History / Lithuanians hate Poles? [156]

That's their choice and loss. The point is: why do you want to reform the education of young people (limit the number of lessons taught in Polish in "Polish schools", add more subjects in Lithuanian) if there is no need for such changes - young Lithuanian Poles are fluent in Lithuanian language.

Genealogy / The Last name "Mack" [5]

Maybe they added the letter 'c'. The word 'Mack' sounds similar to 'Mak' in Polish.
It means poppy.

Nazwisko/last name

History / Mother tongue in Poland - acccording to 1931 census. [174]

No census is 100% reliable. However, these are the possible alternatives (regarding Polish-Lithuanian conflict over Vilnius/Wilno):

1. Russian census of 1897:
Vilnius/Wilno - Jews (40%), Poles (30,1%), Russians (20,9%), Belarusians (4,3%), Lithuanians (2,1%), Germans (1,4%), Tatars (0.5%), Ukrainians (0,3%), Other (0,4%)
Vilna Governorate (most of its territory seems to be in Belarus now; en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Lithuania-1867-1914-EN.svg) - Belarusians (56,1%), Lithuanians (17,6%), Jews (12,5%), Poles (8,2%), Russians (4,9%), Germans (0,2%), Tatars (0,1%), Ukrainians (0,1%), Other (0,1%).

2. German census of 1916:
Vilnius/Wilno - Poles (50,2%), Jews (43,5%), Lithuanians (2,6%), Russians (1,5%), Other (2,2%)
Occupied Lithuania - Poles (58%), Lithuanians (18,5%), Jews (14,7%), Belarusians (6,4%), Russians (1,2%), Other (1,2%).

3. Polish census of 1921:
Administrative district Area of Wilno - Poles (57,9%), Belarusians (25,7%), Jews (8,1%), Other (8,3%).

4. German-Lithuanian census of 1942:
Vilnius/Wilno - Poles (41,89%), Jews (27,78%), Lithuanians (24,37%), Russians (1,95%), Belarusians (2,55%), Germans (0,25%), Other (1,21%)
Wilna-Gebiet - Lithuanians (43,44%), Poles (42,20%), Belarusians (10,89%), Russians (3,05%), Other (0,42%).

5. Soviet census of 1959:
Vilnius/Wilno - Lithuanians (33,6%), Russians (29,4%), Poles (20%), Jews (7%), Belarusians (6,2%), Ukrainians (2,8%), Other (1%).

Ethnic history of Vilnius region.
/wiki/Ethnic_history_of_the_Vilnius_region

History / Lithuanians hate Poles? [156]


Was there any research about the level of their fluency in Lithuanian? Fluency in given language shouldn't be seen as the ability to pass Matura exam from this language, which require additional knowledge (for example, of full spectrum of national literature) and skills, not only competence in writing and speaking in Polish/Lithuanian.


From what I've read, the issue of "discrimination" lies in the fact that Lithuanian authorities are taking away from national minorities some educational rights the latter enjoyed for tens of years (also in free Lithuania), in a hurry, without consulting the communities and dialogue with them. You need a good reason/explanation for this.

History / Mother tongue in Poland - acccording to 1931 census. [174]

The interesting thing is that Vilnius/Wilno/Вiльня was also claimed as part of an independent Belarus in 1918.
Belarusians could have argued that they were a majority/plurality in the area surrounding the city - according to the Russian census from 1897, they were 56,1% of population in Vilna Governorate.

History / Mother tongue in Poland - acccording to 1931 census. [174]


And before 1918:



How do you know that?

History / Mother tongue in Poland - acccording to 1931 census. [174]

Individual opinions can be chosen selectively and manipulated to prove a point of view. Media sometimes (or too often) show only one side of the coin. Some talk about Lithuanian propaganda, others about Polish one. Who should we believe?


Vietnamese are not a "national minority" according to Polish law. I'm not aware of any ban on establishing private Vietnamese schools.


For a community to be recognized as a national or ethnic minority, its members have to hold Polish citizenship and the community itself has to meet a total of six conditions. One of the criteria is the following: 'its ancestors have been living on the present territory of the Republic of Poland for at least one hundred years.'

If the law won't change Vietnamese should posses a status of 'national minority' in this century.

mswia.gov.pl/download.php?s=2&id=755

History / Would you classify the Poland's Communist years as a "Soviet occupation" ? [221]


Edward Szczepanik?
guardian.co.uk/news/2005/dec/19/guardianobituaries.mainsection

Stanisław Mikołajczyk escaped Poland in 1947 (with the help of British embassy) because he feared for his life. He wrote a book titled 'The rape of Poland: pattern of Soviet aggression' in which he described among others sovietization of Poland and falsification of 'Polish' elections.

---------------------------------------------------------
Worth reading:
Leonid Gibianskii (Institute of Slavic Studies - Russian Academy of Sciences) and Norman M. Naimark (Stanford University):

ucis.pitt.edu/nceeer/2004_817-16_Gibianskii.pdf

The Soviet Union and the establishement of communist regimes in eastern Europe, 1944-1954.

Without Soviet involvement, there would not be 'People's Republic of Poland'.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trial_of_the_Sixteen

History / Would you classify the Poland's Communist years as a "Soviet occupation" ? [221]


Maybe according to former SB/ZOMO/party members. If you talk to people who were in the opposition, you will get diffrent answer. Majority of Polish adult population was not in the party.

Those who were in the apparatus of repression are deeply despised in Poland.

Love / Why marriage ring on the right hand finger in Poland? [11]

According to Polish tradition wedding ring on left hand means that a person is a widow/widower.

History / Would you classify the Poland's Communist years as a "Soviet occupation" ? [221]


Jarosław Kaczyński wasn't in the PRL's apparatus of repression. Should we despise children for deeds of their parents?
Anyway, what is the basis of your claims? Did you live during communism in Poland?

History / Poland did reasonably well in land terms out of the postwar settlement [270]


The British, along with the French, were the ones who allowed the destruction of Czechoslovakia. They played bigger role than the Poles, signed the Munich agreement and gave the Nazis free hand to carve up a quarter of Czechoslovakia's territory. You do assess them as 'good forces'?