How polish people fight

Why do Polish people complain so much

“Only once did Frederick manage to cause a more vivid reaction in Bruno K. That was about a year ago. – I wanted, politely, like Pole to Pole, talk to him about the fact that everything sucks, but all in all – we keep going. And the words went out from his mouth like from a machine gun. About Masons, Jews and all secret forces that rule the world. (…) – says the pensioner.”

This is a fragment of an article about the death of Brunon Kwiecień – the first Polish terrorist after 1989. The pensioner – Fryderyk – was Brunon Kwiecień’s neighbour.

I liked his summary of the relations with Brunon so much, that even after 7 years from the first time I read this article, I was able to google it. I didn’t remember the name of the criminal. But I remembered that his nice neighbor just wanted to causally “complain” with him, like everyone does.

So… since you are here, you probably know, that we – Poles – really like complaining.

Polish small talk is complaining

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The lyrics of Kazik’s song “4 pokoje” goes: Poles are so aggressive because there’s no sun For almost seven months a year and summer isn’t even hot (“Polacy są tak agresywni, a to dlatego że nie ma słońca, nieomal przez 7 miesięcy w roku, a lato nie jest gorące”).

Which is why Polish small-talk is typically about the weather, especially in autumn and winter. It is a great opener to any conversation, either at work or when you pick your kid from a kindergarten, or you’re trapped in an elevator. If you want to blend in, just say that the weather is miserable.

However, remember that complaining is not just complaining.

In Poland it is the way we form our sentences. So it will be also perfectly acceptable if you complain on the weather in summer. Maybe it is too hot? Or maybe it didn’t rain for too long? There is always a reason, so just use your imagination.

Sometimes I feel that Polish people could be the best lawyers in the world as they have so much flexibility in their judgement.

Why do Polish people complain so much?

If you spend enough time with Polish people, you might realize that complaining become something like a rhetoric figure. It is a form of speech, a way of leaving. Sometimes people complain just to complain, to the point where it makes you ask: are Polish people really that miserable?

It is not just complaining

Few months ago, my father in law was in between jobs. He had very little responsibilities in the old place as he was going to leave in three weeks. He is sixty something and usually worked from 7 till evening, waking up around 6 in the morning. And now he was complaining that there too little work to do.

This is when I realized that he is not really complaining. He is just telling us what’s up in the most Polish way. The truth was, he was probably not really bothered by lack of work. He probably didn’t mind. But the only way he knew how to communicate the fact, was by complaining about it. This is how he talks and how he was taught to talk by his parents.

How are you doing?

Furthermore, when a British person throws this casuall “How are you doing”, they don’t expect you to answer. Or to answer honestly. In Poland this is considered a fully legit question and an invitation to start complaining. A polite answer fits somewhere between “It could be better” and “Tough as always” (“Jakoś leci”, “Stara bida”, “Ciężko, ale do przodu”).

You can of course try not to complain when talking to Polish people. I sometimes try that with my in-laws. But when I don’t complain they think I am lying and that my husband and I are probably terminaly ill and in huge debts. Otherwise – why am I not complaining?

In our culture, complaining is strongly associated with being truthful. American people may smile whatever the situation is. On the other hand, Polish people have their feeling right there where you can see it. We wear it on our faces and we are bullshit proof.

Here’s a clip from Polish comedy drama about Poles living in New York. Only one of them – played by Bogusław Linda – blended in with the American society. He gives the rest of the group – long term immigrants on American soil – easy recipe how to be more successful: do something with your Polish, truthful faces.

Why so?

The most popular Polish sportsmen ever was a ski jumper Adam Małysz. Tiny guy with a mustache and a very modest man, who was always only focused on “two good jumps”. He was loved by the crowds like he was a miniature Michael Jordan. And even though he won gazillion gold medals in his life, he never ever boasted or was impolite to anyone.

I believe that if Poland has ever given birth to someone like Usain Bolt, he would be hated by the millions. The society wouldn’t stand his boldness. This brings us to the heart of Polishness.

In my opinion the most important thing to remember when living around Polish people is to be modest. Being humble is a virtue. If my grandmother wanted to tell a compliment about a girl, she would say: “She is a modest girl”. Which to her was a code for – she is one of us.

It is hard to tell now which was first – complaining or the modesty. But why being modest is so important to us?

Trump’s visit in Poland July, 2017. Men shout on a street at leftist protesters

How it all started

Naturally Polish complaining nature is a side effect of many economical and historical storms that happened in the last 200 years. People get used to the fact that they earn a little and have even less influence on their situation.

After all, for 50 years the elections were rigged, TV told lies, and everybody earned nothing. In order to get anything you had to stay in huge lines or kiss ass, bribe or go abroad to bring back home some sweet American dollars. In the the late 80s 1/4 of the goods in Poland has been bought for dollars. The whole nation was acting in a huge masscarade: like they go for holidays, but in fact they were trading on every market square from Vienna to Stambul in order to be able to pay their bills back home or buy a flat (it is still very common, but instead of trading, we now work abroad).

This is how the first enterprenours in Poland began their carriers. And which is why Polish people for years associated earning money with black market and being a crook. You simply couldn’t be wealthy and honest. In order to make money you need to break the law, cheat and suck blood.

Living in between

This believe has probably got even stronger in the ninties. Tapes were pirated, goods smuggled, fortunes made in one day on speculation. It was wild wild west, no rules.

On the other hand, it was a first in a really long time when Polish people felt how it is to exist in a reality dictated by the economy, not the party decree. Suddenly it turned out that going on strike doesn’t always work. The companies can be liquidated if they don’t have profit. Thousands of people found out that they are no longer needed by any employer. After years of living in a country where unemployment didn’t exist, it was a shock.

In society like that, you either complain how hard life is, or you are considered a crook – the one of those few who quickly adapted to this fierce conditions or even dictated them. Complaining became a code.

Do young people complain as well?

In his book “No dno po prostu jest Polska” (eng: Poland is simply at the very bottom), Adam Leszczyński gathered Polish quotes from the last 200 years. The conclusion was: Polish people don’t like themselves and are in need for a therapy. If you are a Polish speaker I strongly recommend this book. In my opinion, it should go straight on to the list of obligatory readings.

But until everyone reads it, are Polish people sentenced to complain till the end of the world? I hope not.

The young generation is already changing and you will not hear them complaining about everything, quite the contrary. They grew up in free Poland where you can go abroad whenever you want. Saw their parents going to work every day and being paid for their efforts. They live in a different reality, shaped by Instagram, Youtube and Facebook.

So maybe Polish complaining will also someday go extinct?

Polish Jokes

At the Polish-Russian border

A Russian border patrol walks down the line, expecting a quiet evening when suddenly he sees something dangling from a tree. Someone hung himself. Right there. At the border. He calls his partner.

A customer asked, «In what aisle can I find the Polish sausage?»

Did you hear about the man who was half Polish and half Italian?

My father passed this morning. In his honor, I present his favorite joke: why do polish people have ski at the end of their names?

Edit: thanks so much for the kind words and thoughts and prayers. Thanks so much for your equally awful jokes.

To a lesser but still significant extent, thanks for the awards.

Guy falls in love with a polish girl

He loves the girl to death. Would do anything to be with her. He asks her to marry him and she says “My family would never allow it since you’re not polish.” Crushed, the man is determined to find a way to be polish to marry the love of his life.

This joke may contain profanity. 🤔

A Jew, an Italian and a Polish parson are waiting to be executed by electric chair.

The Jew steps out first, warden asks him if he has any last words, he Mentions that his uncle is a doctor and the warden flips the switch. Nothing Happens. The warden says, “you lucky son of a bitch,” one in 1 million chance it doesn’t work, your free to go.”

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Two Polish Rocket Scientists Announce to the World They’re Going to the Sun in a Spaceship

The entire world wide scientific community swiftly points out that the Sun is too hot for such a journey and they’d quickly burn up to which they replied very smugly: «Ah SEE! We’ve thought of this and have a plan. We’re going at NIGHT!»

Have you heard of Polish Roulette?

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Polish guy goes into an Opticians for an eye test.

Optician holds up the card with CZWJNYSACZ and asks him can he read that?

The Pole says “Read it? I know the cunt”.

Every morning, the CEO of a major bank in Manhattan went to the corner where a shoeshine man was always there.

He used to sit on the chair, read the Wall Street Journal, and the shoeshine man gave his shoes a shiny, great look.

One morning, the shoeshine man asks the CEO:
«What do you think of the stock market situation?»

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A businessman boards a flight and is lucky enough to be seated next to an absolutely gorgeous woman

A businessman boards a flight and is lucky
enough to be seated next to an absolutely
gorgeous woman. They exchange brief hellos
and he notices she is reading a manual about
sexual statistics.

Two polish Pilots are trying to land a plane

They approach the ground, but they really struggle with the runway. The plane nearly crashes, but they finally are able to land it.

“Jesus,” one pilot says. “That was the shortest runway ever.”

“Yeah, and did you see how wide it was?”

A Polish man goes to the optometrists for an eye test.

i heard that the tallest polish man was 9 foot

I was at a Polish wedding last night.

why does the new Polish navy have glass-bottomed boats?

My band has a polish sound guy

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Two Polish guys are sitting on a park bench when a bum comes up to them.

“Hey!!» he bellows, in his hoarse voice. «I got a riddle for you two. What has two heads, four arms, four legs, and stinks like shit?»

The Polish guys look at each other, and one of them shrugs «I give up, what has two heads, four arms, four legs, and stinks like shit?»

Polish guy goes into a store

«I’d like a pound of Kielbasa»

Clerk: you must be a Polack

Pole: why do you say that? If I asked for bratwurst, would you call me a Kraut?

Pole: If I asked for Italian Sausage, would you call me a Dago?

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Dave walks into a bar.

He sits down; Then a Stork walks in, and sits next to him. and a cat walks in and sits on the other side.

He ushers the barkeep over and asks for a pint, handing over a £5 note.

The Barman has seen some shit in his time, so he is unfazed, and pours a nice cold pint.

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A medieval polish farmer finds a magic lamp

A Medieval polish farmer is out working in his fields one day, and digs up an old magic lamp. He begins to wipe off the dirt, thinking to sell it at market, when suddenly a Genie flies out, offering the astonished farmer 3 wishes.

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A Polish man moved to the USA and married an American girl

A joke my Polish friend loved.

[Full of errors I’m sure. On to the brilliant joke.]

You hear about the Polish terrorist at the spa?

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A German butcher and a Polish butcher started a competition.

. to see who could make the longest continuous chain of sausage links in one hour.

A Polish immigrant went to the DMV to apply for a driver’s license.

My girlfriend asked me to buy her polish remover

What do you call a Polish person’s rights?

What do Polish men give their wives on their wedding day that’s long and hard?

Two Polish pilots are coming in for a landing

But they touch down too fast and the plane runs off the end of the runway.

After the smoke clears, the one pilot says to the other, «That runway was a lot shorter than I remember.»

The other pilot says, «Yeah. and a lot wider than I remember it too.»

Norm Macdonald: I was gonna say that the Polish government did actually try to land on the Sun back in the..[interrupted: No, no they didn’t.] (Norm continues) Yes, and they were ridiculed for it, because they said, you know, you’ll burn up when you come anywhere near it.

Here’s a joke I translated from Polish. I hope it works in English too.

How many Americans does it take to change a lightbulb?

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An Italian guy, a Polish guy, and a Japanese guy all apply for a job at an office.

The manager hires all three and tells the Italian, «Ok, you take care of the inventory». Tells the Polish guy, «You take care of accounting» and tells the Japanese guy, «You take care of supplies.»

Control system theory joke

As Polish airline is flying into New York City, the captain announces over the address system, “for those of you on the right side of the aircraft, you can see the Statue of Liberty out your window.“

Russian Prime Minister Medvedev comes to President Putin and nervously tells him to abolish time zones.

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What’s the difference between acetone and Hitler?

Joke about a Pole in a swearing competition

A contest was set up. By who? Nobody knows.

A man in Kyiv finds a lamp.

So, a gentleman in Kyiv found an old lamp. It had some tarnish on it, so after grabbing the brass polish and a rag, he started to polish it.

POOF! Out popped a genie!

Last night, I gave my girlfriend a medieval battle uniform to polish while I went to the bar.

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I want to try translating a Polish joke and see if it works. A few friends are drinking vodka in the kitchen.

And there are disgusting flies all over the room. They can hardly sip their drinks without these wretched flies getting in their cups, or worse, their mouths.

One man tells his friends he has an idea to get the flies to stop bothering them, but they need to avert their eyes.

An Italian and a polish guy are walking down the beach.

An Italian and a polish guy are walking down the beach wearing Speedo’s. While walking they get a lot of attention from women, but it seems that all the women are interested in the Italian guy!

A German traveling to Poland stops at a Polish Border Security Point.

TIL that the toilet seat was invented by the polish people and only after 5 years the American perfected it by adding the hole in the middle.

The Polish Hero

Four guys are in a bar; one of them has a completely flat head. The other three keep buying him drinks, each time loudly proclaiming, «And another for the Polish hero here!»

Finally the bartender asks what’s up.

The Government Employee

A government employee sat in his office, and out of boredom, decided to see what was inside his old filing cabinet.

He poked through the contents and came across an old brass lamp he’s never seen before. «This will look good on my mantel,» he said, and took it home with him.

A solider had recently found out that he had cancer, and the diagnosis was making him feel miserable and struggle to carry out his duties. After failing to polish his boots properly, the drill sergeant called him forwards.

“Why haven’t you polished your boots properly?” He yelled. “What’s wrong with you? Can you make your kit presentable or not?”

“Cancer”, the soldier replied sadly.

“Good!”, the sergeant shouted, much to the soldiers surprise, before marching off.

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On the morning that Daylight Savings Time ended I stopped in to visit my aging friend.

He was busy covering his penis with black shoe polish.

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I used to date twins.

I told them I used this simple little method:

You see, Sophie always had red nail polish on her toenails and Steve had a dick.

How do you sink a Polish warship?

A Polish joke translated to english

What do you do if a polish soldier throws a grenade at you.

«Studnia» is a Polish word referring to a shaft sunk into the ground used to obtain water

A joke we had in Poland, dating from the times of soviet occupation (post WWII).

A border. A Polish patrol found a cow standing right on the border line, half of the cow in Poland, half on the Russian land. A Russian patrol suddenly appears and they go:

What is the Polish Combat Weapon of Choice?

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A college student was driving through rural Scotland on holiday

When he came across an old stone pub that must have been several hundred years old. He thought to himself that this could be an opportunity to sample some of the local ale, so he parked and headed inside.

A Polish man walks into an opticians for an eye test.

The optician sits him in the chair, and wants to know how good his eyes are, so he asks the man whether he can read the the letters on the 6th line, which are quite small.

The man replies «Of course I can! You think I can’t spell my own brothers name?»

A North Korean go to Poland.

Kim Jong Un goes to Poland for a diplomatic visit but his car break in the Polish countryside.

He meet a farmer that ask him :

«Kim jesteś?» (Who are you?)

What do you call a Polish fisherman?

A Polish man goes into the optometrist to get new glasses.

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Pole finds a lamp on the beach at Gdańsk

What do panties and nail polish have in common?

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Yossel Zelkovitz worked in a Polish pickle factory.

. for many years, he had a powerful, almost uncontrollable desire to put his penis in the pickle slicer.
Unable to stand it any longer, he finally sought professional help from the factory psychologist.

An Italian, French, and Polish man are sentenced to death by guillotine.

This joke may contain profanity. 🤔

A Soviet general is marching his army through Poland.

As they’re passing by a hill, they hear a voice cry out from the other side of it. «No Soviet soldier can stand up to one Polish soldier!»

An Indonesian ambassador and a Polish ambassador are meeting in America to discuss international relationships when the American embassy worker gets confused.

«Their country flags are so similar and confusing,» the American embassy worker thought to himself, «How can I tell the Indonesian flag and the Polish flag apart?»

«Is the white strip located above the red stripe?» The embassy worker asked the ambassadors.

Perfect timing. You’re just like Frank.

A man walks out to the street and catches a taxi just going by. He gets into the taxi, and the cabbie says, «Perfect timing. You’re just like Frank.»

Why Poland Punishes Those Who Accuse It of the Holocaust

Using the term ‘Polish death camp’ is now punishable by up to three years in prison.

Auschwitz. Treblinka. The Warsaw Ghetto. During World War II, Poland became the epicenter of the Nazis’ crimes—but soon, implying that those crimes were committed by the Polish state will itself be a crime. A controversial new law in Poland makes it illegal to accuse the nation of being complicit with Nazi crimes like the Holocaust. It also outlaws the phrase “Polish death camps.” Both are punishable by prison sentences of up to three years.

The law has provoked an academic and diplomatic firestorm, drawing criticism from historians and rebukes from people like Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, whosaid the law “adversely affects freedom of speech and academic inquiry.” Israel’s memorial to Holocaust victims, Yad Vashem, called the legislation “liable to blur the historical truths regarding the assistance the Germans received from the Polish population during the Holocaust.”

Those historical truths have long been the subject of passionate debate—and are sensitive in Poland, which suffered immense persecution and loss during World War II. Adolf Hitler didn’t just wage war against Poland: He wanted to wipe the country off the map entirely and re-populate it with Germans. Three million Polish Jews were murdered in the Holocaust; another 3 million Polish civilians and military personnel are thought to have perished at the hands of the Nazis. Nearly 18 percent of Poland’s population died during World War II, including 90 percent of Polish Jews, the largest group of Jews murdered in the Holocaust.

Adolf Hitler overseeing his military troop during the Nazi occupation of Poland, 1939. (Credit: Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Poland’s experience under Nazi occupation was different than that of many of its European neighbors. Occupied Poland’s government did not collaborate with the Nazis—it was replaced by a German administrative government that set about “Germanizing” Poland. This entailed forcing Poles off of their land to make room for Germans, rounding up intellectuals and political elites, prohibiting the Polish language in some areas, and closing or destroying cultural and educational institutions. An estimated 50,000 Polish children werekidnapped by the Nazis, resettled with German elites or killed.

The Nazis saw occupied Poland as the ideal site not only for German resettlement, but also for the extermination of Jews. Hundreds of ghettos and concentration camps were built by the Nazis in occupied Poland, and sixextermination camps, including Sobibor, Auschwitz and Treblinka, were built in occupied Poland between 1941 and 1945.

Though Poland was essentially turned into a police state by the Nazis during the war, the Polish people did fight back. The Polish Resistance became one of the largest underground movements against the Nazis. The Polish government itself never surrendered to the Nazis, notes the United States Holocaust Museum and Memorial; instead, it set up camp in London, where it remained throughout the war.

22 Most Famous Polish People

Let’s see the most famous Poles. I am sure you even didn’t realize they are all Polish. A lot of people still believe that Frederick Chopin is French, but this is wrong. Maybe his body is in France, but his heart is in Warsaw for a reason.

Famous Poles (History & Recent)

You can’t even imagine that some of those famous people were Polish

I am living in Poland since 2014, but before I met my wife, Poland was a completely unknown country for me. Slowly, I am learning the history of Poland, and I am a bit surprised about the famous Polish people below.

Check also the Most Unique Cities of Poland and the Capitals of Poland that will definitely surprise you.

Everyone knows the famous mathematician and astronomer Copernicus. Did you know that he was Polish? and born in Toruń, one of the most beautiful cities in Poland?

Nearly every city has a statue of Nicolaus Copernicus and Poland is really proud of him and in Warsaw, one of the most famous museums has his name.

He formulated a model of the universe that placed the Sun rather than Earth at the center of the universe, in all likelihood independently of Aristarchus of Samos, who had formulated such a model some eighteen centuries earlier

Nicolaus Copernicus was born on 19 February 1473 in the city of Toruń (Thorn), in the province of Royal Prussia, in the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland. Toward the close of 1542, Copernicus was seized with apoplexy and paralysis, and he died at age 70 on 24 May 1543.

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2. Frederick Chopin

It might be a surprise as it was to me. Especially if you are not a fan of this music and you have never visited Warsaw and you have already been to Paris.

Frederick Chopin, born in Zelazowa Wola, which is a small village very close to Warsaw. He moved just after he born and lived half of his life in Warsaw and then the other half of his life in France. He always wanted to return to Poland, but unfortunately, he was not able to.

In the last moments of his life, he asked that his heart be transferred to Warsaw, so his body is in France and his heart in Poland. He was one of the greatest composers and one of the greatest pianist players. He died on the 17th of October in 1849 and buried in the cemetery of Père-Lachaise in Paris.

Especially in Warsaw, Frederick Chopin is like a symbol and you can find his footsteps in every corner of the city. Maybe you can enjoy a Frederick Chopin Tour in Warsaw and Zelazowa Wola.

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3. Pope John Paul II

Pope John Paul II, might be the most famous Polish person in the world. Karol Józef Wojtyła, was born in the Polish town of Wadowice, 50 kilometers southwest of Krakow.

John Paul II significantly improved the Catholic Church’s relations with Judaism, Islam, and the Eastern Orthodox Church.

Discover the Amazing Bialowieza Forest

Every person living in Europe should know about this great King of Poland. Born into Polish nobility, Sobieski was educated at the Jagiellonian University (Krakow) and toured western Europe in his youth.

Sobieski demonstrated his military prowess during the war against the Ottoman Empire and established himself as a leading figure in Poland and Lithuania.

His greatest success came in 1683 with the great victory at the Battle of Vienna against the Ottoman Turks who were invading Europe.

On the 12th of September, with the Ottoman army (143,000 Turks) close to breaching the walls, Sobieski ordered a full attack. The Polish-German army of around 70,000 soldiers, attacked the Turkish force.

Around 5 pm, after observing the battle, Sobiecki led the Polish husaria cavalry along with Austrians and Germans in a massive charge down the hill.

Finally, around 5:30 pm, Sobieski entered the deserted tent of Kara Mustafa, and the Battle of Vienna ended. The Pope and other foreign dignitaries hailed Sobieski as the «Savior of Vienna and Western European civilization.»

In a letter to his wife, he wrote, «All the common people kissed my hands, my feet, my clothes; others only touched me, saying: ‘Ah, let us kiss so valiant a hand!’ »

The victory in the Battle of Vienna was so important that many historians believe that the attack on the 11th of September of 2001 is connected to the date of the Battle.

5. Maria Skłodowska-Curie

Maria Salomea Skłodowska-Curie born on November 7, 1867, in Warsaw and died on July 4, 1934, in France. Something very interesting is that In 1891, Maria Skłodowska left the Polish Kingdom for Paris to study at the Sorbonne.

The reason was that in the nineteenth century, women could not study in Poland, so she developed her scientific career there.

Find Out How to Visit Important Nazi Camps from Warsaw

6. Robert Lewandowski

We do not have to make any special introductions to the greatest and most famous Polish football player. You can see him in TV advertisements and also in street posters around the city.

The only sure is that we all know that Lewandowski is indeed the most famous Polish football player in the world.

Which Cities were the Capitals of Poland?

7. Wisława Szymborska

Ok ok, the name is 100% Polish without any doubt. She born on the 2nd of July in 1923 and she died 1st of February, 2012.

She was a poet, essayist, and translator which awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1996. When World War II broke out in 1939, she continued her education in underground classes.

From 1943, she worked as a railroad employee and managed to avoid being deported to Germany. During this time, her career as an artist began with illustrations for an English-language textbook, writing stories, and occasional poems.

Surrounded by friends and relatives, Szymborska died peacefully of lung cancer in her sleep at home in Kraków in 2012, aged 88.

Discover The Best of Krakow & Important Travel Info

8. Roman Polański

Who doesn’t know the famous Polish-French film director, producer, writer, and actor? Born in France on the 18th of August, 1933, but they moved back to Poland (Krakow) in 1937.

He made his first film in 1962 in Poland (Knife in the Water) and was nominated for a United States Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

It won France’s César Awards for Best Picture and Best Director and received three Oscars. He later produced and directed «The Pianist» (2002), a drama about a Polish-Jewish musician escaping Nazi persecution. The film won three Academy Awards including Best Director, along with numerous international awards.

The Best Way to Discover Poland, Rent A Car

9. Irena Sendler

The woman Hero saved several thousand Jewish children during the Holocaust and should be known around the world as the female Schindler.

Irena Stanisława Sendler also known as Sendlerowa, born on 15 February 1910 in Warsaw.

Polish humanitarian, social worker, and nurse who served in the Polish Underground Resistance during World War II in German-occupied Warsaw. During the war, she pursued conspiratorial activities, such as rescuing Jews.

Sendler participated, with dozens of others, in smuggling Jewish children out of the Warsaw Ghetto and then providing them with false identity documents and shelter with willing Polish families or in orphanages and other care facilities.

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10. Helena Rubinstein (Chaja)

Helena is one of the most famous Polish-American businesswomen in the world and she born in Krakow on 25 December 1872.

For those who have no idea who she is, mostly I guess men, she is the founder and eponym of Helena Rubinstein Incorporated cosmetics company. This made her one of the world’s richest women.

What is important to note, is that she emigrated from Poland to Australia in 1896, with no money and little English. Her stylish clothes and milky complexion did not pass unnoticed among the town’s ladies, however, and she soon found enthusiastic buyers for the jars of beauty cream in her luggage.

Except for being a businesswoman, she is also a well-known art collector, and philanthropist.

Finally, at the outbreak of World War I, she and her husband Titus moved to New York City, where she opened a cosmetics salon in 1915, the forerunner of a chain throughout the country. Chaja died in Manhattan, New York the 1st of April, 1965.

Find Out the Best Party Places in Warsaw

11. Janus Korczak & Stefania Wilczyńska

Another of the invisible heroes of World War II everyone should know about. His real name was Henryk Goldszmit and he was born in Warsaw in 1878-1879. A doctor, educator, writer, journalist, and social activist is a well-known personality to every Polish and is strongly related to the Warsaw Ghetto.

In September 1939, he spoke for the last time on Polish Radio, calling for peace. In the fall of 1940, the Orphans’ Home, as a Jewish institution, was resettled to the Warsaw ghetto at 33 Chłodna Street.

In October 1941, the Orphanage was forced to move again, this time to ul. Sienna 16 / Śliska 9, to some rooms in the building of the Association of Commercial Employees.

At the beginning of 1942, Korczak officially took care of an institution for orphans in a tragic situation at ul. Dzielna 39, and in May the same year he began to write a «Diary», about the Nazi occupation.

Together with Korczak and despite they were all given the chance to avoid the deportation to Treblinka, it was also Stefania Wilczyńska and the other staff of the orphanage who chosen the death instead of giving up the children.

Finally, he marches with his children on their last trip from Umschlagplatz to Treblinka extermination Camp supporting them till the last moment.

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12. Daniel Fahrenheit

Daniel invented the mercury-in-glass thermometer for the measurement of room temperature. He also invented the Fahrenheit scale, which uses the degree Fahrenheit (symbol: °F) as the unit.

Fahrenheit was born in Danzig (Gdańsk), then in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, but lived most of his life in the Dutch Republic. Let us explain the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Formally, the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.

After 1791, the Commonwealth of Poland – was a dual state, a bi-confederation of Poland and Lithuania.

Source and Read More: Daniel_Gabriel_Fahrenheit

13. Maximilian Kolbe

St. Maximilian Kolbe was born Raymund Kolbe on January 8, 1894, in the Kingdom of Poland, part of the Russian Empire. Very active in promoting the Immaculate Virgin Mary, his life was strongly influenced by a vision he had of the Virgin Mary when he was 12.

«That night I asked the Mother of God what was to become of me. Then she came to me holding two crowns, one white, the other red.

She asked me if I was willing to accept either of these crowns. The white one meant that I should persevere in purity and the red that I should become a martyr. I said that I would accept them both».

One year after his vision, Kolbe and his elder brother, Francis joined the Conventual Franciscans. In 1910, Kolbe was given the religious name Maximilian. Kolbe also founded monasteries in both Japan and India. To this day, the monastery in Japan remains prominent in the Roman Catholic Church in Japan.

In 1936, Kolbe’s poor health forced him to return home to Poland, and once the WWII invasion by Germany began, he became one of the only brothers to remain in the monastery.

He refused to sign a document that would recognize him as a German citizen with his German ancestry and continued to work in his monastery, providing shelter for refugees, including hiding 2,000 Jews from German persecution.

On February 17, 1941, the monastery was shut down; Kolbe was arrested by the German Gestapo and taken to the Pawiak prison. Three months later, he was transferred to Auschwitz. Everyone who visits Auschwitz will definitely pass from the cells where we martyred and hear his story.

Never abandoning his priesthood, Kolbe was the victim of severe violence and harassment. Toward the end of his second month in Auschwitz, men were chosen to face death by starvation to warn against escapes.

On August 14, 1941, Father Maksymilian Kolbe was killed in the basement of the «death block» in the German concentration camp Auschwitz. At the end of July, during the roll call, he voluntarily chose to starve to death in exchange for a convicted fellow prisoner, Franciszek Gajowniczek.

Eventually, after 15 days in a cell without food or drink, he was killed with a phenol injection and his body was burnt in Crematorium No. 1.

Source: «https://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=370»

14. Ignacy Łukasiewicz

Ignacy Łukasiewicz was born on 8 March 1822 in Zaduszniki, near Mielec, in the Austrian Empire (after the Partitions of Poland) as the youngest of five children.

He was a Polish pharmacist, engineer, businessman, inventor, and philanthropist. He was one of the most prominent philanthropists in the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria, a crownland of Austria-Hungary.

Also, a pioneer who in 1856 built the world’s first modern oil refinery. His achievements included:

15. Jerzy Ivanov-Szajnowicz

A Polish-Greek athlete and hero of the 2nd World War, born in December of 1911 in Warsaw, Poland from a Russian father and a Polish mother. However, Jerzy’s mother separated from her first husband and married a Greek businessman, Jannis Lambrianidis. Jerzy and his mother moved to Thessaloniki.

Despite his emigration, Jerzy was deeply attached to his homeland and he was always coming to Poland for vacation. During one of his stays in Warsaw, he joined the Warsaw Academic Sports Association and in 1938 was declared as Poland’s top water polo player.

After the outbreak of the war in 1939, he started cooperation with the Polish military mission in Salonika. He helped Polish soldiers who found their way to Greece from Romanian and Hungarian camps, escaping through the territories of Bulgaria and Yugoslavia.

In 1940, he was recruited to work for the Polish intelligence. He was last captured on September 8, 1942, in Athens, and on December 2, 1942, he was sentenced to a triple death penalty.

On January 4, 1943, in Kesariani, while leading the condemned man to the place of execution, he got rid of his handcuffs and tried to escape. However, he was hit, tied, and then shot by a firing squad. In Greece, he is recognized as a national hero and his statue stands in Thessaloniki.

On the 25th of March of 2021, the Polish Post in a ceremonial introduction, issued the stamp «Jerzy Ivanov-Szajnowicz», to commemorate the 200th Anniversary of the Greek Uprising of 1821.

Do you know the Most Unique Cities in Poland?

16. 17. Warner Bros

Warner Bros’ name originates from the founding Warner brothers, Harry, Albert, Sam, and Jack Warner. Harry, Albert, and Sam emigrated as young children with their Polish-Jewish parents to Canada from Krasnosielc, Poland (part of the Russian Empire under the Russian Partition).

Discover the Capitals of Poland

18. Shimon Peres

Shimon Peres was born Szymon Perski, on 2 August 1923, in Wiszniew, Poland. Now the city is Vishnyeva and it is located in Belarus. Peres was a polyglot, speaking Polish, French, English, Russian, Yiddish, and Hebrew, although he never lost his Polish accent when speaking in Hebrew.

19. Samuel Willenberg

During the Treblinka death camp uprising, he was among the people who managed to escape and he later joined the Polish underground and also fought in the Warsaw Uprising of 1944. After the war, he emigrated to Israel and became a famous sculptor, writer, and painter.

He was also active in reviving Polish-Israeli relations after the fall of Communism is consider a Hero by both nations. Being the last survivor of Treblinka who died in 2016.

20. Władysław Szpilman

Another famous survivor of the Holocaust. Władysław Szpilman was a Polish pianist and classical composer which is widely known as the central figure in the 2002 Roman Polanski (No. 8) film: «The Pianist». During the German occupation, he and his family were forced into the Warsaw Ghetto.

Szpilman started working inside Warsaw’s Ghetto as a musician to support his family. Unfortunately, everyone in his family was deported to Treblinka in 1942. Szpilman stayed at the Ghetto as a laborer and helped smuggle in weapons for the coming Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.

Beginning in August 1944, Szpilman was still hiding in an abandoned building at al. Niepodległości 223 where he was discovered by a German officer. The officer instead of killing him asked him to play something for him on piano, after discovering he was a pianist.

He played Chopin’s Ballade No. 1 in G Minor, Op. 23. After that, the officer brought him bread and jam on many cases and also offered one of his coats to keep him warm. The officer died as a Soviet prisoner of war.

Finally, Szpilman liberated on January 17, by the Soviet and Berling’s Polish Army. Since that time he was living as a «Warsaw Robinson» in the debris of Warsaw, since the total destruction which followed the Warsaw Uprising in August of 1944.

21. Alina Szapocznikow

Alina born in Kalisz and she is a holocaust survivor of Pabianice and Litzmannstadt ghettos, Auschwitz-Birkenau, Bergen-Belsen and Theresienstadt.

After the war, she studied Arts and became one of the leading European surrealists, Nouveau realisme, and pop-art artists working mainly in bronze and stone.

22. Maria Cunitz

Despite the fact that the Nationality of the Maria Cunitz is defined as Silesian. Silesia changed hands multiple times but we can proudly state she has Polish roots. Maria Cunitz was born in Wohlau (now Wołów, Poland), as the eldest daughter of Heinrich Cunitz, a physician, and Maria Scholtz from Legnica.

As the most notable female astronomer of the early modern era, she authored a book Urania propitia, in which she provided new tables, new ephemera, and a simpler working solution to Kepler’s Area Law for determining the position of a planet on its elliptical path. A book which made her famous.

She left most of her life in Swidnica (see: 11 most unique cities of Poland) where you can find a monument of her sitting on a bench at the Rynek (market square) of the old town. The Cunitz crater on planet Venus is named after her and the minor planet 12624 Mariacunitia is named in her honor.

Polish Jokes

As a Pole/Polak, I’m very proud of my heritage. But that doesn’t mean I don’t have the sense of humor to enjoy a good Polish joke. Actually, out of all the people I know, I’m probably the one who tells the most Polish jokes. And since I haven’t added a post on here for quite a while I decided to create a list of some of my favorite Polish jokes! Not in any particular order.

A Polak wanted to join an amateur baseball team. The coach looked him over and decided to give him a chance.
“I will give you three questions,” said the coach. “If you come back in a week and answer them all correctly, you’re on the team.”
“Fair enough!” said the Polak eagerly.
The coach proceeded, “Here are your questions. First, how many days are there in a week that start with the letter ‘T’? Second, how many seconds are there in a year? And third, how many d’s are there in ‘Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer?’”
Next week, the Polak came back, feeling all confident that he knew the right answers. So again the coach said, “So how many days in the week that start with ‘T’?”
The Polak said, “Two!”
“Very good!” said the coach. And what are they?”
“Today and Tomorrow!”
“Hmm… OK,” said the coach. “How many seconds are there in a year?”
“Twelve!”
“Twelve? How did you come up with twelve?” The coach was perplexed.
“Well,” said the Polak, “there’s the second of January, the second of February, the second of…”
“Um.. OK,” broke in the coach. “How many d’s in ‘Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer?’”
“Oh, that is easy!” laughed the Polak. “Three hundred and sixty-five!”
“WHAT?” cried the coach. “How did you get that much?”
The Polak began singing, “dee dee dee-dee-dee dee-dee….”

A guy goes into a store and tells the clerk, “I’d like some Polish sausage.”
The clerk looks at him and says, “Are you Polish?”
The guy, clearly offended, says, “Well, yes I am. But let me ask you something.” If I had asked for Italian sausage would you ask me if I was Italian? Or if I had asked for German bratwurst, would you ask me if I was German? Or if I asked for a kosher hot dog would you ask me if I was Jewish? Or if I had asked for a taco would you ask if I was Mexican? Would ya, huh? Would ya?”
The clerk says, “Well, no.”
With deep self-righteous indignation, the guy says, “Well, all right then, why did you ask me if I’m Polish just because I ask for Polish sausage?”
The clerk replies, “Because this is Home Depot.”

Two Polish truck drivers are barreling along when they come up to an overpass. A sign says, “Clearance: 11″2′.” So they get out, measure their truck, and realize that it’s 11″6′. So the first man looks at his friend and says, “I don’t see any police around… let’s go for it!”

Did you hear about the gay Polak? He slept with women.

An English guy is driving with a Polish guy as his passenger, when he decides to pull over because he suspect that his turn signal may not be working. He asks the Polish guy if he doesn’t mind stepping out of the car to check the lights while he tests them. The Polish guy steps out and stands in front of the car.
The English guy turns on the turn signal and asks, “Is it working?”
To which the Polish guy responds, “Yes, it’s working. No, it’s not working. Yes, it’s working. No, it’s not working….”

Two Polish hunters were driving through the country to go bear hunting. They came upon a fork in the road where a sign read “BEAR LEFT” so they went home.

A Polish man is looking to buy a saw to cut down some trees in his back yard. He goes to a chainsaw shop and asks about various chainsaws. The dealer tells him, “Look, I have a lot of models, but why don’t you save yourself a lot of time and aggravation and get the top-of-the-line model. This chainsaw will cut a hundred cords of wood for you in one day.”
So the Polak takes the chainsaw home and begins working on the trees. After cutting for several hours and only cutting two cords, he decides to quit. He thinks there is something wrong with the chainsaw. “How can I cut for hours and only cut two cords?”, the man asks himself. “I will begin first thing in the morning and cut all day”, he tells himself. So, the next morning he gets up at 4 in the morning and cuts, and cuts, and cuts till nightfall, and he only manages to cut five cords.
The man is convinced this is a bad saw. “The dealer told me it would cut one hundred cords of wood in a day, no problem. I will take this saw back to the dealer.” The very next day the man brings the saw back to the dealer and explains the problem. The dealer, baffled by the Polak’s claim, removes the chainsaw from the case. The dealer says, “Huh, it looks fine.” Then the dealer starts the chainsaw, to which the Polak responds, “What’s that noise?”

A Polish man went to a carpenter and asked, “Can you build me a box that is two inches high, two inches wide, and fifty feet long?”
“Hmm…” mused the carpenter. “It could be done, I suppose, but what would you want a box like that for?”
“Well, you see,” said the Polak, “my neighbor moved away and forgot some things, so he asked me to send him his garden hose.”

Did you hear about the Polish Admiral who wanted to be buried at sea when he died? Five sailors died digging his grave.

A Polish man wanted to learn how to sky dive. He got an instructor and started lessons. The instructor told the Polak to jump out of the plane and pull his rip cord. The instructor then explained that he himself would jump out right behind him so that they would go down together. The Polak understood and was ready.
The time came to have the Polak jump from the plane. The instructor reminded the Polak that he would be right behind him. The Polak proceeded to jump from the plane and after being in the air for a few seconds pulled the rip cord.
The instructor followed by jumping from the plane. The instructor pulled his rip cord but the parachute did not open. The instructor, frantically trying to get his parachute open, darted past the Polak. The Polak seeing this yelled, as he undid the straps to his parachute, “So you wanna race, eh?”

A Polak saw a priest walking down the street. Noticing his collar, he stopped him and said, “Excuse me, but why are you wearing your shirt backwards?”
The priest laughed, “Because, my son, I am a Father!”
The Polak scratched his head. “But I am a father too, and I don’t wear my shirt backwards!”
Again the priest laughed. “But I am a Father of thousands!”
To which the Polak replied, “Well then you should wear your shorts backwards!”

There are three construction workers on top of a building having lunch. One Italian, one Polish, and one Oriental. The Italian man has a meatball hero, the Oriental man has noodles, and the Polish man has knackwurst. The Italian and the Oriental are tired of having the same lunches everyday.
The Italian man says that if he gets a meatball hero the next day that he will throw it off the building.
The Oriental man says that if he gets noodles tomorrow he will also throw it off the building.
The Polish man says that if he gets knackwurst tomorrow he will throw it off the building.
Sure enough the Italian and Oriental workers open their lunch-boxes and they find that they have a meatball hero and noodles respectively. They both throw their lunches off the building. The Polish man them throws his sandwich off the building. The other guys ask him how he knew that it was knockwurst again without even looking. He responded by saying, “Because I pack my own lunch.”

Two Polaks are building a house. One of them is putting on the siding. He picks up a nail, hammers it in. Picks up another nail, throws it away. Picks up a nail, hammers it in. Picks up another, throws it away. This goes on for a while, and finally his friend comes over and asks him why he is throwing half of the nails away.
He replies, “Those ones were pointed on the wrong end.”
His Polish friend gets exasperated and says “You idiot, those are for the other side of the house!”

Heard about the Polish hockey team? They all drowned during spring training.

Q: How do you stop a Polish army on horseback?
A: Turn off the carousel.

Two Polaks emigrated to America. On their first day off the boat in New York City, they spied a hot dog vendor in the street. “Did you know they eat dogs in America?” one asked the other. “I did not know that.” “Well, If we’re going to live here, we might as well learn to eat like Americans.” So they each bought a hot dog wrapped up in wax paper and sat down to eat them on a nearby park bench. One Polak looked inside his wax paper, then over at the other Polak and asked, “What part did you get?”

One day, an immigrant from Poland entered a New York City Police Precinct to report that his American wife was planning to kill him.
The police officer on duty was intrigued by this, and he asked, “How sure are you that she is gonna kill you? Did she threaten to kill you?”
“No,” replied the nervous immigrant.
“Did you hear her tell someone else that she’s gonna kill you?”
“No.”
“Did someone tell you that your wife is gonna kill you?”
“No.”
“Then why did you think she’s gonna kill you?” asked the exasperated police officer.
“Because I found bottle on dresser and I think she gonna poison me!” He handed the police officer the suspect bottle.
The police officer took one look at the label on the bottle and started to laugh out loud.
The immigrant became indignant and said, “What so funny? Can’t you see the label on bottle said ‘Polish Remover’?”

Q: How do you get a one-armed Polak out of a tree?
A: Wave to him.

Q: Why wasn’t Christ born in Poland?
A: Because they couldn’t find three wisemen and a virgin.

Q: How do you know if a Polak has been using a computer?
A: There’s whiteout on the screen.

Q: How do you take census in a Polish village?
A: Roll a quarter down the street, count the legs, divide by two, and subtract one for the Jew who catches it.

This Polak came home one day from work, hung up his coat, took
off his hat and walked into his bedroom shouting “honey I am home!”
What should he see but his best friend in bed with his wife.
Infuriated, he rushed to the cupboard, pulled out his gun and put it
to his head. His wife started laughing.
“Don’t laugh!” he screams. “You’re next!”

A Polish man was walking down the street, carrying a brown
paper bag. He ran into one of his friends, who asked, “Hey! What do
you have in the bag?” The man tells his friend that he has some fish in the bag. His friend says, “Well, I’ll make you a bet. If I can guess how many fish you have in the bag, you’ll have to give me one.”
The man says, “I’ll tell you what. If you tell me how many fish I have in this bag, I’ll give you both of them.”

Polish Air Flight 101 is coming in for a landing, and the pilot is freaking out. The sweat is jumping off his brow.
He brings the plane to a screeching halt and turns to the co-pilot. “Man, that is the shortest runway I have ever landed on.”
The co-pilot says, “Yeah, and so wide.”

Two Polish bowling teams charter a double-decker bus to go to Atlantic City for the weekend.
One team is in the bottom of the bus, and the other team is in the top of the bus.
The team down below is whooping it up when one of them realizes he doesn’t hear anything from the top. He walks up the stairs, and here are all the guys from the second team clutching the seats in front of them with white knuckles, scared to death.
He says, “What the heck’s goin’ on? We’re down here havin’ a grand old time.”
One of the guys from the second team says, “Yeah, but you guys’ve got a driver.”

Did you hear about the tragedy in Poland? In Poland’s largest shopping mall, there was a terrible power outage. People were stuck on the escalators for 4 hours.

Q: Who wears a forest ranger’s hat and carries a can of kerosene?
A: Stanislaus the Fire Prevention Bear of the Polish National Forest
Service.

Did you hear in the news that a 747 recently crashed in a cemetery in
Poland? The Polish officials have so far retrieved 2000 bodies.

The Minnesota Fish and Game Comission wanted to develop a fish that would offer more for their sportsmen so they crossed a Coho with a Walleye and called it a Kowal. It grew to a nice size and reproduced well but it wouldn’t bite. They crossed the Kowal with a Muskie and called it a Kowalski but they were so stupid they had to teach them how to swim.

A guy in a bar leans over to the guy next to him and says, “Wanna hear a Polack joke?”
The guy next to him replies, “Well, before you tell that joke, you should know something. I’m 6′ tall, 200 lbs. and I’m Polish. The guy sitting next to me is 6’2″ tall, weighs 225, and he’s Polish. The fella next to him is 6’5″ tall, weighs 250, and he’s Polish. Now, you still wanna tell that joke?”
The first guy says, “Nah, I don’t want to have to explain it three times.”

A 12-year-old boy comes up to the Polish man and says, “I was looking in your bedroom window last night and I saw you and your wife doing it. Nyah, nyah, nyah!”
The Polak answers, “The joke’s on you kid, Nyah, nyah,nyah! I wasn’t even home last night.”

Q: How many Polaks does it take to kidnap a child?
A: 12. One to kidnap the child and the remaining 11 to write a ransom letter.

Q: Why are there no ice cubes in Poland?
A: They forgot the recipe.

Q: What do you do if a Pole throws a hand-grenade at you?
A: Take the pin out and throw it back.

Q: How do you know you’re flying over Poland?
A: When you see toilet paper hanging on the clotheslines.

A man walks into a bar and orders a glass of Polish vodka. As the bartender slides the drink to the patron, a man sitting next to him remarks, “That’s a coincidence, I, too, am enjoying a Polish vodka. Since I arrived from the old country, this is the only bar in which I have found it.”
To which the first replies, “Old country, I’m from the old country. Let me buy you another!”
As the drinks are being poured, one of the men asks, “What part of the old country are you from?”
“Krakow,” replies the other. “This is weird,” says the first, “I, too, am from Krakow! Let’s get another shot.”
After the new round arrives, the first asks, “So, pal, what did you do back in Krakow?’
“Not much, really, I came here right out of high school. I graduated from Lech Walesa Technical Academy in ’81.”
“This is eerie,” replies the other, “I’m Welesa Tech, ’81. Let’s get another shot.” But the bartender says, “Slow down fellas, I gotta make a call.”
The bartender calls his wife and tells her that he’ll be late getting home. When she inquires as to the cause, he replies, “Oh, the friggin’ Liszjewski twins are here again.”

Three men were all applying for the same job as a detective. One was Polish, one was Jewish, and one was Italian. Rather than ask the standard questions during the interview, the chief decided to ask each applicant just one question and base his decision upon that answer.
When the Jewish man arrived for his interview, the chief asked, “Who killed Jesus Christ?” The Jewish man answered without hesitation “The Romans killed him.” The chief thanked him and he left.
When the Italian man arrived for his interview, the chief asked the same question. He replied “Jesus was killed by the Jews.” Again, the chief thanked the man who then left.
When the Polish man arrived for his interview, he was asked the exact same question. He thought for a long time, before saying, “Could I have some time to think about it?” The chief said, “OK, but get back to me tomorrow.” When the Polish man arrived home, his wife asked “How did the interview go?” He replied, “Great, I got the job, and I’m already investigating a murder!”

New Polish navy has glass bottom boats, to see to the old Polish navy.

Poland sent its top team of scientists to attend the international science convention, where all the countries of the world gathered to compare their scientific achievements and plans. The scientists listened to the United States describe how they were another step closer to a cure for cancer, and the Russians were preparing a space ship to go to Saturn, and Germany was inventing a car that runs on water. Soon, it was the Polish scientists’ turn to speak. “Well, we are preparing a space ship to fly to the sun.” This, of course was met with much ridicule. They were asked how they planned to deal with the sun’s extreme heat. “Simple, we’re going at night!”

“Knock knock.”
“Who’s there?”
“Polish burglar.”