Life / How do Polish people treat their animals? [33]

@johnny reb
It's not tolerated. It's against the law.

Kittens as the bait???
Never heard of it. It doesn't make much sense either.

Animal abuse should be reported to the police.

Language / Help with clergy titles/forms of address in Polish language? [5]

Mother - Matka like Matka Teresa.
Sister is Siostra.
Father is Ojciec (when you address a priest it's more common to use 'ksiądz' like 'ksiądz Mateusz' rather than 'Ojciec Mateusz' ;) or 'proszę księdza' rather than 'Ojcze')

Abbess is matka przełożona. Apparently kseni is also used but it's the first time I've heard it. Nun is zakonnica or siostra zakonna.

Priest is kapłan/ksiądz. You can say 'On jest księdzem'-He's a priest. Kapłan is usually used to describe 'a man in charge of religious service'.

You got them right then ;)
The only tricky thing is that they often change the ending depending on the grammatical case but that's another story.

Classifieds / Help With Translating Handwritten Polish Records [18]

Well, I don't really know for sure but since the records are in the cyrillic, I'd say so. They wouldn't have used it under the Prussian and Austrian partition.

I have seen similar records before. They use the Latin alphabet when giving the name of the father, the baby etc but the rest is in the cyrillic.

Classifieds / Help With Translating Handwritten Polish Records [18]

That's not Polish. It's written in the cyrillic. Your ancestors must have been born under the Russian partition.

Genealogy / The typical Polish look, or all Eastern Europeans [656]



Here's a genetic map of Europe. Is Poland really so homogenous compared to other European countries?
What's wrong with being of mainly European descent?
Europeans vary in terms of ethnicity as well.

Genealogy / The typical Polish look, or all Eastern Europeans [656]

And we speak from our experience of living here. We're not as homogenous as you think.

Genealogy / The typical Polish look, or all Eastern Europeans [656]

So are many Poles. According to Wiki Greeks on average are slightly shorter than Poles.

Genealogy / The typical Polish look, or all Eastern Europeans [656]

Any adult shorter than 1,2 m suffers from dwarfism, I believe ;)
As for shorter dark haired, dark eyed men they might be of Tatar origin as well. Or southern European.

I calculated 5 ft 5 inches to cm and apparently it's about 1,65 m. It's rather uncommon to see young to middle-aged men of that height here. Though I have some elderly neighbours of that height. It might be connected both with genes and living conditions (malnutrition) before, during and after the war.

Genealogy / The typical Polish look, or all Eastern Europeans [656]

Well, it's good he's easy. Women who are into the southern type and no attachments will be happy.
Just wear a condom.
Who knows what STDs you carry. Or those who will be happy to have a one night stand with you. They scored other easy southern men before.

Genealogy / The typical Polish look, or all Eastern Europeans [656]

I have never thought of Sikorski as a representative Polish face. Lots of men here who look like him and lots who don't.
And what are Kashubs if they're not pure Polish? :S
There are people with brown eyes all over Poland. They don't belong to one ethnic group.
Even within my own family I can see lots of differences in the height, eye and hair colour etc.

Genealogy / The typical Polish look, or all Eastern Europeans [656]

Not really. Poles differ in terms of hair and eye colour, not to mention the height. Especially women - mostly somewhere between 1,5-1,8 m tall.

Lots of people have blue and green eyes but brown eyes are not uncommon. Blond and brown hair are most common and lots of brunettes were actually blondes when they were kids.

As for features, it all depends too. Some faces simply look 'familiar' but again there's no rule about it.

Genealogy / The typical Polish look, or all Eastern Europeans [656]

Perhaps it's something about your features rather than hair colour.

Genealogy / The typical Polish look, or all Eastern Europeans [656]

I don't think red hair is that common here, though. It must be something that runs in your family. :)

News / Israel opposing potential new Polish law to criminalise term 'Polish death camps' [1538]

They were involved in slave trade of Europeans.

Genealogy / Polish looks? - part 2 [72]

@Bullocks
You look German/ic to me.

Genealogy / What does my Polish name mean? [401]

It doesn't sound Polish to me. It might be influenced by Polish but derived from a German name like Dieschke or something similar. Like Jeszka/Jeszke from Jeschke or Liedtka from Liedtke.

Perhaps a Pole of German origin.

Law / Weapons laws in Poland. Carrying a concealed handgun? [918]

@johnny reb
That simply proves there is something wrong with the system.
I really see no reason why I should own a gun. But assuming some people find it necessary, it should be more controlled.

Law / Weapons laws in Poland. Carrying a concealed handgun? [918]

Can anyone explain to me how that mentally unstable guy had access to guns?

Law / Old Polish money banknotes - what's their value today? [415]

If that's the pinkish thing with Stanisław Wyspiański, then it's not worth much - literally one new złoty (so about 25 euro cents) or whatever someone is ready to pay for it.

Genealogy / What does my Polish name mean? [401]

It must have been spelled Jerka - pronounced /yerka/ in Polish.
It might have been derived from Jarogniew - an old first name. There is also a village called Jerka.

Law / Can somebody explain ZUS to me? [40]

Are you self-employed? ( działalność gospodarcza)?

Genealogy / What does my Polish name mean? [401]

And there are lots of statues of Jan Nepomucen all over the Czech Republic. He has these stars around his halo.
If they were devout Catholics, they might have chosen the name to honour the exact patron saint regardless of where they were living.

Genealogy / Legnica - Lignitz and von Liegnitz history [7]

I guess the only way to find out you're related to that family is tracing your ancestors' church records.

History / MAP OF POLAND IN 1880'S [95]

Are you sure it's the full name? There are several places called Zabor, Zaborze or Zabno but not Zabo.
Have you got any further details?

Genealogy / Lubięcin - Liebenzig church records-state archives [3]

sekretariat@archiwum.zgora.pl

If I were you, I would contact the branch of state archives in Zielona Góra to get further information.
From what I have read online the church in Lipiny was taken down around 1800 having been damaged in a fire.
As for Lubiecin there were two churches, one of them evangelical, later turned into a Catholic one.
It's hard to say what happened to the church records.

Life / Polish Wedding March & Funny Hat [37]

Polish oczepiny is about the bride. That's an old custom symbolising the change of marital status. Unmarried women wore a wreath as a symbol of virginity and married women wore czepiec (bonnet? ) and during oczepiny married women would take off the wreath of the bride's head and put the bonnet on.

Nowadays it's different but we don't have any silly hats for the groom ... not to my knowledge.

Law / Moving back to Poland - Healthcare [29]

Provided she can prove her employment. Your wife could.
There are such cases. For example, lots of archived documents were destroyed in the flood in 1997. So ZUS needs to take such cases into consideration. But all of this takes takes an effort.

Believe me, I've heard of several people who have had problems with proving things to ZUS or with clerks making mistakes in estimating their okresy skladkowe and they're Polish.

Law / Moving back to Poland - Healthcare [29]

First she has to apply for pension at her local ZUS. She needs to contact them to find out what she needs to provide. Now the question is whether your in-laws have kept their Polish documents. Perhaps they're archived somewhere but again every case is different so you need to do it yourself.

If she gets the pension, her healthcare will be covered.

Life / Why are Polish people so strange & unusual? [51]

I'm sorry, Dirk but I studied at university here and none of my friends did it. It's something I hear in American films only, not in real life. There are some looking for sponsors - and again I just heard about it, but the fact is that whoever does it, is screwed as far as their career is concerned. Imagine being a lawyer/doctor and coming across your ex customer/sponsor.

As for going to clubs, really I guess I go to different places than you do. Or just with different sort of people. If there's a guy who's too 'friendly', you just go back to your group. As for free drinks, I'd rather pay for mine and keep an eye on it.

Anyway, somebody who's after free drinks and easy sex isn't after starting a family. And some people just go there to relax.

Life / Why are Polish people so strange & unusual? [51]

Just don't hang out with people working in such places. And believe it or not, there are loads of beautiful educated women who'd rather make less money than work as an escort etc. You have to be an idiot to do it. Not a thing to put on your cv, no further career prospects not to mention some nasty men with sticky fingers. Plus the risk or getting raped or beaten up.

As for people who go to regular clubs, there are different sorts. Some are there for dancing, drinking and hanging out with friends. Others for free drinks and easy sex. It's the same all over the world. You choose who you hang out with. Don't expect to start a family with a binge drinking girl that you meet in a club. It's quite easy to see who's after good fun and who's desperate for easy sex or free drinks. The previous can easily sense the latter and mostly choose to avoid them.