The events you mentioned were revolutions against communism that caused a lot of ferment in the block and outside, indeed, but lasted too short and got suppressed by communists so successfully that they were never repeated.
Poland, on the contrary, was in constant revolution. The events described in this thread can be grouped in the following way:
Partisan war 1945-1948 Poznan rebellion and end of stalinism 1956 Students and intelligentsia`s protests 1968 Massacre of workers 1970 Workers` protests 1976 Pope`s election and first visit to Poland 1979 Workers` strikes and Solidarity 1980 Martial law and resistance 1981-1988 Strikes and protests 1988 Communism toppled in Poland ahead of all other countries 1989
I think, but I am not sure that this was what Shelley was aiming at last year when she said that the West sees CZ (the mentioned Spring in Prague) and especially Hungary
These events are seen as torch - bearers because both provoked a Soviet intervention on a mass scale. Of course, sth like that couldn`t go unnoticed. :):):)
Ryszard Kowalczyk (born 20 February 1937) and his younger brother Jerzy Kowalczyk (born 1942) - Polish brothers who planted a bomb as a protest against the communist rule in Poland.
The Kowalczyk brothers were scientists at Opole University. They planted a bomb there on 6 October 1971 as a protest specifically against the violence perpetrated by the communist authorities against the workers' protest. A big celebration for the Służba Bezpieczeństwa and Milicja Obywatelska was to take place at the University in the morning of the following day. The big explosion literally destroyed the big university hall where the celebrations were to take place.
Splinter info on 1980s
An interview with a demonstrator who was intentionally run over by a riot militia truck in 1982:
Photos and videos from martial law 1981 ..
1983, the communist police attack people in front of the cathedral, BBC coverage:
Those swines who beat and tear gased people, old women preferably, are probably normal Poles today. In 1981, for perks and priviliges, like flats, cars, higher salaries, they became the defenders of the falling system. Do they feel any remorse today?
if you are with PO - you are intelligent, modern, educated, true European;
Yes, I agree with it fully. That is why I am for PO. As a result, I am not ashamed of myself and when I see myself in the mirror every morning, I feel just great. :):):)
Mike, you didn`t learn much. :):):) It is as I told you - native Poles don`t wear red on the day. Most Poles don`t even know there is such a day at all.
Poles least likeable, say Lithuanians 09.12.2010 09:51 Poles are the least friendly of all of Lithuania’s neighbours, say participants in a new online opinion poll. According to the survey conducted by Lithuanian web site Delfi.lt, 63 percent of Lithuanians think Latvians are the most likeable nation, as they also belong to the Baltic states and are similar to Lithuanians when it comes to looks, mentality and economic development.
As many as 13.4 percent of Lithuanians think that Russians are the most friendly neighbours and 8.8 percent have a similar opinion about Belarusians. Only 8.5 percent of the respondents chose Poles as the most likeable nation. “Lithuanians and Latvians have a lot in common but I decided to vote for Poles because we are bound by history and culture and Poland is a window to the world for us,” wrote one of the favourable respondents.
The poll reflects growing tension between Poland and Lithuania, with conflicts over the use of the Polish language by Poland’s ethnic minority in the country and the Polish-owned Mazeikiai oil refinery.
Poland’s Foreign Ministry described relations between the two neighbours recently as having reached an “all time low”. As many as 1627 Lithuanians participated in the poll.
Or maybe it's not from Gazeta Polska, but Nasza Polska!
Look, I have been trying to find the info. I couldn`t.
But I found other interesting stuff about discrimination of Polish students and I can believe that in one school teachers went mad and ordered the Polish minority to speak Lithuanian during breaks. It is perfectly plausible, in view of the state of affairs it is now.
All we're asking for is the copy of the actual school rules. It's not that difficult to produce, surely?
Delphian, be serious, what do you expect us to find? And how? A copy of Lithuanian school rules? Do you know what language they are written in? :):):):)
First step - Poland should sell the loss-generating Mozeiki Refinery to Russians.
That is why I don`t fill up at Orlen gas stations because they are the most expensive. It seems that Orlen, (the biggest Polish oil company) makes up for its Lithuanian losses here, in Poland.
Orlen sore issues over Mozeiki refinery:
What generates losses exactly?
1. Lithuanians removed 19 kilometre-long railway track which led to Latvian border and was used to export oil through the Latvian sea terminal in Lipawa.
2. Lithuanians charge too high fees for the transport of oil by their railways.
3. Lithuanians charge too high fees for using their oil terminal in Kłajpeda.
Let me remind you that in 2006, soon after Poles bought the refinery, Russians stopped sending crude oil to it through the Friendship pipeline. Now the import to the inland refinery is based on Venezulean oil which is transported by sea and then railways.
But the cost of such solution is too high and generally the whole business is in the red.
Even if you do manage to dig up a copy of school rules supporting that claim, there will still be the problem that Poland did precisely the same to her minorities back when the shoe was on the other foot.
Yes, it did. That was silly and harmful.
What goes around does eventually come around and it's hard to have sympathy for those who complain when others do to them exactly what they used to do to others.
It seems that you haven`t noticed we live in 21 century and both countries are in the EU and should abide to its law.
This news flash perfectly summarizes the main reasons of Polish anger.
Two Lithuanian Poles have been heavily fined by Lithuanian Language Inspection for putting double language boards on their buses:
Poland Latvia
The Lithuanian official says: They broke the law.
The problem is that it is only Lithuanian law while there is still superior European law about minorities and their rights.
The fined Poles say: We won`t give up.
Lithuania is going to lose the argument. Yet, they are still stubborn and treat their Polish minority with disrespect.
Lithuania must be an independent country at last. That is for sure. But they seem not to understand that they live in the multi language and multi ethnic country.
Poles perfectly understand that Wilno won`t be Polish again. I neither need it nor want it. It is a Lithuanian city now.
But we should never forget about Poles who, despite persecution, first Soviet and then Lithuanian, stayed there after WW2.
But, in the worst case, if Lithuanians don`t want to have anything in common with Poland, let them be Russian, instead. I won`t move my finger/ass when they become a Russian republic once again.
First step - Poland should sell the loss-generating Mozeiki Refinery to Russians.
Poles in Lithuania are better off than Lithuanians in Poland, thinks Lithuanian Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius. "Some Polish politicians are intentionally raising tension in Lithuanian-Polish relations and have made unjustified accusations against Lithuania, which is offensive" Andrius Kubilius told the Żiniu Radijas radio station. The prime minister's statement is a response to comments made by Poland's Foreign Ministry last week, accusing Lithuania of not tackling concerns of the Polish minority in the Baltic nation. Kubilius claims that the situation of Poles in Lithuania has not worsened but improved over the past few years.
Have you a link for that, please? I know that they were hell bent on killing Jews.
Yes, Jews were main victims of Nazi extermination aided by Lithuanian forces. But Poles and other nationalities too.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ponary_massacre
The Polish victims were mostly members of Polish intelligentsia (teachers, professors of the Stefan Batory University like Kazimierz Pelczar, priests like Romuald Świrkowski) and members of Armia Krajowa resistance movement[/i]
Poland thinks of the commonwealth, Lithuania of the Piłsudski.
Poles tend to forget or not realise that during WW2 Lithuanians actively helped Soviets and Nazis to exterminate Poles, not only in Lithuania but also in Poland. Lithuanian SS troops stationed in occupied Poland were the first to carry out anti-Polish oppression. AK soldiers remember them as eager to engage in combat against Polish underground and very dangerous.
Besides, Lithuanian minority in Poland enjoys all their rights.
Here, a bilingual sign in Poland:
To cut the long story short, during the Commonwealth era, Lithuania was always governed by Lithuanians - never by Poles! From the lowest local authority (podsędek powiatowy) up to Kanclerz Wielki - they were all Lithuanians.
Yes.
Is it a Polish fault that Lithuanian nobility and other elite groups prefered to speak Polish and adopt Polish customs/culture? Nobody forced that on them.
What you guys call Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, they called occupation.
Exactly. They prefer not to remember that, I already said it above, we saved their asses from Russians since 15 century. It was always Polish troops who made the physical and moral majority in Commonwealth armies, fighting in Lithuanian fields of glory.
Let`s be frank, without Poland`s enormous aid, Lithuania would have been subjugated by Russians at the beginning of 16 century and today they would be a solid, faithful, loyal part of the Russian Federation.
The main sore issues that Poles are submiting to Lithuanian government:
1. The refusal to acknowledge the Polish spelling of Polish minority`s surnames and names of streets and settlements. 2. The refusal to solve the problem with land/property ownership. 3. The obstruction over the Możejki oil refinery owned by Poles who bought it for hard cash to save Lithuania from Russian domination.
It is high time to kick some Lithuanian asses.
The same asses that we protected from Russians for a few centuries.
If I am wrong, correct me. :):):)
thenews.pl/international/?id=142115
Poland's Foreign Ministry says that Lithuania's lack of respect for its Polish minority's rights is "not acceptable", in a conflict which has brought diplomatic relations between the two neighbours to a new historic low.
The European Voice, published in Brussels, described relations between Poles and Lithuanians this week as "the worst in Europe". The Foreign Ministry in Warsaw has described as 'regrettable' Lithuania's failure to respond to Warsaw's gestures made towards Vilnius in recent years and speaks of imminent diplomatic action concerning the Polish ethnic minority in Lithuania.
In an official statement, the ministry says that a lack of respect for the rights of the Polish minority "will not be accepted".
Let`s be careful. Some of the posters pretend to be female while others pretend to be male. For fun. Everything they say should be taken with a grain of salt.
I know it from a sure source and once I personally knew a poster who was female though had male in profile.
But would the folks between Poland and the Black Sea be as keen?
If they are not keen, we will have to deport them to Siberia. Ironside will see to it, I am sure. He will make sure the deportation is smooth and without delays, and that it includes a few unruly Poles who oppose this mad idea of two-seas Poland.
