Language / Will Germans be able to understand Polish enough? [77]


Yes, but it used to be Elbe River (Łaba)...

... as educational comic books taught us in our childhood. :)

How ironic in Polish history that these days we have hostile Slavic nations to the east and friendly Germanic nation to the West. And what am I now supposed to do with all the old comic books?

Also, notice how Aryan the Slavic warrior looks like and how slightly Semitic is the Germanic one; all the subliminal messages that we got as kids - unbelievable.

History / Enemies, Strangers, Friends. Poles and Germans. [82]


Yes, some people would like us to believe that "capital has no nationality" whilst it so often turns out that it has.

I'll never forget how the EU drove Polish shipyards to bankruptcy by demanding that they return state subsidies whilst German and French shipyards had been receiving state subsidies for ages without any consequences. I remember how shocking it was for me to hear from Janusz Lewandowski that "in the EU some countries are allowed to do more than others" (all animals are equal but...) It was a huge disillusionment for many people in Poland, but still it didn't put Poles off supporting the EU (92% of support for EU membership must be one of the highest in the entire Union).

Life / Why do Poles talk so badly about Poland? [25]

@Paulina @Lenka

Well, that's probably because you work with honest, upright people - like yourselves - who have nothing to hide from the tax office. Apparently, I move in morally lower circles and judge everyone by these low standards. My apologies. :)

Life / Why do Poles talk so badly about Poland? [25]


Common sense.

Usually people make quite a lot "on the side", in the grey zone without bragging about it for obvious reasons (the almighty Urząd Skarbowy and all that). Also, it's better for people not to envy you too much to avoid anonymous letters to the abovementioned US. :)

History / Enemies, Strangers, Friends. Poles and Germans. [82]

... buuuuuuut, if you keep losing to Poland it can only improve our relations. :)

History / Enemies, Strangers, Friends. Poles and Germans. [82]


Quite right. I don't think many people in Germany still have any old Übermenschen delusions (well, not in racial sense anyway ;)). And if they do, they wouldn't be our dream tourists anyway. :)

History / Enemies, Strangers, Friends. Poles and Germans. [82]


Exactly. There is a wide economic, educational and cultural cooperation, and we are in the same political (EU) and military (NATO) blocks. There will always be differences but there's just not much space for any real enmity anymore.


... or Italy. If I'm ever in Germany it's only in transit to one of these countries and I very rarely stop for tourist purposes (well, if I drive to Italy, I usually stay for one night in Ingolstadt but that's it). If it wasn't for my wife's fear of flying we would most likely never even set foot in Germany. *blushes* So, no - it's not only Germans. Poles are equally to blame in this "lack of interest" affair.


Indeed. And it will only get better with time. :)

History / Enemies, Strangers, Friends. Poles and Germans. [82]


Unfortunately it works both ways, we can't blame only Germans.

For Poles in general, the only real interest in Germany is among the lower classes, people who consider emigrating there permanently or temporarily to earn money. If a Pole is slightly better off, he/she is much more likely to be more interested in Italian or French language or culture, there are people who love Ireland, UK, Czechia or Hungary; also Spain, Croatia, Greece and Turkey are popular tourist destinations but if someone says that he is going to spend his holiday in Germany, they are going to get a lot of strange looks.

I suppose it's still the consequence of WW2. I am 44 and I remember what my grandparents told me about the war and occupation; I grew up with those stories, so it's still a personal thing for me. Younger generations might have a different attitude, hopefully.

History / Enemies, Strangers, Friends. Poles and Germans. [82]


Who? Iron and Amiga? That's only two. :)

This thread is not about PF members.

History / Enemies, Strangers, Friends. Poles and Germans. [82]

The fragment I read in Odra (a literary monthly) was quite interesting. As for the entire book, I'm waiting for the Polish translation.

I like the title. Not sure if we have already moved from Fremde to Freunde, but at least we're not Feinde anymore.

News / Poland is the new military power of Europe. [275]


Jon is neither Polish nor a right-winger.

Poland has no intention of annexing anything. As for nukes... *shhhhhh*... officialy we don't plan to get them.

News / Poland is the new military power of Europe. [275]


Yes, they had a slight advantage in the last three centuries or so but what's three centuries? An eyeblink.

Now, the time of Poland is coming again. :)

News / Poland is the new military power of Europe. [275]


This, young Jedi, you will for yourself figure out have to.

News / Poland is the new military power of Europe. [275]

@Bobko

As usual your analysis is 50% surprisingly correct, 50% exaggeration, and 50% bullsh*t.

But you are slowly gaining deep knowledge of Poland. Stick around. :)

Off-Topic / Russian Views On Poland and Vice Versa [404]

Obeying orders is soldiers' job.

As long as they don't commit war crimes, there's nothing extraordinary about it.

As for legality of an invasion, it's not for soldiers to decide.

Off-Topic / Russian Views On Poland and Vice Versa [404]


I don't believe it's true.

Off-Topic / Russian Views On Poland and Vice Versa [404]


Yes, I do. As you said, even nazis were humans, and if we claim otherwise we turn into nazis ourselves.

Life / Do colored immigrants in Poland function better than in Western countries? [222]


You confuse irritation with a mix of resentful envy and admiration that Poland inevitably incites in the nations of this world.

Off-Topic / Russian Views On Poland and Vice Versa [404]

@jon357, @Paulina

Read again what I wrote: I don't feel contempt or hatred for soldiers who are neither war criminals nor neo-nazis.

As for all the childish Tolkienesque bullsh*t, it bores me. It was maybe a bit funny for the 1st, 10th or 100th time; now it's just tedious.

Off-Topic / Russian Views On Poland and Vice Versa [404]


Russian war criminals and Ukrainian bandero-nazis (both being minorities in their respective armies).

Life / Do colored immigrants in Poland function better than in Western countries? [222]


Something taken out of Kaczyński's nightmare. The only worse thing for him would be an atheist, gay, UPA-glorifying, Russian-speaking muslims with German roots. :D

Off-Topic / Russian Views On Poland and Vice Versa [404]


As far as our hopes for Russia's defeat are concerned, then I suppose we do agree. I do not, however, feel any hatred or contempt towards soldiers in this war (with the obvious exception of war criminals on the Russian side and bandero-nazis on the Ukrainian side), but rather sympathy towards them and their families - they are merely pawns on the chessboard.


I'm too old for this Tolkienesque sh*t. There are people fighting on both sides and, with the exception of the two groups I mentioned before, they are neither better nor worse than we are.

Off-Topic / Russian Views On Poland and Vice Versa [404]


I answered the question already but I shall repeat it again: I am in no doubt at all about it. That's exactly what has to happen.


I find this whole "orcs" thing very strange. Yes, soldiers you mention are human. Evil ones - yes, deserving of punishment - certainly, but human nonetheless.

Or do you think Belgians were not human when they commited the atrocities in Africa? Would you have written their nationality as "bel***nSS" back then and denied their belonging to the human race? What about the Armenian genocide - was is commited by people or "Turk*SSh orcs"?

Life / Do colored immigrants in Poland function better than in Western countries? [222]

136 thousand immigrants from Islamic countries came to Poland in 2022...

... that's a city larger than Płock or Koszalin.

I wonder how many of them stayed and how many are already in Germany.

Off-Topic / Russian Views On Poland and Vice Versa [404]


No doubt at all.

I'm just wondering where does the extra special hatred (to the point of not considering Russians to be human) come from. Germans and Ukrainians commited worse atrocities on Jews and Poles, and you don't seem to question their belonging to the human race.

Or is it only about a particular moment in history when some nationalities/ethnicities lose their right to call themselves humans which they regain later?

Off-Topic / Russian Views On Poland and Vice Versa [404]


Hmm... it does sound like a valid question.

Sometimes I too get this impression that Britain is ready to accept many sacrifices to defeat Russia: they would fight until not only the last Ukrainian but also to the last Pole to see Russia humiliated.

To hear the answer to the question 'Why?' would be genuinely interesting.

Jon?

News / Poland is the new military power of Europe. [275]


No need to be rude to Lyzko; what he said was quite accurate - at the moment Poland is not a strong military power. We will be, when the reform ends and all the purchased weapons arrive, but at the moment our army is simply average and our reserves have been diminished by sending a constant stream of equipment and ammo to Ukraine for the last 16 months.


Are you saying Brexit was a success and Brits are happy that it happened? :)

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


Brilliant. So, we give Ziemie Odzyskane back to Germany. What happens next? Who will live there?

Former DDR lands are depopulating, and many smaller towns are already deserted, so who will come to "former" Poland? Ethnic Germans have negative birth rates and about 25% of their population have migrant roots, so whom will they send to live here? Syrians or Turks? Besides, what's the point? Poland and Germany are both in the EU, so if any German wants to come to live and work in Poland (and vice versa) they are free to do so any time.

It would be the same thing if Poland ever "regained" her former lands in Belarus and Ukraine. Who would move there, with negative birth rates and Poles flocking to large cities? Total stupidity. Far right politicians should play Europa Universalis or Hearts of Iron and conquer all the lands to their hearts content but let's keep the idiots away from real politics. *rolls eyes*

News / Poland is the new military power of Europe. [275]

@AntV

Hmm... maybe this whole war is just an American intrigue to force Europeans to spend more money on their armies. ;)