Life / 3 reasons why you hate Poland. [1049]

1. The way strangers maintain eye contact on the street for too long.
2. The way shop assistants laugh when they gabble something and then expect a foreigner to understand it.
3. The way that the Communist mentality seems so entrenched. When did the Berlin Wall come down?

Life / 3 reasons why you hate Poland. [1049]

Yes it is a cultural difference and more to do with my own mood than the person staring at me. It's just annoying sometimes. Or could be taken as a pick-up manoeuvre!

Life / 3 reasons why you hate Poland. [1049]


The dismantling of the Berlin Wall in 1989 is generally seen as a symbol of the collapse of the pseudo-Communist/Socialist regimes in central and eastern Europe. But twenty years on, some institutions in Poland still operate under the same mentality. Not all institutions and certainly not all Poles and most certainly much less so among the younger generations. It's just that I happen to work in one of those institutions ...

Life / 3 reasons why you hate Poland. [1049]

I think this thread is more about letting off steam than anything else. I've listed three things that annoy me about Poland - but ask me to list things that annoy me about the UK and it would be a lot longer than just three items ... And arseholes who stare at you or push in front of you in the queue are not just confined to Poland :-)

Life / 3 reasons why you hate Poland. [1049]


As a Jewish person, I have not really noticed much either. I'm not really active, Jewishly-speaking, here but hope to become so soon and so may notice more then. But my initial impression is that, among young people at least, they either don't care or are deeply interested in Poland's Jewish past.

Life / 3 reasons why you hate Poland. [1049]

If I can get away with turning up with inheritance papers and claiming I was robbed just after WWII then yes, they're my relatives ... :-)

Life / 3 reasons why you hate Poland. [1049]

Just to add something which has happened twice in the past two weeks: When someone has dropped something (such a newly bought CD or a hat) and I pick it up and give it to them, I expect more of a response than just "Oh"! A "dziękuję" wouldn't go amiss!

Life / 3 reasons why you hate Poland. [1049]


Stare back. Really hard. They will look away (unless they're trying to pick you up). Or wink.

Life / 3 reasons why you hate Poland. [1049]


Can you both be hired to come and give a demonstration performance in a supermarket in Poznań?

Language / Anglos don't distinguish kasza from Kasia? [22]

Describe the position of the tongue when pronouncing the words. Or get students already familiar with phonetics :-)

Genealogy / Jewish Roots of Poland [638]


But most rabbinical authorities accept that according to various criteria a non-Jew can convert to Judaism and then the marriage is kosher. The 'threat' (as you term it) is when the Jew gives up Judaism in order to marry a non-Jew. I believe the Catholic Church has a similar standpoint when it comes to marriage ...

Genealogy / Jewish Roots of Poland [638]

Well Jewish fathers can have Jewish knowledge too and bring their children up accordingly. The major Jewish movement in America and the Liberal movement in the UK accepts the children of Jewish men as Jewish if indeed they have been brought up as such. In the Orthodox community, the mother would have to convert to Orthodox Judaism in order to marry the Jewish father - but her children would still be considered 100% Jewish if the conversion was carried out according to their regulations.

Genealogy / Jewish Roots of Poland [638]


Judaism is a religion, based on ethnoconfessional separateness, not a race. Other groups such as the Latgalians in Latvia and the Setu in Estonia have a similar ethnoconfessional concept.

Genealogy / Jewish Roots of Poland [638]


Some of the greatest writers in the Polish language, before the Second World War, were Jewish Poles.

Genealogy / Jewish Roots of Poland [638]


No different than Chicken Tikka Massala, which was invented in the UK and is largely unknown in India. Very much a part of British culture now.

Genealogy / Jewish Roots of Poland [638]

I didn't say it was traditional. But it's very much a staple of English, Welsh, Scottish and Northern Irish cuisine (since you don't like the word 'British').

Genealogy / Jewish Roots of Poland [638]


Not to forget muszugene ... very appropriate for the present thread :-)

Genealogy / Jewish Roots of Poland [638]


תּוֹדָה רַבָּה

Some great footage. Thanks for sourcing it for us!

Genealogy / Jewish Roots of Poland [638]


Yet a few years ago when I took a Polish friend from Gdansk into a North London deli to show her the bagels, it was the first time she had seen one! I guess their origins are being forgotten ...

Law / Opening a Polish Bank Account by a foreigner in Poland. Recommendations. [299]


Deutsche Bank is where I have my account and I have been pleased with the service. When they failed to deliver my ATM card, the staff at my local branch were on the case and the card arrived a few days later. Didn't have to deposit anything into the account to open it and I didn't need proof of address. No real complaint and on the whole satisfied with the service they provide.

Law / Poland - Temporary Residence card - Karta pobytu - required documents [142]

Merged:Life insurance with PZU was refused (lack of a resident's card) options

My life insurance with PZU was just refused because I do not have a resident's card. Does anyone know of a Polish company that will issue such insurance to an EU citizen in Poland without the card? What are the criteria for getting the karta pobytu anyway?

Study / Rumor about racism - will I be fine in Poland as a black International student from Africa? [245]

I suppose it all depends where in Poland you'll be. No one in Warsaw seems to be phased by foreigners - they just take it in their stride. Smaller towns may be a different story though. Poznan people (in my experience) seem to react in a rather surprising way to foreigners - a bit taken aback, or reticent, or occasionally hostile. Of course this is not everyone and not all the time, but enough to make you think ... co za wieś :-)

History / Poles and (Polish) Jews... Victims of war... and beyond [380]


"The Jewish prisoners were those who managed to escape death on the very first day of their detention. As a rule, on that same day they lost many members of their families, sometimes their whole immediate families. This was the beginning of the camp ordeal, incomparable to the fate of the non-Jews. For the 'Aryans', Auschwitz was 'only' a labour camp, destructive and potentially fatal. Their families usually remained free. The Jews perceived Auschwitz as a death camp, frequently the site of the passing of their whole families. No waited for them outside the camp, and no one prayed for them. Even if their subsequent camp experiences resembled those of the other inmates, their fate remained different.'

Krawjewski, S. 2005. Poland and the Jews: Reflections of a Polish Polish Jew. Kraków: Austeria, p. 35.

History / Poles and (Polish) Jews... Victims of war... and beyond [380]


But people weren't murdered only for being Orthodox ...

History / Poles and (Polish) Jews... Victims of war... and beyond [380]

So, by this logic, Polish schoolchildren should learn about all the Catholic mass murders in history ...

Life / Racism in Poland - the future [441]


And which historically-reliable textbook does this come from?

Genealogy / Jewish Roots of Poland [638]

Seanus:I wear my sideburns like a Jew (almost)

I now have the following image of Seanus in my mind's eye ...

• 
  seanus.jpg
  

Genealogy / Jewish Roots of Poland [638]


That's your approach Seanus, and Yehudi has a different one. Personally I don't think either approach is better or worse than the other but I can respect that people want to treat these matters differently.

History / Poles and (Polish) Jews... Victims of war... and beyond [380]


And Palestinians. Did you see that the cargo destined for humanitarian aid in Gaza was refused entry by the Palestinian Authorities?

History / Poles and (Polish) Jews... Victims of war... and beyond [380]


Exactly. I think the IDF were heavy handed to say the least and should be called to account for the deaths of the nine people aboard. There needs to be an investigation of that and also the aid agency which obviously had ulterior motives other than bringing aid to the Palestinians.

The trouble is, such heavy handiness on the part of the Israelis alienates the majority of Palestinians who otherwise might be disposed to dialoguing with their neighbours in the pursuit of peace. That's why they elected Hamas in Gaza.

Little mentioned, but equally relevant is the EGYPTIAN blockade of the Gaza strip to the south. They are putting steel sheets into the ground (with American finance) to prevent tunnels being dug from Gaza to Egypt. If the Israeli blockade is so unreasonable (and in some ways it is), why is the Egyptian one not questioned and opposed in the same way?