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Poland / Hungary Background c.11/90 [OA 8312] [2]
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323153143
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Poland / Hungary Background c.11/90 [OA 8312] [2]
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13740-005
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Records of the White House Office of Speechwriting (George H. W. Bush Administration)
Speech Backup Chronological Files
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Originally Processed With FOIA(s):
FOIA Number:
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S
FOIA
MARKER
This is not a textual record. This is used as an
administrative marker by the George Bush Presidential
Library Staff.
Record Group/Collection:
George H.W. Bush Presidential Records
Collection/Office of Origin:
Speechwriting, White House Office of
Series:
Speech File Backup Files
Subseries:
Chron File, 1989-1993
OA/ID Number:
13740
Folder ID Number:
13740-005
Folder Title:
Poland/Hungary Background c.11/90 [OA 8312] [2]
Stack:
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Section:
Shelf:
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G
26
21
1
7
Hungary
Jeannie Schuttz 3187
Juanita adams 647-1143
Background notes
Poland
Das
0387
John Uoud
PichardBoucher
6607
question the necessity of the Soviet in-
Communist historians have begun to
The rebroadcast came as senior
a counterrevolution.
the official portrayal of the incident as
from the Soviet Union, in contrast to
became a struggle for independence
rebellion was a popular uprising that
leading Communist historian that the
The radio also aired the view of a
1956 rebellion.
rolled into Budapest to suppress the
Imre Nagy on the day that Soviet tanks
speech first made by: Prime Minister
Hungarian radio today broadcast a
Breaking decades long taboo, the
BUDAPEST, May 6. (Reuters)
lion.
was involved in the kidnapping of Mr.
from party archives that Mr Kadar
tral Committee, disclosed evidence
member of the Communist Party Cen-
Maria Ormos, an academician and a
were partly to blame for the 1956 rebel-
official view that Western countries
garlan propaganda had expounded the
that for more than three decades, Hun-
garian Academy of Sciences on Friday
symposium of historians at the Hun-
The historian, Tibor Hajdu, told a
until last May
lion by Janos Kadar, Hungary's leader
role played in putting down the rebei-
tervention and to shed new light on the
saw Pact
b) roadcast on Hungar an radio early on
The rebroadcasted speech was first
Central Committee,
retired on Monday at a meeting of the
likely to die within months. He may be
Communist Party President is ill and
Officials say Mr. Kadar, now the
the Soviet military. R
Hungary's leader with the support of
A Mr. Kadar replaced Mr. Nagy as
and withdrew. Hungary from the War
Nagy introduced a party system
Mr. Nagy but switched sides after Mr.
in Mr. Kadar.had initially supported
the rebellion
Nagy, who was executed for his role in
Hungary Airs Long-Banned Rebellion Speech
tion for Mr. Nagy.
could be the start of a legal rehabilita-
which a Government spokesman said
begun a speedy review of this trial
The Hungarian Government has
anniversary of his execution.
with four associates on June 16, the 1st
March and is expected to be rebur ed
an unmarked grave at the end of
voice cracked with emotion
of this fact.
Mr. Nagy's body was exhumed from
As Mr. Nagy made his speech, his
ple of our country and the entire world
ernment is in its place. notify the peo
"Our troops are fighting. The gov.
Government.
throw the legal Hungarian democratic
obviously with the intention to over-
started an attack against our capital,
"Today at daybreak, Soviet forces for ces
Nov. 4, 1956, In it, Mr. Nagy said
THE NEW YORK TIMES, SUNDAY, MAY 7, 1989
Photo Copy Preservation
WALL ST.J. 05-08-89
Budapest Spring
182
Hungarian Democracy
Bursts Forth in Ways
Dizzying to Everyone
The Socialist Workers' Party
Agrees to Share the Stage
With a Plethora of Rivals
owners, taxi drivers and private restaura-
Rehabilitation of Imre Nagy
teurs.
183P
"Only members or those who want to
join can stay," the old man instructs. But
By BARRY NEWMAN
a younger man jumps up. "We haven't de-
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
bated the program. Let's have the pro-
BUDAPEST - The official limousines
Hard Alternatives
gram. then we can decide whether to
lined up in front of Karl Marx University
What worries them is the knack politi-
join." The audience breaks into applause.
proclaim big doings inside the main build-
cal parties could have for giving shape to
A woman stands: "What about the five
ing.
In the marble foyer, near the creden-
the sulkiness of Eastern Europe. Parties
members expelled? Who has the right to
tials desk. a film crew has collared the
capable of jelling vague negativism into
expel people without asking the member-
Communist speaker of Hungary's parlia-
hard alternatives could rally recruits not
ship?'
ment for an interview. The doors behind
only from the grumpy masses. but from
'You Want a Dictatorship!'
him open onto a columned hall where sev-
the ruling party itself. Two years ago. the
A politburo delegate rises at the dais.
eral hundred decently dressed delegates
active opposition among 10 million Hun-
"I will respond." he says. "This doesn't
are listening to a long address. Foreigners
garians consisted of about 35 courageous
depend on the rank and file
take It in through cordless headphones.
people. Today. it would fill a stadium.
How come?" someone shouts. Some-
Political tracts cover the tables in a
The new parties don't buy the "one-
one else: "You want a dictatorship!" An-
corridor alongside the hall. There. more
party pluralism" touted in Moscow. "So-
other young man gets up. "We believe the
reporters quiz the ruling party's official
cialist democracy" has no appeal. Hesi-
rank and file has the right to determine
spokesman on the meeting's portent. But
tantly, even Communists have begun to
policy. Support our initiative! Call the pro-
he isn't much help. Like the speaker of
talk of their future party as one among
visional assembly!" And in a chaos of ar-
parliament and the others who came in
equals. Like their rivals. some have taken
gument and cheers, the meeting re-
black cars, the official spokesman is here
up the chant for democracy and pluralism
cesses.
as an outside observer.
"without adjectives."
In the snack bar, Zsolt Lanyi gets a cof-
For all its airs, this is no establishment
Communist idols seem to topple every
fee. He is 60, a private dealer in cooling
gathering. In an unimaginable year of or-
week. Next Nov. 7. the Hungarians won't
equipment. a Smallholders loyalist since
ganized challenges to the Communist polit-
take a day off to celebrate the Russian
1946.
ical monopoly in Hungary. this is the first
Revolution. But on March 15. thousands
"For 42 years, we had nothing," he
convention of a nationalist, non-Communist
poured out to celebrate the 1848 revolt
says. "Now everything is starting again. It
movement called the Hungarian Demo-
against Austria. put down with the aid of
isn't the party I find exciting. What's excit-
cratic Forum. The main issue on its
Russian troops. Marchers wore the shield
ing is that the Hungarian nation is begin-
agenda: when-not whether-to declare it-
of the revolt's leader. Lajos Kossuth: some
ning to forget its fear."
self a Hungarian democratic party.
wore it capped by the crown of St. Stephen,
He finishes his coffee and adds the es-
Which Party?
symbol of Hungarian nationhood. The
sential caveat: "It all depends on a smooth
HSWP has decided to make one of these
changeover to a market-party system. We
Until a few months ago. a mention of
the new national emblem. It may yet re-
don't want another national tragedy."
the party" in Hungary would have meant
the party-ti only party. But today it can
move the red star from the roof of parlia-
Evolutionary Tendencies
ment.
mean the Peasants' Party, the Small-
On that, Hungarians have united.
holders' Party. the Free Democrats. the
Rehabilitating Imre Nagy
Twenty years of socialism with plenty of
Social Democrats. the Christian Demo-
More gingerly. the HSWP has looked
consumer goods have vented the furies in
crats. Singer Sarlota Zalatnay. who once
again at what it used to call the "counter-
Hungary that are bottled up in Poland. Yu-
had a hit called "I Am Not A Nun. wants
revolution" of 1956. Now. the party admits
goslavia and Armenia. The new parties
to start a Liberal Sexual Party.
that the Hungarian Revolution at least be-
want to help the HSWP step aside honor-
Now, the party in charge goes by its ini-
gan as a "popular uprising.' The man who
ably. without provoking its "fundamenta-
tials-HSWP. for Hungarian Socialist
inspired it. Prime Minister Imre Nagy,
lists" to reach for the guns they legally
Workers' Party. Just how much longer it
was executed in 1958 and dumped into an
keep in their cupboards. The HSWP wants
will stay in charge has suddenly become a
unmarked grave. His body has been ex-
the parties to mature without splitting
concrete question. The HSWP is hanging
humed and will soon be buried properly-
apart the country and raising the eyebrows
onto the reins as Hungary gallops toward a
in full view. no doubt. of a thoroughly un-
of risk-analysts in Western consulting
free. democratic. multiparty system. The
shackled press.
firms.
last time this country had a multiparty
After a +2-year confinement. Hun-
'What we want is a transition without
election, in 1945. the Communists got 17%
garians are taking to all this with the
spasms." says Istvan Foldesi, a special as-
of the vote.
gawky exuberance of an invalid throwing
sistant to the HSWP boss. Karoly Grosz.
"The change is unbelievable." says
away his crutches and walking again.
"We feel nobody wants sudden turns. They
George Schoepflin at the London School of
Those first steps are always the shakiest.
know this is a once-in-a-lifetime chance."
Economics, a Hungary watcher not prone
From the head table in a packed com-
Yet Budapest's politicians, and Mos-
to bright forecasts. "These are real par-
ties. The past is really past."
munity center meeting room, an old man
cow's. are antsy. None can comfortably
announces: "We will now elect a tempo-
say the country will stay its course: the
The rise of party politics puts Hungary
rary leadership. A Smallholders' Party
fact is. nobody can quite comprehend how
in a class by itself among peoples repub-
it has already come SO far SO fast.
branch committee is meeting on a Satur-
lics in flux. While the elections in the So-
day morning. A voice of the petite bour-
Only last May did a fractious HSWP
viet Union made for a spectacular show.
georsie, the Smallholders won 57% of the
congress dislodge Janos Kadar as leader.
they won't alter the Communist Party's
vote in 1945: now they want to speak for
replacing him with Mr. Grosz and a motley
self-image there as society's integrating
the new class of Hungarian workshop
politburo of moderates and rank reform-
force. Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev
ers. Right up to the end of November, Mr.
calls advocates of a multiparty system
Grosz still stood for a one-party state.
"demagogues and irresponsible elements.
while his comrades bickered about it. They
His emissaries have reacted to the goings-
seemed not to notice the drift of the econ-
on in Budapest with anxious amazement.
omy, but their rivals did. The Smallholders
and the Social Democrats decided to fill
the void and get back into business. Too
splintered to oppose them. the HSWP re-
lented.
WASH. POST: 04-25-89
Hungary's Party Chief, Premier in Public Row
183p
By Imre Karacs
al. "Who Is Telling the Truth?" asked
ring to the party's policy-making
Special to The Washington Post
a headline in today's official Buda-
body. He claimed, however, that the
pest daily, Magyar Nemzet.
prime minister had backed him. "In
BUDAPEST, April 24-A public
The rift between the two politi-
the government, Miklos Nemeth did
row between the leader of Hungary's
cians comes at a bad time for Grosz,
have such ambitions, because this is
ruling Communist Party and the
as advocates of radical reform within
why he set up his [inner] cabinet,"
country's prime minister escalated
the party are seeking to oust him and
Grosz concluded.
today as the Budapest party leader-
other party leaders they perceive as
But the broadcast offered no hint
ship called on the two men to clarify
too conservative. Grosz came in for
of what sort of emergency Grosz had
their recent statements on the need
heavy criticism at a meeting of re-
in mind and left listeners confused
to introduce a "state of emergency in
formists a week ago in the town of
about the extent of his support. Ne-
the economy."
Kecskemet, and a campaign was
meth's reaction was swift. "The
The row erupted Saturday, when
launched to convene an emergency
prime minister has authorized us to
in a casual comment to young party
party conference with the power to
declare that he never. had any such
members, party chief Karoly Grosz
oust him.
ambitions," Budapest Television's
said he had recently tried to per-
Budapest Radio today broadcast a
evening news program announced.
suade the party's governing Politbu-
recording of Grosz's Saturday re-
For good measure, Nemeth tele-
ro to declare a "state of emergency
marks, in which he said, "I see the
phoned Budapest Radio today to con-
in the economy." He claimed he had
situation ripe for the introduction of
firm his position, saying he was so
lost a vote on the matter in the 11-
a state of emergency in the econo-
opposed to Grosz's idea that he
man Politburo, but that Miklos Ne-
my" but added that this would not be
voted against him in the Politburo.
meth, the prime minister and a Po-
a "military move."
Nemeth's remarks appeared to
litburo member, had supported him.
needs to be slowed down here."
put him on a collision course with
When Nemeth heard about
"A few weeks ago, my own Polit-
Grosz, whose backing was respon-
Grosz's remark, he telephoned Hun-
buro voted against this suggestion of
sible for his rapid rise from the mid-
garian television and angrily denied
mine, so I did not submit it to the
dle ranks of the party to his present
that he ever favored Grosz's propos-
Central Committee," he said, refer-
position as government leader.
04-25-89
HUNGARIAN TELLS
OF DEMOCRATIC AIM
High Aide Disavows Marxism
and Cites Plans for New
Parties and Pluralism
1830
By HENRY KAMM
Special to The New York Times
BUDAPEST, April 24 - An impor-
tant Government and Communist
Party official told a group of reporters,
most of them Westerners, today that
the establishment of genuine democ-
racy was Hungary's main goal.
The official, Gyula Horn, said his
country's top priority was "to institu-
tionalize pluralism and establish a real
role for Parliament."
Mr. Horn said another goal at the top
of the leadership's agenda was to adopt
the European tradition of maximum
political freedom. He said there was no
difference between "bourgeois and so-
cialist criteria for democracy and
human rights."
Mr. Horn holds the title of State Sec-
retary in the Foreign Ministry and is a
member of the party's central commit-
tee. Diplomats consider him the right
hand of the party's General Secretary,
Karoly Grosz, in dealing with the
major Eastern and Western powers in
Hungary's efforts to gain support as it
navigates through grave economic, so-
cial and political difficulties.
Speaks at Italian Meeting
Mr. Horn spoke at a news conference
held in connection with a congress of
Italy's Radical Party. The party, which
represents anti-establishment views
similar to West Germany's Greens, is
holding its convention here in recogni-
tion of Hungary's recent progress
away from orthodox Communism.
The Hungarian official spoke with
considerable candor of the need for
change. "The end result must be of
revolutionary nature," he said. "Any
attempt at undermining reform would
be counter-revolutionary."
He said the Hungarian socialism that
is the object of the present liberaliza-
tion campaign was not Marxist. "In
fact, we discredit the ideas of Marx,"
Mr. Horn added. He listed as the three
main criteria of socialism equality of
opportunity, democracy and solidarity
among social strata and on the interna-
tional scene.
"The relationships of the ownership
of property are not an indispensable
feature of socialism," Mr. Horn said.
Mr. Horn said that in 1949, with a
pluralist structure in place, "we liqui-
dated it." He continued: "For decades,
this made impossible the enforcement
of democracy. All that we did is that we
called 'socialist democracy' that which
in a real sense was not democracy but
a party and state monopoly."
:04-25-89
PERSPECTIVES ON EASTERN EUROPE
Reformers Are Asking: Where Do We Go From Here?
183
The latest Hungarian reform was a so-called "re-
sion with a new, ideological Iron Curtain, falling not
form workshop" that recalled the great open forums of
this time across Europe as a whole but dividing the
By Eric Bourne
Czechoslovakia's 1968 Prague Spring. They were
communist area itself. On one side are Hungary and
VIENNA
short-lived. These, however, are different times.
Poland (backed by the Soviet Union), on the other East
It was a communist "workshop," called by the Polit-
Germany, Czechoslovakia, Romania, and Bulgaria. A
EVOLUTION is in the air in the East bloc.
buro's two most forward-looking and articulate mem-
conflict of words begins to flow across this new curtain
R
In the Soviet Union, perestroika is surely break-
bers, Rezso Nyers and Imre Pozsgay. Also attending the
as much as over the East-West divide of old.
ing revolutionary ground. Mikhail Gorbachev's
workshop were three other members and 500 lower-
People in all these nations know only too well the
policies of restructuring are undoing most of what was
ranking officials and party members, plus some promi-
system's inefficiencies. But only the Poles and the Hun-
established during the Stalinist period and much too of
nent noncommunist intellectuals.
garians have challenged it. The rest have yet to stir, and
Lenin's revolution of 1917.
It was a unique occasion. There was an electrifying
their regimes are doing everything they can, however
Poland's extraordinary accord between a communist
debate bluntly postulating a "peaceful" split in the
repressive, to ward off threats to the system.
regime and the independent trade union Solidarity is
party itself. Two-thirds of the present membership
Gorbachev certainly approved but he did not initiate
nothing short of a Polish revolution.
(780,000), it was said, should form a "reform party,
the Polish accord, nor prompt the Hungarians to go flat
Events in Hungary, however, transcend everything.
leaving the rest to preserve - if they could - an ortho-
out for the multiparty system. In each case change was
Russians, after unprecedented elections, and Poles,
dox Communist Party to compete for power with all the
forced on local leaderships by deteriorating internal
after their agreement, seemed to take a pause to pon-
other pluralist groups.
conditions and similar forces must in time propel the
der: "And where do we go from here?" But Hungar-
reluctant ones toward change.
ians, both within the party and outside it, are in a hurry.
'W
HERE do we go from here?" Indeed
It is all part of what former French President Valery
In the last year they have had a nonstop round of
Market economies and democracy alone
Giscard d'Estaing has just termed "the post-cold-war
legislative reform and won liberties more sweeping
cannot solve these East-bloc crises. Even
period" which West and East enter together with a
than envisaged by the failed revolt of 1956. Yet there is
with Western help, more hardship, not less, must be
mutual responsibility.
no slackening of demand. Most recently, the Politburo
endured by the Hungarian public before the benefits
Discerning East European reformers see it too as a
was cleansed of four members whose reform credentials
from reform policies begin to accrue.
situation in which the West can best help, not by talking
were either suspect or lukewarm. The nine-member
Meanwhile, with all the changes, one urgent ques-
glibly about "reversing" the Yalta agreement, but by
body is now in the hands of the "revolutionaries."
tion remains. That question - boldly acknowledged in
seeking a process of adjusting a mischievous wartime
Mr. Gorbachev, promoting democracy in the Soviet
Budapest and feared just as much in Warsaw -- is simply
agreement to the needs of the the contemporary world.
Union, sedulously invokes Lenin. It is doubtful, how-
whether stability and social patience can be maintained
This adjustment, they say, would encourage reform
ever, if the latter - could he offer an opinion - would
that long.
anywhere in Eastern Europe, without disturbing super-
endorse everything done in the name of perestroika.
Events meanwhile also are creating an added dimen-
power balance and trust.
N.Y. TIMES 04-26-89
Goodbye and Ciao to Soviet Tanks in Hungary
178/1830
By HENRY KAMM
50,000 of its troops from Hungary, East
So tolerant were the Soviet efficers
Special to The New York Times
Germany and Czechoslovakia. At the
that they appeared to take a bewil-
KISKUNHALAS, Hungary, April 25
same time, Mr. Gorbachev said the
dered pleasure in the unexpected pres-
- The Soviet Union began today to
Soviet Union would demobilize 500,000
ence of llona Staller, a member of the
carry out Mikhail S. Gorbachev's
of its total armed personnel and deacti-
Italian Parliament of Hungarian birth,
premise to withdraw some of its mili-
vate 10,000 tanks.
who has become known throughout Eu-
tary forces from countries of the War-
The departure today, believed to be
rope by reverting at public occasions to
saw Pact.
the first in any of the three affected
her former professions of strip-tease
Thirty-one heavy tanks of the 13th
countries, was staged by the Soviet
artist and pornographic-movie actress.
Guards Armored Division were loaded
command in Hungary for maximal
Miss Staller is in Hungary for a con-
onto flatbed cars at a rail siding outside
publicity.
gress that the Italian Radical Party,
this provincial town 90 miles south of
Foreign reporters and television
which she represents, is holding in
Budapest and left in the direction of the
crews, mainly from the West, were
Budapest. Col. Boris Y. Adamenko,
Sovie Ukraine.
warmly greeted by English-speaking
deputy chief of staff of the southern
weaking at United Nations last Dec.
officers and allowed to clamber over
group of Soviet forces, raised no objec-
7,
No. Gorbachev, the Soviet leader,
the tanks and railroad cars, photo-
tion when Miss Staller, wearing a
pledged that Moscow would withdraw
graphing at will.
wreath of wilted flowers in her long
blond hair, distracted attention by pos-
ing and mugging beside him into the
cameras- as he made the official an-
nouncement of the departure.
At the command of Italian photogra-
phers, Miss Staller released a white
dove of peace at the side of the train,
only to watch the frightened bird tum-
ble into the fatal treads of a moving
tank.
Only 18 soldiers accompanied the
T-64 main battle tanks, armed with 125-
millimeter cannon, to the Soviet Union.
The withdrawal of troops is to begin
next month. By some time next year,
more than 10,000 Soviet soldiers are to
have left Hungary.
Western military experts estimate
the number of Soviet troops in Hungary
at between 62,000 and 70,000. The tanks
that left today are the first of 450 to be
withdrawn from the country.
"
an era of our
relations with
Western Europe
is closed."
WASH.POST:05-03-89
- Interior Ministry official Andras Kovari
CZECHOSLOVAKIA
Vienna
Hegyeshalom
AUSTRIA
Sopron
Koszeg
Budapest
HUNGARY
Szentgotthard
YUGOSLAVIA
0
100
MILES
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Hungarian troops roll up wire fencing that has separated them from Austria for 20 years. It replaced a mine field.
BY CLARICE BORIO-THE WASHINGTON POST
Hungary Tears 183/173 Down "Iron Curtain' With Austria
Reuter
expansionism. "From Stettin in the Baltic to Tri-
Hungarians feel much better that we no longer
este in the Adriatic," Churchill told an audience
have such an old-fashioned border with the
HEGYESHALOM, Hungary, May 2-Hunga-
in Fulton, Mo., "an iron curtain has descended
West," he said. "It will help Hungary's interna-
ry began a symbolic dismantling of the "Iron Cur-
across the continent."
tional relations."
tain" that has divided Europe for four decades as
Reformist Minister of State Imre Pozsgay said
While Hungarians have been able to travel
it started to remove a barbed-wire fence on its
in October that the fence had become outdated
abroad freely since Eastern Europe's most lib-
border with Austria today.
historically, politically and technically. Disman-
eral passport law was introduced last year, Aus-
"With the dismantling of this barrier, an era of
tling began in the no man's land near this small
tria has mixed feelings about the dismantling of
our relations with Western Europe and partic-
town on the main road between Budapest and
the fence.
ularly Austria is closed," Interior Ministry official
Vienna and at three other points: Koszeg, So-
In Vienna, Foreign Ministry spokesman Wal-
Andras Kovari told a news conference.
pron and Szentgotthard.
ter Greinert said Austria regarded the move as a
The 20-year-old barbed-wire barrier replaced
Journalists watched as soldiers with sledge-
"very positive sign." But Austrian government
a mine field laid after the Communist takeover of
hammers disconnected the alarm system, lifted
sources fear that other East Europeans, espe-
Hungary in the late 1940s.
six-foot posts and rolled up wire:
cially Romanians now flooding into Hungary. be-
The phrase "Iron Curtain" was coined by for-
The head of the border guards, Col. Balazs
cause of ethnic strife, could use Hungary as an
mer British prime minister Winston Churchill in
Novaky, said he hoped the entire 150-mile fence
easy transit route to the West by simply walking
a 1946 speech discussing the dangers of Soviet
would be removed by the end of 1990. "It makes
into Austria.
TIMES 05-04-89
ESSAY William Safire
Salami Tactics
BUDAPEST
"Political change without basic
W
hat a weird May Day: First,
economic change,' says Miklos Vaso-
hardly anybody came to the
rhely, last surviving leader of the
Communist Party parade.
1956 freedom fighter revolt still resi-
Then the party leader, at an open
town meeting, was asked what hap-
dent in. Hungary, "merely gives us
the freedom to complain about what
pened to the borrowed $18 billion that
has become an intolerable debt bur-
we cannot do anything about."
That old hero understands what the
den. Finally, the state television gave
equal time to panels run by the nas-
newest class of power jockeys cannot
cent opposition parties.
grasp: For a nation to prosper,
Is this the wave of the future? I came
proprietorship must be personal. This
to Hungary because it is advertised as
can range from farmers owning their
"the hole in the Iron Curtain," the na-
own cooperatives to entrepreneurs
owning their companies.
tion in Eastern Europe supposedly
slipping out of the Soviet orbit.
What Hungary shows is great ac-
To project this image, Hungarian
tivity without underlying action.
border guards this week ostenta-
'A new stock market opens without
tiously chopped down barriers along
the Austrian border, handing out
snippets of barbed wire as souvenirs.
This was an example of baloney tac-
Hungary
tics, an updating of the salami tactics
by which the Communist regime
WOOS the
sliced away its coalition partners at
the start of the cold war. Although
West.
Hungarians are free to travel, no
Soviet dissident can slip into Hungary
and then across to the West without
papers issued in Moscow.
Other changes, though surface-
a base of money convertible across
deep, are real. Communists are
borders; a handful of sentimental
preparing to share power in a coali-
joint ventures offers only the illusion
of serious business. The nation that
tion government after free elections,
lost seven out of its last seven wars is
and insist they are even willing to risk
ouster. In the past year, Hungary has
cunning enough to survive, but has
embraced South Korea, which needs
produced no recent figure capable of
leading it out of loserhood.
ties to Communist nations as much as
Budapest needs capitalist invest-
The current leadership is eager to
play host to George Bush, who visited
ment; next month Hungary will nor-
malize relations with Israel.
this country as Vice President in 1983.
And the evils of the repressive past
Our activist Ambassador here, Mark
are being exhumed. The bones of Imre
Palmer, is a young pro clued in to the
Nagy, the patriot who was executed
new-breeze Eastern Europe strategy
three decades ago and dumped in a
laid out, like Poe's purloined letter, in
mass grave, will be reburied in honor
Mr. Bush's speech in Hamtramck,
Mich. My guess is that the President
on June 16, the anniversary of his ex-
will expound his doctrine in Poland
ecution. Some officials worry that this
may trigger a new uprising.
and Hungary in mid-July, just after
Nobody can measure the depth of
the Paris economic summit meeting.
latent violence because of the huge
I hope he delays his decision until
gap between the political wrangling
June 16; let's see how this regime, so
at the top and the real misery at the
fearful of what it calls the aftermath
bottom. Inflation is betraying aged
of anarchy, reacts to the big Nagy
pensioners; newly marrieds have no
demonstration. Having made the
place to live; poverty afflicts one per-
wrong decision on wheat subsidies to
son in five, and many workers drag
the Soviet Union, Mr. Bush may take
themselves to two jobs to survive.
the right road on aid to Hungary: In-
To avert revolution, Communist
stead of lavishing Government loans
leaders explain that gradual, peace-
on the central bank to prop up sys-
ful change was blessed by Mr. Gorba-
temic failure, as the Japanese and
chev; they tell me he assured them
Germans have done, we should let U.S.
only last week that the Brezhnev doc-
business take its risk and wish it well.
trine was dead, that Hungary can find
If and when the U.S. President gets
its own middle way provided it does
here, he should ask: Why does Hun-
not make an embarrassing fuss.
gary spend 4.5 percent of its G.N.P. on
But such assurances are ripples on
its army, compared with Western Eu-
the deep current of events. A system
rope's 3 percent? He may find the Hun-
based on state ownership and central
garians willing to cut back from
control is bound to fail, and cannot be
120,000 to 70,000 troops in a hurry. Hun-
patched or "restructured"; it cries
gary offers a parallel in the change we
out for replacement.
see in the Soviet Union: ferment with-
out focus, old wine in new bottles.
CHRIS.SCI.MON.:05-08-89
1831
Hungary Tears Down a Fence
H
UNGARY's dismantling of
bors. Hungary's relations with Ro-
nist Party and Solidarity could be
a barbed-wire fence sepa-
mania are particularly tense. Ro-
transformed, he says.
rating it from Austria
manian refugees flow its way.
The Soviet Union, for now, ap-
takes a little more iron out of a cor-
In July, George Bush will recog-
pears willing to let things proceed.
roding "Iron Curtain." It's a sym-
nize the new openness in the East,
The Poles may be encouraged that
bolic act, but the symbolism is
with stops in Hungary and Poland
perestroika has now embraced a lim-
poignant.
as part of his first European tour as
ited right to strike for Soviet union-
Budapest is lurching toward po-
President. Leaders in both coun-
ists. Not long ago, that would have
litical change. Its once-monolithic
tries will doubtless use the occasion
been considered an ideological ab-
Communist Party shows signs of
to ask for greater US help with
surdity in the "workers' state." But
splitting into factions (long a Marx-
their economic reforms.
wildcat strikes have been occurring
ist-Leninist no-no), with the most
Poland is almost as gung-ho for
anyway under Mikhail Gorbachev;
liberal reformers wielding the bulk
change as Hungary is. Party leader
the shift favors reality over ideol-
of power. A new constitution is on
Wojciech Jaruzelski admits that as-
ogy.
the horizon, incorporating checks
pects of socialism haven't worked in
Hungarians busily redefining
and balances and doing away with
Poland. Arm in arm with Lech
their politics retain memories of
the Communists' "leading role."
Walesa, head of the Solidarity trade
1956 and the Soviet invasion -
Free elections are promised for
union he once banned. General
triggered, they'll recall. by talk of
next year.
Jaruzelski is striding into a new era
leaving the Warsaw Pact. Still, Mr.
Hungarians look West for their
of elections and multipolar politics.
Gorbachev has given his blessing to
role models these days. The social
The country's redesigned parlia-
reform in Hungary and Poland. But
democracy of Sweden. Finland. and
ment - with all seats in the new
even he could be shocked by what
Austria - not Soviet-style social-
upper house and a third of those in
the future holds.
ism - is the object of emulation. It
the lower chamber freely elected -
Just as important as the Soviet
was only logical that the fence come
will have a decisive say in crucial
response is the response of average
down.
economic reforms.
Hungarians and Poles. Can a some-
Ironically, the highest partitions
Jacek Kuron, a Polish activist
what
cynical.
economically
in Eastern Europe now are those
and political theorist. has said the
strapped populace be rallied behind
between the reformist socialist
goal is "an entirely new political ge-
reform? The coming election cam-
states. Hungary and Poland. and
ography," with new alignments and
paigns will provide at least a partial
their hard-line communist neigh-
new antagonists. Both the Commu-
answer to that important question.
Hungary and Refugees: a Historic Reversal
1831
ernments could do no more than
arrangements prevail today in han-
Since World War II. Hungary has
the largest number of those arriving
agree to resettle those Hungarians
dling movements of people out of
been considered by the West a
are ethnic Hungarians, the welcome
By Dennis Gallagher
who fled.
the USSR and Eastern Europe.
refugee-producing country. With
has extended to ethnic Romanians
Besides the obvious political im-
As with the Hungarian uprising
the trend toward liberalization,
as well.
plications this event had for "East-
in 1956, Hungary's signing of the
Western governments are reassess-
These current developments in
HIRTY-THREE years ago,
West" relations, the massive exodus
refugee convention has important
ing. the situation. Austria, for ex-
T
Hungary, like those in 1956. are mo-
an abortive effort by Hun-
of Hungarians into neighboring
political implications for relations
ample, only approves I percent of
mentons. They signal that:
garians to loosen their ties
countries had an enormous impact
within the East bloc as well as be-
Hungarian applications for asylum.
Within the context of glasnost
to the Soviet Union led to the flight
on the international refuger sys-
tween the East and West. The
Foreign travel for Hungarians is
and perestroika, East-bloc countries
of more than 200,000 refugees to
tem. The UN High Commissioner
now relatively casy. Early last year,
can chart varied courses and even
the West. On March 14, 1989, the
for Refugees, created in 1951, was
exit visa requirements were abol-
challenge each other in interna
Hungarian government became the
floundering with almost no I'C-
Even more dramatic
ished and new passports, valid for
tional forums.
first Warsaw Pact country to accede
sources and a mandate that was
than its more open
five years, were issued. On Nov. 7.
East-bloc governments can
to the United Nations Convention
about to expire. UNHCR was I'C-
1988, the anniversary of the revolu-
adopt policies that afford new free-
and Protocol Relating to the Status
suscitated when, over the opposition
attitude toward travel is
tion of 1917, some 100,000 Hungar-
dom for people to exit their coun-
of Refugees. This event - largely
of the USSR, a General Assembly
Hungary's receiving of
ians exercised their freedom to trav-
tries.
unreported is historic.
resolution was passed on Nov. 9,
refugees from Romania.
di abroad and went to Vienna,
Socialist countries perhaps
When the 1956 Hungarian upris-
1956, authorizing UNHCR to CO-
primarily to shop.
the USSR itself may join the in-
ing was put down by Warsaw Pact
ordinate international assistance to
Even more dramatic than this
ternational refugee system.
forces, the message was crystal clear
Hungarians.
more open attitude toward travel is-
Without doubt these develop-
that the USSR would not tolerate
New diplomatic and organiza-
events also signal an important
Hungary's receiving of refugees
ments present significant chal-
independent political developments
tional arrangements were formed to
change in the evolution of the in-
in particular, refugees from a neigh-
lenges to Western and Eastern gov-
in Eastern Europe. Underestimat-
handle the Hungarian exodus. Aus-
ternational refugee system.
boring socialist country, Romania.
ernments, as well as to the
ing the Soviet intent, Washington
tria, Italy, and Yugoslavia, countries
No country in Eastern Europe
Further, Hungary has formally ex-
international refugee regime. Un-
had encouraged dissent within Hun-
on the periphery of the East bloc,
has adopted glasnost with more fer-
pressed its concerns about human
like the developments in 1956, how-
gary, repeatedly broadcasting on
became countries of first asylum
vor than Hungary. Karoly Grosz re-
rights abuses in Romania by calling
ever, they are to be celebrated
Radio Free Europe to the "libera-
from which arrangements were
placed longtime leader Janos Kadar
on the UN's Center for Human
rather than condemned.
tionists" that "America will not fail
made by governmental and non-
in mid-1988 and announced sweep-
Rights to investigate them.
you." But when actually confronted
governmental organizations to re-
ing economic and political reforms
To date, more than 80,000 Ro-
Dennis Gallagher is executive director
with Soviet military resolve to re-
settle refugees to other Western Eu-
soon thereafter. In Hungary, the
manian citizens have been given
of the Refugee Policy Group, a nonprofit
tain control over Hungary, the Unit-
ropean countries, as well as to the
word "liberalization" is now on cv-
refuge in Hungary. There is every
policy research institute based in Wash-
ed States - and other Western gov-
US, Canada, and Australia. These
erybody's lips.
prospect that more will come. While
ington.
WASH.POST:05-09-89
Hungary's Janos Kadar
Retired From Party Posts
Kadar Loses Titles as Health Deteriorates
By Imre Karacs
Mihaly Jasso, head of the Buda-
Special to The Washington Post
pest party committee, reported
over the weekend that doctors
BUDAPEST, May 8-Janos
were trying to send Kadar for a
Kadar, the grand old man of Hun-
rest-to the Crimea in the Soviet
garian politics who once was hailed
Union-but said Kadar did not want
as the most liberal Communist lead-
to go. Kadar is believed to be afraid
er in Eastern Europe, lost all of his
of dying in Soviet exile, as his no-
official titles tonight when he was
torious predecessor Matyas Rakosi
retired from the Central Committee
did in 1971.
and relieved of his post as Commu-
Kadar, in the twilight of his life,
nist Party chairman for health rea-
appears haunted by other ghosts
sons.
from the past. His role in the exe-
JANOS KADAR
The decision by the Central Com-
cution of several of his colleagues in
health reportedly failing
mittee ended weeks of speculation
the 1950s has become clear as of-
about Kadar's fate.
ficial veils on contemporary history
truly committed to reforms
Since his dismissal nearly a year
are being pulled back.
emerged.
ago at a special party conference,
On Saturday, the government
Today, despite resistance from
Kadar, who will be 77 later this
daily Magyar Hirlap published a
Grosz, Central Committee mem-
month, has suffered a severe dete-
document implicating Kadar in the
bers agreed to convene an extraor-
rioration in his health.
execution in 1949 of the communist
dinary conference on new party
Until recently, party leaders had
politician Laszlo Rajk, the most fa-
statutes, election strategy and per-
seemed prepared to wait for their
mous victim of the Stalinist show
sonnel issues.
chairman to die in office. But they
The date of the conference-on-
trials in Hungary.
appeared to grow more alarmed at
Meantime, Grosz himself ap-
ly the second of its kind since
the worsening state of Kadar's
1957-is to be fixed later this
peared to be coming under pressure
mental condition.
month. The conference is expected
from reformists to step down. Re-
The position of party chairman,
to provide the venue for a clash be-
cent remarks by the general sec-
tween Grosz and reformists led in
essentially powerless, had been cre-
retary about the need for a "state of
the Politburo by Imre Pozsgay.
ated for Kadar when he was re-
emergency in the economy" have
This group argues that Grosz is
placed as general secretary by
proved to be the last straw for
a liability in the multiparty elec-
Karoly Grosz.
many party members.
tions that are to be held next year
The post had entitled the former
At the weekend, dissatisfaction
for the first time in over 40 years.
leader at least to attend Central
with his performance burst into the
The latest opinion polls appear to
Committee meetings and deliver
open as delegates to two regional
support that view.
speeches.
party conferences called for his dis-
Even with opposition parties in
The elderly leader's often ram-
missal. A party cell in the city of
complete disarray, the polls show
bling, incoherent remarks, howev-
Gyor, in west Hungary, took the
that the Communists would win
er, were becoming an embarrass-
unprecedented step of withholding
only 36 percent of the vote if the
ment to other party members.
members' dues until a "leadership
elections took place tomorrow.
TIMES 05-10-89
KEN ADELMAN
250\183p
ast Europeans remain un-
E
abashed fans of America,
Awaiting
Moscow withdrew one division from
Hungary. which remains bitter over
even if West Europeans
the suppression of its 1956 revolt.
don't. American allies may
Mr. Gorbachev assures Hungarian
receive President George Bush
blandly at the end of May, but our
Bush in
historians access to Soviet doc-
uments relating to that squalid
supposed adversaries will welcome
event. We'll see if that happens.
him warmly in July when he visits
Poland and Hungary.
Meanwhile, Hungarians long for
There Mr. Bush will feel as much
affection as Soviet President Mi-
Hungary
a total Soviet withdrawal, not being
particularly martially inclined.
khail Gorbachev feels on his forays
After all, Hungary has lost seven out
into Western Europe.
of its past seven wars. Its foreign
How topsy-turvy things Euro-
would allow privately owned and op-
policy begins to edge out of the
pean seem nowadays!
erated media. A Western news outfit
mold. Hungary is the first commu-
As the first U.S. president to visit
should pony up $1 million for the
nist country to recognize South Ko-
postwar Hungary. Mr. Bush will ex-
worthwhile endeavor.
rea. and soon will recognize Israel.
perience things that startle the eyes
Other businesses have gone pri-
Socially. the place is experiencing
and amaze the senses. The pace of
vate. There's even an embryonic
what Jonathan Edwards would call a
change there is breathtaking. the
stock exchange. In a few years. half
"great awakening." A genuine civil
tempo exhilarating.
the Hungarian economy may be in
society is being reborn. Religious.
Hungary is a remarkable little
private hands.
cultural and social groups like the
country brimming with talent. Most
And in foreign hands. Wholly
Boy Scouts sprout up independent of
U.S. nuclear scientists on the Man-
foreign-owned enterprises are al-
state or communist control.
hattan Project were born in Hun-
lowed and outside capital flows in.
gary. as were four-fifths of the hy-
Japanese own 40 percent of Hungar-
Politically, the picture is dicey. A
drogen bomb inventors. Such raw
ian securities, with the twin "tigers"
recent Communist Party poll found
talent is budding on its own soil.
of South Korea and Taiwan close be-
that it would muster only 30 percent
hind.
of the vote in a free election. More
Recently a Radio Free Europe re-
than 40 political organizations have
porter downing drinks with the boys
Still. the Hungarian economy
begun organizing. The splendid Na-
spotted a policeman beating some-
faces humongous foreign debt and a
tional Endowment for Democracy,
one outside a Budapest bar. He
declining; living standard. For the
U.S.-government-sponsored, helps
dashed to the scene to record the
first time since 1952. per capita in-
local training in political and labor
happening.
come fell last year. It took a toll: the
tactics.
Finding himself in the reporter's
country's suicide rate tops the
world.
A key moment in Hungary's
nightmare, with a hot tale yet no way
metamorphosis comes a month be-
to transmit it. he gutsily rushed to
the state-owned station. Could he
E
veryone admits Marxism is
fore Mr. Bush arrives. On June 16.
dead. Hungary's prime min-
the 33rd anniversary of his hanging
beam his story to RFE headquarters
ister said last month, "The
and being ditched in an unmarked
in Munich?
model of a party state has hit a dead-
mass grave. the bones of Imre Nagy.
Though RFE had been deemed
the devil incarnate, permission was
end street and has proved to be in-
prime minister during the 1956 up-
granted. His story was sent to Mu-
capable of making further head-
rising. will be reburied with honor.
nich and broadcast back the next
way."
For three decades. the mere men-
Caught between the widening dis-
tion of Mr. Nagy's name was forbid-
morning into Hungary. where it cre-
ated a sensation. The new breed of
integration of the East European
den. This year, three biographies on
bloc and increasing integration of
him have already been published.
investigative reporters queried
authorities. who mumbled lame ex-
the West European community.
The real crunch comes later. If
Hungary looks West. Many there
free elections are held, the commu-
cuses.
Though lacking an independent
seek community membership.
nists will have to share power. which
press. Hungarian journalists act in-
First may come back-door associ-
means further withering away of
dependently. It's so funny to see TV
ation through Austria. Its border
the Marxist state. In a historic first.
with Austria is the first part of the
they could lose the Interior or De-
speaking the truth." an intellectual
quipped. The government says it
"iron curtain" to come down. Hun-
fense Ministry. or lose power alto-
garians shear the barbed-wire
gether.
fence. selling snippets as souvenirs.
That seems inconceivable now.
Ken Adelman 15 a nationally syn-
Soviet forces are again on the
But then again. what's happening in
Hungary seemed utterly preposter-
dicated columnist.
march. but outward bound this time.
ous-just last year.
TIMES 05-13-89
Hungary AT A GLANCE
History and Politics
POLAND
Prague
Part of the Austro-Hungarian
CZECHOSLOVAKIA
Empire, Hungary proclaimed itself
SOVIET
AUSTRIA
an independent republic at the
UNION
Vienna
end of World War I in 1918. During
Debrecen
World War II, it allied itself with
Germany until its leader, Adm.
L.
Balaton
Budapest
Nicholas Horthy, a nationalist,
HUNGARY
tried to reverse course and was
Szagede
RUMANIA
arrested by the Germans, who oc-
cupied the country. Soviet troops
Danube
overran Hungary, and in 1948 a
YUGOSLAVIA
Communist regime consolidated
control.
Miles
Beigrade
River
even tomorrow. This is a reality."
The uprising of 1956 and its
0
100
brutal suppression with Soviet
This reality, he continued, imposes
tanks shocked the world and were
The New York Times/May 15, 1989
the need for electing, even under a
multi-party system, a party committed
viewed as a historic turning point
for the Soviet bloc. Hungary was
now dominate the economy. in
to socialism. Only the Communist
led for three decades by its party
1982 the Kadar regime began in-
Party has a clearly socialist program.
chief, Janos Kadar, who was
troducing measures to decentral-
If any of the new political groups came
ize the economy and encourage
to power, there was a risk of radical
originally a supporter of the 1956
revolt. His regime tried and exe-
private enterprise. The changes
change.
initially led to a rapid improvement
"In 10 or 15 years, after two or three
cuted Imre Nagy and others in-
volved in it. Before Mr. Kadar him-
in the standard of living. More re-
normal elections under a multi-party
self was ousted a year ago, hav-
cently, stagnation set in.
system, there won't be any threat of
ing lost his taste for bold eco-
changing the system as a whole," he
nomic action and in failing health,
said But in May 1989, there is only one
he led Hungary to a level of eco-
The Land and People
party, and this party could lose an elec-
tion."
nomic well-being and personal
freedom unmatched in the Soviet
The official said the party did not
orbit.
Hungary covers nearly 36,000
want to preserve its power "by admin-
square miles, little more than the
istrative means or military force." In-
state of Maine. Its population of
stead, the aide said, it wants to negoti-
just over 10 million includes small
ate with the opposition a formula simi-
The Economy
minorities of Germans, Slovaks
lar to that worked out between the Pol-
and others, and the official lan-
ish Government and its opposition. In
Until World War II, Hungary was
guage is Hungarian (Magyar). The
elections next month, the Polish Com-
mainly an agrarian society. but in-
Danube is the country's only sig-
munist Party reserves for itself 38 per-
dustries, construction and mining
nificant freight-moving waterway.
cent of the seats in a newly created
lower chamber of Parliament, while
the vote for the upper house would be
unrestricted.
pressed pleasure at receiving Presi-
"We create a situation in society, a
The aide said the Grosz leadership
dent Bush here in July, placed the insti-
mechanism of checks and balances, SO
did not favor creating a bicameral par-
tution of a multi-party system in the
that every day we would be able to re-
liament but wanted to propose to the
context of creating confidence among
port on actions and results and check
opposition a system that would guaran-
the Western lending institutions and
whether there is coincidence between
tee the Communist Party, at least in
private investors that Hungary must
intent and results."
the first multi-party elections, enough
convince of its credit worthiness.
Mr. Grosz made clear that he had no
members to be able to prevent the
In the view of Hungarian critics and
intention of presiding over a loosening
formation of a non-Communist govern-
defenders of the regime, as well as dip-
of his party's hold over the country by
ment.
lomats from East and West, Hungary's
allowing the proposed checks and bal-
"The first elections won't be real
economic plight. its declining standard
ances to develop quickly into a method
"elections," he conceded. He said their
of living and rising inflation, even more
of transferring power.
goal must be "to preserve stability for
than Mr. Gorbachev's liberalizing inno-
'The Leading Role'
the life of one parliament," or five
vations in the Soviet Union, are the
principal motives for the transforma-
"I think a party is a damn fool if it
years. The first "real elections," the
tion under way.
doesn't try to play the leading role," he
aide said, might be held in 1994 or 1995
said. "Why does that party exist if it
at the earliest.
Mr. Grosz cited the country's need
for $8 billion in Western capital over
doesn't have that ambition? Secondly,
'A Possible Putsch?'
the next five years to modernize its ob-
tell me, to whom should we transfer
The Grosz aide said that the party
solescent, stagnant economy, as well as
power? Can you name a force that has
was certain of winning 40 to 45 percent
its present debt of more than $15 billion
the kind of constructive program not
in the voting that he expected to be held
to Western creditors. In Parliament on
only for the management of the crisis
this year or next. The party leadership,
Wednesday, Prime Minister Miklos
resulting from our debts but also to
he said, favored a system similar to
Nemeth announced that Hungary
draw up a new social system?
that of West Germany's Parliament
needed to borrow $2.5 to $3 billion
"If we are unable in a period of six to
every year for debt service.
eight years to acquire through political
efforts the confidence of society that
proportional representation, with part
With this in. mind, the party chief
of the votes applied to individual candi-
said: "We need to have the trust and
we need to carry out our program, then
we deserve to lose its faith."
dates and the rest to a central pool for
confidence of the financial institutions
as well as private investors."
The party chief said that although he
each party.
was sincere in proposing to create a
However, the opposition groups have
To Strengthen the Money
system that would eventually allow the
rejected a round-table meeting at
To achieve this, he said, Hungary
party to be voted out, he foresaw no
which they and the ruling party would
loss of power.
work out a formula. Instead, they have
must strive to make its currency, the
proposed a "rectangular table," at
forint, at least partially convertible, SO
which the opposition would jointly con-
that foreign investors can repatriate
New Communists
front the Communists on the opposite
profits. He continued:
side. They have also said they want to
"The other element of creating confi-
dence is political reliability and stabil-
Strategy Is Based
negotiate only with Communist repre-
sentatives who are ready to accept far-
ity, because nobody would invest in a
place where they had to fear civil war
On Realism
reaching changes.
Meanwhile, the mood among those
breaking out the next day or have on
who have long struggled for a more lib-
"their minds a fear that 'those commu-
A senior aide to Mr. Grosz explained
eral regime is exemplified by a round-
nists' will change their minds and in
the party's strategy in a separate inter-
five years nationalize it.
robin question a magazine is putting to
view. He said the leadership believed
writers known for their critical views.
"To create safeguards, we try to
that there was no choice but to pre-
It is: "Where will you be in case of a
shape the political system, the political
serve the Communist system. Alluding
possible putsch?"
superstructure in such a way that its
to the Soviet role in Hungary's fate. he
Gyorgy Konrad, the best-known of
operation would give guarantees for
said: "This part of Europe became
such writers, said, "Even if it is a bit of
preventing events like that. One of the
part of the socialist world. We can
main ways of doing that is the estab-
irony or mockery, it gives you some-
change this, but not today. Perhaps not
thing quite near to a shiver."
lishment of a multi-party system. What
do we seek by that? It is the following:
we put our own party under social con-
trol by taking it out of the existing
mechanism, which is a one-party sys-
tem.
TIMES 05-18-89
Much Is Ending in Hungary
but Not Communist Rule
By JEFFREY KAYE
ernment to move toward free-market
and MITCHELL KOSS
830
economy. But adopting capitalist features
has proven to be a mixed bag. Hungary has
Almost every week in Hungary another
instituted stock-ownership and -Seensed
symbol of the old-style East Bloc collapses.
half a million entrepreneurs. At the same
Within the past month the Soviets began to
time, austerity measures such as cuts in
withdraw their troops, Hungarian soldiers
subsidies have resulted in a 20% annual
started to dismantle the physical manifes-
inflation rate and pushed one-fifth of
tation of the Iron Curtain-an electronic
Hungary's 10.6 million people below the
fence at the Austro-Hungarian border-
poverty line. In addition, the country faces
and deposed party leader Janos Kadar, the
large-scale unemployment as state-run
man the Soviets installed to rule the
industries are put on the auction block.
country after the 1956 uprising, was
Although Hungarians may be hurt in the
stripped of all formal ties to the Communist
pocketbook by such radical changes, they
leadership.
don't seem to be backing away from the
These changes come in a year in which
Communist Party. Opinion polls indicate
Hungary has already made more than
that the most popular political figure is also
token moves toward democracy, steps that
the man spearheading many of thereforms,
could theoretically allow the defeat of the
Imre Possgay, a member of the Politiburo.
Communist Party in free elections prom-
So far, the Hungarian public seems to
ised for 1990. But it would be a mistake to
have little interest in alternative politics.
assume these moves will inevitably lead to
The 30,000 or 30 opposition activists are
an end to Communist rule.
mainly intellectuals and students. One
To the contrary, a case could be made
dissident leader, environmentalist Judit
that the faster Hungary's movement to-
Vasarhelyi, complained that the opposition
ward democracy, the better the chance
is being hurt by the nimble theft of its ideas
that the Communists will prevail.
and slogans by the Communists. She
Under its Communist government, Hun-
worries that the relatively unsophisticated
gary is rapidly moving toward a peaceful
opposition could be outmaneuvered by a
realization of the same demands for which
party with long experience in steering
hundreds of its people died in the failed
public opinion.
anti-Soviet uprising of 1956. In contrast to
Right now, opposition groups are offer-
last year, when dissidents were still being
ing little alternative to the party's program
arrested. the government has now legal-
of radical reform. Rather than staking out
ized freedom of association and assembly.
clear ideological territories at this point,
Organized opposition groups have been
the various opposition organizations are
allowed to form and begin recruiting
propounding a vague potpourri of political
members for transformation into legal
thought. Gaspar Miklos Tamas, a leader of
opposition parties. Going far beyond Po-
the League of Free Democrats, told us, half
land's leaders in democratization, Hunga-
in jest, that his party follows the "two great
ry's government is rewriting its constitu-
traditions of liberalism, one of which is
tion, a move that it claims will guarantee
known in the United States as liberalism.
development of a multiparty democracy.
The other of which is known in the United
In the three weeks we were on assign-
States as conservatism."
ment in Hungary this March for PBS's
In order to outflank the party, some
"The MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour," we saw
opposition groups may be forced to move
the organizing conventions of three nas-
further to the right. But such postures are
cent opposition parties, the Social Dem-
likely to backfire and play into the Com-
ocrats, the League of Free Democrats and
munist Party's hands. As a nation accus-
the Democratic Forum. We also reported
tomed to full employment and social wel-
on the largest anti-government demon-
fare faces unemployment and inflation,
stration since 1956-an event the gov-
opposition parties that project Milton
ernment not only facilitated by declaring
Friedman-like values are not going to be
the day a legal holiday. but also legitimized
popular with voters.
by devoting extensive coverage to it on
The Communist Party has built up a
state-run television.
degree of trust with the Hungarian people
Hungary's reforms were not forced by
by delivering the highest standard of living
the opposition. Rather, the government
in the East Bloc. Even though Hungary's
implemented radical reforms because of an
consumerist proclivities are being eroded
economic crisis: Hungary can no longer
by the government's reforms, no credible
afford to maintain welfare state socialism.
alternative is emerging with a well-devel-
Having been forced by circumstances to
oped political platform. Unless it does,
act, Hungary's Communist Party moved
voters are likely to see the Communist
quickly to seize the initiative, proclaiming
Party as a reliable force of moderation.
itself a "party of reform" and trying to keep
the public's attention on democratization
Jeffrey Kaye, a senior producer at KCET-
instead of on the painful privatization of the
TV in Los Angeles, is a correspondent for
economy.
PBS "The MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour."
Western banks, owed more than $18
Mitchell Koss is a producer for KCET:
billion, have obliged the Hungarian gov-
national productions department.
In Hungary, the Political Changes
N.Y. TIMES 05-14-89
Are Tempered by Economic Fears
183e
By HENRY KAMM
Special
to
The
New
York
BUDAPEST, May 14 - In an atmos-
The announced economic changes,
phere of increasing freedom of expres-
hich still await definition and enact-
Within the ruling party, whose lead-
sion, Hungarians are looking forward
ment, foresee elimination of the state
ers all owe their rise to the former Gen-
to a possibility that after 44 years of
subsidies that make consumer prices
eral Secretary, Jarios Kadar, installed
artificially low and protect jobs by
by Moscow as it put down the revolt,
Communist rule the party may permit
keeping alive unproductive enter-
"Hberals" and "conservatives" can be
free elections that could one day drive
prises.
identified by the view they have
it from power.
The economic plight of the average
adopted on 1956.
But, deflating hopes held by many in
Hungarian has not reached the poverty
The 55-year-old Mr. Pozagay, in
the West and few in this nation of skep-
that has become common to many
whom non-party liberals as well as re-
tics, Karoly Grosz, the Communist
Poles and Yugoslavs. But the standard
form-minded Communists place their
leader, said in an interview that it
of living, long among the highest in the
best hope for leadership, has identified
would be six to eight years before the
Communist world, has suffered steady
himself with the opinion that the rising
party would run the risk of being
attrition through the 1980's.
was an authentic national movement.
ousted by the voters.
Consumption is declining, and the
Mr. Pozsgay has built a reputation
Government acknowledges that it will
for enthusiastic support of the innova-
Hungary is heading toward multi-
continue to do so until the projected
tions of Mikhail S. Gorbachev, the
party politics under official promises
changes bring about an upturn.
Soviet leader.
to convert the Communist system,
Stock Market in Embyro
A National Uprising?
modeled on the Soviet Union's, into a
The central statistics office reported
Within the party, Mr. Pozsgay is a
more democratic society and freer
that in the first quarter of this year
loner, not in close contact even with
economy.
food prices were up by 13.8 percent
others committed to renewal. This in-
This prospect" excites those who
over the same period last year, cloth-
cludes Mr. Nyers, his 66-year old Polit-
value above all freedom of expression.
ing prices by 19.4 percent and services
buro colleague, who was the architect
It does not cheer the majority, which is
by 13.9 percent.
of the economic changes of the late
more concerned with growing eco-
While little has been done to ease the
1960's. They were halted and Mr. Nyers
nomic hardship.
pressure on most Hungarians, the Gov-
ousted when the "Prague spring"
The Communist Party, led by Mr.
ernment this year introduced the eye-
aroused Soviet opposition to all similar
catching device of creating the first
movements.
Grosz since last May, has dictated
Hungary's fate since 1945, eliminated
stock exchange in Communist Europe.
Because foreign investment capital is
Mr. Grosz, 58 years old, who through-
all other parties and built a centralized
not rushing into Hungary, it has done
out his political life represented strict
economy that is mired in such crisis
virtually no trading.
Communist orthodoxy, first adhered to
that the party concedes that salvation
"It's embryonic," said George Soros,
the view that 1956 was a "counterrevo-
must come from the West.
an American of Hungarian birth, who
lution." As the significance of the issue
Aware of the need to make Hungary
heads the Quantum Fund, a mutual
in the power contest rose, however, he
fund. Mr. Soros is here to mark the fifth
moved to a centrist position. Mr. Grosz
more acceptable to the West, the party
anniversary of the cultural and educa-
engineered a compromise in which the
has yielded to demands for recognition
tional foundation that he finances.
1956 events were said to have begun as
of the principles of political pluralism
Despite the far-reaching changes
a "national uprising" and degenerated
and civil liberties and the creation of a
taking place, the public mood is unex-
into "counterrevolution."
mixed economy with wide private own-
cited, with little of the enthusiastic
In what many Hungarians saw as a
ership and a determining role for mar-
mass participation that marked the
gratuitous act intended to use the 76-
ket forces.
popular movements here and in Poland
year-old Mr. Kadar to deflect blame
Because of skepticism about Mr.
in 1956, the "Prague spring" of 1968
from today's leaders, the party this
Grosz's commitment to profound
and the Polish Solidarity movement of
month cast him into virtual disgrace.
change, many Communists believe
1980-81.
Pronouncing him physically and men-
'Dissidents' Now Lionized
tally ill, it completed his downfall,
that internal challenges to his leader-
begun when Mr. Grosz replaced him a
ship are likely to remove him before
"There is fear and apathy," said Fer-
year ago. It expelled him from the
Hungary holds its first free pariiamen-
enc Koszeg, a leader of the Alliance of
honorary post of party president and
tary election.
Free Democrats, a group that grew out
membership on the central committee.
Mr. Grosz suffered a significant
of the dissident movement that spoke
Mr. Kadar's consent to Hungarian
and printed critical views long before it
political setback when on Friday the
participation in the Soviet-led invasion
became permissible. "They don't be-
of Czechoslovakia in 1968 is one of the
Cabinet suspended work on the Hun-
lieve that the organizations can be ef-
charges now laid against the former
garian section of a multibillion-dollar
fective. There is even a suspicion that
leader in the columns of the press and
hydroelectric power project on the
they are movements of intellectual
on the air.
Danube north of Budapest and hinted
elites, not attached to the masses."
at abandonment of the dam within two
With exceptional civic courage, a
months. As late as May 1, the party
small group of dissidents, as they were
New Parliament
chief reiterated his support for the
called until recently, had over the
joint Czechoslovak-Hungarian enter-
years asserted their civil liberties and
prise, which has financial backing
preached them to the nation through
Election May Come
illegal publications, often seized, and
from Austria.
meetings in private homes, frequently
In November
Advocates of change favor for the top
raided by secret police. Now their
jobs two Politburo members identified
views are being proclaimed not only in
more convincingly than Mr. Grosz with
Many Hungarians look forward to
the modernizing movement. They are
new, unofficial dailies and weeklies but
the expected parliamentary elections,
also in the official press, which a few
perhaps as early as November, as the
Imre Pozsgay and Rezso Nyers.
months ago denounced or ignored
first step toward dislodging the Com-
Four of the political parties that
them.
munist Party from power. This is not a
were dissolved by the Communists four
Writers and philosophers who less
view shared by Mr. Grosz, his advisers
decades ago have come back to life,
than a year ago, under the same re-
or his associates, even some in whom
and new political organizations that in-
gime, experienced the force of police
liberals place faith to transform the au-
tend to constitute themselves as par-
truncheons on their backs now find
tocratic party into a democratic body
ties have been legally formed. Only one
themselves in demand for talk shows
ready for power-sharing or even a
of the reborn or new groups claims
and university symposiums, contribu-
change of rule.
tions to the press and the right to pub-
In a 90-minute interview in his spa-
more than 4,000 members.
lish their books in translation.
cious office at party headquarters in
Mechanisms are being prepared that
Pest on the left bank of the Danube,
are to lead this year or next to a law es-
overlooking the green hills of Buda
tablishing the rights of parties, parlia-
New Politics
across the river, Mr. Grosz defined his
mentary elections and the framing of a
view of a multi-party system and made
more democratic constitution.
Defining 1956
clear that he regards the replacement
of Communist government by another
New Economics
Is the Touchstone
party as a long-term prospect at best.
The General Secretary, who ex-
Amid Decline,
At the center of the intense reexami-
nation of the past, fraught with present-
Brave Hopes
day political significance as Commu-
nist leaders compete in an unacknowl-
edged power struggle, is the uprising of
The main concern for the majority of
1956, its crushing by the Soviet Army
Hungarians is the steadily declining
with the help of Hungarian support
standard of living, and to them the con-
and the execution of its leader, Imre
stantly echoing word "reform" means
Nagy.
mainly the threat of an end to Govern-
ment subsidies, with unemployment
POST 05-23-89
Hungarian Asks
Direct U.S. Aid
To Industry
By Frank Swoboda
Washington Post Staff Writer
The spokesman for Hungary's
fledgling independent trade union
movement yesterday urged the
Bush administration to bypass the
government and provide direct aid
to private industry as a way to
speed political and economic reform
in the communist-bloc nation.
Tibor Vidos, spokesman for the
Democratic League of Trade
Unions, said the current govern-
ment has already squandered $18
billion and still has been unable to
cope with the nation's economic
problems. The $18 billion is the
total amount of Hungary's current
foreign debt, which it received in
the form of government aid and
loans from commercial banks and
international lending agencies.
Vidos said Hungary has no internal
sources of capital to fuel an eco-
nomic recovery.
President Bush is scheduled to
visit Hungary in July, at a time when
the nation's economy is in a state of
crisis and the ruling Communist Par-
ty is in the midst of an internal strug-
gle to reform itself. At the same
time, nearly a dozen independent
political parties are jockeying for
support in next year's elections.
Vidos said the United States
should promote the development of
small and medium-size businesses
with direct investments that bypass
the communist government. He
said Hungarian law allows compa-
nies with fewer than 500 workers
to receive aid directly from foreign
investors.
In the long run, Vidos said, the
only real hope for the Hungarian
economy is to get rid of the Com-
munist Party. But he conceded that
would take a long time.
He said he looked to the party
reform movement-the Reform
Circles-to help guide the country
through its economic transition.
Vidos came to Washington last
week to negotiate some direct aid
of his own. He has been meeting
with U.S. labor officials to discuss
both financial aid and technical as-
sistance to help the independent
unions organize new members and
administer their operations.
The Democratic Trade Union of
Scientific Workers was formed just
a year ago this month and Vidos
said that he and other organizers of
Hungary's first independent trade
union have had little experience
operating or expanding a union. He
said independent trade unions in
Hungary represent only about
10,000 workers in the scientific,
teaching, and journalistic fields.
Although the new trade unions
represent a low percentage of the
Hungarian work force, Vidos said
"our public acceptance is very good.
We say things in a different way"
than people are used to hearing.
WALL ST.J. 05-24-89
Bulletin: We Won!
The Free World is reeling from too
make sure the Soviets understand that
much success. Students in China
the costs of backsliding will be high.
carry around a replica of the Statue of
As the President put it in Texas two
Liberty and sound like Patrick Henry.
weeks ago, the U.S. task is now "to
The Polish regime sits down with
convince the Soviet Union that there
Lech Walesa and recognizes Solidar-
can be no reward in pursuing expan-
ity. The Baltics agitate for independ-
sionism; that reward lies in
the
ence from Moscow, while Mikhail
evolution of the Soviet Union toward
Gorbachev proposes unilateral arms
an open society."
cuts in Europe.
Nowhere is this clearer than in Eu-
And in Washington, there's
dis-
rope, where the critics want Mr. Bush
may. All of these happy developments
to "respond" to every new Soviet ini-
are beside the point, moans the na-
tiative. Mr. Bush is urged to negotiate
tion's political community, because
away NATO's last nuclear weapons;
George Bush somehow isn't "doing
instead he's keeping his eye on the
something" to win "the public-rela-
Warsaw Pact's dominance in conven-
tions" war. Bring back Mike
tional forces. On Sunday, he cited the
Deaver!
pact's nearly 12-to-1 advantage in
The moans are heard from all po-
short-range missile and rocket
litical sides, left and right, though
launchers, and more than 2-to-1 ad-
they may have been captured best by
vantage in main battle tanks.
columnist David Broder. who this
While much of Washington swoons
week compared Mr. Gorbachev to
at Mr. Gorbachev's nuclear gambits,
Gandhi and JFK. By contrast, he
in Geneva the Soviets recently pro-
added, President Bush seems "rooted
posed conventional-arms reductions
in the past." clinging to old "ideolo-
that aren't very far from NATO pro-
gies."
posals. Mr. Bush may want to explore
Perhaps Mr. Broder thinks one of
these ideas before he removes the last
those outmoded "ideologies" is the de-
nuclear weapons that protect U.S.
mocratization that Mr. Gorbachev
troops from surprise attack.
keeps endorsing. Or maybe he's refer-
Others-even conservatives-want
ring to the free press and free speech
Mr. Bush to propose some grand deal
that the Chinese demonstrators de-
that would pull U.S. troops back from
mand. The last time we checked, the
NATO in return for Soviet withdrawal
man repudiating 70 years of his na-
from Eastern Europe. Of course, once
tion's history was Mr. Gorbachev, not
the U.S. withdraws, it is probably
George Bush. Perhaps it simply would
gone for good. Mr. Gorbachev, or his
be easier to say that Mr. Gorbachev is
successor, can return in a few
now following in the footsteps of Ron-
months-at a cost in Western opinion,
ald Reagan.
to be sure. but he can still return. Mr.
Washington's problem is that it
Bush's task would be to ensure that
won't claim victory. While the late
Soviet withdrawals are permanent,
1970s saw. U.S. setbacks from Afghani-
which means that troops also are de-
stan to Angola to Central America,
mobilized back in the U.S.S.R.
the late 1980s have brought reversals
As for political imagery, the one
on nearly every front. Ronald Reagan
thing Mr. Bush might profitably do
rebuilt U.S. defenses, gave Stingers to
more of is talk about the yearning for
the Afghans, heralded free markets,
freedom sweeping through the Com-
and unleashed Western science upon
munist world. His remarks about
space-based defenses in a technologi-
China's demonstrations have seemed
cal race the Soviets couldn't possibly
pinched for such a mammoth cry for
win. Despite a setback or two when
freedom. He could do worse than re-
Congress resisted, containment plus
peat every week or SO Ronald Rea-
the Reagan Doctrine worked. If the
gan's clarion call for liberty at Mos-
Cold War is over. the West has won.
COW University last year.
Yet now the same people who
It is Mr. Gorbachev who is moving
fought Ronald Reagan want George
our way and the Communist system
Bush to embark on a new (if ambigu-
that is failing rather than our own. If
ous global strategy. Little wonder
the Soviets tear down the Berlin Wall,
that he's cautious, favoring what he
why should the West feel compelled to
called in a speech on Sunday "a delib-
respond? We didn't want it built in the
erate. step-by-step approach to East-
first place. The Soviets have to move
West relations."
or stagnate: George Bush can stand
Mr. Bush's task is to consolidate
pat, resist complacency, and welcome
and extend the Reagan victory. to
defecting communists to the West.
Hungarian Shoppers Beat a Path to West, Buying in Vienna
173/ 1830
By Robert J. McCartney
Post Foreign Service
WASH.POST:04-10-89
VIENNA-A gray-haired Hun-
The mass shopping trip illus-
The two states are cooperating
spree. brought $160 million into Viennese merchants'
garian matron in a threadhere over-
trated a broad-based heightening of
in building a hydroelectric power
coffers, the city's Chamber of Commerce said.
coat stood on: the main: shopping
cooperation in the last two years
station at Nagymaros in Hungary to
The numbers of Hungarian shopping trips have soared
street of this Austrian capital with
between two countries that are par-
dam the Danube River, which links
since Jan. 1, 1988, when the Budapest government grant-
bags of hamanas and high-quality
their capitals. Austria is underwrit-
ed all Hungarians the right to hold passports. It also in-
coffee unavailable in her hometown
ticularly well suited to experiment
ing the project, with debt-burdened
creased the quantity of Hungarian currency that holders
of Gyor, 65 miles southeast of here.
in lowering the barriers between
capitalist and communist states that
Hungary to pay its portion with
can exchange-at favorable rates-for such western cur-
She was on her first trip to a. city
have divided Europe since World
electricity. Construction is under
rency as Austrian schillings. Austrians visiting Hungary
that once had served as her par-
way despite charges of harm to the
provide the schillings.
ents' capital, under the old Austro-
War II.
Hungarism Empire.
Hungary has one of the most
ecology.
"Ninety-nine percent of my business is with Hun-
change-oriented leaderships in the
Vienna and Budapest have sched-
garlans," said Wolfgang Chroma, 30, co-owner of an elec-
Her daughter, 13, clutched a
boxed radio-cassette player, with
Warsaw Pact, at the forefront of
uled a joint international exhibition in 1995. Billed as the
tronic appliances store.
efforts to relax controls on the
first East-West world's fair, it is titled "Bridges to the
Some visitors load several washing machines, personal
which she said she planned to listen
economy, travel and internal polit-
Future."
computers or other appliances onto trucks, and resell
to Michael lackson tapes. At $140,
it cost about $50 less than at
ical debate. It hosts 65,000 Soviet
Budapest plans soon to tear down the last electronic-
them in Hungary. But most come with families or other
the rare occasions when
troops, fewer than either of its
ally nionitored fences and watchtowers along the border,
one is there.
more strategically located allies,
Hangarian Foreign Minister Peter Varkonyi told his Aus-
small groups for one big purchase, such as a television
East Germany and Czechoslovakia
trian'counterpart, Alois Mock, in February.
set, and for odds and ends such as hair spray.
to the northwest.
Hungary long ago removed the mines along the border
Despite this week's publicity over what headlines
The two were among 300,000
Hungarian shoppers who flocked to
Austria, although thoroughly
that occasional injuries in the 1960s. Its border
called Vienna's "Hungarian boom," official figures show
guards normally do not shoot at people trying to slip
Austrians made about 10 times as many visits to Hungary
Vienna at the start of last week in
capitalist and with a western-style
parliamentary democracy, is offi-
across the frontier.
in 1988 as did Hungarians to Austria.
what the Interior Ministry called
The two countries' relationship has deep roots. "We
Austrians made 7 million visits to Hungary last year,
the biggest mass crossing of Cen-
cially neutral. Its foreign policy
since it regained independence in
have 400 years of common history" in the empire, Pap
frequently for inexpensive hunting trips, spa cures and
tral Europe's most porous East-
1955 has been clearly pro-western,
Gabor, a Hungarian who is the technical representative in
other vacations. They also go for bargain prices in the
West border.
Budapest of the American corporation Polaroid, said
East Bloc for dairy products and meat, and dental work
The Hungarians came to avoid an
import tax increase that took effect
while it has sought to use its posi-
here. His boss works in Vienna, and he visits often.
and other services. An Austrian woman said she pays
tion as the West's most forward
On April 1, Hungary's Cardinal Laszlo Paskai attended
$2.50 for a visit to the hairdresser in Budapest-and sev-
Saturday, and to take advantage of
outpost in Central Europe as a
the funeral here of the Austro-Hungarian Empire's last
eral times that much in Vienna.
last, Tuesday's national holiday
bridge to the East Bloc. Foreign
surviving monarch, Empress Zita. She was deposed with
Austria's easternmost province of Burgenland eati-
marking Hungary's liberation from
the Nazis in 1945. The influx of
Ministry officials said Vienna seeks
Emperor Karl as the empire collapsed in November 1918
mates that it loses $60 million in sales each year as a re-
now to strengthen ties with Hun-
at the'end of World War I. The remnants became Austria,
sult of its residents' shopping in Hungary.
cars and buses caused 40-mile traf-
fic backups along the highway be-
gary as a way of encouraging liberal
Hungary, Czechoslovakia, and parts of Yugoslavia, Poland
For Hungarians, the biggest obstacle to travel here has
policies favorable to western inter-
Romania and Italy.
become their shortage of hard currency. Overall trade
tween Vienna and Hungary's cap-
has decreased since 1985 because of the shortfall.
ests.
ital, Budapest, 130 miles away.
In the 1800s, the Austro-Hungarian partnership in
Asked why the products they purchased in Austria
leading the empire was frequently troubled by Budapest's
were scarce or more expensive at home, the woman from
independent-mindedness and nationallam. "Our relations
Gyor smiled brightly and answered, "because of [Hun-
with Hungary are better now than they were under the
garian Communist leader] Karoly Grosz." She did not re-
empire," the Austrian Foreign Ministry official said with a
spond when asked to explain further and would not give
chuckle.
her name.
On Mariahilfer Street in the heart of Vienna's retail
district last Monday, Hungarian families lugged television
sets, stereos and videocassette recorders. The two-day
CHRIS. SCI .MON. :04-11-89
Hungary: It's America' to Refugees
183p
tries would be close to war if they
husband and wife, so one of the
Hungary is acting on its own. In
By Anne Underwood
weren't restrained by the Soviet
pair makes the journey to Buda-
mid-March it became the first
Union," says a Western diplomat
Special to The Christian Science Monitor
pest legally and waits for the
Warsaw Pact country to join the
in Budapest.
other to sneak across the border
1951 Geneva Convention on ref-
BUDAPEST
As Hungary prepares to dis-
later. Even if the couple meet up
ugees. The Hungarian govern-
mantle its fences along the border
in Hungary, they know there are
F she has any regrets about
ment hopes that as a result, it will
I
with neutral Austria, the Roma-
large numbers of friends and fam-
leaving Romania, Maria Boc-
soon start receiving aid from the
nian government is strengthening
ily - sometimes their own chil-
zoni doesn't show them.
United Nations High Commis-
its barricades against its socialist
dren - that they may never see
A year after claiming refugee
sion for Refugees. It also hopes
neighbor. Recent arrivals say Ro-
again.
status in Hungary, she and her
the UN will put pressure on Ro-
manian border guards shoot on
Communications back home
husband have found jobs and a
mania to let citizens join their rel-
sight and have installed a tripwire
are not easy. Letters arrive
atives abroad.
two-room apartment. Half their
on the border.
opened, if they arrive at all. It can
rent is paid by her husband's fac-
If the refugees of Hungarian
"The Iron Curtain is coming
take five or six hours to get a
tory. Her son is able to go to
origin find life difficult at times,
down between Hungary and the
telephone line to Romania, and
the situation is bleaker for those
college - something he was un-
West," notes Istvan, a volunteer
then sometimes the operator
able to do in Roma-
of Romanian ethnic background.
working with the refugees. "It is
misconnects the call.
nia because of quotas
For them, arrival in Hungary is
going up instead between Hun-
"Even if you get through,"
for the 1.7 to 2 mil-
not a homecoming. Most say they
gary and Romania."
says Mrs. Boczoni, "you are not
want to move on to a third coun-
lion ethnic Hungar-
For most of the 26,000 refu-
free to talk because you know in-
ians in that country.
try. Some hitchhike to the Aus-
gees, life in Hungary is an im-
formers in Romania are listening
trian border dozens of times in
"This is our
provement. The grocery stores
to the conversation and recording
America," says Mrs.
the hope that the car the are
are stocked with real meat and
everything."
Boczoni.
riding in will not be checked.
vegetables instead of the pictures
Although the refugees can
It's been more
"We want to go to the West,
or plastic models of food that are
easily obtain residence permits,
than a year since
maybe to Germany," savs Adri-
often found on shelves in Roma-
they cannot become Hungarian
Hungary began ac-
anna, pointing to her husband
nia. There is electricity all day
citizens because of a bilateral
cepting
refugees
and daughter, Melinda. They
long and heating during the
from Romania - as-
agreement between Hungary and
winter.
have lived for the past eight
Romania forbidding dual citizen-
tonishing the world
months in a concrete high-rise
The vast majority do not have
ship. Gabor Bagi, head of the For-
by the image of peo-
that was leased by a church group
to contend with the culture shock
eign Ministry department that
ple fleeing one War-
that faces most of the world's ref-
to house as many as 280 refugees.
deals with Romania, says Hun-
saw Pact country to
Adrianna's family shares the com-
ugees. Eighty-five percent are of
gary is weighing the conse-
munal kitchen with a dozen other
another. The refu-
Hungarian ethnic origin and al-
quences of withdrawing from the
gees keep coming -
families. In their one-room apart-
ready speak the language when
agreement.
by the thousands,
ment, the only decorations are
they arrive. They know the cus-
some shriveled balloons and a
fleeing what they say
toms and traditions, and many of
is constant persecu-
them have relatives in Hungary
'W
E have raised the citi-
sheet of gift wrap taped to the
zenship issue with
wall.
tion. Within the So-
who will lend a helping hand.
viet bloc, where "fra-
Romania, but they
Still, most refugees have few
But there are problems. "Fam-
ternal"
refuse to talk," he says. "They
conflicts
regrets.
ily reunification is our biggest
continue to hold us responsible
never used to sur-
"In Romania, they used to re-
headache," says Maria Vince of
for the refugee flow instead of
face, the exodus is a
fer to the Hungarians as bezgor,
the Hungarian Red Cross.
hot issue.
asking themselves why people are
'the homeless people,' savs Ist-
The Romanian government
fleeing the country."
"The two coun-
van. "Here no one says we are
will not give passports to both a
Failing bilateral solutions,
homeless."
:04-12-89
INTERVIEW
Hungarian Premier: Reform Is Risky, Painful
and Vital
183
honor on June 16, the anniversary of his execution.
(restructuring) began here in the late 1960s, it has had
Many Hungarians seem to welcome this swirl of
uneven effects. "Without political reform," says
By Ned Temko
political change. One woman says she has long wanted
Nemeth, "economic reform was a little bit one-sided."
Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
to become a teacher, but can't bring herself to endure
Mr. Gorbachev, too, has excellent reason to wish
BUDAPEST
the ponderous history courses needed for the degree.
Hungary well. Nemeth has displayed a frank readiness
Under the present system, she explains, "they don't
to confront issues of perestroika that most Soviet reform-
W
HEN Miklos Nemeth was eight years old, his
dare ask any question more recent than 1956. It's
ers have dared not address. Of course, Nemeth says,
native Hungary tried to opt out of Soviet-style
because they re scared of the answers they might get."
there is the risk of free-market problems, like inflation
communism. The Soviets answered with
Now, she hopes, that will change.
and unemployment, in any serious move to let the
tanks. The prime minister, Imre Nagy, was executed.
Kalman Kulcsar is a longtime lawyer and academic
market sort out decades of state-decreed inefficiency.
Now, Mr. Nemeth has become prime minister. "His-
who, as Hungarian justice minister, is writing the new
"We have to live with this
side-effect,"
he
says.
torical socialism is not practical, not useful for society,"
constitution. Hungary, he explains, has throughout his-
The solution, he suggests, is Western-style social
he said in a Monitor interview. Hungary needs free
tory been influenced both from the East and West. The
democracy. Will it work here? No.one, presumably, will
elections, a multiparty system, a free-market economy.
Western influence, he says with apparent satisfaction,
want to know more urgently than Gorbachev. And few
"We need more pragmatism and less ideology."
now seems poised to reassert itself.
people can be more keenly interested in Gorbachev's
And this time, he is convinced, Moscow will answer
political longevity than the Hungarians.
not with tanks, but with thanks. Soviet leader Mikhail
T
HE new law, to be submitted to a popular
Nemeth plays down the link between the pace of
Gorbachev, says Nemeth, has told him so.
referendum early next year, will drop the tradi-
Soviet perestroika and the prospects for reform in Hun-
These are heady days in Hungary, even by the
tional East-bloc provision for a "leading role"
gary. Regardless of what happens in Moscow, he said,
standards of perestroika (restructuring) and glasnost
for the Communist Party, he says. It will provide for a
there was simply "no other possibility than to go fast
(openness). The communist-run parliament has en-
judicial court - and for a system of checks and balances
and to take this [reform] route."
dorsed the idea of multiparty elections: A new constitu-
among the various branches of government.
But another senior official, in an informal chat, is
tion, enshrining this and other reforms, is being drawn
For reformers like Mr. Kulcsar and Nemeth, one
more circumspect. He, like Nemeth, suggests that re-
up. The party has named a committee to take a new
catalyst for change is simple pragmatism. The old sys-
forms in both the Soviet Union and Hungary have
look at Hungarian history: One member has already
tem has won gradual, grudging acceptance since 1956,
progressed too far to be completely reversible. But, he
reclassified the 1956 "counter-revolution" as a popular
but not the grass-roots enthusiasm needed to ensure
adds, smiling, "I wake up every morning wishing that
uprising, and Nagy's remains will be reburied with
prosperity and stability. Although economic perestroika
all goes well for Mr. Gorbachev."
TIMES 04-13-89
Hungary Ousts 4 Conservatives in a Party Shuffle
183p
By JOHN TAGLIABUE
the chief ideologist, Janos Berecz, and
The decisions, reached after a spe-
Special - The New York Times
Janos Lukacs, the party's senior ad-
cial full session of the Central Commit-
WARSAW, April 12-The Hungarian
ministrator.
tee, elevated two new members into
Communist Party shuffled its senior
A Visit to Moscow
the Politburo, the party's highest rul-
leadership today, dismissing the par-
ing body, but reduced the overall size
ty's chief ideologist and three other
The moves were significant, coming
from 11 members to 9. The new mem-
conservatives on the Politburo and pro-
only days after a visit to Moscow by the
bers were Mihaly Jasso, the 53-year-
moting two advocates of change.
party's General Secretary, Karoly
old leader of the local Budapest party
The moves, approved after a day of
Grosz,whe rose to power at a special-
organization, and Pat Vastagh, the 43-
debate within the Central Committee
party congress last May, and the an-
year-old leader in Csongrad, in eastern
of the Communist Party, come at a
nouncement of broad liberalizing
Hungary.
time of stepped-úp social and political
changes in Poland. Warsaw and Buda-
-change They left the core of leaders
pest are among the Eastern-bloc capi-
Advocates of Change
representing the most liberal tenden-
tals most agreeable to political and
Both men, but notably Mr. Vastagh, a
cies, including Imre Pozsgay and
economic changes like those that have
university lecturer who recently reor-
Rezso Nyers, in place. The ousted con-
been undertaken throughout the Soviet
ganized the Csongrad party structure,
servatives on the Politburo included
Union.
are numbered among advocates of
change.
A Western diplomat said by tele-
phone from Budapest that the moves
were seen as necessary to restore the
solidity of a party that has been shaken
as it struggles to lead Hungary out of
serious economic stagnation and main-
tain the initiative as alternative politi-
cal groups increase.
A Conciliatory Path
Hungarians reached in Budapest
said that Laszlo Major, the party
spokesman, asked by an interviewer on
state television whether the decisions
reflected serious breakdown of party
unity, replied, "No, no, that is not the
case."
In excerpts from a report to the com-
mittee by Mr. Grosz that were pub-
lished in the final statement of the com-
mittee meeting and reported by the
Hungarian press agency, the party
leader sought a conciliatory path. He
asserted that while "political, ideologi-
cal and organizational" problems had
arisen in party ranks, "renewal and
development processes had also ap-
peared."
In the last 18 months, party member-
ship has dropped by 100,000, to 780,000
members. The decisions came amid in-
creased calls for party unity and action
against factions within the party oppos-
ing change.
Review of Activities
In February, the party ordered a full
review of its activities and personnel
after serious public disagreement
among its top leaders. The spark for
the differences was afforded by a de-
bate over how to define the 1956 events
in Hungary, in which Soviet forces
crushed the Hungarian uprising. Be-
neath the surface, however, what split
the leadership was differences over the
pace and scope of change.
A Compromise View
At a Central Committee meeting
later that month, the party endorsed a
compromise view of the 1956 events,
ruling that what began as a legitimate
uprising had degenerated into a revolt
against the Communist system. But the
party leadership appeared to accept
the consensus at that meeting that
Hungary's economic crisis and politi-
cal uncertainties made an open leader-
ship split unacceptable.
Also dismissed from the Politburo
were the Health Minister, Judit Cse-
hak, and Istvan Szabo, often identified
as a representative of the conservative
farm lobby.
WALL ST.J. :04-20-89
The Hungarians Take Themselves Public
Stock Exchange Finds Few Buyers After Budapest Bond Crash
By BARRY NEWMAN
1831
waits for bids. The dealers sit.
"We are donkeys!" be says without be-
Staff Reporter of THE STREET JOURNAL
"Any demand? asks the woman.
ing asked a question. "All bonds cheat the
BUDAPEST-With the Cold War wind-
"Does anybody want to buy? Any trade?
people The companies don't lose. For
ing down, this might be the right time to
Who's buying?
them, inflation comes in handy. It means
buy into an underperforming communist
Mr. Jarai bends toward the Americans
they pay back less! They profit, and we
tank stock.
and whispers, "Everybody wants to sell.
are kaput.
New tank orders have declined sharply
Nobody wants to buy.'
from a year ago, market analysts here
Regaining Investor Confidence
"You
mean you mean these are of-
say, turning at least one unnamed low-mul-
fers for sale and and no buyers?" says
The stock exchange hopes to do better
tiple maker of Hungarian tank-chassis into
Richard Furlaud. Mr. Furlaud, who is
in the Investor -confidence department.
a prime takeover target for a shrewd port-
chief executive officer of Squibb Corp.,
Hungarians, always ready for calamity.
folio investor with staying power over the
seems to find this hard to imagine.
still carry a few billion dollars worth of
medium term.
"Any offers? Any bids?" the woman
pocket money. Inducing them to invest It
"This company realize that
says. A dealer raises a finger; it's a trade
requires a law, due this year, that will in-
army wouldn't need more tanks," says
at last. Everybody smiles. A flashbulb
troduce such comforting novelties as au-
Zsigmond Jarai, the pin-striped, 37-year-
pops. Mr. Peterson still looks puzzled.
dits and annual reports. The law could also
old chairman of the Budapest Stock Ex-
"Do you have a debt-rating system
lead some companies to issue shares, even
change. "Now It's looking for some new in-
here?" he asks Mr. Jarai.
when they aren't about to collapse.
vestors. They can buy very cheap.
"No, not yet.
Just in case, investment bankers, rating
Mr. Jarai tips the tank unit as a hot
"Then how do investors take into ac-
agencies, accountants and brokers are all
prospect for repositioning into shipping
count risk?"
setting up shop. The first brokerage house
containers. A buyout feeler. he confides,
"They can't," Mr. Jarai says. "This is
off the mark. a firm called Co-Nexus, has
may soon fax in from an unspecified
a problem. I think in a few years we will
opened a swanky office with gray couches,
player in the U.S. "They can reorganize
have a rating system."
gray carpets and red telephones.
the company, change the management for
Mr. Peterson smiles politely.
"I'm a conservative capitalist and
Americans," he says.
proud of it," says Bela Jansco. A 68-year-
The challenge: "We have to get them to
Salvation in Equities
old with white-blond hair and gold-rimmed
understand the Hungarian investment sys-
Pressed for time, he and the other
glasses, he owned a seat on the old Buda-
tem."
Americans leave before the action moves
pest Stock Exchange. His commissions
Entitled to Sell
from bonds to stocks. They don't miss
dried up in 1948.
much. Not a share trades. "It seems the
"We had 90 years of history," he says.
That seems easy enough. Since Jan. 1,
supply side is going a little ahead of the de-
"It's different now. We must persuade cli-
any company in Hungary has been entitled
mand side," says Mr. Jarai. But these are
ents. We must explain everything. So far.
by law to sell any number of shares to
early days, and few in this country doubt
nobody is interested." But then he flushes
anybody. Marxism's other big market
that socialism's salvation lies in equities.
with enthusiasm and adds: "The fact that
maker, China, has eased off on stocks and
A stock market, the Hungarians have
shares are on sale is a great advance for
bonds since a recent drop in the ideological
realized, is an ingenious device for moving
indicators. But Hungary advises a blanket
our ideology."
money around. It can supplant central
"buy." And investors here can span the
On the assumption that Mr. Jansco and
planners in much the same way the steam
spectrum now from socialist worker to
his future competitors do eventually in-
engine supplanted mules. An ideologue
capitalist raider.
spire a trade or two, the stock exchange is
may fear the rise of a class that gets rich
Still, a communist stock market does
rushing to get ready. Advisers are piling in
have its inconsistencies. Even the most
cutting coupons, but Hungary's managers
from London, Milan, and the World Bank.
flexible of the East Bloc's reform-driven
have other worries. They are losing subsi-
Soon, a tender will go out for the computer
dies. They need cash.
hardware. And the search is on in Buda-
nations may take five or 10 years to iron
"Of course, some people are against all
them out. Hungarians are hard put to ex-
pest for a trading floor.
this," Mr. Jarai says. "They are the ones
plain, for instance, how it is that a com-
Unfortunately, the old stock exchange
who lost money when the bond market
pany owned by the people can go public.
building isn't available; it was seized by
crashed."
Hungarian television. But Mr. Jarai has
Among companies that do, an unnervingly
For those who missed it, the Hungarian
large proportion are close to going bank-
his eye on another place. It's a big. empty
bond-market crash took place in October of
rupt. Or so it's said, since an outside inves-
room at Karl Marx University.
1987, when something else caused a dis-
tor has no way of finding out.
traction in New York. To recap: In 1984,
Maybe this is why Peter G. Peterson
the bond market opened; yields were 11%,
looks puzzled. Mr. Peterson, former chair-
inflation 7%. A few hundred thousand peo-
man of Lehman Bros., is an investment
ple bought. Three years later, with yields
banker who heads the Blackstone Group,
still at 11%, the government issued an in-
specializing in mergers and acquisitions.
flation forecast of 15%. A few hundred
Now he sits against the blank wall of a
thousand people sold.
windowless room, in a row of touring
Prices therefore dropped. Rudely sur-
Americans with similarly puzzled looks.
prised by this, the crowds have since
They have come here, to the stock ex-
thinned in the lavish bond-buyers' hall of
change, to watch some stock get ex-
Budapest Bank. Marble columns, brass
changed. Mr. Jarai stands to one side, ex-
chandeliers and reassuring beeps from
plaining.
computer terminals haven't done much for
A woman at a microphone first recites
customer relations.
a list of bonds. At narrow black tables, 25
On a weekday morning, one sad man
dealers from the state's banks sit mute.
studies the gold-lettered list of bond prices
Each time the woman reads a name, she
on a board at the hall's grand entrance.
WASH.JOST:04-22-89
Hungarian
Radical Economic Change
Privatization of State-Owned Companies Proposed
183
By Imre Haracs
that * could lose up to $1.0
annually with the introduction of
hard-carrency trade,
BUDAPEST- high level Hun-
Soviets would then insist OR
garian government committee has
market quality to match the
drafted a far-reaching three-year
The government's economists
program that would abandon Step-
the Soviet Union would be
by-step economic reforms in favor of
to pay compensation.
radical measures such as factory
"I have talked to three prominent
closings, privatization of state-owned
Soviet economists--{Oleg} Bogomo-
companies, budget cuts and the
lov, [Leonid] Abalkin and [Abel]
stimulation of private enterprise.
Aganbegyan," Akos Balassa, a mem-
The draft program also calls for
ber of the Hungarian government
switching trade with the Soviet
reform committee, said in an inter-
Union to a dollar basis within two to
view, "and they have all described
five years, and negotiating for asso-
the idea [of hard-currency trade]-Bs
ciate membership in the European
conceivable." The idea also was dis-
Community.
cussed by Prime Minister Miklos
The 115-page document was pre-
Nemeth during his recent trip to
pared by the government's Econom-
Moscow, and the Soviets were said
ic Reform Committee, set up last
to be impressed by the potential of
year under Rezso Nyers, a senior
gaining a great deal of hard currency
Cabinet minister and a member of
at the outset.
the Communist Party's Politburo
But for Hungary, Balassa ex-
who- was the father-of Hungary's
plained, the initial flow of dollars to
1968 economic reforms.
Moscow would be offset by the
The document is remarkable for
long-term prospect that "Hungary
its pessimism about the prospects
could become a bridge" for trade
for change within the Soviet Bloc: "It
"between the West and the Soviet
would be an illusion to expect rapid
Union," attracting Western firms
positive change, since even in the
that seek to tap the potential Soviet
Soviet Union the transformation of
market.
the internal economic mechanism is
The draft program foresees that by
expected to be rather a slow and
the end of 1992 the infrastructure of
contradictory process, and several
the domestic market would be in
Comecon countries do not support
place, with stock exchanges to help
any changes." Comecon is the East-
the flow of capital into the country.
ern Bloc's trading organization.
State-owned enterprises would be
The document notes that Moscow
split up, turned into joint-stock com-
has given Hungary carte blanche to
panies or sold to private individuals
implement internal changes, "provid-
and foreign capitalists.
ed the reforms do not fundamentally
By that time the first steps would
alter our alliance commitments." But
have been taken to make the domes-
the rest of Eastern Europe, the com-
tic currency, the forint, convertible,
mittee's report warns, is likely to be-
and Hungary would be seeking associ-
come a disaster zone where "the
ation with the European Community.
emergence of new focal points of cri-
The government plan envisions a
sis or the deepening of old crises
form of associate membership, with
cannot be excluded."
Hungary undertaking to "adapt to the
The solution for Hungary, the au-
internal rules and norms of the Com-
thors argue, is to make drastic cuts
mon Market" while the EC would al-
in its trading ties with the East,
low Hungarian goods free entry.
while maintaining its membership in
The government intends to unveil
Comecon, and to reintegrate into
the program next month, and until
the world market.
then changes could still be made. But
The program offers two alterna-
government sources are confident the
tives for switching trade with the
Communist Party, whose final seal of
country's largest export market, the
approval is required before the plan
Soviet Union, to a dollar basis. Ac-
can be submitted to parliament, will
cording to the first version, dollar
raise no objections.
trade with Soviet companies should
Opposition to the program is more
be introduced in 1991, virtually
likely to come from abroad-from
overnight. The second alternative
Hungary's Communist allies and from
sees a gradual, five-year transition
Western creditors, concerned over
to dollar trade.
the need for additional credits on top
Although Hungary currently has
of a current foreign debt of about
an annual trade surplus of 150-mil-
$13.5 billion. While the document
lion rubles (about $240 million at of-
mentions no figure, Balassa said Hun-
ficial exchange rates) with Moscow,
gary would need a modernization loan
thanks to the unrealistic pricing
of between $1 billion and $1.5 billion
mechanism that operates within Co-
to implement the huge structural
mecon, economists here estimate
changes the program would entail.
N.Y Review of fBooks 4/15/84
blution: The Springtime of Two Nations
the man in the street, who does not have
their options or connections. In both
as one American specialist has nicely put
have simply broken down.' Independent
Poland and Hungary; the process whereby
publishers and periodicals bloom like
members of the nomenklatura advance
and Hungary this has been a
In the race for freedom of speech and
crocuses. There is almost riotous com-
into private enterprise, using the power
As travel through those
freedom of enterprise, the Hungarians
petition to publish everything and any-
and connections that go with their offi-
attending an opposition fete in
are currently in the lead, although Poland
thing-Imre Nagy, Orwell, Solzhenitsyn,
cial positions, proceeds apace.
adapest, a triumphal mass in Gdarisk, a
is coming up fast. In the political stakes,
the more outrageous the better. And
There have been many suggestions as
Solidarity election meeting in a Silesian
Hungary leads in words but Poland in
while the Polish official press is now in-
to how communism might be turned back
coal mine, I have to pinch myself to
deeds.
teresting, the Hungarian official press
into capitalism. But this is the singlest of
make sure I'm not dreaming. Walking
In early May, Poland got its first in-
and, what is more, journalists on official
all: communist bosses become espitalist
around Budapest's equivalent of Oxford
dependent, opposition daily paper, the
radio and television are in the vanguard
bosses! The simplest, although hardly the
Circus I pass a stall openly selling samiz-
Gazeta Wyboreza." Its editor in chief is
of emancipation.
most attractive. The Sofidarity-opposition
der publications. Casting an eye over the
the historian Adam Michnik, one of the
election program-(formally, the Election
titles I suddenly notice my own name, on
sharpest of Solidarity intellectuals, and
In liberating private enterprise, and at-
Program of the Citizens' Committee
what turns out to be a slim volume of
the paper is organized by Helena Luczywo,
tracting Western capital. Hungary is also
"Solidarity") specifically warns against
essays hastily translated from The New
for the last seven years editor of Poland's
ahead, although the Rakowski govern-
the danger of the "uwlaszczenie nomen-
York: Review. Next day T an signing
leading underground weekly. Tygodnik
ment in Poland is in some ways even
klatury," that is, of the nomenklatura
copies for people attending the opposi-
Mazowsze, and an unsung heroine of the
more shameless. Its message, symbolized
becoming owners. But others, in both
tion fete. "Incredible" and "surreal" are
Hungary and Poland; argue that this
the words that punctuate every conversa-
process also has advantages: compen-
tion about politics, though not about eco-
sating some members of the nomenkle-
nomies, for which the leitmotifs ME,
ture for their loss of political power, and
rather, "disastrous" and "hopeless."
dividing it between those who stand to
Last year, 1 posed the question of
lose and those who stand to gain. One
political change in these two countries as
might call this the "nomenklatura buy-
one of the historic choice "reform or
out" theory.
revolution?" But what is happening just
In politics, Poland takes the lead, with
now is & singular mixture of both reform
Photograph © Marie-Laure
the hectic and sometimes hilarious drama
and revolution: a "revorm," if you will,
of its first halfway genuine election in
or perhaps a "refolution." There is, in
fifty years. This is, of course, only a half-
both places, a strong and essential ele-
free election, the product of a remarkable
ment of voluntary, deliberate reform led
but risky deal made during two months
by an enlightened minority (but only a
of negotiations, from early. February to
minority) in the still ruling Communist
early April, at the so-called Round Table
parties, and, in the Polish case, at the top
meetings-actually many tables, and each
of the military and the police. Their ad-
with just two sides, authorities and
vance consists of an unprecedented re-
Solidarity-opposition. The Round Table
treat: undertaking to share power, and
deal is a compromise, but an open-ended
even-mirabile dictu-talk of giving it up
compromise. The Solidarity-opposition
altogether if they lose an election.
side secured the restoration of both the
workers' and the farmers' Solidarity as
Yet one is bound to ask how far the
fully independent organizations, and the
retreat is voluntary, how far involuntary,
promise of legalization for an independ-
and whether it might not become a rout.
ent students' union. It also secured com-
For if one talks to the intelligentsia in
pletely free elections to a newly created
both countries, then the comparison that
upper house of parliament, the Senate,
comes to mind is less with 1968 than with
and free competition for 35 percent of
-1848, less with the Prague Spring than
with the Springtime of Nations. The
Spiegel, No. 3, 1989, under the title "La-
greatest opposition demonstrations in
bour in Poland is Exceptionally Cheap."
Budapest have been held on the 1848 an-
The statement about two sides must be
niversary: March 15. Among other rites,
qualified in at least two respects. First.
symbolic tribute is traditionally paid
toward the end of the proceedings it was
before the statue of Józef Bem. who
not at all clear whether the official trade
commanded the Hungarian insurrection-
unions (OPZZ) were working with the
ary army in 1848. Józef Bem was a Pole.
party of dialogue around Generals Jaru-
Polish-Hungarian cooperation has not
zelski and Kiszezak, or against them.
got quite that far again, although a
Secondly, at the economic table the divi-
sions ran almost as much within the two
Polish opposition leader may be invited
delegations as between them, with, crudely
to speak at the reburial of Imre Nagy,
speaking, social democrats on both sides
leader of the 1956 revolution, on June 16:
and neoliberals on both sides. Someone
the next great symbolic event in Buda-
should write a short history of this extra-
pest, and one that the authorities fear will
ordinary negotiation. Stenographic pro-
be highly charged. But certainly the Poles
National Day in Budapest, March 15, 1989
tocols of the main discussions exist,
and the Hungarians, governments as well
although, as usual, some crucial decisions
Polish opposition. But this and the re-
by the industry minister, Mieczyslaw
as oppositions, are now looking to each
were taken elsewhere, notably at smaller
vived Solidarity weekly, Tygodnik Soli-
Wilczek, himself at once a millionaire
other for examples, precedents, and even
meetings between Lech Walesa, General
darnosé, are both subject to formal cen-
private entrepreneur and Party member,
direct support. For they are still alone in
Kiszezak, and their top advisers.
Eastern Europe. So far, this is the spring-
sorship. Further liberalization of censor-
is: "enrichissez vouz!" But the message is
There is a new genre of opposition
ship is promised, but samizdat publishers
directed as much-or more-to members
anecdote in Warsaw these days, the "cor-
time of just two nations. What they are
and editors still agonize over whether or
of the existing ruling class, the nomen-
ridor stories." They tell of fantastic en-
doing would be quite impossible without
Gorbachev's tolerance, his example, and
not to "surface from underground" and
klatura, and to Western (especially Ger-
counters between oppositionists and their
legalize their publications.
man and Austrian) investors as it is to
former. persecutors, in the corridors of
the processes be has, wittingly or unwit-
In Hungary, by contrast, there is no
the council of ministers, during the two
tingly, set in motion. Unlike in 1848, they
On the once effective conventions see
formal censorship, and the once effective
months of the Round Table. One (true)
can also count on benign (if ineffectual)
my "The Hungarian Lesson" in The New
conventions of informal (self-)censorship
example: Dawid Warszawski, pseudony-
support rather than resistance from the
York Review, December 5, 1985. One of
mous editor of a leading underground
the most surreal conversations I had in
major powers to their west. But around
journal, KOS, conducted a video inter-
'See Charles Gati, "Eastern Europe on
Budapest was with Mr. Gyorgy Aczel, for
them are still the frightened, hidebound,
view with the interior minister, General
Its Own," in Foreign Affairs, Vol. 68,
thirty years the Kadár of Hungarian cul-
or openly repressive regimes of East Ger-
Kiszczak, head of the police apparatus
No. 1, 1988/1989.
tural life. I asked him if he did not think,
many, Czechoslovakis, Bulgaria, and in-
responsible for seven years' struggle with
"The title has been translated in the
on looking back, that censorship might
describable Romania: the "gang of four,"
have been relaxed sooner. There was no
the underground. The general politely
Western press as "Election Gazette,"
censorship, he said. The decision was up
observed that he had much enjoyed
See The New York Review, October 27.
which sounds a bit archaic. Actually
reading Mr. Warszawski's articles over
Gazeta just means newspaper, so a closer
to individual publishers and editors. But
1988.
the years. Mr. Warszawski, now using his
translation might be "The Election Paper."
surely he would not deny that he himself
real name, Konstanty Gebert, responded
Both the Hungarian Party leader, Károly
After the election it is to be called simply
had exercised political control? Oh no,
by asking the general to give an interview
Grosz, and the leading Party reformist,
Gazeta or just possibly Gazeta Niezal-
not control. He had merely, he said, had
to KOS-an offense for which the general
finite: Pozsgay, have reportedly made
ezna, that is "The Paper," or perhaps,
"a sort of influence."
should then, presumably, punish himself.
statements to this effect, though without
as we have it in England, "The Independ-
°For the invitation to the West see, for
The general hesitates for a moment. "Do
deadline!
ent."
example, Wilczek's interview in Der
you offer a large coffee?" he says.
June 15. 1989
3
the seats in the existing lower house, the
Sejm.
Interestingly, this Polish deal-a calcu-
lated gamble for both sides - been
NEW FROM
The authorities secured a guaranteed
majority in the Sejm, although the Polish
held up as a positive example by Hungar-
United Workers' party as such has only
ian Party officials, but as a negative ex-
38 percent of seats guaranteed, with the
ample by most independent Hungarian
intellectuals and the opposition. They
PRINCETON
rest going to its (until now) compliant
"coalition" parties and collaborationist
want free elections, with no handicaps,
Catholic organizations. They also got
no quotas, and no new upper house.
Solidarity's agreement to an early election
After free elections, the one sovereign
(first round, June 4; second round, June
parliament should form the new govern-
18), thus giving the opposition virtually
ment and promulgate a new constitution.
Art as History
no time to organize a campaign from less
"After the election," says a senior official
than scratch. In addition, the consti-
in the justice ministry, "the Hungarian
Episodes in the Culture and Politics of
tution now includes a powerful new of-
Socialist Workers' party will have the
Nineteenth-Century Germany
fice of president, which in the first in-
same position as other parties." It is
stance can be expected to go to General
rather like one of those weary old East
Peter Paret
Jaruzelski.
European jokes: the Hungarians are be-
Paintings and graphics, novels and poems are historical sources as well as
having like Poles and the Poles are be-
aesthetic objects. Artists themselves become historians when they interpret the
Around this basic political deal there is
having like Hungarians.
by painting a historical scene, for instance, or by discussing earlier times
wound a large fabric of more detailed
Yet some basic elements are the same.
in a novel. Artists both reflect and shape their environment. These concepts
agreements- agreements to disagree-
There is a government and an opposition.
underlie Peter Paret's new study of Germany in the nineteenth century.
98 black & white illustrations, 4 color plates.
on everything from the economy to cen-
The government is not like any Western
Cloth: $25.00 ISBN 0-691-05541-6
sorship and from the judiciary to coal
government: it is both stronger (with the
mining. At the Round Table, the opposi-
whole extensive apparatus of the Party-
Memory and Enthusiasm
tion had to settle for rather less than half
police-military-nationalized industry-
a loaf on most of these issues- but Lech
state) and weaker (no legitimacy, deeply
Essays, 1975-1985
Walesa's key political adviser, Bronislaw
divided). The opposition is not like any
W. S. Di Piero
Geremek, argues that "a dynamic process
Western opposition. These two heteroge-
"Di Piero's essays are similar to Susan Sontag's in that both writers attempt
has been set in motion," and everything is
neous, indeed fissiparous partners are
talking about how to transform their
to instruct a broad segment of the American reading public about conceptual
up for transformation in that process.
systems that challenge and enrich our ordinary ways of understanding social
The authorities have agreed, in black and
countries into what they call "normal"
reality. Di Piero writes in the genre of the essay for the same kinds of reasons
white, that this is "the beginning of the
countries, by the end of the twentieth
as Sontag, with the same cosmopolitan learning and the same brilliant
road to parliamentary democracy. (No
century. When they say "normal" they
intensity." -Emily Grosholz
qualifying adjectives, although accord-
mean Western, European, liberal, demo-
Paper: $10.95 ISBN 0-691-01463-9 Cloth: $29 95 ISBN 0-691-06756-2
ing to a fly on the wall, the ernment
cratic, with a market economy based on
side at one point tried to introduce a
property rights, a freely elected parlia-
My Name on the Wind
parenthesis after this sentence with
ment, and an independent judiciary.
words to the effect that "the government-
Something between Switzerland and
Selected Poems of Diego Valeri
coalition side regard parliamentary
Sweden. "Return Kraków to Europe"
Translated by Michael Palma
democracy as socialist democracy." The
says a sign in the window of the students'
have had to wait too long for a translation of Diego Valeri-one of the
Solidarity-opposition side then proposed
union on Krakow's medieval market
most engaging and humane poets of the century. But Michael Palma's inspired
a further sentence to the effect that this
square, and that is the theme that recurs,
new selection surpasses all expectations. Palma has not only re-created the
was "the beginning of the building of a
again and again. in every program,
forms of Valeri's Italian, he has magically captured the sad, tender music of
sovereign, independent Poland." Just the
speech, and conversation. official as well
the original. Valeri is now credibly alive in English." -Dana Gioia
beginning! Each then abandoned its pro-
as unofficial: the return to something
Lockert Library of Poetry in Translation
vocative formulation. So much for the
called "Europe."
Paper: $12.95 ISBN 0-691-01462-0 Cloth: $27.95 ISBN 0-691-06776-7
word "socialism." There are to be free
elections in four years' time. Neither side
hey may not arrive. Beside that old
These titles are available at the independent bookstores below.
knows what will happen in those four
favorite. the Spanish model of transition
years.
from dictatorship to democracy, excited
Brown University
Olsson's Books
The workers' and farmers' Solidarity
intellectuals talk of the recent Chilean
Northwestern
Bookstore
& Records
unions are slowly being rebuilt, although
model, the South Korean, even the Ira-
University Norris
71 Olive St.
Center Bookstore
with none of the euphoric surge of au-
nian
1239 Wisconsin Ave., NW
But whatever happens. this is an
Providence, RI
Washington, DC
1999 Sheridan Rd.
tumn 1980. The rebuilding of the unions
ineradicable moment. It might be an im-
(401) 863-3168
(202) 338-9544
Evanston, IL
and the election campaign are, say most
portant moment. 100. for the West, and
Georgetown
(312) 491-3991
activists, complementary and mutually
especially for the Western left. For one
Yale Co-op
(202) 338-9544
77 Broadway
reinforcing. Last spring, Lech Walesa sat
message of Poland and Hungary today
Dupont Circle
University of Chicago
New Haven. CT
Bookstore
in the Lenin Shipyard in Gdansk, be-
was summed up for me by a leading ac-
(203) 772-0670
(202) 785-1133
970 E. 58th St.
sieged by riot police, with a thousand
tivist of Hungary's opposition Free Demo-
Old Town, Alexandria
Chicago, IL
angry young workers chanting "there is
crats: "We say there is no third way. There
The Bookery
(703) 684-0077
(312) 702-7712
Dewitt Mall
no freedom without Solidarity." This
is no credible alternative between Western
215 N. Cayuga St.
Bethesda
spring, he sits in the Lenin Shipyard. at a
capitalism and Eastern socialism." Be-
thaca, NY
(301) 652-3336
Borders Book Shop
303 S. State St.
calm, wholly legal, meeting with the 261
tween the opposition fete in Budapest
(607) 273-5055
Williams Corner
Ann Arbor, MI
Solidarity-opposition candidates for parlia-
and the smoke-filled rooms of the British
Gotham Book Mart
Bookstore
(313) 668-7652
ment. The meeting is filmed under the
Labour party, with its leadership busy
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222 E. Main St.
direction of Andrzej Wajda, himself run-
trying to turn a socialist program into a
Charlottesville, VA
Kepler's Books &
New York, NY
ning for the Senate. The candidates have
social democratic one. there is, perhaps,
(212) 719-4448
(804) 977-4858
Magazines
821 El Camino Real
gathered in the very same hall where it all
the trace of an historical connection.
Goerings' Book
Menio Park, CA
began with the birth of Solidarity in
Future historians will have to explain
Princeton
Center, Inc.
(415) 324-4321
August 1980. There are the same model
how Poland and Hungary, starting from
University Store
36 University Pl.
1310 W. University Ave.
ships, the same white eagle on the wall,
such very different circumstances at the
Princeton. NJ
Gainesville, FL
Moe's Books
even the same bust of Lenin. As Walesa
beginning of the 1980s. came to such
(609) 921-8500
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2476 Telegraph Ave.
Berkeley. CA
walks up onto the platform he gives that
relatively similar positions at the end of
57th Street Books
(415) 849-2087
Lenin a laughing glance, as if to say, "So
the decade. Among the general causes of
Chapters, A Literary
Bookstore
1301 E. 57th St.
who whom to you, old chum."
these extraordinary developments. they
1613 Eye St., NW
Chicago, IL
will surely mention the impact of Gor-
(312) 684-1300
This and the other main agreements can
Washington, DC
bachev, the economic crisis. relations
(202) 861-1333
be found in Rzeczpospolita, April 7.
with the West, Solidarity and other forms
1989. See also the interesting article by
Adam Krzeminski and Wieslaw Wladyka
of "pressure from below," and perhaps
("Revolution Step by Step") in the official
weekly Polityka, April 29, 1989. This
In the Hungarian context this remark is
AT YOUR BOOKSTORE OR
begins by talking of "the creation of
directed specifically against the "popu-
Princeton University Press
parliamentary democracy in socialism"
lists" of the Hungarian Democratic
but ends by describing the goal simply as
Forum, many of whom do maintain that
41 WILLIAM ST.
PRINCETON, NJ 08540
(609) 452-4900
"the metamorphosis of a Stalinist system
there can be a specifically Hungarian
into parliamentary democracy." Period.
"third way." And of course there are still
ORDERS 800-PRS-ISBN (777-4726)
See chapter one in my The Polish Revo-
some oppositionists in both Hungary and
Poland who would firmly identify them-
lution: Solidarity (Scribner's, 1984; Vin-
selves as being on the left. Yet the general
tage, 1985).
point may stand.
4
The New York Review
also the intellectual crisis of the left in the
What is clear is that the conversion of
few days. later he was personally con
PHILOSOPHY
rest of Europe. But to assess the relative im-
Jaruzelski was pivotal. How and by
gratulated on this interview by
General
portance and complex interaction of these
whom that was done is still unknown (at
Jaruzelski. Michnik, for his part; has
AND POLITICAL
major causes will require greater distance,
least to this writer). But without question
subsequently gone out of his way to
tranquil reflection, and more sources.
the personal role and authority of Gener-
praise General Jaruzelski, publicly, for
THEORY
In the meantime, we are condemned to
al Jaruzelski on this side is as crucial as
his political courage in deciding to reverse
reconstruct the story from a tissue of
that of Lech Walesa on the other.
the course of the last seven years and
FROM
direct observation, official and unofficial
The bridge is still of rope rather than
reach an agreement with Solidarity.
CAMBRIDGE
publications, anecdote, and informed
steel. Seven years of bitter conflict are
guesswork. In Poland, the story is one of
not easily forgotten. On both sides there
UNIVERSITY PRESS
In Hungary, by contrast, the story of the
a remarkable coming-together: for al-
are fierce and vociferous opponents of
last few years is that of a remarkable
most no one imagined that the great gulf
compromise. Alfred Miodowicz of the
coming-apart: the coming-apart of the
between "the power" and "the society,"
official trade unions is the most visible.
Kádárite consensus, so that from one ap-
Hobbes's Political
between Jaruzelski and Walesa, could be
leader of reaction inside the Party. He
parently seamless (although seamy) web
Theory
so swiftly bridged. Many details of this
has strong support from Prague and East
there have suddenly emerged both real
Deborah Baumgold
Polish bridge building are still obscure.
Berlin (although that is not much use
opposition parties and very distinct fac-
But two things are clear. First, it would
against Moscow!), a large constituency
tions within the Hungarian Socialist
brings out with refreshing clarity
not have been possible without explicit
among the Party bureaucracy and nomen-
Workers' party. Even six months ago no
and analytical skill the overriding
permission from Gorbachev. Secondly,
klatura, and even the chance of appealing
concern of Hobbes to put forward a
one would have imagined that at a fete
the essential domestic impulse was given
theory of how to govern an early
to a significant part of the working class
held by the Alliance of Democratic Youth
modern state
by two waves of strikes in May and
by a populist demagogy directed against
(FIDESZ), in a Budapest youth park, the
James Tully, McGill University
August of 1988, with the second wave
the cost and injustice of economic re-
platform would be occupied by no fewer
larger than the first, and the strikers put-
form. On the opposition side, teen-agers
than seven political groupings, with the
This historical study locates Hobbes's
ting the restoration of Solidarity at the
still take to the streets shouting the
man from the communist party just one
political theory in the context of the
top of their demands.
angry chants of martial-law Poland, and
constitutional debates preceding the
among many, and seated near the end of
Markers on the path to the Round
English Civil War, and presents an
Walesa's leadership is rejected by groups
the table. The groups represented were
entirely new interpretation of his
Table included a fraught and tentative
ranging from the right-wing nationalist
FIDESZ itself, founded by students last
understanding of politics.
debate about a possible "anti-crisis pact,"
Confederation for an Independent Po-
spring"; the Alliance of Free Democrats
$39.50
in the first half of 1988; a Byzantine se-
land (KPN) to the crypto-Trotskyite
(SZDSZ), which grew out of the earlier
quence of private talks about talks; direct
The Theory and
talks berween Lech Walesa and the in-
terior minister, General Kiszczak, which
Practice of Autonomy
were literally precipitated by the second
Gerald Dworkin
wave of strikes; a dramatic television
stimulating, controversial. and
debate between Lech Walesa and Alfred
often witty book. The theoretical
Miodowicz, the leader of the official trade
discussions are lucid; the chapters on
unions OPZZ) at the end of November;
practical problems are refreshingly
and. last but by no means least, two stormy
sensitive to the intransigence of moral
meetings of the Central Committee in
dilemmas. Most exciting of all is the
which General Jaruzelski even threatened
Photograph © Franco
final chapter, where Dworkin makes
to resign in order to push through the
brief yet tantalizing reference to
direct dialogue with Solidarity.
further themes, which we must hope
he will soon explore in greater depth."
T he role of Prime Minister Rakowski in
-The Times Higher Education Supplement
all this is murky. The opening seems to
Cambridge Studies in Philosophy
have been led rather by General Kiszczak,
$34.501$11.95
who as interior minister presumably drew
on police intelligence reports about rising
A Theory of Freedom
popular discontent and the danger of an
Stanley I. Benn
explosion: by a group of Party reformists
A major contribution to the study of
including the former foreign minister,
the philosophy of action, moral
Jósef Czyrek, and the former labor
Women selling clothes on the black market in Kraków
philosophy, and political philosophy,
minister. Stanislaw Ciosek; and by some
"revolutionary" faction of the refounded
this study presents a radically
top military men. ² Rakowski, whose
"democratic opposition"; the Hungarian
Polish Socialist party (PPS-RD), as well
unorthodox theory of rational action.
personal grudges against Solidarity go
Democratic Forum (MDF), an important
Focusing on the rights to freedom.
very deep. and who came into office in
as by his old comrade in the original
but inchoate "populist" front: the two so-
welfare and privacy, the author
Gdansk strike, Andrzej Gwiazda. Polish
October 1988 proclaiming his own
called "nostalgic" parties, the Social
analyzes the way in which value
politics today are anything but simple.
capacity to save the country without it,
Democrats and the Smallholders, whose
conflicts can be rationally resolved. the
In the discussions of the Solidarity Na-
was not 1 major direct actor in the
predecessors received, respectively, 17.4
objectivity of value. the concept of
negotiations. The record may one day
tional Executive Commission (KKW), the
percent and 57 percent of the vote in
moral personality, the principles of
show this to be a grave underestimation
lessons of 1980-1981 are constantly being
Hungary's last halfway free election, in
non-interference and respect of
drawn anew. One might almost say that
persons, and the ideals of autonomy
of Mr. Rakowski's capacity for duplicity.
November 1945; the People's party, an
both sides have learned politics. If in
and community.
attempt to win the agrarian vote, partly
The crucial Tenth Plenum meeting was
1980 it was workers against apparatchiks,
$49.50/$17.95
initiated by people from within the exist-
on January 16-18, 1989. A preliminary
in 1989 it is politicians against politicians.
ing power structures; and the Hungarian
account of the path to the Round Table,
In the long hours and days at the Round
Socialist Workers' party, that is, the Com-
An Introduction to the
by a leading participant, is Bronislaw
Table, the top leaders on both sides do
munist party as effectively refounded
Politics and Philosophy
Geremek's article in Tygodnik Powszechny
seem to have come to understand each
after its predecessor disintegrated during
of José Ortega y Gasset
(April 23. 1989).
other better, and in part to have found a
the 1956 revolution. Next to the Party
Andrew Dobson
"Among those who threatened to resign
common language, or at least to have
representative there was an empty seat,
at this meeting, alongside Jaruzelski,
resolved to adhere to some basic rules of
which was meant to be taken by a spokes-
In this general survey of the life and
Kiszczak, and Rakowski, was the defense
self-restraint in a period of political tran-
man for the Ferenc Münnich Society, a
work of Ortega Gasset the author
minister. General Florian Siwicki. Ciosek
sition. This is still an "understanding of
group of disaffected Stalinists. The ghost
contextualizes Ortega's political
was minister for trade union affairs in the
elites."14 It can be destroyed from below.
at the feast.
activity and provides biographical
first period of Solidarity's legal existence.
In the provinces, things look very dif-
Not surprisingly at a FIDESZ rally the
detail. Following an examination of his
"This is perhaps the moment to recall
ferent. But the coming-together at the top
spokesman for FIDESZ, a forceful and
philosophical work and a close look at
the (apocryphal?) story about Jaruzelski
remains staggering. Just one example:
the previously neglected mature
charismatic activist called Viktor Orban,
and Professor Janusz Reykowski, a psy-
toward the end of the Round Table,
period, Dobson arrives at a new
and the spokesman for the Free Demo-
chologist and now Politburo member
Adam Michnik gave an interview in
understanding of Ortega's central
who also headed the government delega-
crats, an eloquent sociologist called
concept of razon vital.
which he excoriated the obstructionism
tion in the Round Table group on politi-
Bálint Magyar, earned the warmest ap-
cal reform. The story concerns a conver-
of the official trade unions, comparing
plause. Yet as striking as the eloquence of
Cambridge Iberian
sation in the summer of 1982, at the
them to the hated Zomo riot police. A
the opposition speeches is the relative
and Latin American Studies
$39.50
height of Jaruzelski's attempt to destroy
"See the interview with Bronislaw
weakness of all their organizations. To be
Solidarity under martial law. "Is it true
Geremek, Polityka, April 22, 1989, in
sure, most of them are very new. To be
At bookstores or order from
that myths never die?" asks Jaruzelski.
which he argues that the two sides found
sure, the real prospect of an election con-
Cambridge University Press
"That is correct, General," replies the
a common language, but angrily rejects
centrates the mind wonderfully. Yet the
32 East 57th St., NY. NY 10022 Call toll free:
professor. Jaruzelski: "But you have
the charge of an "understanding of
rough membership figures given to me in
800-872-7423. outside NY State. 800-227-0247.
written that Solidarity has become a
elites." Yet this is a charge made not just
April were remarkably small: a claimed
NY State only. MasterCard and
myth!" (The story is recounted by Dawid
by the journalists of an offical weekly,
Visa accepted. Prices subject to change.
Warszawski in Uncensored Poland News
but by many opposition activists, espe-
"See my "The Opposition," in The New
Bulletin, No.1, 1989.)
cially in the provinces.
York Review, October 13, 1989.
6
The New York Review
(but dubious) 20,000 for the two "nostal-
erance-or benign neglect-seem wide
gic" parties, Social Democrats and Small-
enough for almost anything. But op-
SUMMER FUN
holders; some 14,000 for the Hungarian
position demands for, transforming
Democratic Forum: some 3,000 for the
or leaving the Warsaw Pact, and for
Free Democrats and 2,000 for FIDESZ.
Austrian-style neutrality, will surely test
Solidarity has more than that in one
them to the very limit More important,
factory. So far this really is, as Lewis
all the most acute observers in Poland
THE OXFORD
Namier famously wrote of 1848, a "revo-
and Hungary, whether in power or in op-
lution of the intellectuals."
position, share the prevailing Angio-
BOOK OF
American skepticism about Gorbachev's
Yet the Hungarian leadership seems to
chances of continued progress in his
be retreating faster in front of this small,
perestroika. A check or reversal there
ROYAL
intelligentsia-based opposition than the
could not be without consequences here.
Polish leadership has in front of their
But even if there is no Soviet check or
ANECDOTES
much more formidable, worker- and
reversal. Polish and Hungarian politics
farmer- as well as intelligentsia-based op-
over the next five years are likely to be, at
Edited by ELIZABETH LONGFORD
position. Why? One partial answer might
best, an almighty muddle. A period of
be: "They can't think of any reason not
political turmoil and transition is no
From the first century A.D. through Prince
to." Heavily influenced by contact with
recipe for clear, consistent economic
Charles and Princess Di, The Oxford Book
the West, long unaccustomed to treating
policy, and least of all for a policy that
of Royal Anecdotes reveals to us-through
ideology as anything but a veil, fig leaf,
lively stories of its kings and queens-two
demands great material sacrifice from
thousand years of British history. Compiled
or smoke screen, they really cannot think
those for whose votes you are competing.
by Elizabeth Longford, official Royal biog-
of any good reason why they should not
Yet such a policy is, sooner or later,
rapher and intimate friend of the Royal
give up power! A second, more contin-
almost inevitable. Prices will have to go
Family, and recounted with Longford's
gent reason is the indecision of the Party
still higher. Factories will have to be shut,
characteristic wit, this delightful volume
leader, Károly Grósz. Hailed as an op-
jobs lost. There will be more inequality as
illuminates the personalities, eccentricities,
portunistic, but tough and decisive leader
well as poverty. Beside the impoverished
foibles, strengths, styles, and eras of
when he took over from János Kádár in
majority there is already a nouveau-riche
Britain's various sovereigns. "Absolutely
May 1988, he has proved surprisingly
minority, Polish yuppies driving around
jam-packed with tempting tidbits"-
weak and indecisive.
in Mercedes or BMWs.
Library Journal. $22.50, 546 pp.
A third, related reason may have to do
A Thatcher government in Britain
with the continued struggle for power at
could sustain harsh measures only be-
the top of the Party. For in that contest,
cause it had clear democratic legitimacy,
THEY NEVER SAID IT
it has increasingly seemed that "who
dares, wins." Throughout this year, one
A Book of Fake Quotes, Misquotes,
of Grósz's chief rivals and by now Hun-
and Misleading Attributions
gary's most popular Party politician,
PAUL F. BOLLER, JR., and JOHN GEORGE
Imre Pozsgay, has continually forced the
pace of the Party's retreat: first, in
Who said. "Go West. young man"? Not
February, securing a formal (albeit
Horace Greeley. And Abraham Lincoln
fudged) reassessment of the 1956 revolu-
Photograph Perrin/Sygma
never said. "You cannot fool all the people
tion and an explicit commitment to the
all the time." Nor did Jefferson say, That
multiparty system; then, in April, hold-
government IS best which governs least."
ing what was virtually a reformist fac-
In They Never Said It. Boller and George
tional meeting in the town of Kecskemet,
track down hundreds of misquotations,
and securing a ceremonial Politburo re-
incorrect attributions. and blatant
nunciation of the key Leninist principle
Imre Pozsgay
fabrications. An entertaining and yet
of "democratic centralism"; then, in
thought provoking book. it goes beyond a
courts whose independence was unques-
mere catalog of popular misconceptions
May, winning a commitment to hold an
tioned, and a strong executive: the "elec-
to reveal how conservatives and liberals.
early, special national Party conference
tive dictatorship" of Lord Hailsham's
atheists and evangelists. have all at times
in the autumn, with the prospect of fur-
famous phrase. The measures needed in
twisted and even invented the words of
ther "personnel changes."
Poland and Hungary are almost certainly
eminent figures to promote their own
The pace is dizzy, speculation risks be-
much harsher. but no such strong. demo-
ends. $15.95. 159 pp.
ing confounded between the day of writ-
cratically and juridically legitimated
ing and the day of publication. At this
government is in prospect for at least a
moment it does look as if Pozsgay reckons
year or two, if at all.
BASEBALL ANECDOTES
that the best form of advance is retreat:
In the short term. the economic situa-
that he hopes, perhaps, to transform the
tion will get worse before it (perhaps) gets
DANIEL OKRENT and STEVE WULF
Party into something more like the
better. Inflation continues to soar in both
Italian Communist party, and thereby to
Willie Mays' amazing catch in the 1954 World Series. Bobby Thomson's "shot heard
win not only the highest office for him-
The Solidarity election statement on
round the world." the "Black Sox" scandal of 1919-these are all part of baseball
self but also some 25 to 35 percent of the
foreign policy carefully does not question
lore and part of its allure. Now. in a lavish banquet for baseball fans. Daniel Okrent and
vote in a genuinely free election, thus
Poland's membership of the arsaw
Steve Wulf serve up a colorful and highly entertaining unecuotal history of America's
Pact. but suggests that the alliance should
opening the way to a new coalition gov-
National Pastime. Capturing the whole human drama of baseball in a cascade of
be transformed to give equal rights is its
stories. Okrent and Wulf offer both a nostalgic feast as well as a fascinating intro-
ernment (although perhaps reserving
smaller members, and to reflect the
duction to baseball lore for the newest generation of fans. Bequiling... history of
responsibility for foreign policy and
democratization taking place internally.
the game in stories-comic. tragic. controversial"-Vew York Times Book Review
defense to a new-style presidency). What
Other opposition groups in Poland are
$18.95, 356 pp.
is more, some independent opinion polls
less cautious. In Hungary, virtually all
suggest that if Hungarians were to vote
the opposition parties, and some members
tomorrow he just might have a chance
of the ruling party, talk of Austrian-style
of winning such a percentage. But the
neutrality as the goal. The Free Demo-
Hungarians, unlike the Poles, are not go-
crats' Basic Program says. "Our aim is to
ing to vote tomorrow, or for several
create a neutral Hungary." although a
more immediate objective IS to "achieve a
months, and these sentences already con-
state of affairs whereby the Warsaw Pact
tain far 100 many "ifs."
does not influence the domestic policies
Prediction is now, more than ever, im-
of its sovereign member states and ever-
possible. The best and brightest people
cises increasingly less restriction on their
on both sides in Poland and Hungary
foreign policies." At the opposition lete
have launched into a great and perilous
the FIDESZ speaker won loud applause
adventure. "You know," one of the more
for suggesting that Hungary might leave
intelligent Polish Party leaders said to
the Warsaw Pact "even unilaterally." in a
one of the most intelligent of Polish op-
free election, the issue seems unavoidable.
position leaders during a coffee break at
Hungary's new foreign minister, Gyula
the Round Table, "all the textbooks tell
Horn, said in a speech shortly before his
us how difficult it is to seize power. But
elevation that we have "no reassuring
no one has described how difficult it is to
guarantees" of a victory for the Gor-
OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS
relinquish power."
bachev line in the Soviet Union IMTI
report, April 21). A senior Solidarity ad-
200 Madison Avenue
New York, NY 10016
In this great adventure, there is,
viser told me that one reason for ettling
for what they could get at the Round
of course, one very large unknown. At
Table was the fear that this favorable ex-
the moment, the bounds of Soviet tol-
ternal situation might not last.
The New York Review
countries. There are deep. latent con-
politics. And all the stale food of
flicts in these societies for example, be-
Central European politics, the prejudi
tween the interests of manual workers in
and petty nationalisms, must be broug
nationalized industries and those of
out of the totalitarian freezer, and aired
would-be capitalists, between the clerical
little while, before being thrown into the
and the secular" that have yet to be
dustbin; or at least, as in Western Europe,
THEY SAID IT
clearly articulated through opposition
being relegated to the political margins
Or so one hopes and prays.
"One Polish economist has commented
"It may not be better," says Lech
COULDNT
that the cure for two-digit inflation might
Walesa, "but at least it will be more fun.
just be three-digit inflation. In other
He was always an optimist.
words, when it gets really bad people may
HAPPEN HERE.
understand the need to take drastic steps
black, has already begun to reemerge in the
to prevent it. Inflation will of course be
Polish election campaign. One example is
fueled by the wage-indexation arrange-
the contest for the "non-party" parliamen-
ments agreed at the Round Table. But
Deeply moving testimony, seldom heard, of
tary seat in the Warsaw borough of Zoli-
Solidarity-opposition negotiators argue
borz between one of the most famous ac-
rvivors who were pilloried by our witch-hunters.
that without such indexation there might
tivists from the "lay left" tradition, Jacek
is a piece of history uncovering a shameful moment.
simply be an explosion of workers' pro-
Kuron, and a distinguished Catholic
test. A further problem is, however, that
ore important, it is a necessary work."
lawyer, Wladyslaw Sila-Nowicki. Sila-
workers may in effect be compensated at
--STUDS TERKEL
Nowicki apparently has the backing of the
the expense of farmers, who suffer most
Primate. Cardinal Józef Glemp, but Kuron
directly from inflation, and can respond
is the candidate from the agreed, national
book better conveys the human realities of political
by cutting food production. The solidar-
Solidarity-opposition list. Kuron also has
pression. The sensitive reader will, in turn, be moved,
ity of the two Solidaritys-workers' and
what is considered in Poland to be the con-
farmers' may be sorely tried.
igered, embarrassed and inspired.
siderable advantage of having been re-
--NORMAN DORSEN,
In Poland, the tension between those
ceived in Washington by President Bush.
from what Adam Michnik once called the
President, American Civil Liberties Union
One might say that in this particular con-
"lay left" and those from the Catholic
test, the President has helped the
right, between. as it were, the pink and the
Democrat rather than the Republican.
oth a compelling account of how close the
onstitution can come to being extinguished-and of
hat it takes to bring it back alive.'
--NAT HENTOFF
Why Noriega Wins
Murray Kempton
book of major interest and importance--a wonderful
His advisers report that President George
assembling a personal account amounting
capture of a dark history and a small marvel of adept
Bush's response to General Manuel An-
to $20 million in one of the hundred
literate editing. Its publication will help not a little
tonio Noriega's successive effronteries
banks that had sprung up in Panama,
ensure that this part of our past is past.'
has been to examine his options. This is
half of them owned by Colombians.
--JOHN KENNETH GALBRAITH
an endeavor hopeless for engagements
He maintained an arms business whose
with Noriega, who is one of those far-
philosophy was true to Medellin's loftily
Bud and Ruth Schultz have done us a great favor by
seeing statesmen who understand that to
ecumenical view of competing political
llecting these powerful and important stories and
weigh any variety of options is to risk
faiths. In 1979, he supplied the Sandinistas
resenting them to us without polemical adornment.
being intruded upon by thoughts of what
fighting Somoza and then, when their
istorians will thank them; but so should all
might be best for persons other than
revolution triumphed too quickly, he
mericans."
themselves, and perhaps even to risk being
found himself stuck with a consignment
--JONATHAN KOZOL
distracted by considerations of morality.
they no longer needed. He salvaged his in-
If Noriega had ever been thus inhib-
ited, he would not have been so quick to
recognize the emergence of the Colombian
IT
drug cartel as a source of economic devel-
opment funds in larger bundles and with
looser strings than he was apt to get from
older and less free-handed superpowers.
To feed off the United States is to sub-
ject yourself to all sorts of inconveniences
DID
from a Senate where Jesse Helms ar-
raigns your friendship with Fidel Castro
one day and Christopher Dodd your
human rights record the next. But to take
vestment by selling it to the Salvadoran
your business to the Medellín and Cali
guerrillas, and the trade went well until one
cartels is to be liberated from even the
delivery plane crashed and turned out to
HAPPEN
lightest chains of ideology.
belong to the Panamanian Defense Forces,
The Colombians have an estimated $8
a revelation sufficiently embarrassing to
billion annual trade volume, eight thou-
force Noriega to start selling to the con-
sand employees, their own two-thousand-
tras instead. He was solicitous in tenders
member army, and a view of foreign
of his good will equally to Fidel Castro
alliances that echoes Palmerston's dictum
HERE
and the United States. although in the
that nineteenth-century England had no
latter case his preference was for dealing
friends but only interests.
with the CIA, the DEA. and the National
A
Security Council, all of whom shared his
succinct history of Noriegan Panama's
taste for the covert and the conspiratorial
progress as Medellin's major allied power
and none of whom thought to abrade the
Recollections of Political
has been compiled by the Senate subcom-
comity of their conversations with
mittee on narcotics and terrorism, whose
references to narcotics.
Repression in America
chairman is John Kerry, Democrat of
Once he sent word that, if the United
Massachusetts. Ramón Lillian Rodri-
States would go back to speaking well of
guez, a fallen Medellín agent, told Kerry's
by BUD SCHULTZ
his stewardship, he would return the
committee that Noriega took over its
favor by arranging the assassination of
and RUTH SCHULTZ
money laundering and provided it with
the Sandinista comandantes. Oliver
Panamanian army security services for
Foreword by VICTOR NAVASKY
North replied that this would violate the
commissions ranging from one half to 10
laws of the United States but that a bit of
percent of each transaction.
sabotage would be fit and proper.
In due course, Noriega found Rodriguez
That cannot have been the first time
2.50 at bookstores or order toll-free 1-800-822-6657 Visa & MasterCard only
too expensive to carry as a middleman and
Noriega had noticed how much more so-
turned him in to the US Drug Enforce-
University of California Press
phisticated Medellin's government is than
ment Administration, a service to law en-
ours. Still, he has profited handsomely
erkeley Los Angeles New York
forcement that was rewarded with a letter
from Medellin worldly wisdom and lived
of commendation. By then, Noriega had
comfortably with American naivete and
equipped himself for the 1984 election by
can be excused for thinking even now
Copyright © 1989 Newsday, Inc.
that he can go on doing both.
The New York Review
POLAND
Belvedere Palace (mtgo w/ Gen Jaruzeleki)
official Residence of Chairman of Council
mtgs will he in Pampeic Room
not destroyed during the was
Jangeloki does not live there
d'accord M. de Council of state
built in 1820, arch. Jozef Kutribi
ilassical style - Polion classicism
19th ant, Poland partitioned a under
Russian occupation, tount
Grand Duke Ronotantin brother of Tear nicholas LA
guied there.
Governor of Poland, linds-in -Chief
of local army
called "County of Palana" then
Joan brother = "King of Poland, up. by his
1830 - uprising contre Rusaia
november upreaing
18
attacked belvedere - Count uscaped
4/15000
4
Hanold lembarrassment, no other
disguised as woman "Kook"
35
[Ruasian?] leaders wanted to
the this -
140
11+
became a military facility gino, etc.
hired there
4/15/000
37.00
past-WWI: Poland independent
Belneders made official
1918-1926 residence of Pres. [who ?]
1926 - may coup d "etat
Gen. Pilondski lived there
until hisdeath in 1935
"Chief Inspector of armed Forces"
worked in Councel of Ministero
1944 - Belvedere, along w/many other
Welgo including what is now
the sorret embassy across the
street - all were wired for
destruction by the yermans
Excaped destruction.
poot- WWII - again official useding
Beint (leader)
Radziwill Palace
A see Information for Visitors
survived both WWI t WWII
also called Hovernor's Palace - 18th unt.,
Russian For. lived there
Radziwillo = famous anstorratic family
Toaat: View from window from for President's
Pontiatowski - Commander of
status infront is lount Jozif
Polish army that fought under
of Poland, Stanislar august
Napoleon; nephew of last King
Palace across atreet: is now Palace
culture) of Culture V art (Ministry of
built by Pototcki family
NarmaKrall? Narma Knall ?
Poland for Beginners
w/in days of frontier of GDR being thrown
wide open, the # of Polish tourists had
soared pust a million (p.19)
"You cannot present them awallowing you,
but at least make sene you give them
indisection. Jean 4p 22)
"a land where the an is healthy the aoil
fertile, the fouats flaming w/honey, the
unine stocked w/fren, [the knights
martial, , the rustics industribus."
Gullus anonymes (1110-13)
"Hratory hears witness to the independent
divelopment of Poland which has
been both a bridge & a beacon between
the Slavo, Termany the East."
lesare hombroso, 1900
Poland= = "an impiration to The nations."
Pres. Rocemelt
Ron (zar ne
Weaterplatte
9/1/39
lower "Never again war "=Nig-de voyny " vien -say
big sign on
fort - Westerplate
182 men - 3500 Germana
attached by
surrendere d sept 7
65 inanaltis Poles/ones 400 for Germano
major Henryb Sucharski
Roses all undernoath
Tha mancho
Dunkirk
Moditernanean Sta
atlantic
nawick (noway)
Murmansk (SU)
South
Rearotance took place longest north over a month
Hance
Hel - another peninarlo west of here
Oksyvie -small wastal town
who comal ave
Westeplatte
Idanok Poot office
Kosynierzy Gdyni [Koshenaergy Gayni]-
1
soldine w/ scyther (ong enleste d prasants)
subanette of manument= German
hanganetre, broken
SE - looking over "merce again war"
last
most face
[
To Those at sea - Tym Co Na Morzu "Morju"
#'s?
north
Kolobrag - to coastal town near here
for
"Praise those who won independence"
looking
Chwala Wyzwolidelom
amr
"Chrawa Viz-vo-li-cheilom"
Baltic of Studzianki (SU)
- small town ou beggest tunk
weat fore
battle took place, an Her. border
Boat Ride
Undr of Polion nany (lugges for Pris)
marple minloweeper
comme Pupe John Paul II took on
that mail
Gaot Guard keeps watch on manument
said from entrance of Idanole harks
to Green Date
fines to sweden + back - always here
14+ Jun = "5 Which Tum"
wold to he sharper turn - ships
entering had to whiotle 5x
Schlvenig - Halotein on moored on
narryterm 5 writtle Jun
not familiar
military hloga 14th cent.
ruine of mil uldgs also
hald to change -
plants an hands some leased to other
countries who don't have access
to the sea - inf. Czech, Hungary
Pope, Thatcher, min Ref Fenland & Sweden -
foreign Alla officials take this route
Vistula Riner -tun onto Canal called
"Dead Vistula," canal, no water movt
Westerplate
Green Date = 10 Km
wood, Grain, Finland - 1/3 wood imported from Poland
sulfun
is cheaper
old austorralic home = shipping offices
Northern shipmand- unovations
also mfro small nary vessels
Lenin Shipyard 967 - build commercial ships
"Linin post WWIII - ships mfrd her
since Poland 16th century - oldest shipyard in
before "Idomete Shipyard"
ponts closed down, to be based to when
Mald to he state-owned 5
countries, companies
will act up Board of Directors
City Hall
Solidarity manument
The hard
wall on side: Mod gives strength to His
people, The hard gives TO His people the
blueing of place
Geslaw Milosz
livesion
paet, US
3 workers of Lenin Shipyard Killed in
strike Dec. 1970, shot by govt troops, during
[Ddynia - n - 300 kille d ]
monument = one of solidarity 's demands
in 1980, Ydanok accords to legalized
Sol. also
the who wrongs The simple man #laughs
while his doing it, don't feel safe, the
poet remembers. you can kill him, but
there will imerge another. I will not
all feats of comerrations. -milosy
On top - croases /anchars
anchor Biblical symbol of hope
L So
ammy-in-exie
soledarity symbol
symbol- WWII
during martial law - MAY emotiona
mtg place Each day people wed leave
flawers like, every day police wed
take it away
wall-cont,
may your spirit be replans replaced of
universate on this earth amen
Pupe JP. II 1979 (15t moit to Poland
better- They gave their lines so that you could lin
Hamer then memory.
Plagness
- 1970/1980 - stul mills Patowice
1 Dec 1970
- Jobe 16:18 - O Earth, don't wven my blood,
Don't be undifferent to my
expressed diones.
Gestochowa
Chest. ahima) a hova Chame to moot holy Pourn
- work Zamosc new - functure factory
- Wuroan mill
- funded My people's donations
Lichenie (Lee-hen-ye), Poland
Konina Church
- Ostrowca Swientekrzyski (Svien-to - Kshi-ski)
& there stired up a win of from
the sea."
Entrance to Linin Shipyard just
to ught (when facing) of memorial
Stocznia Gdaneka, iminine himing
for
"We all are fm favor of Poland"
Fshi CBC
FSHISTSY ODPOVIADAMI 0 SHE ZA POLSKEZ
Fshirstay ode-po-viá-dá-mek sheh za pol-skown
W52YSCY ODPOWIADAMY ZA POLSKE
" are all are responsible for Polana."
ydanok - Embasay
Ron Czarnetoky
John Boris
Jack Spilsbury
Poot office
initians (armed)
9/1/39 - PR Group of Polioh solders barricaded
themestres + held the Germano off (surrounder)
for a wuple 2 Zwks. Dave up
same day, in the evening. all who
gave up were shot on the spot.
Paderewski
PM- during 1920s
but across street from Embassy,
diagonally across, in park
Kazienki (wa-jhen-kee)
(plural for Mathroom palace was
first in Warsaw w/indogs plumbing,
ergo "Bathroom Pulle Palace"
Bathroom Park)
Interpress Publishers -
"Ignary Paderewoki"
call Polioh Embasay
in English
Oliva Cathedral
1178 - SamburI, Pomeranian Prince, introduces
the listercian Order of monks into Oliva
"endows them w/exlates. They build 9
wooden church Y clointes
1577 thilvi
1925 - Idanak becomes a diocuss the
church in Oliva becomes a fathedrow
Unurch
style whey forendship to & "Poush by due
1944- WWTT causes heavy distruction of
Cathedras a odjoining house
Stephen
1755- organ, builtly John Wulf.
Line
tabes 25 years, Finally becomes monk,
Birther Michael
Uands at altar
outside = "He love them until the end"
Bishop Goclowski (Got-sway-ski)
Key one of Key mediators at houndtate
mtgs -
Magdalinka Content of Warsaw) Group
hishop = church (n) rep.
Lech Walesa - Va - welsa
Prus - "Pharaoh"
Sienkievicz "Quo Vadis"
Kosidouski
Meeting @ Sim
Washington Manument? to be placed
in circle on Washington are
anniversary of?
to be signed - agreements on ultural
centers, education committee, tourism,
& one on business (?)
Remarks:
anival /Departure - probably not
Toants - state Dinner, translated x
printed for tables
sejm - ? 15-20 min.
Westerplatte - ?
[meeting room = future Sinate Chamber]
hitly League?
Sym
Pus. of Poland sits on podium, on left,
if he's speaking -in upper left (if
facing if observing
Polish alal behind podium -lagle
fund out bas reliefs on outside of building 1
more
symbolic moments of Polesh holory
— Pilsudoki on one not remarkable
now, but was ther through
whole Statin period
butt in 1920s completed 1928
completely diatrayed in WWII -
rebuilt as it was, 1948, expanded
ambaas ador 'e Residence
luncheon w/members of sym Senate
art - call state, art in Embasies
dining room
table w/man underneath
field w/yellow flawers
Battimore, by - Kane '56
smaller dening room (front)
modern - aguares
modern flowers
pink "arange - Meo. Chaptin '79
living room
black artiat lives in DC
above piano, Ulma Thomas,
pics of ambassadar W/GB, Pape,
mathy Teresa
Embassy
Community Greeting - auditorium
Tomb of the Unknown Soldier
built from remains of a colonnado,
former part of Suski Palace = completely
destrayed during Warsaw Upusing, 1944
Suoki Palace - post WWI, housed
general staff of Polich army
?v manument - officially opened 1926
1944 - Warsan Upriaing they
lusted I months aug Sept.
help from USAF-food drops + arms
Soldier - from 4 umetery in what
is now LVOV (Soriet Ukraine)
- Killed in akirmishes entry
Pollo & Ukranians 1919-20
first phase of
- Poles like this because they
Kubed Rmania - in this
was
Virtuti Militari Good - for military bravery
incorporated into disign of
moniment
was dates from 1792, one of
the lust years of Polion undependence
Uns inside monument - soil from
actual battlefrildo of WWIt WWII
DCM
? names of battles on manument
lep Chipf of
Mission
Umochlagplatz
"alang this puth of suffering "death
in 1942-1943 from the Wassaw
over 300,000 jews were driven
Thetto to the gas chambers of the
nazi extermination lamps."
Umachlagplatz = loading pt for Jews
being sent to lamps
?v
dedicated un in april 1988, on
anniversary of Thetto uprioing
memoirs of the Governor of the Thetto- -
published last year by the Institute
of Jennish studies, Warsan
Professor Korezak - "Dл. Spock "of
Poland twent off to lamps w/ children
ox Thetto knowing what wid happen
plaque above entrance gate, wal-like
trus /uldge
w/what works like jazged, fulling
PRESS RELEASE
THE VICE PRESIDENT
OFFICE OF THE PRESS SECRETARY
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: 202/456-6772
Tuesday, September 29, 1987
EXCERPTS FROM OPENING STATEMENT FOR
VICE PRESIDENT GEORGE BUSH
WARSAW PRESS CONFERENCE
WARSAW, POLAND
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 1987
This is my final day in Poland, where I have spent three
days at the invitation of the Polish Government. Let me express
my thanks and appreciation to my host, deputy Chairman of the
Council of State, Mr. Barcikowski, and to the American Charge, Mr.
John Davis. I have enjoyed my stay. I am impressed by the
character and strength of the Polish people whom I have met.
This is the first top-level U.S. visit to Poland in many
years. It represents another step in the U.S. policy of
re-engagement with Poland; it demonstrates our commitment and
direct support for the Polish people and the various elements of
Polish society. My purpose in coming to Poland was to review
U.S.-Polish relations and to learn first hand from all sources
about the situation here.
I have met with Polish government leaders, including the
chairman of the Council of State, General Jaruzelski, and
prominent Polish figures, including Solidarity leader Lech Walesa
and Cardinal Glemp.
My official meetings were businesslike, realistic and
productive. My Polish hosts expressed their views eloquently and
clearly. I explained the principles of U.S. policy toward Poland.
As expected, we disagreed on some issues, but we also found common
ground on other issues, including the need to put U.S.-Polish
relations on a realistic and constructive footing.
While in Warsaw, I signed a new science and technology
agreement. This agreement symbolizes the possibilities for useful
and practical cooperation between the two countries. The
agreement will provide for mutually beneficial cooperation in
non-strategic research, including projects on the environment
where so much needs to be done.
I found my meetings with Polish private and clerical leaders
fascinating and informative.
As a result of my discussions, I will be able to report to
President Reagan that the basis exists for lasting, productive,
and mutually beneficial relations between our two countries.
#
#
#
#
SUNDAY MASS
SPEECH
VICE PRESIDENT GEORGE BUSH
ST. HYACINTH CHURCH
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS
SUNDAY, MARCH 13, 1988
Thank you, Father Roge, for those kind words. Mrs. Bush
and I are delighted to be here, we're delighted to be accompanied
by Governor Thompson and Mrs. Thompson, your Governor. We're
delighted to be accompanied by one of America's true heroes,
General Chuck Yaeger, who's with us here today. As I stand here
in this beautiful church, I think back to about five months ago
when I stood on the balcony at St. Stanislaw Kostka Church in
Warsaw. I had met the night before, at the Ambassador's
residence, with Lech Walesa and other leaders of Solidarity. I
had asked Walesa if he would accompany me to the church where
Father Popieluszko had preached -- the "Solidarity Priest,' who
had been murdered by the Secret Police. I didn't know if he'd
come and sure enough, Barbara and I were staying at this lovely
guest house, he appeared all alone, climbed in our United States
big car there and the Secret Police made one gesture, they took
the Polish Flag off of the right fender of our car but we had the
Stars and Stripes, your flag, my flag on the United States
applause and we drove downtown past hundreds of people and
on a gray and chilly Monday morning, thousands of people pinned
behind barricades and infiltrated by the secret police, lined the
streets for hours around that modest church and cheered for
Solidarity and Walesa and the United States of America.
His voice rang like a bell throughout this land, and he must
not be forgotten, I said. Here at the church where he lived,
worked, and prayed, let us pledge to carry on his quest to
overcome evil with good
applause
Next to Walesa we did what
we'll do here today we laid a wreath and a little Solidarity
banner at the grave of the fallen priest and Barbara put her arm
around Father Popieluszko's mother dissolved in tears
applause
because I think she found it hard to believe that
the United States, in the face of the lights and under the gaze
of the communists masters would honor her son in this way.
But I would just simply tell you that it was a very moving
experience and then Lech Walesa and I went on top of that church
balcony, some of you may have been there, some of you know the
story, the voices rang out "long live Reagan, long live Bush, but
most of all, long live America.' And we saw
applause
we saw
very, very clearly what you all know so well, the affection of
the people of Poland of the United States and so what my message
today, as we honor Father Popieluszko is and as we are
surrounded by the future, by these wonderful young children, it
is the United States of America that must keep alive the hope of
the Polish people, we are one nation under God, we should
struggle, however possible, to preserve and protect and
strengthen religious freedom around the world. Father
Popieluszko taught us that by his life, by his ministry, and by
his faith and we must honor his memory by standing up to freedom
and democracy around the world we owe it to these children, we
owe it to the future of this the greatest and freest country,
one nation under God, the United States of America.
Thank you and God bless you all. Thank you
applause
WREATH LAYING
That leader of Solidarity, that man of steel, Lech Walesa
and I was pleased to honor him in Poland, pleased to stand next
to him as we lay on the grave of Father Popieluszko, the martyr
priest, the symbol of Solidarity, the symbol of freedom, and the
support and demonstrating the support of the United States of
America. All of us here, new Americans, Americans who may not be
citizens yet, all of us, know that our country is the symbol of
freedom-religious freedom, political freedom, freedom of
elections, freedom of whatever else it is
applause
and so
my message in supporting Father Popieluszko and Solidarity is to
stand for freedom wherever we can around the world.
Thank you all, God bless you, and on this Sunday let's never
forget that the United States of America is one nation under God.
Thank you very much
applause
PRESS RELEASE
THE VICE PRESIDENT
OFFICE OF THE PRESS SECRETARY
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: 202/456-6772
Friday, January 29, 1988
EXCERPTS FROM REMARKS FOR
VICE PRESIDENT GEORGE BUSH
SERTOMA CLUB "FREEDOM BANQUET"
COUNCIL BLUFFS, IOWA
FRIDAY, JANUARY 29, 1988
Freedom is real; it's tangible; you may not be able to hold
it in your hand but you can feel it and you can see it. You can
feel freedom when you worship in the church of your choice. You
can feel freedom when you travel through our great country
without passing security check points. You can see it every time
you pick up a newspaper or watch the evening news.
As a nation, our first responsibility is to defend freedom.
A country like ours, born out of the struggle against tyranny,
should never apologize for helping others win their freedom.
I've been to 74 foreign countries. I can tell you there isn't
another country like ours in the entire world. We live in the
freest, the fairest, the most generous nation on the faith of the
earth. And I will never apologize for the United States of
America. I will stand up for her and help her spread the light
of freedom.
*
A lot of people talk about Communism, but Barbara and I
actually lived in a Communist country when I was Chief of the
Liaison Office in Peking.
I will never forget seeing the six-year-old kids walking by
the Embassy every Friday afternoon on their way to Marxist
regimentation classes, where they would sit on three-legged
stools and listen to lectures about the central government's
control of their lives and how important that was. Just think
how different it is for these kids.
Last September, I traveled to Poland. While I was there, I
met with General Jaruzelski, Poland's Communist leader. He's
tough, he's strong, and he sees himself, by the way, as
Gorbachev's best friend in Eastern Europe.
2
I. also met with Lech Walesa, the leader of the outlawed
labor union Solidarity, and I invited him to go with me to. the
church of Father Popieluszko, the martyred priest who was
tortured and murdered by the Polish secret police simply because
he preached about his faith in God.
We weren't sure how the Polish security would react to my
invitation to Walesa. As it turned out, they let him ride in my
car, but as a symbol of protest they removed the Polish flag from
the front fender. That didn't matter, though, because we still
had the Stars and Stripes flying from our left fender. We drove
to downtown Warsaw to the church where Father Popieluszko had
preached.
On his grave, we laid a little Solidarity banner on behalf
of all of us, the American people. There I stood next to Lech
Walesa, a symbol not only of trade unionism, but of the Polish
people's desire for greater freedom. Barbara had her arm around
Mrs. Popieluszko, grieving for a fallen son who was cut down by
the Polish regime.
After that, Walesa and I climbed to the top of the church
and flashed the sign of the "V" for Solidarity to the thousands
of Poles who had gathered below, cheering, "Long Live Reagan,'
"Long Live Bush," "Long Live the United States of America.'
Walesa couldn't believe that I, the Vice President of the United
States, would stand with him -- in public, in downtown Warsaw,
before this crowd of thousands of people.
Later that night, I went on Polish TV for five minutes,
uncensored, and talked about Solidarity, Walesa, and freedom --
the first time that those three words had been spoken together
since the crushing of Solidarity in Gdansk in 1981.
All of this reaffirmed my conviction that no other country
has the same innate honor and decency as the United States of
America. No other country can stand up for freedom and human
rights the way we can. It brought home to me once again --
because I had seen it many times before -- how the world looks up
to the United States for leadership.
####
THE VICE PRESIDENT
OFFICE OF THE PRESS SECRETARY
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: 202/456-6772
Monday, September 28, 1987
EXCERPTS OF REMARKS FOR
VICE PRESIDENT GEORGE BUSH
VISIT TO THE GRAVE OF FATHER JERZY POPIELUSKO
WARSAW, POLAND
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 1987
It has been almost three years since Father Popielusko was
so brutally tortured and slain. His soul is in the hands of God,
but his spirit lives on in the people of Poland and the world.
I had the deep honor nine days ago to meet with His
Holiness, Pope John Paul II, upon the conclusion of his visit to
the United States. He expressed the deep personal feelings he
holds for his homeland and the people of Poland.
In Father Popielusko, the world lost a courageous fighter
for the cause of liberty. But his sacrifice was not in vain. His
example -- like that of the Pope -- inspires us all --
particularly the people of Poland -- to fight for the freedom to
practice our religion, and to speak, write, think, and associate
as we wish.
His voice rang like a bell throughout this land, and he must
not be forgotten. Here at the church where he lived, worked, and
prayed, good." let us pledge to carry on his quest to "overcome evil with
####
PRESS RELEASE
THE VICE PRESIDENT
OFFICE OF THE PRESS SECRETARY
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: 202/456-6772
Saturday, September 26, 1987
EXCERPTS FROM TOAST FOR
VICE PRESIDENT GEORGE BUSH
STATE DINNER HOSTED BY KAZIMIERZ BARCIKOWSKI
DEPUTY CHAIRMAN, COUNCIL OF STATE
WARSAW, POLAND
SEPTEMBER 26, 1987
Mr. Deputy Chairman and honored guests:
I thank you for hosting this elegant dinner on the occasion
of my visit to Poland. I am delighted to be in this historic land
in the heart of Europe.
We in the United States care deeply about Poland, Polish
society, and above all the Polish people. There are many ties
that bind us -- not the least of which are the millions of
American citizens of Polish descent who have contributed so much
to American life.
Americans have a long-term view of relations with Poland.
They recognize your country's importance and its position in the
world. They wish you well -- they would like to see you freer,
more independent, and more prosperous. They want relations
between our two countries to be based on reality, and they want
them to be constructive. That explains our policy approach. It
is an approach not only for today, but for tomorrow as well.
We have worked diligently over the past year to rekindle a
spirit of progress in our bilateral relations. We have noted the
decisions your government has taken, Mr. Deputy Chairman, which
have improved the prospects for national reconciliation in Poland.
We welcome those steps, and we hope they continue. They were
central to President Reagan's decision to send me to Poland and my
interest in coming here.
I look forward to continuing discussions with your
government and with the other key elements of Polish society
during the remainder of my visit. I believe these discussions can
lay the groundwork for a mutually beneficial, long-term
relationship between our two countries.
Thus, I propose we raise our glasses to the progress we have
made over the past year and to steady improvement in the period
ahead.
"Na zdrowie!"
# # # #
PRESS RELEASE
THE VICE PRESIDENT
OFFICE OF THE PRESS SECRETARY
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: 202/456-6772
Saturday, September 26, 1987
EXCERPTS FROM REMARKS FOR
VICE PRESIDENT GEORGE BUSH
ARRIVAL CEREMONY
WARSAW, POLAND
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 1987
Mr. Deputy Chairman:
Thank you for your kind words of welcome. To you and to the
people of Poland, I wish to extend the best wishes of President
Reagan, and of the American people.
I am very pleased to have this opportunity to visit Poland.
As you know, America is a nation of immigrants, and many Americans
have a proud and active Polish past. From the Poles who joined
the first English settlement at Jamestown to the present day, they
have contributed so much to theiradopted land. In their honor, we
will celebrate Polish-American Heritage Month in the United States
next month.
Despite past problems between our governments, the bonds
between our people remain as strong as ever. I am here in the
hope that we can find a solid basis for creating the same kind of
relations between our two governments.
During my four days in Poland, I plan to have conversations
with Chairman Jaruzelski, Prime Minister Messner, and other
government leaders. We will explore ways to move our relations
forward. With good will on both sides, I believe we can make
genuine progress.
During my stay, I also intend to meet with representatives
of all the major segments of Polish society. I hope to learn
their views on the problems currently facing Poland.
We have strong views, and SO will those with whom we meet.
President Reagan has asked me to come here, learn about the
situation, and report to him on what can be done to move relations
forward. We are realistic about Poland's position, yet hopeful
about future prospects.
-more-
I want to make clear that our intention is not to disrupt or
divide, nor is it to interfere. We seek only to play a
constructive role in bringing about the national reconciliation
that everyone in Poland desires and to promote the cause of
freedom.
# # # #
THE VICE PRESIDENT
OFFICE OF THE PRESS SECRETARY
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: 202/456-6772
Tuesday, September 29, 1987
EXCERPTS FROM REMARKS FOR
VICE PRESIDENT GEORGE BUSH
CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL
KRAKOW, POLAND
SEPTEMBER 29, 1987
Professor Cichocki, Mr. Deputy Chairman, Mr. Minister,
ladies and gentlement
It is a pleasure to participate in these events today, which
symbolize so well the deep feeling of kinship which the American
people and the Polish people feel for each other.
We just saw the beginnings of what will be in three years a
new ambulatory care center for the American Children's Hospital --
built and equipped with the assistance of the people and the
government of the United States.
Fittingly, it will be named for the late Clement J.
Zablocki, a Polish-American from Milwaukee who served with
distinction in the United States Congress for 35 years, including
seven as chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
IHope the visit Helpen Narraw The Difference
Our two governments have many differences which cannot and came,
must not be glossed over, but we seek a freer, more independent, Then
and more prosperous Poland
can Be NOMTSTAKE About
the Emerghy Beforeen
In Warsaw, I had the honor of signing an agreement on
cooperation in science and technology. Through this agreement, we
the Peaple
will undertake, in modest but meaningful ways, to work together,
the of as
Pobit
for the benefit of both our peoples -- with exchanges and
cooperation in such fields as medicine, agriculture, the
B.I Felt the
environment, energy, transportation, and engineering.
was into Aswe
NUNED
This entire hospital, of course, represents a joint
enterprise of the Polish and American people, and embodies in a our covern
physical way the hopes of our country for a healthier Poland. It for Kios. your
is especially a tribute to the marvelous work of Project HOPE,
which has contributed so much toward making the American Children's
Hospital one of the finest pediatric facilities in all of
Europe.
Now we open the new Children's Rehabilitation Center -- a
particular success of Project HOPE, which administered the U.S.
funds -- and I am pleased to present this plaque, which reads as
follows:
-more-
"This Children's Rehabilitation Center was created through a
common effort of the government of the Polish People's Republic
and the United States of America as an expression of the abiding
bond of friendship between the peoples of Poland and the United
States of America."
I also have the honor of presenting to the American
Children's Hospital two needed pieces of medical equipment --
gifts from the American people -- an ultrasound machine and a
Fac-scam cell analyzer. Both are state-of-the-art diagnostic
tools.
In add Have Tv. St were take off and the
Plane filled Supplies Alides from with
This occasion, more than any other on my trip, calls for Branght
these well-known words of Polish:
by A wouderful
"Na zdrowie!"
any Amer Cares
####
As Saw just a MicroScopic 6. tal the wonduped
and for are Dema here - -
Bless you all
George Bush for President
CONTACT: ALIXE GLEN
(202) 842-1988
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: (202) 456-6
Monday, September 23, 1987
EXCERPTS OF REMARKS BY
VICE PRESIDENT GEORGE BUSH
ON POLISH TELEVISION
WARSAW, POLAND
SEPTEMBER 28, 1987
People of Poland:
I am grateful for this opportunity to speak to you tonight.
I bring you greetings and best wishes from President Reagan and the
people c = the United States. I thank my government hosts for their
traditional Polish hospitality and you, the Polish people, for the
warmth of your welcome.
The ties that bind the people of our two countries are special
ones. They are not weakened by the differences between our governments,
nor by the thousands of kilometers that separate us.
In Chicago, in Detroit, in Milwaukee, and in a thousand other
towns and cities across America, millions of Americans of Polish
descent keep the memory of Poland close to their hearts. In their
homes and churches -- in more than 800 Polish Catholic parishes --
Polish traditions and the great legacy of Polish history are passed
down from generation to generation.
Just last week I had the privilege of meeting with His Holiness,
Pope John Paul II, as he concluded his visit to the United States with
a speech to Polish-Americans in Detroit.
He spoke movingly of the great wave of Polish immigrants who came
to America at the turn of this century. He said, and I quote, "they
brought with them no material riches -- but they possessed two great
values: an innate love of the faith and of the Polish spirit." Their
fierce patriotism, their faith, and their sense of family and personal
honor have helped shape the American character.
Everyone recognizes these last few years have been difficult
ones in Poland. We in America have watched and suffered with you.
As you have so often in the past, you have endured with courage,
faith, and determination.
Your patriotism and deep sense of nationhood carried you intact
through more than a century of partition, and gave you strength in
the face of the brutal Nazi occupation.
733 15TH STREET, N.W., SUITE 800, WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005
TELEPHONE: (202) 842-1988
Paid for by George Bush for President
-2-
Oppression and defeat cannot kill the thirst for freedom
within the Polish breast, and the spirit of "Fighting Warsaw" lives
on. "Polak nie sluga. "
In the past three days, I have had candid and useful meetings
with Chairman Jaruzelski, Prime Minister Messner, and other leaders
of your government. We signed an important agreement on cooperation
in science and technology. We agreed on an exchange of Ambassadors.
I also met with Cardinal Glemp, with leaders of independent thought,
and with Lech Walesa and other leaders of Solidarity. Much mutual
suspicion and bitterness remain from the events of December 1981.
But all agree that Poland should be strong and prosperous and
independent and play its proper role as a great nation in the heart
of Europe.
It is not for me to try to tell you what road to take. That is
a matter for Poles themselves to decide. But I can tell you what
has worked in our country and in many other countries. It is respect
for human rights. It is the right to form independent and self-
governing organizations for many purposes, including the protection
of workers' interests. It is an economic system that encourages
people to reach their full potential.
We recognize that initial steps have been taken toward economic
reform and national reconciliation. As you move toward greater
freedom and pluralism, we will seek new ways to be helpful.
People of Poland: Everywhere I have traveled, from the Tomb
of the Unknown Soldier to St. Margaret's Church in Lomianki, to
Father Popieluszko's grave, I have witnessed a spontaneous outpouring
of affection for the United States of America that I will never
forget. Believe me, it is reciprocated. We love you, we respect
you, and you will never be alone. We will be with you.
"Za nasza i wasza wolnosc!"
:€ invoke this cry from Poland's glorious past. Let us look
to the future, and together. Long live Poland.
#
#
#
#
Civil Rights
George Bush for President
CONTACT: Alixe Glen
202/842-1988
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, October 7, 1987
EXCERPTS OF REMARKS FOR
VICE PRESIDENT GEORGE BUSH
ST. ADALBERT'S CATHOLIC CHURCH
PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 7, 1987
Leaders of Polonia, ladies and gentlemen: I am delighted to
me with you today. On Monday the President signed a proclamation
designating October as Polish American Heritage Month -- a time for
all Americans to recognize and rejoice in the many accomplishments
of generations of Polish Americans and to express our pride in our
country S Polish heritage.
As : told the people of Poland on national television, "The
ties that bind the people of our countries are special ones. They
are not weakened by the differences between our governments, nor
by the thousands of kilometers that separate US.
"In Chicago, in Detroit, in Milwaukee, and in a thousand
other towns and cities across America, millions of Americans of
Polish descent keep the memory of Poland close to their hearts.
In their homes and churches -- in more than 800 Polish Catholic
parishes -- Polish traditions and the great legacy of Polish
history are passed down from generation to generation.
Indeed, my official host in Poland, Deputy Chairman
Barcikowski, called Americans of Polish crigin "a living bridge
that links the two nations."
I had candid and useful meetings with General Jaruzelski and
other leaders of the government. We agreed to exchange
ambassadors, to restructure some of Poland's debt, and to
cooperate in science and technology.
I also met with Cardinal Glemp, with leaders of independent
thought, and with Lech Walesa and other leaders of Solidarity.
Much mutual suspicion and bitterness remain from the events of
December 1981, when martial law was imposed. But all wish Poland
to be strong and independent and prosperous and to play its proper
role as a great nation in the heart of Europe.
We have strong differences with the Polish government. But
our objectives should be clear -- to find ways to help the Polish
people, with whom we have such bonds of blood and affection.
2
Our interests converge on the need for improvement in the
Polish economy. Both the government and the people are ready for
change -- change for the better. Economic reform is essential,
and the government knows it.
There may now be an opportunity to open up Polish society as
Gorbachev is doing in the Soviet Union. But Jaruzelski resists
any linkage with economic aid that might make it appear as if the
U.S. is dictating the internal policies of Poland. He is careful
about what he says, forceful and direct in how he says it, and
very tough.
Jaruzelski argued that Poland is engaged not just in small
steps but in courageous movement forward. He promised solutions
stressing political and human rights. But he said that
recognition of Solidarity would be "suicidal."
I told him that genuine economic progress would be impossible
without meaningful movement toward pluralism and national
reconciliation. Whatever steps are taken, they will require the
participation and support of the Polish people if they are to
succeed in revitalizing the economy. And without economic reform
there will be no more assistance from the West.
In my meetings with Walesa, I was struck by his obvious love
of Poland and respect for his fellow Poles, who hold him in such
high regard. He impressed me as a man who is down-to-earth,
politically attuned, and dedicated to his cause. He communicates
compellingly and makes you want to go the extra mile to help.
Solidarity seeks dialogue and compromise and not revolution.
But Walesa forcefully made the point that political reform is
necessary in order for economic reform to work. And he pledged to
continue the struggle until victory.
The leaders of Solidarity are fighting for some of the same
ideals that attracted their forefathers, Casimir Pulaski and
Tadeusz Kosciuszko, to our cause in America more than 200 years
ago -- freedom, equality, and a respect for human dignity.
When I was in Krakow, I went to Wawal Cathedral to lay a
wreath of the tomb of Kosciuszko, the great military engineer
whose statue stands across from my office in the White House. And
next Sunday we will celebrate General Pulaski Memorial Day, in
honor of the gallant cavalry officer who sacrificed his life for
our cause.
In Warsaw I presented busts of our Founding Fathers --
Washington, Jefferson, and Franklin -- to the Royal Castle, which
is slowly and painstakingly being restored from wartime rubble to
its former glory.
3
The values these men argued and fought for found their
greatest legacy in our Constitution, whose 200th birthday we
celebrated here in Philadelphia earlier this year. And the same
noble principles contained in that great document can also be seen
in the provisions of Poland's 3rd of May Constitution of 1791 --
quarantees of liberty, the rule of law, and government by the
people.
Those same values were also the theme of the homily when we
attended mass at St. Margaret's Church in Lomianki. St.
Margaret's, I was told, is one of 1,500 churches being built in
Poland by the people's own hands -- dramatic evidence of their
commitment to their faith.
Father Jan Czerwinski had hung the words "E pluribus unum"
above the altar. He spoke of the "miracle" of the Constitution
and stressed our common commitment to freedom, equality,
democracy, and human rights.
And what a moving mass that was for me, hearing in the
responses of the audience the power and joy of their belief,
seeing in their smiles and tears and the flags they waved how much
hope and strength they yet retain.
The following day Lech Walesa accompanied me to the Warsaw
Church of St. Stanislaw Kostka -- the church where the murdered
priest, Father Jerzy Popieluszko, lived and worked and prayed.
His grave is surrounded by flowers and banners, and the church is
filled with tributes.
On a gray and chilly workday Monday morning, thousands of
people, penned behind barricades and infiltrated by plainclothes
security agents, lined the streets for hours around that modest
church and cheered for Solidarity and Walesa and the USA.
Here is what I said that day: "In Father Popieluszko, the
world lost a courageous fighter for the cause of liberty. But his
sacrifice was not in vain. His example -- like that of the Pope
-- inspires us all -- particularly the people of Poland -- to
fight for the freedom to practice our religion, and to speak,
write, think, and associate as we wish.
"His voice rang like a bell throughout this land, and he must
not be forgotten. Here at the church where he lived, worked, and
prayed, let us pledge to carry on his quest to 'overcome evil with
good.
I met Father Popieluszko's parents there at the church, and
they broke down and cried, moved by this demonstration of respect
shown by the United States.
4
His grave is evidence that Poles are still fighting and dying
for the values in both our constitutions. In the spirit of
Washington and Jefferson and Franklin, in the spirit of Kosciuszko
and Pulaski, in the spirit of Fighting Warsaw, he dedicated his
life -- and ultimately gave it -- to the struggle for freedom and
human dignity.
On Monday night I was allowed the unprecedented opportunity
to address the Polish people for five minutes live on national
television. Let me conclude by quoting a bit of that speech.
"Everyone recognizes these last few years have been difficult
ones in Poland. We in America have watched and suffered with you.
As you have SO often in the past, you have endured with courage,
faith, and determination.
"Your patriotism and deep sense of nationhood carried you
intact through more than a century of partition, and gave you
strength in the face of the brutal Nazi occupation.
"Oppression and defeat cannot kill the thirst for freedom
within the Polish breast, and the spirit of 'Fighting Warsaw'
lives on. 'Polak nie sluga. A Pole is not a serf."
A Solidarity spokesman said it was the first time since
martial law was imposed in 1981 that the names of Lech Walesa and
Solidarity were mentioned on Polish TV in a positive way.
As Vice President, I have been privileged to travel to all
corners of the globe and I have met and seen wonderful people
wherever I have gone. But the men and women of Poland I met last
week have an undying spirit and fierce determination for freedom.
Everywhere I traveled in Poland -- from downtown Warsaw to
Lomianki to the royal city of Krakow -- I witnessed a spontaneous
outpouring of affection for the United States of America that I
will never forget.
The people of Poland are keenly aware of their brothers and
sisters in America. When I asked a crowd how many people had
relatives in the U.S., it seemed as if half the people's hands
went up. I told them, "We love you, we respect you, and you will
never be alone.
Along with cheers of "Long live Lech" and "Long live
Solidarnosc," we also heard cheers of "Long live Reagan" and "Long
live Bush" and "Long live America." I won't embarrass myself by
Poland!" trying it in Polish, but let me just say to you, "Long live
Thank you very much.
####
PRESS RELEASE
THE VICE PRESIDENT
OFFICE OF THE PRESS SECRETARY
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: 202/456-6772
Monday, September 28, 1987
EXCERPTS FROM REMARKS FOR
VICE PRESIDENT GEORGE BUSH
SIGNING OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY AGREEMENT
WARSAW, POLAND
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 1987
Mr. Deputy Chairman and distinguished guests:
It gives me great pleasure to conclude today, on behalf of
my government, this agreement on cooperation in science and
technology.
This important step in the ongoing process of re-engagement
between our two countries comes at a most opportune time. The
international scientific community is faced with unprecedented
challenges of a global nature -- the menace of environmental
deterioration, of nuclear accidents, of terrible diseases such as
AIDS -- and these challenges require even closer collaboration
among scientists and engineers of all nationalities.
At the same time, the scientific prospects grow ever
brighter for technological innovation and more efficient use of
human and natural resources. Through this agreement, we
undertake, in modest but meaningful ways, to face these tasks
together, for the benefit of both our peoples -- with exchanges
and cooperation in such fields as medicine, agriculture, the
environment, energy, transportation, and engineering.
May the Polish-American cooperation which begins here today
do justice to our shared tradition of scientific and technical
excellence. Thank you.
####
WELCOME TO POLAND
AMERICAN EMBASSY
WARSAW
UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT
memorandum
DATE:
June 6, 1989
REPLY TO
ATTN OF:
B&F, A1 Erlandsen
or
SUBJECT: Accomodation Exchange
TO: Pre-Advance Team Members
The Embassy Cashier will be available for accomodation exchange as follows:
Tuesday, June 6 7 - 9p.m. at the Control Room Hotel Sejmowy
Wednesday, June 7 7 - 8 a.m. at the Embassy Cafeteria during breakfast
Thursday, June 8 6:30 - 7:30 a.m. at the Control Room
Normal Cashier hours at the Embassy are as follows:
Monday, Wednesday, Friday 9a.m. - noon and 1 p.m. - 2:30
Tuesday 1 - 3 p.m Thursday - closed.
OPTIONAL FORM NO. 10
(Rev. 1-80)
GSA FPMR (41 CFR) 101-11.6
5010-113
US EMB-GSO
WARSAW
7104A
SUBJECT: Presidential Visit
1989 JUN 06 12 : 08
REF: Administrative Guidelines for Post in Preparation for Presidential Visit
President's Program/Schedule:
CHRG/Darryl N. Johnson, ext. 203,
residence telephone number: 15 46 34.
Mrs. Bush Control officer:
Phyllis S.F. villegoureix-Ritaud, ext. 329,
home telephone number: 15 25 86
Alice Le Maistre, ext. 313,
home telephone number: 43 13 84.
Secretary Baker's Control Officer:
POL/Terry Snell, ext. 206,
home telephone number: 44 71 54.
Secretary Brady's Control Officer:
ECON/Eugenia Mills, ext. 253,
home telephone number: 47 12 08.
Mr. Riley's Control Officer:
SCI/Gary Waxomnsky, ext. 331,
home telephone number: 15 47 56.
Mr. Skowcroft's Control Officer:
ECON/Howard Lange, ext. 250,
home telephone number: 45 58 63.
Mr. Gelb's Control Officer:
P&C/William Duffy, ext. 316,
home telephone number: 45 03 25.
Mr. Sununu's Control Officer:
CON/Helen La Lime, ext. 344,
home telephone number: 22 08 94.
Security:
RSO/Tom Comiskey, ext. 261,
home telephone number: 42 65 71.
ARSO/AGSO/Michael Mack, ext. 261/282,
home telephone number: 33 74 28.
Transportation and Baggage:
SGSO/Jeannette P. Dubrow, ext. 282,
home telephone number: 45 01 04.
GSO/Patrick Villegoureix-Ritaud, ext. 281,
home telephone number: 15 25 86.
AGSO/ARSO/Michael Mack, ext. 261/282,
home telephone number: 33 74 28.
Communications:
CPU/Raymond Silva, ext. 228,
home telephone number: 42 24 80.
CPU/Romona Shipp, ext. 229,
home telephone number: 28 98 69.
Accommodations:
SGSO/Jeannette P. Dubrow, ext. 282,
home telephone number: 45 01 04.
PER/Kathy Johnson, ext. 263,
home telephone number: 15 33 84.
The Secretary's Program/Schedule, s/s liaison:
POL/Terry Snell, ext. 206,
home telephone number: 44 71 54.
Protocol:
POL/Dorothy Delahanty, ext. 217,
home telephone number: 22 07 25.
Gifts:
CON/Thomas Gibbons, ext. 306,
home telephone number: 42 59 70.
Visitor's Control Room:
PER/Kathy Johnson, ext. 263,
home telephone number: 15 33 84.
Military Liaison for Air Force Helicopter Advance:
DAO/Col. Dennis Monroe, ext. 237,
home telephone number: 12 11 55.
DAO/Thomas Snodgrass, ext. 238,
home telephone number: 44 89 84.
Medical Liaison:
ADM/Joan Dodman, ext. 247,
home telephone number: 12 09 65.
Thank You Letters for Host Government:
POL/Sheila Berry, ext. 216,
home telephone number: 44 60 79.
Thank You Letters for Embassy Staff, Host Country Nationals:
PER/Kathy Johnson, ext. 263,
home telephone number: 15 33 84.
Arrival Ceremony:
POL/Dorothy Delahnty, ext. 217,
home telephone number: 22 07 25.
Motorcades:
GSO/Patrick Villegoureix-Ritaud, ext. 282,
home telephone number: 15 25 86.
Guest House:
BFO/A1 Erlandsen, ext. 293,
home telephone number: 15 44 92.
Tomb of Unknown Soldier:
DAO/Col. Monroe, ext. 237,
home telephone number: 12 11 55.
Meeting with General Jaruzelski:
POL/Ed Gotchef, ext. 220,
home telephone number: 42 02 72.
Lunch at Residence:
SCI/Gary Waxmonsky, ext. 331,
home telephone number: 15 47 56.
National Assembly Speech:
POL/Terry Snell, ext. 206,
home telephone number: 44 71 54.
Embassy Meet and Greet:
CON/Debra Heien, ext. 325,
home telephone number: 44 98 48.
Meeting with Prime Minister:
ECON/Howard Lange, ext. 250,
home telephone number: 45 58 63.
State Dinner:
CON/Michael Dodman, ext. 306,
home telephone number: 12 09 65.
Meeting with U.S. Business Reps:
TDC/Edgar Fulton, ext. 211,
home telephone number: 43 91 15.
Airport Departure:
DAO/Col. Snodgrass, ext. 238,
home telephone number: 44 89 84.
Gdansk Arrival:
DAO/Col. Snodgrass, ext. 238,
home telephone number: 44 89 84.
Westerplatte:
POL/Ronal Czarnetzky, ext. 218,
home telephone number: 44 17 69.
Boad Ride:
ECON/Allen Greenberg, ext. 253,
home telephone number: 44 60 70.
Solidarity Office:
Janet Weber
Workers' Monument:
Bruce Donahue
Walesa's Lunch:
POL/John Boris, ext. 207,
home telephone number: 47 22 43.
Bishop G./Oliva Church:
POL/Sheila Berry, ext. 216,
home telephone number: 44 60 79.
Gdansk Departure:
DAO/col. Snodgrass, ext. 238,
home telephone number: 44 89 84.
Control Officer in Gdansk:
POL/John Boris, ext. 207,
home telephone number: 47 22 43.
Site Officers in Gdansk:
AGSO/ARSO/Michael Mack, ext. 282/261,
home telephone number: 33 74 28.
ECON/John Spilsbury, ext. 252,
home telephone number: 45 22 45.
Airport Coordination:
DAO/col. Snodgrass, ext. 238,
home telephone number: 44 89 84.
Press:
PAO/Stephen Dubrow, ext. 301,
home telephone number: 45 01 04.
P&C/Hugh Hara, ext. 310,
Home telephone number: 12 03 82.
P&C/Gregory Garland, ext. 311,
home telephone number: 44 09 58.
Control Rooms:
PER/Kathy Johnson, ext. 263,
home telephone number: 15 33 84.
EMBASSY OF THE
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
COUNTRY TEAM, U.S. MISSION IN POLAND
John R. Davis, Jr.
Ambassador
Ext. 201
Darryl N. Johnson
Deputy Chief of Mission
Ext. 203
Stephen M. Dubrow
Counselor for Press and
Ext. 301
Cultural Affairs
Howard H. Lange
Counselor for Economic Affairs
Ext. 250
Phyllis Villegoureix-
Ritaud
Counselor for Consular Affairs
Ext. 329
Terry R. Snell
Counselor for Political Affairs
Ext. 206
Col. Dennis G. Monroe
Defense and Army Attache
Ext. 237
Gary R. Waxmonsky
Scientific and Technological
Ext. 332
Attache
Mark J. Lijek
Administrative Officer
Ext. 258
Thomas J. Comiskey
Regional Security Officer
Ext. 261
Edgar D. Fulton, Jr.
Commercial Attache
Ext. 211
John W. Harrison
Agricultural Attache
Ext. 321
Michael T. Barry
Principal Officer
American Consulate General, Krakow
Peter S. Perenyi
Principal Officer,
American Consulate, Poznan
PER:1/89:0670P
DAVIS,
LEMAISTRE, Alice
313
Commissary
276
ALBRIGHT, Robert
255
LIJEK, Mark
258
Bookkeeper
277
BARBOUR, Kirol R.
228/229
MACK, Michael
282/261
Community Services
245
BERRY, Sheila
216
MARSHALL, Barbara
218
Cashier
279
BORIS, John J.
207
MARSHALL, Edwin F.
361
Consulates
BOYER, Dorothy
253
MARTINEZ, Sylvie
324
Krakow
0-12-229764
BURDEN, Ruth
331/263
MILLS, Gena
253
Lib
0-12-226040
BURDEN, William M.
244
MONROE, Dennis G.
237
Visa
0-12-221400
COMISKEY, Tamara G. 329/344
MORGRET, Irene
333
P&C
0-12-227793
COMISKEY, Tom
261
MORGRET, Peter M.
306/319
Poznan
0-61-529586
CORWIN, Elizabeth A.
349
NEVERA, Ivonna
202
Cons
0-61-529587
COURON, Troy
255
NICHOLS, Karl
255
P&C
0-61-529874
CZARNETZKY, Ronald
218
PERRET, David G.
262
DILLINGHAM
346
DEAN, Earl B.
255
POE, Mona
204
Dispatcher
357
DELAHANTY, Deidi
217
POE, Edward
348
Embassy Residence
350
DODMAN, Joan
247
PUSZCZEWICZ, Mary Lou
261
Flag Room
219/303
DODMAN, Michael
319/306
RICK, DeLores
308
FBO
256/231
DOGGETT, Laurence L.
262
RUGNETTA, Rocco
256/231
Garage
358
DOGGETT, Marta
245
SANTILENA, Paul
255
GSO
282
DUBROW, Jeannette P.
282
SANTOS, Eleanor
210/206
ISC(WPC)
333/336
DUBROW, Stephen M.
301
SCHAFFER, Douglas
255
Language Room
291
DUFFY, II, William W.
316
SHIPP, Mack
277
Library
317
DUFFY, Jennifer
245
SHIPP, Romona
228/229
Mail Room
348
DYMCZENSKI, Mark S.
244
SHORT, Thomas
255
Maintenance 271 - 274
EALY, Julie
302/360
SIERER, C. Dianne
344/329
MED-Emb Health Un. 247
EASON, Robert M.
361
SIERER, Edward
361
British Clinic 281001
ENGEL, David
237
SILVA, Mary Ann T.
331/332
MSG
Post 1
255
ENGEL, Kae
238
SILVA, Raymond E.
228/229
Post 2
254
ERLANDSEN, A1
293
SNELL, Terry
206
Post 3
251
ERLANDSEN, Susan
333
SNODGRASS, Thomas E.
238
House
225
FULTON, Jr., Edgar D.
211
SPILSBURY, John
252
Bar
226
GARLAND, Gregory L.
311
THOMPSON, Katharine
218
Nursery School
295010
GIBBONS, Thomas B.
319/306
VARACALLE, Richard W.
255
Personnel Staff
278
GOTCHEF, Edward J.
220
VILLEGOUREIX, Patrick
281
Piekna Entr. Guard 270
GREENBERG, Allen
253
VILLEGOUREIX, Phyllis
329
P. News Bulletin
241
GREGGS, Kurt B.
255
WAXMONSKY, Gary
331/332
P&C First Floor
360
GUERRERO, Mark
255
WILMORE, Jeri
237
Receptionist
300
HARA, Hugh
310
WILMORE, Kirk
238
Shipping
283
HARRISON, John W.
321
Supply Room
342/352
HEIEN, Debra
325
USEFUL NUMBERS
Switchboard
339
HENRY, Mitchell L.
257
American Club
212
TDC
211/214515
HENRY, Nancy
261
Kitchen
295
Travel
284
JOHNSON, Darryl N.
203
Reservations
289972
Typewriter Repair
345
JOHNSON, Kathy
263
American School
423952
Video Room
235
LA LIME, Helen
344
B&F
293
LANGE, Howard H.
250
Cafeteria
221
Dial "0" for Embassy
Operator
DISTRIBUTION: "A", PER:20, TDC:4, RS0:3, CPU:4, P&C:20, CONS:18, SCI:3
B&F:7. AGRIC:4. ACA:10 PLEASE ADVISE PER OF CHANGES
EMBASSY FUNCTIONAL DIRECTORY
Ambassador
John R. Davis, Jr.
Ext. 201
Deputy Chief of Mission
Darryl N. Johnson
203
Secretary to the Ambassador
Ivonna Nevera
202
Secretary to the DCM
Mona Poe
204
Political Section
Political Counselor
Terry Snell
206
Political Officers
John J. Boris
207
Dorothy Delahanty
217
Sheila Berry
216
Ronald Czarnetzky
218
Political Secretaries
Eleanor Santos
210/206
Katharine Thompson
218
Administrative Assistant
Barbara Marshall
218
Economic Section
Economic Counselor
Howard Lange
250
Economic Officers
John Spilsbury
252
Gena Mills
253
Allen Greenberg
253
Economic Secretary
Dorothy M. Boyer
253
Consular Section
Consul General
Phyllis Villegoureix-Ritaud
329
Consular Officers
Helen R.M. La Lime
344
Sylvie L. Martinez
324
Thomas Gibbons
319/306
Debra Heien
325
Peter Morgret
306/319
Michael Dodman
319/306
Consular Secretary
Tamara Comiskey
329/344
Visa Assistant
C. Dianne Sierer
329/344
Science Office
Attache for Scientific
& Technological Affairs
Gary Waxmonsky
332/331
Science Secretary
Mary Ann Silva
332/331
- 2 -
Administrative Section
Administrative Officer
Mark J. Lijek
258
Regional Security Officer
Thomas J. Comiskey
261
ARSO
Michael Mack
261
Security Engineering Officer
Layrence L. Doggett
262
Seabee
David Perret
262
Administrative Secretary
Mary Lou Puszczewicz
258/261
Security Secretary
Nancy J. Henry
261
Communications Program Officer
Raymond E. Silva
228/229
Support Communications Officer
Kirol Barbour
229/228
Support Communications Officer
Romona Shipp
229/228
Telecommunications Officer
Edwin Marshall
361
Telecommunications Officer
Edward M. Sierer
361
Telecommunications Officer
Robert M. Eason
361
S.General Services Officer
Jeannett P. Dubrow
282
General Services Officer
Patrick Villegoureix-Ritaud
281
AGSO
Michael Mack
282
Budget & Fiscal Officer
AL Erlandsen
293
Personnel Officer
Kathy A. Johsnon
263
Office Information Systems
Manager
Susan M. Erlandsen
333
OIS Operator
Irene Morgret
333
Embassy Nurse, Health Unit
Joan Dodman
247
Community Services Officers
Jennifer Duffy
245
Marta Doggett
245
MSG Detachment Commander
Mitchell Henry
257
Marine Security Guards:
Troy R. Couron
255
Earl B. Dean
255
Kurt Greggs
255
Mark Guerrero
255
Karl E. Nichols
255
Gregory Peterman
255
Kerry D. Phillips
255
Mark Radcliff
255
Douglas G. Schaffer
255
Thomas G. Short
255
Richard Varacalle
255
- 3 -
Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS)
Agricultural Attache
John W. Harrison
321
Secretary
Priscilla Dymczenski
328
Trade Development Section (TDC)
Commercial Attache
Edgar D. Fulton, Jr.
211
Defense Attache Office (DAO)
Defense Attache
Colonel Dennis Monroe
237
Air Attache
Colonel Edward Snodgrass
238
Operations Coordinator
Kirk Wilmore
238
Attache Specialist
David Engel
237
Operations Support Officers
Mark Dymczenski
244
William Burden
244
Administrative Assistant
Kae Engel
238
Research Technician
Jeri Wilmore
237
Press & Culture Section (P&C)
Counselor for Press & Cultural
Affairs
Stephen M. Dubrow
301
Information Officer
Hugh H. Hara
310
Assistant Information Officer
Gregory Garland
311
Cultural Affairs Officer
Alice LeMaistre
313
Assistant Cultural Affairs
Officer
Elizabeth Corwin
349
Executive Officer
William W. Duffy, II
316
English Teaching Officer
DeLores Rick
308
Executive Secretary
Vanessa Silva
302/360
AMERICAN COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION (ACA)
ACA Manager
Mack Shipp
277
0214P:1/25/88
DISTRIBUTION: "A"
USEFUL EXPRESSIONS
HOTEL
I'd like:
Proszę
Is there:
Czy jest
What's the price?
Ile kosztuje?
It's too cold/hot/dark/small/noisy
Jest za zimny/gorqcy/ciemny/maty/halasliwy
That's fine
Dobrze
Sign here, please
Proszę tu podpisac
Please ask the chambermaid to come up
Proszę poprosić pokojową
Who is it?
Kto tam?
Just a minute
Chwileczke
Come in!
Prosze!
Manager
Kierownik
I'd like to talk with the manager
Chcialbym rozmawiać z kierownikiem
Two coffees/a sandwich/some soda water
Dwie kawy/kanapke/wode sodoway
Can we have breakfast in our room?
Czy mozemy zjesc sniadanie W pokoju?
Extra blanket
Dodatkowy koc
More hangers
Więcej wieszakow
Needle and thread
Igłę i nitke
Hairdresser's
Fryzjer
Operator, I've been cut off
Prosze pani, przerwano mi
Can you get us a taxi?
Czy moze pan/pani sprowadzic nam taksowke?
Would you send someone to bring down our baggage?
Czy moze pan/pani pos&ać kogos aby znióss nam bagaze?
RESTAURANT
Breakfast:
Sniadanie
Dinner:
Kolacja
Meals:
Posikki
Ice
Lód
Where's the:
Gdzie jest
Bathroom
Lazienka
Cocktail lounge
Barek
Restaurant
Restauracja
Bacon and eggs
Jajka na bekonie
Fried
Smazone
Scrambled
Jajecznica
Desser
Deser
Appetizers
Zakaski
Soup
Zupa
Entrec
Glówne danie
Coffe/tea/milk/wine/beer/mineral water
Kawa/herbata/mleko/wino/piwo/woda mineralna
Bread
Chleb
Salad
Salatka
Fruit juice:
Sok:
Grapefruit/orange/pineapple/tomato
Grejpfrutowy/pomarafczowy/ananasowy/pomidorowy
Ham
Szynka
Sausages
Parowki
Keep the change
Reszty nie trzeba
Bring me another:
Prosze jeszcze jedna:
The check, please
Proszę 0 rachunek
A list of helpful phrases for dispatching vehicles in Polish follows:
(point to the appropriate phrase for the driver)
VEHICLES
Pick me up:
Zabierz mnie z:
Tomorrow morning, be at the hotel at:
Jutro rano badz W hotelu o:
Take me to:
Zabierz mnie do:
Wait for me:
Czekaj na mnie:
Please:
Proszę
Thank you:
Dziekuje:
Please wait for me in the lower parking lot
Proszę czekać na mnie na dolnym parkingu
I will contact the dispatcher on extension 358 when I need the car again
Skontaktuje sie z dyspozytorem pod wewnetrznym 358 jesli bedzie mi potrzebny
znowu samochod
You are dismissed for the evening
Jestes zwolniony na wieczór
SITE VISITS
Could you please show me:
Czy pan/pani mogłby/mogłaby pokazać mi
Where is the:
Gdzie jest
How far is it to:
Jak daleko jest do:
What time is it:
Która jest godzina
Document 0698P
GENERAL INFORMATION FOR AMERICAN VISITORS TO POLAND
1. VISAS: Your Polish visa is valid for a specified length of time.
If you wish to remain Longer, be sure to apply to have your visa
extended at the local Milicja Kommenda (Police Headquarters) or at the
Passport Office in Warsaw. You will not be permitted to leave Poland
if your visa has expired even if you have a plane reservation.
2. CURRENCY RESTRICTIONS: When you arrive in Poland, you received a
form on which to keep track of your currency transactions. You will
not be permitted to leave Poland with more hard currency than you had
when you arrived. Should you have more hard currency when you are
ready to depart from Poland than you had on your arrival, the overage
may be confiscated and you may be fined an additional amount. Keep the
record you are given of any exchange you make of dollars for Polish
currency. Should you receive additional funds by bank transfer after
your arrival, keep the record of that transaction as well.
3. EXPORT RESTRICTIONS: Many items may not be exported from Poland or
may be exported only by obtaining an export license and paying a 100%
ad valorem duty. These items include objects containing precious
metals or gems, furs, textiles, paintings by artists who are no longer
Living and, any object, especially art works or books, which was
manufactured or made before 1945. ALL such items are subject to
confiscation should you attempt to remove them without official
permission. Keep the receipts for anything you purchase.
4. PROHIBITED AREAS: Entry into those areas of Poland adjacent to its
borders and coasts is prohibited except with permission from the
Milicja. This prohibition does not include entry for the purpose of
entering or leaving the country.
5. ARRESTS: If you should be detained or arrested by the Polish
police for any reason, you should request that the nearest American
Consul be informed at once. The consular convention between the United
States and Poland requires that the arresting or detaining authorities
notify the Consul within three days, upon request of the detained or
arrested person.
If you note and heed the above-mentioned restrictions, and in general
exercise reasonable prudence during your visit to Poland, you should
experience no difficulties. The American Embassy at Warsaw and the
American Consulates at Krakow and Poznan are ready to help you if,
despite your precautions, some serious problem does arise during your
stay in Poland. Our resources, however, are limited. We cannot
provide you with the services of a travel agency, bank, post office,
telecommunications agency or other similar public facility.
PER:06/06/89 1400 document 1546P
PRE-ADVANCE TEAM VISIT INFORMATION
1. TELEPHONE
A. INCOMING CALLS: The Duty Officer will take telephone messages for members
of the delegation and assure that they are delivered promptly. In receiving
an incoming call, the Duty Officer is unable to commit delegate members to
returning the long-distance call at a set time. It is very difficult to
making a long-distance call from Warsaw. Whenever possible, try to get the
caller to call again at a specific time.
B. OUTGOING CALLS: ALL official long-distance calls must be placed through
the Embassy switchboard. No long-distance calls can be placed from the
hotel. The Duty Officer may place the call for the delegate with the Embassy
switchboard operator; it is essential to specify which delegate is making the
call and to confirm that it is an official (not a personal) call.
The International Operator number is 25-92-51. Before leaving the Control
Room for the evening, be sure to cancel any outstanding request for a call.
3. MEDICAL INFORMATION
Dr. Arnison-Newgass will be in town through Wednesday and has been alerted to
the presence of the Delegation. British Embassy Nurse, Jean Bowskill is also
available. In the event a delegation member requires medical assistance,
please ask the Control Room Duty Officer to contact Dr. Arnison-Newgass or
Nurse Dodman. If they are unsuccessful in reaching either of them, the duty
officer will consult with the Visit Control Officer (DCM) before electing to
use Polish Emergency Services, except in cases so extreme that delay is not
acceptable.
Dr. Arnison-Newgass: British Embassy Medical Center
Home: Zawrat 13
British Embassy, AL. Roz 1
TEL: 43-05-62
TEL: 28-10-01
Nurse Jean Bowskill
Same as above
tel. 28-10-01
Nurse Joan Dodman, RN American Embassy
Home: Kosynierow 17
Tel. 28-30-41
12-09-65
ext. 247
Money
B&F will provide a courtesy accommodation exchange at designated times. The
BFO Cashier will be present at designated periods both in the Control Room and
at the Embassy Cafeteria to provide accommodation. exchange services.
Hospitality Room (provided by ACA)
ACA has provided drinks, case lots of bottled water, coffee, and tea. The
Hospitality Room will be open as follows:
Tuesday, June 6 - 2 p.m. until midnight
Wednesday, June 7 - 9 a.m. to midnight.
If the control room closes down earlier, the Hospitality Room will also close.
Coffee and soft drinks are available for members of the delegation. ALL
delegation members are expected to pay for items consumed. Prices will be
posted. Payment should be made to the ACA staff member.
Reception Desk extension 2113.
MEALS
The Hotel Sejmowy has a restaurant in a separate building (please refer to
diagram of area) which is open 24 hrs.
The Eagle Club at the Embassy is open for Lunch and dinner as follows:
Monday - 5 - 10 p.m. (bar and snacks only)
Tuesday - Friday - noon - 3 p.m. Lunch
5 p.m. - 10 p.m. dinner
(Friday till 11 pm.)
Saturday & Sunday noon - 10 p.m.
The Embassy cafeteria will be open for breakfast as follows:
Monday - Friday - 7 - 9 a.m.
A list of Local restaurants is included in each welcome kit.
A bus will depart the Hotel Sejmowy at 6:45 a.m. on Wednesday for the Embassy
for those who wish to have an early breakfast.
Payment at the Eagle Club is in dollars. Payment at the Embassy cafeteria is
in zlotys only. In addition to zlotys, most local restaurants will accept
credit cards.
CLASSIFIED TRAFFIC
A classified work area is available at the Embassy in the flag room on the
first floor. Please consult the Duty Officer for further information.
NOTE: TYPEWRITERS IN THE CONTROL ROOM ARE UNCLASSIFIED MACHINES. NO
CLASSIFIED MATERIALS SHOULD BE PREPARED ON THESE TYPEWRITERS.
TRANSPORTATION
Our vehicles are in very short supply. Please ask the Duty Officer to contact
the dispatcher at the Embassy if a car is needed on an urgent basis.
Individual team members can also call a radio taxi (dial 919) or walk to the
Embassy.
AFTER HOURS CONSULAR ASSISTANCE
LOST AMERICAN PASSPORT
In general, the Embassy will not issue a tourist passport on weekends or on
Polish holidays Except in extreme emergency situations; American citizens
desiring passport services should be asked to appear at the Embassy during
normal working hours. However, it must be emphasized that in order to depart
Poland, an American citizen who lost his passport must obtain a new Polish
visa. The Polish passport office which issues visas to foreigners does not
operate on weekends or on Polish holidays. In Warsaw this function is handled
at ul Okrzei 13, Praga, which has office hours from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.,
Monday through Friday.
An American who has lost his passport should take the following steps:
1. Report the loss to the local Polish police headquarters.
add
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In Warsaw, the loss should be reported to the local District police
station (Dzielnicowy Urzad Spraw Wewnetrznych) The station nearest
the Embassy is located ataul Wilcza 23
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2. Obtain a certificate from the police indicating the loss.IV TRINUOT
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3. Have three photos 5 cm X35 cm (slightly larger sizessably be Jquas
acceptable). Reliable photo service may be obtained at Wilcza 46.
4
Be prepared to pay a feesin the amount of 42 U.S dollars or the zloty
equivalent.
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5. Bring to the Embassy (a) any identification indicating U.S.I svad
citizenship, or (b) an American citizen who can support the person's
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HOUSING AND HOTELS
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AS-A2-9S
Should American citizens inquire about very inexpensive yet comfortable
accomodations, they can be directed to the following locations ns
11
STUDENT HOSTELS:
Warsaw, ul. Smolna 30; phone 27-89-52 a
Warsaw, ul. Karolkowa 53; phone 32-88-29
304473132A
JAISMANIT
CHEAP TEMPORARY HOUSING: Hotel Nowa Praga Warszawa, ul Bertolda Brechta 7;
phone
19-50-01
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drive
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Jisogeb
SYRENA Travel Agency ul. Krucza 17 phone 25-72-01,
02, 03, has addresses of private apartments 16101
Warsaw.
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SOMATHISEA NAJUSHOO BRUCH ЯНТЧА
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INDISSAS VADIABIA TROJ
CUSTOMSBDIFFICULTIES
for
el
Many American citizens have experienced problems when departing Polandabyo
trying Stonexportedtems subject to Polish export restrictions. (This
3
particularly true coats as well gold and objects.) Should
such items be confiscated at theatime of an existing customs inspection, for
example, at>the<Varsaw Airport, the #ravelerimay miss-his flight or be saiv
otherwise detained. Unfortunately, the Main Customs House which reviews such
cases, is closed on weekends and on Polish-holidays, Thus, the Embassy is.
unable to obtain any accurate information to assist travelers until the
Customs House opens. American citizens who have been delayed in departing
Poland due to custom? difficulties should be asked to appear at the Embassy's
Consular Section at the first opportunity during normal business hours.
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The loss of a currency declaration should be reported promptly to the Main
Customs Office (Glowny Urzad Cel) U1. Siwetokrzyska: 12, telephone:- 20-03-11,
ext 769 for issuance of permission to export foreign currency well as
other valuables brought legallysinte/Polanda (Withoutes declaration,
U.S. travelers will experience difficulties when trying to depart Poland.
TOURIST VISAS add patiscipal saling eds most B stand0 .5
The Embassy does not issue non-immigrant visas during weekends and holidays
except 4n difersating, bumanitarian) situations. endoriq 93333 9v3ll .E
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MEDICAL EMERGENCIES
The Embassy dõesbnot have resident physician to deal,with the medical
problems of American citizens temporarily in Poland. Furthermore, the British
physician who provides medical services to American Embassy staff does not
have personalancess to local medical It is the discretion of
a Embassy $: Duty Officer to advise the British Embassy Dispensary about
emergency cases. In most medical emergencies, Americans request
assistance by telephoning the First Aid Station at ul. Hoza 56, telephone no.
28-24-24, or 999.
2J3TOH OKA OMEGON
sideraction 13V eviamequent YTSV 30036 strupat ensable assissma blood?
If an American temporarilydate hotelyneeds medical attention here
should request the assistance of the hotel's duty physician through the
hotel's reception :OE salome .In WBBJBW
: CUSTROH TREQUITE
es-88-98 enodg 112 swolloted .In ,WSBISW
FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE
In case of financial difficulties an American who needsgfunds should
telephone or telegraph his family ordfriends U.S. and request them to
deposit funds with the American Department of State. Telegrams can be sent
from the Main Post. Office Barbary which is open 24 hours daily. The
following instructions ,EO .00
.wearsW
Please telegraph the funds and instructions via Western Union to:
CITIZENS EMERGENCY CENTER (CA/OCS/EMR)
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20520
Include in this message that funds should be sent to the individual c/o
American Embassy, Warsaw, Poland. Make the Western Union telegraphic money
order payable to the U.S. Department of State. The telephone number for the
Emergency Center is: (202) 647-5225 or 1512. The Embassy will transmit
telegrams to the U.S. on weekends and holidays only in compelling emergency
situations.
GOING-OUT KIND OF PLACES
DISCOS
1. The Interpark Disco (the park)
Hours: Open until 10 p.m. Reopens at 1] p.m. until 3a.m. on weekends,
a.m. weekdays.
located in a park off al. Niepodleglosci
Big with college crowd, but others as well
videos
(probably the nicest disco in town)
2. Remont
Hours same format as #] above
Located on Armii Ludowej
Similar to the Park described above
3. Rusalka
Hours: Open until 6 in the morning on weekends
Located on Wybrzeze Helskie, on the other side of the Wisla River (rigl
on it ) Across from the ZOO in Praga
Bit of a rougher joint may want a dollar to let peaple in
NIGHT CLUBS
4. Kongresowa
Hours show starts at ]0 p.m. should be seated by nine; Open until 3 a.n
Located in the Palace of Culture across from train station
Restaurant and dancing as well as "camp" floorshow
Great atmosphere
Good time in a large group
*reservations required*
5. Czarny Kot (black cat)
Hours: ]0 p.m. until 2 or3 a.m.
Located in the Victoria Hotel
Must *dress*
Live music, dancing and floorshow
6. Akwarium (Jazz Club)
Hours : Show begins at 8 p.m. and 10:30 p.m.
Located on Emilii Plater 49, behind the Palace of Culture
(on the side of the street of the train station)
Restaurant *Reservations* downstairs as well as in the club itself (meat and potatoes)
7. Knmieniolomy (Europejski Hotel)
Hours: Show begins at midnight
Located in Europejski Hctel on Krakowskie Przedmiescie 13 (enter around
corner)
Must "dress"
restaurant, sometimes live music, dancing and floorshow
8. Krokodyl Restaurant
Hours: 1 p.m. to 1 a.m.
Located in Old Town Square; tel. 31-44-27
Floorshow: sometimes
Live Band: 8:30 p.m.
Food: Quite All right
Attosphere: Like a wine cellar, beatnik
CAFES
5. Petit Trianon
Hours: 1 p.m. to Midnight, Telephone: 31-73-13
Located on Piwna in Old Town (Off open square across from Royal Castle)
Good French food
Tiny Place (tables the size of postage stamps)
*Reservations*
10. Swietoszek (The Klub)
Hours: 1 p.m. until ? Telephone: 31-56-34
Located in Old Town - Jezuicka 6/8 (at back of Royal Castle, last street)
keep an eye out for sign above door
Delicious Food (smoked salmon, and caviar blini recommended)
Americanized, but not quite, atmosphere
Nice place
*Reservations advisable at night*
Boat Trip on the Wisla River
It is possible every day during during summer and early fall on the following
hours to take a boat trip on the Wisla River: 9:30, 11:00, 12:30, 14:30,
16:00, 17.30
The ticket costs 210 zloties. The boat will depart if there are a minimum of
20 passengers. They have difficulty getting the required number of passengers
during the week. However Saturday and Sundays are normally well attended.
Call 28-05-26 for reservations.
invistairs
as
"Reservations
DIPLOMATIC LICENSE PLATE PREFIXES
01 - USA
22 - Equador
43 - Venezuela
02 - GB
23 - Finland
03 - France
44 - Uruguay
24 - Spain
45 - Peru
04 - Canada
25 - Iraq
46 - Gabon
05 - German
26 - Iran
06 - Holland
47 - Malaysia
27 - India
48 - Zaire
07 - Italy
28 -, - Indonesia
49 - UN
08 - Austria
29 - Columbia
65 - USSR
09 - Japan
30 - Costa Rica
66 - GDR
10 - Turkey
31 - Libya
67 - Czechoslovakia
11 - Belgium
32 - Morocco
12 - Denmark
68 - Bulgaria
33 - Mexico
13 - Norway
69 - Hungary
34 - Nigeria
70 - Romania
14 - Greece
35 - Pakistan
71 - Vietnam
15 - Australia
36 - Portugal
16 - Algeria
72 - Yugoslavia
37 - PLO
73 - North Korea
17 - Afghanistan
38 - Syria
74 - Cuba
18 - Argentina
39 - Sweden
75 - Albania
19 - Brazil
40 - Switzerland
76 - PRC
20 - Bangladesh
41 - Tunisia
21 - Egypt
77 - Mongolian People's
42 - Thailand
Republic
INFORMATION
FOR
VISITORS
HELPFUL HINTS FOR VISITORS TO WARSAW
PLEASE READ THE INFORMATION PROVIDED IN THE WELCOME PACKET. IT CONTAINS:
1. List of Restaurants
2. Map
3. Shopping and Sightseeing in Warsaw
IF YOU ARE STAYING AT THE VICTORIA HOTEL AND WANT TO WALK TO OLD TOWN -
AN EASY TEN MINUTE STROLL:
Leave the lobby of the hotel, turn to right and walk one block plus to the
main street, KRAKOWSKIE PRZEDMIESCIE. Turn left. Continue on Krakowskie
Przedmiescie about four blocks until you see an open square on your right. In
the center is a statue on a tall column and the red-colored Royal Castle. The
Historic Old Town Square is two blocks away down Piwna or Swietojanska.
HERE ARE SOME POPULAR AND CONVENIENT RESTAURANTS. THE RECEPTION DESK AT THE
HOTEL SHOULD BE ABLE TO MAKE NECESSARY RESERVATIONS. (REQUIRED BY MOST
RESTAURANTS)
1. Staropolska
Krakowskie Przedmiescie 8
(on your way to Old Town on
the right hand side)
Tel. 26-90-70
2. Bazyliszek
Old Town Square 7/9
Tel. 31-18-41
3. Kamienne Schodki
Old Town square 26 (Roast duck ONLY)
Tel. 31-08-22
4. Krokodyl
Old Town Square
Tel. 31-44-27
5. Swietoszek Club
Jezuicka (off Old Town Square).
Tel. 31-56-34
6.
Wilanow (You will need a taxi or car for this one, but it is
worth it!)
Wiertnicza 27, near Wilanow Palace
Tel. 42-18-52
7. Kuznia Krolewska (Also need a car or taxi)
Wiertnicza 2 at Wilanow
Tel. 42-31-71
1
SHOPS OF INTEREST
CRYSTAL AND GLASS
1. Pulawska, pavilion no. 6 opposite Dolna intersection and St. Michael's
2. Piekna, first floor
3. Old Town Square, at Swietojanska corner
4. Freta and Nowomiejska off of Old Town Square
SILVER
1. ORNO, Marszalkowska 83
2. ORNO, Nowy Swiat 52
3. Cepelia stores
GIFTS
Cepelia Shops:
Pulawska 54/56
Plac Konstytucji 5 and 2 (both two floors)
Marszalkowska 99/101 (across from the Forum Hotel)
Old Town Square 8/10 (two floors)
Nowy Swiat 29, 34, 35, 64
LINENS
1. Cepelia stores (see GIFTS)
2. Polski Len, Marszalkowska 140
3. Ziemia Bialostocka, Al. Ujazdowskie 22
4. Len Sklep, Szpitalna 81
LEATHER
1. Hoza 33
2. Galanteria Skorzana, Al. Jerozolimskie 29 & Pulawska 53
3. Koszykowa 58
4. Andrzej Kloda, Krakowskie Przedmiescie 18
2
GOING-OUT KIND OF PLACES
DISCOS
1. The Interpark Disco (the Park)
Hours: Open until 10 p.m. Reopens at 11 p.m. until 3 a.m. on weekends, 2
a.m. weekdays
Located in a park off Al. Niepodleglosci
Big with college crowd, but others as well
videos
(probably the nicest disco in town)
2. Remont
Hours: Same format as #1 above
Located on Armii Ludowej
Similar to the Park described above
3. Rusalka
Hours: Open until 6 in the morning on weekends
Located on Wybrzeze Helskie, on the other side of the Wisla River (right
on it). Across from the ZOO in Praga
Bit of a rougher joint-may want a dollar to allow people in
NIGHT CLUBS
4. Kongresowa
Hours: Show starts at 10 p.m.; should be seated by nine; Open until 3 a.m.
Located in the Palace of Culture across from train station
Restaurant and dancing as well as "camp" floorshow
Great atmosphere
Good time in a large group
*Reservations required*
5. Czarny Kot (Black Cat)
Hours: 10 p.m. until 2 or 3 a.m.
Located in the Victoria Hotel
Must "dress"
Live music, dancing and floorshow
6. Akwarium (Jazz Club)
Hours: Show begins at 8 p.m. and 10:30 p.m.
Located on Emilii Plater 49, behind the Palace of Culture
(on the side of the street of the train station)
Restaurant downstairs, as well as in club itself (meat and potatoes)
*Reservations*
3
7. Kamieniolomy (Europejski Hotel)
Hours: Show begins at midnight
Located in Europejski Hotel on Krakowskie Przedmiescie 13 (enter around
corner)
Must "dress"
restaurant, sometimes live music, dancing and floorshow
8. Krokodyl Restaurant
Hours: 1 p.m. to 1 a.m.
Located in Old Town Square; tel. 31-44-27
Floorshow: sometimes
Live Band: 8:30 p.m.
Food: Quite All right
Atmosphere: Like a wine cellar, beatnik
CAFES
9. Petit Trianon
Hours: 1 p.m. to Midnight; Telephone: 31-73-13
Located on Piwna in Old Town (Off open square across from Royal Castle)
Good French food
Tiny Place (tables the size of postage stamps)
*Reservations*
10. Swietoszek (The Klub)
Hours: 1 p.m. until ? Telephone: 31-56-34
Located in Old Town - Jezuicka 6/8 (at back of Royal Castle, last street)
keep an eye out for sign above door
Delicious Food (smoked salmon, and caviar blini recommended)
Americanized, but not quite, atmosphere
Nice place
*Reservations advisable at night*
Boat Trip on the Wisla River
It is possible every day during during summer and early fall on the following
hours to take a boat trip on the Wisla River: 9:30, 11:00, 12:30, 14:30,
16:00, 17:30
The ticket costs 210 zloties. The boat will depart if there are a minimum of
20 passengers. They have difficulty getting the required number of passengers
during the week. However Saturday and Sundays are normally well attended.
Call 28-05,-26 for reservations.
doc. #0328c
4
THINGS TO DO AND SEE
Warsaw has much to offer by way of things to do and see. The only trick to it
is finding out what's good before you get there, or what's coming to town
before it has left. Following is a general introduction to the various
activities we most commonly engage in. The emphasis is on what you might
expect when you try some of them out and, equally important, what might be
expected of you. For specific ideas on things that would suit you interests
take a look at the WARSAW DIRECTORY, ask ACA what's playing at the local
theaters, check the NOW's weekly announcements of goings-on around town, or
pick up a Stolica at a Ruch stand. The Stolica is published every week and
provides the most current information on movies, museums, operas and ballets.
To help get you started, we have included two maps at the end of this section
indicating a few shops and city sights. Above all, ask around!
SHOPPING
Shopping in Poland can be a challenging experience. Prerequisites for success
include patience, perseverance and a keen sense for the vagaries of the
system. Don't be inhibited. An average of two hours in every Pole's day is
consumed with the task of locating needed goods and taking the time to get
them. For the average US diplomat -- not subject to rations and shortages and
with access to duty-free shops, commissaries and mail-order catalogs --
shopping locally is a veritable luxury. The point being, not only are there
many a "good buy" to be found for the looking, there is also a lot to learn
about Poland in the process.
Due to an erratic system of supply and distribution, what an outlet is
supposed to sell, or what you could swear it stocked a couple weeks ago, may
bear little resemblance to what it is selling today. A good adage to go by
is, if you like what you see buy it!
Self-service shopping is rare in the American sense outside of a few large
department stores. In most cases, a salesclerk will assist you. When she
retrieves an item off the shelf for you, you're free to examine it without
obligation. She'll wait while you look it over, however. This is not to
pressure you to buy so much as to make a decision, so she can move on to the
next customer. If you want the item, she'll write up a receipt which you take
to the cashier (Kasa) and pay. Once you show the salesclerk your paid
receipt, she wrap up your item and give it to you.
In a self-service store, on the other hand, no one may enter the merchandise
area without first picking up a store basket. This method is used to control
the number of people in the store at any one time. Thus, even if you have no
intention of buying anything and just want to look around, you must still
drape a store basket over your arm. If there are two of you together, both
need a basket. On busy days you can expect to wait in line to get a basket.
2-1
Several Polish phrases you may encounter regularly are: "Nie ma," which means
they don't have what you want; "Remont," which means the shop is under
reconstruction; "Spis Controlny towarow," which means the shop, or part of the
shop, is closed for inventory; and "Urlop," which means the shop is closed
because the shopkeepers have all gone on vacation. The latter is an epidemic
phenomenon in July and August. Other reasons posted on store fronts for shop
closings include: "Dezynsekcja" (fumigation), "Przyjecie towaru"
(deliveries), "Awaria" (maintenance repairs), "Brak personelu" (personnel
shortage), or "Choroba personelu" (all personnel out sick).
About Lines: Lines in Poland are a fact of life. The most common lines
you'll find yourself in will be to pick up a basket, to get to the salesclerk,
to pay for your merchandise and to pick up your purchase. Lines are rarely
disorderly, although customers behind you may get irritated if you take too
long to examine something or if you don't have your money ready when you go to
the cashier. And while it is perfectly acceptable for someone to hold a place
in line for you, to cut in front of someone is clearly out of the question,
with some exceptions. Certain people are permitted by regulation to be served
ahead of others. These include pregnant women, women with small children in
tow, and the disabled. There is often a separate line for these shoppers,
known collectively as "inwalidzi." If not, they simply move to the front of
the line and are served as they appear. If you fall into one of these
categories, you will be encouraged by onlookers to take advantage of the
system.
Shopping Tips:
*Bring your own bag or box to carry your purchases as they are rarely
provided.
*A few foods (e.g., pickles, sauerkraut and ice cream) do not come with
their own containers, which you must supply. Fresh foods are usually
wrapped in paper. Frozen foods that exist are packaged, but quality is
dubious.
*Bread is neither packaged nor wrapped for you. You can check a loaf
for freshness, but must use the small pieces of paper set out for this
purpose. Once touched, the bread is considered your purchase.
(It doesn't seem to matter that there is no way of telling which side of
the paper last touched the bread and which side touched human hands. But
you can be sure it is inappropriate to handle the bread directly.)
Juice and soda water are sold in deposit bottles. The deposit is included
in the price. Theoretically you get your deposit back when you return the
bottles to any store where the same product is sold. However, some
stores ask that you buy the same number of new bottles, less the deposit,
rather than pay you the deposit. Supersam will take any returnable
bottles, regardless.
2-2
Popular Shops: Following are a few of the Polish outlets more commonly used
by the foreign community. Generally speaking, shops are open Monday through
Friday and a half day on "shopping Saturdays." Shopping Saturdays are the
first and last Saturdays of the month.
Pewex. This is a Polish foreign trade organization which has outlets in
all major cities and hotels throughout Poland. Pewex stores offer a
variety of imported and domestic goods otherwise rationed or unavailable.
They are open to Poles and foreigners alike and accept only hard currency
or special coupons called "bony." Prices are reasonable. When you go,
take some small change along 80 you can pay in exact amounts; otherwise,
you: may get bony or an assortment of other foreign coins for change. Each
Pewex tends to specialize in certain types of stock; although these, too,
can change. Overall, merchandise ranges from food, clothing, cosmetics
and toys to carpets, sporting goods, household appliances and accessories.
Baltona. This is a duty-free, hard currency store. It offers much the
same imported goods as Pewex stores, but at duty-free rates and on a more
limited scale. Unlike Pewex, Baltona also sells fresh produce throughout
the year.
Other shops reserved for diplomats include the Diplomatic Meat Store,
discussed in Section I, and the Diplomatic Grocery Store. The latter
is much like any Polish grocery store, called "Spozywczy," although the
quality may be higher. Both stores deal in zloties.
Polna Market. This is a private open-air market open Monday through
Friday 0700-1800 and 0700-1500 on Saturdays. Among other things, you can
find there fresh fruits and vegetables, eggs, cheeses, poultry, herbs and
spices, homemade pickles, sauerkraut and horseradish, baskets and fresh
cut flowers. Prices vary considerably according to the season.
Cepelia. This is the State-run outlet for Polish folk arts and crafts,
woven and embroidered fabrics, wood carvings and furniture, carpets,
tapestries, linens, ceramics, jewelry and other souvenirs. You pay in
zloties.
Desa. This is the State-run outlet for Polish fine arts where you can find
old and contemporary paintings, prints and jewelry, and antique
reproductions. Items produced before 1945 cannot be exported so check
before you buy. If there is any question of the item's origins, the Desa
should be able to provide an export certificate. Sales may be in zloties
or hard currency.
Ruchs. These are the numerous kiosks you see dotted all over town,
which claim to be "the world's smallest department stores." They sell
newspapers, magazines, maps, stamps, postcards, bus and tram tickets and
various other odd trinkets and things.
2-3
Bookstores. "Ksiegarnie" offer books, records, maps and travel brochures
at very reasonable prices. Some of the larger bookstores have English,
French, German and Russian texts and translations.
Flea Markets. There are several flea markets in Warsaw and each is worth
a visit, if only for the experience. You can find anything from ball
bearings to a sable coat. Just beware of possible pickpockets.
Flower Shops. "Kwiaciarnia" are all over the city and constitute one of
the pleasures, if not traditions, of life in Poland.
DINING OUT
Restaurants in Warsaw come in a variety of shapes and sizes, and with an equal
diversity of food, atmosphere and decor. They are often affected by food
shortages, however. You may find the menu to be lengthy and complicated, only
to discover that just one or two items are actually available. If there isn't
a price listed next to the item, you can be sure they don't have it. Ask the
waiter for his recommendation before you decide. The bill will include a ten
percent service charge, to which you may add a personal tip if you wish.
Private restaurants tend to have a larger selection of choices and better
food, although you'll pay for it in the bill.
Every restaurant has its cloakroom. During the winter this is not an optional
service; you are obliged to leave your coat or jacket there whether you want
to or not. The fee is five zloties, some leave more. The attendants are
usually people on disability pensions, and the fees go to supplement their
income.
Other types of places to eat include cafes, cafeterias, milk bars and pizza
parlors. These are inexpensive, less formal, and offer a limited menu of
snacks and beverages. Food stands selling ice cream, waffles, doughnuts, "hot
dogs" (rolls stuffed with meat, cheese or mushrooms), fried fish and French
fries, are also very popular during the summer.
ENTERTAINMENT
Movies: Poles like to go to the movies and have a great interest in foreign
films. Most foreign films have subtitles so there is no problem hearing the
original. Tickets are sold the day of the show; try to pick them up in the
morning if the film is popular. Ticket prices range from 40 to 120 zloties.
Seats are always reserved. There is usually no coat check to worry about. If
you arrive late, you may have to wait for the intermission between the news
and the main feature to take your seat. Leaving during the film may also be
hampered by locked exit doors. Smoking in the theater is prohibited.
2-4
The Stolica publishes movie listings weekly. A local newspaper, such as Zycia
Warszawy and Tribuna Ludu, will give you the show times. The film's origin is
indicated in brackets (pol.= = Polish, weg. = Hungarian, radz. = Russian, fr.= =
French, etc.). "B.o." is equivalent to the "G" for General Audiences in the
US. "L.15" or "L.18" indicates that only people over 15 or 18 are allowed
in. "g" stands for "godzina" or show time. On weekends there are special
children's matinees, called "Poranki."
Theaters & Concert Halls: Theater, ballet, opera and musical productions are
of international caliber here, if not in fact imported from abroad. Tickets
are persuasively inexpensive and are easily ordered through ACA. Performances
begin around 1900 and coats must be checked at the cloakroom.
Nightclubs featuring music and live entertainment (a half hour floorshow) are
standard fare in most of the large hotels. Performances begin around midnight
and there is usually a cover charge. Reservations are recommended.
SIGHTSEEING
Museums & Galleries: In every city of Poland you can find at least an art
gallery, an archaeology museum, several history museums and a technology
museum. Warsaw is certainly no exception. Admission fees are nominal. One
day of the week is often designated for free entry. The larger museums are
more likely to sell the English-language guidebooks. Many of the palaces and
castles require that you join a guided tour. English-language tours should be
arranged in advance. Most palaces and historic buildings also provide felt
slippers, which visitors are expected to wear over their shoes in order to
protect the floors. On occasion, you may find an area of the museum closed
off, probably to conserve heat or because there are not enough guards. In
such instances, there is no harm in trying to get an escort to take you
through.
Churches: Churches are very much in active use all over Poland. Most Poles
attend church regularly, but also visit them as sightseers. Thus, you won't
be out of place in the latter role as long as you remain sensitive to any
services that may be in progress.
Synagogs: Only a few synagogs now exist and fewer still are in use. (Warsaw
has only one.) They are generally closed to the public, however. Try to.
explain your interest to someone with authority on the premises or in the
Jewish community.
Cemeteries: Poles are regular visitors to the cemetery. As long as it is
open, you won't have any problem taking a stroll through one. A concerted
effort is made to maintain grave sites and to keep them decorated with fresh
flowers, An experience worth undertaking while you are here is to visit the
Warsaw Municipal Cemetery (Cmentarz Powazkowski) on All Saints Day, November
1st, or on August 1st, the anniversary of the beginning of the Warsaw
Uprising. By dusk, the entire cemetery glows with the light of memorial
candles burning at every grave site.
2-5
A BIT ABOUT POLAND
FACTS & FIGURES
Geography: Poland is part of a continuous plain merging with the USSR to the
east and East Germany to the west. To the north is the Baltic Sea and to the
south rise the Carpathian and Sudeten Mountains. Her current geographic area
encompasses about 120,000 square miles. This makes her variously the largest
country in Eastern Europe, the seventh largest country in all of Europe, the
68th largest country in the world, and about the size of New Mexico.
Population: Poland's population now ranges around 37 million. It is
ethnically homogeneous, with only 1.5 percent being of Ukranian, Byelorussian,
German or Jewish extraction. By contrast, the 150,000 square miles of
pre-WWII Poland had a population of 35 million of which 14 percent were
Ukranian, ten percent Jewish, three percent Byelorussian and two percent
German. Polish Jewry suffered near total annihilation during the war. The
other minorities were lost to emigration and the creation of the post-war
boundaries resulting in major shifts of population.
Some ten million Poles live outside of Poland. 6.5 million of these are in
the US, and about two thirds of these call Chicago their home.
Climate: While Poland lies at the same general latitude as Canada, its
climatic conditions are much less stable. It sits between two major weather
systems; the warmer oceanic system of Western Europe and the cooler
continental system of the Soviet Union. Weather conditions can thus change
radically within a day or an hour, and seasonal conditions vary considerably
from year to year.
Origins: The name "Polska," or Poland, comes from the six Slovanic tribes
that originally inhabited the present-day Poznan area in the mid-10th
century. They called themselves the "Polonians," or plains people of
"Wielkopolska," or the Great Plain. The country's official name has been the
Polish People's Republic since 1952.
Coat of Arms: Poland's national coat of arms is a white eagle on a red
&
background which dates back to the Middle Ages. Through history it has
undergone several modifications; most notably, with the removal and
restoration of the eagle's crown. During the Period of Partitions
(1772-1918), when the emblem was officially banned, it appeared for the first
time with a crownless eagle on the banners of insurrectionists and emigres.
With the coming of independence in 1918, the Poles adopted a white eagle with
a golden crown. The crownless eagle was officially reinstated following WWII,
however, and is now considered symbolic of communist Poland.
National Colors & Flag: Poland's national colors are red and white, derived
from the colors of the original eagle emblem. The same colors are depicted in
the Polish flag consisting of a red horizontal plain below a white one.
2-6
name
National Anthem: Symbolic of the Poles' indefatigable struggles for
*
independence throughout history, her national anthem opens with the line:
"Poland has not yet perished as long as we are alive." (Jeszcze Polska Nie
zginelta poki my zyjemy.) The anthem emerged in 1797, during the Period of
Partitions, among the Polish legions fighting with the French under General
Henryk Dabrowski. It was formally adopted in 1918 with the coming of
independence.
THE GOVERNMENT
The Polish government is modeled on the Soviet socialist system. Supreme
power is concentrated in the Politbureau of the Polish United Workers' Party
(PZPR). The Politbureau consists of ten to twenty members headed by the Party
First Secretary. The policies of the Politbureau are transmitted to the
population through two parallel political bureaucracies, the Party and the
Administration.
The Administration side of the government is based in the Sejm, a
parliamentary body of 460 deputies elected every four years. The Sejm, in
turn, elects its own 17-member Council of State, which performs
representational functions, including the acceptance of credentials from
foreign ambassadors. The Sejm also appoints the Prime Minister and his
Cabinet. The latter is called the Council of Ministers and serves to
administer parliamentary-enacted policy, based on the Party's recommendations
down through the ranks.
Several political parties are represented in the Sejm; the majority PZPR and
the minority United Peasant Party and the Democratic Party. A few members of
the Sejm claim no party affiliation. They consist mostly of nominal Catholic
deputies whose sentiments are split between the policies of the Roman Catholic
Church and those of the PZPR.
The administration of Poland's local regions -- 49 "voivoidships" and 2406
smaller administrative districts -- is split between a government executive
body and the Peoples' Council which performs a more legislative function.
Both are under the direction of the Council of Ministers. This structure is
paralleled by a separate Party apparat whose job it is to ensure adherence to
Party policies. Indeed, the Party appoints not only its own officials in its
Central, regional and local committees, it also controls the key positions in
cental and local governments, in industry and commerce, in the press and in
the military.
set
POLISH OBSERVANCES
Rather than reiterate what already exists in a basic introduction to Polish
*
culture, we direct you to Living In Poland: A Guide to Customs and Values.
It was written by Sarah Kaiser Hyams in 1983 following a tour in Warsaw and is
available in the CSO office.
callstate
Comm Services office
2-7
WARSAW
Warsaw, the capital city of Poland since 1596, has regained its prewar
population of 1.3 million, Like Paris, Warsaw is not only the
administrative but also the cultural capital of the country. Over half
of all Polish writers, artists, and scientists and about a fourth of all
Polish university students are concentrated there. There are numerous
scientific institutions, libraries, and museums, including the National
Museum, directed by Stanslaw Lorentz, the leading spirit behind the
current campaign to reconstruct the Warsaw Royal Castle.
The Royal Castle was leveled during a systematic Nazi destruction of what
was left of the city after the 1944 Warsaw Uprising against the German
occupants. About 90% of the city was in ruins at the end of World War II
and the city's population was down to 200,000. Earlier, the city's
entire prewar Jewish population of 300, 000was wiped out by the Germans in
a campaign which culminated in the April/May 1943 Warsaw Ghetto
Uprising. The Warsaw Historic Museum on the Old Town Market Square has
some extraordinary photographs of Warsaw at the end of World War II.
The Old Town has been reconstructed with particularly loving care and is
a must for any visitor to Warsaw, but it should be remembered that most
of the splendid old churches and palaces are in fact faithful postwar
reconstructions. Although some of Warsaw's finest buildings dated back
to the 17th and 18th centuries, the reconstruction included much less
distinguished 19th century building and some rare examples of Gothic
architecture including the Cathedral of St. John and the walls of the Old
Town. While the center of the city has been reconstructed largely as it
had been the rest of it follows a postwar plan which takes into account
the fact that Warsaw is also one of the country's largest industrial
centers.
2-8
The Royal Castle
(Warsaw)
The ruins of the Royal Castle occupy a commanding height overlooking the
Vistula River. Archeological research has revealed that a fortress of
some kind has been on this site since prehistoric times.
The Castle, totally destroyed by the German Occupation Forces during
World War II, was begun by Prince Konrad II in the 13th century. It was
completed in its present form by King Zygmunt III, an occasional
alchemist who, legend has it, burned down his magnificent Wawel Castle in
Krakow during an experiment. This fire, which lasted five days, plus
strategic and political considerations, led Zygmunt to move his capital
to Warsaw. Poland was at this time the largest nation in Europe and a
major political power.
It was in the Great Hall of his new castle in 1611 that King Zygmunt
received the homage of the Russian Czar Vasilii. The Castle was severely
damaged and pillaged of its treasures during the Polish-Swedish Wars, and
it was only restored to its former glory during the reign of King
Stanislaw Augustus in the late 18th century.
Following the third partition of Poland in 1795, the Castle served as
headquarters for successive waves of rulers -- Russian, French, Ducy of
Warsaw, Congress Kingdom. Under the Russian Occupation of the 19th and
20th centuries the Castle fell into disrepair and was stripped of its
marble facade.
It was restored in the years after 1918, when Poland recovered her
independence, and once again became the ceremonial center of Polish
life. In the period between the wars it was the scene of diplomatic
meetings, military reviews and state dinners. This period ended abruptly
with the outbreak of World War II. The building was severely damaged in
the 1939 Siege of Warsaw, looted by the Nasis in 1941, and totally
destroyed by the retreating German Army in 1944.
Plans for the Castle's reconstruction were approved by the Polish
Government in 1971, and work has now begun to restore to the Polish
people a building which in many ways symbolizes their proud history and
ancient traditions. Work on the restoration is well advanced and certain
wings and segments of it are completed and can be visited.
2-9
Old Town
(Warsaw)
The Old Town (Stare Miasto) area of Warsaw has been the site of a
fortified settlement since pre-Roman times. Its elevated position
overlooking the Vistula enabled whoever held it to dominate river traffic
on that vital waterway.
In the thirteenth century, Warsaw was a modest settlement of wooden
buildings enclosed by an earthern wall and protected by a fortress. The
present plan of the Old Town, centered upon an open square, evolved in
the fourteenth, fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Merchants of the city
built combination shops, factories, and homes with the working quarters
in the cellar and ground floor and living space in the upper stories. A
city wall of brick replaced the clay fortifications and the Royal Castle
was erected on the site of the former fortress.
Development of the Old Town in its present form was essentially completed
by the end of the sixteenth century when the city became Poland's
capital. What had been a provincial market town rapidly developed into
an intellectual and social center rivaling the former capital, Krakow.
An influx of new residents flocking to the court created a building boom
and an elegant new town soon spread beyond the city walls as villas,
cafes, theaters, and churches were erected.
By the end of the eighteenth century, the Old Town had degenerated into a
somewhat dilapidated adjunct to the burgeoning new areas. However, at
the beginning of the twentieth century, a concerted effort was made to
save it from ruin. By the 1930's, the area had once again become the
center of intellectual life in Poland -- the home of artists, writers and
actors.
Old Town was left in ruins by bitter street fighting during the Warsaw
Uprising of 1944. The area was rebuilt in the years following World War
II in its original style, using architectural designs from the city
archives, photographs, and paintings.
At the entrance to Old Town stands the statue of King Zugmund III on a
high column, and to the right is the site of the Royal Castle which is in
the process of being restored.
2-10
Wilanow Palace
(The President's Residence in Warsaw)
Wilanow Palace, begun in 1677 by King Jan Sobieski III, is one of
Poland's most impressive historial buildings. Its owners over the
centuries included many of the great families of the Polish aristocracy -
Sieniawski, Lubomirski, Czartoryski, Potocki - and its history often
reflected the country's fluctuating fortunes.
The Palace was completed in its present form in 1799 by Princess Isabel
Lubmirska, one of the most brilliant women in 18th century. Europe. In
1805 her son, Stanislaus Potocki, opened the Palace and its library to
the public, one of the first such institutions in Poland. In 1891 the
Palace was taken over by the Branicki Family.
During the Second World War, Wilanow was looted of most of its
collection, and the gardens were totally destroyed. In 1945 the Palace
and its grounds became part of the Warsaw National Museum. It has since
been restored in its original style and contains special apartments for
use by the most important guests of the Polish state.
The Palace Museum has been designed, on the basis of original Palace
inventories, to reflect the authentic flavor of the building's 18th and
19th century history. Many items pillaged from its collection have been
recovered and the Museum has obtained a large selection of art works of
the period from other sources.
The Palace is French Baroque and contains a main building flanked by
wings to form an open rectangle. It is at the center of a complex of
buildings which include the 17th century old tavern, as well as the
church, smithy, and classical guard house, all added in the 18th century.
The Museum houses three Polish portrait galleries which contain paintings
of the royal family from the 16th through the 18th century as well as a
representative selection of Polish 19th century art. A collection of
royal portraits previously displayed in the destroyed royal castle are
included in the collection.
The building is a masterpiece of its time set amid superb gardens which
display it to maximum advantage.
B
I
0
2-11
Tomb of the Unknown Soldier
(Warsaw)
The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier stands beneath the shattered remnant of
the Saski Palace - a lonely fragment of colonnade dominating Victory
Square in Warsaw.
Victory Square is rich in historic associations. The original Saski
Palace was built by the Polish King Stanislaw Augustus II in the
eighteenth century. Beneath its windows Polish battalions and the
citizenry of Warsaw fought a futile battle against overwhelming numbers
of invading Czarist troops before being defeated in 1794.
Here in the Square before the Tomb, the story of modern Poland has
unfolded in miniature. Napoleon's troops paraded there. It became the
scene of Czarist military reviews during the occupation of Warsaw by the
Russians. Following the abortive Polish insurrection of 1830 the Czarist
authorities planned to construct an- immense fortress on the site to
overawe their intransigent Polish subjects. The plan was later changed
and an orthodox cathedral erected to symbolize the Russification of
Poland. This was demolished by the new Polish Republic in 1924.
The site of the Tomb itself, Saski Palace, was headquarters for the
Polish general staff between the two World Wars and was gutted during the
Siege of Warsaw in 1939. The shell was blown up by the departing Germans
in 1945.
The Tomb and its occupant, a student who fell defending the former Polish
city of Lwow in the 1920 Russo-Polish War also reflect the shifting
currents of Polish history. The Tomb also contains symbolic samples of
earth from the forests and cities of Poland as well as from the
battlefields of the Second World War on which Polish soldiers
distinguished themselves.
2-12
Warsaw Ghetto Monument
In 1940, the Nazis established a Ghetto in Warsaw into which they herded
most of the Jews from Warsaw and Warsaw Province. Conditions became
steadily more crowded and unsanitary and the Jews in the Ghetto were
increasingly brutalized by the Nazis. In the summer of 1942 the Nazis
began a systematic liquidation of the Ghetto, which was accompanied by a
sharp increase in violence toward the Jews with mass executions and the
transportation of hundreds of thousands to death camps. On April 19,
1942, an armed insurrection broke out, prepared by the Jewish Resistance
Organization and led by 23 year old Mordechai Anielewicz. Despite their
overwhelming superiority in arms and manpower, the Nazis were unable to
crush the uprising and undertook the systematic destruction of the area
by blowing up Ghetto buildings and shelling Jewish resistance posts,
which finally led to the collapse of the insurrection in May, 1943. The
entire district was then bulldozed into a sea of rubble -- not a single
building survived.
The Monument to the heroes of the Warsaw Ghetto was unveiled on April 19,
1948, the fifth anniversary of the outbreak of the armed uprising in the
Warsaw Ghetto. Located on Zamenhof Street, just beyond its intersection
with Anielewicz Street, named after the leader of the uprising, it was
funded by contributions from the world Jewish community and bears the
inscription: "The Jewish Nation -- to its fighters and martyrs."
Palace of the Council of Ministers
(Warsaw)
Radzuvill
The Presidium of the Council of Ministers is located in the former
Radziwill Palace, a building rich in Polish history and tradition. It
was built in 1642 for the Hetman Koniecpolski, commander of the Polish
armies, by Italian architect C. Tencalla.
The original building was damaged and rebuilt several times before being
completed in its present neo-classicist form in 1818 when it was
purchased by the Government of the Polish Congress Kingdom for the use of
its Governor.
The Palace is named after one of its previous owners, Prince Karol
Radziwill, who acquired it from the Lubomirski Family. Radziwill donated
the building to the court in 1773, and it was here that Polish theater
and ballet reached new innovative heights in the years before partition.
Following the partition of Poland between Prussia, Russia, and Austria in
1795, the Palace once again became a popular theater and was badly
neglected until the total reconstruction in 1818 when two wings were
added.
Throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries the building served as an
administrative office of the occupying Czarist authorities. The
Presidium of the Council of Ministers has occupied the Palace since
shortly after World War II. In 1955, the Warsaw Pact was signed there.
A monument to the Polish patriot and Marshal of France, Prince Jozef
Poniatowski stands in front of the Palace. The present monument,
presented to the Polish nation by the people of the city of Copenhagen
replaces the original blown up by the Germans in 1944.
2-12
0
=
0
Uigiera Buarewicz PULAND for Deginner
Poland for Beginners
POLAND
for
Beginners
Olgierd Budrewicz
DRRY!
I
To [OHN] PAUL,
WITH HOPE
HE Will SEE
AND LEARN To
UNDESTAND POLAND
WITH REGARDS
WARSAW, AUGUST 23, 1983
Interpress Publishers
Warsaw 1980
Illustrated by
Jerzy Flisak
Cover design by
Janusz Wysocki
Translated by
Edward Rothert
Production editor
Elzbieta Szeszko
Third edition revised and updated
This is the one thousand eight hundred and ninety-first publication
from Interpress
This book appears also in French, German, Polish and Spanish
PRINTED IN POLAND
ISBN 83-223-1891-x
CONTENTS
Foreword Strictly Personal
7
Jagiellonian University
58
The Batory
58
WHAT TO KNOW
9
Fifty Years in the Sky
61
Poland and Europe
11
Mazowsze and Others
61
Geography
12
Festivals
62
A Thousand Years of History
13
Naturalized Poles
64
Political System
15
Collectors
65
Great Poles
15
Foreign Students
67
A Pope from Poland
17
Women
68
Average Poles
18
Tartars
69
Industry
19
Timber Churches
71
Export of Know-how
21
Castles
72
Poland in Foreign Eyes
22
Windmills
74
Horses
75
WHAT TO UNDER-
Mushrooms
76
STAND
25
Bison
77
The Second World War
27
Hunting
78
National Risings
28
Sport
80
The Third of May Constitu-
Vodka
82
tion
29
The National Education Com-
WHAT TO SEE
83
mission
30
Seven Wonders
85
Seigneurs
30
The Baltic
86
Auschwitz
32
Lakes
88
Polonia
33
Mountains
89
Vistula
92
WHAT TO DISCOVER
35
Odra
93
Polish Honour
37
Warsaw
94
Fighting Qualities
38
Environs of Warsaw
99
Hospitality
39
Warsaw to Cracow
101
Sense of Time
40
Cracow
101
Temperament
41
Wawel
104
Complexes
42
Silesia
106
Corpus Christi
43
Gdańsk
107
Popiel and the Mice
44
Kielce
108
Twardowski
45
Wrocław
109
Ghosts
46
Poznań
110
April Fool's Day
48
Toruń
112
Lajkonik
48
Szczecin
113
Kulig
49
Płock
114
Sobótka
50
Zakopane and the Tatras
115
Dyngus
50
Błędów Desert
117
Folk Art
51
Pieniny Mountains
119
Theatre
52
Bieszczady
120
Music
54
Augustów Canal
122
Posters
55
Świętokrzyskie Hills
123
Cinema
56
The Oaks of Rogalin
125
Mathematics
57
The Clocks of Jędrzejów
126
Białowieża Forest
127
Krasiczyn
153
Hel
128
Książ
154
Cashubian Switzerland
130
Łagów
155
Lake Pakość
131
Nieborów and Arkadia
156
Biskupin
132
Lancut
157
The Water Birds of Milicz
133
Pieskowa Skała
158
Babia Góra
135
Malbork
160
Sejny
135
Przemyśl
161
The Wolf's Lair
136
Sandomierz
162
Forests
136
Wieliczka
163
Baranów
137
Wilanów
164
Spas
139
Wiślica
166
Small Towns
140
Zamość
167
Dębno Krakowskie
141
Želazowa Wola
168
Gniezno
142
Częstochowa
143
WHAT TO REMEMBER
171
Frombork
145
Road Traffic
173
Grunwald
147
Climate
174
Kalwaria Zebrzydowska
148
Language
175
Kórnik
150
Cuisine
176
Kazimierz
151
Travel Tips
178
Kłodzko
152
FOREWORD STRICTLY PERSONAL
Needless to say, the material in these pages will be old hat to the
advanced student. He needs no reminding that the last war inflicted
havoc of unprecedented savagery on Poland, that she has a history going
back over a thousand years, that her soil was the birthplace of Chopin,
Madame Curie and Kosciuszko. Nor will it be news to him that the
Tatra are a particularly beautiful range of mountains or that the
bison, which lives at liberty in Poland, is a ruminant mammal of the
Bovidae family and a cousin of the extinct Urus.
This booklet should in fact be treated as a kind of handbook for those
who know next to nothing about Poland. No piece of information is
taken for granted except for such obvious facts as that Poland lies in
Europe.
However, the contents represent. a highly personal selection. The
author makes no bones, for example, of preferring the highlands of
Poland to the lake district or of loving Warsaw more than Poznań, though
he knows there are people with exactly the opposite sentiments. He also
has a matchingly subjective scale of values and would, for instance,
happily trade in a couple of wars for one National Education Commission
(which was the world's first ministry in this field). Moreover, he is
whimsical enough to devote as much, if not more, space to forests,
windmills and horses as to factories, steelworks and shipyards.
Mindful of this, he has, whenever he could, resisted the temptation
to pass judgment; otherwise he might, with a heading like, say, 'Med-
icine', have found himself ignoring the successes in heart surgery
or the great Lublin oculist, Tadeusz Krwawicz, and being carried away
by the story of Franciszek Benendo, a doctor from the little country
town of Płońsk, who has made the sensational claim that you can plan
the sex of your child.
The beginner is therefore given fair warning that he is going to be
briefed on things Polish by a publication that is absolutely unofficial
and unobjective - though it does, of course, make a scrupulous point
of getting the facts right. Nevertheless it would be a shame to treat
it as gospel.
Having got these rudiments under his belt, he is advised to turn to
richer and deeper sources, since the presentation of what follows is -
deliberately so - a little on the frivolous side - though that (for reasons
which it might be better not to expatiate on) need not necessarily be
counted a failing.
To be frank, however, Poland is a subject that can only be learned
'in the field', through first-hand encounters with what is by no means
a plain or humdrum country and a people with a character, tempera-
ment and life-style all their own among the nations of Europe.
Naturally anyone with a bona fide interest in Poland will not be able
to get by without a broader travel guide, without a more solid grounding
in history, without at least a modicum of information about Polish learn-
ing (for which the honours here are done by mathematics alone), about
accomplishments in the arts, about solutions to social and economic
problems, and about many other noteworthy features of the Polish scene.
7
WHAT TO KNOW
POLAND AND EUROPE
The population of Poland has just, for the second time, passed the
35 million mark. In other words it has taken us the best part of thirty
years to make good our wartime losses and demographic upheavals
and get back to the square we occupied on the brink of the last war.
It was only in 1978 that things moved on: in Wrocław Paulina Zalewska
was born, the 35 millionth inhabitant of the country. The event con-
curred with the 60th anniversary of Poland's regaining her independence.
In area and population Poland now occupies seventh place in Eu-
rope. It comes 5th in the birth-rate tables and in natural increase (9.7 per
thousand); the explanation is simply that we have started having less
children. Population density is 112 per square kilometre, so we still have
plenty of elbow room. There are some 2,000 centenarians,
Poland is a nationally unitary country. Ethnic minorities, chiefly
Ukrainians and Byelorussiains, account for only some 450,000 (while
in 1939 they constituted as much as 32 per cent of Poland's popula-
tion).
For every 100 marriages there are 12 divorces, which makes our
country the 16th least maritally stable in Europe. Graduates make up
7.4 per cent of the total working force, a proportion that is rising stead-
ily, so much so that it is jokingly said that you now need a college
11
diploma to get a job as a truck-driver and two honours degrees to be
promoted beyond captain in the army. Almost half (49 per cent) the
students in Poland are women; certain professions have been as good
as monopolized by them entirely.
Once a predominantly agricultural country, Poland now has a flour-
ishing industry. In many branches of output Poland is among the front-
runners in Europe (metal-working machine tools, cement, sulphur,
rolling stock, television sets, for example). Farming has not fallen
into complete disuse, though, to judge by the fact that Poland pro-
duces 25 per cent of the world's rye (2nd place), 15.4 per cent of its
potatoes (2nd), 5.3 per cent of its sugar beet (7th) 4.1 per cent of its
milk (5th). While in 1976-78 the world's industrial output increas-
ed at a rate of 6 per cent annually, in Poland it grew by an annual average
of 7 per cent.
Someone has worked out that Poland turns out 2,586 metres of
cloth, 367 tons of coal and 1,256 kilograms of fats every minute. No
one, on the other hand, has computed how many words per minute
are delivered in Polish theatres, how many brush-strokes are executed
by Polish painters, how many tacks are made by yachts on the seas
or the lakes, or how many noughts are handed out by martinets in
the schools. It is safe to assume, however, that these figures also rep-
resent a respectable European standard.
GEOGRAPHY
Technically speaking. Poland lies between latitudes 49° and 54°50'
north and longitudes 14°07' and 24°08' east. In plainer terms this
means between the Carpathians and the Baltic, and the Rivers Odra
and Bug, in other words on one of Europe's vital crossroads - a fact
that has been repeatedly and painfully confirmed by our history.
Poland is a lowland country if ever there was one, the average al-
titude being 173 metres. Only 3 per cent of its area lies above 500
metres. The highest point is Mt. Rysy in the Tatras (2,499 m.), the
lowest near Elblag in the Vistula delta (1.8 m. below sea-level). There
are several thousand lakes and a couple of mountain ranges. Timber-
land covers 27.9 per cent of the area.
Poland has an area of 312,677 sq. km., which gives it 7th place in
Europe. The total length of its frontiers is 3,538 km. It is administrat-
ively divided into 49 voivodships.
The climate is reputedly moderate, though this is sometimes a little
hard to believe when you find the temperature soaring or plummeting
20 degrees overnight. The seasons differ wildly from one year to the
next. The only thing that can be said for certain is that the climate
is better than in Amazonia or on Spitsbergen and worse than in Tahiti
or Nice.
From time to time one is likely to run into specimens of Polish
fauna, mainly dogs, cats, poultry and the odd insect. But with a bit
of luck you may also come across a lynx, marten, bison, elk, chamois,
12
4°50'
""
49°
14°07'
24°08'
marmot or even a bear (though 'luck' is not quite the right word for
an encounter with one at large in the Tatra or Beskid mountains). Alto-
gether, there are some 400 varieties of vertebrates living in Poland.
Farmland occupies over half the area of Poland (61.4 per cent), and
68 per cent of this consists of private smallholdings. Over half the crops
sown are good grains: rye, wheat, barley and oats.
Poland is an international communications junction. Warsaw serves
airlines from four continents.
All in all, our country, inhabited by 0.8 per cent of the world's
population, has time and again come into the public eye. The reasons
are historical, cultural, economic, but geographical too. It's an expos-
ed spot.
A THOUSAND YEARS OF HISTORY
So much has happened on Polish soil in the course of these ten
centuries that a good many other countries would find enough his-
torical events to go round. Whether such a gift would be appreciated
is another matter: history has not coddled the Poles.
13
It all began in the seventh decade of the 10th century. The first
recorded monarch, and founder of the Polish royal line, was Mieszko I.
His reign saw the adoption of Christianity (966).
A great king appeared in his son, Boleslaus the Brave. A century
later there came two hundred years of appanage divisions. Following
the re-unification of the realm by King Ladislaus the Short and the
establishment of a feudal monarchy by King Casimir the Great, a per-
sonal union was contracted with Lithuania (1385). A watershed in-
Polish history occurred in 1410 when King Ladislaus Jagiello fought
a fateful battle with the Knights of the Teutonic Order at Grunwald
and broke their unholy might.
In the 15th-16th centuries there came a development of the manorial
system and a growth of the landed gentry's privileges. The union with
Lithuania was made absolute in 1569 to create a single, powerful state.
In 1573 the monarchy became elective.
The 16th and 17th centuries abounded in wars and anti-feudal re-
bellions. The reign of the last Polish king, Stanislaus Augustus Ponia-
towski (1764-95) was marked by many attempts at economic and
cultural revival and a struggle for social and political reforms (e.g. the
3rd of May Constitution in 1791, the Kosciuszko Insurrection in 1794),
but ended with Prussia, Austria and Russia banding together to bring
down the state and carve it up among themselves.
The Partitions brought more than 120 years of servitude - and an
unabating battle for freedom. These were tragic times for Poland, of
fearful losses and continual armed risings. In November 1918 independ-
ence was at last recovered only for Poland to fall prey once again to
brute force twenty years later when she was treacherously invaded
by Nazi Germany and suffered six years of occupation.
During the Second World War Poles joined battle with the enemy
in all theatres. Polish airmen flew in the Battle of Britain and played
a conspicuous part in the repulse of the Luftwaffe. Polish troops fought
at Lenino, Tobruk and Monte Cassino, in the fields of Flanders and in
the capture of Berlin. In Poland itself there was a fierce underground re-
sistance. Throughout August and September 1944 fighting raged in the
streets of Warsaw after insurgents had gained control of sections of the city.
On 22 July 1944, after a part of Poland had been liberated, the
Polish National Liberation Committee proclaimed a Manifesto which
promised democratic reforms, including the nationalization of industry
and distribution of the land. A Provisional Government was set up,
followed by a Government of National Unity.
For more than 30 years now, for a stretch of time without precedent
in this part of Europe, Poland has enjoyed peace. Thanks to the efforts
of the entire nation, backed by just reforms and wise alliances, progress
has been recorded in all spheres of the economy and culture.
A thousand years' history, so eventful and dramatic, so crowded with
unexpected twists and incongruities, cannot possibly be condensed into a
few sentences. Perhaps, though, we might sum them up most simply by
paraphrasing the words of a great writer: 'So they lived and so time passed.'
Or better still, as the poet put it: 'Here we were, here we are, and
here we stay.'
14
POLITICAL SYSTEM
"The Polish People's Republic is a socialist state. In the Polish People's
Republic power is wielded by the working people of town and country.'
Such are the basic provisions of the Constitution of 22 July 1952, as
amended in February 1976.
The power of the people is exercised through the Seym which, as
its name indicates, is a continuation of the Polish parliament (the upper
house, or Senate, was abolished after the war). At the local government
level they are represented by the new institution of People's Councils.
Following the introduction, as of June 1975, of a two-tier adminis-
trative division, Poland has 49 voivodships and 2,070 communes.
The vote is acquired at 18 (which is also the age of legal majority);
the right to stand for election at 21.
The supreme authority, responsible to the Seym, is the Council
of State which acts as a collegiate head of state. The chief executive
body is the Council of Ministers headed by a Premier and Deputy Pre-
miers.
The guiding political force of the country in the building of socialism
is the Polish United Workers' Party.
Poland is a member of the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance,
the economic association of the European socialist countries (plus
Mongolia, Vietnam and Cuba). It is a signatory to the Warsaw Treaty on
friendship and mutual aid concluded by the Soviet Union and the Euro-
pean socialist countries; they have set up a Unified Military Command.
The emblem of the state is a white eagle facing right with gold talons
and beak set on a red ground. Flag: white and red; national anthem:
the Dąbrowski Mazurka (1797).
GREAT POLES
The sort of people whose portraits are most often framed and hung
in particularly prominent places or simply in our homes - these are
the 'salt of the Polish earth'. The most illustrious among them make
a dazzling galaxy.
Take just the brightest stars: Copernicus, Tadeusz Kosciuszko, Adam
Mickiewicz, Chopin, Maria Skłodowska-Curie, Henryk Sienkiewicz.
Six geniuses who are the pride of the nation.
Copernicus (1473-1543, born in Toruń): astronomer, mathematician,
economist and physician; in De revolutionibus orbium coelestium
expounded his discovery of the heliocentric shape of the universe;
served as canon of the Warmia chapter; during the 1520-21 war with
the Teutonic Knights took charge of the defence of Olsztyn castle.
Tadeusz Kosciuszko (1746-1817): Polish and American general;
from 1775 to 1783 fought in the American War of Independence; fought
against Russia, 1792; made commander in 1794 of the armed forces
of the national insurrection in Poland; brilliant military gifts; initiator
of political and social reforms.
15
Adam Mickiewicz (1798-1855): the greatest Polish poet; exponent
of the Romantic school; professor at the Collège de France in Paris,
1840-44; subsequently editor of the Tribune des Peuples; organized
what became to be known as Mickiewicz Legion formed to take part
in the struggle for Italy's liberation, 1848.
Frédéric Chopin (1810-49, born in Želazowa Wola): composer
and celebrated pianist, whose music is the most perfect evocation of the
Polish national character; his nocturnes, mazurkas and polonaises echo
the passage of history and the joys and sorrows of his follow-countrymen;
author of two Concertos, 58 Mazurkas, 17 Polonaises, 21 Nocturnes,
26 Preludes, 27 Etudes, ballads, scherzos, sonatas, lieder, fantasias,
waltzes, rondos and variations.
Henryk Sienkiewicz (1846-1916): writer and historical novelist
(Trilogy, The Teutonic Knights, Quo Vadis, etc.); Nobel Prize winner;
translated into a hundred languages.
Maria Skłodowska-Curie (1867-1934): physicist and chemist; great
Polish scientist who worked in France; professor at the Sorbonne; winner
of two Nobel Prizes; one of the founders of radiology; author of pio-
neering research in nuclear chemistry; co-discoverer of polonium and
radium.
Hard on their heels other names claim attention; Kazimierz Pulaski,
the Polish and American national hero; Józef Bem, commander of
Polish, Hungarian and Turkish armies; Władysław Reymont, winner
of a Nobel Prize for his novel, The Peasants; Stanisław Moniuszko,
the great composer; Ignacy Paderewski, the famous pianist turned inter-
national statesman; Ignacy Łukasiewicz, inventor of a method for distil-
ling oil and designer of the paraffin lamp; Bronisław Malinowski, the
traveller and ethnographer; Joseph Conrad-Korzeniowski, outstanding
English writer born in Poland; Karol Szymanowski, another composer.
All these and a hundred more deserve a tribute. So perhaps it's best
to leave it at that.
A roll-call of the living would be an even more hazardous propo-
sition. Unlike the dead, any who were left out might protest.
All in all, as a Tsarist police chief in Warsaw, near the end of his
tether, complained: The Poles are a dangerously resourceful people
and capable of anything'.
He couldn't have paid us a nicer compliment.
A POPE FROM POLAND
In October 1978, the first Pole in history became Pope of the Roman
Catholic Church (the number of Roman-Catholics in the world is esti-
mated at more than 700 million). Cardinal Karol Wojtyła, former Metro-
politan Archbishop of Cracow, took the name of John Paul II. He became
the first non-Italian pope in 455 years, and the fact that a 'foreigner'
had ascended the papal throne created a stir throughout the world.
Foreign tourists are flocking to Cracow in increasing numbers, and
the neighbouring town of Wadowice, where the present pope was born
17
and raised, has become a great tourist attraction. In June 1979, John
Paul II paid a few days' visit to Poland.
AVERAGE POLES
The average Pole is called Kowalski, Dąbrowski, Szymański or Wójcik,
is 28 years of age and more often than not lives in a town.
In the last 18 years the average Pole has grown two years older,
but still remains younger than his opposite number in most of Euro-
pean countries. Outside Europe only the average Mexican, Canadian,
Turk and Indian are his juniors. In 1950 barely eight per cent of the
population was over 60; the proportion has grown now to 13.4 per
cent.
In the last 40 years the average expectation of life in Poland has risen
by 18.6 years for males, and by 22.4 for females. A baby born today
can hope to see his or her 70th birthday, in other words is likely to
live 6.5 years longer than one born in 1956. Infant mortality has fallen;
so has the incidence of social diseases, like tuberculosis.
One Pole in two (in fact, to be accurate, a fraction more) has an
i
18
urban address. This is exactly twice as many as before the war. In 1950
still nearly a third of the population were town dwellers.
The balance of the sexes has not yet returned to normal and is unlikely
to do so for some time. The inroads made by the war are still visible,
and male mortality continues to run at a marginally higher rate.
Large families are on the way out. Among urban couples about 57 per
cent have only one or two children.
The average Pole is more divorce-prone than his parents and grand-
parents. In the last 15 years the divorce rate has more than doubled,
the larger towns setting the pace.
The average Pole is increasingly better educated. Among children
in the 15-18 age bracket, 79 per cent attend some sort of school, which
is twice as many as 20 years ago. One Pole in seven has a secondary
education; one in thirty-six is a college graduate (one in nineteen and
one in a hundred respectively 20 years ago). Illiteracy has been eradicated
completely; for comparison, the rate was 33.1 per cent in 1921 and
23.1 per cent in 1931.
The average Pole spends the major portion of his pay-packet on food
(48.8 per cent). He is a bit of a tippler, but has recently been acquiring
a growing taste for coffee: he now consumes 660 grams a year (infants
included), as against only 26 in 1955. In 1978 there were 75 radios,
95 television sets and 99 washing machines for every hundred households.
The average Pole is incredibly mobile. There are no precise statistics,
but it is a safe bet that he is among the European record-holders for
travel. He is incessantly on the move around town, around the country,
around the lands of his friends and neighbours (within days of the
frontier with the German Democratic Republic being thrown wide
open, the number of Polish tourists had soared past a million).
On the other hand, we have no anthropological identikit of the
average Pole: he comes dark, fair or bald, short or tall (though now
increasingly the latter), inclined to fat or underweight. Nor (unfor-
tunately, perhaps) has a way yet been found of measuring his character
and humour.
Actually, there is no such animal as the average Pole. All of them
are utterly out of the average. Or so, at any rate, most of them would
have you believe.
INDUSTRY
The world has forged so far ahead with industralization and run
into so many damaging side-effects that it is now wondering about
going into reverse. In Poland the process got off to a later start and had
certain safeguards built into it with the result that flora and fauna have
not suffered as heavily as elsewhere. Even so the changes in the landscape
are plain to see.
In 1978 industry produced the bulk of Poland's national income
(some 52.2 per cent), compared with the bare 30 per cent recorded be-
fore the war (in the course of which a third of these capacities were
19
52
%
reduced to rubble). In total industrial output Poland now occupies 10th
place in the world.
The biggest sector of industry is engineering in which pride of place
belongs to means of transportation (some 33 per cent of its produc-
tion), notably shipbuilding which stands 9th in the world tables. In the
manufacture of metals, steel is the most highly developed branch and
holds 10th place in the world. Mining gets over seven per cent of the
world's coal. Poland comes second in the production of elementary
sulphur, tenth in soda, and ninth in sulphuric acid. Zinc (8th place) and
lead have undergone considerable expansion, and copper is coming
up very fast.
About 30 per cent of the value of output is delivered by Lower and
Upper Silesia. The other major industrial centres are Warsaw, Łódź,
Cracow, Gdańsk and Poznań.
Once a country known chiefly as an exporter of farm produce, Po-
land is now building ships of over 100,000 tons, turbines with a capacity
of 200 MW upwards, computers, cars, numerically controlled electronic
machine tools, and other sophisticated plant and machinery. The 'Wilga'
sports plane and the 'Jantar' glider are doing roaring international trade.
20
Year by year the number of patents and licences sold abroad is rising.
Among them are an artificial muscle and plasma equipment for cutting
metal and a defectoscope for faults in cables. Firms in ten different
countries have bought the licence for an original Polish method of
forging crankshafts for big diesel engines. The French have acquired
a Polish drug for lowering blood pressure. A technique for improving
the smelting of pig iron has been sold to the Spanish steel industry. The
United States has purchased the licence for a sheet iron cleaner and the
Federal Republic of Germany a device for detecting methane in coal
mines. Japan has bought the licence for an automatic metal-working
press. And so on and so forth.
Some foreigners find Poland's development into an industrialized
country as amazing as, say, the transformation out of all recognition
in the quality of her roads. There can be no doubt that the Polish land-
scape has changed.
EXPORT OF KNOW-HOW
A well-known Polish epigrammatist once wrote: 'Ideas are duty-
free.'
'Ideas' are something that Poland has been exporting for some time,
mainly in the shape of industrial and architectural blueprints. Processing
plant construction is undertaken abroad, experts are seconded. There
could be no more eloquent tribute to the standards achieved by Polish
science and technology.
Since 1954 more than 800 fully equipped industrial plants have
been sold by Poland to 52 countries. Around the world there are scores
of factories, housing developments and holiday amenities which have
been built by Poles.
Several dozen sugar mills have been commissioned in Ghana, Greece,
Spain, Indonesia, Iran, Morocco, the GDR, the USSR, Czechoslovakia
and elsewhere. Something like 50 hardboard factories have been built
in various countries, among them the Soviet Union, and others are under
construction. A large number of thermal plants have been exported. In
the GDR, Poles have built a 300 m.-high chimney for a power plant,
in Libya, a waterworks in Murzuq and water mains near the Abiad oasis,
in Greece, water intakes for a number of towns, including Salonica. In
Czechoslovakia Poles are building sugar mills and highways, in the GDR
oil pipelines. Specialists from Poland have expanded and modernized
four fishing yards in Iceland and are constructing a shipyard in Algeria.
Several hundred Polish miners are working in India, Italy (construction
and modernization of zinc mines in Sardinia), Bulgaria, Syria, Egypt,
Yugoslavia and other countries. It was Poles who put into commission
a coking and power coal mine in Peru, porcelain and dyestuff factories
in Egypt, clinker mills in Ghana, a timber manufacturing project in Pa-
kistan, a petroleum refinery in Zaire. Polish workers and engineers are
engaged on a number of industrial projects in the Federal Republic of
Germany; in Duisburg one of Europe's biggest sulphuric acid works
(with an annual capacity of 300,000 tons) has been built.
21
Poles have drawn up a master plan for the re-development of Bagh-
dad and a Pole has been put in charge of the planning of tourist ame-
nities on the Adriatic coast of Yugoslavia. Polish architects are design-
ing towns in Afghanistan, working on urban renewal schemes for
Singapore and winning competitions for a variety of projects in Euro-
pean cities, for example in Spain. Polish experts are restoring buildings
and works of art in Venice and Munich.
Thousands of Polish specialists hold long-term overseas appoint-
ments. The biggest professional group with Third World postings consists
of engineers and technologists, followed by school and university teachers.
Polish doctors, working chiefly in Africa, are others who have made
a name for themselves. A number of merchant navy officers have con-
tracts in the Middle East, notably in Lebanon and Kuwait. There is also
a sizeable body of Polish economists on assignments as government
advisers, planners, administrative engineers, etc.
This 'brain trade' is growing from year to year, with 'private enter-
prise' complementing official channels. Polish architects, academics,
seamen, are known in the world, especially in Europe. The trademark,
'Made in Poland', has now been joined by the new one of 'Born in
Poland'.
POLAND IN FOREIGN EYES
Foreigners have been making observations about Poland for about
as long as there has been a Poland to make observations about. But
whether complimentary or censorious, true or false, they almost all
share a faintly puzzled air: what a strange country, what a peculiar
race, what a remarkable history!
'You cannot prevent them swallowing you,' wrote Jean Jacques
Rousseau on the brink of the Partitions of Poland, 'but at least make
sure you give them indigestion.' A sage piece of advice, which was duly
taken.
22
The distinctiveness of the national character is something that has
been invariably stressed. Even a thousand years ago: The people of
Boleslaus the Brave will not suffer themselves to be governed in the
interests of the ruler unless he resorts to stern punishments' (Thiet-
mar, 1018).
Note was made of the Poles' virtues and vices. Vent was occasionally
given to indignation, only for the strictures to be received as praise:
"The whole of Poland is infected with the errors of heresy; every re-
ligious sect can find refuge and safety here' (Lippomano, 1575). Others
waxed adulatorily: 'I often found in the poorest Polish peasant that
original wit which at the least opportunity spills forth with a marvellous
play of colour' (Heinrich Heine, 1822). Someone else wrote scathingly:
'Because the Poles are loth to work, it follows that they eagerly listen
to anything new, and should they meet a traveller they will ply him with
questions or drag him off to a tavern' (Werdum, 1670-72). Whatever
the justice of the work-shy taunt - be it remembered that all too often
the Pole was not his own taskmaster and retaliated by scrimshanking -
the reference to his curiosity, hospitality and bibulousness hits the nail
on the head.
Much has always been made of the beauty and wealth of the Polish
countryside. 'As regards the realm of Mieszko, it is the most spacious
of the Slav lands. It abounds in food, meat, honey and ploughland' (Ibra-
him Ibn Yakub, 965-6). Gallus Anonymus added: 'A land where the
air is healthy, the soil fertile, the forests flowing with honey, the rivers
stocked with fish, the knights martial, and the rustics industrious'
(1110-13).
The Poles have come in for their share of gushing eulogies: 'History
bears witness to the independent development of Poland which has
been both a bridge and a beacon between the Slavs, Germany and the
East' (Cesare Lombroso, 1900). Later, too, the accolades flowed gene-
23
rously (often enough, in default of action), especially during the last
war when Poland was 'an inspiration to the nations' (President Roose-
velt).
Skill in arms has been the most frequent theme: Heine who cham-
pioned the Polish cause so passionately, proclaiming the words of the
national anthem - 'Poland has not yet perished' - far and wide, also
wrote: The Pole will become as good with the pen as he is with the
lance, and prove as brave in the field of knowledge as he has been on the
field of battle.'
There is, we know, a general tendency to make dangerous genera-
lizations. Many people regard every Scotsman as a skinflint, every Italian
as a potential tenor, every Frenchman as a ladykiller. The Poles have not
escaped such stock images. For this reason we set the greatest store by
the remarks of the foreigners who have entertained mixed feelings about
Poland, who have steered clear of the twin extremes of jubilation and
despair. One such level-headed chronicler was Johann Kausch who in the
late 18th century observed somewhere in his account of Poland: "The
good impression created by the sight of the great piety of a Pole turns
to outrage when one sees this same Pole dashing off from the card-table
to reel off his psalms.'
The author of Poland for Beginners has no intention of taking issue
with the fault-finders, except to point out that all these and many
other, far harsher, sentiments expressed by foreigners have recently
been published in Poland in two large and handsomely illustrated vol-
umes.
WHAT TO UNDERSTAND
THE SECOND WORLD WAR
There is hardly anyone in Poland who did not suffer some personal
bereavement during the last war. Estimates put the loss of life in the
region of six million which, as a proportion of the total population
(35 million), represents a tragic world record. The damage to certain
towns, like Warsaw, Wrocław and Gdańsk, is calculated to have been
75-85 per cent. Three-quarters of industry had to be reconstructed,
80 per cent of farmland was derelict.
After invading Poland the Nazis embarked on a policy of extermi-
nation and meant to wipe the nation off the map. In October 1939 the
occupied country was divided into two parts: one called the Government
General, the other incorporated into the Reich (Great Poland, Pomerania,
Silesia). A reign of terror was unleashed to back the plans for genocide.
The Jewish population was rounded up into ghettoes and murdered in
concentration camps.
The response was an organized resistance movement which grew to
dimensions unmatched in any other country. Armed operations, sabo-
tage, political action, publishing and education (an underground press,
books, schools) were accompanied by passive resistance and boycotts.
Convoys bound for the eastern front were attacked, destroyed and rob-
bed. Virtually every large expanse of woodland was a base for partisan
units. Daring raids were made on German offices and army posts; traitors
and the most detested Nazi officials were liquidated (one spectacular
exploit was the assassination in Warsaw of SS General Kutschera).
The spirit of the nation was indestructible, as it showed in an endless
stream of spontaneous anti-German jokes, buskers' ballads, and concerts
and shows put on in private apartments.
The tragic climax of the nation's resistance was the Warsaw Rising
(August-September 1944), a heroic last stand by the people of the
city which cost 250,000 lives and the almost complete destruction of
Warsaw. Part of Warsaw was ruined during the struggle, while the rest
was burnt down in a planned and systematic manner after the evacuation
of the population.
Not everyone knows that during the Nazi occupation all univer-
sities and secondary schools were closed in Poland and for attending
clandestine school the punishment was death, that there were no theatres
(with the exception of some sleazy music halls) and that sports meetings
were banned. No books or newspapers were allowed to be published
in Polish (apart from propaganda pamphlets and an official, prostitute
press written in a grotesquely garbled language).
The ordeal lasted almost six years. It left grim and indelible scars,
but also lessons which will never be forgotten.
NATIONAL RISINGS
The servitude of the Partitions lasted over 120 years (1795-1918).
In this time resistance boiled over in several nationwide explosions:
the Kosciuszko Insurrection (1794), the November Rising (1830-31)
and the January Rising (1863-64). The so-called Springtime of Nations
reverberated in Austrian-occupied Galicia (1846-48). A number of
revolts broke out in Great Poland. The Silesians rose three times in the
aftermath of independence (1919-21). There was even a Polish mutiny
on the shores of Lake Baikal in deepest Russia (1866) when the exiles
banished there took to arms. Finally in the course of the last war the
sequence of the nation's dramatic bids for freedom was culminated by
the Warsaw Rising (1944).
Each of these armed clashes with invaders and oppressors took
a crippling toll. Lives were lost, the cultural heritage ravaged, property
forfeited. Their enemies always had a hard time with the Poles.
All the risings were of a national character (even when the fighting
was local) which over-rode class differences. It is known that even women
and children took part and that the civilian population of towns and
villages suffered.
The most massive and forcefully led rising was commanded by Ta-
deusz Kosciuszko. It was then that peasants armed with scythes marched
into battle, an event which passed into legend. An important role in
Europe was played by the 1830-31 insurrection, part of the great tide
of revolution which swept across the continent. As many as 1,200 battles
and skirmishes were fought in 1863-64, a fateful, if ultimately abortive,
military and social upheaval. A quarter of a million dead and the wholesale
destruction of the city were the harvest of the Warsaw Rising in 1944.
Mention has been made here only of the major. national risings.
There were, however, countless other episodes of varying impact in
the tenacious resistance put up by the Poles, for instance, the great
strike of 1905 and the attempt at armed revolt made by the workers
of Łódź.
From time to time there have been murmurs about the futility of
the risings and the unconscionably high price that had to be paid for
them by the nation as a whole. History makes it clear, however, that
freedom is not a gift of heaven, but must be fought for with absolute
single-mindedness and without flinching at the costs. As far as this goes,
the Poles can be counted pastmasters.
Alexander Herzen, the Russian writer, thinker and revolutionary
democrat, one of the noblest figures of the 19th century, exclaimed
on hearing of the 1863 insurrection: 'A rising has broken out, and
is blazing and spreading through Poland. What will the Petersburg fire
brigade do Douse it with blood, or no ?... And can blood quench ?'
Herzen also wrote: The world cannot refuse you its admiration.'
That is one thing at least which has never been refused us.
28
THE THIRD
OF MAY CONSTITUTION
The Constitution enacted by the Four-Year Seym on 3 May 1791
was the first ever to be adopted in Europe and second only to the United
States in the world.
This vital political and social measure was accomplished on the
death-bed of the state, on the brink of the long years of ensuing ser-
vitude.
The Third of May Constitution retained the system of government
by estates, but weakened the powers of the great nobles. It abolished
the calamitous liberum veto (the right of every deputy to dissolve parlia-
ment with a single cry of 'I forbid') and free election of the monarch,
reduced the role of the aristocratic Senate, increased the rights of the
townsmen and guaranteed the peasantry 'the protection of the law and
government'.
In both matter and style this bill was one of the great works of the
Polish Enlightenment. It represented an attempt to initiate important
social reforms and introduce a constitutional and parliamentary mon-
archy.
Among the clauses of
this constitution was the
requirement that the edicts
of the king must be endorsed
by one of his ministers. The
latter were made liable to
impeachment for infringe-
ments of the law and answer-
able to both king and par-
liament for their policies.
Poland thus became the first
country in the world to
give a legally defined form
to the parliamentary resp-
onsibility of ministers.
The Third of May Consti-
tution was overthrown in
1792 by the invasion of the
Tsarist army and the rebel-
lion of Targowica. Its import
lived on, nevertheless, survi-
ving the Partitions, and prior
to the Second World War,
its anniversary was the Na-
tional Day, and even now it is commemorated in Poland. The Third of
May is a day that has found its way into songs (Long Live the Third of
May) and poems, and is reflected still in the names of streets, institutions
and buildings.
29
THE NATIONAL EDUCATION COMMISSION
This was an institution established in 1773 and for a long time had no
parallel anywhere else in Europe, being the first ministry of education
in the modern sense of the word.
The Commission was committed to lay and progressive ideas. It
introduced modern courses, methods and organization, and reformed
secondary and higher education. Another innovation was the provision
of the first teacher training facilities in Poland.
The Commission abolished the educational monopoly of the Cath-
olic Church. It sought to increase equality of opportunity and plan-
ned a revision of textbooks. It was responsible for Polish replacing
Latin as the language of tuition in higher education.
A host of outstanding scholars and men of affairs, notably Hugo
Kołłątaj, was associated with Europe's first ministry of education.
Of the many enlightened public agencies which sprang up in Po-
land in these and later years, the Commission was among the ones which
did the most good.
SEIGNEURS
For centuries a call of Together, my lords' rang out time and again
in Poland. This was the rallying-cry of the szlachta, the privileged noble
class which was the mainstay of what was accordingly called the Com-
monwealth of the Gentry. It left a profound imprint on the history
of the country and on the customs and outlook of its people.
As an estate of the realm it emerged from the knighthood in the
course of the 13th and 14th centuries. Its members enjoyed a hereditary
title to their estates and a variety of privileges extracted from the crown.
It was a bigger and more motley order than its name implies, including
grandees, gentry proper, yeomen and a landless ragtag known as gołota
(from a combination of the words for 'destitute' and 'rabble').
The twin staples of the gentry ethos were rusticism and chivalry.
In some parts of Poland the smaller landowners were wont to use their
swords as measuring instruments for marking off their acres.
The exaltation of rural joys lent a special flavour to life and manners,
and even literature. For centuries writers and poets remained under the
spell of this pastoral image: 'O countryside, tranquil and gay, sublimer
than words can say,' wrote Jan Kochanowski. Such idyllicism was in
signal contrast with the political turbulence of the gentry.
Most of them lived in timber manor houses. In the frontier territories
these were often fortified and served as outposts.
By time-honoured Polish custom, an oddity if ever there was one,
the right of inheritance belonged not to the eldest, but to the youngest
30
son. The point seems to have
been to ensure the direct
continuity of the line. As
often as not, however, the
property was equitably
shared.
A Frenchman, Guillaume
de Beauplan, wrote in the
early 17th century of the
Polish gentry: 'Among (them)
all are equal, not as in France,
Germany, Italy and the like
where the title of Duke, Mar-
quis, Count or Baron is in
use. Even a gentleman who
owns a small patch of land
regards himself as the peer of
one much richer. No matter
how poor, every gentleman
flatters himself that he will
one day be appointed a sena-
tor by the king. Accordingly
all of them apply themselves
from childhood to the learning of Latin. All, too, dream of being awarded
a starosty, and consequently outdo each other in affording proof of their
valour and chivalry. It is common knowledge that the gentry enjoys the
privilege of electing the king. A gentleman cannot be put in prison until
he has been duly tried and convicted. The penalty for killing a gentleman
is beheading and confiscation of the fellon's goods.'
A whole litany of privileges with hardly any obligations. The gentry
became as noted for its high living as for its prowess in battle. Its time
was more or less divided between the saddle (service as mounted
men-at-arms, known as the levée en masse, and from the 15th century
on a standing army) and the groaning board.
The economic substance of the gentry was derived from a manorial
system based on serf labour. The peasants were obliged to perform
certain dues and household services in return for the right to till the
land.
As time went by, the gentry was infected by a mounting megalo-
mania, and its imperious habits grew out of hand. By the end of the
16th century it was turning into a markedly retrograde force, which
eventually sapped the power of government, generated anarchy and
weakened Poland's position abroad. It was not till the 1921 Consti-
tution that it was formally abolished as an estate.
Its legacy has died hard. True, the privileges have gone of course,
and no one any longer sports a kontusz or the other trappings, but the
fact remains that vestiges of the behaviour and thinking of what was
so long entrenched a power in the land linger on. Echoes of the principle
that 'the squire on his own land is the equal of the governor' occasionally
turn up unexpectedly. A trying if comic throwback.
31
AUSCHWITZ
A baleful word which has become a symbol of human suffering and
human iniquity.
It is a town near the southern border of Poland. During the Second
World War it was the biggest Nazi concentration camp in Europe.
Oświęcim (Auschwitz) and the adjoining Birkenau (Brzezinka) formed
a vast slaughterhouse in which four million people belonging to over
20 nationalities were murdered. It was built for the extermination
of the Polish intelligentsia, political organizers, resistance fighters, Jews
(in furtherance of the 'Final Solution"), Soviet war prisoners and gypsies.
The inmates perished in their thousands from slave labour, hunger,
inhuman conditions, torture and execution. Among the victims was
a Franciscan monk, Father Maximilian Kolbe, who was beatified
twenty-six years after the war.
In spring 1942 there began mass liquidation of the prisoners above
all with a gas known as Cyclon B. By this method up to 60,000 persons
could be killed per day. The victims were herded, 2,000 at a time, into
chambers with an area of 210 sq. m., the doors were sealed tight, and
the SS guards dropped pellets containing the gas through openings in
the roof.
Between 1941 and 1944 over 20,000 kilograms of Cyclon B were
supplied and used in Auschwitz. We have the word of the camp com-
mandant, Hoess, for it that just 6-7 kg of the gas were needed to gas
1,000 persons.
The camp was the site of criminal medical experiments, and German
concerns like IG-Farben exploited the prisoners as slave-labourers.
Apart from the planned extermination of millions of people from
the occupied countries of Europe, the Auschwitz 'death factory' earned
Hitler's Reich a hefty profit. The personal effects of the prisoners (and
maay of them brought all their belongings with them) were impounded
on arrival. Thousands of trainloads of clothing and linen, gold and jewel-
lery, household articles, even prams and surgical appliances, were dis-
patched to the Reich from Auschwitz.
Before evacuating the camp in 1945, the Nazis burned 29 of the
35 storehouses. In these remaining six alone there were found 350,000
sets of men's clothes, over 800,000 women's, 5,500 pairs of women's
and 58,000 pairs of men's shoes, and an untold quantity of toothbrushes,
shaving brushes, spectacles, tableware, cutlery, and children's clothing.
From the very outset a resistance movement sprang up in Ausch-
witz. This is one of the most stirring and heroic chapters in the struggle
against the Nazi invaders. It began with the arrival of the very first
batch of prisoners, but acquired a more organized form towards the
end of 1940 when a sort of twin command was set up by Polish polit-
ical detainees. The first wing consisted of a group of socialists headed
by two prominent politicians, Norbert Barlicki and Stanisław Dubois;
the other, which worked hand in glove with the first, was made up of
prisoners who had belonged to underground military organizations prior
32
to their arrest. A large number of mutual aid groups were formed which
gradually began to merge and eventually combined into a single common
resistance movement.
Assistance also came to the prisoners from the local population which
braved arrest and death. Many paid the ultimate penalty.
On the night of 26-27 January 1945, Konzentrationslager Auschwitz-
Birkenau ceased to exist. All that was left was the evidence of the most
monstrous crime ever committed in the annals of the human race: the
prisoners' huts, the crematorium ruins, the wire fences, guard towers,
service buildings - and a huge graveyard beyond anything known in the
history of the civilized world. On 27 January Auschwitz was liberated
by the Soviet Army. The relieving troops who entered the camp were
greeted by the sight of 7,000 walking skeletons, among them 180
children.
On Sunday, 16 April 1967, the sprawling site of the former Nazi
extermination camp was the scene of an overwhelming antiwar demon-
stration during the unveiling of an International Monument to the
Victims of Fascism (designed by Jerzy Jarnuszkiewicz and Julian Pałka
and an Italian team: Cascella, Simoncini, Valle and Vitale). The cere-
mony drew a crowd of some 200,000 people from many different
countries as well as Poland. The monument was endowed by contri-
butions from one-time prisoners and the governments and public of
many nations. The Seym has declared the whole compound of the camp
a Memorial of Martyrdom.
Alongside Hiroshima, Warsaw and other tragic landmarks of wholesale
slaughter on our planet, Auschwitz stands as a record of human suffering
and a symbol of the eternal infamy of the criminals. It is a warning for
all time.
POLONIA
This is the term (in some languages the word simply means 'Poland')
used to denote Poles living outside their native borders. There are
something like 10 millions of them, the bulk (two-thirds) in North and
South America. In fact, a traveller might be forgiven for suspecting they
number not ten, but a 100 million, since he is likely to bump into the
descendants of emigrants from the banks of the Vistula, Warta and
Dunajec at every turn of the way: from the islands of the Caribbean
to South Africa, from Paraguay to New Zealand.
It began with the first national insurrections and exodus of political
exiles. In the second half of the 19th century it turned into a flow of
emigrants in search of a livelihood.
The largest number of Poles is to be found in the United States
(about 6,500,000): Chicago has, next to Warsaw, the world's second
largest concentration of Poles (800,000). There are over 324,000 in
Canada, 840.000 in Brazil, 120,000 in Argentina, 110,000 in Australia,
33
750,000 in France, 145,000 in Britain, 132,000 in the Federal Republic
of Germany, and 1,167,000 in the Soviet Union.
These are all rough figures, particularly so as regards the size of
the Polish community in America where it is not always clear whether
a Pole still has a sense of ethnic identity or has crossed the Rubicon
of cutting ties with the land of his fathers. Hence, the number of Poles
living in the United States ranges from the pessimistic estimates of
3.5 million to the 9 or even 11 million quoted by optimists.
A list of the most dis-
tinguished Polish emigrés in
history would include: Ta-
deusz Kosciuszko and Ka-
zimierz Pulaski, who be-
To ja W roku 1920
came American national he-
roes; Ignacy Domeyko, a
scientist who pioneered mod-
ern methods of exploiting
mineral resources and organ-
ized research and education
in Chile; Józef Bem, a gener-
al who commanded Polish,
Hungarian and Turkish ar-
mies, and became command-
er in chief of the Hungarian
army; Adam Mickiewicz, the
greatest Polish romantic
poet; and Joseph Conrad,
the great English novelist.
The history of many coun-
tries is dotted with the names of outstanding Polish soldiers, politicians,
scholars, engineers and artists.
American studies have found that Poles are the immigrant group with
the most enduring sense of national identity. The language and customs
of their ancestors survive in some cases into the fourth generation. They
keep in close touch with the old country, and in recent years have been
visiting it in their thousands. In the countries where Poles have settled
in great numbers, there is a marked drive for prestige. The time has
definitely passed of the poor Polish emigrants, mostly manual workers,
lonely and lost, the time of plebeian emigration. It is now the stage
of integration with the life of the new countries, of social and financial
promotion. The stage at which the attraction and assets of one's native
culture are put to the fore and, consequently, of the existing potential
possibilities, unknown or simply unnoticed so far. It seems that a will to
create a new stereotype of a Pole is beginning to emerge among foreigners
of Polish extraction. They are strengthened in their conviction by the
brilliant careers of some prominent citizens of the world whose origins
are in Poland.
WHAT TO DISCOVER
am
POLISH HONOUR
We know of a number of nations which in certain contingencies
value honour above all wordly possessions, or even common sense. The
stock examples are Spanish, Italians and Irish. For all their Latin char-
acteristics, the Poles see these things a little differently than the in-
habitants of the Mediterranean countries for whom honour tends to be
associated with revenge; but they too set great store by it.
In Poland honour is more often a matter of high-minded genero-
sity, defence of the weak, chivalry towards women, and group and
family loyalty; but it may also reflect a self-importance and arrogance
inherited from the gentry. Once swords were whipped out at the least
hint of an affront; nowadays the chief weapons are words (frequently
trenchant and stentorian). It is all a shade reminiscent of the line in
Henry IV: 'What is honour? A word.' Honour was bound up with a sense
of national pride. Over a hundred years ago Harro Harring, a German
writer, observed: "The national pride of the Pole is astonishing. It comes
to the surface at the slightest opportunity in all of them, from prince
to beggar.'
In the superbly racy 17th-century memoirs of Jan Pasek, there
are countless examples of the Poles' prickly sense of honour. He himself
leaped to its defence against outsiders (meaning for him, as a Mazurian,
some visitors from the south) whom he proceeded to teach manners
according to his own lights, smashing the furniture with them and then
contentedly settling down to a hard night's drinking. So honour in this
part of the world can also mean violence, justifiably so in some circum-
stances, but blustering, implacable and truculent in others.
Another symptom is a growth of local patriotism: heaven help the
man who rubs a Varsovian or a Cracovian up the wrong way with some
slighting remark abour their native city. Professional pride - like that
of taxi-drivers - is also easily offended.
For centuries, right up to the last war, duelling was all the rage
in Poland. As late as 1939 there appeared a successive impression of
a Polish Code of Honour, compiled by Władysław Boziewicz and run-
ning to no less than 404 articles. The fact that duelling was against the
law was neither here nor there.
Sometimes it is hard to say. what may or may not give umbrage
to Polish sensibilities. The simplest rule is to be prepared for anything.
Honor
l
Cjoxyzna
37
FIGHTING QUALITIES
It is said in Europe and even beyond that your Pole loves a scrap.
And should he get into one, he will give an honest and spirited account
of himself.
It is a national characteristic that has been bred by dire necessity.
For a thousand years the lands between the Odra and the Bug have
been a battleground. Time and again sheer survival has forced folk to
take to arms.
There is a story that in September 1939, just after the outbreak
of the war, a peasant was tilling a field somewhere in the highlands
when a German plane appeared out of the blue and proceeded to strafe
him, flying low overhead. He threw himself flat, puzzled at having
been made a military target. But on the nth pass he saw red and leaped
up, swinging his rake. It hit the propeller and down went the plane.
True or not - and truth in Poland that September was often stranger
than fiction - this incident would be one for the book in the history
of modern warfare, as well as a splendid example of the Poles' tenacity
in defence. For by and large they seldom picked their fights: aggression
goes against their grain. Guns, swords, scythes were seized only as a last
resort. That they had an unusual flair for making good use of them
is another matter.
38
Occasionally even now, at dead of night in some ill-lit street or
lane, the nation's spirit is unexpectedly aroused. A close-fought sports
contest can also bring its spirit to the boil. The old Adam is hard to
live down, that's all.
An echo of Polish cavalry charges and last-ditch stands is now to
be found in the exploits of rally drivers or boxers. But more and more
often their martial gifts are channelled into such outlets as building
dams, archaeological explorations, fighting fires, rescuing trapped miners,
battling with storms at sea.
If we want a copybook example of the new mould of Polish valour -
and of grit and purpose as well - it could be the great sailor, Leonid
Teliga. In 1967-69, he sailed round the world singlehanded on the
ocean-going, but none too well equipped yacht, Opty, waging a heroic
struggle with the elements and himself. He was soon followed by
Krzysztof Baranowski and several others.
The traditional rallying-cry of 'if you're Polish, charge the bayonets!'
is beginning to sound a little old-fashioned. And not only because the
weapon in question is.
HOSPITALITY
At a pinch one can endure many of the Polish vices with a good
grace; the crunch comes with some of the virtues. Hospitality, for one:
lavish, and unstinting hospitality.
Polish has a host of proverbs about hospitality: 'A guest in the house,
God in the house' or, conversely, 'A untimely guest is worse than a Tartar'.
For centuries visiting was a major industry among the gentry in Poland.
People travelled up and down the land, although in those days the roads
were appalling, bridges non-existent, inns and towns few and far between.
As a result there was a constant stream of callers at the door, friends or
relations, unannounced passers-through, even complete strangers. 'Kill
the man,' inveighed Opaliński in his Satires, 'who invented keeping open
house; better always to be a guest!'
In a description of Polish life in the olden days, Władysław Lo-
ziński wrote: "The flower, but a stern test, too, of the social virtues,
patience above all, was hospitality, that historic hospitality of the gentry
celebrated all over the world by any foreigner who ever happened to
journey in Poland; the delight, but the curse, too, of the nobleman,
for it was both a pleasure of country life and a source of commotion,
loss of fortune and brawling.'
When Zawisza, the Voivode of Minsk, broke a journey to Cracow to
drop in on Jan Chryzostom Pasek at Cisów, his overjoyed host made
haste to kill the fatted calf. 'In Cisów,' he recorded later, still reeling,
'I was waited on by Master Pasek, a man of disgraceful amiability. For
three days we knew not night from day; we caroused and made merry.'
Other sources tell us that the townsmen and peasantry were in their
own way equally open-handed. Class distinction may now be a thing
39
of the past, but not this tradition of sumptuous hospitality. People
who have knocked around the world say that even a junket with an
Arab sheik is nothing compared to being entertained by a Pole: that
really leaves you a moral and physical wreck.
To say no to a bite, never mind a drink, is liable to be taken as
a personal affront. True, a guest is unlikely to have a parting gift of
a horse worth 24 ducats thrust upon him. But if there is now less to
take away, any skimping of what's offered on the premises would be
unforgivable, no matter what.
One excuse used to some effect today is the plea of having to drive.
Even so, if you get away with this, it is only because swords have gone
out of fashion and your host cannot any longer chop you, more in
sorrow than in anger, into little pieces.
SENSE OF TIME
Poles are very popular in Latin America. They're so like us,' I was
once told, 'you'd think they were natives from way back.' Where, I asked,
did the chief resemblance lie? 'That's easy. For them, as for us, time
is an abstract concept.'
40
No doubt the man was making
12
a special effort to be nice - there
10
is, after all, a world of difference
9
3
between us - but even so he had
87654
a point. For Poles are apt to treat
the bother of meeting deadlines,
keeping appointments, answering
correspondence and so on a little
cavalierly. Hence a tendency to
be never in quite the right place
at quite the right time, a happy-
go-lucky attitude to punctuality
and engagements.
Arriving fifteen minutes late,
euphemistically known as the 'aca-
demic margin', is a recognized par
for the course. It has been known
for 'mistakes' of several days to
be made over dates. Despite the
disappearance of illiteracy, letters,
especially official and business
ones, may go unanswered for weeks
on end.
While it is customary (and occasionally de rigueur) to turn up late
for appointments and visits and to begin conferences and even lec-
tures with an accepted time-lag, theatre and film programmes manage
nevertheless to start on the dot. The same goes for trains: they leave
their terminals according to the timetable.
Poles are talented improvisers. Give them a rush job and they will
always rise to the occasion. So once they are left with only a few days
to go to complete the organization of a large exhibition or the construc-
tion of a stretch of highway, they will somehow or other make up for lost
time, if only at the eleventh hour.
The dramatic deadline of 'by yesterday' provides a metaphysical
impulse to clearing for action: 'tomorrow' is remote, misty, unpre-
dictable - like mañana in Latin America.
TEMPERAMENT
In disposition, mentality, attitude to the world, sense of humour,
behaviour, forms of amusement, the Poles are, at the risk of labouring
a point, almost a Mediterranean race. In Naples, Seville or even São
Paulo, a Pole will feel quite at home.
Above all, temperamentally. For your Pole has a short fuse, is quick
to enthusiasm ('feu de paille'), and makes no secret of his emotions.
Their ebullience has been amazing - and disconcerting - foreigners
for centuries.
A perfect illustration of Polish mettle and vitality, and of grim per-
severance and pride as well, might be the case of Jan Stach, a peasant from
southern Poland. When he found his farm cut off from the outside world
41
by an artificial lake and his
neighbours refused to allow
him right of way across their
land, he decided to build a
bridge with his bare hands.
Day and night, summer and
winter, he slogged away, tot-
ing huge boulders, cement-
ing, excavating, hewing, hoist-
ing. After years of back-
breaking labour he achieved
his purpose. He built a bridge
- 30 metres long, 7 metres
wide and 12 metres high.
For this incredible exploit he
was honoured with the Or-
der of Bryła (named after
Stefan Bryła, a distinguished
civil engineer, executed by
the Nazis in 1943).
Jan Stach is also an object
lesson in tenacity - which
sets him a little apart from
his fellow-countrymen.
Similar qualities were dis-
played by the people who
rebuilt Warsaw after the war.
Watching the capital's citi-
zens stream back to the
rubble and ruins in January
1945, a French newspaperman
observed: "These people are
indestructible! They're like
crocodiles which grow new
limbs and teeth.'
COMPLEXES
Thanks to Messrs Freud and Jung, we now know that a complex
means 'a system of highly charged emotional associations, usually un-
conscious'.
The Poles suffer from a number of these syndromes. There is, for
example, an aggressive streak in their day-to-day behaviour, attributable
probably to a folk-memory of centuries of hard knocks in the course
of which they were all too often forced, literally, to fight for their
lives. This explains a certain edginess in their manner, as though they
were eternally on the lookout for a punch to block or beating someone
else to the draw. The surest way of overcoming any abrasiveness or
unforthcomingness on their part, often enough merely a mask concealing
their true feelings or a shield against the outside world, is by patience
or, better still, a joke and a smile.
42
Long experience of pillage and de-
struction, of a hand-to-mouth existence,
and the consequent longings for a more
normal sort of life bred a philosophy
summed up in the current tag: 'Pawn
your all, but make splash'. Never mind
if there's no money for a new dress,
a holiday, a party for your friends,
beg, borrow or steal, but live!
The fact that Poles treat visitors
from other countries with unwonted
cordiality is also occasionally ascribed
to some kind of complex. This seems
a little illogical: if that were really the
truth of the matter, one would expect
them to show, if anything, an aversion
to members of certain nationalities. No, it is more a sign of pleasure
that our country is interesting enough to attract visitors, an irrepressible
curiosity about the world which makes the Pole seek out foreigners, and
last but not least, an expression of his traditional hospitality.
CORPUS CHRISTI
For Holy Week, go to Seville, for Carnival to Rio de Janerio, and
for Corpus Christi - to Łowicz.
This country town is then the scene of processions for which crowds
from the surrounding villages turn out in regional costumes of vivid
and unusual design. By a strange
coincidence they are uncannily like the
uniforms of the Papal Guard in the
Vatican; it is said that centuries ago a
Polish ecclesiastic took a sample of cloth
from Łowicz with him to Rome, which
so took the fancy of the Pope that he
had the uniforms of his guard modelled
on it (though it may well, for that mat-
ter, have been the other way round, with
everything starting in the Eternal City
and only later reaching Lowicz).
The Corpus Christi processions draw
sightseers, many of them from abroad,
by their thousands to Lowicz. Cars with
foreign registration numbers, limousines
with CD plates, jam the streets of this
town of 20,000 souls. If the weather
comes up to the mark, amateur photo-
graphers and movie-makers have a field
day.
43
Corpus Christi comes on the tenth day after Whitsun. It is, there-
fore, a movable feast and it is easy, especially for a foreigner, to miss
the right day to be in Lowicz. May and June are the months to watch.
The processions and the four traditional altars are not the only
things worth seeing in Łowicz. It also has a Renaissance-cum-Baroque
collegiate church (the alterations being the work of Tommaso and
Andrea Poncino in the latter half
of the 17th century), a Gothic
church of the Holy Ghost (1404)
and several others of architectural
interest. There is a handsome old
market place (Kosciuszko Square)
with a classicist town hall, a neo-
classical post office, and a good
regional museum.
If you're in luck, you may, even
on an ordinary day, run into a
girl wearing the magnificent striped
Lowicz skirt, or rather skirts, since
they come in a number of layers.
A sight for sore eyes, if ever there
was one!
POPIEL AND THE MICE
Among the Slavs the Polish tribes
were relative latecomers on the
feudal European scene. They com-
prised the Polanie in the valley
of the Warta, the Kujavians on
Lake Gopło, five Silesian tribes in
the basin of the middle and lower
Odra, the Vistulans, the Mazovians
and the Pomeranians and Lubu-
szans. We know that by the middle
of the 19th century the Polanie chief-
tains had made themselves masters
of the whole territory between the
middle Odra and the Vistula. The
unification of the Polish tribes was
completed by Mieszko I.
44
But long before this recorded landmark, history was being made,
though it is now only the stuff of legend. Some of these stories were
passed on by the early medieval chroniclers, such as Gallus Anonymus
and Wincenty Kadłubek.
One of the most picturesque has to do with a certain Prince (or it
may have been King) Popiel. The only fact that is remembered about
him now is that he was devoured by mice. They must have been very
ravenous beasts - and no respecters of persons either.
Popiel, known also as Pumpiel, was the ruler of Gniezno and so
came from the very heartland of the Polanie, which was also the source
of the Piast dynasty. For some mysterious reason he was banished from
his capital and came to the sticky end described.
Kadłubek has it that there were two Popiels, but does not make
it clear whether they made a two- or only one-course dinner. For good
measure the Wielkopolska Chronicle turned Gniezno into Kruszwica,
so that it is now this town on Lake Gopło where the mice had their
meal.
As it happens, Kruszwica is one of the oldest towns in Poland: archae-
ologists have recently unearthed traces of a fortified settlement dating
from the iron age. One of its sights is the so-called 'Mice's Tower', but
this is in fact part of a 14th-century castle. Too late to have seen Popiel
if not mice.
TWARDOWSKI
Long before Armstrong and Aldrin, foot (or perhaps some other part
of the anatomy) was set on the moon by a certain Polish nobleman.
Centuries passed before another Pole (Mirosław Hermaszewski) ventured
into outer space.
Twardowski - for such was this worthy's name - is the Polish Münch-
hausen, a hero of countless fantastic adventures, who was in league with
supernatural forces: he flew through the air, gallopped around on a
rooster, turned sand into gold, journeyed to the moon and so on.
He could do all this because he had sold his soul to the devil.
Twardowski, who hailed from Cracow, has inspired poems, songs
and tall stories by the hundred. He is the principal figure of one of the
most colourful and popular of Polish legends and appears in many
others.
What drove him to all these vagaries is said to have been his battle-
axe of a wife. There is an old ballad which starts:
There's a nasty rumour going around:
Twardowski's wife has knocked him down.
45
This matron was immortalized in verse by the great Adam Mickie-
wicz himself.
There are all of ten proverbs and sayings in Polish with Twardowski
as their subject: for example, 'To ride like Twardowski on a rooster'
or There goes Twardowski all in a lather, a slipper on one foot, a boot
on the other.'
Be that as it may, the palm in exploring the Silver Globe belongs
to a Polish sorcerer named Twardowski (first name unknown).
w
GHOSTS
Though most ghosts seem to prefer the castles and palaces of Britain,
some choose to live (if that's the word) in other countries as well, though
again the premises have to be right, matching their extramundane whims.
If there is less reason for ghosts to be feared than living beings, the
kick to be got out of their supposed presence adds much indeed to the
well-being of every realist.
It is worthwile, for instance, to take a walk on a moonlit summer
night up the castle hill in Bolków on the Nysa where, if in luck, you
can see the phantom of a court jester who was beheaded after having
by accident killed with a stone the only son of Prince Boleslaus II.
Equally thrilling can be encounters with the ghosts haunting the old
seat of the Lubomirski family in Wiśnicz Nowy near Bochnia, once
the finest stately home in Poland. These are the victims of the repeated
46
lootings of the Wiśnicz treasury. In Toszek Castle (Upper Silesia) an
ethereal figure in white can sometimes be seen in the tourists' wing.
A 'Red Ghost' is kind enough to frequent Grodziec Castle near Złoto-
ryja, being, the experts claim, the spirit of one of the bloodthirsty
raubritters, the medieval German robber-knights. Those who dare take
a nap on the top floor of the magnificently restored castle in Szydło-
wiec are in for particularly horrible nightmares (guaranteed!). Near
Zawiercie in the ruins of Ogrodzieniec Castle, the second biggest in
Europe, an unusual spectre appears in the shape of a large dog on the
prowl, dragging a long chain with a flesh-creeping rattling sound.
Nor is there any shortage of scares to be had in historic houses of
the highest class. Thus, the famous Lancut Palace has a Blue Lady,
a woman in white always busy writing at a rococo escritoire, and a figure
dressed like a Polish nobleman, the 'Devil of Lańcuť himself, Stanisław
Stadnicki who not only steps out of one of the portraits in which he
features but is often seen riding full gallop along country roads, wearing
a black cape. Cardinal Michał Radziejowski (for that matter a terror
in his lifetime) now roams the Radziwiłł Palace in Nieborów, the library
being his favourite haunt. One of the most magnificent of Polish castles,
Krasiczyn near Przemyśl, can also boast a lodger from the other world -
a maiden who jumped headfirst off a high tower rather than marry
against her will and since then wandersaround on July nights. A phantom
of a similar nature can be spotted at Werynia in the former palace of the
Tyszkiewicz family. A girl of fifteen immured alive by her cruel father
howls and laments in the beautiful and well-preserved 15th
century castle in Dębno off the Cracow-Tarnów higway.
What a host of haunted castles there is in Poland after all ! A 'Black
Lady' moons about at nights in the ruins of the keep in Lesko;a 'Small
Lady's' loud laughter resounds among the ruins of Odrzykoń Castle near
Krosno; a 'Severe Lady' strolls the galleries of the Renaissance castle
in Sucha Beskidzka; while a 'Good Lady' inhabits the ruins of Bobolice
Castle near Myszków.
There are demons in the castle in Olsztyn (the voivode-leader of
a rebellion against the king in the 16th century); in Reszel in the same
region (a witch burned at the stake); in Wenecja near Znin (the 'Venetian
Devil' mentioned by Adam Mickiewicz himself); in Kórnik (yet another
'Lady in White' but a lucky one this time, accompanied by a mounted
cavalier); and in Ujazd near Opatów where amid the ruins of Krzyżtopór
Castle a rider charges along, his hussar wings fluttering.
How profuse is Polish demonology! There are specialists working in
this ghostly branch of knowledge to the nation's glory and tourists'
contentment. The weekly Przekrój (with a 700,000 circulation) has
for two years now been running a section devoted to Polish demons
from which I took some of the above valuable information.
Believe it or not.
47
APRIL FOOL'S DAY
The custom of playing jokes on the first day of April is not, of
course, of Polish origin, nor is this the only place where it survives.
It is, however, something of a highlight of the year with features all
its own.
Despite the existence of a cautionary proverb ('Believe nothing on
April Fool's Day, for you will be wrong'), masses of people are regularly
taken in by leg-pulls, ingenious or otherwise. Even the media, not nor-
mally given to frivolity, get into the act.
'Hoaxing one another on April 1st,' the daily Kurier Warszawski
commented back in 1860, 'dates back to the Creation. This was the
day on which Satan plucked the apple in Paradise and presented it to
Eve. The consequences still stick in our throats.'
Sometimes the joke is on the press. In 1930 Nasz Przegląd reported
on 1 April that a huge calico factory costing 25 million dollars was to
be built in Łódź. The story was so convincingly composed that three
days later the Warsaw Express Poranny reprinted it, complete with
enthusiastic commentary.
This tradition of newspaper spoofs is still with us. They now take
the form mainly of trick photographs showing, say, the sudden appear-
ance of a new building on Marszałkowska or the birth in the Zoo
of a giraffe with two necks.
All Fool's Day originated in ancient Rome and appeared in Poland
in the 16th century. This information comes from the encyclopaedia
and can, I suppose, be trusted.
LAJKONIK
A very colourful and original fête, which is one of Cracow's biggest
attractions, 'Lajkonik' or 'The Zwierzyniec Horse', is held on the octave
of Corpus Christi.
Its tradition is an
exceptionally charm-
ing curiosity and it is
a fascinating folk
survival whose ori-
gins are to be found
in the pageants of
the medieval guilds.
Legend, however,
traces it to a reputed
Tartar attack on
Cracow in 1281,
when the city is said
to have been saved by
the bravery of the
48
boatmen from its Zwierzyniec quarter. As a result, it is from Zwierzyniec
that the parade led by a rider on a hobbyhorse ('Lajkonik') traditionally
starts. This is the curtain-raiser to the time-honoured 'Cracow Days' festi-
vities. The oriental Lajkonik figure dates to the 17th-18th centuries,
while the dazzling caparisons were designed in 1904 by none other than
Stanisław Wyspiański.
It must in all honesty be added that popular festivals involving a
similar half-man half-horse are known in other parts of the world, in
Tibet and Japan, for example, as well as in Italy and France.
KULIG
This is an old Polish carnival-tide enertainment which has suffered
in popularity at the hands of time, chronic shortages of snow and the
spread of motoring.
it involved a sleigh-ride, often in elaborate fancy dress, to the ac-
companiment of songs and music, with calls on neighbours along the
way, and became famous far beyond the borders of Poland.
In the old days kuligs were riotous - and not infrequently ruinous
- affairs. A whole band of revellers, often running to a dozen or more
sleighs, would roll up out of the blue at a man's door, proceed to empty
his larder and cellar and then whisk off all the occupants on the next
stage.
A favourite kulig custom was to dress up as gypsies, rustics, Jews,
priests, beggars and what have you. One can imagine the pandemonium
caused by the irruption of these flushed masqueraders on a sedate
household.
Travel agencies now try to make a kulig a part of their tours. But
they find it increasingly hard to lay on snow, horses, the right sort
of open country; the only thing always on tap is the liquor!
49
SOBÓTKA
On the night of the summer solstice (23-24 June) or sometimes
of Whit Sunday a strange ceremony used to take place in the villages,
a magic rite intended to ensure the health of men and livestock and
a good harvest.
The name 'Sobótka' came from the bonfire through which boys and
girls had to jump.
In A Description of Manners and Customs during the Reign of Au-
gustus III, Jędrzej Kitowicz wrote almost two centuries ago: 'Boys,
whom the devil lures to every boisterous gathering, would surreptitiously
throw into the fire keys filled with gunpowder or other charges. The
upsurge of flames and unexpected report that followed usually caused
the jumper, alarmed or assailed by flying embers, to fall into the fire
and bring down the ones just behind him; before they could get up, the
man at the bottom was roasted to a turn.'
All the evidence indicates that Sobótka originated in pagan times
when bonfires were lit in honour of the gods and people leaped through
the flames as a form of propitiating dangerous forces.
Eventually the custom was more or less stamped out, since it was
the cause of many fires and accidents; by the early 18th century it had
become a rarity. It is now being revived here and there to provide an
added tourist attraction,
As well as the lighting of bonfires, garlands were tossed into rivers
to be carried away by the current. This part of Sobótka still survives
in Poland and on Midsummer Eve crowds of people turn out on river
banks; it is a night when even the least virginal girls feel free to sport
a posy.
DYNGUS
There is one day in the year when the consumption of water in
Poland shoots up. This is Easter Monday, and it is due to an ancient
custom which is rigorously observed, especially in the countryside.
It is a delightful tradition, but for the unwary, unsuspecting foreigners
among them, being on the receiving end, it is liable to be a bit of a
jolt.
Dyngus, or śmigus as this custom is also called, comes in two ver-
sions: one amiable and elegant when it is only a matter of a gentle
sprinkling with water or scent, the other quite merciless when whole
bucketfuls come into play.
Jędrzej Kitowicz wrote in his Description of Manners and Customs
during the Reign of Augustus III:
'In the streets of towns and villages youngsters of both sexes with
watering cans and pails of water lay in wait for passers-by; it often
happened that a maid bent on dousing a swain or a boy aiming for
50
a girl, doused instead some innocent stranger, a clergyman it might be,
or some respectable old man or old woman.'
There's no escape if you run into a devotee of old Polish customs.
Thank heaven this orgy of water throwing now lasts only a day: in the
past dyngus could be spun out for even a week. People are quieter now
and it's the exception rather than the rule for the fire brigade to join
in the general fun and games with their hoses.
Kitowicz suspected that dyngus originated out of difficulties over
individual baptism and the necessity of a communal dip. But this is only
one of the theories.
In any case it is an innocuous lark compared with the custom, to
be found in some parts of South America and India, of sloshing one
another with highly washproof paint.
FOLK ART
We live in times when the finest Indian totems, the most resplendent
Congolese masks, the most traditional Tahitian fabrics, are all manufac-
tured in Japan.
Though people claim to have found the inscription 'Made in Japan'
tucked away in the corner of what seemed to be a specimen of the
richly coloured and patterned shawls woven in the Polish highlands,
it can only have been one of some small batch of goods, aimed at
America's Polish community.
For in Poland itself, folk art in its authenic form still flourishes.
It has been kept alive by natural, born artists with a creative urge. Slowly,
very slowly, they are being squeezed out or swallowed up by industry.
Some hold out against the tide of mass production and the lure of bigger
earnings; others go under.
So the supply of original peasant furniture, homespun cloth, musical
instruments, is dwindling; machines are taking over handicrafts. Even
51
Cepelia
so Poland remains a bastion of exceptionally beautiful folk art. Wood
carvings, frequently polychromed, are one much-admired example.
Another famous specialty is painting on glass. Unfeigned wonder is
aroused by the ornamented stoves of Zalipie, the Christmas crèches
of Podhale, the tulle embroideries of Łagiewniki.
The whole Kurpie region, especially around Kadzidło, is a source
of paper-cuts which are exported to many countries. Many localities
produce the most exquisitely decorated Easter eggs. All over Poland,
particularly in the east and south, you will come across enchanting
wayside shrines fashioned by instinctive artists.
A notable sphere of folk art is the painting and sculpture of 'pri-
mitives'. The acclaim won here and abroad by the likes of Nikifor,
Ociepka or Kudła, is as eloquent a tribute as any to the calibre of our
home-grown Rousseaus.
Some of the treasures of folk art can be seen only in museums. Others
find their way into the showrooms of the sterling Cepelia (Folk and
Art Industry Agency - as though 'folk' and 'art' were two different
things!).
One way or another, the going in Poland is likely to be tough for
the Japanese and for the moment they must look to other markets.
THEATRE
As Adam Grzymała-Siedlecki, a gifted writer and student of the
subject used to say, 'the Poles have been infected by the theatre to
an incurable degree'. By the look of it the disease has now reached the
chronic stage.
Poland is a country with a booming theatrical life. Warsaw, Cracow,
Wrocław, are flourishing strongholds of drama. Altogether, excluding
opera and musical comedy companies, there are 97 professional theatres
52
in 34 cities, plus 25 puppet theatres. There are over 3,000 amateur
groups. Foreign tours and performances are a regular feature and have
brought many successes.
In 1965 there was celebrated the 200th anniversary of the National
Theatre in Warsaw. It was founded by King Stanislaus Augustus and
its first manager was the great Wojciech Bogusławski, whose statue
stands in the square outside.
Theatre-going has always been one of the most popular entertain-
ments in Poland. In the course of an average season, for instance, the
classic Polish comedies of Aleksander Fredro are likely to be seen by
something like 300,000 people and the plays of Shakespeare, the most
frequently produced foreign dramatist, by 450,000. Another sign of
how widespread is the love of theatre is the quantity of television drama
which is, moreover, of a commendably high standard and brings plays
of challenging quality to an audience of many millions.
Apart from such hallowed courts of Melpomene as the Współczesny
(Contemporary), Narodowy (National), Ateneum, and Dramatyczny
in Warsaw, the Słowacki and Stary (Old) in Cracow, the Polski in Wro-
cław, the Wielki (Great) and Polski in Łódź, there are scores of experi-
mental groups. In many cases their exploration of new frontiers has
brought them worldwide acclaim, to mention only Grotowski's Labo-
ratory and Tomaszewski's Mime Theatre from Wrocław or the Cracow
Piwnica pod Baranami (The Rams Cellar) and other student companies.
In Warsaw there is also a very successful Jewish Theatre which has
moved into a handsome new building.
17
53
The repertoire is a mixture of native and foreign drama and has
included may world premières (eg. Dürrenmatt and Frisch). Eliot, Camus,
Brecht, Pinter, Ionesco, Genet are just some of the names that appear
on the billboards. Between 380 and 400 new plays are produced every
year, including 90 to 100 plays by foreign classics. At the same time
the stock of Polish plays has been steadily rising: the whole world has
been re-discovering the avant-gardisme of the writing of Stanisław
Ignacy Witkiewicz, and prominent positions are occupied by the work
of Gombrowicz, Mrożek, Różewicz, and Szaniawski. Directors like Erwin
Axer, Józef Szajna, Andrzej Wajda, Kazimierz Dejmek, Krystyna Sku-
szanka and Adam Hanuszkiewicz, have built up European reputations.
The language barrier has not prevented many leading Polish actors
being cheered in the world's theatre capitals; it was from Poland, after
all, that Helena Modjeska set off on her conquest of America. Polish
stage design ranks among the best in the world (Kantor, Kilian, Wiśniak,
Pankiewicz, Majewski, Szajna and Starowieyska).
Even in the grimmest periods of the country's history the theatre
never said die. It soldiered on throughout the 120 years of servitude.
During the Second World War it sprang up in the Polish POW camps
in Germany, while in occupied Poland itself it carried on underground
(defying the total ban imposed by the Germans). It was often an em-
battled theatre, hated and suppressed by enemies, loved by the Poles.
High up in the gods, from my balcony seat,
My eye throws the blossoms of dreams at your feet;
Eternally one, though different in name,
You face the dark house from your bright picture frame.
So wrote Antoni Słonimski, ever alive, like all his fellow-country-
men, to the excitement of theatre, to true art, to brilliance of stage-
craft and virtuosity of performance.
MUSIC
Although in Poland too radio and television are flooded with the
din of pop music and its stars have become the idols of the younger
generation to a degree that is a shade disturbing, the fact remains that
'non omnis moriar'. The land of Chopin has not capitulated entirely
to trendiness and allowed itself to be buried under an avalanche of
decibeles.
The chronicles of music are studded with the names of great Poles,
both composers and performers. A large number of contemporary
composers have made worldwide reputations: Kotoński, Lutosławski,
Bloch, Baird, Penderecki, Górecki, Szabelski, Bacewicz, Sikorski, Kilar,
Malawski, Mycielski, Palester, Spisak and many others stand in the top
flight in Europe. Their works are in the repertoire of all the best orches-
tras and ensembles.
54
Among artists of comparable
standing mention should be made
of pianists like Rubinstein, Czerny-
Stefańska, Smendzianka, Zimer-
man and many of the prize-winners
of the Warsaw Chopin Competition,
singers like Woytowicz, Łukomska,
Koszut-Okruta, Wojtaszek-Kubiak,
Žylis-Gara, Ładysz, Hiolski, Pa-
procki, Ochman and violinists like
Wiłkomirska and Kulka. Major
international successes have been
scored by our symphony orchestras,
notably the National Philharmonic
from Warsaw and the Grand Polish
Radio and Television Orchestra from
Katowice. Polish conductors have
appeared on all continents (Ro-
wicki, Wodiczko, Czyż, Kord, Markowski, Krenz, Skrowaczewski, Sem-
kow, Wisłocki and others). Every year more than 4,000 Polish artists go
on foreign tours.
There has been no wilting, therefore, of the tradition planted not
only by Chopin, Stanisław Moniuszko and Karol Szymanowski, but
also by Ignacy Paderewski, Wanda Landowska, Bronisław Huberman,
Paweł Kochański, Jan Kiepura and many other leading lights.
One fact, which may come as a surprise to many people, will serve
to-show what a special place music holds in Polish life: during the Nazi
occupation the works of Chopin were banned and could be played
only at the risk of arrest and confinement in a concentration camp.
Poland is now the scene of many events in the international music
calendar. Every four years there is the Chopin Competition for young
pianists. Once a year comes the 'Warsaw Autumn' festival of contem-
porary music, followed hard on its heels by the 'Jazz Jamboree'. In
Poznań, also every four years, we have the Henryk Wieniawski Violin
Competition. Foreign artists are also regularly on hand for other compe-
titions and concerts, symphony, string, organ, etc.
POSTERS
The achievements of Polish painters, sculptors, art weavers, pottery
designers and so on are substantial, but here I shall confine myself
only to the field of the poster. For this is an art form, reproduced by
the million and exhibited non-stop on walls and hoardings seven days
a week, in which we have made an exceptionally prolific and, it seems,
happy showing.
It all began, so they say, way back in the past, but properly speaking
55
only in the twenties. The first artists to produce advertising and en-
tertainment posters of unmistakable quality were Nowicki, Gronowski,
Wajwód, Sopoćko and the team of Levitt and Him, who later worked
in western Europe. But it was not till after the last war that the gifts
and creativeness of Polish designers burst into full bloom. The best
of them are ranked at the very top of their profession, and their work
is hung in museums (the Museum of Modern Art in New York, for
one) as well as being a must for album publications. Any short list
of the world's leading poster artists would include the names of Fangor,
Lenica, Pałka, Tomaszewski, Mroszczak, Zamecznik, Cieślewicz, Trep-
kowski, Młodożeniec, Urbaniec, Lipiński, Jodłowski, Szaybo, Świerzy,
and Starowieyski. Fangor now lives the United States where he holds
a university appointment, Cieślewicz and Lenica are working in Paris,
Zamecznik, Mroszczak and Trepkowski are no longer with us.
Poles have probably won more international awards for posters
than any other national group. They are at home in any kind of sub-
ject, from political and social to commercial. Theatre, film and circus
posters have won particular acclaim. Very interesting work has been
produced for industrial health and safety campaigns.
The hallmark of the Polish 'poster school' is compression of language
and composition. For years artists have fought a dogged battle with
themselves, to say nothing of the poor quality of paper, paint and
printing.
Adjoining Wilanów Palace on the outskirts of Warsaw there is the
world's only permanent poster museum. It also serves as a gallery for
displays of work by foreign artists.
CINEMA
When a young lady named Apolonia Chałupiec was first seen on
the screen during the First World War in Polish melodramas with high
society and back street settings, no one suspected that the movies were
about to sweep all before them or that she herself, better known as Pola
Negri, would shortly conquer Hollywood and the whole world.
In the years that followed the Polish cinema had its ups and downs,
mainly the latter. After the last war it marked time a little, raised a few
hopes and produced one or two interesting films, mainly about the hor-
rors of the recent past, such as Forbidden Songs or The Last Stage. Then
in the mid-fifties two young directors appeared on the scene: Wajda and
Munk. The first made a series of films about the experience of the
younger generation during the war, most memorably Kanal and Ashes
and Diamonds (from the novel by Jerzy Andrzejewski); Munk was the
author of Eroica, Bad Luck and the Passenger before his brilliant talent
was snuffed out in a car crash in 1961. Other film-makers off the mark
around this time were Kawalerowicz (Mother Joan of the Angels, Night
Train), Has, Kutz, Passendorfer and Hoffman.
An interesting development was the appearance behind the camera
56
of novelists and screenwriters, notably the highly original Tadeusz
Konwicki and Jerzy S. Stawiński. A conspicuous position was reached
by the documentary film, while the Polish Newsreel has collected the
world's highest awards. A new crop of directors arrived: Polański (whose
Knife in the Water was made in Poland and launched him on the path to
his present fame), Skolimowski, Piwowski and Zanussi. Somewhat earlier
outstanding achievements were recorded in the animated film' (Lenica,
Borowczyk, Szczechura, among others).
In the seventies Wajda still led with The Wedding, Land of Promise
and The Man of Marble. The top group also included Zanussi (The
Structure of Crystal, Illumination, Family Life). The younger generation
of directors included Žuławski and Królikiewicz who were still among
the best. Borowczyk, who works in France and in Poland, has also
become quite famous with his feature films. Agnieszka Holland and
Feliks Falk have won high marks among the youngest.
MATHEMATICS
Professor Wacław Sierpiński, a mathematician at Warsaw University
who died recently, held honorary doctorates from nine other universities
and was a fellow of five learned academies in different parts of the world.
A specialist in set theory, the theory of real functions, topology and
theory of numbers, he was one of the founders of the internationally
acknowledged 'Warsaw School of Mathematics'.
Also departed are such other luminaries as Stefan Banach, a mathe-
matical genius, Hugo Steinhaus, who opened new horizons in this science,
and many others. But the 'Warsaw School' still remains, as does the
tradition of a high standard of mathematics in Poland. At present there
appear eight journals, five of them published in foreign languages. The
universities have seven specialized centres. The International Mathe-
matical Union regularly organizes conferences and symposia in Poland.
To go far back into history, King John Sobieski appointed a mathe-
matician as a personal adviser, one of whose pastimes was to experiment
57
with squaring the circle. Today such men, especially if they are computer
scientists, are working as experts in many areas of public affairs.
Banach developed a concept of space which bears his name. Stein-
haus was the first to use the probability methods subsequently elabor-
ated by Norbert Wiener in the United States. Sierpiński had a world-
wide reputation; a leading Spanish mathematician Norberto Cuesta
of Salamanca, once dedicated a book to him with these words: 'To the
Professor who introduced the author to the paradise of infinity.'
Though one man's paradise may be another man's hell, this mathe-
matical one may well seem enviable to many mortals, if, alas, even more
impenetrable than most.
JAGIELLONIAN UNIVERSITY
A university was founded in Cracow by King Casimir the Great in
1364, in other words at a time when the number of such institutions
anywhere could be counted on your fingers, and Central Europe had
only one (Prague, 1348).
By the mid-15th century Alma Mater Jagiellonica had become famous
far beyond the borders of Poland, thanks to its achievements in law and
propagation of new ideas in science and philosophy. Subsequently
it grew into Europe's leading teacher of astronomy, mathematics and
geography. One of its alumni was Copernicus. It attracted many students
from other countries.
Though the University suffered various ebbs and flows of fortune, it
weathered all vicissitudes right up to 1939 when, within sight of its
600th anniversary, it was closed down. This was the doing of the bearers
of Nazi Kultur who also rounded up 183 of its staff, among them schol-
ars of world renown, and deported them to the concentration camp
of Sachsenhausen where many perished.
Today Jagiellonian University, popularly referred to (from its initials)
as the 'U-yot', has close on 16,000 students and some 1,400 faculty staff.
The Library houses one of the biggest collections in Poland. In 1965
a branch was established in Katowice, which in 1968 became the Univer-
sity of Silesia.
THE BATORY
Stephen Báthory (1533-86) was a great Polish king, which will be
news to some; his name now graces a Polish passenger ship, which will
be news to none.
The original Batory was a transatlantic liner which carried some
800 passengers, had a tonnage of 14,287 BRT and a speed of 18 knots.
In 1969 it was taken out of service since it was getting a little old and
replaced by the Stefan Batory which is a bit bigger and carries 1,000
passengers.
58
AWK
////////
<<<<<<<<<<
IIIIIIIII
111111 111111
///////////////
111111
11111111
11/11/111
1111
111117
It all began over 40 years ago. In 1930 a Polish Transatlantic Shipping
Association (Gdynia-America Line) was set up (later renamed the Gdy-
nia-America Shipping Co.) which opened regular sailings across the
Atlantic on board the SS Polonia, Pułaski and Kościuszko. Following
the withdrawal of these antiquated vessels two modern liners, the
Piłsudski (1935) and the Batory (1936), regarded as among the best
then on this route, were put into service. Unfortunately they were fated
to have only a brief innings. When the war broke out, the Piłsudski
was sunk by a German U-boat near Newcastle, on 26 Navember 1939.
The Batory joined the allied fleet and throughout the war performed
naval duties, earning the nickname of 'the lucky ship' because of the
charmed life it bore in the most dangerous operations and the heaviest
storms. Fortune continued to smile on the Batory through its twenty
years of peacetime service for the Polish Ocean Lines.
It is estimated that all told, something like half a million passengers
have sailed on the Batory and Stefan Batory. Despite cut-throat com-
petition from the airlines, these Polish liners frequently had 100 per
cent bookings. One gathers that the secret of their success lay in effi-
cient service (a 330-man crew), the four-star Polish cuisine and a no-
tably pleasant atmosphere.
Even if the day comes when the great ships disappear from the
Atlantic, leaving the field in sole possession of the sky liners, the Stefan
Batory will go down with colours flying in true Polish style. For the
moment the day is not yet lost and our flagship is keeping an honourable
60
end up on the Gdynia-Montreal line, stealing hearts in every port in
which it docks.
The Stefan Batory has now been joined by other great sons of Poland.
Polish passenger airliners on overseas routes are called after Coperni-
cus, Kosciuszko, Mickiewicz, Sienkiewicz, Skłodowska-Curie, Pulaski and
Chopin.
FIFTY YEARS IN THE SKY
How extraordinary: the Polish Airlines have been carrying passengers
and cargo for fifty years. Thus, the Polish Air Transport company is
among the oldest and most experienced in Europe.
The aircraft with a crane on their tails maintain a scheduled link with
34 countries and 43 towns in the world, and with twelve towns in Po-
land. The length of the scheduled routes has exceeded 83,000 kilometres.
Every year, nearly two million people avail themselves of the services of
LOT.
LOT, although a medium-sized air carrier, is among leading inter-
national airlines thanks to its experience and the skill of its flight
engineers and pilots. In 1975 it acceded to the GABRIEL system of
automatic reservations, connected to the system of the International
Association of Air Communications (SITA) under the name of LOTAR.
Polish aircraft fly regularly to New York, Montreal, Bangkok,
Bombay, Tunis, and to all the major airports of Europe. Polish charter
planes land in Latin America, Australia, Japan and the Middle East.
The famous Polish writer, Tadeusz Boy-Želeński, wrote in 1931,
after his first flight:
'Fly, o brothers of mine! This delight must be quickly tasted, for
it will later wear out, rub off, become a conundrum. Like the man who
travels in a tram does not fill himself with the exhilarating thought that
he has conquered electricity.'
MAZOWSZE AND OTHERS
Mazowsze is probably Poland's most distinguished ambassador
abroad. Every one of its foreign tours amounts to a major diplomatic
mission. This folk song and dance company has made many friends
on all continents for Poland and her culture.
Mazowsze is a state ensemble, founded by the composer Tadeusz
Sygietyński in 1949 and since his death managed by his widow, Mira
Zimińska, a famous ex-actress and cabaret artiste. It consists of a corps
de ballet, choir and orchestra, recruited from among young people with
musical gifts.
The repertoire is based on folk songs and dances, chiefly those of
central Poland. Some of these items, like The Waggoner', 'A Bird on the
Wing', "The Cuckoo' and The Girl from Lowicz', have become known
all over the world.
61
The boys and girls of Mazowsze go through their routines with
enormous verve. The girls, moreover, are stunners, which tends to distract
the more soulful expatriates in the audience from their art.
The company's base is Karolin outside Warsaw. Here it receives
thousands of letters from home and abroad and a stream of invitations;
if Mazowsze were to take them all up, the year would have to have
a thousand days.
Poland has several other such musical 'ambassadors', among them
the Šląsk company, Mazowsze's excellent opposite number from the
south of Poland, the Stuligrosz Boys' Choir from Poznań, and the
Ensemble of the Harnam works from Łódź.
FESTIVALS
It is a fair guess that there is now hardly a day of the year in Poland
which isn't connected with some festival, competition, holiday, gala
concert, trade fair or fête. This is, for that matter, part of a world pat-
tern: the calendar everywhere is filling up with a flood of anniversaries
and other such occasions.
These are the best known Polish festivals: Intervision Festival of
Songs at the Forest Opera in Sopot (3rd decade in August), National
Festival of Polish Songs in Opole (3rd decade in June), Sea Festival (also
3rd decade in June), Jan Kiepura Festival of Arias and Songs in Kry-
nica (June), Harvest Home Festival (Ist decade in September), Dymarki
Świętokrzyskie, a show of the old ways of iron smelting with enter-
62
FESTIVAL
tainment and folklore events
at Słupia Nowa, Kielce voi-
vodship (2nd decade in Sep-
tember), International Jazz-
Jamboree in Warsaw (October),
Frédéric Chopin Interna-
tional Piano Competition ir.
Warsaw (every four years in
October), Henryk Wieniawski
International Violin Compe-
tition in Poznań (every four
years in November), Days of
Chamber Music in Lancut
(May), International Festival
of Short Films in Cracow
(June), Lubuskie Film Sum-
mer in Łagów (June), Interna-
tional Variety Spring in Poznań (April), Warsaw Autumn International
Festival of Contemporary Music (September), Festival of Chamber and
Organ Music in Kamień Pomorski and Szczecin (June to September),
Festival of Organ Music in Gdańsk-Oliwa (July), Festival of Polonia
Theatres and Reciters in Toruń (August), International Chopin Festival in
Duszniki Zdrój (August), Vratislavia Cantans International Oratorium
and Cantata Festival in Wrocław (September), International Festival of
Highland Folklore in Zakopane (September), Venus International Art
Photography Salon in Cracow (May to October), International Graphic
Art Biennale in Cracow (June), Festival of Polish Contemporary Plays in
Wrocław (May), Warsaw Theatre Meetings (December).
To this list there must be added the International Book Fair in
Warsaw (late May); the International Poznań Fair (11-20 June) and
scores of other, usually international events, such as the Horse Show
63
in Olsztyn (mid-June), canoe races down the River Dunajec (mid-June),
the Vistula Carnival, 'Sobótki', the old Slav midsummer festivities in
various parts of the country, festivals of country bands and folk
ensembles, concerts, city and regional fairs.
Phew! and that's only a bare fraction of the host of artistic, sporting,
commercial and what-have-you special events, held every year in Poland.
It is hard to think of a province of life which does without its parade
of achievements and aims, annual junket or competition. Everyone has
got into the act - violin-makers, papercutters, firemen - though for
sheer ubiquity (and noise) they are left standing by the pop world:
sometimes one longs for a national Songless Day.
NATURALIZED POLES
Enrico Marconi, a gifted architect, came to Poland from Bologna
in 1822 and within eight years was fighting under the banners of the
November Insurrection against Russia. This superb artist, who enrich-
ed the Polish national heritage with his palace, church and other building,
inscribed these words in his will: 'Addio Italia, brava e ospitale Pologna
seconda Patria mia vi saluta!' (Farewell Italy, hail brave and hospitable
Poland, my second fatherland!).
Poland became a second home for many thousands of foreigners
whom she welcomed to her shores over the centuries and who pro-
ceeded to drop anchor. Whatever the individual reasons for this stream
of immigration, the fact is that Poland enjoyed a general reputation
as a liberal country free of religious persecution and xenophobia, a land
of rich opportunities for anyone who was able, industrious and enter-
prising.
So here they came and here almost all of them stayed. During the
reign of King Stanislaus Augustus Poniatowski and subsequently in
the days of the Congress Kingdom, many of them were raised to the
nobility. A number were rewarded with immediate trust, which they
repaid with interest - like Christian Gottfried Deybl who was made
a general by Tadeusz Kosciuszko.
These settlers from all corners of Europe usually served their adopted
nation doubly well, not only fighting and working for it, but also siring
offspring. In other words they merged and assimilated, and handed on
the torch to successors who were Polish through and through.
Enrico Marconi had eight children, his brother, Ferrante, nine. After-
wards one generation followed another, thoroughly Polonized, each
sharing the adversities and joys of the rest of the nation. Today it is not
at all rare to come across the Italian name 'Marconi' in Poland: the late
Professor Bohdan Marconi taught conservation of paintings at the Warsaw
Academy of Fine Arts and was a member of the International Council
of Museums (ICOM) and the International Institute for Conservation
of Historic and Artistic Works (IIC); his two daughters work as art restor-
ers in Warsaw; and there are many engineers and architects scattered
around Poland who bear this name from the history books.
64
Or take the Bacciarellis. This notable Polish family goes back to the
Rome-born Marcello Bacciarelli, the court painter of King Stanislaus
Augustus. A great achievement stands to his name in Poland: he created
a distinctive school of painting, was the author of several hundred pictur-
es (chiefly portraits), counselled the king wisely in matters of art and
architecture, urban design and landscape gardening, was the moving
spirit behind the foundation of the Warsaw Academy of Fine Arts and
helped to assemble the magnificent royal art collection. After the fall
of Poland, this Italian, who had dressed in the French style all his life,
demonstratively changed to Polish costume, traditional four-cornered
hat and all. Marcello's descendants fought for Poland and worked for her.
In Warsaw and other cities there are Bacciarellis who are actors, lawyers
and engineers.
Poland is proud of these 'foreigners' who served her so loyally,
often at the cost of great sacrifices and sometimes even their lives.
A list of distinguished Polish families of foreign stock would run to
several pages. The history of Polish culture is studded with names like
Bursche, Gebethner, Lenz, Evert, Kolberg, Fontana, Merlini, Solari,
Loth, Gepner, Spiess, Lilpop, Brun, Hempel.
COLLECTORS
Although few art treasures in Poland ever remain in the family, and
many a man has lost two or more fortunes twice in a single lifetime,
a large number of curios and antiques of historical interest have neverthe-
less been preserved in private hands.
65
O
N
MAKARD3
N
Thus there are 300 collectors in Poland who are ranked in the Euro-
pean class; of these as many as a hundred are numismatists. The field
is led by the Przypkowskis from Jędrzejów near Kielce, collectors and
connoisseurs of sundials (q.v.) and Jerzy Dunin-Borkowski, a chemist
from Krośniewice near Kutno, the owner of a superb collection of
Polish medals, coins, weapons, manuscripts and old books, and a large
gallery of paintings. The chief antiquarianist centres are Cracow and
Warsaw, in each of which there are at least several very large private
collections (e.g. those of Gościmski, Szenic). Other prominent collectors
are Fischer from the small town of Bochnia and Świerzowicz from
Sanok.
These are the current kings of collecting. But it is known that it was
also a sport of kings. Sigismund the Old, Sigismund Augustus and Sigis-
mund III all collected silver and tapestries in a big way; Stanislaus
Augustus Poniatowski was a great connoisseur of painting and a collector
of cameos and intaglios.
Times have changed and the days are past when collecting was a hob-
by only aristocrats and magnates could afford. One of our leading nu-
mismatists is a tiler, the book collectors include a waiter, and among
connoisseurs of antiques there is a fair number of office clerks and lowly
government employees. As a matter of fact this, too, is part of a tradition:
some decades ago Poland's most notable antiquarian was one Gustaw
Subier-Bisier, the plain, untutored son of a French pastry-cook.
66
It was dedicated collectors who helped to save a very large part of the
national heritage which would otherwise have been pillaged or forfeited
for ever, though it is only honest to add that there was the odd black
sheep among them: money-grubbers and 'experts' who had no scruples
about dealing in priceless art treasures. Such men were responsible, for
instance, for as many as 16 Rembrandts leaving the country in the years
following the First World War. The National Museum in Warsaw once
put on a chastening and sepulchral little exhibition, hanging the walls
of one of its rooms with sixteen photographic reproductions of these
lost masterpieces.
The favourite periods with Polish antiquarians are the ages of the
last king of Poland, Stanislaus Augustus Poniatewski, and of Napoleon.
Between them, they could produce a very rich display of the world-
famous gold and silver embroidered 'Slucki sashes', though it is military
accoutrements which, as yet another echo of the loveliness of the cavalry
tradition, have the firmest hold on their hearts: such collectors have
formed a special association called 'Weapons and Colours' based in
Warsaw and Cracow, with a branch in London.
A new craze is now, however, gaining ground in Poland: for bric-a-
brac which stands somewhere halfway between art and rubbish, mainly.
art nouveau prints and trinkets, funny- postcards, quaint posters, and
advertisements, records of the fashions of 1850-1930. One leading
collector of such 'works' is Henryk Tomaszewski, the well-known artist
who is a professor of the Warsaw Academy of Fine Arts.
Disinterested but passionate antiquarianism is a great adventure:
it is almost as exciting to make a tour of these private museums, 'raree
shows' and entrancing lumber rooms. All you need is the right guide.
FOREIGN STUDENTS
At present there are nearly 3,000 foreign students attending insti-
tutions of higher education in Poland. Of these more than 700 are from
the-Third World.
The largest number are at technical colleges, the most popular de-
partments being mechanical engineering, electronics, civil engineering,
chemistry, mining and surveying. At the universities the subjects most
frequently chosen are mathematics, physics, languages, economics
and sociology.
Before beginning their course these students undergo a year's special
training at the University of Łódź which more than ten years ago started
a Polish Language Course for Foreigners which now has an intake of
several hundred students, mainly from Latin America (Chile, Bolivia,
Argentina, Peru and Cuba), the socialist countries (Vietnam, Mongolia,
German Democratic Republic and Hungary) and some parts of Africa.
In addition there are groups of Vietnamese youth attending language
courses designed specially for them in Cracow and Wrocław.
67
egg
SZ
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e
S
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n
CZ
Summer camps are also organized for foreign students to extend
their practical command of Polish.
Altogether close on 20,000 young people from abroad have taken
degrees in Poland.
Students from Africa, Asia and Latin America have their own
meeting-places, such as the Three Continents Club in Warsaw.
Poles returning from abroad with increasing frequency tell of un-
expected encounters in distant and exotic lands. Stories of being greeted
in impeccable Polish by a provincial governor in Nigeria or a doctor
in the jungles of Peru are no longer, therefore, just another traveller's
tale.
WQMEN
Polish women are famous around the world for their charm and
elegance. Hymns to their charms can even be found in French poetry
and Viennese operetta.
The girls of today are definitely no uglier than their mothers and
grandmothers. Physical exercise and a better diet have lengthened and
slimmed their figures - it is said of them that their legs grow 'straight
from their throats'. Foreign visitors talk of a 'beauty explosion' in the
streets of Polish towns.
68
Less has been sung of other feminine accomplishments. And, looks
apart, they have plenty more to their credit in life. Suffice it to say
that 956 women hold senior university appointments.
But first things first. Women still outnumber men in Poland: there
are on average 106 females to 100 males (in Warsaw and Lódź it is as
high as 116).
Girls make up 71 per cent of the pupils at general secondary schools
and 46.1 per cent in vocational schools. They form 49.7 per cent of the
total student body, the proportion rising to 64.3 per cent at medical
schools and 75.3 per cent at teacher training colleges.
We are therefore witnessing a runaway feminization of certain pro-
fessions. For example, 81 per cent of all dentists and 84 per cent of
pharmacists are women. A similar pattern can be observed in other
walks of life. Even the traditionally masculine world of politics is being
gatecrashed by the 'weaker sex': women comprise 13.8 per cent of Seym
deputies and 25.7 per cent of local government councillors.
In 1978, two women put all men to shame: Captain Krystyna Choj-
nowska-Liskiewicz sailed singlehanded round the world in two years,
and Wanda Rutkiewicz
climbed Mount Everest.
Since, as we well know,
the hand that rocks the
cradle rules the world, the
role of women in Poland de-
serves close scrutiny. Despite
the passage of centuries and
profound changes in society,
men continue to treat the
opposite sex with the cele-
brated old Polish gallantry
(kissing their hand on meeting
and leaving, ushering them
into a room, helping them
into their coats, plying them
with clothes, flowers and
compliments). True, there
are mutterings among the
youngest generation that it is
time to have done with this anachronism and even attempts to make
good these threats - but there always comes a time in life when they
prove so much hot air.
TARTARS
There were wicked Tartars who raided Poland and for centuries
were her mortal enemies, and good Tartars who helped Poland and
fought in the armies of King John Sobieski and took part in national
risings.
69
You don't have to travel very far east to see a Moslem temple and
to be asked to remove your shoes before entering it. It is enough to
pay a visit to the village of Bohoniki or Kruszyniany in the vicinity
of Sokółka, Białystok voivodship.
These two remote localities contain timber mosques built at the
turn of the 17th and 18th centuries by the followers of the Prophet
who settled in this area (there are at present 3,000 of them in Poland).
The Poles of Tartar stock who live here to this day are the descen-
dants of those soldiers who fought under John Sobieski. For their bra-
very and loyalty to the realm they were rewarded by the king with
the grant of a number of villages in the Sokółka area. The most famous
of them (though a later settler) was Samuel Murza Krzeczowski, com-
mander of the Tartar cavalry, who covered himself with glory in the
defeat of the Turks at Parkany (1683).
Although the inhabitants of these villages have long since learned
to speak Polish, they have preserved many of their own traditional
customs, identical to those to be found in Arab countries. Each house-
hold has its ancient hand-written copy of the teachings and instructions
of the Koran. Some of these Tartar villagers have retained (or rather
inherited) a knowledge of the Arabic alphabet.
Before there are any misunderstandings, let me make it clear that
the Polish Moslems never practised polygamy. That said, it is true that
their attitude to women is markedly different from the Polish one and
is more like the ways of Iraq or Tunisia.
Every Friday Moslem services are held in the mosques in Bohoniki
and Kruszyniany which, though prized monuments of architecture,
are not, therefore, mere tourist attractions.
On picturesque knolls by the mosques there are cemeteries in which
one will see gravestones bearing the sign of the crescent. The names
10
of the dead read like a roll call from the pages of Sienkiewicz's Trilogy!
Aleksandrowicz, Bogdanowicz. To this day names like Ali, Mustafa,
Yakub, Yahya, are among the ones most frequently given to children.
It is quite an eye-opener to come across peasants in central Europe
who prostrate themselves towards Mecca and abide by the rules of
the Koran. Kruszyniany and Bohoniki attract hundreds of visitors from
Poland and abroad. Many of them are likely to meet the mullah, Imam
Ali Bajraszewski, a direct descendant of the original Tartar settlers
in Kruszyniany. Like his flock, he is a loyal son of both Poland and
the Prophet.
There are few such ethnographical enclaves in Poland. But among
them can be included, if on a smaller scale, the Karaites and Raskolniks.
The Karaites came centuries ago from the Crimea and are still to be
found in Warsaw and its environs, on the coast and in Lower Silesia.
They still keep up their Turco-Judaic cultural and social ties. Be it added
that in the world as a whole the Kariate religious community numbers
barely 12,000 souls.
Another interesting socio-religious group, in this case of Russian
origin, are the Raskolniks, or Old Believers. In the 17th century a schis-
matic faction appeared in Russia as a breakaway from the established
Orthodox church. The most radical of these heretics were subjected to
persecution and fled to Poland. They now have three officially registered
parishes, two near Augustów and one in Wojnowo in Mazuria (where
there is also a convent).
TIMBER CHURCHES
To this day there still stand in Poland about 200 historic churches
built of timber, some of which date back as far as the late Middle Ages.
These are remarkable buildings as regards both their architecture and
their interiors. Here and there one can find remnants of murals. Often
the painted walls and ceilings contain elements of the local folk culture.
These churches belong either to the Roman or the Orthodox rite (the
latter are particularly frequent in south-eastern Poland).
We know that in the old days the walls were hung not only with
holy pictures and other devotional objects, but also with old folk
costumes, coloured bonnets, harvesters' garlands, ornamental collars.
Three hundred years ago some of the hierarchy were wont to refer
to these little village churches as 'dens of thieves'. Occasionally (espe-
cially in the highlands) they may even have had a point, but on the whole
the buildings reflected the tastes and needs of people cut off from
the mainstream of popular culture.
The following villages have churches of more than passing interest:
Bąków, Blizne, Boguszyce, Dębno, Grębień, Haczów, Łaziska, Łącza,
Osiek, Poniszowice, Popowice, Powroźnik, Przydonica, Racławice,
Sękowa, Ulucz and Wola Grzymalina, all dating back to the 15th and
16th centuries.
Most of these wooden churches are ideally blended with the sur-
71
rounding landscape and present a vivid illustration of the local folk-
lore and even character. 'You can still pray in them,' one pious person
has said; 'God is not as remote here as in the big cathedrals.'
CASTLES
Prior to the Second World War there were something like 12,000 such
edifices in Poland: castles, palaces, manors which were semi-fortresses,
'stately homes' which bore the military stamp of the days of siege
engines.
The future of such buildings is a problem that has come in for discus-
sion all over the world. In Poland there is the additional consideration
of the enormous damage incurred during the last war and the changes
in the political system which followed. There are no private proprietors
left in Poland (though, at a pinch, one or two might still be found) with
the funds to keep up historic buildings and parks. out of their own
pocket. The most important of them have been taken over by the govern-
72
ment; many others are occupied and looked after by a variety of social
and learned institutions, organizations, schools, cultural associations,
etc.
The most treasured historic buildings are, first of all, Wawel Castle,
in Cracow, which from the 11th to the late 16th century was the royal
seat and the treasury of the realm, and remains a symbol of the national
heritage. A very vital role in Polish history was also played by the Royal
Castle in Warsaw (16th century) which was completely destroyed by the
Germans during the war and is now being painstakingly reconstructed.
These are the major ones. But there are many other buildings of great
value and unusual beauty which deserve attention. Here is a sample:
Wiśnicz Castle, some 50 kilometres from Cracow; built in the early
16th century; late Gothic and Renaissance with Baroque fortifications;
began to fall into ruin following a fire in 1831; now restored; branch
of the National Museum in Cracow.
Lublin Castle; Gothic, with superb chapel of the Holy Trinity and
13th-century vaults used as a dungeon by the Gestapo during the war;
now a museum and arts centre.
Niedzica Castle; situated in beautiful rising country south of Cracow;
Gothic, 13th and 14th centuries; enlarged in the 17th century; now
a holiday home of the Association of Art Historians.
Much effort has gone into the reconstruction and thorough reno-
vation of three other castles in southern Poland: Pieskowa Skała (30 kilo-
metres from Cracow, Gothic, 14th century, Renaissance alterations,
Branch of the Wawel State Art Collections), Baranów (16th-17th
centuries, Mannerist) and Krasiczyn (outside Przemyśl, near the eastern
frontier, 16th-17th centuries, late Renaissance and Mannerist).
0
⑉
67
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Then come two palaces, in Kielce and Łańcut. Both date from the
17th century, have been magnificently restored, are maintained in
perfect condition and contain museums.
To this should be added the castles in Malbork, Szczecin, Brzeg,
Książ, Olsztyn, Lidzbark, Niepołomice, Niemodlin, Nidzica, Oporów,
Pęzino and many others. Mention should be made too of the (in varying
degrees) romantic ruins in Ujazd (Krzyżtopór), Siewierz, Ząbkowice,
Chęciny, Ogrodzieniec, Czersk, Czorsztyn, Bolków and elsewhere.
At any rate it is worth bearing in mind that Poland has an exceptionally
large number of castles and historic houses of architectural interest
which have once again become, after devastation and years of neglect,
a striking feature of the landscape.
The press has fought a dogged campaign for the restoration of many
other buildings which are still awaiting a similar turn in their fortunes.
Some of them - castles, manor houses, abbeys, churches - lie far off
the beaten track and have clearly fallen by the wayside in the march
of civilization.
WINDMILLS
One of Poland's oldest industries and most ancient trades is dying
under our very eyes. For seven hundred years the windmill was a dis-
tinctive feature of the Polish landscape. As late as 1954 there were
74
still 1,012 of them in use; today only 29 are left. Several hundred of
these 'superannuated' buildings still stand proudly; too many are un-
fortunately falling apart.
The changes that have swept civilization make any campaign to
preserve the old role of windmills sheer quixotry. What the conser-
vationists contemplate therefore is putting these buildings to a new use,
their conversion into museums, or even restaurants.
The finest examples of old windmills are to be found in Kochanów
(1787), Lubięcin (1703 and 1817) and Werginki (1784). An 18th-century
windmill has been perserved in Smigiel near Kościan; in Smigiel and
nearby Osieczna Poland's only open-air museum of windmills has bean
established.
The best places for seeing windmills are Great Poland, Mazovia,
Mazuria, and in the Kalisz and Lubusz regions. Almost all of them
are wooden structures and there are two main types: the post mill
in which the whole body can be turned to make the sails face into the
wind, and the tower mill with a revolving 'cap'. There are also ingenious
combinations of the two.
A total of 867 windmills appear in the official inventory of anti-
quities made in 1964. The private ones at which every citizen tilts at
some time in his life were not included.
HORSES
The number of horses in Poland runs to 2 million head. Prize
specimens of these beautiful creatures are bred at thirty stud farms
and include thoroughbreds of Arab, English, Little Poland and Great
Poland stock. There are 200 sires standing at them with stud-book
pedigrees. Poland also has a reserve of a breed of wild ponies (12-14
hands) known as tarpans. Bloodstock sales are held every year, and
there is a special trading agency (ANIMEX) to handle exports.
Polish horses are now being used by the Italian, Swiss and Indian
armies among others. Many animals reach high bids. Recently a batch
of 15 pure-bred Arabs was dispatched to the United States for 100,000
dollars. One horse fetched a record price of $115,000.
The Poles love horses and not even the growing challenge of the
motor car has shaken that attachment, anchored as it is in a great
tradition of their use for military, transport and sporting purposes.
The language contains a host of songs, proverbs and sayings featuring
horses: for example, 'to work like a horse', to be 'as healthy as a horse',
to drive 'like a man on a mangy mare'. Finding a horseshoe has been
a sign of luck since time immemorial.
In his Polish Life Władysław Loziński wrote: 'Every nobleman
was a soldier and even in peacetime the horse was the commonest and
often, in view of the lack of roads, the sole means of locomotion; the
breeding of horses and horsemanship were of supreme importance.
Even a squire of average substance might own as many as several dozen
75
100hp
0
horses.' Much earlier Mikołaj Rej summed up the gentry's recreations
in three words: 'Horse, hound and bird.'
Great fame was enjoyed by the Polish cavalry which turned the
course of many a battle. Up to the 18th century all Europe had heard of
the Polish hussars who fought in light armour with wings attached to
their shoulders, helmets and lances and charged the enemy at full gallop,
the feathers clattering fearfully, and cut them down with their sabres.
During and after the First World War the dashing exploits and looks
of the Polish uhlans became proverbial. In the 19th and 20th centuries
many armies modelled their mounted troops on the Poles. Between
the wars Poland had forty cavalry regiments which in September 1939,
during the German invasion, carried out heroic, though often doomed
charges.
The Poles are now turning to a different kind of horsepower. But
they feel the live variety ought to be preserved, if only for the sake of
sentiment and ornament.
MUSHROOMS
Polish forests still teem, as they always have, with mushrooms,
a fact which is by no means the commonplace it seems: it has been
known for natives of countries with large forests to come to Poland
to see their first forest mushroom.
When dried, Polish bolets come expensive: a kilogram costs as much
as a goodish watch. They are one of the few foodstuffs which taken
out of the country are subject to a duty as high as 50 per cent of their
76
domestic price which runs into the region of 2,000 zlotys per kilo.
Smuggling them is a tricky business since they can be smelled a hundred
yards away. Poland exports mushrooms to many countries.
For centuries they were regarded as a highly nutritious food, rich
in protein and a substitute for meat. Modern science has shown there
was no substance in these beliefs. But we continue to gather mushrooms
for their flavour and aroma. It is a truism that adding one to a soup
makes all the difference to its taste; we are cautioned against putting
in more, however, by the saying that 'two mushrooms in a pot of bortsch
are too much of a good thing'.
There are 66 varieties of mushroom in Poland, the best-known (at
any rate with English names) being, the agaric, bolet and morel. Unfor-
tunately a good half of them are poisonous and it is as well to be
thoroughly familiar with caps, gills and stalks before trying to eat them;
I have friends who gather mushrooms with their right hand, while holding
an atlas with detailed drawings and descriptions in their left.
Mushrooms have been given many ingenious names in Poland. For
instance: Devil's Bolet, Grim Bolet, Emperor's Funnel, Emetic Russula,
Naked Goose.
BISON
This is an animal which would fit the well-known story of the little
girl in the ZOO who for the first time in her life saw a giraffe. Goggle-
eyed at the length of its neck, its tiny head, and odd movements, she
burst out eventually: 'It's impossible, there's no such creature!'
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Incredible as it may seem, the bison - Europe's largest nammal -
in Poland lives at liberty. A mammal of the cavicornia family, it has
a prehistoric look and would not look out of place in the company
of ichthyosauri. The average male weighs about a ton (but large spe-
cimens may weigh more than one ton and a half) and has a handsome
head with a fine pair of horns, a brown fleece and a huge beard. The
bison is a typical forest-dweller; it lives in small herds and is a herbi-
vore.
A thousand years ago bison roamed the forests of almost the whole of
the Old Continent and were hunted. By the 19th century they were
extinct except in the Caucasus and the Białowieża Forest of Poland.
At the beginning of the 20th century the ones still running wild were
almost entirely wiped out and the only survivors were the odd specimen
kept in ZOOS or private menageries. By breeding these, we were able
to replace the lowland species and restore the bison to our forests.
There are at present over 500 head, the vast majority of which live
at large in Białowieża Forest, the Bieszczady Mountains, and Borecka
Forest. A third of all the world's surviving bison are to be found in
Poland. Among the countries which import them are Britain, Belgium,
Holland, Finland, the Federal Republic of Germany, Sweden and
Switzerland.
The stage has even been reached where an open season is now
declared every year and a few of the older bulls are shot. This is something
of a necessity, but it arouses the protests of many conservationists. The
upkeep of the Polish herds costs 12 million zlotys a year, to which
should be added the damage that these 'kings of the forest' regularly
do to crops.
The visitor can see a bison in its natural habitat without much
trouble, especially in Białowieża Forest.
HUNTING
In the days when Poland was still a land of forests and wild animals,
hunting was one of the staples of its economy. It was, in other words,
the chief source of the means of existence. Only a few hundred years
78
ago men were still stalking the forests and fields with hounds and
falcons.
In Polish Life in Olden Times, Władysław Łoziński wrote on this
subject: "The most memorable and original thing that appealed to the
hunting imagination was falconry, or the taking of game by means
of birds of prey. It was not as straightforward as other forms of the
chase and required much patience, labour and expense. The birds trained
for this purpose were the eagle, sparrow-hawk, goshawk, falcon, saker
and even owl. A good hunting bird fetched a relatively high price. King
Stephen Báthory used to pay the equivalent of 120-bushels of wheat
for a falcon or a pair of horses or three head of fatstock.'
Hunting in Poland was regarded as a fine art and a truly chivalrous
sport, for the hunter took on his quarry singlehanded and at close
quarters. It called for quick thinking, physical prowess and, above all,
courage.
Today things have taken a slightly different turn. Improvements
in weapons and technique have turned hunting into a sport which,
though it still demands physical fitness, makes far less call on heroism.
Poland still remains something of a hunter's paradise, and numerous
foreign vistors, as well as Poles, are drawn to the chase. The former
must be not only fair marksmen, but also comparatively well-heeled.
To shoot a bison costs, depending on its class, up to $2,000; the charge
for a Carpathian deer is, proportionately to the weight of its antlers,
from $100 to $2,000, or more.
Polish hunting trophies traditionally win first prizes at international
displays. In Turin recently, the Polish Hunting Union bagged over a
dozen gold and silver medals.
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Not all the forms of stag-hunting in Poland are a blood sport in
the strict sense of the term. The phrase also covers a somewhat shadier
activity, mainly confined to the big cities, which consists in staking
out a mark ('stag' in Polish) and milking him blind. No doubt this is
the last, genuinely dangerous kind of hunting left in Poland.
SPORT
It has been said that Poles do best in the sort of sports which put
a premium on guts, daring and quickness of reflex. This, I daresay,
is true: in boxing and gliding, for instance, we rank very high in the
80
world, and our fencers and speedway riders are in the top flight. But
it is also a fact that many records have been broken in sports like athlet-
ics, weight-lifting, shooting, archery and skiing. Since the last war alone
Polish names have appeared almost a hundred times in the interna-
tional record-lists. Over 150 medals have been won at the Olympics
and in world and European championships.
Where they were once red-letter days with such heroes, before the
war, as Janusz Kusociński or Jadwiga Walasiewicz, outstanding perfor-
mances by Polish sportsmen have in recent years become virtually matter
of course in major international competitions.
Thus, the names of Fortuna, the gold medallist in ski jumping in Sap-
poro, or of Łuszczek, the excellent runner who is a world champion, are
known far and wide. Few glider pilots in the history of the sport have
notched up as many diamond badges as Popiel, Makula, Wróblewski
(1972 world champion in the standard class) and Kępka. There is nothing
that competitors and fans do not know about Waldemar Baszanowski,
the world-beating weight-lifter, or the pistol-shooter, Józef Zapędzki.
The following athletes are known on world stadiums: Szewińska, Komar,
Schmidt, Krzyszkowiak, Sid ło, Sukniewicz, Skowronek, Malinowski,
Wszoła, Wodzyński, Šlusarski, Kozakiewicz. Also many famous football-
ers, cyclists, volleyballers, basketballers, canoeists, skiers, shooters.
There are many, many others.
The footballers won a gold medal at the Munich Olympics and
showed their class at the World Championships. The names of Toma-
szewski, Lato, Deyna or Boniek have become household words.
A gold medal was collected by the Polish volleyball team at the
1974 World Championships in Mexico and another gold medal in
Montreal in 1976. No less imposing were the results of our cyclists
in the World Championships in Montreal in 1974 when Janusz Kowalski
took first place ahead of Ryszard Szurkowski with Stanisław Szozda
fifth. In 1976 at the Olympics in Montreal the Polish team won the
silver medal. Janusz Peciak is a top pentathlòn athlete of the world.
Wojciech Fibak holds a good place in world tennis (particularly in
doubles).
More recently Polish rally drivers have been coming up fast, led
by Sobiesław Zasada, four-time European champion. This in a land
with no real motoring tradition.
In other fields, it is sometimes, alas, the other way round. There
has always, for instance, been plenty of water in Poland, but a chronic
dearth of good swimmers. The truth is that we have a natural gift for
some sports and seem to be absolute duds at others.
Of late Poland has been making a mark in a totally different area
of competition, which has nevertheless now been recognized as a sport,
though it requires neither courage nor physical fitness: bridge (mind
you, bidding and playing a slam can be quite a strain on your nerves
and a ten-hour session at the card-table will try anyone's stamina).
So today a loud whisper of 'Clubs, man, clubs!' has become an
exhortation as frequent among the crowds as shouts of 'Give him the
old one-two!'
81
VODKA
The newspapers reported the other day that the Italian premier
presented an official of the Polish firm of 'Agros' with a Golden Her-
cules, an award granted for merchandise which has sold outstandingly
well. No prizes for guessing that the item was vodka.
It was the 216th or, for all I know, the 640th such trophy. Polish
vodka has joined Scotch whisky, French brandy and Dutch liqueurs
as one of those things no self-respecting bar in the world would dream
of being without. We export it to scores of countries.
In 1975, on 22 July, Poland's National Day, the French President,
Giscard d'Estaing called at the Polish Embassy in Paris where, France
Soire reported, he sampled a glass of Žubrówka, 'lightly tinted spirit
with the superb fragrance of herbs found uniquely in Białowieża Forest,
which he prefers to the traditional Polish vodka.'
It's no secret - and we may as well be frank about this - that our
talent for producing vodka is matched by a talent for consuming it.
Some years ago the distinguished poet, Julian Tuwim, published
a volume entitled The Polish Toper's Lexicon and Bacchic Anthology,
a collection of all sorts of rhymes, saws and ballads, the sheer quantity
of which makes it crystal clear that the business of drinking has always
been among the more conspicuous of our customs. One ancient saying
it quotes runs: 'A nightingale is to be recognized by its voice, a thief
by his eyes, a drunkard by his nose.'
Perhaps the best advice was given by the demon spirit itself in a verse
by Michał Brodowicz, an early 19th-century poet:
Drink me a little, but not till you're blind,
And you'll be healthy in body and mind.
Joking apart, this is also cause for accute concern: a strenuous temper-
ance campaign has been going on in Poland for years.
The standard strength of Polish vodka is 80-90° proof (though
there are one or two varieties which top 140°!). It is produced in
numerous 'straight' versions and 106 flavoured varieties. The basic raw
material is the Polish potato, said to have certain almost magic properties
which account for the unique taste and quality of the 'Produce of
Poland' label.
WHAT TO SEE
SEVEN WONDERS
The stock of the masterpieces created by the mind and hand of man
rises and falls with the passage of time, progress in technology, and
shifting fashions in the arts. The same is true of the beauties of nature:
sights which seemed exquisitely lovely in the days of Romanticism
are often scorned today as gimcrack scene-painting. Nevertheless some
tastes never change: take the kind of souvenirs and curios to be found
in bazaars from Kalwaria Zebrzydowska to Acapulco, from Krupówki
to Piccadilly.
Ever since the ancient world officially proclaimed its Seven Wonders,
people have been drawing up all sorts of similar lists. It is a game also
occasionally played in Poland. Needless to say, such attempts to reduce
our particular marvels to a single sheet of paper represent a purely
private choice and positively invite hole-picking.
Nevertheless I shall stick my own neck out and suggest (for a start)
the following seven man-made and natural wonders:
The Wit Stwosz altar in St. Mary's Church in Cracow: Wit Stwosz
was one of the greatest late-Gothic artists in Europe. His altarpiece
(completed in 1489) represents three scenes from the life of the Virgin:
the Dormition, the Assumption and the Coronation. The carving is
remarkable for its power of expression, impeccable composition and
uncanny observation of everyday detail. The draping of the garments
bespeaks the artist's quite amazing command of his material.
The Gniezno Portal: the double-leaved bronze door of the Cathedral
in Gniezno is one of the most
precious treasures of Romanesque
art in Europe. It dates back to the
second half of the 12th century
and was probably the work of
craftsmen from a local bell-foun-
dry. The reliefs on its panels show
18 scenes from the life and martyr-
dom of St. Adalbert.
Lady with a Weasel, by Leo
nardo da Vinci: regarded by some
authorities as an even finer painting
than the Mona Lisa, it now hangs
in the Czartoryski Museum in
Cracow. The sitter was probably
Cecilia Gallerani, the mistress of
Lodovico Sforza, at whose court in
Milan the picture was painted about
1490.
The salt mine in Wieliczka: a
monument of ancient engineering
almost a thousand years old, with
chapels carved out of the salt,
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sculptures in salt, superb 'Crystal Grottoes'; more information on
a later page.
Amber: Poland is a country which still has some of the biggest
deposits of this fossil resin from coniferous trees of the Tertiary period.
It makes beautiful (and, alas, increasingly expensive) jewellery. Numerous
examples of Polish amberware can be seen in museums in Malbork,
Gdańsk, Słupsk and elsewhere. Poland's oldest trading route, which
ran from the Baltic to Italy via Poznań and Wrocław, was called 'the
amber trail'.
The Palace-on-the-Island, the summer residence of the last king
of Poland, in Łazienki Park in Warsaw: the work of Polish, Italian
and French artists headed by Merlini, it miraculously escaped complete
destruction in the last war. Remarkable for its scale, proportions and
setting. Facing it is the Theatre-on-the-Island, a replica of the ancient
theatre in Herculaneum.
The Dunajec Gorge, where a mountain torrent swirls between the
beetling crags of the Pieniny mountains: it is as spectacular a sight
as any to be seen in the highlands of Europe.
This list could and should be extended, something I leave up to you.
Personally, I must confess I am sometimes morbidly tempted to compile
a table of the biggest eyesores. As in the case of most other countries,
it would come out definitely on the longish side. But that's just a passing
thought: with a book like this I'm sure the publishers wouldn't stand
for it.
THE BALTIC
As we know, a sea in northern Europe, separated, as we also know,
from the Atlantic by the straits of Sound and flanked by Denmark,
the two German states, Poland, the Soviet Union, Finland and Sweden
(but not Norway).
Other fairly familiar facts are that it is not very salty (average salinity:
7.8 per mil), rather short on fauna and flora, but long on history, and
relatively shallow (average depth: 45 fathoms).
Poland now has 524 kilometres of coastline (compared to a bare
72 kilometres before the war).
Of late the Baltic has been disgorging some of its many mysteries.
In 1969, for example, the hulk of a Swedish man-of-war, probably
the Solen which was sunk in the Battle of Oliwa in 1627, was recovered
from the Bay of Gdańsk. It is one of the 200-odd wrecks lying on the
bed of the Baltic. The Sea Museum located in the old crane on the
River Motława in Gdańsk has accumulated a collection of nineteen
16th- and 17th-century guns, and a host of other treasures salvaged
from the Baltic, and has hopes of acquiring many more.
For centuries the lands along the coast were a battleground between
Poles and invaders: Teutonic Knights, Prussians and Swedes. Indigenously
Polish territory, they were time and again overrun and pillaged, their
inhabitants murdered and persecuted. In 1945 justice was at long last
done, and the Poles again became a sea-going nation.
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4
00000
Poland now has five big shipyards with an annual output of around
60 vessels totalling 592,000 tons. The merchant fleet numbers 323 ships
with a tonnage of 2,827,000 BRT (compared to 95,000 before the war).
The port of Szczecin handles 26,000,000 tons of cargo a year (Gdańsk with
its Port North and Gdynia 28,000,000 and 14,000,000 tons respectively).
The seaside is the place chosen by 45 per cent of all Polish holiday-
makers. They maintain to a man that each year the Baltic is a little
bit colder.
LAKES
There are said to be a thousand of them in northern Poland. At
any rate that is the claim made in the tourist industry advertising -
on the no doubt safe assumption that nobody is actually going to
bother to count.
Between ourselves, a count has been made. And it turns out that
in Mazuria, Warmia and Augustów alone (which leaves out the whole
of Pomerania) there are in fact over 2,000 lakes. Some, like Śniardwy
(113.8 sq. km.) or Mamry (104.4 sq. km.), are so big you cannot see
from one shore to the other; others are tiny pools often tucked out
of sight.
This whole swathe of picturesque lakeland, which still abounds
in game, fish and water fowl, is patched with dense forests. The largest
are around Pisz and Augustów. Here you can hardly move without
starting wild duck and geese, grebe and heron, even cormorants and
swans, black ones among them.
Although it is a region which still seems undiscovered (it attracts
a small percentage of the holiday traffic), water sports flourish in the
summer, ice-yachting in the winter. The potential is enormous, hotels
and other accommodation few and far between.
Mazuria and Warmia have had a storm-tossed past. For centuries
they were preyed on by the Teutonic Knights and were the scene of wars
with them; later they were gripped by a grim struggle against Germa-
nization. Grunwald, the hamlet 50 km. from Olsztyn, where King La-
dislaus Jagiello routed the Knights in 1410, stands as a milestone in
the history of Central Europe.
Amid the forests and lakes lie treasures. To take the first two
examples which spring to mind: in Święta Lipka you will find a Baroque
monastery and church, in Reszel and Lidzbark Gothic churches and
castles.
For that matter Olsztyn itself, a 14th-century town prettily situated
on the River Lyna, the capital and cultural centre of Warmia and Ma-
zuria, is well worth a closer look.
In 1454 Olsztyn along with the whole of Warmia became part of
Poland and remained so until 1772 when the First Partition took place.
From 1516 to 1519 the administrator of the Chapter was Copernicus,
who organized the defence of the castle when it was besieged by the
Teutonic Knights in 1521. In the 19th and 20th centuries Olsztyn
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was one of the strongholds of Polish resistance to Germanization. In
1945 it suffered 50 per cent destruction. Today, following reconstruction
and development, it is twice as big as before the war (126,700).
The Gothic castle, built in the mid-14th century, now houses the
Mazurian Museum (antiquities dating to the days before the region's
occupation by the Teutonic Knights, local tiles, medievel sculpture,
etc.); in the cloister stands a sundial said to have been designed by Co-
pernicus. Nearby, on Kołłątaj street, there is an ancient timber granary.
Other sights of interest are the Gothic High Gate (14th century), the
late Gothic cathedral (15th century) and the restored houses flanking
the old market square.
Anglers have the time of their life around Mikołajki and Ruciane,
canoeists near Mragowo, Sorkwity and Etk. In fact everyone has the
time of his life everywhere, unable to believe that so large an oasis
of tranquillity and clear air can still be found. Fiats and Volkswagens
have not yet managed to drive out the grey heron and the black swan.
MOUNTAINS
All those shaded features at the bottom of the map of Poland re-
present some sort of extension of the Alps and are called the Carpathians.
The scientists say - and we'll take their word for it - that this whole
range of mountains took roughly 30 million years to form.
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Poland has a largish share of the wealth of the Carpathians. Of the
units with a distinct relief pattern (that, I believe, is the proper technical
term), the ones that stand out are the Tatras, mountains of a ruggedly
severe beauty. Although no record-breakers as far as height goes (the
highest peak is 2,663 metres), the fact remains that the sky-line in this
part of Europe is arrestingly awesome and breathtaking.
Each stretch of the Polish Carpathians conventionally bears a separate
name. Thus we have a variety of Beskids (Silesian, High, Zywiec, Middle,
Little, Sącz, Gorce), plus the Pieniny and Bieszczady ranges. North of the
Tatras there sprawls a valley called Podhale.
It is inhabited by a hardy, gifted and industrious people. Living
at heights of up to a thousand metres they are a race of farmers and
shepherds, tilling the valleys and the none-too-fertile mountain slopes.
Podhale forms a prominent and heart-warming chapter in the annals
of Poland. Its culture has become a distinctive ingredient and inspiration
in almost all fields of art. For many years there have been special units
in the Polish army whose uniform includes the highland cape and hat
(the Podhale Brigade fought with notable valour during the last war).
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The whole of Poland sings highland ballads and admires the highlanders'
style of timbered architecture, their furniture, the original features of
their costume. Every child knows the legend of the Robin Hoods of
Podhale, outlaws who fought against the tyranny and avarice of the
rich.
For years a peaceful invasion of holidaymakers and convalescents
has been descending on Podhale: in the summer (and for ten months
of the year in the higher localities) they pack the hamlets nestling in
the little valleys and hugging the brooks, filling every cottage and cabin.
Some bathe in the ultra-violet-ray-rich mountain sun, others, when
the snow is right - and it is for much of the year - go skiing, others
still soak up the mineral waters. All of them revel in the Podhale
folkways and take not the slightest umbrage at the highlanders' teasing
nickname for them of cepers (the local, though less rude equivalent,
of say, gringo).
I would recommend tourists to wander off the beaten track and
make for such places as the picturesque Sącz Valley where the genuinely
old town of Old Sącz is situated amid acres upon acres of orchards,
the region of Krynica and Gorlice, where they will find some delight-
ful little orthodox and other churches, or the wooded slopes of Babia
Góra.
In 1805 this secluded world was stumbled on by Samuel Bredetzky
as he passed through on his way to take up the post of superintendent
of the Lutheran communities of 'twin Galicia'. Despite his Slav-sounding
name he was a German and an admirer of the Emperor Francis Joseph.
Although he was one of those carpet-baggers set up in office in a
conquered country by a foreign power, he was fond of the Poles and
spoke of them affectionately.
He was sensitive to the beauties of nature, gazed entranced at the
mountains, ravines and streams, described the splendours of the sunset
over Krywań which it bathed in a golden light. He found the road near
Nowy Targ very good, but 'worse' further on. His carriage rattled and
lurched over stones and splashed through overflowing streams until
the driver was so shaken that near Myślenice he refused to go any further.
The hapless pastor was forced to take down his chest and baggage and
transfer them to the first farmer's wagon that came along. He was scared
of being waylaid by the brigands of whom he had heard so much. He
wrote later in his diary that he lost his nerve, told the carter to pull
up, jumped out and hid in some bushes. Eventually he got a grip on
himself and made his way to Myslenice and from there to 'truly royal'
Cracow.
Adventures like those of 150 years ago no longer await the traveller
from foreign parts; in any case people nowadays are not so easily
frightened. There is no need to ford rivers, and highwaymen are but
a distant memory. What has remained is a land of unspoilt scenery,
as beautiful and absorbing as it was then.
This is true not only of Podhale, but of every inch of the Polish
Carpathians.
They may have been 30 million years in the making, but it was
worth it!
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VISTULA
Flowing through Poland from south to north, the Vistula is a river
which plays an important part in the country's folk-consciousness.
There are in fact certain resemblances of character: the Vistula's course
is dignified and expansive, unconfined by concrete, but it can also rise
dangerously and suddenly, angrily burst its banks and sweep everything
away in a raging flood.
Slowly but surely its stream is ebbing. As is happening with so
many rivers in the world, its waters are getting dirtier and dirtier, and
the fish are clearing out. Yet even so, it still retains something of the
flavour of bygone centuries, when it flowed through dense forests.
Its headwaters rise on the slopes of Barania Góra and it empties
into the sea in a delta near Gdańsk. It is 1,047 kilometres long and
its basin has an area of close on 200,000 sq. km. It is navigable for
almost the whole of its length (941 km.) - except of course for those
times of the year when it isn't, which may be the parching height of
summer or the icebound depth of winter. Among the cities which lie
on its banks are Cracow, Warsaw, Płock, Toruń and Gdańsk.
There is a line in the national anthem about the Vistula, and it is the
subject of thousands of ballads, songs and poems.
The Vistula doth ever glide
Through the Polish countryside
Sighs, love, nostalgia have been inspired by it. It has been a silent
witness of fateful events in history, most of them murderous clashes
of arms; more than once it marked the front line. For centuries it has
set a special stamp on Poland.
It is no accident that it was the waves of the Vistula from which
there rose the Siren, a mermaid armed with sword and shield, by turns
enticing and seductive, threatening and vengeful, which is the emblem
of Warsaw.
The Vistula is associated with small, mundane things like strolls
along its banks, drives across a bridge, a carp caught on a fisherman's
line, and matters which stir the deepest emotions:
Weep no more, your sorrow hide;
See the river's racing tide.
Just as it will never dry,
So will Poland never die.
These words by a 19th-century poet, Teofil Lenartowicz, about
the symbolic nexus of the nation's most vital concerns have been amply
borne out by the way all Poles feel about their greatest river.
For centuries the Vistula has been a gauge. People and things have
been continually compared to it; its name has been used to emphasize
degrees of folly (a popular saying goes: 'Madman, the Vistula's on fire!'),
greatness, frenzy. 'When Turkish horses are watered in the Vistula,'
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runs another proverb, meaning: "That will be the day!' - so the river
is also a measure of the absurd.
Yet, when all is said and done, what's all the fuss about? A river
which is six times shorter than the Amazon, a quarter the length of
the Niger or the Lena?
True, but that's neither here nor there. For it is not just another
waterway to be assayed in miles or gallons. 'The Vistula springs from
the night,' wrote the poet Światopełk Karpiński, 'and tumbles into
the morning.'
ODRA
This is a river which is more than a feature of geography. It is an
important historical symbol. For 176 km. of its course it forms the
western border of Poland.
The total length of the Odra is 854 km., of which 742 km. run
through Poland. Most of it (711 km.) is navigable.
The areas which lie along its basin - the Baltic littoral, the Lubusz
region, Lower Silesia - are noted for the great beauty of their land-
scape and possess considerable economic and cultural importance.
It is here that we find the towns of Szczecin, Zielona Góra, Wrocław,
Brzeg and Opole.
The whole of this territory consists, along with Pomerania and parts
of what used to be Prussia, of lands which Poland only recovered after
centuries of foreign rule. For hundreds of years before that, what is
now western Poland had been ruled by the Polish princes of the Piast
dynasty (the Silesian and West Pomeranian branches).
Tourists who travel here are likely to have their hands and eyes
full. The Karkonosze Mountains and the Lubusz region contain some
of Poland's most attractive holiday resorts. The Kłodzko Valley, Nysa,
Opole, Brzeg, Wrocław, Jelenia Góra and its environs, Łagów and the
surrounding lakes, Szczecin and the whole estuary as far as Świnoujście
are just a random sample of places which could form the backbone of
many weeks of fascinating exploration. The roads are by and large good
and accommodation not too hard to find, given a bit of initiative.
Thirty kilometres south of the border town of Zgorzelec lies a geo-
graphical and administrative oddity. This is the Turoszów pocket, a tiny
area squeezed between Czechoslovakia and the German Democratic
Republic, with immense strip mines of brown coal (Turów) which up
to 1980 accounted for two-thirds of the entire amount of brown coal
mined in Poland. Things will change, as the mine in Bełchatów develops.
Its mining target in 1985 will be 40 million tons or as much as all the
Polish output of brown coal up to that date. The biggest power house
(2,000 MW) in Poland fired with brown coal is also located in the Turo-
szów strip of land.
In 1972 all restrictions on travel between Poland and the Germar
Democratic Republic were lifted. The only document needed is an
identity card. The Odra has become truly a frontier of peace.
93
WARSAW
This city stands on one of central Europe's last romantic rivers.
Its crest is a mermaid brandishing a sword. It has 1,552,000 inhab-
itants, most of them people of irrepressible zest and imagination.
Here is a city which repays scrutiny and which is well worth fathom-
ing. A city of broad thoroughfares, historic palaces, churches and mo-
numents, delightful boulevards and gardens. A city of incredibly dra-
matic fortunes and controversial temperament.
Warsaw is not only Poland's political and administrative centre but
also - above all - the hub of a richly varied cultural life. Stretching
all the way from 22 theatres with 90 new productions a year to buskers
peddling traditional backstreet ballads; from major international
festivals, congresses and exibitions to packed cafés; from a near-score
of universities and colleges and several dozen learned institutes to a daily
stream of mordantly topical jokes; from museums and other staid shrines
of the past to the vitality and spice of the offbeat surprises to be found
in any metropolis.
To Polish ears the word 'Warszawa' has a ring of stirring poetry.
What makes this city so different, so unique, is its battle-scarred history.
The source of the esteem in which the world holds Poland's capital
lies in the dauntlessness shown by its populace in the many wars and
risings which have swept over its roofs and streets.
The milestones in Warsaw's 700-year annals have tended to be
cataclysms, usually from under the sign of Mars. At least three attempts
have been made to wipe it off the face of the earth (in the 17th century
when it was razed by the Swedes, at the end of the 18th century when
it was sacked during the suppression of the Kosciuszko Insurrection
and, most vicious of all, in 1944 when it was systematically and cold-
bloodedly demolished).
In 1939, 1943 and 1944, the capital of Poland lay in ruins. The
defence of Warsaw, the destruction of the ghetto and its uprising (it was
from there that the 'Old Doctor', the heroic Janusz Korczak, went to
meet his death together with the children under his care), the Warsaw
Rising in 1944. Nearly 800,000 people perished. West of the river, where
the bulk of the city lies, there were virtually no survivors, something
without precedent in world history.
The official inventories credit Warsaw with 917 historic buildings,
two of which (the palaces and parks in Łazienki and Wilanów) have
been awarded the highest international '0' rating. Unofficially, how-
ever, it can claim a place at the top of the world tables for the number
reconstructed. This is a record which saddens as well as cheers: how
great the havoc that had to be wreaked to leave so much to rebuild!
The magic of objects which casts a spell over every city quite re-
gardless of artistic or historical considerations has an overpowering
force in Warsaw. The Copernicus monument on Krakowskie Przed-
mieście street arrests the eye not only because it is the work of the
great Thorvaldsen, but also on account of the incredible chapter of
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accidents it has been through in the course of the past decades. Every
Gothic detail, every collection of old porcelain in Poland's capital has
the makings of a tale about the strange adventures of inanimate objects.
A few words about the Old Town quarter in Warsaw.
What is now only a small section of the city was for centuries the
principal stage of its history. From the 14th century, the area within
a 300-metre radius of the Market Square was the nerve centre of the
affairs of Warsaw and the whole kingdom. The Old Town is a time
capsule of changes in civilization and customs, but above all else a key
witness to history.
More than a lingering trace still remains of the atmosphere of the
reigns of the Vasa and Wettin kings, and even of earlier times when
the Princes of Mazovia ruled. Scenes from the past appear as in a
peepshow: crowds milling among a clutter of market stalls, a throng
of spectators at a public execution, French and Polish soldiers drawn
up on parade, Napoleon striding down the Stone Steps in the company
of Prince Józef Poniatowski. And a hundred other episodes, with
the shadow of war never far away.
The most recent, still fresh in the memory, was the Warsaw Rising
of 1944, in which 90 per cent of the Old Town was reduced to rubble.
In and around its narrow little streets raged fighting of unbelievable
ferocity; the heroism of the 10,000-man force of defenders and the
ordeal of the tens of thousands of beleaguered civilians composed a page
of history as horrifying as it is magnificent.
Any visitor to Warsaw is recommended to make a tour of the Old
Town where Gothic shakes hands with Baroque, where there is a
cathedral in which two kings were crowned and the Third of May Consti-
tution, one of the world's first fundamental laws, was sworn, where
all around him he will see an exquisite, but living, museum and also
find much food for thought.
Let us now pass outside the Old Town walls.
Castle Square, just beyond them, is dominated by the column of
King Sigismund III of the Vasa dynasty, one of the earliest secular
monuments erected in central Europe (1644). Fleets of coaches berth
here, trams and other vehicles trundle through the underpass tunneled
underneath, an escalator hums in the adjoining John House. Every
year more and more people and cars (despite partial closure to traffic)
crowd the gentle incline of the irregular square.
Castle Square has known its share of excitement and drama. Time
and again its paving stones have been strewn with corpses. Many a hor-
ror has been witnessed by King Sigismund from his lofty perch (battles
with the Swedes in 1656 and 1704, clashes with Russian and Prussian
troops during the Kosciuszko Insurrection, the fighting in 1944). In
the end he, too, came crashing down.
When at long last the hurly-burly was done, the King was re-instated
on his eminence. To the east there appeared a light new bridge, the
Śląsko-Dąbrowski; southwards streched the rebuilt Royal Way. Nearby,
up sprang the palaces, churches and houses of Krakowskie Przedmieście,
the chief guide in their reconstruction being the 18th century townscapes
of the court painter, Bernardo Bellotto Canaletto. All that was missing
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was the square's centrepiece: the Royal Castle, for two centuries
the seat of the king and the legislature, and later of the president of the
Republic.
But this hole in the city's panorama will soon be no more than
an unfortunate memory. For at the moment of writing the castle is
already there and work is in full swing on the decoration of the in-
teriors. Although the hiatus in the life of the Castle lasted over quarter
of a century, the time was at least spent sedulously preparing its re-
incarnation: the furnishings which had escaped destruction were
retrieved, stored and catalogued and the subsidiary buildings - the
Tin-Roof Palace, Bacciarelli House, Grodzka Gate - faithfully restored.
Designed and decorated by some of the finest architects and artists
of the 16th-18th centuries (Rodondo, Castello, Trevano, Fontana,
Merlini, Kamsetzer). the Castle is once more a part of the Warsaw
skyline.
Let us now turn to the present.
Warsaw has a number of key traffic arteries. The main ones running
north and south are the handsome boulevards on either side of the
Vistula, the Royal Way and the line formed by Nowotki, Marszał-
kowska and Puławska streets and by Marchlewskiego street and
Niepodległości avenue. In the lateral direction we have the East-West
Thoroughfare and the Aleje Jerozolimskie-Waszyngtona throughway.
In 1974 work was completed on a difficult and costly project of crucial
importance to the city: the construction of a parallel artery known
as the Łazienkowska Thoroughfare (with a new bridge across the
Vistula); a ring road is also under development. The Wisłostrada (Vistula
thoroughfare) has been modernized and extended and now cuts across
the city from north to south.
I would advise anyone with a few days to spare to visit a number
of places of interest which lie off the main streets, such as the Ba-
roque and Neo-classical palaces on Krasiński square, Miodowa and
Senatorska streets, Dzierżyński square, and even Puławska street.
By a knight's move one could next take in the Camaldolite Church
in Bielany, the Królikarnia palace on Puławska street, the Ghetto Heroes
memorial and the Evangelical church on Kredytowa street.
For a building which is something of a freak there is the Lubomirski
palace, which can be seen from the central walkway of Saxon Gardens
squeezed into a niche between two huge blocks of a new housing devel-
opment. In pre-war or even quite recent maps of the city, its siting
was quite different, for it stood sideways onto a traditional Warsaw
market called Mirowska Hall. Can it be that the building got up and
walked?
Yes it did exactly that: 250 years after it was built, the Neo-classical
Lubomirski palace was moved to a different site. Between 30 March
and 18 May 1970, a building weighing 10,000 tons was literally shunted
along 16 rails until, without a single brick being displaced, it had been
turned 78° in relation to its previous position. Suddenly, to everyone's
astonishment, the old palace appeared at the end of the prospect running
from the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier through the greenery of the
Saxon Gardens.
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This unusual operation is not, as it happens, a unique one in Warsaw:
earlier the Carmelite church on Świerczewskiego street had been moved
back 21 metres, and the position of an old tollgate on Grochowska
street similarly altered. It is not only the restorers who have been per-
forming wonders in Warsaw.
So much for the 'palace on rollers' which is worth a visit on this
count at least, since otherwise it is not one of the brightest gems of
the city's architecture.
The same goes for the quarter known as Praga, which is also rather
apologetically hurried over in Warsaw guidebooks. Yet a tour of what
is now the home of 400,000 people can be rewarding.
Praga always tended to be thought of as some remote, exotic land.
It was said to have a strangely oriental ambience which made it more
like the sort of towns to be found at least 300 kilometres east of the
Vistula. It was, you could read, Warsaw's 'backstairs'.
It is really only in recent years that Praga managed to live down
this ghetto reputation. What seemed a distant continent has suddenly
materialized as an ordinary suburb, which has assumed a part of the
capital's functions, looks no different from the rest of the city and,
above all, has become Europeanized. Few people now remember that
for centuries it was condemned to a different path of development
and a separate, usually tragic history.
True, you can still come across remnants of the old backstreet folk-
ways which have disappeared almost without trace from Warsaw. Praga
still has its traditional street markets, old wooden tenements, narrow
alleyways and cobblestoned streets. In the centre rise the onion domes
of an orthodox church.
But the days of Praga's otherness are numbered. Giant new housing
developments have replaced the wooden slum dwellings. Strikingly
modern buildings, like the new Warsaw East railway terminal or the
70,000-seat Tenth Anniversary Stadium, have been put up which any
city would be proud of.
The metamorphosis of Praga is no longer a part of the great saga
of the reconstruction of Warsaw; it is simply a 'change of skin', a stage
in the normal, though very much hastened, re-development of a city.
Talking of changes of skin, one place that is an absolute must is
Warsaw's new centre. It consists of a strip of urban renewal no more
than 60 metres wide on the eastern side of Marszałkowska street. Here,
on a 10-acre site, a group of architects led by Professor Zbigniew Kar-
piński have put up 23 buildings of varying height and design. They
are dominated by three matching apartment towęrs and four glass-
fronted department stores. In style this 'village' for 3,400 residents
echoes the architecture of the city centres of Stockholm and Rotterdam.
I would draw your attention to the mall at the rear of the stores where
you can visit a number of distinctly agreeable cafés and bump into the
prettiest girls in Warsaw!
Right opposite, across the bustling stream of Marszałkowska street,
rises the 230-metre Palace of Culture, a town within a town. The floor
space of this huge building amounts to 33 acres and among its amenities
are four theatres, four cinemas and two restaurants. There is a swimming
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pool, indoor stadium and a 3,500-seat auditorium. A total of 44
important institutions, led by departments of the Polish Academy
of Sciences and the University of Warsaw, have offices here. On a bright
day a superb panorama of the city and its environs unfolds from the
viewing gallery.
Close to this edifice there has appeared the light, modern structure
of the Warsaw Central Railway Terminal whose surroundings have
become a huge redevelopment site.
During the past few years Warsaw has acquired several high rises
including the Forum Hotel on the corner of Marszałkowska street,
the INTRACO building housing foreign trade firms in Stawki street,
and the 46-storey office building, the highest in Poland, of the Trade
Bank and Foreign Trade Central Offices in Chałubińskiego street.
Completely new areas have emerged with the Ursynów-Natolin
housing estate, the largest of them all.
It is worth recalling the words of Irving Brandt, a Chicago Sun cor-
respondent, who wrote on arrival in Warsaw just after the war: 'An
American entering Warsaw feels as though he had been pitchforked
out of real life and into a world whose existence he had thought in-
conceivable.'
How much has happened in this city in the course of just one gen-
eration!
ENVIRONS OF WARSAW
If a circle of 60-kilometres radius were to be drawn around War-
saw, it would be found to contain a fairish number of places worth
a star or two in the Baedeker, and at least as many more which hand-
somely repay a visit though they rate no mention in the guidebooks. It
is true that the countryside around Warsaw is not by conventional
standards particularly remarkable, an opinion that such beauty spots
as Kampinos Forest or the artificial lake near Zegrze cannot basically
alter. On the other hand, the palace and park in Wilanów (just outside
Warsaw), which was built by King John Sobieski, the conqueror of the
Turks at Vienna, is one of the most superb country seats in central
Europe. Everyone would also recommend seeing the palace in Jabłonna
which once belonged to Prince Józef Poniatowski, Marshal of Poland
and France, and was designed by Domenico Merlini, or making an
excursion 30-odd kilometres south to Czersk and musing amid the
15th-century ruins of the mighty Gothic castle of the dukes who long
ago ruled this region.
Mazovia as it is called, of which Warsaw has been the chief centre
since time immemorial, was always densely populated, but poor: a
none-too-fertile soil, large expanses of woodland, no mineral wealth,
continual raids by enemies from the north. All of this bred a kind of
insularity and delayed the development of the economic and social
structure.
Yet this part of the country has an enchantment all its own, though
it comes not from any splendours of art or scenery, but from a slightly
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melancholy, brooding atmosphere which you will find creeping over
you if, for instance, you stroll along the bluff overlooking the Vistula
in nearby Góra Kalwaria and gaze out over the green, tranquil, almost
idyllic valley that unfolds in front of you. This same unique mood
is perhaps most perfectly distilled in the grounds of a certain period
manor house in the village of Želazowa Wola, which was the birth-
place of one of the greatest of Poles and sublimest of artists: Frédéric
Chopin.
A number of forests still ring the city, chief among them the above-
mentioned Kampinos Forest (now a national park) which has an area of
2,189 sq. km. Other stretches of woodland are to be found in the vicinity
of Chotomów, Kabaty, Sękocin and Chojnów. Similarly the Vistula
which flows through the middle of the Vale of Warsaw is not the only
river. This relatively small area is further criss-crossed by the Narew, Bug,
Bzura, Pilica, Liwiec, Wkra, Rządza and Swider; some of these can be
dangerous floods, in others the water is barely waist-high. Just under
30 kilometres from Warsaw lies Zegrze and that broad artificial lake
(formed in 1963 by the building of a dam across the Narew) which
contains 100 million cubic metres of water.
The most convenient way of exploring the environs of Warsaw is
by car, especially as the roads are all up to scratch and the arteries
leading out of the city have been redeveloped. Mindful, however, of
the advice given by seasoned travellers that it is better to see the world
from the back of a donkey than from the deck of an airliner, I suggest
an outing on foot. Unfortunately it is too late for a ride in one of the
local narrow-gauge railways, a quaint rattle-trap also known as the
suburban Blue Express, as the last specimen disappeared from the Warsaw
area a couple of years ago.
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WARSAW TO CRACOW
This 300-kilometre line of communications may fairly be called
Poland's principal promenade. For centuries up and down it marched
Polish and foriegn armies. Near Wieliczka it became the main trading
route linking Hungary to the Baltic and in the neighbourhood of Cra-
cow intersected with the road carrying merchants from Kiev and Lvov
to Prague.
That is how it was ever since the merchant, Ibrahim Ibn Yakub,
probably the first foreign globe-trotter to visit Poland, arrived from
Spain in the 10th century and journeyed along this route from Warsaw
to Prague. In the account he wrote of his travels, he observed: 'I en-
countered a fair and unusual land whose inhabitants engage not only
in the trade of war, but also send their produce by land and water to
Russia and Constantinople.'
The lands skirting the Vistula have in these past thousand years
witnessed many a landmark of politics and commerce. They also form
one of the main strands of culture and art, full of the imprints of Gothic,
Renaissance and Baroque and abounding in buildings, sacred and secular,
of great beauty and value, from little wooden churches, to cathedrals,
town halls and stately homes.
This is the Poland which has bewitched so many artists. The willows
of Mazovia whisper through the nocturnes of Chopin, the firs of
Świętokrzyska Forest in the novels of Stefan Žeromski.
Around Wiślica and Cracow there once lay a stronghold of Polish
statehood. Near Kielce can be found physical traces of an ancient
industrial culture. The twin piers of this 'grand highway' are Warsaw
and Cracow, the present and the former capital of the land.
Although civilization has now seeped into every nook and crevice,
it is still a part of Europe in which something of the feel of bygone
centuries lingers. Here one can come across records of folklore and
customs virtually untouched by time, and havens of scenery untainted
by the fumes of industry.
CRACOW
Without Cracow there would be no Poland. Or at any rate it would
be a Poland shorn of much of its rich historical, cultural and intellectual
panoply. The capital of the kingdom from the 11th to the end of the
16th century, the seat of its monarchs, a treasure-house of art and
architecture, the home of one of the world's oldest universities (late
14th century), Cracow escaped by some miracle of fate the havoc of
the last war and as a place of historical interest has few equals among
the cities of Europe.
To visit this Polish Athens whose architectural rhythms and patterns
create a quite overpowering effect, is to be plunged into an old-world
scenery recalling the days of long-bows, halberds and siege towers with
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an atmosphere you would have to travel far and wide before finding
again.
Of the medieval fortifications there still stand St. Florian's Gate
(c. 1300) and the Barbican (1498). The latter is a rare example of this
kind of defence work (a similar one can be seen in Carcassonne).
Parts of Wawel Castle are almost a thousand years old (the pre-
Romanesque rotunda of Felix and Adauctus dates to the 10th century)
and it is one of the most imposing buildings of its kind in Europe.
Towering over the city, its masonry forms a landmark in the history
of Cracow, matched only, if contrastingly, by the giant steel mills of
Nowa Huta, one of Poland's biggest post-war industrial developments
and now the home of 200,000 people.
The spell cast by Cracow, today a constantly growing and ramifying
centre of learning and the arts, comes chiefly from the quarter which
forms its ancient heart. The Old City, ringed by a four-kilometre belt
of greenery known as Planty (the line of the old walls) has bowed to
the dictate of the age and acquired all the accoutrements of civilization -
cars, modern stores, neon lights, asphalt - but still retained the imprint
of bygone centuries. The old Drapers Hall (Sukiennice) with its masks
and gargoyles in the centre of Market Square, St. Mary's Church with
the famous altarpiece carved by Wit Stwosz and the bugle call sounded
daily from its spire, the 11th-century church of St. Andrew, the cluster
of old university buildings, the narrow, whimsically twisting streets,
low archways, medieval porches and staircases, mysterious passages
and recesses, are all sights still to be seen and relished. All this is being
carefully renovated and preserved.
The tapestry of Cracow has been woven by master spirits, by artists
from Poland, Italy, Germany, Bohemia. Here in the mid-15th century
Jan Długosz wrote his History of Poland. Here rose the star of Coper-
nicus. Here worked the mathematician and astronomer, Wojciech of
Brudzew. Here were bequeathed the legacies of the great chemists,
Zygmunt Wróblewski and Karol Olszewski, the great painters, Jan
Matejko and Stanisław Wyspiański, and many other geniuses too
numerous to mention.
Cracow's past is not only embalmed in its old walls and works of
art: it also lives on in its pageantry and folklore: the procession of
masks at the beginning of Whitsuntide, the cribs produced at Christmas,
the Juvenalia when the students become for a day masters of the
University and march through the streets in the colourful costumes
of mediaval scholars - and, of course, the Lajkonik (or hobby-horse)
parade, a tradition reaching back to the 13th century when the populace
of Zwierzyniec repelled a Tartar attack: every year on the Octave of
Corpus Christi a cavalcade representing the Tartar Khan and his retinue
sets out from the Premonstratensian convent in this quarter of the
city.
Over the centuries Cracow has suffered its share of adversities, of
which Lajkonik is not the only memento. Until 1596, the flourishing
capital of the kingdom, it fell on evil days in the 18th century. The
population slumped from 40,000 to 9,000. Its streets and buildings
fell into ruin. Hardly had it pulled out of this decline when disaster
overtook the whole country. After the Third Partition of Poland, Cra-
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cow was annexed by Austria. The Congress of Vienna turned it into
a Free City, but thirty years later it was again incorporated in the
Austro-Hungarian empire. Though reduced to provincial status,
it remained a beacon of learning and culture shining out over the rest
of the dismembered country. Yet in this far from happy period in
Polish history, many bonds were forged between Cracow and Vienna,
a surprising number of distinguished Polish scholars and even poli-
ticians were active on the banks of the Danube. Echoes of these per-
sonal ties and cultural rapport survive even to this day in Cracow, where
you can still hear good-humoured jokes being swapped about the Emperor
Francis Joseph
During the Second World War, Wawel Castle, once the residence
of kings from the mighty houses of Piast and Jagiello, was taken over
like some squatter by the Nazi satrap in Poland, Hans Frank, later
sentenced to death at Nuremberg for genocide. The German atrocities
included the murder of a large group of eminent membres of the staff
of Cracow University arrested almost the day after the occupation
of the city.
Founded over a thousand years ago, Cracow now has a population
of 693,00. It is not only a priceless museum, but also a leading man-
ufacturing as well as cultural centre (11 higher education establish-
ments). It is the pride of every Pole.
WAWEL
If we were to make a list of Poland's national splendours, this rocky,
limestone eminence overlooking the Vistula and occupied by a complex
of historic buildings, would have to be placed at the very top.
For a thousand years treasures of art and architecture have been
swelling its precincts. From the 11th to the end of the 16th century
it was the seat of the kings of Poland.
Two principal edifices are associated with the name of Wawel: the
royal castle (13th-14th century) with a famous cloistered courtyard
and interiors filled with priceless art collections, and a Gothic ca-
thedral in whose crypts lie the remains of Polish rulers and other great
men.
The soil of Wawel Hill hides many a surprise. From the 8th to the
10th century it was the site of a fort established by the Vistulans.
Fifty years ago a pre-Romanesque rotunda was discovered inside
the castle. More recently archaeologists have unearthed the remnants
of a 10th-century prince's palace and a second pre-Romanesque
rotunda.
One of the marvels of the Cathedral is the chapel of King Sigismund I
with its gilded dome, the masterpiece of a Florentine architect and
sculptor, Bartolomeo Berecci (1517-33).
Apart from the buildings and their contents, it is also worth drawing
attention to the courtyard of the castle and its flanking arcades, which
are among the finest and earliest of their kind north of the Alps.
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0
Of the many Wawel treasures, a thriller could be written about
the collection of tapestries, with its history of repeated removal, damage
and plunder. Most of them were ordered by King Sigismund Augustus
in Brussels in the mid-16th century. Their final odyssey began early
in the last war and they did not return to Wawel for good until 1960.
The Castle's largest chamber, the Deputies' Hall, is a magnificent
sight. The roof is decorated with wood carvings and coffers containing
heads sculptured in the early 16th century.
Regalia (which include the spear of St. Maurice) and ritual objects
of great value, some of them dating back to the Middle Ages, are to
be found in the Royal Treasury, which forms part of the Wawel State
Art Collections, and in the Cathedral Treasury; the Capitular Library
contains a number of precious manuscripts.
During the Occupation, when Wawel was the residence of Hans
Frank, a great deal of serious damage was done, alterations were made
to some of the rooms, the royal stables were torn down, and many
paintings, objets d'art and valuable specimens of armour were purloined
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(among them, a gold goblet made by King Sigismund III, which was
never recovered from Germany).
Wawel is probably Poland's biggest tourist attraction, visited by
something like two million sightseers a year.
Fateful junctures in history were proclaimed by the peals of the
famous Sigismund Bell (1520), which has a cup with a circumference
of eight metres and a beautiful tone.
Children through the ages have always been excited by the legend
of the dragon which roosted in a cave overlooking the river and, until
slain by a gallant cobbler, had the habit of eating people.
SILESIA
There are geographical names whose very sound evokes instant
images of landscapes crammed with chimneys, slag heaps and figures
in safety helmets - Nord in France, the Ruhr in Germany, Manchester
in England
Which brings us to Silesia, in the south-west of Poland, a region
abounding in a treasure now in high demand the world over, stubbornly
wrung from the earth for many centuries.
Annually it yields some 200 million tons of coal which puts
us among the world's top producers and exporters of what is still one
of the hardest currencies in international trade. Silesia also supplies
6 million tons of pig iron and 5 million tons of rolled goods, thus
providing a firm base for the country's entire industry.
Though this branch of the economy does not usually contribute
much to the beauty of landscape, green is the prevailing colour in Silesia
rather than black or grey (apart from its most congested areas),
thanks to a huge network of tourist amenities like Jaszowiec, Szczyrk
and Wisła, and many acres of woodland, meadows and gardens. It is
also famous for an incredible multitude of tiny allotments. Between
Katowice and Chorzów in the very heart of the Upper Silesian Industrial
Region, mining spoils and waste land have been turned into a vast Park
of Culture and Recreation, the biggest of its kind in Poland and one
of the largest in Europe, whose leisure and entertainment facilities
(marinas and bathing pools, playing fields, planetarium, exhibition
pavilions, 90,000-seat stadium, restaurants, gardens) constitute, along
with Warsaw, Wawel Castle and Białowieża Forest, one of the musts
on the itinerary of VIPs visiting Poland.
Silesia's main business - coal - is easily forgotten when sightseeing
in modern Katowice, especially its new city centre with its spectacular
Silesian Insurgents Memorial - a monumental evocation of hussars'
wings set against the background of the gigantic bowl of the Sports
and Show Hall - a perfect sample of architectural judgment.
The new mines and steelworks are controlled by comupters (pro-
duced next door in Lower Silesia), but preserved, too, are centuries
old. mining antiquities. Nor is Silesia short of enshrinements of the
events, great and small, of its history, for instance, King John So-
bieski's parting in Tarnowskie Góry with his beloved Queen, Marie
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d'Arquien or Marysieńka as she was tenderly called in the country,
on the eve of his famous relief of Vienna. This rendezvous with the
past adds yet another hue to the spectrum of far from unrelievedly
'Black Silesia'.
GDANSK
The name of this city is immediately associated with the drama
of the Second World War. In 1918 it was made a Free City and for
twenty years was one of Europe's most sensitive trouble spots, exploited
by Hitler as a pretext in his demagogic claims. It was here too that
the first shots of the war were fired, when in the early hours of 1 Sep-
tember 1939, the battleship Schleswig-Holstein began to shell the Polish
garrison guarding the Westerplatte peninsula.
The earliest recorded reference to Gdańsk appeared in 999 (in The
Life of St. Adalbert) and from then on this key port and centre of
commerce crops up time and again in history. In 1308 it was captured
by treachery by the Teutonic Knights who put its inhabitants to the
sword and sacked the city. After 150 years in the hands of the Order,
Gdańsk was recovered by Poland in 1466 and remained part of the
kingdom until the Partitions. A number of royal privileges and a mo-
nopoly of the corn and timber trade made it wealthy, and it acquired
many splendid buildings and works of art.
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A large proportion of the treasures accumulated over the centuries
was engulfed in the last war. Some have been restored at great cost
and effort. Within the limits of the so-called Main City can be found
a great many superbly reconstructed historic buildings, notably the
houses of Long Market (Długi Targ), the Armoury (Zbrojownia), High
Gate (Brama Wyżynna), the Torture House (Katownia), the Prison
Tower (Wieża Więzienna), Golden Gate (Złota Brama), the old hall
of the Brothers of St. George, the church of the Blessed Virgin Mary,
the royal chapel, Arthur House (Dwór Artusa) and the Town Hall.
Gdańsk forms part of a conurbation known as the Tri-city (the
other two being Sopot and Gdynia), and is a major centre of industry
(the biggest shipyard in Poland), a busy port (which since recently
has been given reinforcements by a new port, Port North, mainly for
transshipping coal and oil, Poland's largest investment project in the
past decade) and the home of six higher education establishments and
noted arts institutions.
Monuments, antiquities and other such lofty matters apart, house-
hold words in Poland are Gdańsk furniture, Gdańsk vodka nad Gdańsk
Bay.
This beautiful city with its eventful history is well worth a longer
visit. Once you have made your tour of the Main and the Old City,
the Old Suburb, the .Lower City and the Granaries, I would advise
seeing the Heroes of Westerplatte Memorial, pondering the memory
of the defenders of the Gdańsk Post Office, attending one of the organ
concerts in Oliwa Cathedral and taking a stroll in Sopot along Poland's
longest pier (512 metres).
KIELCE
There are those who maintain that it is here that the quintessential
Poland is to be found, that centuries ago it was her matrix (it is only
fair to add that the same claims are made for Poznań and Cracow).
Kielce is a town of 163,000 population sited among picturesquely
wooded hills. It first appeared in recorded history at the end of the
11th century.
The landmarks of its past are the baroque Bishop's Palace, now.
a museum, and the 17th-century early baroque cathedral. The Palace
was built in 1637-41 and one of the architects was Tommaso Poncino;
the rooms are beautifully decorated with stucco panelling, murals and
painted ceilings (from the workshop of Tommaso Dolabella). Converted
into a museum (Museum Świętokrzyskie), it houses a historical exhib-
ition (ground floor) and a display of furnishings from the 16th-18th
centuries. The Cathedral contains a Renaissance tombstone attributed
to Giovanni Maria Padovano.
Redevelopment is gradually changing the face of the town and its
narrow little streets. Springing up in their place are broad thorough-
fares and glass-and-concrete towers. Kielce is shedding its old repu-
tation of a glorified village and growing into a large and modern metro-
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polis. But a point is being made of protecting all that is worth preserving
of its past.
Once in Kielce, it is worth stopping over and making some outings.
Suggested spots are, east of the town, Szydłów, one of the few places
in Poland whose defence walls still stand; Nietulisko, where there are
the ruins of an ancient dam; Opatów, musty with the ivy of centuries;
the castle of Krzyżtopór near Ujazd which once dreamed of rivalling
Wawel in Cracow; the village of Klimontów which contains some
magnificent Baroque treasures; and the small town of Pińczów, once
a major centre of the Reformation in Poland.
Kielce has a fine cultural tradition to cultivate. Among other things
it was the base of one of Poland's most enlightened reformers, Stanisław
Staszic. In 1958 a Kielce Learned Society was formed for the purpose
of regional studies, thereby filling, it must be admitted, a definite
need.
WROCLAW
Picasso found the dynamic reconstruction of Wrocław a powerful
inspiration. Ehrenburg saw Wrocław as a signally Polish city, not so
much on account of the bricks which remembered the days of King
Boleslaus the Wrymouth, but the thousands upon thousands of Polish
pioneers who had streamed in to breathe life back into its dead walls.
Now over half a million strong (597,000), Wrocław is Poland's fourth
biggest city, after Warsaw, Lódź and Cracow. Industry is booming, what
with such high-powered plants as PAFAWAG (rolling stock), ELWRO
(electronics), DOLMEL (electrical engineering) and dozens of others.
Eight higher education institutions give it an intellectual sparkle.
A number of first-class theatres, such as the internationally renowned
Henryk Tomaszewski's mime company and Jerzy Grotowski's Lab-
oratory Theatre, attract both cognoscenti and laymen. To round off
the picture there are the sterling Ossolineum Institute with its vast library,
museums, a film studio (where Wajda's Ashes and Diamonds was made),
and many international and national artistic events.
The quarter of chief architectural interest is Minster Island (Ostrów
Tumski): of its many treasures the two which stand out are the Ca-
thedral (13th-14th century) with its superb St. Mary's, St. Elizabeth's
and Elector's chapels, and the church of the Holy Cross from the same
period, both rebuilt after suffering appalling damage. But there is also
much to delight the eye elsewhere: a cluster of historic buildings in
Ostrów Piaskowy, Market Square with a late Gothic town hall, churches
and old mansions and on the north-west side, two houses linked by an
arcade and called 'Hansel' and 'Gretel' after the Grimm fairy tale. Gothic
and Baroque artists lavished their efforts and gifts on the city - all for
nothing, for in 1945 the Nazis, by proclaiming it a fortress, signed its
death warrant and 70 per cent of these masterpieces were laid waste.
A potted history of Wrocław runs as follows: the first rulers were
the Piasts, in 1335 came the Bohemians, in 1526 the Habsburgs and
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in 1741 the Prussians. But always, even during the long years of Ger-
manization, it remained economically and culturally linked with Po-
land.
Today, it is not only Picasso who has found Wrocław an inspiration.
POZNAÑ
Despite what a number of people in the world at large believe, the
celebrated International Fair is not the only thing Poznań can boast
of, though it is certainly true that this huge annual shop-window means
much to the city and indeed to Poland. No doubt it will be a surprise
to some to learn that this tradition of commerce goes back to the Middle
Ages.
The ball was set rolling in 1231 when Prince Władysław Odonic
issued a charter whereby any merchant in Poznań during the octave
of the Feast of St. Dominic was exempt from tax. In 1394 an even
more effective measure was hit upon: what was called a 'privilege of
deposit'. Though there was nothing very voluntary about it, it was
highly profitable. Every merchant passing through the city along the
'amber trail' was obliged to put his wares on public display within three
days. By the middle of the 15th century there was an official St. John's
Fair which soon became known all over Europe and in the Middle and
even the Far East. In 1925 came the institution known as the Poznań
International Fair and with its establishment the amount of business
done grew by leaps and bounds. At present an exhibition area of
173,00 sq. m. is occupied by 4,500 firms from 40 countries and visited
by over half a million people, while turnover runs into thousands of
millions of dollars.
But enough of the Fair. Poznań is one of the biggest and oldest
cities in Poland. It lies on the intersection of important lines of com-
munication, and has eight higher education establishments, a number
of major cultural institutions headed by a well-known opera, and several
large industrial plants (notably the Cegielski Works, which manufacture
ship engines and rolling stock, plus electrical engineering, rubber, paper
and food processing factories).
Poznań, located at the confluence of the Warta and Cybina, first
appears in history in the middle of the 10th century as the seat of a
duchy. In the same century it became the capital of Poland and remained
so until the beginning of the next. In 968 a bishopric was founded.
In 1253 the town received a charter and from then on commerce began
to thrive. In 1519 the Lubrański Learned Academy was formed as
a branch of the Cracow Academy. Poznań's subsequent history was
a chequered one, scarred by the Swedish wars, natural disasters,
attempted Germanization, a rising against Germany, the fearful Nazi
occupation, heavy fighting in 1945 and considerable destruction.
What has survived of this eventful and troubled past? Surprisingly
much, as you will see if you stroll into the old town quarter and look
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round the market square where most of the buildings date back to
the 15th-17th centuries (restored after the war) and include the Dzia-
łyński palace, now the home of a number of cultural and learned insti-
tutions, the Roundhouse (Odwach) from 1787, and the old Municipal
Assay Office (torn down in 1890, reconstructed in 1960). Nearby there
is the Wielkopolskie (as the whole region is called) Military Museum
and the delightful empire-style Mielżyński palace.
But the building of greatest architectural interest is the Town Hall.
It was built in the 13th century (the early Gothic vaults can still be
seen) and enlarged in a Renaissance style in 1550-60 by Giovanni
Battista Quadro. In 1945 it suffered some damage, but has been
faithfully restored. The eastern façade is particularly handsome with
its semi-circular arcades and open loggia. On the first floor there is
a majestic Renaissance Hall with one of the finest interiors of its kind
to be found north of the Alps. The History Museum is also worth
a visit.
There are many other architectural attractions to be seen in the
old town quarter and elsewhere: from the unique Musical Instruments
Museum in the market square and a parish church which is one of the
most beautiful baroque buildings in Poland to the National Museum
by Przemysława hill, the 10th century cathedral and a sprinkling of
pretty churches.
Advertising boosts trade. Trade boosts art.
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TORUÑ
Ask any child in Poland what he associates with Toruń and the
answer will come back pat: Copernicus and gingerbread. If he has
knocked around a bit, he might throw in the Crooked Tower, the Town
Hall and, perhaps, the 7-ton Trumpet of God' in St. John's church,
the second biggest bell in Poland (the biggest, of course, being the
Sigismund bell in Cracow).
Toruń is one of those places that you can't help liking. It has interest-
ing Old and New Town quarters (the latter also pretty hoary) with
a fair number of buildings worth closer scrutiny, notably the 15th-cen-
tury Town Hall with a 13th-century tower (the work of the master
Andrzej) and Mannerist additions (van Obbergen), the Gothic churches
of St. John (13th c.), the Blessed Virgin Mary (13th c.) and St. James
(14th c.), several gates and towers, among them that Crooked Tower
from the early 14th century which leans 1.4 metres out of the per-
pendicular, and the old houses and taverns in the New Town market
square.
In Toruń town fathers have been more adventurous than elsewhere
in blending old architecture with modern development (for instance,
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on the bluff overlooking the Vistula). Son et lumière spectacles are
organized in the ruins of the castle.
As for history, the following facts should be noted: the town was
given its charter in 1233, became the principal Polish stronghold in the
13-Years' War with the Teutonic Knights, was recovered by Poland
in 1466 and during the Reformation was the main bastion of Polish
Protestantism.
But the landmark date in the annals of Toruń has always been
19 February 1473. For that was the day the wife of a wealthy mer-
chant gave birth to one of the greatest of Poles and most brilliant minds
the world has ever known: Nicolaus Copernicus.
Although Toruń has grown considerably since the last war (to a po-
pulation of some 165,000), become the seat of a university (named
after who else? Copernicus) and attracted a fair amount of industry,
its narrow streets and Gothic walls still retain much of the atmosphere
of the days when the great astronomer was creating his heliocentric
theory of the structure of the universe.
Incidentally, the gingerbread (Copernicus brand, of course) is
delicious!
SZCZECIN
A spacious city (next to Warsaw and Wrocław, it has the third largest
area - 284 sq. km. - in Poland), Szczecin is the country's biggest port
and an important centre of industry and cultural life.
It has a population of 384,000 who live among a profusion of green
spaces and bold planning, originally modelled on the layout of Paris.
The borders of Poland were extended to Szczecin at the end of the
10th century. In 1124 the townsmen, who numbered, as the chronicles
put it, 900 'patres familias', were converted to Christianity. In the
subsequent course of history it suffered Danish, Swedish, Prussian,
even French occupation. When it was recovered by Poland after the
last war, half of it lay in ruins and its port and factories were all but
totally destroyed (95 per cent). A thousand years after its foundation,
Szczecin had been reduced to the wilderness it once was, but we can see
for ourselves that the comeback has been a triumphant success.
How much of the past is preserved in its walls? Pride of place belongs
to the castle of the dukes of Pomerania which, though sacked, rebuilt
and sacked time and again, still stands as an eloquent witness to the
twists and turns of this region's history. Also worth noting are the
Gothic churches of St. James (14th-15th c.) and SS. Peter and Paul
(15th c.). And last but not least there are the Town Hall (13th-15th c.),
the old residence of the Loitz family (16th c.) and Port and Prussian
Homage gates.
Szczecin is a bustling city crowded with sailors, youth and tourists
from the GDR and Sweden. Modern architecture mingles harmoniously
with the heritage of bygone centuries.
It also boasts a spectacular topography. Both the river Odra which
flows through it flanked by a two-tiered embankment (Wały Chro-
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brego) and the surrounding acres of woodland provide a natural scenery
which is hard to beat.
And, incidentally, the vicinity of Szczecin abounds in forests, lakes
and rivers and specimens of Gothic architecture.
PLOCK
It will be news to most people that this IS a town which was once
in the running to become the capital of Poland and that only some
mysterious quirk of fate finally made the choice fall on Warsaw.
Conveniently and attractively located, Płock is now a major in-
dustrial centre (petrochemicals, fed by the Friendship Pipeline from
the Soviet Union) as well as a great repository of history.
It is one of the oldest towns in the country. The first recorded ref-
erences date from the second half of the 10th century. In the 11th
it became for a time the capital of Mazovia, a royal residence and the
seat (as it still is) of a bishopric. It was an important political and cultural
centre.
Płock is strikingly situated on a bluff above the Vistula, and the jewel
in its architectural crown is the castle and cathedral complex on Góra
Tumska, a hill which has, however, an unfortunate tendency to sub-
114
ide. All that remains of the Castle are the Clock Tower (13th-14th c.)
nd the Lord's Tower. Nearby stands a former Benedictine abbey with
he most graceful of cloisters. Hugging the bank of the Vistula below
$ a row of granaries from the 17th-19th centuries. The Old Market is
otable for a Classicist town hall (1826). The greatest treasure, however,
$ the Romanesque cathedral (12th century, though the original architec-
ure has been obscured by countless alterations) which contains the
arcophagi of two kings, Ladislaus Herman (1079-1102) and Boleslaus
he Wrymouth (1102-38).
Next to Cracow and its Nowa Huta, Płock is Poland's most classic
xample of two different ages and cultures existing side by side. It
akes for a fascinating, if not always harmonious, encounter.
ZAKOPANE AND THE TATRAS
Zakopane is a town which lies at the foot of the Tatra Mountains
nd is the winter capital of Poland. Situated at a height of 900 m. above
ea level, it was discovered a hundred years ago by a doctor and
hilanthropist, Tytus Chałubiński, who thereby turned a small highland
illage into a mecca for writers, composers and painters and, in due
me, sportsmen. Zakopane became the breeding ground of a specific
egional style of timber architecture, furniture-making and decoration
nd grew into a booming holiday and health resort.
Among its places of interest are the Tatra Museum on the main
reet, Krupówki, a charming wooden church built in 1847 with a ceme-
ery which contains the graves of many well-known local figures, notably
an Sabała Krzeptowski, a famous story-teller and writer of ballads,
nown as the 'Homer of the Tatras'. The mausoleum of Jan Kasprowicz,
great poet who celebrated the rugged beauty of the region, is to be
und at Harenda.
But first and foremost, Zakopane is a base for excursions into the
IW and breath-taking world of the mountains.
Although the architecture of contemporary Zakopane arouses mixed
elings and the performance of the tourist and health institutions is
source of occasionally vehement criticism, everyone agrees that this
a part of Poland which exerts a peculiar magnetism.
Zakopane is the gateway to the Tatras. Though lower than the Alps
he highest peak is the 2,655-metre Gerlach on the Slovakian side),
ey have a wild, severe grandeur for mountaineers and present formi-
able difficulties. The weathering of the rock by ice and snow has pro-
uced precipitous faces, crags and ridges. Lakes have formed in
ooped-out basins (there are 43 on the Polish side) and waterfalls
mble down from high ledges. The flora of the Tatras runs to 1,700
fferent species of plants and include relics of the Tertiary period.
-
the spring the lower-lying glens and pastures break out in a brilliant
sh of crocuses. Among the fauna you may come across are bears
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(not recommended!), lynxes, badgers, marmots, chamoix, eagles and
salamanders.
Periodically there rises a warm foehn-like wind called a halny.
Sometimes it blows with a force violent enough to snap trees and tear
off roofs, and it has been known to flatten down whole tracts of forest.
Even at its mildest, it has a creepy effect, making people, whether in
the mountains or down below, feel strangely jittery and causing an
pprehensive quickening of the heartbeat.
For thousands of years a miniature Völkerwanderung went on in
the valleys and foothills of the Tatras which themselves are no more
han 57 km. long and 18 km. across. Here sheep farming has remained
nuch the same as it was in the days of the pastoral culture brought
O the west Carpathians by nomadic tribes from the Balkans and
Transylvania. A fascinating chapter in the history of the region was
vritten by the treasure-hunters who came to the Tatras in search of
old and opened the way to mining. In the 16th century and later a
ertain quantity of gold and copper was mined in the vicinity of Kry-
van peak; subsequently iron mines and foundries were started in
Kościeliska valley and elsewhere.
There are spots in the Tatras so beautiful that they have inspired
oems, symphonies and, nowadays, coloured postcards: the lakes of
Morskie Oko ('Sea Eye' - isn't the name itself sheer poetry?) and Czarny
taw, the glades of Chochołowska, Gasienicowa and Kondratowa, the
eaks of Rysy, Giewont, Czerwone Wierchy and the Roztoka valley.
rippers (or cepry, as lowlanders are a little mockingly nicknamed)
re also drawn to Kasprowy Wierch and Gubałówka which can be
scended in comfort by cablecar and funicular even in evening dress
nd provide the reward of a spectacular view.
In season (January-March and June-September) Zakopane and
is surroundings are invaded by literally millions of mountain-lovers.
To matter that the Tatras do not inspire them to quite such heights
S they did writers and composers like Stanislaw Ignacy Witkiewicz
Witkacy), Mieczysław Karłowicz, Karol Szymanowski, Kazimierz
etmajer and Jan Kasprowicz. That is not expected of them; all that
: expected is observance of the by-laws of the Tatra National Park
which forbid such things as picking flowers, causing damage and leaving
tter) and the rules of safety in the mountains. But even if they ignore
e latter, assistance will still be rushed to them by the Volunteer Rescue
ervice which has been saving climbers' lives for half a century.
A well-known foreign travel guide contains the following obser-
tion: "There are many regions and towns in Poland which you can
OSS out of your itinerary, but on no account miss the Tatras and
akopane.' The second half of this sentence is beyond dispute.
BŁĘDÓW DESERT
Very many people in Europe have at one time or another suffered
allucinations, but at least Poles can claim for their mirages the excuse
having a genuine, full-blown desert in their country.
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Situated near the town of Olkusz, it is the only one in Europe
The area of shifting sand measures some 32 sq. km. (8 km. by 4 km.
and its quantity is estimated at 2,300 million cu.m. The dunes reacl
a height of up to 20 m. The western end of this Polish Sahara is exploit
ed for mining purposes.
Through the Błędów Desert runs the River Biała Przemsza along
whose banks grow strips of lush greenery, creating the impression of a:
elongated oasis.
The dunes are dotted with tufts of spiky grass. There are occasiona
blizzards and even sandstorms. In the summer mirages are by all account
a frequent phenomenon.
The desert is ringed by pine forests. From the tower of the churc
in Błędów you get a view worthy of a minaret in Tunisia. The easter
tip ends in a lake, Zielony Staw, said to have once been a silver mine.
The desert has been the site of numerous archaeological finds fror
the Stone Age. Sand is, as we know, an excellent preservative.
During the Occupation the sands of Błędów were used for fiel
exercises in desert warfare by Rommel's army before it was shippe
out to North Africa. Today they are a boon to film producers who ca
thereby eliminate the expense of foreign locations from their budget
The Błędów Desert is a remarkable freak of nature which provide
a change of pace after a tour of Cracow, Ojców, Pieskowa Skała an
other nearby places of interest. Children can build sandcastles an
mud-pies to their hearts contents; adults are at liberty to bask in th
most seductive mirages they can imagine.
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PIENINY MOUNTAINS
Like the Tatras, only more so, this is a range of mountains within
nountains, a limestone outcrop of exceptional beauty which adds
ariety to the Carpathian massif. One of the attraction is a trip, in canoes
lug out of tree trunks and lashed together into rafts, down the Duna-
ec as it races between towering crags in a picturesque 9-kilometre
orge offering the tourist a breath-taking spectacle composed by nature
nd the elments. It is an adventure that is absolutely safe, but a terrific
hrill while it lasts.
The symbolic sentinels of the Pieninys are the castles in Czorsztyn
nd Niedzica. The first, built in the 14th century, belonged to a famous
night called Zawisza the Black and was the base of a peasant rebellion
n the 17th century; all that now remains following a subsequent fire
re ruins. The second had an equally stormy history. The lower, Renais-
ance section has been restored and serves as a holiday home for art
istorians.
In the Pieninys which have been a national park for many dozens
f years (over a thousand species of flora) you will find firs, beeches,
ews and larches. The meadows are full of flowers. Folds in the rock
ontain specimens of plants from the Tertiary period.
This tranquil and beguiling world is being more and more rudely
ncroached upon by civilization, chiefly in the shape of the motor car.
All in all the Pieninys have an area of less than 7,000 acres, but into
his small compass are crowded no end of delights and marvels.
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BIESZCZADY
Once upon a time (and not so long ago) a Pole who felt himself to be
in a state of extreme physical or nervous exhaustion would say to
himself: 'What I need is to get away to Bieszczady and lose myself ir
the wilds.'
Nowadays he wouldn't find it so easy to 'lose himself. The section
of the Beskidy mountains called Bieszczady is no longer anything
remotely like Poland's Siberia or Amazonia. Civilization is descending
upon it with a vengeance. And a good thing too, I suppose, though
one can't help felling a twinge of regret.
All the same the region enclosed between Łupków pass and the
River Solina in the west and the River Swica in the east still remain
the most sparsely populated part of the country (25 inhabitants per
sq. km.), densely wooded and bereft of industry. Sheep rove the broad
sun-drenched pastures of its hillsides with nothing to fear except the
odd, famished predator (which may sometimes even be a brown bear)
From one end to the other, Bieszczady measures a mere 120 km
n length and 90 km. in breadth. The highest peaks are Tarnica (1,346 m.)
Krzemień (1,335 m.) and Halicz (1,333 m.).
Through these mountains runs one of the most scenic of Poland'
new highways, called the Bieszczady Loop. One of the big touris
attractions is a holiday centre on the shores of the artificial lake create
by the construction of a dam on the River San in Solina.
In the village of Jabłonki on the Bieszczady Loop stands a memoria
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to General Karol Świerczewski, 'Walter', the legendary commander
of the 14th International Brigade and, later, the 35th International
Division in the Spanish Civil War, who was ambushed and killed here
in 1947 by the nationalists of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army.
Bieszczady has rivers teeming with trout, primeval forests inhabited
by bison, bears (almost twenty of them), lynxes, martens, deer and
wolves, woods full of berries, mushrooms and nuts. Its few, scattered
towns and villages are many hundreds of years old (Lesko, for instance,
was founded in the 14th century). There are quaint, usually timber,
Orthodox churches from the 18th and 19th centuries. In Lesko there
is a 16th-century Jewish cemetery and synagogue (now a museum).
Nine kilometres north-east of the capital of Bieszczady, Ustrzyki
Dolne (pop. 6,000), in the town of Krościenko, right on the Polish-Soviet
frontier, lives a large community of Greeks who came to Poland in 1949
as civil war refugees.
In Bieszczady is the watershed between the catchment areas of the
Baltic and the Black Sea.
Anyone in search of excitement will be interested to learn that in the
backwoods, well away from the beaten track, he has a chance of
encountering not just a bear or a wolf, but also a very vicious breed
of viper.
Be that as it may, the dales and canyons of Bieszczady, the fir,
beech, yew and sycamore forests, remain a place where you can take
a deep and bracing breath of fresh air before plunging back into the
toxic fumes of civilization.
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AUGUSTÓW CANAL
In 1824 the authorities of the Congress Kingdom (as the Russian
partition zone of Poland was called after 1815) decided to build a water-
way to link the Vistula basin via the River Niemen with the Courland
ports on the Baltic. The object was to by-pass the obstructions of ship-
ping goods from Poland and Lithuania through Prussia which barred
the Kingdom's access to the sea and controlled its economic relations
with the West. The construction of the section lying within its borders,
the Augustów Canal, was completed within twelve years, to the
astonishment of the whole of Europe. In charge of the project were
officers of the Engineering Corps headed by Ignacy Prądzyński.
The Augustów Canal is now a unique museum-piece of technology
in Poland and I doubt whether there can be many others quite like
it in Europe either. To this day it is still used by boats of up to 100
tons. Its quaintness blends perfectly with the rare loveliness of the
scenery. It has a natural extension in the River Czarna Hańcza (a tributary
of the Niemen), which offers one of the most beautiful canoe runs
imaginable and is also a paradise for anglers. Near the town of Augustów
(pop. 24,000), old buildings and installations line its banks.
The canal has a total length of 102 km., eighty of them in Poland,
and 18 ancient locks (14 in Poland). It serves as a link between a number
of picturesque lakes: Necko, Białe, Augustowskie, Studzienniczne.
The biggest marvel is the original machinery which is still in working
order and used to open and shut the lock gates.
The Augustów Canal is a bit like a vintage Bugatti or the Wright
Brothers' flying machine. Since there is no way of putting it in a mu-
seum, there's nothing for it but to admire this antique on the spot.
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ŚWIĘTOKRZYSKIE HILLS
This is a range of lowish (highest point, 612 m.), sandstone and
quartz elevations which lie in the very heart of Poland. Parts of them
are fir-covered and one hill (Góra Chełmowa) boasts a beautiful larch
forest.
The most scenic section has been turned into a national park (over
15,000 acres) named ofter the novelist, Stefan Žeromski, whose books
celebrated this region. One sight quite out of the ordinary is Bald Hill
(Lysa Góra) on top of which stands Holy Cross, a one-time monastery
founded in the 12th century and subsequently enlarged; before the
war it was one of the toughest prisons in Poland and during the Oc-
cupation a camp for the extermination of Soviet prisoners of war.
Here and there in the local villages traditional folk costume is still
worn. This was also the cradle of Polish industry with the mining and
smelting of iron ore (commemorated by the annual feast of Dymarki).
Quarries yielded a famous variety of sandstone.
The forests of the region have been the scene of many a ferocious
battle against invaders. During the last war they were a partisan
stronghold. Here from October 1939 to the end of April 1940 operated
the detachment of the famous Major Henryk Dobrzański, known as
Hubal, of whom many books have been written and a film has been
made.
The Hills and the surrounding country are full of priceless, utterly
unembellished and unfaked relics of art merged with the natural, often
rural landscape. Nearby can be found distinctive species of flora. For
example in the nature reserve in Chotel Czerwony you can in hot weather
observe the 'burning bush' phenomenon produced by the self-ignition
C
123
THE
mirry
SIGN
of the fraxinella or gas plant which originates from the steppes of Asia
and gives an inflammable volatile oil which burns with a red and blue
flame. Here you can also see a deposit of enormous grypsum crystals
(up to 2 m. high) which constitute one of the world's curiosities.
Not far from the main range lies a cluster of smaller hills and, nestling
among them, the little town of Chęciny with the ruins of a magnificent
13th-century castle. This was one of the locations for the screen version
of Henryk Sienkiewicz's Pan Wołodyjowski, as a result of which one
of the towers was rebuilt.
124
THE OAKS OF ROGALIN
Trees can also form part of our heritage. All it takes is several hun-
dred years of survival, which then makes them a monument to heaven-
sent human oversight. They have escaped the axe.
In Rogalin on the River Warta (33 km. from Poznań) stands a
Baroque-cum-Classicist @ palace (1770-82), filled with old furniture
and a painting gallery, and a park which contains the biggest collection
of ancient oaks in Europe.
Altogether there are 954 of them. They include three which are
named after the legendary Slav brothers, Lech, Czech and Rus, and
have circumferences of 9, 7.3 and 6.7 metres respectively. They pro-
vide a favourite setting for photographs of school outings: whole
coachloads of children join hands and form a ring around the trees.
The oaks of Rogalin are attacked by a vicious and equally exceptional
beetle called the oak pruner. The battle between these pests and the
gardeners is touch and go.
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It is worth remembering that in pagan times the oak was worshipped
in certain parts of Europe (eg. Lithuania). Its name recurs in countless
old spells and saws. Its wood is hard and durable and the bark rich
in tannin.
It is said that the first references to the village of Rogalin date to
1247. Whether or not this is true only the oaks can sav.
THE CLOCKS OF JĘDRZEJÓW
Jędrzejów, a little town which
straddles the highway from Warsaw
to Cracow and is the despair of
motorists, is over 700 years old. But
its place in these pages is not owed
to its age, nor its possession of
a Cistercian church and monastery
from the 12th century (renovated
in c. 1730 in a Baroque style), nor
even the fact that it is the place
where Wincenty Kadłubek (c. 1150-
1223) wrote his famous chronicle.
In the market square of Jędrze-
jów stands one of the three biggest
sundial museums in the world. It
was founded by Feliks Przypkowski
and was later run by his son Ta-
deusz, a university lecturer and in-
ternational authority on the subject
until his death (1977). Now and
again he was invited abroad to
construct a sundial in Spain or
Greece, but most of the time he
was to be found in his native
Jędrzejów tending the 500 unique
exhibits in his museum. The muse-
um is now under the care of anoth-
er Przypkowski.
The collection includes sundials which are several hundred years
old. There are also examples of military heliochronometers from the
Second World War, among them a gnomonic slide used by the Germans
in the bombardment of Warsaw in 1939.
Jędrzejów is well worth a visit. The museum attracts several hundred
tourists a day and I wouldn't be surprised if some of them adjusted
their watches by its gnomon which indicates the azimuth of the sun
with unerring accuracy.
The eye of anyone driving through the town is likely to be caught
by a small dome which sticks out above the roofs of the market place.
126
It belongs to an astronomical observatory as that was yet another of
Dr. Przypkowski's interests. As if that weren't enough, his pursuits
also ran to gastronomy. A great gourmet himself, he hoped to open
a restaurant serving specialities of the Polish cuisine which would include
such treats as 'Przypkowski soup' and 'sirloin á la Jędrzejów'. His
museum has, as it happens, a special gastronomical display with pots
and pans from the 17th to 19th centuries, printed and handwritten
culinary miscellanea (18th-19th c.) and cookery books, among them
a collection assembled by Dr. Pomian Pożerski from Paris.
Next to the museum stands a pharmacy established in 1712 by the
Patek family. A descendant of the founders, Antoni, emigrated to
Switzerland and started a watch factory in Geneva, which, under the
trade name of Patek Philippe, is still going strong.
BIAŁOWIEŻA FOREST
Here, in the basin of the Rivers Narew and Jasiołda in the eastern
marches of Poland, in the heart of the biggest expanse of forest in the
Central European plain, is the sort of place where the mind turns
to musing about the kind of life that went on here thousands of years
ago. Though one can imagine how rugged it must have been among
thickets and peat-bogs infested with wild animals, without the com-
forts of roads and electricity, television and refigerators, one can't
help feeling a twinge of longing for this departed world.
Despite the presence of a smart hotel, a smooth highway and the
neon sign gracing a shop in Białowieża, it is a longing which is partly
fulfilled in the Forest itself.
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It has a total area of 1,250 sq. km., of which 580 sq. km. lie within
the borders of Poland. Part of it (12,525 acres) forms the Białowieża
National Park, most of which is a strictly protected nature reserve
(11,600 acres), containing wild-life straight from a science-fiction film
about prehistoric times. There are forests of oak and hornbeam, alder
and ash, scores of exotic varieties of flora like lady's slipper, white
orchids or the Siberian iris, three hundred head of bison plus elk, badger,
marten, weasel, otter, deer, roedeer, boar, lynx and wolf, eagles, cranes
and black storks. With a bit of luck or a good guide, you can even come
across traces of wild bee-keeping.
Until the 13th century the Białowieża Forest was inhabited by
a tribe called the Jaćwingowie. It was made a part of the Kingdom
of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the reign of Ladislaus
Jagiello (1386-1434).
For hundreds of years the Forest was a favourite hunting ground.
The most famous chase of all was held in 1752, the organizer being
King Augustus III.
For tourists the chief attractions are the bison, the tarpans (mustang-
like horses living wild in an exhibition reserve), the trees which grow
over 50 metres in height, the immemorial oaks, and above all, the
atmosphere of a Europe which elsewhere has long since vanished.
HEL
This is a spit of land which juts into the Bay of Gdańsk and was
still a string of islands as late as the 17th century. Today it measures
35 km. in length and from 500 m. to three km. in width, and is a great
tourist attraction, stormed every summer by hordes of holidaymakers.
The railway line and highway which run down it will, sooner or later,
have to be closed to traffic; otherwise there is a fair risk of this singular
beauty spot being trampled back into the sea by the boots of visitors
and the wheels of motor-cars.
The Peninsula abounds in legends. According to one, there was
a thriving fishing village and trading post called Old Hel as early as
the 10th-11th century. True or not, we do know for a fact that a place
of this name was incorporated in 1378. A hundred years later there
sprang up the township of New Hel which still stands on the very tip of
the Peninsula. Both New and Old Hel belonged to Gdańsk (the other
localities, proceeding from the base, being Władysławowo, Chałupy,
Kuźnica, Jastarnia and Jurata).
In the town of Hel you can still see picturesque fishermen's cottages
from the 18th and early 19th century. At first glance it may seem to have
more of a Danish or Dutch look about it, but make no mistake: it has
always been Polish through and through!
In 1939 Hel was one of the last strongholds to fall to the Germans
(on 2 October, after the most heroic of defences) in the invasion of
Poland. It was the headquarters of the Polish naval C.-in-C., Rear Admiral
Józef Unrug. In 1945 a German army almost 100,000-strong was
cornered and taken prisoner on the Peninsula.
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ASKA
Hel has the most marine climate in Poland. A fairly high mean annual
temperature (7.5°), the smallest swings (18.3°) and low rainfall make
it something of an exceptional spot.
Some of the sand dunes rise to a height of 24 metres and create
the impression of miniature hills. There are lighthouses in Jastarnia
and Hel (the latter® with a power of 4 million candles, which gives its
beam a range of 60 km.). There is another in Rozewie just off the
Peninsula which houses a most unusual Lighthouse-keeping Museum.
CASHUBIAN SWITZERLAND
There are at least seven towns in Europe which lay claim to the
title of 'Venice' (of the North, East, West, and so on). We also have
five Parises. A third geographical name which enjoys exceptional po-
pularity in Europe and overseas is Switzerland.
Poland has her fair share of these Switzerlands: Połczyn Switzer-
land, Žerków Switzerland, a Switzerland Forest in Silesia, a village
of Switzerland tucked away in Białystok Voivodship. But the place
which is best known of all is Cashubian Switzerland in Pomerania.
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Sure enough, it does have, in miniature, quite the Swiss look: and
it is easy to see how its morainic hills of up to 200 m., large tracts of
forest, lakes of varying size, put someone in mind of the land of William
Tell.
If Tell never set foot here, the Teutonic Knights and the Swedes
did (the latter being less friendly then than now).
Today the region is one of the most attractive holiday playgrounds
in Poland. The shores of its 250 lakes offer plenty of room in which.
to pitch a tent and soak up the sun.
The title of one of the capitals of Cashubia is held by Kościerzyna
(pop. 18,000), an old fortress town founded by the dukes of Pomerania
in 1284. The principal holiday resort is Gołuń on Lake Wdzydze where
the sights include two typical Cashubian cottages (checze).
The Cashubians, incidentally, are an autochthonous Slav ethnic
group some 200,000-strong, who are the descendants of the old tribe
of Pomeranians. They live over parts of Gdańsk and Słupsk Voivod-
ships and in small enclaves between Lakes Lebsko and Gardno (a sub-
group called Słowińcy). In the past their land was always coveted by
greedy and aggressive neighbours and the Cashubians themselves were
subjected to many centuries of Germanization. They remained proof
against these pressures and have retained their distinctive Polish dialect
and many remnants of their fascinating folklore.
LAKE PAKOŚĆ
The story begins near the town of Inowrocław in central Poland,
when the waters of Lake Pakość suddenly rose and flooded a powerful
Slav fortified settlement on an island. Some of its inhabitants managed
to escape to safety on dry ground. The fort itself was left derelict.
More than 2,500 years after this natural disaster, the waters of the
lake sank just as unexpectedly and the submerged island re-surfaced.
Archaeologists got to work.
On the site they found remnants of the houses and fortifications
and a scattering of utensils which their owners had either lost or not
had time to remove from their threatened homes. They also unearthed
several dozen primitive hand-mills, hoes and trowels made of horn,
needles and awls of bone and odd pieces of bronze jewellery.
To get a better picture of the structure of the fort the archaeologists
dug a deep, wide trench some 100 m. long across its north-south axis.
This produced the discovery of parts of a breakwater surrounding the
rampart and an abatis. Inside the compouned were found two
well-preserved rows of houses built of logs with clay floors, containing
open hearths, some of them equipped with stoves made of clay, the
grates consisting of a layer of broken vessels and stones. These buildings
stand next to the earthworks and flank an empty square paved with
stones set at one or more levels. Under this pavement traces were found
of human settlement dating to the bronze age. The archaeologists excava-
131
ted the caves in which these inhabitants lived and stored food and also
came across the clay vessels they used.
About 50 km. away lies Biskupin (q.v.), one of the oldest centres
in Poland belonging to the Lusatian civilization. The Lake Pakość finds
have helped to fill in more of the jigsaw puzzle of prehistoric Slav set-
tlement in this area. People who ought to know maintain that there
are a great many more such islands and other sites containing traces
of the way life was lived thousands of years ago still awaiting discovery.
BISKUPIN
If there was no Biskupin, it would feel a bit as though there were
none of us Slavs either - or at any rate as though we hadn't been around
thousands of years ago.
Fortunately there is a Biskupin and its discovery (about 50 km.
south of Bydgoszcz) took a load off all our minds. This hamlet, I daresay
the most famous in Poland, was, it is clear from the unearthed evidence,
a fortified township founded c. 550 B.C. It was built on what used
to be an island on Lake Biskupin which measured 120 by 160 m. and
contained over a hundred wooden houses arranged in thirteen rows
along eleven streets surrounded by a log-and-earth wall with a double
gate topped by a look-out turret and a 120 m. bridge made of oak.
All of this has survived to our times to proclaim to all and sundry
that early Slavonic tribes had set up shop in these parts back in the
days of the Hallstatt epoch. And it has survived for the most common-
place of reasons: a waterlogged terrain which was subsequently partly
silted over. Thanks to this, not only have the wooden structures of the
settlement been preserved, but also a great many utensils.
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The discovery of the ancient settlement was a sheer fluke. There
can be no doubt that this was one of the high spots in the life of a
certain local schoolteacher who one day in 1933 decided to go for
a stroll by the lake instead of correcting exercise books and spotted
something that no one before him had noticed.
Biskupin has now been partially reconstructed and forms a sort
of skansen. Like all such sites it is from morning to night a stamping
ground of excursions and sightseers. But then that was the whole point
of digging it up and brushing away the dust of centuries.
THE WATER BIRDS OF MILICZ
Milicz is a small (11,000-strong) but venerable (12th century) town
situated north-east of Wrocław. A market square, a little trellis of streets,
a stone's throw from the River Barycz, a tributary of the Odra. The
district is poor in soil but rich in timber. Since the Middle Ages the
marshes around the river have been cultivated as fish nurseries; these
now have a total area of 15,000 acres and form the largest expanse of
inland waters reclaimed by human hand in Europe.
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Milicz has its own distinctive micro-climate and is the haunt of
unusual wild-life, notably some rare varieties of water birds.
The fauna of Milicz is substantially the same as that of the Mazurian
lakes, but it is concentrated on a small area and so easier to observe.
The vicinity of Milicz offers the most rewarding bird-watching terri-
tory in Poland and part of it has been turned into a nature reserve
called the Milicz Pools which is under strict protection, being the site
of an ornithological station run by the University of Wrocław. An
application has been made for its recognition as an international game
reserve on the lines of the Danube Delta.
The area contains the largest flock in Europe of the greylag breed
of wild goose, some 300 brace, well over half the total number in Po-
land. It also has two pairs of purple herons, until recently the sole
specimens in Poland, though another pair has now been spotted on Lake
Gopło. It is also the nesting ground of a black stork whose presence is
a sign of the wildness of the country and a pair of golden eagles. Scien-
tists come here to study development cycles and the coexistence and
rivalry between different bird species inhabiting the same area. The
uniqueness of the fauna is such that Milicz is a magnet for ornitho-
logists from all over Europe. The British recently made a half-hour
film about the birds of Milicz.
The local council - to its credit - has refused planning permission
for a chemicals factory, rightly fearing the danger to its ornithological
riches.
So come to Milicz, one of the few places where the honking of geese
still drowns out that of the motor car.
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BABIA GÓRA
The mountain of Babia Góra is really only an excuse for introducing
a whole region around the little town of Sucha in southern Poland
where the vegetation is particularly lush, the air exceptionally clean
and bracing, and the scenery marvellously soothing.
Around Babia Góra (1,725 m.) lies a National Park with an area
of about 17 sq. km. chock-full of interesting flora and fauna, and an
oasis of silence. Here comes a steady stream of holidaymakers
in search of rest and the pleasures of exploration. The district has hotel
and catering amenities to meet the needs of several thousand visitors.
In Sucha there is a camping site and a rest-house with 241 beds,
and five restaurants and cafeterias with 480 places. Among them is
a hostelry quite of the ordinary, an 18th-century timber tavern called
Rzym (Rome).
The gem of the Sucha region, Zawoja, still remains a little sheltered
from tourist traffic and for the moment its beauties are savoured only
by the occupants of 17 holiday houses and carborne travellers in
transit.
The highest peak in the Babia Góra group is Diablok (1,725 m.)
which is separated from Little Babia Góra (1,517 m.) by Brona pass.
The fir, beech and spruce woods are the haunt of deer and lynx
and the nesting ground of rare birds, among them wood grouse and
black grouse. But there are also more and more people, the majority
of them, it's said, women. No wonder: Babia Góra means Hag Hill.
SEJNY
This is a little frontier town where the silence is broken only by the
calls of hucksters at the traditional fairs. It has been the birthplace
of a number of famous Poles, including the barvest woman in our history,
135
Emilia Plater. Today it is chiefly known for its interesting folklore,
the sale of sheepskins and dried mushrooms and, above all, the breeding
of crayfish (over a million a year).
But the real reason for visiting Sejny is to see the Suwałki Lake-
land in which it lies. Here you will find one of the most beautiful lakes
in Europe, Wigry, through which flows the River Czarna Hańcza.
On a spit of land stands a village with an old Camaldolite monastery
and a Baroque church (1704-45, Piero Putini) with the cells of
hermits.
The border villages are full of Lithuanian folklore. The lakes teem
with fish including the rare lavaret. In the nature reserves can be seen
the lodges and dams of beavers.
In the countryside around Sejny one can still feel the pulse-beat
of the Polish marchlands as they used to be, decades ago.
THE WOLF'S LAIR
While millions of Germans were fighting and dying on the battle-
fronts of the Second World War, the Führer himself liked to go to earth
far from the clash of arms and the flow of military traffic. One of his
burrows was dug deep in the forests of Mazuria. A steel-and-concrete
blockhouse, it came to be called the Wolf's Lair.
This hide-out, or rather its remnants, is to be seen six kilometres
from the town of Kętrzyn outside the village of Gierłoż.
Before it was blown up by the retreating Nazis in 1945, it had for
some time served the army staff as a headquarters. It was here, too,
that the attempt to assassinate Hitler was staged on 20 July 1944.
These ruins and their sinister memories are the only thing which
strikes a jarring note in the lovely landscape of northern Poland. They
stand exactly on the threshold of the land of the Mazurian lakes.
A number of films have been shot in the Wolf's Lair (half its ex-
terior survived the dynamite) and it has been the subject of countless
magazine features and short stories. It is now visited by a steady stream
of excursions, and has a hotel and restaurant. They younger sightseers
in particular listen to the guides' account of the history of this sinister
spot with ámazement and horror.
FORESTS
The old Polish saying, 'the forest was there before we came, when
we're gone, it will remain', has now lost a little of its meaning. No one
needs to be told that in the process of laying waste the environment
we're not sparing the trees.
Nevertheless a quarter of the area of Poland is still covered by timber.
At least nine tracts of woodland are designated as 'forests'. These are:
Kurpie (1,800 sq. km.), Bory Tucholskie (1,300 sq. km.), Białowieża
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(580 sq. km.), Augustów, Noteć, Pisz, Świętokrzyska, Bory Bydgosko-
Toruńskie, Knyszyn, Niepołomice, Sól, Sandomierz and a number of
smaller expanses of woodland.
Of these the only two genuine forests are Białowieża and Pisz. All
the others have been so called a mite fancifully or from force of habit.
Wkrzańska Forest, for instance, extends to the centre of Szczecin!
On the other hand, there are plenty of woods. Woods which abound
in berries and mushrooms and are the haunt. of game and wild-life.
Woods which fill the nostrils with a fragrance seldom to be found
elsewhere in Europe.
In the dawn of history almost the whole of Poland was a mass of
pathless forest. The advent of farming cut a heavy swathe through
them and even changed some of the varieties of trees. Larches, syca-
mores, ashes and, saddest of all, stone pines are gradually disappearing;
fir and spruce are taking their place.
'Through copse and spiney,' runs an old song, 'hies the soldier,
a ditty on his lips.' That is the way things were ordered for centuries:
if you were a Pole, you were usually a soldier and if you were on the
march, your path usually ran through glades and thickets.
A world of concrete and asphalt is swallowing up these tracts of
wood and forest. But since, as another saying goes, 'by the time a fat
man's lost. weight, a thin man's given up the ghost', Poland has managed
to hang on to more woodland than many countries in Europe and means
to save all she can.
BARANÓW
Whenever an opulent banqueting scene or a swashbuckling duel
around the courtyard and arcades of some castle has to be shot for
a movie, the location inevitably chosen is Baranów. Here can be found
the true-to-life scenery and atmosphere of the 16th century.
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The experts classify the architecture of Baranów (12 km. from
Tarnobrzeg and not far from Sandomierz) as 'mannerist', which to
lay ears sounds like rather a rude thing to say of a chateau which has
a 'O' rating in the international tables of historic buildings and was
described, back in the 17th century, as elegantissima by the historian,
Szymon Starowolski. You would have to travel far, he wrote, to see
the likes of its superb cloisters, Renaissance parapet walls and portals.
Today it is sometimes called the little Wawel.
Baranów was the seat by turns of some of the most powerful families
in the land: Leszczyński, Wiśniowiecki, Lubomirski, Sanguszko, Krasicki
and Dolański.
It has been impossible to establish who built the castle (1591-1606),
though it is thought it may have been the Italian architect and sculptor,
Santi Gucci. In the 17th century the interiors of the first floor were
converted in a Baroque style by the famous Tylman of Gameren.
Two fires and the Second World War did heavy damage to the
splendours of the 'little Wawel'. After its acquisition by the govern-
ment, restoration was undertaken and it now stands in all its pristine
glory. The halls and chambers have their full complement of furnishings
and appointments. Baranów enjoys the direct patronage of the nearby
Tarnobrzeg Sulphur Works which wasted no time in arranging a standing
138
archaeological and geological exhibition with special emphasis on the
mining and uses of sulphur down the ages.
In the delightful park outside there is a very tolerable hotel. I can
assure the more nervous sort of visitor that there are no reports of
any White Ladies or rattling chains having ever been seen or heard either
in the Castle itself or the grounds.
SPAS
Poland's spas are tremendously popular. Millions of people swear
by the healing qualities of their mineral springs, mudbaths or just the
presence of something extra in the air.
One of the most famous Polish spas was and is Krynica where
a longer stay before the war was spent by Queen (then Princess) Juliana
of the Netherlands with her husband, Prince Bernhard. Another celebrity
was the tenor Jan Kiepura who had a villa in Krynica. It is
still the biggest health resort in Poland and now also a winter sports
centre.
It is said that the springs in some Polish spas are among the strongest
in Europe. The places with this claim are Szczawno-Zdrój (respiratory,
metabolic and digestive diseases), Busko-Zdrój and Ciechocinek
(rheumatic, children's, women's, and skin diseases), Krynica (digestive,
urinary tract, women's, circulatory diseases and diabetes), and Kudowa
(anaemia, endocrinological diseases, especially of the thyroid, circulatory
diseases). Other well-known spas are Iwonicz, Rymanów, Cieplice,
Rabka, Połczyn, Świeradów, Žegiestów, Polanica, Nałęczów, Duszniki,
Lądek and Kołobrzeg.
A unique spa of its kind is Ciechocinek which provides baths in brine
concentrated by means of graduators (an idea pioneered by Stanisław
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Staszic); it was founded in 1836. References to mineral spring treatment
first appeared in Polish in 1578 when the royal physician, Wojciech
Oczko, wrote of Iwonicz, Lubień and Swoszowice.
There are 36 spas in Poland with sanatoriums for 40,000 beds, and
25 health resorts. A total of 8400,000 people take 'the cure' each
year.
SMALL TOWNS
It has been estimated that there were as many as 700 towns in Poland
in the 16th century, but that only eight of them had populations of
over 10,000. Today the number of towns is not very much greater
(803), but it includes 33 with over 100,000 inhabitants.
Not all towns can boast such galloping growth as Lódź or the manu-
facturing centres of Silesia. For hundreds of years the population of
some of them has remained virtually static, their only industry the
upkeep of their architectural heritage.
By and large the bigger cities are much of a muchness; small towns,
on the other hand, make a point of being different, and I strongly urge
a visit to any one of those hundreds of little backwaters which have
failed to strike it rich.
140
A start could be made by outings to such erstwhile towns as Czersk
or Wiślica, but this would be a bit like brooding on past glories. My
own recommended tour would take in such spots as Biecz, Lwówek
Śląski, Łęczyca, Chełmno Šląskie, Pińczów, Jarosław, Pułtusk, Kalisz
(the celebrated Calisia, one of the first towns to appear on the map
of Poland!), Rawicz, Stary Sącz, Leszno and the entrancing little towns
of Wielkopolska, Lower Silesia and Pomerania.
The best thing is to be born in the country, work in a big town and
live in Biecz or Stary Sącz.
DĘBNO KRAKOWSKIE
Exactly 14 kilometres from Nowy Targ in the vale of Podhale lies
a village that is a show-case of quaint old highland cottages and contains
one absolute gem of a building which could be the envy of any place
in Europe: a little timber church, one of the most beautiful examples
I know of vernacular architecture.
Although the name of the village first appears in the 13th century,
the church itself is thought to have been built only two hundred years
later.
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The walls and ceiling are decorated with murals which date to c. 1500.
Their richness, originality and freshness of colour are truly astonishing.
There are also sculptures from the 14th and 15th centuries and, no
doubt, a lot of other treasures still waiting to be unearthed, to judge
by the chance discovery in 1949 of a Romanesque picture painted
on wood (c. 1330), the oldest work of easel painting to be seen in
Poland.
A distinguished collector of European folk art once remarked to
the author of this book: 'If there was anything I could do about it,
I would choose to die in the church in Dębno and be buried in its
yard.'
GNIEZNO
Without a doubt the derivation of the name of this town is connected
with the Polish word for 'nest' (gniazdo), for it was one of the first
places which the Slav tribe of Polanie made their home.
There is also a legend that here lay the spot where their mythical
ruler, Lech, came across the eyrie of a white eagle and made this
bird the emblem of his people. Which gives a further meaning to the
name.
The town lies not far (51 km.) from Poznań, has a population of
55,000 and a fair amount of industry. But above all it boasts an eventful
history and a striking array of records to prove it.
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A settlement dating to the 8th century has been found Oh what
is called Lech Hill. In the 10th century it was made the capital of the
first Piast princes. An even more noteworthy fact is that this was where
the famous encounter at which Boleslaus the Brave secured the
recognition of Poland from Emperor Otto III took place in the year
1000. This was also the date of the founding of an archbishopric.
Boleslaus the Brave was, incidentally, the first man to be referred
to in recorded history as a Pole. In 1025 he was crowned king of all
Poland.
Gniezno Cathedral, which was built in the 14th and 15th centuries
(with fragments of a pre-Romanesque and Romanesque building from
the 10th and 11th centuries still to be seen), contains a large number
of old works of art: the ledger of Archbishop Zbigniew Oleśnicki, carved
by Wit Stwosz, Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque headstones, tombs
and statues, Baroque altars, etc.
In the 12th century it
acquired one of the most
superb examples of Roma-
nesque art to be seen any-
where: the famous Gniezno
Portal cast in bronze and
decorated with 18 rectan-
gular panels, arranged hori-
zontally, which tell the story
of St. Adalbert, his life, his
mission to the Prussians
and his martyr's death at
their hands.
Apart from the Cathedral,
other buildings of interest are
the churches of St. George
(13th c.) and St. John
(14th c.), the archaeological
museums and some of the
old burghers' houses.
The town and its environs have been the scene of often savage battles
againt invaders. In 1947 Gniezno was awarded the Order of Polonia
Restituta for its thousand years of resistance to the German Drang nach
Osten.
CZĘSTOCHOWA
A largish town with a population of close on 230,000, considerable
industry and a thriving cultural life, its principal magnet is the mon-
astery which stands on top of the hill called Jasna Góra.
The abbey of the Pauline Brothers with its famous Gothic painting
of Our Lady of Częstochowa (or the Black Madonna as it is known
143
abroad) is the most sacred Catholic shrine in Poland and the site of
many pilgrimages.
Around it there has gathered a profuse history and literature (e.g.
The Deluge of Henryk Sienkiewicz) and an even more profuse mythol-
ogy. One of the celebrated figures of the past is Augustyn Kordecki
who was the prior of the monastery when it was besieged by the army
of General Müller during the Swedish invasion in 1655 and led a suc-
cessful defence at the head of a garrison composed chiefly of peasants
and townsmen. The gallant monk later wrote an account of the siege,
but unfortunately tended to embroider his own exploits and overdo
the military significance of the engagement.
The monastery was founded in 1382 and nearly 300 years later
converted into a powerful fortress. In the last war it experienced some
moments of high drama during the retreat of the German army. Quite
recently these were vividly described by Boris Polevoy:
'SS squads had mined the monastery church, laying an enormous
charge of explosives with a delayed-action fuse. Their calculations were
transparently simple: once the town was in the hands of the Red Army,
an explosion would blow the church to smithereens and bury the icon.
Our men would be held to blame and the anathema of the whole Catholic
world would be called down upon them.'
It was decided to frustrate this act of provocation, the order to
that effect coming from none other than Marshal Konev. One day 'an
engineering corps detachment appeared in the town on its way west. We
got in touch with the commanding officer, a colonel, who seconded to us
a sergeant-major named Korolkov, a sapper born and bred whose spe-
ciality was bomb disposal. A thin man, with funny flaxen whiskers which
looked as though they had been glued to his tanned face, he had little
trouble in locating the spot under the altar where the Germans had laid
the explosives and without further ado set the whole group of Pauline
monks placed as his disposal by the prior to work with shovels.'
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A total of 36 bombs were dug up and put out of action. Two de-
tonators were found, one with a concussion fuse placed in a hatch as
a booby-trap, the other with a chemical fuse timed to go off after roughly
ten days.
The story of this operation, reprinted from Polevoy's account in
the Soviet press, appeared in 1972 in Tygodnik Powszechny, the weekly
issued by the Cracow Curia.
All sorts of miracles have been associated with Jasna Góra. The name
of this particular one was Sergeant Korolkov.
But to get back to the monastery. In its precincts stands a 15th-cen-
tury Gothic church converted and enlarged in the 17th into a basilica
with a sumptuous Baroque interior and a magnificent high altar (1726).
To the left is a 15th-century Gothic chapel with an altar of ebony and
silver surmounted by that legendary Black Madonna.
Other features of the monastery are a treasury, a Knights' Hall with
a collection of pictures and books, an old printing shop, an armoury,
and royal apartments. The tower has a height of 105 metres and must
have provided a perfect look-out post for observation of all the armies
that have marched on Częstochowa.
FROMBORK
The magnificent old architecture of Frombork can still be admired
on the spot; to see the rest of its treasures you have to go to Sweden
where everything that wasn't nailed down was carried off in 1626 by
Gustavus Adolphus.
The town has today a tiny population (1,900), whose livelihood
comes mainly from fishing. In the summer it is doubled by tourists.
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The most notable feature is a walled cathedral which was built in the
early 17th century for the Chapter of Warmia.
The man who put Frombork on the map was, of course, Coper-
nicus who settled here in 1512 and remained until his death in 1543,
working the while on his epoch-making De R evolutionibus Orbium
Coelestium.
Half the things in Frombork which are of any interest bear his name.
They include a Copernicus Hill, a Copernicus Tower, and a Copernicus
Museum.
orbium caelestium
7
De
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GRUNWALD
There are a number of places associated with climactic events in
history which have become household words: Canossa, Waterloo, Sta-
lingrad. One peculiar to Poland is Grunwald, a symbol of victory.
Grunwald was a battle fought on 15 July 1410, in which a Polish
army with Lithuanian and Ruthenian reinforcements under the command
of King Ladislaus Jagiello inflicted a crushing defeat on the Teutonic
Knights. The Grand Master of the Order, Ulrich von Jungingen, and
its senior officers were all slain in this engagement which had a decisive,
long-term impact on the future of central and eastern Europe.
Today a modern highway leads to Grunwald field with striking
signs pointing the way. In 1960, on the 550th anniversary a memorial
to the Victory of Grunwald, designed by Jerzy Bandura, was unveiled.
It includes an amphitheatre in front of which is set a relief map in the
form of a granite mosaic illustrating the disposition of the opposing
armies before they joined battle.
The Battle of Grunwald has featured in many books (Sienkiewicz's
The Teutonic Knights), paintings (a famous picture by Jan Matejko)
and films. In each case the result has been a similar Grunwald for the
author.
C
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KALWARIA ZEBRZYDOWSKA
I can think of at least five places in Poland called Kalwaria (Calvary),
plus several more whose names are some sort of variation on the word.
The best-known is Kalwaria Zebrzydowska, a town situated 34 km.
from Cracow, which is remarkable for a vast, open-air network of shrines
representing the Stations of the Cross, endowed by the Zebrzydowski
family. It is a place of numerous, traditional pilgrimages, especially
in August; one of these was made the subject of a very controversial
documentary which fastened unmercifully on the undertones of medieval
mummery and obscurantism.
The path of the pilgrims winds through the hills and valleys north and
east of the town and is punctuated by 42 Baroque and Mannerist churches
and chapels, most of them designed by Baudarth. It makes for a proces-
sion reminiscent of the religious pageants of southern Spain.
¥
1
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Almost as an afterthought, as it were, Kalwaria Zebrzydowska has
also become famous (since the 18th century) for furniture, a reputation
sustained today by something like 500 active cabinet-makers.
In 1944 the town was the scene of a sensational exploit when partisans
of the underground Home Army stormed it in broad daylight, broke
open the jail and freed the prisoners, who included a Polish general
and resistance leader.
It is worth making a tour of the Bernardine monastery which marks
the final point of the pilgrimage. The abbey was built in 1603-9 by
Baudarth and Bernardoni and contains, among other relics, a silver statue
of the Virgin purchased in Rome in the 16th century, vestments from
the 15th and 16th centuries and 18 Polish incunabula.
Another of Kalwaria's curios are the proverbial 'Kalwaria tramps',
Contrary to popular belief, some of them belong to the more well-to-do
section of the citizenry.
SUB
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KÖRNIK
Kórnik is one of those little towns off the beaten track which have
many surprises in store for the visitor.
Situated 20 km. south-east of Poznań, its heritage consists of walls,
books, trees, and first and foremost, a castle which contains a museum
and library belonging to the Polish Academy of Sciences. Among the
things to see here are a portrait gallery, collections of old-Polish armour
and eastern weapons, period furniture, natural-history and ethnographic
exhibits from Australia, Polynesia, Madagascar and coming nearer home,
the region of Kórnik; the library has more than 150,000 volumes, among
them manuscripts by Adam Mickiewicz (the third part of Forefathers'
Eve) and Juliusz Słowacki (the poem, A Hymn to the Setting Sun).
Finally, the trees: these stand in a park laid out and planted in the
16th to 19th centuries which is the biggest botanical garden of its kind
in Poland and now serves the Polish Academy of Sciences as an arbore-
tum. It contains something like 10,000 Polish and exotic trees and shrubs.
It won't be much of an exaggeration to say that Kórnik, small as it is,
has something for everybody.
150
KAZIMIERZ
on
151
This little town is really as good as being one of Warsaw's more
outlying suburbs. True, it's a matter of 150 km. away, but there are
two excellent highways (one of them offering a particularly attractive
drive along banks of the Vistula) with very little in the way of built-up
areas.
The whole 'Kazimierz formula' is breathtakingly simple: beautiful
topography + historic buildings + good weather = rest and recreation.
Lower Kazimierz (the 'Lower' is to distinguish it from other places
of the same name) is often used nowadays as a location for films set
in, of all places, southern Europe. The market square with its old Renais-
sance houses, a parish church with partially visible 14th-century walls,
a monastery surrounded by a stone wall on a picturesque hill, 17th-
century granaries standing on the very edge of the Vistula (one of them,
alas, was gutted by a fire in 1972, but has already been reconstructed) -
all of this lends it something of the atmosphere of Italy for all that it is
so quintessentially and unmistakably Polish.
In the spring when the fruit trees on the encircling hill-sides burst
into blossom, Kazimierz in its secluded setting becomes a paradise on
earth. At any rate that's how it looks to painters, photographers and
lovers.
KŁODZKO
The chief town of the Kłodzko valley, situated on the Kłodzka Nysa
(a tributary of the Odra) and one of the oldest settlements in Silesia,
it first appears in history in 981 as a frontier fortress. In the 11th and
12th centuries it was frequently captured by the Bohemians. In 1278
it was recovered by the Piasts, but in 1341 it again fell into Bohemian
hands. In the 18th century it was seized by Prussia.
Yet despite these vicissitudes Kłodzko stubbornly retained its Polish
identity. Even as late as the 18th century public documents were printed
in Polish. From this town comes one of the most ancient records of
Polish literature, the 14th-century Florian Psalter.
The most striking architectural monument is a stonebuilt Gothic
bridge (1287-1390) with Baroque statues reminiscent of the famous
Charles Bridge in Prague. But there are also other buildings of interest:
a Gothic parish church (15th c.) with a sumptuous Baroque interior,
a town hall with a Renaissance tower (17th century) and numerous
burgher houses with Renaissance and Baroque façades.
Dominating the town stands a fortress with vaults and dungeons
built in the 17th century and subsequently enlarged after the occupation
of Silesia by Frederick II of Prussia.
The Kłodzko valley is rich in scenic beauty. Throughout its length
and breadth it possesses a distinct if elusive otherness regarding climate
and wildlife. Though barely 500 sq. km. in area, it is full of groups
of hills with a variety of names - Sowie (Owl), Bardzkie (Bard), Złote
(Golden), Stołowe (Table), etc. - thick and chiefly deciduous forests,
and countless spas with mineral springs famous all over Europe (Ku-
dowa, Duszniki, Polanica, Lądek, Długopole).
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KRASICZYN
The cognoscenti maintain that this splendid, superbly sited chateau
was, in design at least, not so much a building as (believe it or not)
a pamphlet. 'For us,' the distinguished art-historian, Stanisław Lo-
rentz, has written, 'the castle in Krasiczyn is a fascinating example
of the use of architecture for the purpose of political and social com-
ment. Its symbolism alluded to a Polish political tract written in the
second half of the 16th century which pleaded the cause of the Counter-
Reformation and gave an outline of "Sarmatism" (the bigoted ideo-
logy of the gentry).'
The tourist, however, is more likely to see in Krasiczyn a work
of architecture and art than axe-grinding, though even he is bound to
be struck by the revealingly unusual names of its four round towers:
Gentry, King's, Pope's and God's. Vast chunks of the walls are covered
with sgraffiti revealing medallions in the Lombardy Renaissance style,
with busts of Roman emperors.
Krasiczyn was built in the years 1592-1614, the principal architect
being Galeazzo Appiani. It is square-shaped with a cloistered courtyard.
The great variety of its parapet walls adds to its colourful appearance.
Around this magnificent edifice stretches a 50-acre park in the
153
19th-century style with a rich profusion of trees and shrubs, and
standard plants which attack the very walls.
If this really was a commentary on political events, give us more
of them!
KSIĄŻ
Near the town of Wałbrzych in the south of Poland stands a castle
straight out of a fairy-tale: massive, ancient, mysterious, sure to be
crammed with ghosts.
It stands on the River Pełcznica and was built in 1292 by a Piast
prince, Bolko I of Świdnik. Later it underwent a number of conversions
(notably in the 16th, 18th, and 19th centuries) and redecorations. Before
the last war it was the property of the dukes of Pszczyna.
The castle has a cubature of 160,000 cu. m. and 400 rooms plus
another 200 in its outbuildings. It is surrounded by a gorgeous park
full of rhododendron bushes and containing two artifical and one natural
lake.
154
In 1941 the Germans decided to convert the castle into a headquar-
ters for Hitler and even got as far as excavating huge underground shelters
beneath the building, in the process wrecking many of its superb ap-
pointments. It is only recently that the hideous crater left by the Todt
organization as a testimonial to its creative achievement has at last been
filled in.
Książ is sited on a hill and is unbelievably photogenic, so much so
that it was chosen as the location for the historical film spectacular,
Countess Cosel.
Reconstruction of the sapped and devastated castle adds up to a
formidable task, but it is now being tackled by a number of institutions.
Książ is one of a string of chateaux in lower Silesia, the others being
Grodno, Bolków, Siedlęcin, Wleń, Lwówek. All that is missing is a Loire
to link them.
ŁAGÓW
This is another of those towns which have come down in the world
but, though reduced to the official status of villages, seem to be doing
very well, thank you, selling their natural and architectural charms to
thousands of eager takers.
For almost 500 years (up to 1810), Łagów was the seat of the wealthy
order of the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem, whose many good works
included the construction of a castle.
It dates to the 14th century and has undergone several conversions.
On the ground floor is a hall with a Gothic vaulted ceiling and a collec-
tion of armour. A medieval tower provides a magnificent view of the
town and its surroundings. The castle is now used by the Henryk Wie-
niawski Music Society in Poznań as a holiday home. It has won some
recognition owing to its annual Lubusz Summer Festival of Polish
Films.
Łagów is considered the brightest jewel of what is called the Lubusz
Country, a historic district of Poland which stradles the middle Odra
between Silesia and Pomerania. All the evidence indicates that the
region belonged to Poland as early as the reign of her first king, Mie-
szko I. In 1124 Boleslaus the Wrymouth founded a bishopric in Lu-
busz. In 1250 these lands were conquered by the Margrave of Bran-
denburg and turned into a foothold for expansion into Silesia, Wiel-
kopolska and Pomerania. In 1945 the half lying on the eastern side
of the Odra was restored to Poland. It now forms a voivodship whose
seat is Zielona Góra.
One of the biggest of Łagów's old gates is called Polish Gate, a name
it was given when it was first built and which it retained through all the
years of German occupation.
The 'village' lies on an isthmus between Lakes Ciecz and Łagowskie
among hills and woodland.
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NIEBORÓW AND ARKADIA
In any guidebook or encyclopedia you care to consult, you will
always find some synonym of 'superb' attached to the palace in Nie-
borów. This masterpiece by the Dutch architect, Tylman of Gameren,
has happily weathered the best part of three storm-tossed centuries
and today houses a branch of the National Museum in Warsaw.
The Palace was built in a Baroque style and set in a handsome park.
It is, however, its interiors which are the principal source of all those
superlatives. Here you can see an interesting collection of local majolica-
ware, a library with precious antiquarian volumes, period furniture,
a portait gallery and a set of mythological statuary, including a famous
head of Niobe which inspired a poem by Konstanty Ildefons Gałczyński,
a frequent house guest and fervent admirer of the building:
By the light of such a lamp, he sat in Nieborów,
gazing at the face of Niobe, the Niobe of Nieborów.
Sparks from a water-sprite leaped along the cornice
and November approached in muddy boots,
with maple leaves in his hair
and the last of the sun in his heart
156
The reason Gałczyński, like many artists and academics, was able
to have the run of this stately home, is that it has been turned into
a rest-house (an annexe has been specially built in the grounds) for
writers, scholars and, above all, art historians. Once the residence of
patricians like Archbishop Michał Radziejowski and other noble families,
it is now the abode of latterday aristocrats of the pen, stage and palette.
It was in the park at Nieborów that Henryk Sienkiewicz conceived
the character of Lygia in Quo Vadis, his Nobel Prize-winning novel.
Four kilometres away lies Arcadia, a romantic pleasure garden
('superb', of course) with numerous pavilions, arbours, grottoes and
statues. It was the brainchild of Helena Radziwiłł and laid out in 1773.
This haven of peace and beauty, within easy reach of Warsaw (89 km.),
is at the same time the sort of place that seems suspended in time and
space. 'The moon,' to quote Gałczyński once more, 'peeped into the
library, cast her eye on the globes, and drew a silver finger over the
Mediterranean.'
LAŃCUT
I should imagine that of all the one-time nobleman's residences
in Poland the palace in Lancut (south-east Poland) is the one that stands
at the top of any list of 'musts'. Competing for the attention of visitors
are two museums: a sumptuous collection of furniture and furnishing
and a collection of carriages which, if slightly more modest in scale, has
the compensation of conjuring up even more vividly the flavour of
bygone ages.
The Palace is an early-Baroque, rectangular edifice with a courtyard
and four angle towers. It was built to a design by Mattia Trapola in
1629-41. In 1954 it was renovated from basement to attic.
It is ranked among the most superb stately homes to be seen in
central and eastern Europe. The most valuable of the huge quantity
of objets d'art that once adorned its 300 rooms were shipped out of the
country (11 freight-carloads) by its last tenant, Alfred Potocki. The
restorers managed to make good these losses and today the interiors
again glitter with a full complement of period furniture, porcelain,
tapestries, paintings and sculptures.
The Carriage Museum was originally set up in the twenties. It pos-
sesses over 50 horse-drawn conveyances from the late 18th to the early
20th century: phaetons, chaises, gigs, hunting brakes, even a mail coach.
The palace is surrounded by a handsome park with walks lined
by ancient limes, oaks and poplars (one of them with a girth of nine
metres). There is a conservatory decorated with sculptures in which
exotic plants are grown, among them orchids which are supplied to
flower shops all over Poland.
The nearby villages abound in charming old cottages from the 18th
and 19th centuries and are the home of many folk sculptors; Medynia
and Zalesie are the biggest centres of vernacular pottery-making in Poland.
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At the turn of the 16th and 17th centuries Lancut was the lair of
a notoriously unruly war-lord, Stanisław Stadnicki, who was nicknamed
the 'Devil of Lancut'. He was not the only devil who has plagued the
place, and one of the park attendants maintains that the occasional one is
still to be seen today - in the shape of some trippers.
PIESKOWA SKALA
The picturesque country that once made up the realm of the ancient
Vistulans is well worth exploring. The archaeologists are continually
making striking finds and turning up important historical evidence; the
tourist has his work cut out keeping up with their discoveries.
From the banks of the Vistula in the region of Cracow, there stretches
a beautiful piedmont district whose sights include the valley of a creek
called the Prądnik, a deep gully with precipitous sides. It is also the site
of a national park (in Ojców) and, standing on a sheer outcrop of rock,
the castle of Pieskowa Skała.
Originally it was a Gothic edifice (14th c.) which later underwent
alterations in a late-Gothic and Renaissance style (16th c.). Today it is
simply the classically period home of a branch of the Wawel State Art
Collections.
Pieskowa Skała is ranked among the finest knight's castles to be
seen in Poland. Its most notable features are a cloistered courtyard
with 21 mascarons (16th c.), bastioned walls and a well with a depth
of 56 metres.
It was built by King Casimir the Great (1333-70) as an outpost,
but subsequently passed into the hands of a variety of owners. Up
to 1608 it belonged to the Szafraniec family, several of whom did very
well out of marauding (I don't wonder, with a base like that !),
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while others applied themselves to alchemy; this may be the reason
a nearby crag called the Club of Hercules is associated with the legend
of Twardowski.
Pieskowa Skała was one of a ring of strongholds built around
Cracow, the best known of the others being Niepołomice, Wiśnicz
and Ogrodzieniec (ruined).
Today when one gazes upon its massive walls, beetling battlements
and stout gates, a vision of chain-mailed men-at-arms clattering out
on ironclad chargers springs irresistibly to the imagination.
⑉
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MALBORK
Malbork is, of course, a town (pop. 32,000). But first and foremost
it is its castle.
In the registers of historical monuments to be found in Poland,
Malbork Castle occupies a very prominent place. It is an outstanding
example of medieval fortification and was once the seat of the Grand
Master of the Teutonic Knights.
In the precincts, also known as the Lower Castle, stand an armoury,
a bell foundry, a chapel dedicated to St. Lawrence, a donjon called
Buttermilk Keep (Baszta Maślankowa), and remnants of Gothic houses.
The Middle Castle contains the quarters of the Commander of the Order,
a hospital, the Knights' Hall, and the residence of the Grand Master.
The Upper Castle has the chapter house, a treasury, bedchambers, a
refectory, a 'golden gate', and in the bailey a fortified well.
This stronghold of the Teutonic Knights was the biggest feudal
redoubt in Europe from the 13th to the 15th century; from the mid-15th
century it was one of Polish royal residences.
After the last war the Castle, which in the shadows of twilight makes
an ideally ghostly setting for a horror film, underwent painstaking
restoration, while Malbork's old town quarter, almost totally destroyed
during the fighting, has been rebuilt anew.
PRZEMYŚL
This is a town with a slight chip on its shoulder on account of being
passed over for top place in its voivodship and seeing Rzeszów made
its administrative seat after the war. To be honest, it does have some
grounds for feeling offended, since
it is one of the oldest towns in
Poland (10th c.), a large economic
and cultural centre and an im-
portant road and rail junction. But
in the demarcation of the eastern
frontier following the Second
World War, Przemyśl was left a
little high and dry, and this has, no
doubt temporarily, rather taken the
wind out of its sails. Following the
recent administrative reform, it has
again become voivodship capital.
Nevertheless there are plenty of
things worth seeing, notably a
castle (16th c.), cathedral (15th-
16th c.) and several other churches.
Also recommended by the guide-
books is a relatively rare Diocesan
Museum which contains collec-
tions of Russian icons, vestments
and other objects of religious art,
some of them dating back to the
12th century. A total of 544
antiquities have been assembled
here.
Przemyśl's chief attraction lies, however, in its urban architecture
and design which has been undisfigured by war damage (even though
30 per cent of the town was destroyed in the last war) and unspoiled
by modern development. It is, as some people like to say, 'a real town'.
True, but in any case it must keep growing and development schemes
include a new residential district planned by Oskar Hansen who served
his apprenticeship with Le Corbusier.
It also has a cultural tradition to strengthen its 57,000-strong popula-
tion's sense of pride. A Musical Society was founded in 1868, a Dra-
matic Society (the 'Fredreum') in 1870, and a Friends of Learning
Association in 1909.
Przemyśl has offered its hospitality to many a distinguished visitor
among them the Good Soldier Schveyk - in jail.
Fourteen kilometres away lies the frontier with the Soviet Union
and a busy road and rail crossing.
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SANDOMIERZ
First mentioned in the chronicles as early as the 11th century, this
town eventually grew to a position of great importance. Later, how-
ever, the cross-currents of history treated it none too gently. It was
twice sacked by the Tartars, scourged by a dreadful plague in the 17th
century, besieged by the invading Swedes, and, most recently of all,
a target of military operations in both world wars.
0
a
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In spite of all these frowns of fortune, Sandomierz has preserved
much of its erstwhile splendour. Among the musts recommended in any
baedeker are the Cathedral (1382), the house in which the medieval
chronicler, Jan Długosz, once lived (1478), a Dominican abbey (1226),
the church of St. Paul (1434), a Baroque Benedictine monastery and
the Town Hall.
Delightful as this architecture is, the enchantment of Sandomierz
comes from something that defies cataloguing: the atmosphere of a
medieval town beautifully situated on a high bank, and filled and sur-
rounded by greenery.
The attractiveness of this setting is, however, a mixed blessing. The
erosion of the cliff by the river has made subsidence an ever-present
danger, and architects and engineers maintain a constant alert. In recent
years serious damage has been suffered with the result that major
restoration and reinforcement projects, notably in the old market square,
are now under way.
Sandomierz has grown into a favourite spot with tourists, especially
younger ones, and artists. In the summer whenever the weather is fine,
it is likely to be crowded with twice as many visitors as residents.
Apart from Jan Długosz, the town was also the home of Mikołaj
Gomółka, the greatest of Polish Renaissance composers (16th c.).
Thanks to the efforts of the Soviet Colonel Skopenko, Sandomierz
was spared destruction during its liberation. He was killed in action
shortly afterwards and buried, according to his deathbed wish, in the
town's cemetery.
WIELICZKA
Just outside Cracow, virtually on its doorstep, there is a salt mine
which has been in operation since the 12th or, it might even be, the
10th century. The underground galleries contain chapels hewn out
of the salt in the 17th century. Although these are not the only shrines
of this kind to be seen in the world (I have even come across something
similar in Colombia in South America), Wieliczka has good claims to
being regarded as a unique attraction. The salt mines in Wieliczka,'
wrote the famous 17th-century French student of heraldry, Le La-
boureur 'are no less a wonder than the pyramids of Egypt, but more
admirable. They are a sterling tribute to the industry of the Poles, where-
as the pyramids were a product of the vainglory and tyranny of the
Egyptians.'
Wieliczka has three stars in the Baedeker and draws tourists from all
over the world. It has eight working levels which reach to a depth of
315 metres and the total length of its tunnels, shafts and gangways comes
to 150 kilometres. Those singular chapels are to be found 60-100 metres
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down and include ones dedicated to St. Anthony (built by a miner
named Kuczkiewicz in 1675), the Holy Cross (containing a 17th-century
crucifix carved out of salt) and the Blessed Kinga (with a nave 54 metres
long). In the 135-metre gallery there is a museum with a display of old
mining machinery and implements which includes a unique hoisting
mechanism from the 16th century.
The marvels of this now
official subterranean nature
reserve include the fantastic
Crystal Grottoes, halite for-
mations the likes of which
are not to be found any-
where else in the world.
The 'Warszawa' gallery,
125 metres down, is used as
a ballroom and for tennis
tournaments. The 'Staszic'
room, just two metres lower,
was turned by the Germans
during the last war into a
plant manufacturing aircraft
components. Last but not
least another part of the
mine contains a sanatorium
for asthma sufferers.
Wieliczka has been visited
on more than one occasion
by royalty such as King
Casimir the Great of Poland,
the German Emperor Sigismund and Eric of Denmark, to mention only
three, and by many great men, Goethe for one. Today it is toured by
something like 300,000 sightseers a year.
Should anybody ask the question, we can reply yes, salt is still being
mined at Wieliczka. Although the pits are slowly moving outside the
locality, Wieliczka has remained the symbol of Polish salt.
WILANÓW
Opinions remain divided as to whether the greatest thing that King
John Sobieski ever did was to rout the Turks at Vienna or to build
the palace in Wilanów. Whatever one's verdict, the fact remains that
while the first achievement is now just an echo in the history-books,
the other stands as large as life just outside Warsaw for all to admire.
The magnificent residence where the man who 'saved Europe from
the Turks' lived with his beautiful French consort, Queen Marie Casimire
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and hunted heron in the rushes skirting the Vistula, is open to the general
public and well worth a visit. Apart from anything else, there hovers
over this mist-wreathed, whispering sanctuary an air of melancholy which
casts a spell all its own. The din of civilization fades away well short
of the gates and just to be on the safe side a battery of No Entry signs
makes sure no cars disturb the peace.
The Palace is one of the most magnificent monuments of archi-
tecture in Europe. Together with its grounds it carries the highest '0' rat-
ing in the international classification of historical buildings. Its harmony,
proportions and atmosphere make an unforgettable impression and,
since 1962, when the last scars of the damage it suffered during the war
were removed, it has been a mecca for tourists. As a branch of the
National Museum in Warsaw it contains, among other things, a gallery of
Polish portraits and a standing exhibition of contemporary Polish sculp-
ture.
On this site originally stood a manor house belonging to the Mila-
nowski family, which, at the behest of the King, was converted and
enlarged into a stately home by a group of architects under the Italian
Locci at the end of the 17th century. The interiors were designed and
REFULSIT
SOL
JNCLIPE
AVIC
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decorated by the sculptors Schluetter and Szwaner and the painters
Palloni, Callot and Siemiginowski. In the following centuries new touches
were added by artists like Spazzio, Fontana, Deybel, Aigner, Marconi
and others.
What most astonishes every visitor is an uncanny, lived-in-feeling
about the palace. All the rooms are luxuriously furnished and elegantly
appointed. Fresh flowers stand in the vases, the clocks tell you the
right time. Any moment you expect Queen Marie herself to appear
in a doorway.
Over the front entrance there burn the golden disc and rays of an
effigy of the sun. 'The Sun blazed on the shields', reads the inscription
in Latin.
It blazes to this day.
WISLICA
Towns have their ups and downs no less than people. Wiślica must
once upon a time been one of the most important places in the terri-
tories of the Slavs; now even its municipal rights are a thing of the
past. In early medieval days it was a fort and up to the end of the 18th
century the demesne of a castellan. For a brief spell in the 12th century
it was the seat of an independent duchy whose area extended over the
whole valley of the Nida.
Today the village of Wiślica dozes on the banks of its river surrounded
by treacherous marshes. If you're giving directions you say it lies 14 kilo-
metres from the spa of Busko Zdrój near the narrow-gauge railway from
Kazimierza Wielka to Pińczów. There was a moment in history when
Wiślica was reduced to a bare 260 souls and it looked set to become
a classic ghost town.
For all that it is a village, it is one which boasts a number of mo-
numents which could be the envy of any metropolis, above all a colle-
giate church from the mid-14th century with the remains of a Ruthenian-
Byzantine mural and a memorial tablet with a representation of King
Casimir the Great.
But the truly eye-opening discoveries came after the last war when
archaeologists unearthed traces of two rotundas of a duke. The hypo-
thesis was guardedly advanced that Wiślica had become one of the
chief towns of the Vistulans' state as early as the 9th and beginning
of the 10th century and very little more evidence is now needed for
a conclusive proof that Poland is in fact a hundred years older than
appears from the previous records.
In 1958 the remnants of the twin-towered façade of a Romanesque
building from the early 13th century were dug up; next excavations
under the floor of the collegiate church produced the vestiges of an
earlier Romanesque edifice complete with crypt (12th c.) in which
are preserved the bases of the columns and a gypsum flooring, unique
in Poland, with lithographs made from some black substance repre-
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senting two scenes each with three figures. A number of other valuable
finds have been made, notably a Gothic bell tower built by Jan Dtu-
gosz, the foundations of an aisleless church dedicated to St. Nicholas
(10th-12th century) with an apse and quadrangular chamber, and a
spherical basin, perhaps, a font, from the late 9th century.
It is just over a hundred years since Wiślica was stripped of urban
status. The worm is turning.
ZAMOŚĆ
From the travel guides you will learn that Zamość is in its entirety
classified as a historic monument. Just like Carcassonne or Padua. Which
is not all that surprising when you remember that one of its principal
architects was Bernardo Morando of Padua.
It is a town that is unique by world standards, having been laid
out according to classic Renaissance principles. For many years it was
a powerful fortress which defied countless sieges and invasions. For
two centuries it was the seat of the celebrated Zamoyski Academy.
The pride of its architecture consists of the buildings in the Great
Market and its vicinity. On the northern side of the square rises a majestic
town hall in the Mannerist style (17th c.) with a typically graceful
tower, flanked by two rows of arcaded houses. The collegiate church
of St. Thomas (16th c.) is one of the finest examples of the Polish
Renaissance heritage. Far from abating, the battle for preserving and
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restoring what has luckily escaped destruction has been intensified in
recent years.
Zamość was the only town in Poland which was not submerged
by the Swedish 'deluge' in the 17th century. In 1813, during the Na-
poleonic wars, it survived an 8-month siege. In the last war the Ger-
mans unleashed a savage reign of terror, doing 8,000 of its citizens
to death in the Rotunda and carrying out numerous public executions.
Another notorious atrocity was the attempted wholesale clearance
of the countryside (1942-43), in which 293 entire villages out of a
total number of 696 in the area were deported and a fearful number
of children perished. The three camps for Soviet war prisoners took
a toll of 50,000 lives. The whole district was scheduled for Germaniza-
tion. After the war Zamość was awarded the Order of Grunwald.
Even this sanctuary of the past is not proof against modern incur-
sions. New quarters are being developed around the Old Town. The
civilization of the motor car and the espresso-machine has invaded the
Great Market: the parking spaces are jammed, the ground floor of the
Town Hall sports an ultra-contemporary café.
Proud old Zamość is now a voivodship town, has a branch of Lublin's
Maria Skłodowska-Curie University and even an ancient zoo. No one,
I imagine, would bat an eyelid if it was proposed one day to form an
opera or build an international air terminal.
ŻELAZOWA WOLA
This is the place where Chopin was born (22 February 1810) in
a small 18th-century manor house which now contains a museum
with facsimiles of documents, portraits, period furniture - and the
evocative atmosphere distilled by hallowed memories of the great
composer.
Every Sunday concerts are given in the little salon by leading Polish
and foreign pianists. Visitors throng the grounds to listen to the strains
of mazurkas and preludes wafting through the open door and windows.
One weekday when the place was not crowded with sightseers a poet
dropped by:
One old spinet, one old court,
a piece that's sweet and short
(just a trifle, my dear sir),
one old song, one old score,
autumn leaves outside the door.
Time to go? Ah well, too bad,
and the road so long and sad!
Gloves and hat? Merci bien.
Bon soir, monsieur Chopin.
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Konstanty Ildefons Gałczyński was not the only man to have fallen
under the spell of Želazowa Wola. Much has been written about it and
always with a note of melancholy. It is one of those rare spots in our
noisy world where people are put in a pensive mood.
The manor house is surrounded by a beautiful park planted in
1935 out of donations which streamed in from the whole country.
It has 10,000 different varieties of shrubs and trees, many of them
rare specimens.
WHAT TO REMEMBER
ROAD TRAFFIC
The scales in the holy war between horse and automobile are slowly
but surely tipping in favour of the latter. The wheels of wagons are
giving way to the wheels of Fiats and Volkswagens. Nevertheless there
are still many roads, especially in eastern Poland, where gaggles of
carts are the plague of motorists, particularly foreign ones, who fear
their shafts as though they were the horns of the devil himself. All
the same their number is dwindling. The number of cars is growing,
the most popular being the "babies", or the Fiat 126p's.
The rules of the road in Poland are substantially the same as those
of the international code, though there are of course local variations -
and customs.
Thus in principle we drive on the right, but since Polish drivers
are always either overtaking or on the point of doing so, you may
in practice begin to wonder whether you haven't by chance strayed
into England.
Needless to say, anyone approaching a main road is required to
yield right of way. Once again, however, the exuberance and impatience
of the Polish driver tends to make this a rule more honoured in the
breach than the observance. The result is never a dull moment on the
principal highways.
The long and the short of it is that put a Pole behind the wheel
of a car and the blood rushes to his head. So the only thing to do
if you find yourself on the receiving end of a furious blaring of horns,
taunting catcalls with only the barest of provocation or pointed tapping
of foreheads is to grin and bear it.
The roads in Poland are infinitely better than they used to be. The
vast majority, even in remote areas, have improved surfaces and are
excellently signposted. But just in case the motorist should start com-
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173
plaining of monotony as he speeds down some inviting, flat-as-a-pancake
stretch of higway, he is liable to find a deep pit suddenly yawning in
front of his bonnet. It's guaranteed to make even the most jaded driver
sit up !
CLIMATE
'It's a mild winter we're having this summer is a sample of the
kind of joke that is becoming increasingly frequent in Poland. Her
inhabitants are forever complaining that something's gone wrong
with the weather, that the winters are wet and snowless, the summers
rainy and chilly
0
If it wasn't for the fact that permanent changes of climate are being
remarked in almost every part of the world, one might dismiss this
sort of thing as the belly-aching of a nation of soreheads. As it is,
it seems to be the case that the mechanism of the seasons has gone
a little haywire in the last few decades, so that the advice about 'carry-
ing an umbrella even when it's fine' isn't tas stupid as it sounds.
The way the experts put it is that 'the physico-geographical situation
results in heterogeneous masses of air converging over its territory
and impinging on the entirety of atmospheric phenomena', a pro-
foundly gnomic observation which helps to explain why the meteor-
ologists are so often all over the place with their forecasts.
The mean annual temperature is (excluding the mountain areas)
between 6 and 8.8° Centigrade. Average temperatures in July swing
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174
from 16.5° to 19°, and in January from 0° to 4.5°. The number of
days of frost is between 23 and 58. The average rainfall over a number
of years comes to 600 mm., and 1200-1500 mm. in the highlands.
A typical foible of the weather in Poland is sudden changes. Tem-
peratures have been known to jump or plummet 20° within a matter
of hours.
As the man said, carry an umbrella even when it's fine.
LANGUAGE
What sort of language do the Poles speak? A very difficult one,
full of sibilants, plosives and tongue-twisters, with an alphabet that
contains letters peculiar to it alone (ą, e, ż, ź, é, ś, n), two letters for
the vowel sound 'oo' (u and ó) and consonantal diphthongs which
are not pronounced as the foreigner might reasonably expect (ch,
rz, sz, cz).
Polish belongs to the west-Slav group of the Indo-European lan-
guages and is spoken by about 40 million people. Its vocabulary is esti-
mated to run to 120,000 words; some 10,000 are in educated, col-
loquial use - though to listen to some young people talking, one might
be forgiven for thinking that they get by on no more than a hundred.
The history of written Polish begins in 1136 with the Bull of Gnie-
zno issued by Pope Innocent II. It flowered in the middle of the 16th
century when the grip of Latin, which many Poles - clergy, officials,
part of the gentry - then spoke fluently began to be broken.
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As in many other parts of the world the native language has often
been made a target for persecution. There were times when it was
risking prison to speak or write Polish.
As in France or Italy, some concern is now being voiced over the
growing influx of foreign words. and phrases, chiefly English and
Russian. Home-coined neologisms are another source of complaint.
On the other hand, there is less trouble with differences of accent,
and dialects are petering out.
How living and changing a tissue the language is comes home to
one most forcibly when talking with emigré Poles: if they left the
country thirty or more years ago, not only are they puzzled by many
words in current use, but are themselves often hard to understand.
As far as this goes a very special kind of fractured Polish is spoken
by Polish Americans of long standing, eg. moja kara stoi na kornerze
('my car is standing on the corner') or pojechała z bojfrendem na
szoping do dałtałnu ('she's gone shopping with her boy friend down-
town").
The foreign visitor to Poland will be anxious to master a basic
word list, and it would have to include such stand-bys as: ile ('how
much'), dokąd ('where to'), pan and pani (polite forms of address),
proszę dać ('please give...'), pani jest śliczna ('you're gorgeous'), nie,
nie ma dolarów ('sorry, no dollars"). One of the principal verb conjuga-
tions begins: ja cię kocham, ty mnie kochasz, on cię kocha ('I love
you, you love me, he loves you...').
We have not yet taken a leaf out of the British book and published
either a 'Lover's Lexicon', the euphemistic title of a guide to seduction,
or even a 'Dictionary of Insults' ('Cut it out, you old lech !', 'Could
I have an extra plate for the bugs?', etc.). In these situations you are,
I'm afraid, on your own.
It once happened 40 me in the course of my travels that I found
myself being greeted by a most distinguished-looking English gentle-
man with a blast of profanity in my native language which he obviously
took to be the height of civility. It turned out that he had picked up
these little endearments during the war from the gallant Polish airmen
who had served with him during the Battle of Britain.
People who are absolutely hopeless at languages had better look
for places like that cinema which wooed custom with the promise of
'all-shooting, no-talking' pictures. The only snag is that this kind of
movie plays all too rarely in Polish cinemas.
CUISINE
The admirable Maria Iwaszkiewicz has confided in the preface
to a delightful cookery book: 'What has driven me to write about
eating? It was originally the irritation induced by seeing the art of
cooking wilt and perish before our eyes.' She then proceeds with
notable skill and charm to compile a mouth-watering array of Polish
recipes and so salvage, at least on paper, what she can from the
wreckage.
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Complaints of culinary blight are not something peculiar to Poland.
A similar rot has set in all over the world with the growth of instant-
food industries on the American model strangling the virtuosity and
invention of the maestros of casserole and skillet. All of us are in
a hurry, palates are growing calloused, pre-cooked and packaged soups
and steaks are cheaper and less trouble.
There is, however, a certain local undertone in the Polish grumblings.
The nationalization of most of the catering trade has left bars and
restaurants bogged down for the moment in red tape. Nor for that
matter is it only eating out that has sadly deteriorated.
Nevertheless there can still be found people who are dedicated to
upholding the splendid traditions of the Polish cuisine. Born cooks
keep appearing and some of them do end up practising their art in
public.
No one needs to be told that we have a number of unusually deli-
cious specialités de la maison. All of them are daily fare, but each has
some extra seasonal connection with feasts like Christmas Eve, Ash
Wednesday, Shrovetide, Easter and even New Year's Eve (a special
dessert).
To give just a sample, there is clear borsch with a kind of ravioli,
bigos (a cabbage ragout which ideally should be allowed to keep for
a fortnight), pierogi (savoury dumplings filled with cream cheese or
potatoes), poppy-seed cakes and, of course, all sorts of meat dishes,
notably pot roast à la chasseur, braised pork with cabbage and stewed
mutton.
It's worth remembering an old-Polish welcome: Eat, drink and
loosen your belt.
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TRAVEL TIPS
'The chief lack in Poland is a shortage of inns and hostelries in which
one can obtain a comfortable night's lodging.'
These words were written in the middle of the 17th century by a
French visitor to these shores named de Hauteville, and it would
be pointless to pretend that he would not have grounds for the same
complaint three hundred years later. The growing stream of foreign
tourists and the wanderlust of the Poles themselves have outstripped
the development of hotel facilities. As a result one of the facts of
life that travellers need to be prepared for is that they must know every
trick, never take no for an answer and leave nothing to chance.
Foreign visitors will find many of their troubles taken care of at
the reception desk in the Grand Hotel on Krucza street in Warsaw.
It is a good idea (though this, of course, applies to other countries
as well) to make your bookings before leaving home.
Monsieur de Hauteville managed because people went out of their
way to help him: we are a cordial and obliging race. His successors
may have difficulties with accommodation, but they too can count
on no end of good will and eagerness to please.
Fortunately there are many other areas in which the life of the
tourist has ceased to be dependent on good intentions. Kind words
no longer have to do duty for petrol, since there are more and more
94
filling stations, or friendliness make up for the absence of smooth
highways, convenient airline connections, exchange counters (though
this is perhaps one department where there are still any number of
good Samaritans), car-hire services or gift shops.
The number of hotels is nevertheless growing steadily and many
towns (e.g. Warsaw, Cracow, Wrocław, Lublin, Toruń, Bydgoszcz)
have treated themselves to brand new ones. Similar investments are
under way in a large number of other cities.
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One of the big travel bureaux in the West has taxed us with 'doing
a bad job of selling Poland', and it has a point. For many years Poland
has been in the throes of redecoration and paid more attention to
the furnishing of her own home than the visitors who might care
to look around it. Hence the shortage of guest rooms, which are only
now being fitted out. It is a country which has never lain on the tour-
ist circuit, nor does it yet, for though it has much that is unique to
offer, it is not its antiquities which are its chief rewards. The climate
isn't exactly Italian either.
Its appeal has a different source: to a greater extent, I daresay,
than anywhere else in Europe, travel in Poland is still an adventure.
If this sound just the least bit frightening, it is also, I can assure you,
wonderfully exhilarating.
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