History / Are Poles happy with the current Polish borders? [134]


I doubt many Serbians even care, given that Poland is a bastion of Catholicism and we all know how hysterical the Serbs can be about Catholics.


Some might say the same about that European black sheep, Serbia.

(and I say this as someone who somewhat likes Serbia)

History / Polish and German Borders-Justice for Both Countries or not? [37]

I could be wrong, but I think there aren't actually many made up names - Gorzów comes to mind as being made up, but for instance - Jelenia Góra was Hirschberg before. Zielona Góra was Grünberg, too. Then you get situations like Walbrzych, where -


en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walbrzych#Etymology

It's interesting stuff - they seem to have used older German names as the basis for the new Polish name.

I've always wondered - did people in Polish call Breslau - Wrocław or not before 1945? It was home to a sizable Polish minority between the wars...

History / Polish and German Borders-Justice for Both Countries or not? [37]

We happen to like Wroclaw and Szczecin and see no reason to give them up in exchange for a vast, poor territory that would require far more money than Poland has even to bring it up to Polish standards.

Genealogy / I am looking for an African guy in Krakow, I dated [73]


You're being completely out of line.

Who asked you to judge what she did and didn't do? For what it's worth, I believe the problem is only in your own pathetic head.

You're a vile, despicable person. Telling someone to abort a child because it's mixed race is unbelievably disgusting.

Trying to suggest that she has mental and physical problems just because she made a mistake...I guess you're perfect and have led an even better life than Jesus, huh?

Genealogy / I am looking for an African guy in Krakow, I dated [73]


Step 3: stop posting rude, arrogant stuff. You left Poland many years ago.

History / Polish and German Borders-Justice for Both Countries or not? [37]


If you genuinely love Poland, you would know the sheer impossibility of re-integrating the former Polish territories in the East to Poland.

UK, Ireland / Buying an export car from UK (VAT-free) and importing it into Poland [35]


That changed a while back - warranties must now be honoured EU-wide. Buy a product in the UK with a UK guarantee, and you must have it honoured in Poland.

UK, Ireland / Buying an export car from UK (VAT-free) and importing it into Poland [35]

Would they really be buying new cars, though?

UK, Ireland / Buying an export car from UK (VAT-free) and importing it into Poland [35]


Normally, any decent Customs clearance would have very close links with the Urzad Celny. I'd recommend - if I was importing a car - to try and find one at Swiecko.

What you want to look for is something like "Agencja Celna" at TTOC Swiecko - for instance - emsped.com.pl/kontakt

I'd recommend clearing the car into the EU (and Poland) there for the simple reason that it's a convenient location and that there are a lot of agents there that you can use - you just need to make sure to arrive there with the car during normal office hours.

Nothing stops you clearing the car into Poland somewhere else, but if you plan on transporting it yourself, it might be best to do it somewhere where they're not going to muck you around.

UK, Ireland / Buying an export car from UK (VAT-free) and importing it into Poland [35]


Perhaps - as I recall, the engine size has a direct influence on the taxation. I seem to recall that cars over 2 litres have a fairly crippling level of excise duty applied to them.

Probably the best bet would be to contact a Customs clearance agent and ask them - they'll probably be able to give you a definitive answer.

Travel / Poles the worst-dressed tourists in the world? [25]


Never seen it here, not even in the worst PRL osiedle. Heck, haven't even seen it in the dodgiest marketplace in Ukraine!

Study / Private Universities vs Public Universities in Poland [31]

Indeed. Thankfully, employers tend to understand that the cause of the cheating is very much based upon a system that is completely broken - were the system to be relevant, then I suspect cheating would decline considerably. I know quite a few honest people who admit to having cheated in university, simply because they were forced to study irrelevant nonsense.


Plenty of them here, I'm afraid.

At least with medicine, I've always understood it to be something that requires considerable dedication on one's part - it's never going to be enough to learn from the professors.

Study / Student dormitories vs private rooms in Poland. What's the best option? [12]

Some can be very very nice, especially if they're reserved for foreign students. But the issue of the lady at the door is a big one - I have some Asian friends who got together and bribed them a significant amount of money (I think it was something like 2000zl for each worker) to turn a blind eye to the stuff that they did (parties, having guests over, etc).

Study / Private Universities vs Public Universities in Poland [31]

And are worth perhaps 1/3rd of a US degree too.

History / Jaruzelski vs Pinochet [120]


It makes sense - they have a specific purpose, and they're not for couples in general. I know one that is used to run a bar - which makes sense, the owners have different business interests and it gives the bar a specific legal identity. And don't forget that the ZUS costs are deductible from taxes.


Why should you be allowed to opt out when employees and employers can't?


I wonder how you're doing this, unless you work exclusively under umowa o dzieło contracts. In which case, good luck to you.


Perhaps, but we all know that the reality would mean most sole traders would save nothing for retirement and the country would be facing a massive crisis in the years to come.


I dunno what my tax burden is, I'm employed under umowa o prace and don't pay attention to the gross figure. Last time I checked, it was coming in around 35% - I can live with that.


Nice - you take advantage of what Poland has to offer, but you refuse to contribute. I do hope you don't use any services that are funded by the State, such as most public transport systems in Poland.


Since when has taxation been a set percentage?


Because private healthcare is cheap and affordable.


I'm the last to defend Kaczynski, but as far as I know, he did nothing in particular in that respect.

But if you never got a single zloty, then you simply didn't try. There are so many funds available that you'd have to consciously avoid applying for them.


Nice. Obviously you don't have much of a conscience.

History / Jaruzelski vs Pinochet [120]

If you apply the principle that if you earn 4000zl as a self employed person, you pay 1000zl in ZUS and very little income tax (usually next to nothing if your accounts are done properly) - then a 25% tax rate that includes health care and pension contributions isn't really so bad.

History / Jaruzelski vs Pinochet [120]

Probably the fact that ZUS requires you to actually save for your own pension.

Real Estate / Renting in Poland - tenants' rights? [51]


No, it doesn't quite work like that. They have to agree to the move - which means that in practice, they won't.

There are simple ways around this situation, however.

History / Jaruzelski vs Pinochet [120]


Until you were in such a situation, I don't think you can judge. There were plenty of ordinary, decent people who had Party membership (or were members of one of the pseudo-Party organisations) who did nothing wrong to anyone. That included a considerable percentage of the educated classes - who had an education and who had no desire to rot their brains in a mindnumbing factory. Can you honestly say that they were scum?

Of course, if you had Party membership to line your own pockets through corruption, then you were of course scum. But the rank and file can't really been criticised in the same way - in my humble opinion.


I would argue that the most devastating act since 1956 was marital law. The Army in 1980-1981 was somewhat trusted - even, as I understand it, the general attitude of Walesa and others was that they could do business with Jaruzelski because he had the support of Moscow and that he was from a good family and background. For him to order the Polish Army on their own people was - as you say - damaging to the collective mentality.


I wouldn't blame them in the 80's. Nowadays, I don't understand it - but back then, it's perfectly understandable. Sadly, hatred of Jaruzelski these days seems to be directly in reverse proportion to one's own status in society.


Solidarity themselves were expecting to only win 20-30 seats in the Sejm, not helped by the PZPR choosing a lot of local celebrities to stand for election.


Apologies for nitpicking, but ZUS was created in the II RP, not in the PRL.

History / Jaruzelski vs Pinochet [120]

Pawian, do we know what JPII and Jaruzelski discussed, if anything?

Work / Can I find a job in Poland that requires speaking in English? [82]

Hmm... send me a PM with your e-mail address and I'll be in touch :)

Work / Can I find a job in Poland that requires speaking in English? [82]

The problem is how much you can expect to earn - probably you would only get minimum wage here (which is 1200zl net a month) at the most.

Where in Poland are you going?

History / Jaruzelski vs Pinochet [120]


Indeed. Perhaps Dougpol should bear this in mind.

History / Jaruzelski vs Pinochet [120]


The Polish version of Wikipedia contains a mention of it - I forget where I read it, but he certainly was involved in some way against the UPA.

History / Jaruzelski vs Pinochet [120]

As I recall, Jaruzelski distinguished himself during the ethnic cleansing of the Ukrainians.

History / Jaruzelski vs Pinochet [120]

Indeed. It's remarkably naive to believe that all Communists were corrupt - even looking at Jaruzelski, his history shows that he was never interested in the perks that accompanied power. I can't judge for his whole character, but it seems that he genuinely believes that he was doing what was best for Poland.


And one that I don't understand. Being furious at Communists if you're Antoni Macierewicz makes sense, but being furious at them when you grew up and lived in a country where Communism never really took hold? Odd.

History / Jaruzelski vs Pinochet [120]


Doug, I'm sorry to call you out on this one, but what convinces you that they were as genuine as they say they were? We saw in East Germany that families were destroyed by revelations in the files - people who were supposedly ultra-opposition turned out to be collaborating, and that many families were betrayed from within. If the family suffered that much - then it makes you wonder if they didn't have a traitor in their midst. Of course, the files are mostly closed, so you won't be finding that out anytime soon.

I'm of the opinion that it is very, very difficult to know for certain that someone was clean in those times.


It's remarkably easy for you to say as someone who didn't have the Soviet Union breathing down your neck to judge Jaruzelski.


That sort of unhealthy hatred will get you nowhere. Communism has been dead for 23 years and counting - not to mention that it didn't affect you personally.


I'm sorry, but you never suffered personally at the hands of Jaruzelski.

History / Jaruzelski vs Pinochet [120]


If it's true, then the number is similar to elsewhere in the Soviet bloc. I find him an interesting character - but perhaps not a reliable one.


Are there numbers available for those professions?


Yes, without a shadow of a doubt. I dare say that a significant number of priests were simply blackmailed.

History / Jaruzelski vs Pinochet [120]


Not to mention the ones that collaborated.

I forget his name, but there was that priest that estimated something like 8-10% of the Church was compromised.

History / Jaruzelski vs Pinochet [120]


It's an interesting question - would those that were left (especially the intellectuals that had survived) really put themselves in a situation where Poland was going to be finished as a result just for the sake of attending church?

It's only a guess, but after those long years of war and the harshness of Stalinism, I don't think people would fight for it. But let's not argue about it :)


Well - if the deal on offer was the Church being outlawed in exchange for some stability and an improvement in living conditions, I think people would have accepted it. I think Poland was so brutalised to the point where they simply had enough. A great mystery to me though is why the Stalinists didn't just take over the Church in the first place.

For me, the whole Party-Church relationship in Poland was exceptionally interesting. I know by the 70's, many small places had settled on a consensus that the Party and the Church dominated local affairs.


It's an interesting idea - you give everyone immunity from prosecution, but they are expected to tell the full truth in the process.