Law / Worked for a restaurant in Poland and the owner refused to pay me. [60]

Name and shame the restaurant so we know not to go and eat there.

Language / Foreigners speaking Polish - examples. [61]


She's a big animal rights activist too :)

Law / Need advice on name change (from English to Polish) [11]

No, not at all. If you'd be happier calling yourself Emilia and you want to make it official then go ahead.

History / Poland and Polish Anti-Semitism, c. 1918-1939 [148]


youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=iS-0Az7dgRY

Genealogy / Is Czarnecki Really A Polish Or Actually A Sephardic Jewish Surname? [110]

I've argued with Harry long enough so yes, I know what I'm letting myself in for lol

The Jews were expelled from Spain at the end of the 15th century. It was around the 15th century that noble families in Poland started adopting surnames. The practice didn't spread to ordinary people until around the 17th century with the Jews in Poland being one of the last groups to adopt the practice widely so it is highly unlikely that the Czarnecki surname was "imported" into Poland from Spain in any way, shape or form on this timing alone. Furthermore the adopting of surnames in Spain varied widely from region to region and given that the Jews in Spain, whilst being pretty well assimilated in Spanish society, adopted tradition jewish naming practices eg Dunash ben Labrat, Solomon ibn Gabirol, Yehuda Halevi, etc etc so if any Jews who left Spain then subsequently found themselves in Poland they more than likely would have had traditional Jewish surnames if they had any at all and certainly not names of a toponymic nature.

Genealogy / Is Czarnecki Really A Polish Or Actually A Sephardic Jewish Surname? [110]

I don't see how sotos could be mispronounced as rojos. Totally different pronunciation altogether.

History / Poland and Polish Anti-Semitism, c. 1918-1939 [148]

Oh well that covers all the bases then, doesn't it? By that definition anyone who disagrees with a Jewish person about anything is automatically an anti Semite!

Life / What's wrong with Poland? I don't see anything. [121]


I would define helping Poland as doing voluntary work without personal gain rather than actually working in Poland for pay and personal gain. I would also define helping Poland as not denying your heritage, being proud of your roots and helping to keep the traditions alive; when Poland was under foreign occupation this was particularly important, especially the teaching of the Polish language.

News / Could be in prison for 10 years for trying to bribe the Polish traffic police [39]


Safety!

Travel / My holiday, Gdansk or Kaunus, Lithuania? Help me decide! [23]


Good luck. I went against the advice of my friend who lives there when I decided to visit the place. It's ok down by the harbour area and it's nice walking through the park and up to Kamienna Góra but I won't be going back there in a hurry. I'll be interested to see what you think of it when you get back :)

Travel / My holiday, Gdansk or Kaunus, Lithuania? Help me decide! [23]

There's nothing worth seeing in Gdynia, I wasted an afternoon of my life there which I'll never get back :( Oliwa is a nice suburb of Gdansk, that's worth a visit. There's a nice park there although it might be a little cold and bleak in October. When I was there last month the weather was glorious and it was ever so peaceful and relaxing. Can't help you with the food places. I tend to eat where ever it's cheapest.

Travel / Traveling to Poland from Turkey - trip suggestions? [5]

Well, as soon as you arrive in Poland you will meet people who live in Poland. They are called border security and they are very friendly people, always greet you with a smile and some nice jokes. If you are lucky and they like you they might let you in to the country or even invite you for dinner. This is even better if they are female ;) I am sure you will enjoy.

News / THE ARMY OF POLAND - THE REALITY [393]


I think we have enough problems with football hooligans without giving them military training for two years :D

Real Estate / Poland's apartment prices continue to fall [1844]

In the UK it's called Council Tax and varies depending where you live. I pay around £1000 a year which sucks big time.

Genealogy / Common surnames in Poland NOT of Polish origin ? [87]

A girl I know from Wrocław has the surname Sołtys. I wonder if she knows her surname has Germanic origins? lol

Life / Are Polish natives intolerant of foreigners who do not properly speak the language? [30]

Sounds like you could be talking about the English here. I've never had anyone complaining about my Polish, if I make a mistake they correct me and we move on. Best way to learn is to make mistakes and learn from them.

UK, Ireland / Crying Polish truck driver on British roads is Internet hit [269]

Have to agree with you on that one. I was out in a pub with my mate and overheard a group of Poles taking the **** out of other people in the bar, talking in Polish of course, and eventually they came round to making a few disparaging comments about me and my mate. They got the shock of their lives wehn I walked over to them and said "Cześć! Skąd jesteście w Polsce?"

Had a similar experience with a group of English football fans in Germany in 2006. I was sat outside a bar having a few beers with a load of my mates and we were chatting away in Polish and they were sat a couple of tables away mouthing off and throwing a few insults our way. They weren't expecting someone to give them a gobful back in a broad Yorkshire accent.


I have but they were ridiculing the Russians so that's ok ;)

Genealogy / Common surnames in Poland NOT of Polish origin ? [87]

One of the most well known must be Miller. I don't know how prevalent the name is in Poland but it's definitely not of Polish origin.

News / What really happened at the Krakow restaurant? [53]


Unfortunately this happens in a lot of places in the world and not just Poland but hey, don't let that stop the chance to do a bit more Pole bashing.

Life / The Polish Wedding - What is it Like in Poland? [338]


Depends on how well you know them and what you'd be prepared to spend on a present if you were to buy one and obviously what you can afford. At the end of the day it's your gift and it should be private between you and the bride & groom so as long as you're not too stingy or over generous then no one else should know how much you gave them.

There's a thread here related to what you just asked. Have a read and see if that helps
polishforums.com/society-culture-38/wedding-present-polish-friends-much-money-should-give-53530

Life / Wroclaw Stadium and the Queen gig. [20]


When they reformed a few years ago with Paul Rogers as singer they were universally slated by the music press and a lot of die hard Queen fans. I saw them tour with Paul Rogers and I really enjoyed the gig as did most of the people there.

The problem is that Freddy was such an iconic figure that it would be impossible to replace him on a full time basis but Queen wasn't just Freddy, there were three other people in the band and they still have to earn a living. They can probably earn more money touring as Queen than they can doing other projects so I have no problem with them touring with another vocalist just as long as they don't turn into Freddy immitators, they have to be their own person.

Off-Topic / The West Highland Way - 96 miles through some of Scotland most beautiful routes. [28]

I walked that a few years ago with my girl friend. We carried our stuff the first two days but after nearly killing ourselves walking up Conic Hill we decided to send our stuff on ahead using a bag carrier service. I'd love to do it again.

Law / How will a parking lot business do in Warsaw centrum? [6]

Only open land I know of that close to Centrum is at the junction of JP2 and Jerozolimskie close to Śródmieście WKD and as far as I know it's used for car parking at the moment.

Travel / My holiday, Gdansk or Kaunus, Lithuania? Help me decide! [23]

The people I go to watch Poland with support many different clubs in Poland including Legia. Club allegiances are usually put to one side when you go to support Poland otherwise it would be chaos ;D

It is a shame about that cathedral considering the one at the other end of the town looks so good.



A pity the area of the town around here is such a mess.

Law / How will a parking lot business do in Warsaw centrum? [6]

Do you mean central Warsaw? Or do you actually mean what is classed as Centrum ie the junction of Marsałkowska and Jerozolimskie? Either way, if you can find some empty land that is affordable to buy or rent just to turn into a car park I say good luck to you.

Travel / My holiday, Gdansk or Kaunus, Lithuania? Help me decide! [23]

It's a little bit more than one street to be fair, I asume you mean Vilnius Gatve, there's the square around the town hall which Vilnius Gatve leads to, Muitines Gatve leads from the other corner of the square into Kurpiu Gatve and both these streets are quite pleasant and of course thhere are a few smaller streets connecting them with Vilnius Gatve. If you walk from the bottom of the square past the seminary you come to what's left of the medieaval fortifications overlooking the river and of course there is a big, dilapidated brick cathedral there as well which looked like it was starting to be renovated when I was there last year. I agree it's not somewhere to base yourself for a few days. The only reason I was there was because Poland were playing a friendly with Lithuania and the only reason I'd go back would be if Poland played there again.

Genealogy / Are Silesians people German/Germanic? [178]

Silesia also extends into Czech territory too. Czech out the Wikipedia article on Silesia to get more background.

History / What do Poles owe to Jews? [586]

As you well know Harry the quote is here. The quote is lifted from an article written by Professor Tomasz Strzembosz the link which I provided earlier and it is here: yadvashem.org/odot_pdf/Microsoft%20Word%20-%205416.pdf

The quote is on page 4 of the article and the quote is properly referenced at the foot of page 4 giving the book title, publisher and page number. This is common practice in academic studies Harry, accepted by every university around the world, but for some reason it's not good enough for you, the reason being that you are unable to prove your claim the Gross was quoted out of context or that he didn't even write it.

You were quite happy to post a link to Israel Gutman's response and critique to Professor Strembosz's article,

yadvashem.org/odot_pdf/Microsoft%20Word%20-%204797.pdf

which was first written in Polish and translated into English yet you refuse to accept the words of Jan T Gross quoted by Professor Strembosz whose article was also translated by the same person who translated Gutman's article.

Like I said in a previous post, when you are so sure of yourself you very quickly provide links to back yourself up yet when you have been found out to be making statements you can't support you try to change the subject, you accuse people of lying and you resort to personal insults. It is a common trend ever since you first started posting here, don't you just love archives :)

I gave you a chance to give me your personal definition of "approximately", to set the parameters either side of the 100,000 figure you used about Jewish personnel in the Polish Army in 1939 but for some reason you're avoiding this simple request too. Why? Is it because you don't like arguing on solid ground, because you like to be able to change the goalposts when you have been caught out? Here it is again Harry


You don't say "around 100,000, you don't say "an estimated 100,000", you don't say "approximately 100,000" - that comes in a later post but then you say the approximate part is not your word but that of Yad Vashem - you say "the fact that 100,000 Jews were serving in the Polish army". I will accept your revised position of "approximately 100,000", after all when a man admits he is wrong we should be big enough give him credit for doing so, therefore I can see that you know your claim of "the fact that 100,000 Jews were serving in the Polish army" is wrong which is why you then further qualified the 100,000 figure as only being an approximation. So in order to take this debate further forward I politely asked you to set the parameters either side of this approximated figure of 100,000. Again, polite request, set the parameters either side of the 100,000. You can set the figures in 100s, 1000s or as a percentage, you choose. You first brought the figure of 100,000 and also then brought the word approximately so over to you once again Harry.

History / What do Poles owe to Jews? [586]

You then go on to say approximately. So as well as refusing to back up your claim that Gross wouldn't say what he wrote and it was taken out of context, you now refuse to define what you think is meant by approximate. You are so quick to provide links when you are sure of yourself as you do here and that is a thread started only a few hours ago. I asked you 3 days ago to back up your words that Gross's work was being quoted out of context and still you are unable to do so and we know why you are unable to do so because you can't. If you were so certain of your words you would have proven to me long ago just as you have been so quick and so happy to disparage monia on the other thread. You've been proved to be wrong in your claims, your false claim - should I play your game Harry and call you a liar? Nah, I won't because i don't have to stoop to your level. Now, what margin for error either side of the 100,000 figure would you take "approximately" to mean?

History / What do Poles owe to Jews? [586]


I quoted your quote and nowhere before you posted that did you say that you were quoting Yad Vashem. The link you posted at the bottom of your post here polishforums.com/history-poland-34/poles-owe-jews-60402/7/# msgmsg1283733 which is from Yad Vashem, and on that page it is claimed that the figure is over 100,000, nowhere is the word approximate used.

I am enquiring about your use use of the term "approximate" because in an earlier post here polishforums.com/history-poland-34/poles-owe-jews-60402/7/# msg1283609 you said it was a fact that the figure was exactly 100,000. I am trying to determine whether in your opinion it is a fact that the figure of 100,000 is a cast iron certainty or if in the space of a few posts you are having doubts about your claim that is was a fact or not as you posted a quote and a link where you contradict yourself. You say "fact" it was 100,000, then you say "approximately" but the link you posted says "over 100,000". Therefore having raised doubts in my mind what you are actually meaning, I asked you


So whether it is you using the word "approximately" Yad Vashem, the man in the moon or whoever, you quoted the word so therefore I am asking you, in your opinion, what margin for error either way of the 100,000 figure would you define the bands of approximation?