News / School shooting in Sweden. Should Poland be worried about a copycat? [24]

Shooting, stabbing, goring.... sorry there, Chem, I only know what I read in the papyrusLOL

Of course, the premise is that the attacker a la Mr. Breivik in Norway, had a biased motive. Again, only curious, as this is a Polish, and not a Swedish, forum, whether any Polish schools feel any heightened sense of alert!

News / School shooting in Sweden. Should Poland be worried about a copycat? [24]

Empathy apart, InPolska, my query was merely as to whether Poland, as Sweden's European neighbor (if not directly) feared a similar type of attack as iminent or not.

That's all:-)

News / School shooting in Sweden. Should Poland be worried about a copycat? [24]

?? Being neither Swedish nor particularly xenophobic (at least, not in public), inPolska, I'm slightly confused right now as to the nature of your rant. At whom are you lashing out, pray? Certainly not at me. So at whom, then:-)

History / remember, forget, forgive, blame ... Holocaust Memorial Day in Poland [229]

That's correct. Even after the war, some Germans complained that Eichmann hadn't gotten rid of ENOUGH!!!

Incredible.

History / remember, forget, forgive, blame ... Holocaust Memorial Day in Poland [229]

Chamonix, Mr. Irving shares with many other historians of his ilk the overriding desire to make his theories fit the facts rather than the other way round.

History / remember, forget, forgive, blame ... Holocaust Memorial Day in Poland [229]

No one here on PF, least of all yours truly, has ever stated that Jews have some sort of saintly, martyred aka untouchable status, a sort of monopoly either on suffering or perfect behavior which automatically frees them from being just as human (along with their share of low lives, greedy opportunists and scum!!!) as anyone else. The issue here is whether Poland is as complicit as Pan Profesor Gross, along with his myriad defenders, contend it was.

To be historically accurate as always, Poland was one of the occupied countries which NEVER had the type of puppet government as did Quisling-Norway, Szillasy-Hungary with her Arrow Crossers, Hacha-Czechoslovakia, Vichy France or Romania with her Iron Guard etc. True enough and let's give credit to those sterling members of the (gentile) Polish Resistance as well, who willingly gave their lives for humanity and freedom.

However, we must not dare forget either that Poland's anti-semitism was virulent, and never far below the surface. To suggest otherwise is indeed hostile to both Jews as well as in flagrant disregard for historical fact. Shall we call in David Irving for some lessons in historical revisionism, maybe??!

I think he charges by the lieLOL

History / remember, forget, forgive, blame ... Holocaust Memorial Day in Poland [229]

Thanks!! Why don't you quite posting nonsense and start READING some sense:-)
edited

Polonia / Let's talk about Sweden and other Scandinavian countries [236]

Sadly, many Swedes are beginning to share similar trepidations. In Germany, the Pegidists too are gettin' younger and younger:-) Any illusions of bigotry being an older or middle-aged persons disease should be dispelled immediately!

Polonia / Let's talk about Sweden and other Scandinavian countries [236]

Ziemowit, I meant figuratively speaking that more than practically every second or third Swede born today will likely be of non-Swedish parentage.

I'm NOT speaking about outside the capital, of course:-)

History / remember, forget, forgive, blame ... Holocaust Memorial Day in Poland [229]

@Dziewanna,

In fact, it is YOU who are in error! Read any report from the World Jewish Congress, as well as responsible Polish dailies, and you will realize that what I've stated is a plain fact. One can respect a people as well as recognize their shortcomings. As I acknowledge the faults of Israel (not to mention the craven response to the Shoah by my own American Jewish fellow citizens during WWII!!), for instance in dealing with the Palestinian issue, Poles too (as have Germans, too belately the Austrians and the Swiss after them) must fess up to the skeletons in their closet and not merely shift the blame from the accomplice to the aggressor (Nazi Germany) back to the victims:-)

History / remember, forget, forgive, blame ... Holocaust Memorial Day in Poland [229]

According to today's paper, Poland remains the one EU-country with no extant law for the restitution of private property to its rightful owners (or their heirs)!

Such commemorations are bound to become another lightning rod for extremists, ultra-right-wing nationalists and other fringies out here.

Pity that Premier Kopacz couldn't do a Merkel and call for a little peace and civility:-)

Travel / I'm so bored in Poland! [129]

DougPol, they said the same thing about Prague and it turned out just to be a lot of bad press issued mostly be jealous ex-pats, soured on the job scene here, and so hightailing it over to Europe to "escape", only to find the job scene over there even worse!

You didn't burst my bubble, sorry. 'Have to try harder than thatLOL

Agree with what I've seen in pictures of Wrocław. A friend showed us some images on her iPhone. Drop-dead gorgeous!!

Travel / I'm so bored in Poland! [129]

CIty I'd LOVE to explore is Kraków!!! Everything I've seen thus far in books is breathtaking:-)

Travel / I'm so bored in Poland! [129]

Szczecin's a lovely city too! Bored?? Far from it. I was sad it was only a day trip. Pity I didn't see more of it though:-) Folks didn't speak English there back in the mid-90's when I was first there. Luckily I knew enough of the language to negotiate relatively simple everyday stuff without a hassle (or a translator)!

Figure, as elsewhere in Poland, things have changed someLOL

Travel / I'm so bored in Poland! [129]

Carlylam, kinda tough without knowing the language sufficiently! Betcha if you learned enough Polish to even communicate, it wouldn't be boring any more:-)

Real Estate / Renting a flat in Warsaw for 9 months (no knowledge of Polish language) and prices [6]

No Polish? Renting a flat from potentially unscrupulous strangers??

Good luck, ol' man. Yer sure gonna need it!

Life / Poles speaking English - examples [245]

Apropos this thread, how about Poles WRITING/POSTING English right here on PF??! Admittedly, a thread called "Foreigners speaking Polish - examples" might well yield similar guffaws, the present thread reveals the problems and pitfalls Poles ( as well as others) have with English.

Did I not recount the (true) instance of the Greek waiter who, upon hearing from my lips the compliment "Excellent, waiter!" on his speedy service, promptly brought me "egg salad", for which though I of course wasn't charged??

LOL

Life / Poles speaking English - examples [245]

Duda was just in Greenpoint, Bklyn. Although he doubtless spoke only Polish during his brief trip to visit the Polish-American community, apparently he doesn't really speak English. Perhaps some conversational German??

:-)

Work / English teachers in Poland - why are they so unhappy? [89]

Then again, the issue remains English teacher in Poland - where?? At a well-known university/college, trade or technical college, grammar school or language institute, perhaps.? A person must really narrow down their point of departure or it could be a recipe for disaster!

Work / English teachers in Poland - why are they so unhappy? [89]

English instruction throughout much of Eastern Europe has never kept pace with the West, i.e. North, such as Germany, Austria, The Netherlands, Scandinavia etc.. I agree to some extent with Dominic. While obviously tremendous strides have been made over the past decade or so, Polish friends and colleagues from major cities and towns, e.g. Warszawa, Rzeszów, Poznań, Kraków and Gdańsk., roughly around the same ages (mid-30's up through 40's), have all confirmed that lots of schools continue to struggle to get qualified, English aka American, Canadian, native-born/university trained teachers who are willing to work at salaries not as yet competitive with those back home for basically the same amount of work!

I know one former English teacher from Poland who fits handily into the above category and who is among other things a translator of Polish as well as adjunct Polish instructor in her native city of Poznań. She freely admits that, compared to when she grew up, more than the average person on the streets of her city considers themselves conversant, i.e fluent, in English on nearly any daily subject:-)

Polonia / Let's talk about Sweden and other Scandinavian countries [236]

Sweden is, and always has been, a buffer state. No more and no less. Neutrality can come in awfully handy at time, e.g. during the Vietnam Conflict (.....never officially declared a war, by the by).

:-)

Don't knock Sweden. Someone out there has to be a voice of sanity and reason (Dag Hammerskjold, Hans Blix etc..), imperfect as their society clearly is!

I'm relatively certain Swedish fears are more than "aligned" with Polish, German and Hungarian ones:-) Stockholm's Old Town is now more Muslim than Swedish aka 'Christian/Lutheran', I'm told by Swedish acquaintances! One out of every Swede born to date is 'of color' aka 'NON'-Scandinavian in origin etc...

Most of us are well aware of the concerns Poland has, as has Ms. Merkel and Mr. Orban.

My last sojourn to Sweden was umpteen years back as a student in Goteborg and later on several day trips to Boraas. Even then, globalization appeared to be of concern to many Swedes with whom I had spoken.

History / Question about Warsaw Ghetto (shared building?) and Monument [29]

You're not going to please everyone! I'm Jewish and I still feel that embattled Poland nonetheless deserves credit for stepping up to the plate and even constructing such a monument in the first place! Somebody's bound to feel slighted; the gentiles aren't honored sufficiently, they are offended, the Jews aren't given their due, then they feel put out:-)

Travel / My comments about Poland after staying there. [28]

I'm starting to tire just a wee bit of the continued stereotyping, either Polophilic -or phobic!

My experiences in Europe with any number of different nationalities over the years have lead me to believe that none has a monopoly on any of the "Polish" attributes aforementioned:-)

While I realize a free as well as open forum such as ours allows everyone's perfect right to vent, shout, clamor to their heart's content, I'd like to do a little venting of my own here and wish only to say that so much of what has been posted about Poland in this forum (as in the German and French fora to which I also belong) is simply bilge, plain and simple.

Study / Studying in Poland without speaking Polish? [15]

Yes and no, Angeliko! it also depends entirely on the level of English to which you're referring. Many, many American college students learn Spanish all throughout highschool, yet most speak it abysmally:-)

Love / What are the best love poems in Polish to receive? [77]

"Przez cały, biały dzionek czekam,
Aź stanie wieczór wiencu gwiazd....."

J. Iwaszkiewicz

Polonia / Let's talk about Sweden and other Scandinavian countries [236]

No certain as to whether or not the Swedes might be as enthusiastic about the idea as you seem to be:-)

History / Do Polish people in general dislike Russia or Germany more? [369]

As I've already stated, Poland needs Germany much more than vice-versa. While Polish exports, e.g. apples, potatoes along with products such as beer, folk items, i.e. handicrafts etc. are popular in Germany, Poland must still rely heavily on her imports, whereas Germany remains an export-driven economy!

History / Lusatian-Sarmatic obsession of Poles [153]

Well, it's clearly of Latin origin, that's for sure.

History / Lusatian-Sarmatic obsession of Poles [153]

Guenter Grass considered himself German, although born in present-day Gdańsk to a Kaszub mother and a German-born father:-) He wrote exclusively in German, and never in any other language!!