News / Petition for War Crimes Reparations for Poland [126]


Screw 'em. Cooking the books to get in, living the good life for a while on somebody else's expense, and when the money runs out they go and bite the hand that feeds them by demanding war reparations that were settled decades ago.. They should be kicked out of the EU. Would solve part of the migrant crisis, too. Killing two birds with one stone.

History / History of two Neighbors: Poland - Germany Interrelations [283]


Maybe that was their intention, but IMO the song is far too negative and musically weak. Why put the emphasis exclusively on some dark chapters of German history? Well, I guess that's what Rammstein are all about. Morbid and dark.

History / What do Poles owe to Germans? [451]


Attempting to abolish serfdom was not positive for the Polish peasants? Really? They should've stayed property of the Polish nobility, right? You are confused, Ironside.

History / What do Poles owe to Germans? [451]

Support for the November Uprising in 1830. See also "Hambacher Fest". Notice the Polish flag?

History / What do Poles owe to Germans? [451]

Abolition of serfdom in Prussia in 1807.

History / Cursed soldiers controvercy - not all Poles respect them [282]

Yes, but the reason for Hitler's appointment was not that the NSDAP received 33% of the vote.

history.com/this-day-in-history/adolf-hitler-is-named-chancellor-of-germany

History / Cursed soldiers controvercy - not all Poles respect them [282]


The issue is that you are talking BS... :)

The Weimar Republic had a system of proportional representation where the electorate voted for parties, not persons. In the federal election of November 1932, the NSDAP received 33.09% of the votes, which was a loss of 34 seats. They failed to form a coalition, and after the parliament was dissolved, Hindenburg first appointed Kurt von Schleicher as chancellor. When von Schleicher resigned in January 1933, Hindenburg appointed ... I repeat, appointed ... Hitler. Adolf was never democratically elected.

Let's leave it at that before we drift even further off-topic. Sorry, mods.

History / Cursed soldiers controvercy - not all Poles respect them [282]


You said that Hitler was legally ELECTED (see #67), and that's incorrect. Don't debate facts just because they don't fit your narrative.

History / Cursed soldiers controvercy - not all Poles respect them [282]


What would you have done? Open your mouth and kill yourself and your family with your actions?

History / Cursed soldiers controvercy - not all Poles respect them [282]


No, he wasn't. He lost the presidential election in 1932 and was appointed chancellor on 30 January 1933.


Not that the Treaty of Versailles had anything to do with it ... :)

History / Cursed soldiers controvercy - not all Poles respect them [282]

That wasn't an anti-German rant, Weimarer. The destruction of Poland was in large parts caused by the German military. You can call members of those forces either Nazi Germans, which would be somewhat inaccurate because most of the soldiers weren't members of the NSDAP, or you could call them simply "Germans" as Pawian said, because that's what they were. Whether drafted soldiers of the Germany military were as guilty as SS troops for example, is a different question.

History / History of two Neighbors: Poland - Germany Interrelations [283]


Only after May 1944, according to Wikipedia. Before that it was mostly POW and drafted Germans.

History / History of two Neighbors: Poland - Germany Interrelations [283]


The one according to the theory of Marx, Engels and Lenin. Nice idea on paper, but won't work. The system they had in the USSR or GDR for example was a simple dictatorship. The leading political caste exploiting the people. Except for the dictatorship part similar to the Trump administration.; only here the fat cats are billionaires who tell you that social democracy is evil. They call it socialism though, because they want to scare you and your ilk.


Depends how you look at it. Unlike the East Germans, Poles were able to travel to western Europe and work. I remember the Polski Fiats filled to the brim with western merchandise on their way home.


If I had my own version, I would patent it and be filthy rich Now I'm only rich ... :)

History / History of two Neighbors: Poland - Germany Interrelations [283]

Well, pretend socialism ...

History / History of two Neighbors: Poland - Germany Interrelations [283]

Many factors: negative effects of central planning and lack of competition, polluted environment, oversized military, prohibitively expensive border, hardly any freedom to travel, and others.

History / History of two Neighbors: Poland - Germany Interrelations [283]

Even in West Berlin there was hardly any anti-Americanism before the wall came down. You guys must've imported a lot of anarchists from Hamburg's Hafenstrasse...

History / History of two Neighbors: Poland - Germany Interrelations [283]


The GDR was bankrupt in 1989. The whole country was run down and polluted, the industrial base completely outdated and unable to compete with western companies, the infrastructure sh*it. That was the reason why so many East Germans took off to the west at the first opportunity. That and the fear that the border will be closed again, of course.


I've never met an East German who was anti-American, unless he was a former SED member.

History / Polish and German Borders-Justice for Both Countries or not? [37]


I'm nor surprised. West Berlin was special before the wall came down. The people had a rebellious attitude (what they called the "island mentality") and the city was full of life. The clubs, the art scene and everything. Really cool. Especially around the time when David Bowie and Iggy Pop were in town. After the reunification, everything changed dramatically and Berlin was turned into a faceless metropolis.

Genealogy / Polish & Prussian/German town name cross-reference. [100]


Maybe the town of Schwetz (Świecie)?

History / Why are Poles/Poland disliked by Germans? [140]


Only Żubrówka, please... :)

Life / Feeling ashamed of my Polish heritage. [237]


Yes, that's what I meant. The further you go back in time, the more ethnicity loses its meaning because people were constantly mixing. If we ignore the so-called Ahnenschwund (also known as implex), the number of ancestors grows exponentially with every generation you go back. After 20 generations you already have a maximum of 1048575 - 1 ancestors. Where does that leave room for ethnicity?

Life / Feeling ashamed of my Polish heritage. [237]

Yes, it is a little more complicated than that, because you are overlooking one important aspect. When a male, ethnic German in Poland some 500 years ago married a Polish woman, are their descendants ethnic Germans in your eyes or Polish? What if they all married Poles after the initial German/Polish marriage? How long does ethnicity then "last" in your opinion? The male descendants might carry on the German surname for hundreds of years.

Life / Feeling ashamed of my Polish heritage. [237]


It's a little more complicated than that. Poles with German surnames could also be descendants of early settlers from the Teutonic Knights era, descendants of soldiers from Saxony who stayed in Poland after the wars with Sweden, or descendants of settlers that were invited to Poland decades before the partitions. Polish/ German (Prussian) history dates back many, many centuries with territory changing hands multiple times.

News / Poland in the European Union. Polexit? [559]

So in a way like the rude awakening the East Germans had a few years after the reunification? Buyer's remorse? I only hope that people in Poland are aware that the alternative, a Europe of jealous nation states working against each other, might turn out to be a really bad idea.

News / Poland in the European Union. Polexit? [559]


What would make them want to leave?

News / Poland's News sources [59]

"Populism is a range of political approaches that deliberately appeal to "the people," often juxtaposing this group against a so-called "elite."

Don't be silly, Dirk. You know the difference between patriotism/ nationalism and populism/ pluralism very well.

News / Poland's News sources [59]

You really need to read up on the definitions, Dirk.

Life / Why is circumcision not practiced in Poland? [701]

Of course, because in the end it doesn't really matter for a female whether the partner is cut or not.

History / Would Poland be better off if it had lost in the Polish-Soviet War? [44]


That's like asking if the world would be better off without WW1. It would've saved countless lives, that's for sure. No USSR, no Holodomor, no WW2, no Holocaust, no gulags, no Soviet occupation of eastern Europe - take your pick. If you ask the citizens of countries which gained independence after the Great War, I'm pretty sure they will tell you it was all worth it. What do you expect?

Life / Why is circumcision not practiced in Poland? [701]


Only until they took their first smooth ride... ;)