Life / Why are Poles always so miserable? Why do they never smile? [512]

Poles are generally focused and serious when in the presence of strangers aka foreigners of unknown quantity or intention. In this way, they're not too unlike many Northern Europeans, such as many North Germans and the Swedes Among their own in a casual setting and the right amount of alcohol, they smile and laugh plenty, just like anybody else, believe meLOL

Genealogy / Why are some Polish people dark complected, and others very light [511]

Romanians tend to be darker complected than certainly Poles, Russians, Czechs or most other Eastern Slavs, typically with pencil-thin eyebrows, acquiline features and medium stature. I have known Romanians who are tallish, blond, and light-eyed, but am wondering whether or not this might not be the exception:-)

History / Can anyone from Poland tell me about Auschwitz and The Ghetto? [625]

Survival often breeds deviant behavior which is why it's the strongest of all human emotions.

History / Can anyone from Poland tell me about Auschwitz and The Ghetto? [625]

You mean the kapos who were forced at pain of death and torture to shove the corpses of their fellow Jews into ovens?? Not exactly a correct analogy, as the Jews were not taught in their yeshivot to HATE all goyim, what's more to destroy them!

Don't let's please measure those random, rogue militant anti-Palestinians by the standards of a Meir Kahan! Not ALL Germans supported Hitler either, not EVERY Polish Catholic is an anti-Semite, and so forth.

@kaprys,

A bit facile your argument that because Poland rejected Gross, he rejected Poland! If your parents were gassed by some nameless enemy, I somehow don't think you'd be running back to your homeland shouting, "I'M BACK!! TORTURE ME SOME MORE!!, unless you're some sort of sado-masochist:-)

History / Can anyone from Poland tell me about Auschwitz and The Ghetto? [625]

Correct, kaprys! Although only half-Jewish (technically NON-Jewish because only his father was of the faith), Gross nonetheless identifies with his Jewish heritage:-)

Interesting, isn't it.

History / Can anyone from Poland tell me about Auschwitz and The Ghetto? [625]

Facts are facts! Gross wasn't making stuff up or he wouldn't have gotten to Princeton. Some people actually get to where they are on their merits, not always through affirmative action:-)

History / Can anyone from Poland tell me about Auschwitz and The Ghetto? [625]

I mistyped auto-da-fe, sorry!

@gumishu,

Fact is, Pontius Pilate ordered Jesus to be crucified. Judas Iskariot, while Jewish as was Jesus, might have not voluntarily turned in his Master.
For Pilate though, there was no such ready excuse as Jesus had already long been a thorn in the side of the Romans, stirring up "trouble" by convincing the locals that Pilate was bad:-)

History / Can anyone from Poland tell me about Auschwitz and The Ghetto? [625]

For the umpteenth time, people, I'm NOT "blaming" Poland or the Poles for antisemitism!

You're either not understanding my English (more than likely) or you're one recalcitrant little bugger who doesn't want to understand the truth.

Arch Catholic societies are traditionally more prone to intense anti-semitism than Protestant countries!! Catholic liturgy takes the Scripture for granted that it was the Jews who killed Jesus, when everybody with a brain knows it was the Romans:-) Compare Spain (the Intefada), France, Poland, or Austria with Scandinavia, Holland or England. Apart from the Lincolnshire Massacres during the Middle Ages, after nearly three centuries, it was Cromwell who welcomed the Jews back to England.

No country's perfect. Then again, no country had Auschwitz or Treblinka except one which was occupied by the Germans. In Nazi Germany, Munich and the Catholic south was far more supportive of Hitler than Cologne (oddly enough a Catholic stronghold as well, yet a more "liberal" Catholic city, look at Adenauer), Hamburg or Berlin (which Hitler himself even publically defamed as "The Jewish Republic").

History's full of peculiar paradoxes. First though, one has to read the history. When are you going to start?

History / Can anyone from Poland tell me about Auschwitz and The Ghetto? [625]

Still can't handle the truth, can ya!

@kaprys,

As one also familiar with Polish, it is well known that a large number (though perhaps not the majority) of Polish surnames DO end in "ski", "owski" as well as "icz":-)

There are, however, certain family names which I for instance would not associate with a "Jewish-sounding" one, e.g. "Duda", "Lula", "Pajdo", "Blaszczuk",
"Dolnik" etc...

Your point is fair enough, but in fact, Jews with easily identifiable last names such as "Horowitz", "Goldberg", "Cohen" and so forth will obviously stand out in Poland. Physical appearance though, I freely admit, is dangerous to generalize, therefore less clear to identify in a crowd (except when clothed in certain garb such as a kipa, shreimel or long black frock coat during the summer months, for instance).

Many Polish Jews are often so intermarried, and have been for centuries, I even remember seeing a few who had what I might dub typically "Polish" features such as lighish eyes, squarish jaw, sharp features and a tendency toward tallness.

History / Can anyone from Poland tell me about Auschwitz and The Ghetto? [625]

You are correct regarding the Browning book, Maf! I read it after the Goldhagen, and while my analogy might have been misleading, my point was that collusion was rampant throughout the War, not only on the Polish side:-)

Furthermore, it is known by any number of Polish Jews in my circle of acquaintances, from Holocaust Survivor groups, for instance, that in Poland, anti-Semitism has of course long since been officially "de-fanged", and yet, it lurks beneath the surface.

A pianist colleague of mine from Warsaw, changed his name from "Markowicz" to "Marekowski" in order to sound more "Polish". He also told me that many Jews, openly Jewish, living in Warsaw, and NOT small villages, typically had their car tires slashed for no apparent reason.

Isolated as these incidents may be, as with domestic violence until recently, a large number more are, I'm sure, not reported for fear of reprisals!

As a nation, Poland has certainly done her share to make amends for the past, nearly as much as Germany, much more than Switzerland or Austria. However, ironically, national surveys done continue to reveal an underlying hostility towards the presence of Jews in their country.

Sad, but so.

Sources again??? Look 'em up on line.

History / Can anyone from Poland tell me about Auschwitz and The Ghetto? [625]

A long post about nothing because obviously you didn't understand what I was driving at. Will post a Polish explanation in a day or so:-)

History / Can anyone from Poland tell me about Auschwitz and The Ghetto? [625]

Folks, culpability in time bears the fullness of responsibility, if not directly, then indirectly. Sources for my posts? Lack of knowledge about WWII?
I ask the naysayers among us to read the history for themselves. Anybody can label someone a "counter revisionist" for attacking revisionist claims, such as those of Messrs. Irving, Nolte or Hillgruber, among others.

Ever read Goldhagen's controversial best seller "Hitler's Willing Executioners", or perhaps even more trenchant because written by a non-Jewish historian, "Ordinary Men" by Christopher Browning?? The contents may surprise most of you, shock some of you, and I hope, enlighten the rest of you:-)

I expect to receive the usual denial of the truth. Indeed, the truth can on occasion taste like a mouthful of worms, and yet, in this era of "fake news", it's salubrious for sure to bask in the healing waters of veracity:-)

Happy Reading!

History / Can anyone from Poland tell me about Auschwitz and The Ghetto? [625]

Never once did I state on this, or for that matter, on any forum, that "the Poles built the camps", point blank!! This alone would be an out-and-out lie, worthy even of a libel suit. No argument there, not now, not ever. Merely wish to set the record straight:-)

However, as the old saying goes, "It takes two to tango." The measures imposed on the Danes by Plenipotentiary Werner Best for aiding Jews, giving succor to resistance fighters and the like, were as harsh as any imposed on the Poles.

The difference is merely that, Poland's huge resistance movement aside for a minute, the invading Nazis once again were banking on the local cooperation of the peasants, farmers and small-townsfolk throughout the countryside, not only of Poland, more so even, of Latvia and Lithuania (traditionally also seats of Jewish learning for centuries), for help in ridding Europe of her Jews.

These are facts. If you don't believe me, read Lucy Davidowicz, Raul Hilberg, and scholars far more learned than any of us here.

@Bieganski,

Your English could also be called "Googlish", but never once did I have to consult a phrasebook trapsing around Sczcecin! I waited till I returned to the hotel:-)

@kaprys,

I make no bones about the fact that Jews in Communist Europe numbered among the worst. With the blatant exception of course of Ceauscescu, Hungary's Rakosi Matyas was a vicious, unrepenetant swine who all but turned his back on his own people, changed his name, and adopted the ideology which would help him feather his nest. Not a Jew I'd be proud of!!

History / Can anyone from Poland tell me about Auschwitz and The Ghetto? [625]

The fire-bombing of Dresden was no piker either, I'll have you know:-)

History / Can anyone from Poland tell me about Auschwitz and The Ghetto? [625]

Indeed, and fecking lucky to have 'em too, I should say:-)

History / Can anyone from Poland tell me about Auschwitz and The Ghetto? [625]

Often one will state or quote, only later to have discovered this or that to be slightly less than accurate:-) Nothing I've posted here has been any more than (on occasion) a tad off, yet certainly within the limits of historical exactitude. In the scheme of things, my posts are well-informed, admittedly imperfect from time to time.

In college, our European history prof also confessed to having placed the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising as 1941, immediately making mention of said error by the start of our next class. In 1981, we didn't have the "benefit" of instant Google.

I endeavor always to do the same.

History / Can anyone from Poland tell me about Auschwitz and The Ghetto? [625]

My statements are neither of the above! One rarely has all the prerequisite info at one's fingertips. Furthermore, I used to teach history. Does that surprise you? It shouldn't.

Recently, a Polish gentleman with an accent one could cut with a sierp(LOL), claimed he was an English teacher...not in Poland, but in (of all places) Boston, Mass.

In America, anything's possible:-)

History / Can anyone from Poland tell me about Auschwitz and The Ghetto? [625]

Oh, ok! Thanks for that.

History / Can anyone from Poland tell me about Auschwitz and The Ghetto? [625]

Good example. Krakow and, I think, Warsaw as well. Check me on that one, I've no stats off the top of my head:-)

History / Can anyone from Poland tell me about Auschwitz and The Ghetto? [625]

Well, not entirely accurate, but yes, Poland did suffer physical damage, yet nowhere near the extent of cities like Vienna, Berlin, Dresden, Munich or Guernica in Spain.

History / Can anyone from Poland tell me about Auschwitz and The Ghetto? [625]

I never contended that the "threat" (my word here, not yours) was in any way equal. What I said was that the manner with which it was handled varied considerably from country to country.

Hungary, for instance, had the infamous "Arrow Crossers", local bush league Nazi sympathizers and emulators who organized squads to murder the Jews of Budapest by throwing them into the Danube, shooting them first, then dumping their bloody corpses into the waters.

Denmark, by contrast, organized local citizenry EN MASSE to fight against, rather than overtly cooperate with, Hitler. Recall Kaj Munk's moving (and final) Sunday morning sermon, which he never finished, and began (paraphrasing from the original) "My fellow countrymen, it is high time we rose from the comfortable complacency of our pews this Sunday morning, returned to our homes and seized arms to fight against the common enemy!"

According to reports from the time, NOBODY lingered for a moment, and the church stalls were EMPTY within minutes as the populace, both young and old, left the building to act as their pastor had instructed.

Multiply thousands of Sochas Pileckis etc. by nearly every second Dane:-) Do the math, fella, the arithmetic's staggering!

History / Can anyone from Poland tell me about Auschwitz and The Ghetto? [625]

All populations were threatened by the Nazis. It was a question of how they dealt with the threat.

Even in "halcyon" times in Poland, according to Roman Visniac along with other older contemporaries, often in the smaller villages, a well-aimed rock through the window around Christmas, followed by "DIRTY JEWS!" wasn't far behind.

Then again, Jews DID often react to such by spitting on select religious icons in a local church, I won't say they didn't. The latter though, WAS to an extent understandable revenge for being attacked in the first place.

Jews aren't "saints" either, smart guy!

History / Can anyone from Poland tell me about Auschwitz and The Ghetto? [625]

Nonetheless, Poles most certainly did acquiesce to some degree, at least to the anti-Semitic decrees of their German overlords!!
The Nazis were evil, yet hardly fools. They counted on the intrinsic anti-Jewish hostility throughout much of Central and Eastern Europe, hoping that the local populace would join them in their racially-driven purges.

The fact that the Poles, certain Hungarians, Ukrainians, Norwegians etc. even resisted as much as they did, took the Germans by complete surprise.

Travel / Why do you visit Poland? [223]

No, jon, I've not as yet had the privilege of visiting much of Poland! Gdansk aka Danzig is a city I've always wanted to visit. Once knew a young lady attending the Polytechnika in that city and found the architecture from what I've only seen heretofore in photographs enchanting:-)

Travel / Why do you visit Poland? [223]

I'm an American who enjoys many of the beauties of America. I also recognize that many places, such as Stone Mt. State Park in Georgia, for instance, were places for KKK rallies, well up until the '80s!

Poland has places of great natural wonder as well, Tatry, for instance, Zakopane, along with picturesque resort villages along the Baltic etc.. I enjoyed being able to visit Szczecin and have a lovely meal in a first-class Old World-style restaurant in the lovely Stare Miasto, talk to locals in their own language and experience the country which gave us Chopin, Mme. Curie, Paderewski, along with a host of other luminaries.

Please though try to understand that NO country is any one thing. France is long the most popular tourist stop in the world, yet along with the wonders of Versailles, Paris, and so forth, there was Drancy, not something of which any Frenchman is consciously proud.

Germany, the best example after Poland, or Austria, are unparalelled throughout Europe in this traveler's experience for their scenic splendour and preserved elegance. And yet, next to the Oktoberfest Capital of the World, lies Dachau, a source of bruising shame to all but the most monstrous.

Poland, in the end, was no worse, yet surely no better, than any other European country during WWII.

History / Can anyone from Poland tell me about Auschwitz and The Ghetto? [625]

How is it then, that the Nazis tried to erect similar such sites in, among other places, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Scandinavia and France, yet failed in large measure to the extent of Austria, Germany, and Poland?? The Nazis had their greatest "success" in places such as Poland, Ukraine, above all, Latvia and Lithuania, traditionally seats of Jewish diasporic learning, today, graveyards for Jewish life. Why? Care to explain? Sheer coincidence, perhaps?

All it took for the Nazis to seize control of a given territory of interest, was for the local populace en masse to support them!!

Just remember the words of John Steinbeck: "My greatest fear would be to be condemned to be an anti-semitic dictator in Ireland, for fear of being laughed to death!"

Without grassroots support, albeit not nationwide, Auschwitz would never have become what it became and Oswiecim would merely have remained another sleepy Polish small town.

Anti-semitism etc. doesn't operate in a vacuum, spiritus. It's a disease which needs feeding as surely as you and I need water to drink, food to eat and air to breathe!!

Travel / Why do you visit Poland? [223]

Yep, there's plenty of that. As far as the cheap vacations and beautiful girls, hate to break it to you, but surely Poland holds not monopoly there.

Try Slovenia, Czech Republic, the Dalmatian Coast, or Bulgaria for that matter:-)

Work / Business ideas for Poland [63]

Poland can certainly use all the "progressive": business ideas she can possibly get! The IT sector though's pretty much glutted by this time though.

I wish you success:-)

News / Mister President Andrzej Duda - Best Poland could get. [96]

He's a bad lot all right. Plus, he seems unsure of his own previously stated positions, for example backpeddling on that judicial independence issue. Appears he caved, didn't he?

Language / Short Polish<->English translations [1050]

Hardly surprising, as it's their native tongue:-) However, Mr. Troll-in-Residence, I know plenty of US kids who speak English much better than youLOL