Is moving to UK now a good idea? - antipolish prejudice of the Brits

I don't think that somebody seriously thinks along the line - you (UK) screwed Poland during WWII and now you own me - job, benefits, gold watch ....!

What Poles may say facing hostility of hosts who do not care and have no clue about much - is we have a right to this or that!

Meaning we are not criminals or illegals, those rights were given to us by the UK government. You have a problem with that ? Go and tell that to Cameron.


Easy for you to say - when have you been invaded lately ? lest see ...just a blink ago 1066 eh?
When you have been in serious possibility of invasion on your own soil - twice in 1806 and in 1941.
Drastic eh?

Poland had not been given chance to recover not from internal strife but from external enemies.
the word powers united against Poland in 1939 is not a joke its reality that bites.
How long have you cried about few bombed cities ?get real and get a grip man!

2004, one million plus.
owned.

cheap shot and one I expected.
busted

My dad blamed hated Hitler and Stalin, but the UK? no, he was well aware how powerless Britain was (he told me how Stalin and Roosevelt mocked Churchill). It seems to be forgotten that after the war the UK was bankrupt and on the point of starvation. It handed over its wealth and what remain of the Empire to the US. His choice of staying in the UK was a good one for him and our family and I don't think any of the Poles who actually fought form the British will agree that the UK really owes Poland financial repayments. Respect and gratitude, certainly.

It seems that the offspring of Poles who grew up in Britain have a much more mature and reasonable view of the situation in 1944-1945 than those offspring brought up elsewhere. Or have they just been brainwashed by those nasty Norman robber barons they suffer under?

If you do move over here, for gods sake do not move to Peterborough of doncaster. Find a nice little town or village where you can settle down and make new friends and integrate properly.

Do not send your kids to "polish kindergarten"
Do not bring your Polish TV decoder over here.
Do not do you shopping in Polish Shops
Do not spend 100% of your social time with other "expats".
Do not exclusively visit Polish Bars or Restaurants.
Have faith in British NHS Doctors and Dentists - Poland isn't ahead in medical expertise you know.

You will thank me for these tips in the future when your English skills are near perfect, you live a more enriched cultural lifestyle having experienced life in two country's..

and more importantly you won't have the embarrassment of asking for a translator when using "public services" such as benefits when it's obvious you've been here years..

Believe me some people do - there are e.European immigrants in this country who have been here for 8 years, and cannot write basic english, and their spoken is very poor as well.

Oh no,whatever you do,dont move to parts of england that have had large Polish communities for 70 + years.............listen to the boyo from North Wales( even most Welsh call the North Welsh weird sheep shaggers with horrible nasaly voices), you will be much better off moving to the home of rain,rain,sheep,rain,more sheep and holiday home arson.....

HH. You've made your point. You don't want Poles in the UK. Now f*** off and find a nice Pakistani site to infest.

If you're going to criticise other people's English skills, at least make sure that you haven't made at least seven mistakes in your own post. :p


I can't speak for anyone else, but I was brought up to understand that escaping Poland was something to be grateful for. This does not mean that my parents did not miss their family and country, but they understood that it was not a good place to live in the post-war years. Neither was the UK, but this country provided a safe haven, with opportunity for those willing to work hard. Poland was not safe, or full of opportunity, at the time. Who could blame them for staying here if they had the chance?

I have had several conversations with older Poles over the years, asking them why they don't shout louder than certain other "ethnic communities", and demand that they get what they do. The responses tended to be along the lines of "we're not owed anything; the fact that this country allowed us to settle here and escape Stalinism is enough. The rest was up to us". This is what makes me proud to be Polish, makes me respect the older generations more than the younger ones, and is probably also why I've always been willing to work hard for what I want to achieve.

There was no sense of "entitlement" amongst my parents generation, unlike many more recent immigrants. I have no idea where this attitude comes from, but I suspect that Poles have heard that the UK has unlimited money to give away to the lazy and feckless, and some believe that they deserve a piece of that pie as well. This country did not have this chav/benefit culture 60 years ago, which also explains why previous generations weren't really affected by it. Unfortunately, this attitude is not exclusive to the under-25s; one of my ex-girlfriends is over 40 now, and was quite open about her desire to obtain council housing, work as little as possible to avoid losing tax credits, and did not want to learn English because "Polish is an official EU language, so I have a right to demand an interpreter". Unfortunately, most of her friends had a similar attitude.

Yet when I dare criticise certain recent immigrants on here, I am called a traitor, despite the fact that I have always emphasised that I understand that NOT ALL immigrants are like this. Well, all those who call me that can f*** off - like many children of immigrants, I'm stuck between two identities: English people tell me to f*** off back to Poland, Polish-born people call me an "Angol". But what ever I am, I don't like people who take the p*ss; I won't be silenced, either by expats, or by Poles who resemble the ex mentioned above ;)

He who lives in a glass house shouldn't throw stones, or something like that.

hilarious!!! dont think i will be moving there anytime soon...why oh why oh why has hh not earned himself a suspension yet? his head is permanently stuck in his ass


i wish to god he would but i would just feel sorrry for the pakistanis...

I actually,hand on heart,like North Wales, but you got to have a larf now and again ;)

Seanus
If you are interested how polish people treated milions of foreigners, read about Casimir the Great and about Jews, which were hated in all over the Europe and had to flee, in Poland they have found a safe home . That is the way that Poles treated milions of foreigners.

The first extensive Jewish emigration from Western Europe to Poland occurred at the time of the First Crusade (1098). Under Boleslaw III Krzywousty (1102–1139), the Jews, encouraged by the tolerant régime of this ruler, settled throughout Poland, including over the border into Lithuanian territory as far as Kiev. At the same time Poland saw possible immigration of Khazars, a Turkic tribe that had converted to Judaism.

King Casimir was favorably disposed toward Jews. On 9 October 1334, he confirmed the privileges granted to Jewish Poles in 1264 by Bolesław V the Chaste. Under penalty of death, he prohibited the kidnapping of Jewish children for the purpose of enforced Christian baptism. He inflicted heavy punishment for the desecration of Jewish cemeteries.

Although Jews had lived in Poland since before the reign of King Casimir, he allowed them to settle in Poland in great numbers and protected them as people of the king.[4]

Some Jewish historians say the Hebrew word for 'Poland' is pronounced as Polania or Polin in Hebrew. As transliterated into Hebrew, these names for Poland were interpreted as "good omens" because Polania can be broken down into three Hebrew words: po ("here"), lan ("dwells"), ya ("God"), and Polin into two words of: po ("here") lin ("[you should] dwell"). The "message" was that Poland was meant to be a good place for the Jews. In later centuries up to 80% of the Jewish world population lived in Poland.

You mean banning them from living in the city of Warsaw for the majority of the time that Warsaw has been the capital of independent Poland?

Because of course that was their duty to welcome them with their arms open.
Why don't you name your problem ?Because you carry that chip on your shoulder for anyone to see - be honest what is your beef?

Sure, let's go back to the days of Casimir the Great.

Someone more cynical would say that the reason why Casimir granted my compatriots his protection had quite a bit to do with a certain raven haired beauty named Esther whom he met in a tavern her daddy ran and then had a decade or two long tryst with ( because apart from being a good king Casimir was also a horny old goat ).

Other than that - sure Poland had ( keyword - had ) a proud history of tolerance in the period that was called "The Dark Ages".

Unfortunately Poland is also the country that formally kicked Polish citizens with a Hebrew background out, stole our property and so forth. So I'm not sure whether the whole "we're so tolerant, look at Jews" thing applies anymore.

This isn't really relevant in the matter though because if, for some odd reason, 1-2 million Brits came to Poland and started to apply for local jobs here I'm pretty sure there'd be a huge pandemonium and Jarek Kaczynski would get like +20% in the polls simply by saying "Let's kick them out".

So let's keep this one real people.

Who cares really ?
Especially that in fact it was Casimir Jagielonczyk.


Nope, called modern times,


When was that ?
Even more interesting would be - why anybody should care especially for those with Hebrew background? There were Poles (without that noble background) whose property was stolen and who were kicked out of the country or murdered and so forth not that long ago!


That is a good advice!

Unfair Tefl... HH made some rather good points, to good in fact which is why you were so riled. Have you ever lived in a flat occupied by Poles ? Have you ever been subjected to Polish cable TV late at night?

Have you ever watched them parade up and down the welfare benefits office so smug that they think it is their right to come here and claim? (Actually the bastard UK politicians said ..'it is')

Late 1960's.

We already "argued" this once and you advised me to seek compensation from mr Jaruzelski, I told you to get stuffed shortly after. Hope this refreshes your memory.

.......move back to Poland..budum tshhh :)

don't read the Sun! - its a paper for retards who think Poland is where Santa Claus lives!

move to England but remember the North is best ;-)

actually we do owe Poland as many threads on this board have pointed out
we owe Poland in a way we don't owe the rest of Eastern/Central Europe, i know honour and loyalty are unfashionable but i don't care