Polonia Seeps Into Everything

I have just come back to Warsaw on the best plane trip I can yet remember.  The seven-hour flight from Boston to Madrid flew by (pun intended.)  Maybe it was because I was in a good mood to be escaping the heat wave on the East Coast, maybe it was because I had an entire four-seat row to myself.  In any case, the hop from Boston to Madrid, then from Madrid to Warsaw went as smooth as can be.

I was Stateside for a wedding (one of the best I attended.)  Even though it was an American-German wedding (the bride was from Germany), I found little parts of Poland.  For instance, I recently purchased a mug for my mother.  It was traditional Polish pottery, hand-painted, etc.  While we were guests for the wedding, I found a mug in the cabinet that was not only the same type (same shape) of mug that I had gotten my mother, it was from the same set!  It was painted with the same design of flowers and such.  Further inspection, and inspection of the groom's cabinets, showed plenty more of these Polish mugs.
In both Boston and New York, there are statues to some of Poland's national heros: King Wladyslaw Jagiello and Tadeusz Kosciuszko.  It seems that Polonia (the name for the Polish Diaspora) has left its mark all over the place.  At least in the places I visited in ten days.

While in Boston, I met numerous people who all reacted in the same few ways: "I'm of Polish heritage."  "I just spent the last few days with Polish people."  "Warsaw?  Where is that?"  It's nice to be able to connect to people in such a way.

While in New York City, I really thought about the differences between the largest city in the US and the largest city in Poland.  Poles not from Warsaw often complain that Warsaw is fast-paced, dirty, the people unwelcoming, the traffic terrible.  Compared to Manhattan, Warsaw is a green, quaint, sleepy hamlet.  Manhattan is dirty; the roads are shitty; the traffic is unbelievable; the amount of homeless is depressing.  The cramped, traffic-clogged roads of Manhattan are a far cry from the relatively broad, seemingly-empty roads of Warsaw (NOTE: This does not apply to the Old Town.)
Brooklyn is has the neighborhood of Greenpoint (where, the brother of this author lives.)  It's been described as the Polishtown of New York, with the signs being in Polish and everyone speaking in Polish and ignoring those who actually speak in English.  My brother summed it up as: "It's the only place where I've seen a man stumble out of a bar cannot-stand-up-drunk at like three in the afternoon.  On a Wednesday."  (Plans to upload pictures of Greenpoint are presently stalled.  They will be uploaded later.)

Statues to King Wladyslaw and Kosciuszko in Central Park and Boston Commons respectively.

The Polish Consulate in New York City.

Polonia Reborn

It's been centuries since Poland used to flex its muscle and was the one calling the shots. The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was one of the largest, most powerful states in Europe until its decline and eventual dismemberment. These days, Poland may not have the sway or the brawn they once had, but they're starting to re-grow their balls (militarily and economically.)

It's not secret that Poland wants a battery of Patriot missiles (see here) and its military has been active in both Iraq and Afghanistan while undergoing a modernization (as is the rest of the old Eastern Bloc.) Last summer's war in Georgia put Poland and the Baltic States on edge, and Poland quickly agreed to station the interceptor missiles.

Poland watched Georgia closely, many felt that they might be next. I don't think that most Poles cared who was right or wrong (Russia or Georgia) or who attacked whom first, but they were stressed that it happened at all. Some thought Georgia was abandoned by its allies (the US most of all) because they (the US) didn't send in troops. I tried to argue how this would have made things worse, and that the US backed up Georgia politically and gave them a crapload of aid, but they still thought that the US pussied out. In fact, they mostly like the idea of the Patriot missile battery and the interceptors because it would station US troops on Polish soil; if Russia did invade, US troops would be in harm's way and Washington would be forced to help.

Inter-Slavic relations and their regard for one another are for another post. These types of topics usually hit raw nerves all around (just make a pro-Stalin statement to any Pole and you'll probably find yourself locked in hand-to-hand combat. Make any sort of statement that could remotely be construed as negative about anything in Russia's past history or current situation and actions, and you'll dealing with a very angry person.)

Anyway, Poland's shock-therapy with their economy went much better than the rest of the former communist states. Even though there was a massive flood of workers to the rest of the EU after they joined in 2004, many of them are returning. Poland is undergoing a bit of a boom (two good things Poland had going for it, it didn't have any oil and it didn't have large financial institutions.) Dell moved their factory from Ireland (which was pretty new) to Poland, and many other companies are doing so as well. GM is even licensing the production of cars at the venerable FSO; although, I'm not sure how long GM will be around to continue doing so. One thing is that Poland was forced to sell off the Gdansk shipyards, and that's a bit of a bitch to swallow (the Gdansk shipyards were Solidarity's old stomping grounds.) Here's more on that subject.

Should Poland grow to an economic powerhouse, it would have leverage (as others do in the form of sanctions.) Twenty years into the Rzeczpospolita (half of what was the People's Republic of Poland), Poland is still emerging. We'll anxiously see what happens. (First, we have to get rid of those pesky visa requirements to enter the US.)

Polish Newsletter From A While Ago

Back in 2005 my German teacher, knowing that I had been learning some Polish, sent me the Polish Studies Newsletter (he was at a loss to why he had received it.) It's not a Polish source (i.e. doesn't come from Poland, it's from the US), but it seems to claim the representation of Polish culture and thought in America. You can read the full text here. What is (somewhat) surprising is the amount venom (anti-semitism, homophobia, and racism.) While these are all fairly common in Poland (and the US)—and don't say they aren't—I've never really seen it in such blatant anger. Sure, M admitted he didn't like Jews and that Israel was a made up country he wished to see gone (in Lodz, they use the Star of David for the K in LKS. Graffiti is often in the form of "Jebac LKS!" See my post on Widzew Lodz.) and G remarked that the Jews run the world, but they didn't really go as far as this:

There are only 4,000 Jews serving in our armed forces. Why so few, when the facts reveal that there are more than 4,000 Jewish Americans serving in the Jewish Army? Why the discrepancy?...Katrina proved that Black people look to the government too much because they do not know how to ‘take care;’ of themselves. Our country shall not survive if we subsidize those who want to be dependent on the government.

I can only assume the "Jewish Army" is the IDF.

Then this thing goes on to make wild claims like "Hitler begged the Poles to relent on Danzig and join him on an attack of Ukraine. Polish Jews directed Beck to take a hard line against Hitler." (One note here, the city of Gdynia was built because the city of Gdansk (Danzig) was in German territory.) This guy is obviously off his rocker. First off, Hitler's begging days had been over for quite some time, and have Poland join in an attack on Ukraine? Not only did Hitler not even consider that, but also Ukraine is on the other side of Poland from Germany. Germany would have had to go through Poland anyway (which is what they did) or go through Hungary and Rumania (hey! They did that also!) And why is this guy suggesting that Poland surrender its only Baltic coast so Germany can have a corridor to Prussia? (remember? Gdansk and Königsberg were Germany back then.) And why the hell is this guy taking the German side anyway?

Here is another jewel of insight and reason:

Simon Wiesenthal passed away 9/24. He invented the ‘Holocaust’ card and played it like a violin. His legacy is the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angles. The Center specializes in bashing Poles and politicizing the Holocaust.

Hey, some people might think I'm just quote mining (I actually kind of am) but you can read the whole thing yourself. I must stress that this is not actually from Poland, but rather a (presumed) Polish-American. Whoever wrote this (it doesn't say, but the editor is some guy named Albin Wozniak), is kind of an embarrassment. He does, however, provide some useful links and resources for Polish grants and such.

My last thought: that guy's kind of a nutcase.