History / Pol-Shorpy Photo Thread [950]

Traitor, hero, soldier, spy: 1972-1981


In every scenario we were f*cked. Completely and utterly f*cked.

In the Warsaw Pact war plans, in every possibility, in every permutation, in every possible combination of events, in every game plan, Poland was to become a nuclear ground zero.

There was no way for us to play on this chessboard. A grandmaster would fail. There was no bluff out of this game of poker. The coolest gambler would stand no chance.

We had to overturn the chessboard. We had to break the card table. And we did.

The rest is history.

But this was only the first chapter. Or wasn't it?

Work / Are Poles workaholics? [135]


Georgia is indeed a lot like Poland. A country of brave people, also suffering from difficult neighbourhood.

History / Pol-Shorpy Photo Thread [950]

Supplement to the above:

Our most beloved brother, may Allah always bless Him and His Family, receiving a modest gift during one of the official meetings with ministers...

History / Pol-Shorpy Photo Thread [950]

Welcome, our Persian brother: 2016



2016 was the year when the Most Honourable dr Ali Akbar Salehi visited Poland on the invitation of Polish PM Mateusz Morawiecki. Our dear Persian brother was warmly received also by the President Andrzej Duda and Marshals of the Sejm and Senat. Long-years cooperation (past and future) was discussed and important decisions were made.

Prime Minister? President? Marshals of both Sejm and Senat? WTF? Who was this Salehi guy that he was received with greater honour than Pope himself could ever hope to? Why was the series of other meetings conducted in later years to which the press wasn't invited? Very good questions, my dear Pol-Shorpy readers - I always admire your sharp-as-a-razor inquisitive minds. However, the questions will have to remain unanswered... for the time being.

Ssshh...

History / Pol-Shorpy Photo Thread [950]

When a child smiles, the whole world smiles: 1968

"In the name of children, the International Chapter of Order of the Smile decided to grant you this most sunny of all decorations!" - with this formula the Herald of the Chapter grants the decoration. This, first a Polish and then an international, award is given to adults distinguished in their love, care and aid for children. It was established in 1968 by a group of "Kurier Polski" journalists and in 1979 the Secretary General of the United Nations officially recognized the Order. Among its recipients are Nelson Mandela, Empress Farah Pahlavi, Astrid Lindgren, and Zbigniew Religa.

In the photo above we see the most honourable Chevalier of the Order of Smile, Henryk Skarżyński. Professor Skarżyński is an otosurgeon and a world-renowned specialist in pediatric otolaryngology whose work restored hearing to countless children.

History / Pol-Shorpy Photo Thread [950]


Yip. Like depleting the Earth of rare minerals, whilst creating huge carbon footprint in the process, and used batteries problem for another couple of thousand years.


Ferraris and Lamborghinis preferably. They already got the exemption from the year 2035 law. Planes and cars for the rich, meat for the rich, and for the poor: public transport and insects. You green commies have to go a bit slower - you're cooking the frog too fast! :) "You will have nothing and you will be happy", as Mr Schwab said. :)

Luckily, more people see that green communism is as bad as the red one.

History / Pol-Shorpy Photo Thread [950]


They're the future, love them or hate them.


... with electric cars, mostly minuses.

History / Pol-Shorpy Photo Thread [950]

Now, that's real ecology!: 2024

While the entire world is plunged into the electric cars idiocy, Polish scientists from Cracow Polytechnic found a way to adapt old petrol/diesel engines to hydrogen, in a similar way to adapting engines to natural gas. The team of scientists under prof. Marek Brzeżański presented their invention in the Mechanics Faculty last Monday. Five-cylinder, industrial Scania engine was used for the conversion...

... professor Brzeżański's team, apart from inventing the method of engine conversion, also cooperates with Toyota in the field of hydrogen cells. Now, that's what I call real ecology - instead of producing millions upon millions of new electric cars, it makes much more sense to convert the already existing vehicles to use hydrogen cells.

Poles - do we always have to save the world? :)

P.S. Cracow Polytechnic is the main center of hydrogen engines research in Poland. They have been working on various hydrogen-related projects since 1980s.

Life / Polish people and TV Series - so good and hilariously spot on :) [99]

@Maf

Correct. 'Pizda' is slightly more vulgar than 'cipa', and both are used rather rarely for the purpose you mention, for which the diminutive of the latter ('cipka') is used most commonly.

History / Pol-Shorpy Photo Thread [950]


Exactly!

Life / Polish people and TV Series - so good and hilariously spot on :) [99]


That's the most panslavic word ever.


Yip. Podpiździć. e.g Jakieś janusze próbowały podpiździć młotek bezpieczeństwa ale jest na lince. (also podpierdolić - which can have another meaning of snitching on somebody)


Yip. Przypiździć (an elegant variant of przypierdolić). e.g. Wkurwił Stefana, bo podwalał się do jego laski, więc mu przypiździł w ryj.

If you hit something yourself, it becomes pizdnąć (e.g. Ale pizdnął w to drzewo! To musiało boleć!)


Hmm... not sure about this one.


Here we can only say pierdolnik (e.g. Jakiś pierdolnik odpadł of tej maszyny i nie wiem jak go z powrotem zamontować.). I'm afraid we don't have "pizdnik".


Naturally. That's when all things go w pizdu.

"W pizdu" can also be used for a general failure...



Of course, Crow will now appear and say that both Russians and Poles can go v pizdu materinu, and he will give us 297 uses of пизда in Serbian. :D

History / Pol-Shorpy Photo Thread [950]


By the way, how cool is that? Polish Shawnee Indian setting traps on Nazis and ambushing them! Hollywood, what the f*ck are you waiting for?

History / Pol-Shorpy Photo Thread [950]

His funeral was attended by many Home Army veterans and groups of Polish indianists wearing traditional ceremonial outfits. Herbs, tobacco and eagle feathers were put on his grave.

Rest in peace, Long Feather, you feckin' legend!

History / Pol-Shorpy Photo Thread [950]


*imagines Iron sitting in his cotton plantation, sipping whiskey and singing "The South's gonna rattle again"*

Anyways, that gives me an idea for another Pol-Shorpy post...

Howgh, kurwa!: 2002

Sat-Okh - the Long Feather, in Shawnee - was the most famous Polish Indian (well, half-Indian really), and an author autobiographical novels for children in Polish. They were translated into several European languages including Russian and were very popular in the former USSR. The books describe a boy's childhood and coming of age among the Shawnee in the Northwest Territories in the 1930s.

Born in Canada about 1922 as the son of a Polish mother, Stanislawa Okulska, and a Shawnee father Leoo-Karko-Ono-Ma (Tall Eagle), he came to Poland with his mother before the start of WW2. In 1939 he joined the Polish resistance movement. He was arrested by the Gestapo in 1940 and deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau. He escaped from the train transport on the way to the camp. He fought in Home Army (72. AK Infantry Regiment) in Częstochowa region, where he gained a nickname Kozak because of his bravery and fighting style based on making traps. Wounded several times, decorated with the Cross of Valour.

After the war he settled in Gdańsk where he died in 2003. After his death one of Gdańsk trams was named after him.

History / Pol-Shorpy Photo Thread [950]


I love the short stories, they're simply magical (A Crown of Feathers and The Death of Methuselah are my favourite collections) but I also enjoyed Satan in Goray and The Magician of Lublin. I started reading Love and Exile last summer holidays but I lost the book somewhere :-/. I gave the English titles but I read all the books in Polish.


Thanks for the recommendation! :)

History / Pol-Shorpy Photo Thread [950]

The Magician of Lublin: 2018

If you happen to be an Isaac Bashevis Singer fan (like I am), then make sure you keep your head up when you are walking through Grodzka Street in Lublin. If you do, you will see the magician. ;)

News / Pawel Adamowicz, Gdansk mayor, dies after stabbing [354]


It's not really fair to mention them in the same sentence, is it?

What's your problem with Dmowski? He simply thought that Germany were a greater danger to Poland than Russia (which back then was true). Why do you think there are Dmowski's streets, bridges, monuments, railway stations or at least roundabouts etc. in every major (and some not so major) Polish city? He was a patriot and one of the fathers of Poland's independence.


Why do you always have to be so radical, Pawian? Life is not black and white.

News / Pawel Adamowicz, Gdansk mayor, dies after stabbing [354]

@Ironside

I've just read your post, Iron, and I see what you're saying. Seriously. I really get that point of view.

Also, I know that you are a Polish patriot and that you want only the best for Poland, and I respect you for that (you know it).

But (there's always a "but", isn't there?) I also think that you should have a little bit more trust in Germany (yes, I know it may be difficult taking the history into account and all that). I mean, for the last over 30 years our relations have been mutually beneficial. Sure, there were controversies (e.g. shipyards or mass immigration), as there are always bound to be, but all in all isn't it the time we finally stopped viewing them as our enemies? They are our allies in both economic and military terms. I have family in the countryside, and their level of life has seriously increased after our EU accession. For farmers it was a civilisational jump. Even before joining the EU, especially in the West, there were hundreds of thousands of people earning their living from trade with Germany or getting cheap farming machines there, throngs of German tourists in Świnoujście, Jelenia Góra, Gdańsk, Wrocław etc. So, both on state-level and ordinary-people level there has been co-operation to mutual benefit.

I really don't get all that Germany-EU enmity on the right side of Polish politics. WTF? Without Germany's support we wouldn't have joined the EU. Do you think it would have been better for us? Ask Serbia, Georgia or Ukraine what they think and why are they are waiting in line to join. Look, I read Gazeta Warszawska too (I have this annoying habit of reading a lot from far left to far right) but a lot of what they say is pure paranoia.

Maybe it's not a matter of positivism vs romanticism (though I think it is), maybe it's a matter of a different outlook on reality or some sort of psychological issue with trust (which, again, is to some extent understandable). I mean, what's the worst that could happen if we stay in the EU under Tusk and integrate more strongly with the Union? If we observe that it's not beneficial, then we can always opt out (remember Brexit?). However, at the moment the benefits largely outweigh the negative cost.


I am not obtuse. I simply want to believe that Poland finally has true allies. That we are not again surrounded by hostile powers but that there are countries with which we can cooperate to common benefit, and that one of those countries is, yes, Germany.

I promise you one thing, Iron. If it turns out that I was wrong, and if they f*ck us over, Tusk sells us down the river, there's another Yalta or something etc., then I will never again trust any foreigner and I will listen to you always. You will be my master Yoda for the rest of my life. Until then however...

News / How will Poland be affected by WW3 which has now started [559]


I wrote it and 5 minutes later even I can't work that out! :)


So there! Be afraid, Russia, be very afraid. :)

News / How will Poland be affected by WW3 which has now started [559]

Genau!


... and just imagine the Russian confusion when 28. Schwarztranszombiemuslimischpanzerjägerdivision appears on the battlefield! 0_0

News / How will Poland be affected by WW3 which has now started [559]


Wow! Germany have Wesley Snipes - cool! It must have cost them a lot of money, but in case of war Russia's f*cked - they stand no chance against Blade. :)

News / Pawel Adamowicz, Gdansk mayor, dies after stabbing [354]


You are confusing Germany with Austria. :) As for the descendants of Prussia, their admiration for Austro-Hungary and its heritage has always been... well... somewhat limited (a bit like your intelligence). :)

News / How will Poland be affected by WW3 which has now started [559]


But of course Poland will defend the Baltics with both air strikes (that's what we need the F-35s for) and ground forces, which is a part of official operational plans in case of war; well, at least that part of the plans that is disclosed to the general public or deduced from various factors by experts in the field. The Baltics cannot be expected to field land forces large enough to resist the invasion, hence the necessity of Wojsko Polskie taking active part in their defense.

News / Pawel Adamowicz, Gdansk mayor, dies after stabbing [354]


Hundreds of billions??? :) No, I didn't notice. Did you? :) All the Euro funds for Hungary were blocked, including the most basic cohesion funds, you idiot. ha ha ha Only a part of it was unblocked last month (about €10 billion) under condition that certain changes will be introduced to Hungarian judiciary, to which Orban, like a good boy that he is, quietly agreed. :) To access the remaining about €30 billion (what were you saying again about hundreds of billions, sh*thead?) in cohesion and recovery funds, Orban will have to meet many more conditions (including 27 milestones), and you can bet your retarded Australian arse that he will meet them. :)

News / How will Poland be affected by WW3 which has now started [559]


Who let you out of your cage, monkey boy?

News / Pawel Adamowicz, Gdansk mayor, dies after stabbing [354]

@Iron

Looks like for you it's either "an Orban" or "a doormat". In the real life, however, there are many shades of grey between these two extremes.

As for Orban, he should be careful not to take his game a bit too far - the EU is slowly but surely losing patience with him...

politico.eu/article/eu-threatens-silence-hungary-orban-if-blocks-ukrainian-aid-funds-article-7/

News / Pawel Adamowicz, Gdansk mayor, dies after stabbing [354]


The reality is that Poland is divided not into PO and PiS, not into Catholics and atheists, not into rightists and leftists but into positivists and romanticists. What we - positivists - build, the romanticists tend to ruin with their silliness and irresponsibility. Tusk is a positivist par excellence, Kaczyński is by and large a romanticist. Of course, nobody is a 100% postivist or a 100% romanticist, life is not that simple. The reason why you think Tusk is "a traitor" is because you are deep down a romanticist (I'd say, 70% romanticist, 30% positivist judging by your posts on PF). I am glad that Tusk is in charge rather than Kaczyński because I am 80% positivist and only 20% romanticist. Polish maths. :)


What you say applies to the European funds in general. Wealth comes from thrift, hard work and wise investment, not from "free money", especially if a large part of it is a credit. I agree. However, as the KPO is already signed (by the PiS government who was very proud of it), and Poland has to repay the loan anyway, then it makes sense to finally get our money, doesn't it?


Oh, have we swapped places with Portugal? Are we now bordering the Atlantic Ocean and Spain only? Sorry, I must have missed it.

No? We are still here? Sitting between Germany and Russia on a huge central European plain, perfect for tanks to roll through? Damn it. Well, in that case Poland needs to find a reasonable compromise and cooperate with Germany and the entire EU, and perhaps even (the horror!) sacrifice some of our vital interests to achieve optimal conditions for further development. Do I have to explain it to you? Geez.

History / Pol-Shorpy Photo Thread [950]


Definitely not all Germans. Their old concept of Mitteleuropa entailed not only Poland but also Croatia, Slovakia, The Baltics and even parts of Ukraine, Romania and Serbia!



Of course our idea of Europa Środkowa is not to be confused with German Mitteleuropa, as it entails Belarus and Ukraine as well, and doesn't necessarily entail Germany, in the old Giedroyć way.

Some people even go as far as to talk about: Western Central Europe (Germany, Austria, Switzerland), Central Central Europe (Poland, Czechia, Slovakia, Hungary) and Eastern-Central Europe (Belarus, Ukraine, the Baltics, Moldova, parts of Romania). A complicated matter. :)

Work / Are Poles workaholics? [135]


Well, I am. Guilty as charged.

Oh, well - a man needs to have his faults. Nobody's perfect. :)

History / Pol-Shorpy Photo Thread [950]


I didn't know that. Thanks! :)

What is Central Europe?: 2024

Czesław Miłosz used to describe Europe as the land of Gothic and Baroque churches. Central Europe could, I suppose, be described as the land where those churches are still frequented by Christians, like the Archcathedral Basilica of St. Peter and St. Paul in Poznań (in the photo), but that would certainly entail a measure of oversimplification. The definition of Central Europe is not an obvious one, especially not to those who stubbornly see countries of Europe as being either eastern or western.

Miłosz's description of Europe was merely saying that the borders of Europe - in cultural sense - are basically the borders of the First Rzeczpospolita, because that's how far the range of Gothic cathedrals and Baroque churches extends. Such perception of Europe has its consequences: Jerzy Giedroyc had no doubts already in 1960s that Lithuania, Belarus and Ukraine (back then parts of the Soviet Union) belonged to "our" Europe, not to the "Russian" east. Will this fundamental dispute, a centuries-old controversy, ever be resolved? An interesting question, especially with the background sound of artillery fire coming from not so great a distance.

Or maybe (just maybe), Poland's conflict with Russia is not the eternal war with an alien civilisation, as we tend to see it? Maybe we are stuck in an inherently faulty narration and cannot free ourselves from it, bound by history and blind fate? Maybe Poles and Russians, despite certain differences, are more similar to each other than both would like to admit? *sighs* Too many questions for the modest Pol-Shorpy thread - let's leave them to historians and philosophers, and observe what these "interesting times" will bring us.