The BEST Guide to POLAND
Unanswered  |  Archives [3] 
  
Account: Guest

Posts by jon357  

Joined: 15 Mar 2012 / Male ♂ 		Last Post: 11 hrs ago
Threads: Total: 76 / Live: 25 / Archived: 51
Posts: Total: 25285 / Live: 15240 / Archived: 10045 		From: Somewhere around Barstow
Speaks Polish?: Not with my mouth full

Displayed posts: 15265 / page 475 of 509
sort: Latest first   Oldest first   |
jon357   
11 Mar 2015
History / Terrible past for the Jews in Poland? [930]

Have you heard any rueful Jews regret that they didn't move en masse to some other European land?

Have you heard of any Poles, whether Jewish or Gentile who were alive in those times?

1. ...

Those statutes were very enlightened for their times. Just a shame they weren't always enforced.
jon357   
11 Mar 2015
History / Terrible past for the Jews in Poland? [930]

Does that possibly not suggest that somehow things were a bit less horrible there?

Doubtful. More to do with chance and circumstance and location. Plus King Boleslaw and his need for an educated and literate class had a bit to do with it.

Remember also that the territory wasn't always Polish-ruled and was sparsely populated and circumstances changed many times over the centuries.
jon357   
10 Mar 2015
History / Terrible past for the Jews in Poland? [930]

Indeed, both equally illogical but only one is common and both a distortion of the other.

The Polish Ministry of Culture and National Heritage has turned down a request to support the renovation of a historic synagogue in Przysucha in southern Poland.
Between 2012 and 2014, the Foundation obtained from the Ministry of Culture financial assistance that allowed it to perform necessary rescue work on the Przysucha synagogue, including securing the foundation and roof restoration to protect the synagogue from building catastrophe. The synagogue's poor condition is the result of of post-World War II decades of neglect.
The total estimated cost to renovate the synagogue is $52,000. The Foundation requested $43,000 from the Ministry of Culture.

Nothing can make amends for the tragedies of the past and Poland as a state is not responsible for those tragedies. Nevertheless, Poland's Jewish past is worth cherishing. The cost of renovating this important building is peanuts - and it is very much part of Polish cultural heritage. It could generate tourist income and provide employment too.


jon357   
10 Mar 2015
History / Terrible past for the Jews in Poland? [930]

The two concepts are not contradictory as long as we understand history is never black and white. One can celebrate the achievements of Marie Curie without apologising for the pogroms that occured during her lifetime. Unless some evidence turned up that she led or encouraged a mob herself.

If of course we do not acknowledge those pogroms, any celebration of Marie Curie's achievements is necessarily compromised since we have intentionally debased the historiography of that time.
jon357   
10 Mar 2015
History / Terrible past for the Jews in Poland? [930]

An irrelevance.

There is little point in either beating yourself up about the deeds of others or trying to erase chapters of history in order to control a national narrative. The idea of historic national guilt is as unhealthy as the idea that any one group have exclusive rights over a territory.
jon357   
10 Mar 2015
Off-Topic / Eurovision - Today I will be ashamed to be Polish [583]

I didn't know straight people watched it these days. After all, three drag artistes have won in the past few years (and Poland's Isis Gee could pass as one).

Trashy music, corrupt voting from certain states, utter kitsch. But the Finnish entry sounds good, last year's bearded lady was fun and it does seem popular in places (like Poland) where they enjoy comparing themselves to their neighbours.
jon357   
10 Mar 2015
Life / Barking Dogs in Poland [65]

Dogs in Poland (Warsaw anyway) are the topic of much discussion, disagreement and arguments in apartment buildings, some very much justified and some not.
jon357   
9 Mar 2015
History / Terrible past for the Jews in Poland? [930]

Records of long-distance Jewish slave merchants date at least as far back as 492, ......

You think people should apologise for issues that happened over 1500 years ago? Perhaps King Arthur should apologise for fighting the Saxon settlers and Alfred the Great for burning the cakes...
jon357   
9 Mar 2015
Real Estate / Getin Noble Bank / Dombank - it is possible to cancel mortgage agreement in CHF? [41]

And now speculators want to be compensated - doubtless at the indirect expense of the more sensible and less greedy.

I do feel sympathy though for those who wanted to buy a home to they live in and could only afford the cheapest mortgages. For property speculators I have a question. AstraZeneca shares have just fallen in value - do you think the stockbroker should be forced in the courts to exchange them for GlaxoSmithkline shares?
jon357   
9 Mar 2015
History / Terrible past for the Jews in Poland? [930]

270 million?

I doubt there have been that number in all of history.

there were certainly pogroms during some periods

Yes, some tragedies.And there are those who would gladly repeat it all.

Norman Davies claimed that among the informers and collaborators, the percentage of Jews was striking,

You missed out the reasons Prof. Davies gives for them being targetted after the war to carry out various roles.
jon357   
9 Mar 2015
Life / How can I convert Zloty to Indian rupee / transfer money from Poland to India? [23]

Has anyone use transfer wire?

No, but I use one of their competitors, WorldFirst and so far am happy with them. They're a reputable company, as are Transfer Wise.

I think you might mean Transfer Wise?

I'm sure he does and transfer wire didn't bring anything up on google, however the OP should check carefully, just in case.
jon357   
7 Mar 2015
Real Estate / How do I rent a flat in Poland? [44]

Figure on a minimum of 1600zl per month plus 200zl for bills

And the rest. It ll depends on what the OP wants I suppose but worth remembering that anywhere with good transport links is at a premium, as are 1 or 2 room flats that aren't too small.

Gumtree is a good place to look.
jon357   
7 Mar 2015
History / Polish mathematicians who solved the Enigma machine [86]

Why would a film about Alan Turing's life be used to propagate information about the history of other countries?

A bit like saying that when the Americans made the Ron Burgundy film they should have constantly reminded viewers that television was invented by a Scotsman...
jon357   
6 Mar 2015
Law / USD shooting up so high for PLN [76]

As an exporter, an overstrong PLN would be a disaster for Poland. An overly weak PLN also causes issues with imported raw materials. The government acknowledges this.

Poland ended its monetary-easing cycle on Wednesday with a deeper-than-expected rate cut intended to curb deflation and prevent excessive zloty gains as the euro zone begins a massive stimulus programme.

tradingfloor.com/posts/poland-ends-easing-cycle-with-deeper-than-expected-rate-cut-3859188
jon357   
5 Mar 2015
Law / USD shooting up so high for PLN [76]

Very good for some of us at the moment - the dollar was far lower than it should have been.
jon357   
4 Mar 2015
Genealogy / THE MEANING AND RESEARCH OF MY POLISH LAST NAME, SURNAME? [4500]

Tan Bineiwicz

Almost certainly Jan Biniewicz

Kazimeirez

Spelt Kazimierz

Pomarzanki

A tiny village. The records would be in the nearest larger town. Which Pomarzanki is it? There are several
Note to Mods: maybe pop this in a separate thread?
jon357   
4 Mar 2015
Life / Do you think that Polish people are rude? [951]

In general, Poles looked polite for me

It doesn't help to confuse rudeness with formality. In shops, offices etc people in PL think they won't be taken seriously if they come across as informal and cordial. Germans can be much the same. To people from some parts of the world that can come across as rudeness.
jon357   
4 Mar 2015
Life / Being a Jew in modern-day Poland; Israeli Jew who is of Polish descent [279]

the Diaspora as is the case.

Some people prefer that - it's their life. A friend in PL who's recently joined the Gmina Zydowska went to visit, said it was interesting enough but wouldnt want to live there and takes his holidays in Egypt. He's Polish through and through.
jon357   
2 Mar 2015
Genealogy / THE MEANING AND RESEARCH OF MY POLISH LAST NAME, SURNAME? [4500]

Not really, though it could have been one of the more creative surnames given to Jewish people in Warsaw by ETA Hoffmann. As names can change over time, and just as the word Friday has an etymology, so does Piątek. That name could also have referred to five something (brothers, houses, hectares, whatever) and ended up as Piątek with time. It may also have been a variant of Piatka (a Czech and Slovak surname).

I knew a very nice lady in Poland called that (who ran a well-known childrens' charity), now sadly recently dead. She wasn't Jewish, however I've no idea if any of her forebears were.
jon357   
1 Mar 2015
Life / In need of good Polish jokes about Polish culture, people, etc [239]

Well since you and your Jewish/Pro-Jewish friends here are bringing up "Jews"

Actually, you brought up the issue, and very far from being the first time.

Are their ethnic joke books about Jews in Poland.

There was a fairly well-publicised legal case about it recently. I assume you keep up with current affairs and read Polish language media since you're so interested in Poland.

Jews

13 mentions of that word in one post. Must be a record.

Why do you Jews

your fellow Jewish American

Weird.

As I say, I invite you to come and see for yourself, assuming you can get a visa.
jon357   
1 Mar 2015
Life / In need of good Polish jokes about Polish culture, people, etc [239]

Actually MW, it was you who first raised that group of people (the butt of many a joke in Poland even today). Interesting that you don't deny that you've never visited Poland, despite posting so aggressively about the place and people. I invite you to come, and yes, you may well hear ethnic jokes - I'll happily translate them into English for you.
jon357   
1 Mar 2015
Life / In need of good Polish jokes about Polish culture, people, etc [239]

What's with the capitals? Online that's the equivalent of shouting. And by the way, the particular German political regime that you tastelessly mention (telling people jokes while they're being killed indeed!) ended 70 years ago.

Those examples of TV shows don't actually talk much about Poland or its inhabitants (and you do seem to mention Poland a lot and frankly give a very bad impression despite never having been to PL). I wonder if you'd be interested in visiting so you can hear (assuming you can understand Polish) the types of jokes that Poles tell about other nationalities including, yes, the Germans.
jon357   
1 Mar 2015
Life / In need of good Polish jokes about Polish culture, people, etc [239]

although of course the 'dumb Polack' joke is more of an American thing I suppose.
Here we have/had the 'Irish' joke some of which were downright offensive.

It's entirely an American thing as far as I can see - I've certainly never heard one in the UK. Some of the Irish jokes that were well enough known are also told in Poland about other groups.