History / Destruction of Ukrainian churches in Poland in 1938 [289]

Polish pre-war authorities, believing that it was possible to polonize Ukrainian minority, committed a grave mistake. After various acts hostile to Ukrainians, the Polish-Ukrainian relations became the worst in history and their tragic culmination was the genocide of thousands of Poles in Volhyn region.

News / Polish President Lech Kaczynski and gov officials die in a plane crash in Russia [686]

It is like a bad dream. I still think I must wake up to stop this nightmare.

I wasn`t particularly fond of Kaczyński, but I had never wished him death.

In a way, the President, a great patriot of Poland, achieved a success - the whole world learnt about Katyn Massacre.

I heard about the crash in the morning, driving to work. There was the news on one radio station and then they started playing solemn music. I changed stations one after another and they were all playing music. It was a good moment for quite pondering, before all those commentaries flowed.

See the decor of main Polish news sites - everything is black and white.

tvn24.pl
onet.pl

The cause of the accident - thick fog over the underinvested airport in Smolensk, Russia. Because they don`t have special equpment for landing in difficult weather conditions, the Russian air control advised Poles to go to another airport, but to no avail. The Polish pilots tried to land a few times, at least 3, which is an unheard-of situation in aviation because after the very first futile attempt of landing a pilot should give up and look for another airport.

I can imagine the pressure that the pilots of Polish Air Force 1 were under. They were going to take part in the 70th anniversary celebration of Katyn Masacre, and the President just had to be delivered there. What is worse, they had taken off from Warsaw late, so they were in a hurry.

The pilots took a risk but lost.

See the computer simulation of the crash

tvn24.pl/-1,1651578,0,1,tak-mogla-wygladac-katastrofa-podobna-do-wypad ku-casy,wiadomosc.html

History / The restoration of Polish cities from WW2 destruction [123]

True and not true.

What can you say about this one?:

prudential

It was built before WW2. Not too beautiful.

Badly damaged,

historiaradia.neostrada.pl/Warszawa%20prudential%201944.jpg

but rebuilt.
Looking at it today, I think it wasn`t worth it. :):):)

History / Communism fell 20 years ago, Poland led the fight since WW2 [341]


Which song do you mean? There are two... Both have strong words and both are valid today.


It is an understatement. Better to say: a kick in the ass. :):):)

History / Communism fell 20 years ago, Poland led the fight since WW2 [341]


I have found a film wbout communist police guarding Lenin monument



g

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

Fortunately, I didn`t participate in this thread. I intuitively felt it was a bad thread. Dirty. That is why I refrained.
It is good and exciting to know that I am not an idiot.

History / Polish historical myths - to break or not to break them? [257]


Poles still had German occupation in memory, and the year was 1968, 23 years after WW2 ended. Till today some buildings in Warsaw bear scars from the war and the Rising,

so what do you expect from people who lived in 1968??? Brotherly feelings? After 6 million victims of German folly? :):):):)

History / Polish historical myths - to break or not to break them? [257]

Communists didn`t accept discussion.

History / Polish historical myths - to break or not to break them? [257]

With communism gone, which way would Czechoslovakia go? Sooner or later, it would become German ally. :):) Poles really didn`t want to have such a neighbour in the south.

History / Communism fell 20 years ago, Poland led the fight since WW2 [341]


Yes.
wilsoncenter.org/topics/pubs/ACFB35.PDF

Also in Polish. It says what I already mentioned. The Soviet Union called off the troops in the last moment.

mail-archive.com/poland-l@listserv.acsu.buffalo.edu/msg01221.html

History / Communism fell 20 years ago, Poland led the fight since WW2 [341]

You seem carried away by unnecessary emotions.

Please, cool off and read this thread in full.

Then, go to the thread I suggested and read it in full.


The would-be invasion of Poland by Warsaw Pact armies in December 1980. Everything was ready and tanks started warming up their engines, when the order came to cease the operation. Allegedly after US President`s warnings.

History / Communism fell 20 years ago, Poland led the fight since WW2 [341]


I will answer you in the thread about Polish Myths.

History / Communism fell 20 years ago, Poland led the fight since WW2 [341]

East Germans. armed to their teeth, were ready and willing to invade too. Normal. However, they were grounded by Soviet Union leaders who didn`t want to make the situation worse. Instead, neutral Poles were sent. :):)

OK, I admit, that is a joke. :):):)

History / Communism fell 20 years ago, Poland led the fight since WW2 [341]

You mean Prague Spring in general? Wiki offers fair description: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prague_Spring

Food / Poland's Patyczki (meat-on-a-stick) [33]

Meat on stick is tasty but you must be careful it doesn`t move any more:

But I never mind when stuff wriggles on my tongue. It is even funny. Ticklish.

History / Can anyone from Poland tell me about Auschwitz and The Ghetto? [625]

Ooops.

You have been absent really long.

After your comeback, I can`t recognise you.

Is it some new strategy of yours or you have been replaced by Body Snatchers?

History / Can anyone from Poland tell me about Auschwitz and The Ghetto? [625]


Definitely you need to read more stories and diaries about Auschwitz. There was resistance movement in the camp. Not only materials but also people were smuggled in and out. E.g, your compatriot, Denis Avey. You know how to use Google? :):):):)

History / Can anyone from Poland tell me about Auschwitz and The Ghetto? [625]

Do you expect SS stamps on the raw materials?

History / Can anyone from Poland tell me about Auschwitz and The Ghetto? [625]

thenews.pl/national/?id=124409



Auschwitz children's stories collection published

The Auschwitz Museum has published a reprint of a collection of stories for children, compiled by prisoners at the death camp in World War 2.
The stories - Bajki z Auschwitz - were printed illegally by Polish prisoners working in the offices of Nazi architects preparing plans for extension of the camp. According to former camp inmates, about 50 copies of the little book were created, using stolen paper and paints, and printed clandestinely.

The finished books were smuggled out of the camp. Most of the stories were written or translated by Stanisław Bęć.
The book contains six stories altogether: "The adventures of the little black chick" which is probably the first ever children's story written in Auschwitz; "The story of the Hare, the Fox and the Cockerel" translated from the Czech; "Every Living Thing" describes insects, birds and animals found in fields, gardens and homes - also based on a Czech original; "The Wasps' Wedding" which is the only story that has survived without its illustrations; "The Selfish Giant" a rhymed version of the story by Oscar Wilde and "The Tales of the Learned Cat" a copy of which the Museum received in 1999.

This is the first book for children by the Auschwitz Museum Press, which since its creation in 1957 has published more than 400 titles of a total 8 million copies, including historical books, memoirs, albums, catalogues and guides in 20 language versions.

Proceeds from the sale of the book of stories for children are particularly to go towards preserving items documenting the fate of children at the death camp, and the so-called childrens' barracks at Birkenau.

Food / Schmaltz.. is it still used in Poland [21]

My monthly supply of pork fat, with chunks of lard and onion scraps, for spreading on bread.

History / Polish historical myths - to break or not to break them? [257]


Yes.


Not only Poles. Also Germans, Russians, Americans, British, French etc etc etc .




Reconciliation is a good word to describe Czech and Polish political relations today. Yes, Poles participated in the invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968. Polish communist leader Gomułka urged the harsh solutions with Prague Spring because he feared that free Czechoslovakia would fall prey to Germany, thus flanking Poland from the south, like in 1939 (German attack on Poland from 3 directions - north, west and south).

So, Poles became invaders and occupants. Like in Napoleonic times on San Domingo, they went without enthusiasm, but did their duty as it was expected of them.

Polish troops in Czechoslovakia. Poles "heroically defended" a few big towns against Czech patriots: Hradec Kralove, Pardubice, Olomunec, Trutnow.







Polish troops return to Poland after their mission.

Each Pole is a good soldier



The occupation was not too peaceful. Polish soldiers actively suppressed the Czech opposition, by tracking down illegal radio stations or printing houses. They also removed the anti-invasion graffiti on walls. They put pressure on local patriotic authorities which were reluctant to cooperate with true communists who started taking control thanks to the invasion.

Polish soldiers sometimes behaved like real occupants. When they went to local pubs and received unfriendly comments from Czechs, they could get really nasty and it often happened that they ordered a Czech man to drink beer from his shoes..... :(:(:(

The greatest tragedy happened when on 7 September, 1968, a drunk Polish soldier opened fire into the crowd of civilians, killing 2 and wounding 5 people on the spot, also trying to rape a wounded woman. The killer was sentenced to death, later changed to life, and finally left prison after 15 years.

Polish society`s opposition against the invasion was feeble. One must remember, though, that 3 months before the Polish authorities had cracked on restive students and intellectuals demanding greater freedom.

Nevertheless, during and after the invasion of Czechoslovakia the Polish secret police noticed many anti-government leaflets and graffiti on walls. Also a few intellectuals and writers sent a letter of protest to authorities. Some party members resigned from their membership.

The most spectacular act of protest against the invasion was the self-burning of Ryszard Siwiec.



Film showing Siwiec tragedy:
youtube.com/watch?v=JZZlrPQHDH0
All Polish democratic governments since 1990 apologised officially to our Slavic brothers for what we did to them. Even General Jaruzelski, then a Defence Minister, sent an apology to the Czech.

radio.cz/en/article/69856


news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4171966.stm

Better late than never.

Now, I know that Poles tend to justify the Polish participation by usual: we were suppressed by communists, it wasn`t Polish decision etc etc.

But did it really make any difference to Czechs who saw Polish troops in their cities and towns? Or the Czech family whose members were massacred by a mad Polish soldier?

Czechs just knew that Poles occupied them and that`s what counted.

That is why I support the official apologies issued by Polish governments to southern neighbours. It wasn`t only evil communists, unfortunately, who organised the invasion against the popular will and without consent of the nation. The historical sources prove that most Poles were glad the invasion took place, they considered it lesser evil. For them it was better to have suppressed Czechoslovakia than German Czechoslovakia. Let`s remember that by 1968 West Germany hadn`t settled its former lands issue with Poland.

The sources in Polish:
mowiawieki.pl/artykul.html?id_artykul=993
histmag.org/?id=1992

Already August 23, President Svoboda interrupted the unified opinion leadership team and suggested a way out of the impasse, agreeing to go to Moscow for talks. There he was greeted with full honors. In the delegations were also gen. Dzúr, Gustav Husak deputy (one of the leaders of the Communist Party of Slovakia) and Bil'ak together with representatives of their group. Svoboda activists demanded the release of the internees and their inclusion in the talks. Soviet Comrades agreed to this and a crew of Dubèek led from August 24 in Moscow serious talks. It turned out that both President Svoboda and Gustav Husak sided with Brezhnev. The first of them wanted to head off the risk of armed conflict and avoid bloodshed. The second, moderate until this time, has taken his game for the Communist Party leadership.

History / Polish historical myths - to break or not to break them? [257]


Wetting a bed and having nightmares aren`t contradictory?

History / Polish historical myths - to break or not to break them? [257]


No. They were real stories.

The myth is about Queen Wanda who didn`t want to marry a German prince and threw herself into the Wisła River. She didn`t have a swimming license and she drowned.

See how mournful people carry her dead body and shed tears. It is a legend.

The legend says she was so beautiful.
See her beauty. Legendary.

The truth is rather banal. It was the German prince who didn`t want to marry Wanda because she was a mean, greedy, money and power-oriented old witch.

See her real "beauty." That was a fact!

Seeing no prospects for herself after being rejected, she decided to die.

Simple.

History / Polish historical myths - to break or not to break them? [257]


Yes.

I still haven`t posted the reply to the myth. It is here
webster.edu/~corbetre/haiti/bookreviews/pachonski.htm

It is long so I will attempt to choose only most important excerpts for you, but due to mods` policy, they might vanish, so don`t blame me. In order to get a full light, read the whole linked site.

Certainly the Poles had little desire to be in Saint Domingue, and also had a natural sympathy for people fighting for their own independence, which probably gave true cause for Dessaline's beliefs that the Poles were a cut different from the French. But the Poles did obey orders, came to Saint Domingue and did their duty as best they could.

Summing up:
1. It is a myth that Poles en masse deserted the French troops and went over to insurgents` side.
2. It is a myth that Poles substantially contributed to the creation of the insurgent government or army and to its victories, or that they greatly helped insurgents to gain independence.


No, it is not a myth, it is a fact, which, paradoxically, is not a part of the Polish myth at all. It is widely unknown, I would say.


The whole island was called Hispaniola. Its Western part, today`s Haiti, was called San/Santo Domingo.

History / Poland: Her heroes and her traitors [239]

You are talking about rules.

But life is life and people are only people. :):):):)

Read the description of the assasination available in Wiki but elsewhere too

History / Poland: Her heroes and her traitors [239]

Traitor

Iwo Sym was a known actor before WW2. When Germans occupied Poland, he openly cooperated with them. For that he was killed by the Polish underground.



en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Igo_Sym

Life / Are foreigners welcome in Poland? [305]


That`s normal. You dont` usually like sth which you don`t know and have never seen. The unknown makes you anxious and it is understandable reaction. Country people who have never met a black guy are simply fearful.

But I know little settlements in Poland with a black family of doctors. Their kids play with their white Polish peers and feel Polish.

History / Poland: Her heroes and her traitors [239]


It is point 3: Protect Polish lands from foreign invasion. (Actually, it should be point 4. Yes, BrutalButcher, my Maths is really horrible. :):):):) Sorry.)


Yes, Kosciuszko is a good heroic counterpart to Targowica traitors.

Yet, I thought about another guy of the time as an example of a zealous Polish patriot.


en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tadeusz_Rejtan

History / Poland: Her heroes and her traitors [239]

1. Retain Poland as an independent country.
2. When independence is lost, fight for it.
2. Resist German and Russian expansionism.
3. Protect Polish lands from foreign invasion.
4. Keep the faith.