Pol-Shorpy Photo Thread

Inspired by shorpy dot com here's a thread with historic photos from Poland; each with a title, year and a short description. I will try to post one or two a day; please feel free to comment and add photos too.

Oh, the luxury: 1978

Two brand new FSO Polonez parked in front of Victoria Hotel in Warsaw. This photo is literally oozing with luxury, or at least with PRL's (People's Republic of Poland) idea of it.

Kneeling in a Winter Wonderland: 1944

Soldiers of AK (Home Army) 27th Volhynian Division taking their oath in a beautiful winter scenery.

Those cars would have looked good even in the decadent West. Kinda reminds me of a VW Scirocco, from the front.


Armed with PPSh-41 submachine guns, and receiving a blessing from a very Orthodox-looking priest.

They did! Here's a cover of a German advertisement booklet...

... and they were seen all around Danish countryside in the 80s/90s (apparently Danish farmers thought the car was cheap and quite sturdy). :)

They were exported to many countries of the world and we sold licence abroad (they were manufactured in Egypt, China and Thailand).

Jeremy Clarkson is not the greatest fan of Polonez, to put it mildly, but the car was quite decent in the poor, grey communist times.


That's old Poland for you: more eastern than it is today and multi-cultural. :)

Sealed With a Kiss: 1973

Edward Gierek welcoming Leonid Brezhnev in Warsaw, and confirming Polish-Soviet friendship in a rather manly manner.

Highlander, Don't You Regret?: 1979

Pope John Paul II in the marketplace of his hometown (Wadowice) during his first apostolic visit to Poland.

Into the 21st century: 1987

Highschool students working on their brand new Elwro 800 Junior (Polish-made ZX Spectrum clone). It is estimated that in late 80s and early 90s about 1 million primary school and highschool students in Poland used E800J in their IT classes.

A wedding photo: 1940

Times were difficult but people were still falling in love and people were still getting married, like this cavalier of the Fighter's Cross (for the 1939 defensive campaign) and his wife Janina. Alas, their story did not have a happy end.

I opened the Wikipedia page for ZX Spectrum clones. It's crazy how many there were.

In the Soviet Union, we had the Dubna-48K, AZX Monstrum, Anbelo/C, Arus, ATM Turbo, Baltica, Best III, Bi Am ZX-Spectrum 48/64, Blitz, Byte, Composite, and a million others.

God bless Clive Sinclair!

TY for this post Kania.

One of the greatest Brits ever! I was a Speccy maniac myself. :)


I have to admit that Russian Spectrum demo scene was the best. It's crazy what your guys could do with the machine - they were able to squeeze every last bit of juice out of the old ZX. Aaaah... those were the days.

Just like we can squeeze every last bit of juice out of the T-72 - things the designers could probably scarcely imagine.

PT-91 Twardy is a good attempt in this regard, as well.

Another similarity between our people. Remind me again: why are we enemies? *scratches head*

EDIT: Oh, yes... Putin and his great "Let's Restore the Soviet Union" circus. Almost forgot... :-/

Martial Law in Pomerania: 1981

Citizens watch in surprise as tanks roll through the streets of Gdańsk.

Y Viva Polonia!: 1982

Solidarity banner unfolded in the Polish stand, as Poland is about to play the USSR in the 1982 football World Cup in Spain (biało-czerwoni will eventually finish third, beating France 3-2 in the 3rd place playoff).

Was it then that Poland eliminated russia by drawing with them?

Yes, the game ended with a 0-0 draw, but it was Poland who went further in the tournament.

With a little help from my friends: 1977

This Fiat 125p ('p' for Polish) ambulance needs just a little push from helpful passers-by to get on time where it's needed.

Iconic scene from a Yugoslav film 📽️ The Balkan Spy (1984) where a Stalinist supporter interrogates a suspected dissident and as evidence tries to use the Solidarity matches. 😁

"Coincidence you claim huh, just like it's by coincidence that in the Vatican for the first time in 600 years a foreign pope was appointed. Not only is he a foreigner, but he's also Polish!"

m.imdb.com/title/tt0086935/

Commie (mega)blocks: 1977

Schooldchildren are coming back home to their cosy, huge, concrete cuboids (in the background we can see the famous 'Falowiec' in Gdańsk).

It is possible that he was pushed by patients. The same ones he later took to the hospital.

In socialism even patients were strong enough to push their ambulance.


Hmm... looks like an interesting film. Will try to find it somewhere online. :)

Enjoy.

Thanks! :)

It's not gambling if you know you're going to win: 1976

Punters at Służewiec Horseracing Track are absolutely convinced that today is the day they're going to win big.

Colour Me Beautiful: 1909

Anna Iwaszkiewicz and Maria Wysocka posing for this, probably the first in Poland, autochrome colour photo.

Stay well away, Grzegorz: 2008

Thousands of Chassids from all around the world gather each year in Leżajsk to visit the grave of their Tzadik, Elimelech Weisblum (1717-1787), on the anniversary of his death.

It's rather baltic this morning: 2015

It's neither the biggest nor the deepest of seas but still the Baltic Sea possesses certain elusive poetic charm.

Plus there are no sharks in it.

Helping the little ones: 1974

A tired nurse stands at one of her patients bed in Warsaw Children Hospital (the first children hospital in Poland, in unceasing operation since 1869).

By the way, a lot of the photos that I post were taken by the legend of Polish photography, Marian Schmidt... pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marian_Schmidt.

Schmidt called himself "a wanderer, looking for treasures in everyday life"...