Travel / My Experience in Poland (compared to Germany) [100]

@Lyzko
Bribery happens everywhere. Some find it acceptable. I don't. There are other people like me. You seem to be fine with it, though.
And you're even an expert on the Catholic Church influence on local government here in Poland. I'm in awe ;)

Travel / My Experience in Poland (compared to Germany) [100]

@Atch
I did talk about foreigners talking about bribery in Poland in #56. In that sense Lyzko and Alltimegreat are pretty much the same. It's ridiculous how they make such general comments about Poland having spent so little time here.

Travel / My Experience in Poland (compared to Germany) [100]

@Lyzko
What you have just said is that bribery exists in the States. You accuse Poles and Russians of bribing others. But there are obviously two parties involved. So are you saying American officials are dishonest? Perhaps you should report it somewhere. Why haven't you?

Why don't you ever listen to people who actually know things like mafketis?

edit: I can see spiritus has just come to the same conclusion ;)

Genealogy / Need help with family history/surnames: Netzel, Petke, Gruzlewski [24]

The Polish spelling would be Szajngros - an Ewa Szajngros is listed as a Holocaust survivor, for example.
I guess Scheingros or Scheingros (or even Scheingross) would be possible, too.

Life / Activation of purchased Poland Orange/T-mobile/Play mobile data / SIM card? [19]

Have you registered it?
All prepaid numbers must be registered now. They won't work otherwise. You can do it at the operators' shop.

Genealogy / Want to find a person [755]

Uncle Google says ul. Świerczewskiego was changed to ul. Bojanczyka. The number should be the same. You may try writing him a letter.

Language / How well do Polish people understand Slovak? [88]

@Baloghbacsi
You should learn the language you will find most useful. You say you travel to Slovakia more than to Poland. It seems easier to you, too. So learn Slovak. I guess it will be somehow helpful when travelling to Poland and Croatia. A Hungarian speaking Slovak will surely welcome here ;)

I personally love the sound of Hungarian.

Language / How well do Polish people understand Slovak? [88]

@Baloghbacsi
A warning to you: Lyzko doesn't speak Polish. He doesn't even like Poles. Don't let him convince you you should practice together.

As for Slovakian, it's generally understood by Poles. Similarly to Czech. You will find some similarities that should enhance your understanding of either language. You may also learn some basic phrases in all Polish, Slovakian and Croatian if you really can't decide.

And if you decide to learn Polish after all, it's great. As distant as Polish and Hungarian seem to be I have met both Hungarians speaking Polish and Poles speaking Hungarian. It must be that bratanki thing ;)

History / Is there a list of those in the Polish Army during WWII? [192]

@Sheish
My wild guess is that his name was originally Marian Skubiszewski. I guess you need to know his birthplace at least. Did he keep in touch with any of his relatives?

Language / How well do Polish people understand Slovak? [88]

@Lyzko
How do I assert you don't like Poles? Because you have repeatedly made anti-Polish things up here and told lies here. All you is criticising. And no, I'm trolling. Neither am I brain dead (what a gentleman you are). Most of your post are dripping with antipolonism and ignorance.

Google English to Polish translation isn't knowing Polish. And that's what you flooded my pm box with -35 messages within several days until I had to block you.

@Baloghbacsi
As a native speaker of Polish I have both understood and misunderstood Slovak and Czech but knowing one of these languages definitely helps.

Law / Old Polish money banknotes - what's their value today? [414]

allegro.pl/kategoria/pieniadz-papierowy-380?string=prl&order=m&bmatch=base-relevance-floki-5-nga-hc-col-1-1-0901

check the link above and ask your wife to help you in Polish. Shipping from Poland will be cheaper.

Genealogy / Looking for ancestor's grave in a cementery in Warsaw [9]

szukajwarchiwach.pl/72

Perhaps this will help. Good luck.

Language / How well do Polish people understand Slovak? [88]

@Lyzko
I'm using my head. That's why I have questioned many of your posts here. I can't remember a single time you were able to provide logical explanation to my questions. Quite surprising for someone who claims to be a well educated person.

I'm also using my intuition and it helps me detect fake people. Guess who I have in mind.

@Baloghbacsi
Actually since both Polish and Slovak are West Slavic languages, perhaps the previous is not that much harder. I have heard just two Hungarians speak Polish. One was our guide in Budapest - she had studied in Poland and her Polish was excellent. Last year I accidently came across an elderly gentleman in a small Hungarian town (I'd rather not name it, though). He approached our group and asked if we were from Poland. When we confirmed he started to speak Polish. It turned out he had travelled to Poland for work. His Polish was much worse than that guide's but still impressive for someone who hadn't spoken it for decades. So to sum up, you have a chance of succeeding ;)

Language / How well do Polish people understand Slovak? [88]

@peter_olsztyn
I would record Hungarians speaking Hungarian and then play it home ; )

@Baloghbacs
All the best with your efforts. And I hope you'll get to travel to Poland even more.

Po polsku / Amerykańskie chamstwo? [133]

Bo u nas jest bardzo mało tej inności.
Tylko z czego wynika ten brak tolerancji w społeczeństwach, gdzie inność jest na porządku dziennym?

Zresztą o ile brak tolerancji może być wyrażony w sposób chamski, o tyle chamstwo i nietolerancja to dwa różne zagadnienia.

Life / Help me find this Polish band and song.... [117]

Uncle Google suggests it's 'Ballada o synu sternika'. I hope that helps.

Language / Easy texts to practice Polish sentences/reading/vocabulary? [33]

@KoszalinChris
Remember that you don't need to understand every single word you read to understand a story.
Paulina's idea to read comic books is great. Books for children aren't bad but the best would be graded readers.
As for books in Polish, check ones with short texts like albums. ' Bestiariusz słowiański' has such short texts with lots of pictures but since both volumes are about creatures from the Slavic folklore, the vocabulary might be tricky.

When you're more advanced you can read stories by Sapkowski, especially if you like the witcher. However, you need to be into this genre.

If you're into fantasy, there are also collections of stories by Andrzej Pilipiuk. The ones about Jakub Wedrowycz might be quite shocking for some but others like 'Rzeznik drzew' or '2586 kroków' are interesting even for people who don't like fantasy.

Everything depends on what you like reading.
If you're into mystery, check books by Polish bestselling authors like Zygmunt Miloszewski, Eugeniusz Mróz, Katarzyna Bonda or Katarzyna Puzynska.
You may also try reading biographies. If there's someone you admire, you will be interested in what their life was like.
I know you need to be more advanced to read most of these but remember to read contemporary Polish from the very beginning. Otherwise you're going to sound funny. Jaskier mentioned 'Wszystko czerwone' by Joanna Chmielewska. One of the funniest things about this book is the Danish inspector who speaks archaic/Biblical Polish and produces sentences like 'Ta dama to Wasza mac? '

Real Estate / Negligent homeowners in Poland, advice needed [7]

@Alexbrz
Why don't you talk to her about it?
What does your contract say?
I don't think you should recommend the flat to a friend of yours if you have experienced such problems.

Real Estate / Negligent homeowners in Poland, advice needed [7]

isap.sejm.gov.pl/DetailsServlet?id=WDU20010710733

You can download ustawa o ochronie praw lokatorów from the link above. Check art.6a.
It's in Polish so you probably need someone to help you with that.

Po polsku / Amerykańskie chamstwo? [133]

To działa też w drugą stronę. Imigranci i dzieci imigrantów, którzy wcale nie czują się zasymilowani w społeczeństwie wielokulturowym.
Bo ludzie są tylko ludźmi. Wszędzie znajdą się gnojki. W społeczeństwie wielokulturowym winą obarczy się wielokulturowosc.

Genealogy / THE MEANING AND RESEARCH OF MY POLISH LAST NAME, SURNAME? [4501]

Walus is probably derived from Walenty or walić, whereas Lichaj probably comes from lichy=mizerny. Both surnames seem quite popular in the Tatra mountains.

News / Polish-German Reconcilliation Seminar [491]

It works both ways. What about Germans like Erika Steinbach?
As for Polish-German reconciliation, it's wrong to say it's happening only know. There were organisations that aimed at it back in the 1990s or 2000s. I know from my family's experience.

News / Polish-German Reconcilliation Seminar [491]

@TheOther
What German territory? All of these lands had been Polish.
As for slave labour, all of my grandparents were forced labourers. They all died long before 2006. Only one grandmother was paid some damages and the sum was ridiculously low. She had to be a member of an organisation (I think it was Polsko- niemieckie pojednanie) and pay the member fee to get anything.

News / Polish-German Reconcilliation Seminar [491]

@Dirk diggler
I do know that. That's why I speak about it.
Personally, I don't expect any sort of financial support from Germany. My grandparents wouldn't know their tombs look bigger. Because the money should belong to them.

But it hurts to know what my family went through and most of them didn't even hear a single word of apology. And even having been freed from the camps, they came back to a country which had been ruined. Families were separated.

And reading cynical comments by people who know little about it isn't nice.
Some criticise Poland' s claims for reparations. What about German organisations like the Prussian Trust?

News / Polish-German Reconcilliation Seminar [491]

I only had a chance to talk to one of my grandparents about the war. Others had died either before I was born or when I was a toddler. I know she had met both good and bad Germans. She also had a lot of luck in some situations, yet she lost one of her brothers in Germany. Terrible times.

News / Polish-German Reconcilliation Seminar [491]

Actually I know the name of the bauer my paternal grandparents had to work for and the address of the labour camp they were relocated to because my father still has the note my grandma wrote when she was told to prove her war experience. That information was then confirmed and put on straty.pl.

I know nothing about my maternal grandparents' whereabouts during the war - there are just some photos from their id cards in Germany. My grandma looks as if she had been crying before the photo was taken. I asked my mum if her parents had said anything about that time (they didn't know each other back then but my granddad and my maternal great grandfather met there though) but they didn't. They didn't victimise themselves really.

I know there was Związek Sybiraków. My grandma's neighbour was a member. I don't know if they managed to get any repariations or it was just sort of a support group.

Honestly, I don't know any Poles who think Putin promotes family values.

News / Polish-German Reconcilliation Seminar [491]

'Gdyby Bóg zechciał wskrzesić wszystkich więźniów lagrow, to w całej Rosji podniosłaby się ziemia' is a quote form 'Dziewczyny z Syberii'- a book which talks about experiences of Poles in the Soviet lagers. It's worth noting that many lager prisoners couldn't go back to Poland until the 1950s. Thousands were killed and forgotten. For over 50 years it was forbidden to talk about Poles in the lagers, the Katyń massacre and so on. Take Eugeniusz Bodo, a pre-war film star who was denied the amnesty because he was half Swiss.

In fact, there have been more attempts at Polish-German than Polish-Russian reconciliation.

News / Polish-German Reconcilliation Seminar [491]

@Ironside
I think they're also in denial as far as their own citizens' suffering is concerned.

News / Polish-German Reconcilliation Seminar [491]

@Ziemowit
As I said before my grandma also met some good Germans. My paternal grandparents were a childless couple who were sent to work on a farm near Munich. My grandma got pregnant and hid her pregnancy until the sixth month. They couldn't stay there with a baby and would have been reported so they escaped. They got caught and separated. So my grandma refused to eat. The officials there were kind people though who felt for my desperate pregnant grandma and they let them reunite. Her brother wasn't so lucky. He was shot dead when he was trying to reunite with his family...

She also mentioned some German women who would secretly give her food for the baby even though any Polish-German relations were forbidden. It was clear they were Polish because they had to wear these P-patches.

As for Polish-German love affairs, I think your father-in-law was lucky. Grandma told me a similar story and the Pole was taken by the authorities. The girl disappeared soon afterwards ...

And in the camp, shortly before the American troops arrived, a group of Poles were executed for a silly reason.

News / Polish-German Reconcilliation Seminar [491]

@Ironside
Who is supposed to be paid? I don't think I deserve any money. I didn't suffer. My dad who was born in the camp? More likely. He has some health problems which might have been caused by malnutrition as a baby. But I don't see him crying over it. Then he lived his childhood in poor communist Poland - not properly fed due to poor living conditions. Does Poland think of him? He's got some money paid to his pension - less than 100 zł gross, I think. 50 zł more likely.

The reality is that my grandparents' generation had terrible stories to tell - about their lives in Germany, the USSR or occupied Poland. I remember seeing people with numbers tatooed on their forearms in my childhood. They suffered. I didn't. And those who are still alive - very few left - often live in poverty.

It's a shame those who suffered weren't apologised to when they were still alive. It's a shame there are still so many anonymous Polish graves scattered in Germany, Russia or Kazachstan. It's a shame that former Nazi soldiers were able to live better lives after the war than millions of Poles and some even want repariations from Poland.

But we need to move on and make sure no similar sick ideology like nazizm or stalinism never happens again.