Portal:Poland

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Welcome to the Poland Portal — Witaj w Portalu o Polsce

Cityscape of Kraków, Poland's former capital

Poland is a country in Central Europe, bordered by Germany to the west, the Czech Republic to the southwest, Slovakia to the south, Ukraine and Belarus to the east, Lithuania to the northeast, and the Baltic Sea and Russia's Kaliningrad Oblast to the north. It is an ancient nation whose history as a state began near the middle of the 10th century. Its golden age occurred in the 16th century when it united with the Grand Duchy of Lithuania to form the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. During the following century, the strengthening of the gentry and internal disorders weakened the nation. In a series of agreements in the late 18th century, Russia, Prussia and Austria partitioned Poland amongst themselves. It regained independence as the Second Polish Republic in the aftermath of World War I only to lose it again when it was occupied by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union in World War II. The nation lost over six million citizens in the war, following which it emerged as the communist Polish People's Republic under strong Soviet influence within the Eastern Bloc. A westward border shift followed by forced population transfers after the war turned a once multiethnic country into a mostly homogeneous nation state. Labor turmoil in 1980 led to the formation of the independent trade union called Solidarity (Solidarność) that over time became a political force which by 1990 had swept parliamentary elections and the presidency. A shock therapy program during the early 1990s enabled the country to transform its economy into one of the most robust in Central Europe. With its transformation to a democratic, market-oriented country completed, Poland joined NATO in 1999 and the European Union in 2004, but has experienced a constitutional crisis and democratic backsliding since 2015.

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From Polish history – show another

Polish defenses near Miłosna

The Polish–Soviet War, fought between 1919 and 1921, determined the borders between two nascent states in post–World War I Europe. It was a result of conflicting attempts — by Poland, whose statehood had just been reëstablished after it being partitioned in the late 18th century, to secure territories which it had lost in the partitions — and by the Bolsheviks who aimed to take control of the same territories that had since then been part of Imperial Russia until their occupation by Germany during World War I. The conflict ended with the Peace of Riga which divided Ukraine and Belarus between the Second Polish Republic and the newly formed Soviet Union. Both states claimed victory in the war: the Poles claimed a successful defense of their state, while the Soviets claimed a repulse of the Polish Kiev Offensive, which was sometimes viewed as part of foreign interventions in the Russian Civil War. (Full article...)

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Lubiąż Abbey

Credit: P.R.Schreyner

Baroque interior of the main refectory of a Cistercian abbey in Lubiąż (German: Leubus), Lower Silesia. The abbey, dating back to the 12th century, is one of the world's largest Christian architectural complexes.

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... that slippery jacks (pictured), known in Polish as maślaki, deriving from a word meaning "buttery", are considered a delicacy in Polish cuisine?
... that the Smithsonian Channel documentary Treblinka: Hitler's Killing Machine was inspired by bathroom tiles made by the company now known as Opoczno S.A.?
... that during the Holocaust, Roman Gross was rescued from the Tarnopol Ghetto by Józef Regent, whom he in turn had rescued from deportation earlier in the war?
... that at the age of thirteen, Shmuel Shilo survived three roundups of Jews from the Łuck Ghetto and lived to tell the story?

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Megitza with her double bass

Małgorzata Babiarz (born 1984), also known by her stage name Megitza, is a Polish singer, double bass player, and composer. She combines Polish and Eastern European folk music, Romani music and gypsy jazz with world music, worldbeat, Latin American music, pop, and Americana. Born in Zakopane at the foot of the Tatra Mountains, she was introduced to the traditional music of Polish Highlanders (górale) by her father, and began performing in a children folk dance ensemble. She moved to Chicago in 2003 and started her professional career in 2008, when she formed the Megitza Quartet and released her debut album, Boleritza. The Sound Culture Center for Global Arts described Megitza as "a true concert revelation – an unusual voice, charisma and beauty", describing her music as "dynamic, vibrant, full of energy, uniting listeners of all ages." She performs mostly in the United States and in her native Poland. (Full article...)

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Zielona Góra town hall

Zielona Góra is a city in western Poland. Prior to World War II it was part of the German province of Brandenburg and known as Grünberg; both Polish and German names mean "Green Mountain". Grünberg grew during the 19th century thanks to booming textile industry. Today it is the seat of the legislature (sejmik) of the Lubusz Voivodeship. The surrounding area is one few places in Poland that are suitable for growing grapes. Wine has been produced locally since the 13th century and a wine festival has taken place annually since 1852. The best known modern local wine is called Monte Verde, which is the city's name in Latin. (Full article...)

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Poland now

Recent events

On 21 May, Jan A.P. Kaczmarek (pictured), a composer best known for writing film scores, died at the age of 71.
On 10 May, an unusually spectacular aurora borealis was observed in large parts of Poland due to an intense solar storm.
On 8 April, local elections were held throughout Poland, with run-off votes in some municipalities held on 21 April.
On 9 January, police entered the Presidential Palace in Warsaw to arrest former Interior Minister Mariusz Kamiński (Law and Justice party) and his former deputy, both of whom had been sentenced to two year's jail for abuse of power. On 23 January, they were both were pardoned by the President Andrzej Duda.