Pol-Shorpy Photo Thread

Warsaw by night: 1935



Pre-war Warsaw, a city that remains only in the memory of fewer and fewer living survivors and in old photographs. Warsaw was razed almost entirely to the ground by barbarian hordes from the west. That's Polish history in a nutshell: barbarians to the east, barbarians to the west.

That picture could almost be today. Especially in Praga which survived the war or in the southern part of the city centre which wasn't as badly damaged since they'd run out of explosives and only had petrol. Plus that was where the German occupiers lived.

Well, "only" 80% of Warsaw was destroyed, so I supposed something was left. :-/

Zniszczony. Destroyed or badly damaged. And the 80% refers to centrum. All of Praga plus some parts of Śródmieście Południowe and Powiśle survived. There are some amazing pre-war buildings, some with their original wallpaper.

The suburbs generally survived in whole or in part; most of the streets around me are 1930s and I live in a house completed in 1938.

Nope...

polskieradio.pl/39/156/artykul/3042908,zaglada-miasta-zniszczenia-warszawy-podczas-ii-wojny-swiatowej

... "Łącznie od początku II wojny światowej Warszawa została zniszczona w ponad 80 proc. ".

Yet the suburbs are mostly pre-war and Praga remained pretty well intact.

Stones for the Rampart: 1943



Jan Bytnar "Rudy" is smiling to us from this well known photo (here in the colorized version). Rudy, a hero of Grey Ranks, died shortly after being freed from German captivity by Polish resistance. His death was the result of bestial interrogation and torture by SS-Oberscharführer Herbert Schulz and SS-Rottenführer Ewald Lange. In retaliation both Schulz and Lange were liquidated (on 6th and 22nd May 1943 respectively). Many schools and over 150 boy scouts teams in Poland are named after Jan Bytnar.

And his and his buddies` graves in the Merit Cemetary are regularly visited by students who come to Warsaw on school trips. I took my students there, too.

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Respect, Pawi.

No, nothing special. Standard lesson on patriotism for young Poles and Polesses. :):):)

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Don't be modest - you did the right thing, went beyond the call of duty. You could have taken them for a hike in the mountains or to Masurian lakes or something but you gave them a lesson in patriotism instead. Am I surprised? Yes, but I like to be positively surprised by people. :)

Such trips are also organised at schools but a trip to Warsaw is a must for each Polish student. Capital, after all.

Duel of Seasons: 2022



This duel between winter and spring took place in April 2022 in Tatra Mountains (Polana Chochołowska). After all, as old Polish proverb says: kwiecień plecień, bo przeplata trochę zimy, trochę lata. :)

You should have explained that the area is known for crocus flowers which symbolise the return of spring and attract thousands of fans who come to enjoy the view and take photos. Below.


It would be good if you translated this proverb for non- Polish readers who are not Internet savvy and don`t use Google translation service coz they don`t know how to. :):):)

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Wow! That might cause some controversy among our imperial Russian members. Better watch out or they might bring out the stereotypical image of a trecherous Pole (in Russian culture) against you. :):):)

Volksw... erm... I mean car for the masses: 1957



SFM Smyk was supposed to be a Polish Citroen 2CV. The prototype was promising but it never entered mass production (only 17 Smyks were made). Instead the powers that be decided that a more conservative construction, Mikrus MR-300, will be produced in WSK Mielec and WSK Rzeszów factories. However, Mikrus wasn't a big success either and only about 2000 of them were made. Poles had to wait until Fiat 126p (about 3.5 million of them were manufactured in Poland, and over 1 million in Italy) to finally have a true people's car.

A photo with a monster: 1936



Maria Kwaśniewska, multiple javelin throw champion of Poland, won bronze medal in the Berlin 1936 Olympics. Adolf Hitler invited her to his VIP lounge after the medal award ceremony and jokingly said "Congratulations to a little Pole", to which she replied "You're not too tall either". :)

The photo, however, turned out to be quite useful - SS-men were mesmerised by it - and allowed Kwaśniewska to save many people from the interim camp in Pruszków, and hide them in her house in Podkowa Leśna.

She died in 2007 and remains in the Polish memory as a great sportswoman and a brave, noble person.

Yep... and now we know who actually started World War 2.

Home sweet home: 1929



You can travel the world but there's no place like home. In the photo we see Jerzy Jeliński standing next to his Buick after coming back from a trip around the world, which he started on 30th May 1926. Jeliński started the adventure in Ford T and finished in the brand new Buick (the Ford was in a very bad condition after the African stage of his journey) bought for him by the American Polonia.

Going to the movies: 1937



Movie fans gathered in front of Palladium cinema at Złota 7 street in Warsaw.

Cracking down on moonshine: 1972



Milicja Obywatelska (Citizens' Militia) officers posing with confiscated equipment after a raid on an illegal moonshine distillery in Łomża.

Interestingly, it was profitable to distill moonshine even though vodka was so cheap.

It was, on condition you drank occassionally. For those who consumed it every day, it wasn`t. :):):)

Yes, that's right, in college there were parties only every week on the weekend

Protect and serve... and keep fit: 1929



Presenting of awards in the annual sports competition for Wilno Vojvodship police officers. The awards were presented by the Chief of XVI Wilno District Police, inspector Bronisław Praszałowicz (1884-1971).

Child's play: 1958



Internet and video games hadn't yet captivated the souls and minds of Polish children in 1950s, so they had to invent their own ways of spending free time. Here we can see a group of kids engaging in a rather dangerous game of racing cars passing through a small Lesser-Poland town of Annopol.

Nothing sacred in war: 1946



In the photo we can see the damage done to Gdańsk's iconic St. Mary's Church. Almost every church in the city centre was destroyed or badly damaged by the Red Army. The only exception was St. Nicholas' church (the oldest one!) whose parish priest managed to convince the Soviet soldiers to leave the building alone with the highly persuasive combination of wine from the church's cellar and stories about its patron saint who is highly revered in Orthodox tradition.

From Poland with kisses: 1974



This charming photo which looks like a modern-day dziubek selfie was actually taken half a century ago in Wrocław. The name of the woman in the photo is probably Natalia (see the bottom right corner) and she made this lovely dziubek for us before it was fashionable.

Source: MuFo, Muzeum Fotografii w Krakowie

Polish-Serbian Brotherhood: 2024



In the photo we can see Serbian and Polish hooligans of Voždovac Belgrade and Łomżyński KS celebrating Serbian-Polish brotherhood during a game between Bačka Topola and FK Voždovac.

And after the game...





... Poland and Serbia - Northern and Southern Guardians of Intermarium.

Sealed with a kiss... or two: 1967



Legendary boxing coach -- he was the coach of Polish NT for over 30 years (1936-1968) -- Feliks "Papa" Stamm, kissed by two of his boxers, Jerzy Kulej and Marian Kasprzyk, after the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo.