Oh!... that the world would have more like Irena Sendlerowa...and Hallelujah for our youngsters...

Irena Sendlerowa’s story is poignantly moving, and there are many versions in print now that she has finally gone to meet her Creator. What struck me about her story, is how forgotten it was by the world at large, including her native country.

And here is where I discover the power of good that young people can generate just because they found an inspiring story and became determined to undo an injustice! If it had not been for these American High School students, Irena Sendlerowa’s story might have stayed in the dusty annals of history.

Irena Sendlerowa is now in the company of all those tortured parents who know that it was thanks to this Polish citizen that their children, grand-children and great-grandchildren could go forth and multiply.

And from Andrew Bostom:

A remarkably brave and noble woman, Irena Sendlerowa left us yesterday, at the age of 98. Although recognized by Yad Vashem in 1965, Sendlerowa’s heroic story only became widely known when re-told and popularized 9-years ago by Kansas schoolgirls. Unlike proud Antisemites such as the murderous pederast Yasser Arafat, and or his increasingly grotesque supporter Jimmy Carter, Sendlerowa was actually quite deserving of the Nobel Peace Prize, for which she was nominated last year, but did not receive.

Megan Felt, one of the Kansan authors of the play, recounted the unparalleled exploits of Sendlerowa (“Sendler”), this so-called female Oskar Schindler....

Read it all here.

Tags: Irena Sendler Irena Sendlerowa Holocaust Jewish Ghetto Poland

Lech Walesa's Petition in Support of Cuban Dissidents.

Go here to find out what Poland is doing in support of Cuban dissidents and political prisoners. And then go here to sign the petition.

Tags: Poland Cuba dissidents Lech Walesa Hector Palacios

Poland's fear.

More on freedom of expression:

"Polish prosecutors are considering taking the unusual step of filing criminal charges against an Ivy League professor for allegedly "slandering the Polish nation" in a book that describes how Poles victimized Jewish survivors of the Holocaust in the aftermath of World War II."

UPDATE:

Since the Poles staunchly resisted the Nazi aggression and were themselves victims of Hitler's policy of genocide, many saw – and continue to see – themselves exclusively in the role of war victims. For that reason they consider any allegation that casts Poles in the role of perpetrators a brazen effrontery, if not a direct attack on the Polish people. Accordingly, even events that took place after World War II, in particular the pogrom in Kielce, are seen by many historians as a provocation by the (Polish or even Soviet) secret service, which sought to damage Poland's image in Western Europe and secure its adhesion to the Russian sphere of influence.

Read it all here.

Tags: Poland Fear Gross

Of German condescension and Polish prejudices.

There is a fascinating interview by Spiegel magazine of the former Polish Ambassador to Germany and the US, on the thorny issues involving German-Polish relations.

I know that Poland cannot expect special moral treatment in German policy forever. That would be unrealistic. But I must confess that I am troubled by the fact that in 15 years, Berlin will have only two historic symbols of preeminent importance, the Holocaust memorial and the center for the displaced. A certain sensitivity to history is still a prerequisite to a good relationship between our nations today.

Read the whole article.

Tags: Janusz Reiter German-Polish relations

A friend sent me this quote from John Stuart Mill:

"War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself."

I am reminded of this every time I speak to Poles who fought the German occupation so unrelentlessly for 6 years during World War II.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Wieliczka salt mines, Krakow, Poland

Carved by the miners in their spare time!!!!!!

Barbórka, Miners' Day (St. Barbara Day), December 4th

Today is the traditional Polish Miners’ Day, "Barbórka", which is celebrated on December 4, the day of the miners’ patron saint, St. Barbara. In the Silesia region, the Barbórka festivities last for several days.

Read more about Barbórka here and here. And read about St. Barbara, patron saint of artillerymen, here.

Barbórka St. Barbara Miners' Day December 4 Poland Silesia

More on Poland's elections:

...from Finland: "Poland is still deeply divided. The voter turnout was the highest since the fall of communism. This time the urban middle classes and the Poles living abroad who want a closer relationship to the EU played a key role. ... This generation was tired of having to be ashamed of its politicians and has now hit back. Nonetheless, the fact remains that 45 percent of the population didn't vote."

And from Poland: "Over 80 percent of Poles support European integration. The government has the legitimation to act in this area. ... Over the past 14 months Poland has acquired a reputation for acting as a brakesman and even blocking joint EU initiatives for the sake of national interests. If we became the first to ratify the new treaty we would act as the engine that puts the treaty on a new track."

Poland elections EU Finland

More reaction from Germany...

regarding Poland's elections: "Europe is delighted by the decision of Polish voters to replace conservative Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski with the EU-friendy Donald Tusk. German commentators welcome the swing to the political center."

Poland elections Germany

On Poland's elections:

From the Wall Street Journal's Opinion Online (by subscription only, so here are excerpts):

It was billed Poland's most important election in 18 years, and it didn't disappoint. Sunday's poll won't have the impact of the historic June 1989 vote that brought on communism's death throes in Europe. But it should resonate outside Poland.

The election immediately ends, after two years, the strange double act atop Polish politics. A surprise Civic Platform victory pushed Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski out, though his identical twin, President Lech Kaczynski, stays on.

But Civic Platform's triumph heralds more than a change of personalities. Voters handed power to economic liberals in the Thatcher mold. They also dumped two extremist parties from Parliament, giving lie to the oft-heard trope that Eastern Europe suffers from some incurable populist bug. And, in the highest voter turnout since 1989, young people with hazy memories of communism made themselves heard for the first time, bringing a welcome generational shift.

********
Poland transitioned to the current post-post-communist era in 2005, when the main ruling left-wing party tainted by corruption was rudely bounced out of power. Donald Tusk, the conciliatory leader of Civic Platform who barely lost the 2005 presidential election, comes from the same rightish political camp as Law and Justice. In Sunday's election, Civil Platform and Law and Justice won three in four votes.

As we wrote two years ago, Mr. Tusk and the Kaczynskis were poised to build the Polish version of the "Reagan coalition" with security hawks, patriots and ardent free marketeers all under the same roof. These parties had promised to form a governing coalition then but true to national character, squabbled and turned into adversaries, probably for good. The Kaczynskis went on to regret their coalition with the extremists.

Mr. Tusk now has another opportunity to realize a new political era. His party doesn't need to shy away from remembering the traumas of Poland's recent past. But his success will depend far more on reviving its role as a pacesetter for economic transformation. In the early 1990s, its "shock therapy" reforms showed the world the surest path from communism to free market. Civic Platform can make Poland a liberal laboratory. The party wants to reduce the deficit and cap spending to prepare Poland for tax cuts and the euro and to skinny down its burgeoning state. If Mr. Tusk manages to implement a flat tax on personal and corporate income by 2009 -- following the example of many of its neighbors -- Poland will be the largest EU country with one.
*****
...mark Sunday as another triumph of representative democracy in this region. Though sometimes rambunctious, Poland is a model of vitality for Western Europe's more stodgy political systems. And if Mr. Tusk plays his cards right, it could yet become an economic model, as well.

Poland elections Tusk Civic Platform

A Polish-American disconnect?

Regarding elections in Poland:

Contrary to the opinions of voters in Europe, were it up to Polish American voters, based on their preferences shown in the Polish elections, Poland's Kaczynski Government would not only have stayed in power, it would have taken majority control of the Sejm and Senat.

Poland elections

A German view:

of elections in Poland. Check out Der Spiegel here and here.

Poland elections Germany

A clash of Polish civilizations?

? "The Polish elections broke down to a contest between two distinct regions of Poland occupied by people of distinct age groups, lifestyles and cultures."

Poland elections

Results of Polish elections:

Polish Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski conceded defeat to the Civic Platform Party led by Donald Tusk. "Tusk says he wants Poles to feel comfortable in their own country again. Civic Platform is a center-right party which has pushed for lower taxes on businesses, a smaller bureaucracy, and closer integration into the European economic system. Tusk has said he will seek to withdraw Polish forces from Iraq."

Read more here.

Here's more: Young voters return home to secure defeat of right-wing twin

And, for interesting commentary check out Free Republic.

Poland elections Tusk Kaczynski

"Poland is selling one of its most potent symbols of freedom — the Gdansk shipyard on the country's northern coast."

"I don't like it," [former President of Poland, Lech] Walesa says. "You don't sell your mother."

Poland Gdansk privatization Lech Walesa Solidarity

Who are the "diminutive, elfin-faced" "poison dwarfs"?

They are the identical twins, Poland's Lech and Jaroslaw Kaczynski, as they are referred to by the press. (Interesting how one never reads about Iran's President as being a "poison dwarf" or Venezuela's President having an "elfin-face"!).

They seem to rattle everyone... akin to a Bush-derangement-syndrome. Read more here.

Lech and Jaroslaw Kaczynski poison dwarfs Poland

29 years ago today:

John Paul II was elected Pope.

Check out this BBC video on John Paul II's comments about the Church in Poland.

Also,

This fiery figure is being hailed as Pope John Paul II making an appearance beyond the grave.

The image, said by believers to show the Holy Father with his right hand raised in blessing, was spotted during a ceremony in Poland to mark the second anniversary of his death.

Pope John Paul II first Polish Pope Beskid Zywiecki Poland Jarek Cielecki Grzegorz Lukasik

Poland in the news...

From the Gulf Times:

Gunmen launched simultaneous mortar and machinegun attacks on two mainly Polish military bases in southern Iraq yesterday, after Shia militants vowed to step up pressure on Polish soldiers to force them out.
***
Polish Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski has vowed to keep Polish troops in southern Iraq despite the attack on the ambassador earlier this month.

The ambassador was wounded in a triple bomb attack on his diplomatic convoy in Baghdad in which one Polish secret service officer and a passerby were killed. Five days later a car bomb killed two people near Poland’s Baghdad embassy.

Yesterday’s attacks come days ahead of an October 21 parliamentary election in Poland in which Kaczynski, a strong US ally, faces a challenge from opposition parties who want to pull Polish troops out of Iraq.

From the Chronicle Journals:

Poland’s main opposition leader castigated a popular ex-president in a debate Monday, accusing him of hurting the country in his past role as a communist leader and of allowing corruption to flourish in democratic times.

"You built communism and that heritage is hurting Poland very much," Donald Tusk, the head of the pro-business Civic Platform party told Aleksander Kwasniewski in the third and final televised debate before parliamentary elections Sunday.

"Throughout your entire life as an adult, you were building socialism in Poland: whether before 1989 - we all know well in which party - and as president, for 10 years," Tusk told him. "This is why it is so hard for the Poles to free themselves and to gain economic sovereignty."

From Catholic News Service:

Poland's Catholic bishops have urged support for candidates who uphold Catholic teaching in an upcoming parliamentary election, in which the party of the country's president and prime minister face possible defeat.

"We ask all lay faithful and clergy in our country and beyond its borders to pray for the homeland and participate in large numbers," the Warsaw-based bishops' conference said in a pastoral letter. "But we also need to vote properly, which means in accordance with moral conviction. Believers should give their vote to people whose attitude and views are close, or at least not opposed, to the Catholic faith and Catholic values."

Poland Iraq militant attack elections skew elections war on terror

Polish elections' debate.

Do you know we're going to be one of the last and one of the most numerous (forces) in Iraq?" Tusk said to Kaczynski. "You say we've gained a lot from our ties with the U.S., but you don't name a thing. Where are the visas, where are the business deals?"

Kaczynski, a strong supporter of the close ties with the U.S., countered that Poland has in fact strengthened its friendship with Washington, and should stick in out in Iraq.

"Once you go in and are already there, desertion is the worst and the stupidest solution," Kaczynski said. "We have gained a lot from the United States. We became a noted country. Today, that is the one country that in a pinch _ and that's happened before _ can help us, and we need that kind of alliance."

"Poles in their entire history were never deserters, were never cowards."

Read the MSNBC article here.

I watched the debate on Polish TV. My Polish is very, very weak, but Kaczynski's message re Iraq and Poland's relationship to the US came across with force and -in my humble opinion- quite well.

In my limited knowledge of Polish politics, I think the Tusk-Kaczynski debate represents the "intelligentsia's" approach to politics versus the "grassroots" approach.

Poland elections debate Kaczynski Tusk

Wajda's Katyn, continued.

Every Polish soldier is expected to see Andrzej Wajda's movie "Katyń" by December 15.

Minister of National Defense Aleksander Szczygło: "I would like the soldiers to see the movie on duty and in their uniforms. They have to see what their colleagues, who served in the Polish Army of the independent Republic of Poland, died for – that they died for wearing a Polish uniform.”

Aleksander Szczygło Wajda Katyn Polish soldier Poland