Pol-Shorpy Photo Thread

Torqi, do you know the year the two pictures in your post were taken?

You can sense their pride in their countenance and posture, even in their old age.

Some of them have been impressive, for sure. I don't think it's wrong to admit this.

Azov, for all the hatred directed towards it, has earned respect in many corners for their stand in Mariupol. It's not unusual, in Russian telegram - whether MoD or old Wagner - to read positive things about Denis "Redis" Prokopenko - the leader of the Azov brigade during the stand in Azovstal.

They fought like Russians, which is what they are - however lost.

There are some other Ukrainian commanders that earned a grudging respect, but there's many more that are good only at executing the criminal orders originating from the Kiev PR machine.

I think the year is 1919 (56 years after the Uprising started). It was the year when the insurgents received their privileges and visited Piłsudski for the first time for official state celebrations.

I'm not sure about the second photo though.

Oh, I see. I didn't grasp your post well enough. Great photos.

Thanks, Anti. I realise this thread is a bit uneven. Sometimes I manage to find a really interesting photo, and sometimes I don't have any great idea and just find something quotidian.


Here's another interesting fact then: after Franciszek Łoś became a Russian POW, he was exiled to - now get this - Udmurtia, somewhere by the Вятка river. However, he was an Austrian subject not Russian (so he was not considered a rebel but a foreign POW), so his exile was quite short; he was released in 1832 and came back to Galicja.

Even the quotidian is interesting. 🙂

I don't want to be a party pooper, but this guy was an impostor. In 2005 it turned out that at the time when the January Uprising broke out he was only 8 years old. I'm guessing that he lied not only for respect and prestige - as a January Uprising veteran he got a house for free.

The rest of the guys in that photo are real veterans though :)


Yes, awesome stuff.


This is a great thread! I'm checking it out with interest. Thanks for running it :)


lol!

:(

And he had such a cool name (and surname!), absolutely perfect for a rebel. Oh, well...


Not at all. I'm glad you like it. :)

Za mundurem panny sznurem?: 1962

Ladies love a man in uniform... or is it the other way around? The lady sitting on a bench in one of many Warsaw parks doesn't seem overly impressed (and anyway, according to Jeff Shaw, the real reason women love a man in uniform is because it means he knows how to do laundry). ;)

Creative architecture: 2014

Those of us who remember the uniformity of socialist architecture (there were exceptions but few and far between) can really appreciate the creativity of today's architects. The building in the photo is the Pixel office building in Poznań; it has 7 floors and about 12,000 sq metres of office area. It used to host the Allegro Group before they moved, in 2022, to an even larger and more modern office complex (14 floors, 26,000 sq m) at Wierzbięcice 1B.

But that is .. forgive my foul language a crap! That you find it aesthetically pleasing is surprising and sad at the same time.

I'd rather say: interesting, creative and different. Not everything can be built in a gothic or baroque style, Iron. ;)

Everything is relative. For example, the Fiat Multipla, which is regularly considered the ugliest car in the world, is apparently exhibited at the Modern Art Museum in New York.

Not everything. It is a lie that is being sold.
We are not talking about music or food here, standards of beauty are universal, if someone has skewed his sense of beauty it is a kind of disability of the soul, that kind of architecture goes hand in hand with lefties i.e. those who want to kill a soul in humankind.

Hmm... I think that, apart from exaggerating a bit about this particular building, Iron is definitely onto something here. There was a Catholic Welsh poet, David Jones, who had this theory about "the utile" and "the gratuitous". Basically, he claimed that a thing - a building for example - cannot be totally utile, made only with the thought of its functionality, but it has to contain something extra, something gratuitous, something that adds beauty to it. Only then it becomes fully human.

Check this out, Iron...

flashpointmag.com/robichaud.pdf

I definitely agree with Jones on that, but I wouldn't be so harsh on the Pixel building; it was definitely built with functionality in mind, but the wooden elements there and the trees all around it (the photo was taken in Autumn, so there are no leaves, but normally there's a lot of lovely green colour around there), as well as the rooftop terraces provide the human element and beauty. So there's both usefulness and beauty in the building. Admittedly not in a classical style but still.

Not to mention the design allows for plenty of natural light. If anyone has ever spent time in an office, you'll know natural light is to die for in most office buildings.

Not sure I'd call this building beautiful or ugly.

Its box-like structure pretending to be original is right away ugly and utilitarian, the materials used and the way they are applied make the building less of an aye sore. Bearable in the context of all that the 20th century has to offer...

While the 20th century produced some awful utilitarian architecture, there was a lot of great stuff too. Art Deco, for example, is gorgeous. Great balance and symmetry and elegant lines. Wonderful use of materials.

May 1981, The Polish Pope had been seriously injured in an assassination attempt. People of Krakow came to the Market Square for the so called White March, to pray for the Pope. Indeed, most were wearing white.

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1970s, The Jewish New Square in Kazimierz district in Krakow. The old lady used to haunt the new comers with her look but was harmless.

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One aspect of cultural shock for me in America, is their treatment of crazy people.

There are so many of them on the streets, in the parks, and on the subway.

In Russia, it's very rare to see one by himself, out and about.

At first, I thought that this says something about how Russians are a shame-based culture. That is, people are embarrassed of their mentally ill relatives, and basically keep them locked up at home. Americans seemed more humane in comparison, taking them out, and even letting them roam about on their own.

Now I think, it must be something to do with how f*cked up public healthcare is in America.

So question is, what are Polish attitudes towards mentally ill people being outside unaccompanied?

If they are not dangerous or disruptive, then everything is OK. In a nearby town where we go for shopping or other things, we often see a man who roams the streets energetically and greets everybody saying Hello, Doc! How are you doing? etc. He is harmless and nobody cares.

Back home, there is a young guy who stands in front of a university with a traffic cop baton. He helps all the students park their cars.

In the beginning he had a pretty primitive stick, but eventually he got a real baton powered by batteries and with lights. One of the students must have made him a gift.

He's there every single day from probably 8 AM until 5 PM, helping people park. He takes his job extremely seriously.

Even a crazy Russian, craves bureaucratic power.

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Welcome home, Colonel: 2023

After 75 years the ashes of colonel Wincenty Sobociński came back to Poland. In the morning of 31st August 1939 Sobociński obtained information about the incoming German attack on Westerplatte but transmitting this information on the radio was not possible. He decided to go on a risky mission, and drive through the area where German troops were already preparing for the attack, to warn the garrison. Sobociński also knew that the intervention corps (27th and 13th Infantry Divisions) which was supposed to relieve the defenders was disbanded and that the 2nd Sea Riflemen Batallion, that was supposed to land in Westerplatte, won't be able to come to their aid either. He managed to talk to Westerplatte's commander, major Sucharski, at 2 pm. At 4.45 am next morning the German attack commenced. The defenders, warned by the heroic colonel, were prepared and put up a legendary defense: under the fire of artillery and Schleswig-Holstein battleship, under the bombs of Luftwaffe, facing 20-1 enemy advantage. They were supposed to last 12 hours. They held out for six days.

After Poland's defeat Sobociński fought in Polish armed forces in the West, and after the war emigrated to Argentina. His great dream was to be buried in his Fatherland. Last year this dream came true. Colonel Sobociński's ashes were laid to rest in St. Bridget's church in Gdańsk on 23rd December 2023.

Wow!

@Bobko

Westerplatte, alongside the defence of Wizna and cavalry counter-attack at Mokra, is one of the most legendary battles of September 1939...

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Westerplatte

No brakes, no gear, no fear: 2022

There is something about speedway that reflects Polish national soul and spirit. The Speedway Ekstraliga is the top division of motorcycle speedway in Poland. It has been called the "richest and most popular speedway league in the world", and attracts riders from all over the world. The Ekstraliga has the highest average attendances for any sport in Poland.

In the photo we see one of the races of the 2022 Poland vs The Rest of the World match, won comfortably by Poland (51-38). Last year The Rest of the World managed to put up a better fight and they lost only 42:48.

It shows the difference competent and selfless command can produce.

Naaaah, major Sucharski had a nervous breakdown at some point and captain Dąbrowski had to take over the command for a time. Westerplatte was pure bravery, balls and wkurwienie of an ordinary Polish soldier. :)

Magic of the Tatra Mountains: 2019

The highest mountains in the Carpathians, the Tatra Mountains, form a natural border between Poland and Slovakia. Giewont, the Polish "national mountain", is featured prominently in myths and folklore. Regardless of the time of the year Tatry attract millions of tourists (about 4 million visitors annualy).

Two Polish winters of the century:
First photo from 1929 - a WW1 tank used as a snow plough.
Second - 1979 - communist Poland - cleared railway track.

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