Food / Kopytka, pyzy, kluski [60]

We say "pyry" here, thus Greater poland is often being called "Pyrlandia" and it's inhabitants simply "pyry". And kartofelsalad is called "saładka z ziemniaków".

Food / Kopytka, pyzy, kluski [60]

Yeah, we've been part of Prusia/Germany for over a century so there certainly was a German influence here. We still love kartofel salad and golonka's. mmmm :)

Food / Kopytka, pyzy, kluski [60]


Hehe.. We also say istny here in Wielkopolska. Well, maybe it's not exactly being said by the young generation, but still...

My grandmother would say that jezdeś rychtyg Hanys. :)

Life / Polish people and racism. [943]

Well than it looks like I shoot myself in my own foot with this comparison, hehehe... :)

As for the Polish-Jewish history it's description and evaluation will always depend on askers intention, thus it doesn't come as a surprise that Poles on this forum will point out the positive facts while you will highlight the negative ones, which certainly did exist. Yes, there were pogroms in Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth. Still, it would be hard to find another country which would in such great extent give those people rights and freedoms as Old Rzeczpospolita did. The reason why Jews remained in many cases attached to Yidish is because they were allowed to keep their cultural autonomy. The same reason stands behind the sheer numbers of them living in rzeczpospolita. Certainly if it would be that harsh for them they would migrate elsewhere, for example to Germany, where it seems they were so loved that they decided to totally assimilate. :)

As for the question whether Poles loved Jews, well some did as there were many Polish-Jew marriages and some hated them to their guts. All in all I would consider our joint history definitely positive rather than negative.

Life / Polish people and racism. [943]


Isn't it very similar with Turks in Germany these days?

Life / Polish people and racism. [943]


Thats a long story.


Well since it's not about immigration into the UK I doubt that it'll be a smashing success here on PF. :P

But yeah, it is a very interesting site. It could have been more detailed, but you can not have it all...

Life / Polish people and racism. [943]

It is something slightly different though. For Adam Mickiewicz it wasn't contradictory to call himself a Pole and write "Lithuania, my fatherland..." For him it was obvious that he can be both and that was the beauty about The Republic of Both Nations.


Certainly, it depends on the scale as well as on the influence those communities have on the mainstream culture. I agree.

It is a very fascinating topic, and a very underestimated and forgotten period in the history of Poland and Central/Eastern Europe at the same time. Somehow people prefer to read about the failed uprisings than about Jagielonian or RoBN times. It really is a pity.

Unfortunately I will have to disappear for some time as I have a lot of work to do and can't be distracted but I will give you a link that will make a quite interesting introduction for the topic we have discussed here. Or at least I hope it will be interesting for you. :))

commonwealth.pl

Enjoy.

PS: I still don't get it why they mentioned French people and forgot about Dutch communities in Poland. Oh well, you can't have it all right? :)

Pozdrawiam

Maciej

Life / Polish people and racism. [943]


I get the message, but I do have a tingling feeling that I must have had said something wrong as we clearly talk about two different Polskas.

I never tried to imply that today's Poland is a multicultural country. My posts were just a response to isthatus claim that Poland never had a multicultural society when in fact not only it had but it made a huge impact on our national identity today, whether some poles are aware of it or not.

So maybe there were no Pakistanis, Indians and Chinese but there were Armenians, Vlachs, Karaites, Tartars, Turks or Jews who were just as exotic and different for Poles from those days as those three nationalities were/are for your people now/few decades ago.

As I mentioned before Poles made only about 50% of the whole population of The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth with the rest being all those earlier mentioned nationalities in this and my previous post, which made quite a colorful mosaic. Basically in the ol Republic you could see a catholic church, protestant church, Jewish Synagogue, Karaites Kenese, and Muslim mosque standing in one city without any bigger problems. If you would go to the market you would most likely hear Polish, Ruthenian, German, Greek, Turkish, Persian, Yiddish and what not. Of course just as it is in today's UK, sometimes the communications between the communities were better and sometimes there weren't any, but the truth is that all those cultures influenced each other. Everything started to change after the partitions of the first Rzeczpospolita and now you will see a strange look on some Poles face when he hears that some Belorussians claim Koścuszko and the 3 may constitution to be a part of their history, or when he hears that Lithuanians consider Adam Mickiewicz, polish national poet, to be Lithuanian. Oh well..

Food / Kopytka, pyzy, kluski [60]


Yep. I see Seanus that godosz jak prowdziwy Hanys. :)

UK, Ireland / I have concerns over the British immigration policy so I wrote to my MP. [126]


Since that’s the case maybe admin should think about opening a sub forum for Brits disappointed with their countries immigration policy. Seems to be quite a popular topic on polishforums.

History / Polish hatred towards Jews... [1290]


I also had some kids that didn’t have the first communion. None of them were Jewish though. Bad luck? Not necessarily. In my primary school there were bullies that would pick on you because you were fat, skinny, poor, wealthy, teachers pupil or the worst learning kid in the class. Being Jewish might had been a good cause to pick on you as well. Children can be cruel you know.

Life / Polish culture do's and dont's? [106]

Actually it's not about criticism but about how you are going to voice it. Lets take those two comments for example:

"I must say, the state of the roads here in Poland are far from being good."

"Dear God, the roads here are as much filthy and crooked as you polish bastards!"

Basically those two statements carry the same message but since they are conveyed in a tottaly different manner they will cause a totally different response.

Life / Polish people and racism. [943]


Poles made about 50% of the Polish-Lithuanians Commonwealth population. Can we call PLC a homogenous country?

How would you define modern multicultural country, Seanus?

Life / Polish people and racism. [943]


Well during the time of the Republic of Both Nations Poles made about 50% of the whole population of the Commonwealth. The rest constituted from Lithuanians, today’s Byelorussians and Ukrainians, Jews, Karaites, Germans, Latvians, Armenians, Gypsies, Tartars as well as Dutch and Czech communities. There were also strong merchant communities of Greeks and Italians. English, Hungarian and Scotish commnunities were also present but not to the extent of the previous mentioned nationalities of course. Generally there were over 20 languages present in the ROBN and several religions. If that’s not multi cultural than I don't know what is.

Study / Academy of Fine Arts - Poznan "SPOT" [6]


Hey £ukasz, Poznań has a cathedral so it's ok to call it a city. At least by British standards. :)

Life / Polish people and racism. [943]


Wow, you do not steal and you are not racist? How atypical. ;)

UK, Ireland / Time for the Poles from the UK to go home [437]


I think those problems should not only be accepted but also dealth with if it such a troblesome issue for the UK. Still I'm afraid that Polish people have no influence over the british immigration policy thus making it more of a british forum subject rather than a PF one. Don't get me wrong, I don't mind discussing it but the amount of topics concerning this issue is second only to WWII threads, which clearly says volumes. At times I have the impression that this messageboard is about Britain rather than Poland.

UK, Ireland / Time for the Poles from the UK to go home [437]


In most cases the conclusion is that it's the fault of Tony Blair and the British Government and yet the last time I checked this forum was not a government one.

Oh well, let us skip this very interesting question for now and focus on a totally different issue, namely could it have been avoided? Could a low skilled British factory worker, or any factory worker for that matter, enjoy his 9 pounds/euro per hour work life for a long time in times when people are working literally for a bowl of rice? How many "Made in China" products do you have in your home? There is quite a collection in my house.

The influx of cheap Eastern European, or as some prefer, Polish labor force to British Isles created new job places whether you like it or not. It also put down the wages for the low skilled workers. You can’t have it all, right?

This year Nokia decided to move it's factory from Bochum Germany to Romania. The Germans lost 2 300 job places as well as tax from that company which will benefit Romanian citizens from now on. It's just time when Poland will became to expensive for the factory owners. I doubt you can stop that process.

So what have we learned today kids? That it’s better to be rich and healthy than sick and poor! Which the former I wish you all. :)

UK, Ireland / A collection of noimmigration's threads or "STAY AWAY from BRITAIN" [978]


Of course it does damnit and a fine shine it is! ;]

More seriously though, if you don't see the amount of posts made by british posters moaning about the influx of Poles to the UK than you are the one that's being disilusioned here isthatu.


What is your solution than?

UK, Ireland / A collection of noimmigration's threads or "STAY AWAY from BRITAIN" [978]


Are we thinking about the same forum? Don't want to spoil your fun isthatu, but at times it seems that this forum is only about UK and its immigration policy.

UK, Ireland / A collection of noimmigration's threads or "STAY AWAY from BRITAIN" [978]


Congratulations noimmigration! Does that mean that you will stop visiting this site? What a pity. ;)

Travel / Stag Parties in Kraków [119]

Yet, we cannot deny them their good sense of humor.


That one was hilarious. :)

UK, Ireland / A collection of noimmigration's threads or "STAY AWAY from BRITAIN" [978]

Oh shut it you lazy brit! :)

UK, Ireland / Time for the Poles from the UK to go home [437]


I’m sure that me giving a speech about the importance of being competitive in today’s global market to him would make the same effect as trying to explain to my aunt that now she will have to make four times the way she used to go to her local hospital, as the one near her was closed because of the lack of staff who emigrated to the west.

I know that it’s easy to say to that average brit that he should be more competitive and that it is how the free market works when the case doesn’t concern me personally but, as banal as it may sound, it’s just the way the world spins. Not much I can really do about it aside for feeling for him. The worst thing is that you really don’t have to have an influx of foreign workers to your country to lose your job being working class. The case of Nokia relocating it’s plant to Romany due to cheaper costs of production (2 300 German workers jobs at stake) is the best example for that.


What exactly do you mean by big business. A pub owner employing polish bartenders? A shop or restaurant owner employing polish staff? A brit who hires polish plumbers to help him out in his house?

UK, Ireland / Time for the Poles from the UK to go home [437]


Being a member of EU creates opportunities, and it is only up to the individual to make a good use of them. Obviously, as with everything, there are also downsides of the whole situation but makig it sound as if Poles are the only ones benefiting from this transaction and are not affected by any negtive aspects of the influx of Polish nationals to the Uk is plain wrong. The so called "brain drain", loosing the young generation who work for your pension and not mine, people with higher education which was paid, inter alia, from my taxes and not yours. I really pity the poor brits that have it hard. But it's really not true that the poor pole has it any better in life. The really poor Pole is stuck with Poland for good and bad. Not all of us can afford to leave everything behind and go to the UK. Only the not so really poor, adventorous and desperate ones make that step. The rest 36 milions is still here. :)

Oh and don't tell me that there are none brtish people that made some money out of this influx. Surely not all land lords, employers, shop owners, ect are foreign, right? :0

UK, Ireland / Time for the Poles from the UK to go home [437]

I know. It's all good. :)

UK, Ireland / Time for the Poles from the UK to go home [437]

Me thinks England would somehowe survive without us Poles.:) Just like we would manage without them English lot. Nikt nikomu nie robi tutaj wielkiej łaski. :)

History / POLAND: EASTERN or CENTRAL European country? [1080]


Why is there so much fuss about it?

Maybe, just maybe because the commie period lasted for over 40 years while the whole history of Poland is over 1000 years old.

But it's just a guess. :)

Food / What's your favorite Polish beer? [870]

It's all good Z. :) It's been ages since I've been to Deja Vu. I drink my Fortuna in my local "commie" tavern. :))

Life / Poles are not racist [873]


Grzegorz is a good person and not racist. Don't be afraid to use the part of your brain responsible for your sense of humor. It really doesn't hurt. :)