poles from developing inter-racial or inter-faith relationships. Cultural differences do exist, but their impact is minor. Maybe he just wanted to live alone?

All the best to you.
Gruffi_Gummi   
26 Dec 2011
Love / Malaysian Girl with Polish Guy... any chance together? [16]

Now I am going to make a guess. If you guys come and leave the United States so easily, then I am assuming that your socioeconomic status is relatively high. Scientists? Engineers? Students? Things like real racial prejudices among such people are extremely rare. So, I suggest that you stop worrying about "because I am an Asian".

It's rather a regular boy-girl issue, and one of the possible factors may be that some people cannot properly appreciate things that come their way too easily. Your boyfriend may have such a problem. Inviting him in an "I only moderately care" way would be a good idea. He should chase you, rather than you chase him. (I can't believe I am writing such things; where is my sense of solidarity with other men???).
Gruffi_Gummi   
27 Dec 2011
Life / Why is Prostitution still legal in Poland? [106]

As one of the last bastions of the Catholic Church in Poland, how can prostitution still be legal and morally accepted?

Perhaps because Poland was never a theocratic country? There is a space between what is socially desirable, and what is penalized. This space is called freedom.