Life / Quality of life in major cities in Poland - cost, culture, work and modernization [11]


Well, I'm not so crazy about the mountains, but it could be nice nonetheless :P same goes for the lakes. How is the weather in these cities btw? Does it differ noticeably? From what I've read Kraków and Wrocław, being southern, should be a tad warmer but I'm not sure how that combines with their elevation or any other factor that might come in to play. Kraków and especially Wrocław are, indeed, more optimally located geographically in terms of being closer to Germany and the Czech Republic while Warsaw is kinda "stuck" in the heart of Poland.

As for the jobs - That little old report does indeed show Mazowieckie kinda has the best salaries, although in the IT jobs for example, both others aren't too far behind, sometimes even surpassing the prior in some terms&jobs.


Wow, I didn't know that :O now that I read about it a little on the internet, it seems that all big 3 are kinda notorious for their polluted air (although Kraków is still far worse than the other two) - makes sense I'd say, but it sure sucks nonetheless :P

Life / Quality of life in major cities in Poland - cost, culture, work and modernization [11]


Interesting :) It seems that all three are good options. By the way, it also seems like Gliwice is a kind of high-tech hotbed, considering the job offers-to-population ratio in this case.

I do speak Polish, so THAT is not going to be such a big problem, however I'm not yet sure whether I like modern Warsaw over the old-styled Kraków. I've been to Warsaw only once, for about two days, and didn't get to see much of the city. Kraków, however, I did get to see more than once for a more prolonged amount of time, and it was absolutely beautiful :) As for Wrocław - it is also a very nice city and my grandma comes from there :)

Life / Quality of life in major cities in Poland - cost, culture, work and modernization [11]

I've heard the cost of living in Warsaw is accordingly higher than in Kraków or Wrocław though, is it true?
Also, a little off topic but still somewhat relevant - do any of you happen to know where in Poland (if anywhere specific), is the highest concentration/popularity of high-tech brands such as IBM, Intel etc.?

Life / Being a Jew in modern-day Poland; Israeli Jew who is of Polish descent [269]

Anyway I hope I made it clear with my sarcasm my intentions were not directly blaming the Polish nation for war crimes.

Life / Being a Jew in modern-day Poland; Israeli Jew who is of Polish descent [269]

You are just looking to blame me for hidden intentions all the time. By the way Szalawa, that post was SARCASTIC. Jeez.

Life / Being a Jew in modern-day Poland; Israeli Jew who is of Polish descent [269]

@f stop they can learn from the bad things, which is how the thread connects to being a Jew in modern day Poland or vice versa if you'd like. I don't see the problem.

Life / Being a Jew in modern-day Poland; Israeli Jew who is of Polish descent [269]

@f stop of course my intention was to talk about how much Poland is to blame for WWII and how unworthy it is of our Jewish presence, god forbid.

Life / Being a Jew in modern-day Poland; Israeli Jew who is of Polish descent [269]

@f stop it was not my intention to have it come. to this but you just can't deny most of the Poles' actions during and after the war, whether good or bad...

Life / Being a Jew in modern-day Poland; Israeli Jew who is of Polish descent [269]

@Lolek how can you say Jedwabne and Kielce weren't Polish pogroms when it has been proven exactly so? Your opinions are rather ignorant, no offence, its like you make Poland perfect and blame it on everyone else?

Life / Being a Jew in modern-day Poland; Israeli Jew who is of Polish descent [269]

@P3undone I'm aware of that and I agree :)

Life / Being a Jew in modern-day Poland; Israeli Jew who is of Polish descent [269]

Well.. when the time comes it will be more meaningful :) its interesting tho :)

Life / Being a Jew in modern-day Poland; Israeli Jew who is of Polish descent [269]

@Iwonka you nailed it about me :) I'm glad it does make sense to some people here :P

As for the country and whether you need more Jewish districts or not - its not up to me to decide of course but I wouldn't mind that ;)

I really loved Kraków as a tourist, it is one of the more beautiful towns I've been to in Europe, very classy - but I understand Warsaw could have more job opportunities possibly?

@Lenka I like your idea of coming to Poland and seeing for myself but I'm not yet able to so I've only been as a tourist - it was lovely tho :)

Life / Being a Jew in modern-day Poland; Israeli Jew who is of Polish descent [269]

@R.U.R. Why the attitude?

Life / Being a Jew in modern-day Poland; Israeli Jew who is of Polish descent [269]

@R.U.R. I have enough warm climate here... don't like it... don't take it personally but what do I have to do with Crimea? XD

Life / Being a Jew in modern-day Poland; Israeli Jew who is of Polish descent [269]

@R.U.R. Ugh, come on. Where on earth did I say I want superiority, man? I just said Poland is head and shoulders above these countries, how is that bad? And how does that mean I want superiority? You're making me sound like some kind of villain from a movie lol. If I wanted superiority I'd go to Hollywood, mingle with stars and buy Facebook haha :P

And why does it seem like you want me to live in these countries?

Life / Being a Jew in modern-day Poland; Israeli Jew who is of Polish descent [269]

@R.U.R. What do you mean I don't care for Jewish culture? As in don't wanna live within a Jewish community and such? Well, I don't really need that, and I don't mind assimilating as a Jewish Pole who does everything but celebrating the Christian holidays really.. I can keep my culture at home if I want, I don't need it in my daily life outside. If I wanted to live a Jewish life is stay in Israel.

Life / Being a Jew in modern-day Poland; Israeli Jew who is of Polish descent [269]

@Harry my grandma lived there after the war :)

Life / Being a Jew in modern-day Poland; Israeli Jew who is of Polish descent [269]

@Harry but after the war?

Life / Being a Jew in modern-day Poland; Israeli Jew who is of Polish descent [269]

@R.U.R. Excuse me, but my family came specifically from Świebodzice, £ańcut, Wrocław, Warszawa and £ódź. As far as I know none of these were outside of Poland?

Besides - Poland had the biggest number of Jews within EU prior to WWII and its a known fact.

And lastly - and most importantly - I wouldn't want to live in Belarus nor Ukraine since I don't have nor feel any relation to them, and I don't see them nearly as modern and advanced as Poland is. I also don't respect them as much as I do Poland because they are known as more primitive and racist countries (well, especially Ukraine).

Euro 2012 Is a good example for the superiority of Poland over Ukraine. I've nothing to do in Ukraine or Belarus other than visiting Chernobyl, Kiev or Odessa as a tourist.

Life / Being a Jew in modern-day Poland; Israeli Jew who is of Polish descent [269]

@Harry possibly proportionally things may not look so bright, but then again - Poland had a more "hardcore" occupation, isn't that so?

Life / Being a Jew in modern-day Poland; Israeli Jew who is of Polish descent [269]

@Iwonka they didn't. The Dutch and French were kind of pussies. The highest number of righteous among the nations comes from Poland. That's why I say that if it wasn't for the pogroms and the fact everything happened on Polish soil, no one would probably blame the Poles for anything.

Life / Being a Jew in modern-day Poland; Israeli Jew who is of Polish descent [269]

Well, that article is very praising and optimistic - the real question is whether or not it really is accurate? :P

Life / Being a Jew in modern-day Poland; Israeli Jew who is of Polish descent [269]

@p3undone I know Poland was occupied by the Nazis and that the built of the death camps was initiated by the Nazis, not the Poles. Yet we should note that alongside the Poles who helped save Jews there were others who were hostile to the Jews both during and after the war (e.g. Jedwabne Pogrom and Kielce Pogrom respectively).

I think that if it wasn't for those pogroms, there would have been a much more friendly attitude towards the Poles rather than the mixed emotions.

And of course I'm not talking about Poland and the Poles as a whole, since most Poles did not cooperate with the Nazis, but those "pockets" of exceptions which make all the complication.

Life / Being a Jew in modern-day Poland; Israeli Jew who is of Polish descent [269]

@Bieganski I think you're over complicating things and keep misinterpreting my words. I will not be coming to Poland as a Jew expecting any benefits or special positive treatment, that would be ridiculous. Furthermore - I was born in Israel and I'm serving in the army so believe you me when I say I have no need to prove anything to anyone here to get a job or anything of the sort, its just that I wanna try living in EU for a handful of reasons and one of my theoretical destinations would be Poland thanks to my increased relation to it over other countries apart from Israel - and that is that.

I think it is a natural wish to be accepted in your target country and assimilating well there without having to deal with any unnecessary obstacles, which is the reason why I was asking my question in the first place - this, and my curiosity.

Oh and about the Palestinians - they have nothing to do with anything really and obviously that was just an unlegitimate attempt at a low blow - I'm not the one calling the shots and therefore I won't fall to this foul attempt.

Life / Being a Jew in modern-day Poland; Israeli Jew who is of Polish descent [269]

@Iwonka these meetings do exist, they are a part of most trips. The teens come back and say the Poles were kinda nice, a little cold (they are not used to such people, European if you'd like, most people here are "warmer") - But its a case of too little too late I'm afraid.

Life / Being a Jew in modern-day Poland; Israeli Jew who is of Polish descent [269]

@Iwonka yes, my Polish is near fluent and of course I keep practicing and using it with my grandparents, aunt and Facebook friends :)

As for the shared history, yes - Polish Jews and the Christian Poles have a strong connection thanks to their joint history - I haven't told you but even my mom's Yiddish, which she speaks to my grandparents in addition to Hebrew - is Galician Yiddish, spoken by the Jews from Poland and highly influenced by Polish. She also knows a bit of Polish, but she always had a hard time studying the language properly despite her will :P

About the bodyguards thing - I know how you feel, and I'm sorry it has to be that way - but the parents are worried about their children's safety as a Jewish group in a foreign country, so you know... they feel its better like this than having their children attacked by some random lunatic/s that might pop up.

Do you think Kraków would be a nicer place for me than Warszawa? :)

Life / Being a Jew in modern-day Poland; Israeli Jew who is of Polish descent [269]

@Iwonka I'm sorry to hear that you feel that way. Personally I think the Brits have bigger problems to worry about right now (e.g. the Muslim influx). As far as I know it wasn't a Polak who beheaded that poor soldier in broad daylight like a reckless beast, yet I do also notice their focus on the mass immigration from Poland as if it was a bad thing.

Back to our topic - I'm not saying I should be accepted 100% of course, but it sure would be nice to assimilate and blend socially as successfully as possible, no one wants to be a foreigner for too long! :)

Life / Being a Jew in modern-day Poland; Israeli Jew who is of Polish descent [269]

@Bieganski, an important part of my question which you may have missed is my Polish descent and relative relation to the country. You say I'd be just like any other foreigner, and as such won't necessarily gain the natives' approval - yet what would be the case if I honestly felt relation to the country and its culture, had a Polish citizenship by roots and spoke the language?

Life / Being a Jew in modern-day Poland; Israeli Jew who is of Polish descent [269]


Church influence has A LOT to do with it. I think the primary reason that antisemitism in Poland even existed in the first place was because "Żydzi ukrzyżowali Jezusa" here and "Żydzi zabili Jezusa" there. No offence.

And yes, Jewish-friendly, as in relatively clean of antisemitism and hatred for Jews, like, say, Denmark. You can even call it indifferent towards Jews if you'd like.


I know, but you have to understand that such sayings are only because of the bad history, not the present. There is a kind of bad feeling because of what happened that's still not fully passed, mostly among the older generation - like in Poland.