History / The sketch of scenes in Poland in 1970 [7]

Merged: The winners of a Polish Radio essay competition in the 1970s - memories from the trips around the Poland

In the 1970s I was one of the winners of a Polish Radio essay competition. I joined a group of international essayists on a tour of about 2 weeks around Poland -historic sites and factories etc. I know that this competition went on for more than one year. Does anybody remember these trips from the point of view of radio organizer or foreign guest. I did some years ago write a short piece for Polish Radio of my experiences. I think everybody had an unforgettable experience and it would be good to relive memories with those who were involved.

News / China-Poland railway - but why Łódź? [8]

Thanks to all for your explanations and also provision of links on this subject of China-Poland railway.

History / Nowa Huta and other achievments of PRL (People's Republic of Poland) [79]

you say that Krakow had the workforce needed to pull it off (meaning Nowa Huta)...but I understand from reading that most of the population for the new town came from the rural areas and not just from the rural hinterland for that matter...Of course I would expect that the engineers and planners would be readily available in Krakow

History / History and old pictures from Nowa Huta [11]

Thanks for your informative replies to my queries.

History / History and old pictures from Nowa Huta [11]

Merged: nowa huta steel works

I have just reviewed an American book 'Nowa Huta: unfinished Utopia' by Katherine Lebow, which is written from the sociological perspective. Another book, 'Nowa Huta' by Goetz Diergarten (a German) looks at the town from purely the artistic point of view. Both authors do not pay much attention to the actual steel works which was the raison d'etre of the town.

A British geologist was asking me where did the Nowa Huta plant get its iron ore from. I learnt from browsing the internet (not much material) that there is no large source of iron ore in the vicinity of Krakow. This source also said that there are no coalfields for 100s of miles, which I think is wrong, because the Silesian coal field (and the famous Jan fully automated coal mine) must have been near by.

So does anybody know where this Lenin Steel Mill got its raw materials from in the past? And for that matter where the materials are obtained from in the present.

I learnt that the Indian-born billionaire, Lakshmi Mittal, now owns this steel mill and it is still functioning. This is quite remarkable in a world where steel mills have more or less all closed down in Britain. There must be an interesting story there as well. For eg, I would imagine (might be wrong) that there has been what the Americans call downsizing and the labour force in Nowa Huta much reduced, leading perhaps to unemployment but also perhaps new economic enterprises.

Frank O'Reilly

History / Aurochs, the primitive prehistoric cattle of Europe, had lived in Poland? [48]

Thanks to you all. I had no idea that my query about aurochs (Polish=tur?) would bring such a lot of interesting responses. 1jola should not be concerned that the did not know the word 'auroch', as I guess most English-speaking natives don't know this word. That 'Game of Thrones' sounds interesting...what is it about? Re the aurochs it would seem then that that they have been extinct throughout Europe, since 16th century (could any have survived in Siberia for eg) and therefore it is puzzliing how that Dutch scientist could find auroch genetic material in modern day cattle.

I agree that the theme of looted treasure is another thread...and a very worthwhile one at that. But when did the Swedes do all this plundering? Was it in the religious wars of Europe (is it called Thirty Years War?) when Catholic and Protestant princes fought it out and, I believe, the Swedes invaded Northern Poland?

frankdom

History / Polish church sculpture (the 70s tour of Poland) [7]

I was in the bookshop of Westminster Cathedral London the other day and was surprised to see some wood-carved models of 'the pensive Christ' for sale (the genre known in German as der elende Christ). These were not cheap, ranging from £80 to £120. The salesgirl told me that a Polish man called A. Burda (his name was on the bottom of the woodcarving) had made them and brought them in for a trial run, but they were not selling well, probably because they looked so strange to English eyes. She also opined that they showed Christ before the Crucifixion contemplating his execution. She said 'these are found all over Poland', a statement which I think is a gross exaggeration.

It will be interesting to see if this unique sculptural genre catches on in England and whether anyone writes a study of it. Although forum-member Magdalena kindly directed me to the appropriate website, I have still not found a scholarly history and explanation of this genre.

Frank O'Reilly

Digressing from the Polish church sculpture, I was wondering about the variety of church architecture in Poland and whether there is a typically Polish church. I mean in the western part of Poland I found that quite a lot of churches had previously been German Lutheran and then they were converted to Catholic use. I found an interesting 'Polish' church in Helsinki near the harbour. This had been built by Tsar Alexander for this Polish troops who were stationed in what was then the Russian-dominated Grand Duchy of Finland. The church is called St. Henry's (or St. Henrick's). I am not sure how true it is to models of churches in Poland but when I was there a few years ago it had a French priest who preached in English and spoke some Finnish to a congregation of mainly Americans and Filipinos and the church booklets were printed in Meath, Ireland - what a mixture! I am sure that these days Polish architects are using their skills to make exciting and innovative new churches.

History / Polish church sculpture (the 70s tour of Poland) [7]

Thanks to Magdalena for her very useful link to 'The Pensive Christ.' I cannot find the exact sculpture that I saw, but at least that link makes me realize that my memory was not at fault and I was not going mad. It is interesting also that the statues seem to be associated somewhat with Silesia which was one of the regions that I travelled in. Thanks to both of you. I hope there will be more correspondence on this matter. It proves the worth of this polish forum to me as I have been searching for ages for information on this but never came anywhere near getting an answer and then I join polishforums and eh presto!!

I am emboldened to try to tap into your collective knowledge on a different topic. On my tour of long ago (it was in the Gierek regime) we visited the Jan Fully Automated Mine, which I think was in Slask (might be wrong). This was fully automated. No men went down that coal mine, unless maybe for repair work. The reason: it was all worked by robots. It was controlled by a man who sat in a nice cosy office with a vast screen in front of him and we could see into the different passageways in the mine. This was very advanced at the time. I never heard of anything like this in UK or USA coalmining regions. Do any of you remember it? Is it still active.

Frankdom