# data[].attributes.headline
Polish language - history and classification 

# data[].attributes.subject
Polish language - history and classification 

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Polish - Language Information & Resources

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Information and Resources for Polish - One of more than 150 languages and dialects translated & interpreted by ALS International

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Alfabet polski / Polish Alphabet pronunciation / PROLOG Publishing

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
POLISH FOR BEGINNERS. Dzień dobry!  Polish basic greetings and farewells.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
1. Angielski (Powitania). Polish (Greetings).

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Learn Polish Language - Lesson 1 Alphabet

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
TYLKO HITY | DISCO POLO MIX 2018 | CZERWIEC 2018 | MEGA PRZEBOJE | NOWOŚĆ 2018

# data[].attributes.body
One of the most talented pianists of this generation - Leszek Mozdzer

# data[].attributes.headline
Grupa MoCarta (MozART Group)- it is not all doom and gloom! :)

# data[].attributes.subject
Grupa MoCarta (MozART Group)- it is not all doom and gloom! :)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Grupa MoCarta / MozART Group - Cztery Pory Roku / Four Seasons A La MozART Group -HD

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
463 books based on 440 votes: Lalka by Bolesław Prus, Ferdydurke by Witold Gombrowicz, Solaris by Stanisław Lem, Krew elfów by Andrzej Sapkowski, The Str...

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Polish literature, although not as well known as its German and Russian cousins, is one of the gems of European culture. This list covers a very wide range of genres and eras, but any of these books will help you love Poland a little more.

1. The Manuscript Found in Saragossa by Jan Potocki (1804, 1810)

Recommended translation: The Manuscript Found in Saragossa , translated by Ian Maclean, Penguin Classics, 1996 . Original title: Manuscrit trouvé à Saragosse

This is undoubtedly the most famous book written by a Polish author - but it may well be also the most mysterious. Set mostly in 18 century Spain, The Manuscript follows the adventures of the Waloon guard Alphonse van Worden as he tries to unravel the mystery of the ancient Gomelez family. However, very soon the narrative slips into a series of intertwining stories featuring a colourful cast of Gypsies, thieves, inquisitors, as well as a Cabbalist, Geometrist, and two Moorish princesses.

Written at the turn of the 19 century by a Polish aristocrat in French and never published in full during his lifetime, the Manuscript has been defined variously: a frame-tale novel, a fantastic novel or the last Enlightenment novel avant la lettre - even though its ambivalent world-view suggests rather that is an early beacon of dark Romanticism. This diversity and lack of consensus among literary historians partly reflect the strange after-life of the book's manuscript, whose story is as intricate as the work itself (we have today two, or even three equal, rival versions of the work).

One thing is certain, Potocki's novel is hardly matched by anything in world literature, and continues to fascinate contemporary readers who see his work as predecessor to such Post-Modern authors as Thomas Pynchon and Umberto Eco (those conspiracy theories!). Those who don't feel like jumping into a quirky 600-page frame-tale novel should check out the film adaptation by Wojciech Jerzy Has from 1965 - but be warned, it's hypnotizing!

2. The Doll by Bolesław Prus (1890)

Recommended translation: The Doll, translated by David Welsh, with introduction by Stanisław Barańczak, New York Review of Books, 2011. Original title: Lalka

at the same time, even if the Polish Anna/Emma is male and has brusque manners and huge, red hands. The Doll is indisputably the greatest Polish realist novel - according to some, like Anna Karenina Czesław Miłosz, it's also the greatest Polish-language novel ever. Madame Bovary The Doll centres on the obsessive love affair between aspiring The Doll is the Polish and arriviste Stanisław Wokulski and high-society girl Izabella Łęcka - tracing the impossibility of this relationship and the incompatibility of their social statuses become Prus' major point of focus.

But The Doll deflects from the classic European psychological realist novel with its ideals of objectivity and clarity. Through its use of polyphony and an abundance of ideas, the novel questions the very possibility of objective representation of truth. The book was also called a prototype of the 20th-century 'post-colonial' novel, "in which the characters mimic men and the puppet-masters are always elsewhere" ( read more). The Doll may be also unique in world literature as it attempted to portray the entire Polish society of the 19th century: with portraits of members of aristocracy, the bourgeoisie, and the proletariat, as well as Poland's ethnic Jewish and German minorities.

3. Choucas by Zofia Nałkowska (1927)

Recommended edition: Choucas, translated by Ursula Phillips, Northern Illinois University Press, 2014. Original title: Choucas

Set in a Swiss alpine sanatorium in the 1920s, , Nałkowska's tale also profiles a motley collection of visitors to the village and patients of the sanatorium, with each character hailing from a different country and espousing a distinct political viewpoint. Written at around the same time as Mann's Zofia Nałkowska's Choucas has drawn comparisons with Thomas Mann's Magic Mountain . Somewhat allegorical in its character magnum opus and addressing similar issues of nascent European nationalisms, Polish novel is considerably slimmer and thus perhaps more accessible. Nałkowska, the leading Polish author and feminist voice of Polish interwar literature, can be considered a perfect introduction to the more artistically daunting Polish literature of the period.

Ursula Phillips' English translation of Choucas received the Found in Translation Award

4. Sanatorium Under the Sign of the Hour-Glass by Bruno Schulz (1937)

Recommended edition: Sanatorium Under the Sign of the Hourglass, translated by Celina Wiśniewska, Mariner Books, 1997. Original title: Sanatorium pod klepsydrą.

Published in 1937, Sanatorium is only the second and last volume of Bruno Shulz's short stories. In it Schulz returns to the characteristic motifs of his work: the everyday life of a provincial Galician town and its impoverished Jewish residents, living a life that is illuminated by the Myth. In the title story the narrator visits his ageing (or is he dead already?) father in a sanatorium - located in a dead-end branch of time. Schulz's scarce output was admired by such diverse writers as John Updike, Philip Roth, and I.B. Singer, who said of Schulz:

"He wrote sometimes like Kafka, sometimes like Proust - and at times succeeded in reaching depths that neither of them reached".

5. A Memoir of the Warsaw Uprising by Miron Białoszewski (1970)

Recommended translation: A Memoir of the Warsaw Uprising, translated by Medeline G. Levine, New York Review of Books, 2015. Original title: Pamiętnik z Powstania Warszawskiego.

Białoszewski's detailed account of the 63 days of the Warsaw Uprising remains the most faithful, anti-heroic, and nonpathetic description of the disintegration of the great city in the wake of terrible havoc of war. Białoszewski described the everyday of those involved in the Uprising in colloquial language devoid of any pathos or easy hope. His is the mundane, anti-heroic and universal perspective of civilians, so many of whom perished in the Uprising. Read more about Białoszewsk's Memoir here.

6. Native Realm by Czesław Miłosz (1959)

Recommended translation: Native Realm, translated by Catherine S. Leach, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2002. Original title: Rodzinna Europa.

A must-read for anyone interested in the tangled history and geography of this part of Eastern Europe. Born in Seteiniai (not far from Kaunas) in the early 20 century, Miłosz was brought up in the region that was once the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (and which is today Lithuania). This tradition was very much a backdrop to his formative years. This heritage is still present in Miłosz's writing and is instrumental in understanding the character of the locale and what it means to be an Eastern European.

7. Solaris by Stanisław Lem (1961)

Recommended translation: Solaris translated from the French by Joanna Kilmartin and Steve Cox, A Harvest Book, New York 2002; a new translation of the book by Bill Johnston is available in audiobook format as Solaris: The Definitive Edition. Original title: Solaris.

Solaris is the most famous novel by Polish sci-fi master Stanisław Lem. Set in a cosmic research station hovering over the planet Solaris, it's the story of scientists studying the mysterious planet's oceanic surface who are in turn studied by the sentient planet itself. This turns into a highly dangerous situation when the planet starts to display the potentially devastating ability to manifest their secret, guilty consciousness in human form.

Solaris has been considered one of the most original attempts in sci-fi literature at representing extra-terrestrial life, as well as the limitations of human reason in trying to understand and communicate with alien forms of life.

Lem's novel has been eagerly adapted for film. A two-part Russian television film (1968) was followed by a 1972 art-house adaptation by cult director Andriei Tarkovsky. In 2002, the novel was adapted again, this time by Steve Soderbergh with George Clooney in the main role.

Lem, after watching the first two films, expressed dissappointment with the cinematic adaptations of his work, observing that none of the versions depicted much of the extraordinary physical and psychological 'alienness' of the Solaris ocean, which he considered the real subject of the book.

8. Cosmos by Witold Gombrowicz (1965)

Recommended translation: Cosmos, translated by Danuta Borchardt, Grove Press, 2011. Original title: Kosmos

If you want to know how a student's trip out of town can goe terribly wrong leading to a devastating existential crisis, here's one for you. Cosmos is the story of said student, Witold, who, worn out by his father and mother, decides to spend a couple days away in Zakopane - to breathe a change, as he explains... However, a hanged bird which he accidentally encounters on his way to a boarding house will change his whole trajectory - it will be only the first link in a sequence of strange events which will gradually lead to the decomposition of both Witold's psychic entity and the world itself.

Witold Gombrowicz's final work is arguably one of the finest and darkest works in world literature - one that is horrifyingly effective in showing how the world, under certain circumstances, loses its shape and sense - and disintegrates into an array of empty signs. But watch out, Cosmos is unfortunately also terrifyingly successful in bringing about some of these emotions in the reader. The world will never be the same after Cosmos!

9. Shielding the Flame by Hanna Krall (1976)

, 1986. Recommended translation: Shielding the Flame: An Intimate Conversation With Dr. Marek Edelman, the Last Surviving Leader of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, translated by Joanna Stasinska and Lawrence Weschler, Henry Holt & Company Original title: Zdążyć przed Panem Bogiem.

This full-length book was written out of the material which resulted from the many hours Hanna Krall spent interviewing Marek Edelman, the last leader of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. Edelman, who, unlike many Jewish survivors of the Holocaust, decided to stay in Poland after WW2 and went on to become a distinguished cardiologist in Łódź, had the reputation of being an extremely difficult person to talk to, notorious for his reluctance to address the most important issues. Krall's book is a testimony of the most inhumane time in the history of mankind and a monument to a man that refused to be a hero. It also offers a glimpse into the literary kitchen of the so-called Polish School of Reportage. How do you turn many hours of conversations with someone who doesn't really want to talk into a riveting and dramatic work of art?

10. Sobbing Superpower: Selected Poems of Tadeusz Różewicz (2011)

Recommended translation : Sobbing Superpower. Selected Poems of Tadeusz Różewicz, translated by Joanna Trzeciak, with a foreword by Edward Hirsh, W. W. Norton & Company, 2011.

Those familiar with Polish literature have likely heard the names of Miłosz or Szymborska - the two Polish poets to have received the Nobel Prize. regression into the primordial soup Tadeusz Różewicz, who was also named among the possible candidates and who belonged to the same generation, is definitely not so widely recognized. This is not surprising considering the radical character of his ouevre. Różewicz was the author of minimalist poems conceived as the most radical confrontation with the possibility of writing poetry after Holocaust. His reductionist approach drew accusations of nihilism, among others from Czesław Miłosz. Różewicz was also a brilliant playwright and author of short stories. Until his last days, the poet sustained a dialogue with his times, commenting in poems on pop culture whose absolute Nihilistic nature he understood probably better than any other Polish poet, philosopher or writer. In one of his late poems he wrote:

finally I too came into the world

in the year 1921 and suddenly...

atchoo! time passes I am old and forgot where I put my glasses

I forgot there was

history Caesar Hitler Mata Hari

Stalin capitalism communism

Einstein Picasso Al Capone

Alka Seltzer Al Qaeda

Read more about Sobbing Superpower

11. Grain of Truth by Zygmunt Miłoszewski (2011)

Recommended translation: A Grain of Truth (Polish State Prosecutor Szacki Investigates), translated by Antonia Lloyd-Jones, Bitter Lemon Press, 2013. Original title: Ziarno prawdy.

Last but not least, here comes Polish crime fiction! With autumn and winter - crime books' favourite seasons - being particularly nasty, long and depressing in Poland, and a complicated and gory history that offers great settings for even the most intricate plots, the country has all chances of superseding Sweden as the home of ambitious crime fiction (the see article). All of the above factors feature prominently in Grain of Truth - likely the most interesting and successful crime novel to pop up on Poland's burgeoning crime scene. This Polish Wallander is called Szacki, and in Grain of Truth the commissar lands in small picturesque town of Sandomierz, where he will try to solve the mystery behind a series of what looks to be ritual murders. The brutal deaths seem to follow models found on an infamous painting from the local cathedral. Blood libel and anti-Semitism seem the key to the mystery behind the plot - but are they? Because as in any any good crime novel, not everything is what it seems to be, and just like with Stieg Larsson's novels, the highly entertaining plot in Miłoszewski's novel offers a good dose of smart social criticism.

Author: Mikołaj Gliński, 3 December, 2015; updated 7 Aug 2016

polish literature jan potocki manuscript found in saragossa bolesław prus The Doll zofia nałkowska czesław miłosz witold gombrowicz zygmunt miłoszewski miron białoszewski tadeusz różewicz polish novels [{"nid":"34611","uuid":"7dd8b8c0-220d-48f5-8293-4c87dca0d0fb","type":"article","langcode":"en","field_event_date":"","title":"Portraits of Nominees for Paszporty Polityki Award 2013","field_introduction":"The Paszporty Polityki is an annually awarded prize - a symbolic identification that opens doors to young Polish artists. Distinguished talents - seeking, daring and crossing borders - in different fields meet not only domestic but also foreign audiences.","field_summary":"Shaping the future of Polish art: View this year's nominees for the 2013 Paszporty Polityki award. ","path":"/en/article/portraits-of-nominees-for-paszporty-polityki-award-2013","topics_data":"a:6:{i:0;a:3:{s:3:"tid";s:5:"59609";s:4:"name";s:26:"#language & literature";s:4:"path";a:2:{s:5:"alias";s:26:"/topic/language-literature";s:8:"langcode";s:2:"en";}}i:1;a:3:{s:3:"tid";s:5:"59606";s:4:"name";s:5:"#film";s:4:"path";a:2:{s:5:"alias";s:11:"/topic/film";s:8:"langcode";s:2:"en";}}i:2;a:3:{s:3:"tid";s:5:"59605";s:4:"name";s:16:"#performing arts";s:4:"path";a:2:{s:5:"alias";s:22:"/topic/performing-arts";s:8:"langcode";s:2:"en";}}i:3;a:3:{s:3:"tid";s:5:"59608";s:4:"name";s:6:"#music";s:4:"path";a:2:{s:5:"alias";s:12:"/topic/music";s:8:"langcode";s:2:"en";}}i:4;a:3:{s:3:"tid";s:5:"59607";s:4:"name";s:30:"#photography & visual arts";s:4:"path";a:2:{s:5:"alias";s:30:"/topic/photography-visual-arts";s:8:"langcode";s:2:"en";}}i:5;a:3:{s:3:"tid";s:5:"59644";s:4:"name";s:8:"#culture";s:4:"path";a:2:{s:5:"alias";s:14:"/topic/culture";s:8:"langcode";s:2:"en";}}}","field_cover_display":"default","image_title":"","image_alt":"","image_360_auto":"/sites/default/files/styles/360_auto/public/field/image/paszporty_6691017_3.jpg?itok=UFrTosg9","image_260_auto":"/sites/default/files/styles/260_auto_cover/public/field/image/paszporty_6691017_3.jpg?itok=VzLRomUJ","image_560_auto":"/sites/default/files/styles/560_auto/public/field/image/paszporty_6691017_3.jpg?itok=KFTQcG23","image_860_auto":"/sites/default/files/styles/860_auto/public/field/image/paszporty_6691017_3.jpg?itok=kiwl_PIU","image_1160_auto":"/sites/default/files/styles/1160_auto/public/field/image/paszporty_6691017_3.jpg?itok=4AU9Xzth","field_video_media":"","field_media_video_file":"","field_media_video_embed":"","field_gallery_pictures":"","field_duration":"","cover_height":"266","cover_width":"470","cover_ratio_percent":"56.5957"}]

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Polish literature, although not as well known as its German and Russian cousins, is one of the gems of European culture. This list covers a very wide range of genres and eras, but any of these books will help you love Poland a little more.

# data[].attributes.body
From an Academy Award Nominee and a BAFTA Award for Best Animated Short Film winner - Tomasz Baginski

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Akcent - Przez Twe Oczy Zielone (Oficjalny Teledysk) Napisy PL

# data[].attributes.body
More contemporary Polish music

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Polskamuzyka - najlepsze znaleziska i wpisy o #polskamuzyka w Wykop.pl

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Zobacz najlepsze znaleziska i wpisy z tagiem #polskamuzyka

# data[].attributes.body
Justyna Steczkowska “Buenos Aires”

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Justyna Steczkowska - "Boskie Buenos (Buenos Aires)" Szansa na sukces

# data[].attributes.body
Edyta Górniak- Eurovision winner

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Edyta Górniak - To nie ja (Eurovision 1994)

# data[].attributes.body
Myslowitz- another popular Polish artist

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
"Długość dźwięku samotności" music video by Myslovitz, from the album "Miłość w czasach popkultury" (1999) → Facebook: https://facebook.com/myslovitzbrasil → Instagram: https://instagram.com/myslovitzbrasil

# data[].attributes.body
Book worth reading: Booker Prize 2018 winner- Olga Tolarczuk “Podróże” (“Flights”)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Rules and how to enter The Man Booker and Man Booker International Prizes

# data[].attributes.headline
A comprehensive list of polish musicians to explore! 

# data[].attributes.subject
A comprehensive list of polish musicians to explore! 

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
3 abradab activ adam lambert adam zwierz adhd syndrom afromental after party agnieszka chylińska agnieszka osiecka agnieszka włodarczyk aiden akcent akon akurat bano romina power ala boratyn aleksander nowacki alexandra burke alians alicja janosz alicja majewska all bandits alosza awdiejew amebix amy diamond anastasis andre andré claveau andrzej bogucki andrzej cierniewski andrzej dąbrowski andrzej grabowski andrzej eliza andrzej kolakowski andrzej piaseczny andrzej poniedzielski andrzej rosiewicz andrzej rybiński andrzej sikorowski andrzej zaucha andy williams angel ani mru mru ania dąbrowska ania rusowicz ania szarmach anita lipnicka anna german anna jantar anna jurksztowicz anna maria jopek anna wyszkoni anne murray anonymus antimatter antonina krzysztoń anya marina apatia apolinary polek a//political arash arek błażkowski arka noego armia aro artrosis artur andrus artur rojek ascetoholix asia asian kung-fu generation ataris atmosphere atrakcyjny kazimierz aura dione…

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
2 Tm 2,3 Abradab Activ Adam Lambert ADAM ZWIERZ ADHD Syndrom Afromental After Party Agnieszka Chylińska Agnieszka Osiecka Agnieszka Włodarczyk Aiden Akcent Akon Akurat Al Bano & Romina Power Ala Boratyn Aleksander Nowacki Alexandra Burke Alians Alicja Janosz Alicja Majewska All Bandits Alosza Awdiejew Amebix Amy Diamond Anastasis Andre ANDRÉ CLAVEAU andrzej bogucki Andrzej Cierniewski ANDRZEJ DĄBROWSKI Andrzej Grabowski Andrzej i Eliza Andrzej Kolakowski Andrzej…

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
żródło: ShutterStock

Największą atrakcją turystyczną w Polsce wg TripAdvisor jest Stare Miasto w Krakowie. Jest to najstarszy obszar Krakowa, otoczony Plantami. Jego centrum stanowi Rynek Główny. Od 1978 roku krakowskie Stare miasto znajduje się na liście światowego dziedzictwa UNESCO.

Materiał chroniony prawem autorskim - wszelkie prawa zastrzeżone. Dalsze rozpowszechnianie artykułu tylko za zgodą wydawcy INFOR Biznes. Kup licencję

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
10 największych atrakcji turystycznych w Polsce

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Serwis TripAdvisor zebrał opinię turystów z całego świata, którzy dokonali wyboru największych atrakcji turystycznych w Polsce. Zobaczcie, które polskie miasta i zabytki cieszą się największą popularnością wśród turystów, którzy odwiedzają Polskę. Zdjęcie 10. Galerie i zdjęcia w GazetaPrawna.pl

# data[].attributes.headline
90 Cool, Hidden, and Unusual Things to Do in Poland

# data[].attributes.subject
90 Cool, Hidden, and Unusual Things to Do in Poland

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
90 Cool and Unusual Things to Do in Poland

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Discover 90 hidden attractions, cool sights, and unusual things to do in Poland from Kaplica Czaszek: The Chapel of Skulls to Skarpa Ski Jump.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Posters are very important in the Polish culture. During the Communist regime they were probably the only colorful things one would see in the streets.

Before the era of globalized entertainment made movie posters look the same in every country, Polish artists were creating their own versions for the internal market. What resulted was a whole school of artists trained in the art of the poster. This article presents a short historical look at how this movement was born and how it developed, form its art-related beginnings at the end of the 19th Century to the golden era of the film posters throughout the 20th Century.

The Beginnings

Toward the end of the 19th Century Poland was still absent from the maps. Its territory was split and controlled by Russia, Austria and Prussia. While Warsaw, then under Russian rule, was the biggest economic, trade and industrial center of the non-existent country, Krakow, under the less oppressive Austria, soon established itself as a cradle for artistic, cultural, scientific, political and religious life, becoming the ideal capital of the nation.

Krakow was populated by writers, poets and artists who had travelled Europe and had come in contact with the modernist cultural trends of the time. The poster had just been born in France at the hand of Jules Chéret following the invention of color lithography. Influenced by the achievements of the French masters of this new art form, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec above all, these Polish artists chose the poster as the new medium of expression. They were well respected, connected with the Academy Of Fine Arts and members of the Society of Polish Artists "Sztuka" (Art). The poster thus became acceptable as a form of art.

The first Polish posters appeared in the 1890's at the hand of outstanding painters like Jozef Mehoffer, Stanislaw Wyspianski, Karol Frycz, Kazimierz Sichulski and Wojciech Weiss. Influenced by the Jugendstil and the Secessionist movements, understandably they painted posters that were art-related, announcing exhibitions, theater and ballet performances. Their work was vastly popular, which led to the first International Exposition of the Poster being held in Krakow in 1898.

Jugendstil, Secession, Japanism and modernist styles like Cubism were mixed with traditional elements of symbolism and national folklore. What set the Polish posters apart from their European counterparts was the emphasis placed on the highly artistic quality of the project, an attitude that will continue to characterize the Polish poster throughout the 20th century.

Jan Wdowiszewski from 1891 to 1904 was the director of the Technical Industrial Museum in Krakow. He was the organizer of the International Poster Exhibition in 1898, for which he wrote two essays, the first of their kind, entirely devoted to the art of the poster. He immediately recognized the power of the poster to act like a mirror for society's physical and mental way of life. This was especially true of the exhibition posters, which promptly reflected every trend and influence coming from the West. The strong drive to promote the national style, as a means to a true political independence, was also faithfully recorded in the street art.

Stefan Norblin and the Touristic Poster

The period between the two World Wars sees Poland finally reappearing on the maps. The twenty years of independence are marked by a stunning growth in all industries. Tourism, especially, is at its height. Stefan Norblin is appointed to create a series of posters with the intent of promoting Poland as a tourist resort.

First and foremost a painter rooted in the school of realistic representation, Norblin approaches the poster the way he approaches the canvas. He makes use of obvious imagery to secure immediate reading from the viewer. Although characterized by recognizable forms and silhouettes, his works remain stunning for the stark choice of "neon" colors. They are not of an Expressionist nature but they create an irreal atmosphere around familiar objects. This and the minimalist style confer his posters a timeless quality.

Tadeusz Gronowski: Father of the Polish Poster

After the First World War Poland finally gained independence (1918). With it came a rapid process of industrialization and development of trade. The market was suddently saturated with different products hence the need for powerful advertising. The poster became its medium of choice. The advertising poster of the 1920's and 1930's differs from its highly elaborated artistic predecessors in that it utilises a simpler, more direct visual language to communicate with the viewer.

This was a requirement of the market made possible by Cubism, a style that forever freed art from beauty and ugliness, from the necessity to imitate nature. Architects, especially students from Warsaw University, were the most receptive creators of posters during this period. They were not weighed down by the academic ballast as were the painters of the previous generation. They were naturally inclined to apply the rules of geometry to commercial uses. It is among these students that we find the figure of Tadeusz Gronowski.

A gifted student, Gronowski was the first to specialize in poster art. Influenced by European art movements (he was well connected in Paris in the Twenties) he singlehandedly created the art of the Polish poster. Catering to the new necessities with which graphic art was confronted, advertising, he took advantage of the full spectrum of techniques available to the artist at the time to create the most striking advertisements of the period. His work shows a transition to the newest tool, the airbrush, resulting in softer lines and backgrounds. His advertising posters remain a milestone in the development of what came to be known as the School of the Polish poster.

In contrast to Stefan Norblin, Gronowski, himself an accomplished painter, approaches the poster as a medium unto itself. Instead of merely adapting his painterly style to the poster format, he sees in it the opportunity to create something new, indeed a new form of artistic expression. He is one of the first artists to consciously integrate the typography with the illustration and instead of choosing the obvious he offers the viewer a different look into the subject, often displaying a penchant for the light and the humorous which endeared him to the viewers.

The next image portrays one of his earliest works. Even though the text is not incorporated in the image, the composition is clear. The cat and the artist's faint smile add his trademark touch of humor to the painting.

A true master of the advertising poster, Gronowski blends the mundane with the artistic in a seamless composition.

Gronowski founded his own studio in Warsaw and aptly named it Plakat, i.e. Poster.

The next poster is particularly important in Gronowski's production. An advertisement for a washing product named Radion, its slogan reads "It washes by itself." The artwork is minimalistic and to the point: a black cat enters a bucket full of Radion and jumps out all white. A clear message amplified by the stark chromatic contrast and the essential lines.

The next pieces exemplify the evolution towards integrated designs. The typography is part of the composition.

The Warsaw Architects

Gronowski's work was continued into the Thirties by a group of architects educated in Warsaw under professors Zygmunt Kaminski and Edmund Bartlomiejczyk. At the University they learned to master the techniques of applied graphics. Architecture was seen as the Gesamtkunstwerk, the total artwork, the summation of all arts applied to a specific, practical function. Their hands-on approach lent itself beautifully in their transition from architects to graphic artists.

Responsible for this transition were economic reasons but also the will to work for contemporary society, which poster art was capable of immortalizing faithfully. Incidentally, these are the same reasons that today drive budding architects to graphic design: creating applied art with fast job turnarounds and satisfying economic turnover.

These architects turned graphic artists took Tadeusz Gronowski's approach forward, combining it with a sense of composition and proportion naturally derived from their architectural background. Not only did they incorporate three-dimensionality in their works, they also adapted their style to the subject of the given poster, for example using a precise linework for posters depicting mechnical parts, humorous figures for posters depicting ballets and festive occasions and striking, dynamic compositions to illustrate sports events. Their work marks the transition of the Polish poster from narrative medium of the 19th century to modern advertising device of the 20th century.

The Propaganda Posters

After World War II Poland found itself under Communist rule. The new government needed to spread the new aesthetics and make the new institutions acceptable to the public. With that goal in mind the Propaganda Poster Studio was established in the city of Lublin.

Wlodzimerz Zakrzewski was a talented landscape painter and active member of the Communist Party who had studied painting in Moscow in 1940 and had designed posters for the Soviet Propaganda. He was therefore the perfect candidate to run the Studio. The military introduced patterns of representation borrowed from the Soviet poster tradition, propaganda graphics connected with the TASS, the Telegraphic Agency of the Soviet Union. Zakrzewski was given a list of catchphrases assigned to the propaganda. His task was to devise graphical rules to create a working method for propaganda posters.

Zakrzewski aimed to introduce a new visual language by basing his colorful images on verified patterns borrowed from the stylizations learned in Russia. He also acted as mentor to a number of what were, in fact, unprofessional poster artists. This experience marks the first time poster art was institutionalized in Poland, giving birth to the proper phenomenon that followed, the "Polish Poster School."

The 50's and the 60's: The Golden Age

The Fifties and the early Sixties mark the Golden Age of the Polish poster. Like everything else, the film industry was controlled by the state. There were two main institutions responsible for commissioning poster designs: Film Polski (Polish Film) and Centrala Wynajmu Filmow - CWF (Movie Rentals Central). They commissioned not graphic designers but artists and as such each one of them brought an individual voice to the designs.

The School of the Polish Poster is therefore not unified but rather diverse in terms of style. It wasn't until the Mid-Fifities, though, that the school flourished. The fierce Stalinist rule had been lifted, once again leaving room for artistic expression. The classic works were created in the next ten years. Three important remarks must be made. First, at the time the poster was basically the only allowed form of individual artistic expression.

Second, the state wasn't concerned much with how the posters looked. Third, the fact that the industry was state-controlled turned out to be a blessing in disguise: working outside the commercial constraints of a capitalist economy, the artists could fully express their potential. They had no other choice but to become professional poster designers and that's why they devoted themselves so thoroughly to this art.

The Polish film poster is artist-driven, not studio-driven. It is more akin to fine art than commercial art. It is painterly rather than graphic. What sets the Polish poster apart from what we're used to see in the West is a general disregard for the demands of the big studios. The artists requested and received complete artistic freedom and created powerful imagery inspired by the movies without actually showing them: no star headshots, no movie stills, no necessary direct connection to the title.

They are in this regard similar to the work of Saul Bass, a rare example of a Hollywood artist who enjoyed total freedom from the studios. Next to a typical Hollywood film poster with the giant headshots of the latest movie star and the title set in, you guessed it, Trajan Pro, the Polish film poster still looks fresh and inspiring today.

Without further analyzing a history that is best told in pictures let's take a look at some of the many classic works created by the likes of Wiktor Gorka, Eryk Lipinski, Marek Mosinski, Jan Lenica, Jerzy Flisak and others.

Witkor Gorka

Jerzy Flisak

1965 - "Mr Hobbs Takes a Vacation", US 1962. Directed by Henry Koster.

Jan Lenica

Eryk Lipinski

Marek Mosinski

Other artists

The 50's and the 60's: The Golden Age

The Fifties and the early Sixties mark the Golden Age of the Polish poster. Like everything else, the film industry was controlled by the state. There were two main institutions responsible for commissioning poster designs: Film Polski (Polish Film) and Centrala Wynajmu Filmow - CWF (Movie Rentals Central). They commissioned not graphic designers but artists and as such each one of them brought an individual voice to the designs.

The School of the Polish Poster is therefore not unified but rather diverse in terms of style. It wasn't until the Mid-Fifities, though, that the school flourished. The fierce Stalinist rule had been lifted, once again leaving room for artistic expression. The classic works were created in the next ten years. Three important remarks must be made. First, at the time the poster was basically the only allowed form of individual artistic expression.

Second, the state wasn't concerned much with how the posters looked. Third, the fact that the industry was state-controlled turned out to be a blessing in disguise: working outside the commercial constraints of a capitalist economy, the artists could fully express their potential. They had no other choice but to become professional poster designers and that's why they devoted themselves so thoroughly to this art.

The Polish film poster is artist-driven, not studio-driven. It is more akin to fine art than commercial art. It is painterly rather than graphic. What sets the Polish poster apart from what we're used to see in the West is a general disregard for the demands of the big studios. The artists requested and received complete artistic freedom and created powerful imagery inspired by the movies without actually showing them: no star headshots, no movie stills, no necessary direct connection to the title.

They are in this regard similar to the work of Saul Bass, a rare example of a Hollywood artist who enjoyed total freedom from the studios. Next to a typical Hollywood film poster with the giant headshots of the latest movie star and the title set in, you guessed it, Trajan Pro, the Polish film poster still looks fresh and inspiring today.

Without further analyzing a history that is best told in pictures let's take a look at some of the many classic works created by the likes of Wiktor Gorka, Eryk Lipinski, Marek Mosinski, Jan Lenica, Jerzy Flisak and others.

Witkor Gorka

Jerzy Flisak

Jan Lenica

Eryk Lipinski

Marek Mosinski

Other artists

The 70's and the 80's: Decadence and Death

The School had its peak in the Mid-Sixties and during the following decade declined, much like art and advertising in the rest of the world. A few examples of posters from the Seventies follow.

Witkor Gorka

Jerzy Flisak

Eryk Lipinski

The Eighties were marked by society's strong opposition to the increasingly oppressive Communist rule, exemplified by the Solidarnosc movement. Poster art quietly dwindled through the decade. After 1989, when film distribution was privatized, it died.

Nowadays alternative film posters are created by numerous artists as exercise and showcase of their abilities. Such posters are typically printed in small runs and viewed and sold exclusively in art galleries.

Conclusion

Posters are very important in the Polish culture. During the Communist regime they were probably the only colorful things one would see in the streets.

A small but dedicated market for Polish posters has emerged over the years. Driven by more than just nostalgia, its aim is the preservation of what is both testament of a cultural heritage largely unknown outside its borders and an immense source of inspiration for today's young artists. These collectibles are not available in huge numbers but, due to their being relatively unknown, don't command high prices yet.

Further Resources On Polish Posters And Design

Here's a list of online sources to browse and even buy Polish posters. The stores are not listed for advertising purposes but rather because they provide picture galleries with details for each item.

Wilanow Poster Museum The first Poster Museum in the world, opened in 1968 as a branch of the National Museum in Warsaw.

Krakow Poster Gallery A small gallery located in downtown Krakow. Despite its size it has an impressive collection of originals and reprints.

The Art of Poster Poster gallery located in Warsaw.

Poster Gallery at Antykwariat Rara Avis Poster gallery from a recent auction. It features some well known and rare pieces.

Classic Polish Film Posters Probably the biggest online collection of film posters. The gallery is well organized and includes very detailed information about each artwork. Invaluable resource. Most of the images and film data in the article come from this site.

Polish Poster Shop A very thorough catalog with many artists.

Film posters typeset in Trajan For comparison purposes. A collection of movie posters in the Hollywood studio tradition: big star headshots, predictable composition and typography. This type of poster has replaced the artistic output of the past decades.

Rene Wanner's Poster Page This gallery contains various collections og graphic design artists, among them are also Polish artists and designers.

A few bibliographical references:

Piotr Rudzinski, curator "Pierwsze polwiecze polskiego plakatu 1900-1950" (2009) A collection of essays by various authors about the development of the Polish poster. The emphasis is on the first half of the 20th Century. The essays are veru well researched and read like master's degree papers. Includes many of the posters presented in this article.

Anna Agnieszka Szablowska "Tadeusz Gronowski - sztuka plakatu i reklamy" (2005) A monography of the master. Includes 189 eproduction of his works.

Krzysztof and Agnieszka Dydo "PL21, The Polish Poster of the 21st Century" (2008) A book about the contemporary poster scene. Created by the owners of the Krakow Poster Gallery.

Further Reading on SmashingMag:

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The Legacy Of Polish Posters - Smashing Magazine

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Posters are very important in the Polish culture. During the Communist regime they were probably the only colorful things one would see in the streets.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
When I'm not geeking out over design you can probably find me geeking out over film. I spent a good 7 years of my life working behind the counters of various video stores across Western Canada and consider myself an avid film nerd.

So it's not surprisingly that my jaw nearly hit the floor when a coworker introduced me to the wonderful world of Polish film posters a couple of years ago. These conceptual masterpieces put the original American posters to shame every time; they are truly beautiful works of art. Trimming this list down to a mere 50 posters that I absolutely love was surprisingly difficult.

Apocalypse Now

Rosemary's Baby

Tootsie

Star Wars - The Empire Strikes Back

Return Of The Pink Panther

Raging Bull

The Last Detail

Gandhi

The Fly

Raiders Of The Lost Ark

Harry And The Hendersons

The Getaway

M*A*S*H

Crocodile Dundee 2

Being There

Old Yeller

Terms Of Endearment

War Games

The China Syndrome

Weekend At Bernie's

Gremlins

Eyes Wide Shut

The Shaggy Dog

Under The Volcano

The Late Show

Short Circuit 2

Missing

Don't Look Now

Critters

Fanny And Alexander

Flipper

Straight Time

Son Of Godzilla

Stroszek

Breakfast At Tiffany's

Days Of Heaven

Smokey And The Bandit

Permanent Vacation

Fatal Attraction

Airplane 2: The Sequel

The Hospital

Willow

Christine

The NeverEnding Story

Lord Of The Flies

Draughtsman's Contract

The Changeling

Alphaville

Enter The Dragon

After Hours

Alien

Sources

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
When I'm not geeking out over design you can probably find me geeking out over film. I spent a good 7 years of my life working behind the counters of various

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
A Guide to Polish Cuisine

Polish food is famous for being simple, hearty and not especially colourful. You simply haven't had a thorough sampling of it until you've tried all the traditional dishes below, all of which you should be able to find in almost any Polish restaurant or milk bar in town. Smacznego!
Bigos

Traditionally a winter dish, Bigos is a hearty stew made in large batches. Though there is no standard recipe, ingredients usually include lots of fresh and pickled cabbage, leftover meat parts and sausage, onion, mushrooms, garlic and whatever else is on hand. In fact, metaphorically Bigos translates to 'big mess,' 'confusion' or 'trouble' in Polish. Seasoned with peppercorns, bay leaves, caraway and the kitchen sink, the stew is left to gestate, sometimes underground, for a few days for full flavour infusion. A Polish restaurant or prospective wife can be fairly measured on the strength of their Bigos.
Gołąbki

Translating to 'little pigeons,' this favourite dish consists of boiled cabbage leaves stuffed with beef, onion and rice before being baked and served in a tomato or mushroom sauce. Polish legend claims King Kazimierz fed his army gołąbki before a battle outside Malbork against the Teutonic Order, and their unlikely subsequent victory has been attributed to the hearty meal ever since.
Golonka

Pork knuckle or hock, as in pig's thigh - boiled, braised, or generally roasted and put before you on a plate. A true Polish delicacy, the meat should slip right off the bone, be served with horseradish, and washed down with beer. Go caveman.
Kiełbasa
Sausages, and in Polish shops you'll find an enormous variety, made from everything from turkey to bison. There are a few varieties to watch for including Krakowska, a Kraków specialty seasoned with pepper and garlic; Kabanosy, a thin, dry sausage flavoured with caraway seed; and Kaszanka, a blood sausage filled with groats and pig's blood. These you'll find in any 'delikatesy' or butcher shop, but head to Kielbaski z Niebieskiej Nyski to get a taste of Kraków's most famous sausage. Two old-timers have been grilling and serving sausage out of a van since time immemorial at this hallowed sidewalk stand.
Kotlet Schabowy

Probably the most popular lunch/supper in Poland is the almighty 'schabowy' with mashed potatoes and pickled cabbage, and you can walk into almost restaurant in the country and be assured of its presence on the menu (if the kitchen hasn't run out of it already). Essentially a breaded and fried pork chop (cutlet), 'kotlet schabowy' is quite similar to Viennese schnitzel, and a solid bet for a cheap, filling, risk-free meal. If you're awoken on a Saturday or Sunday morning by the sound of profuse banging - that's the collective sound of every housewife in Poland tenderising the meat for this meal with a spiky mallet. So best mind your manners.
Naleśniki
The Polish equivalent of French crepes, these are thin pancakes wrapped around pretty much any filling you can dream of, savoury or sweet. Generally the easy way out in any dodgy Polish dining establishment.
Pierogi

Doughy dumplings traditionally filled with potato (Ruskie), sweet cheese, meat, mushrooms and cabbage, strawberries or plums, though if you nose around you will find plenty of maverick fillings like broccoli, chocolate or liver as the possibilities are truly limitless and they are served almost everywhere in the city.

Placki

These greasy, fried potato pancakes (' placki ziemniaczane') are very similar to Jewish latkes (if that means anything to you) and best enjoyed with goulash on top (placki po Węgiersku). Highly caloric, they're also a tried and true hangover cure.

Smalec
Vegetarians who broke their vows for a bite of sausage or a taste of żurek generally draw the line here. An animal fat spread full of fried lard chunks (the more the better, we say) and served with hunks of homemade bread, Smalec is a savoury snack that goes great with a mug of beer. Any traditional Polish restaurant worth its salt should give you lashings of this prior to your meal.

Zapiekanka

The ultimate Polish drunk food. Order one at any train station in PL and you'll get half a stale baguette covered with mushrooms and cheese, thrown in a toaster oven and squirted with ketchup. Underwhelming to say the least. However the vendors of Kazimierz'sPlac Nowy have made a true art out of the 'Polish pizza.' With endless add-ons (including salami, spinach, smoked cheese, pickles, pineapple, feta - you name it), garlic sauce and chives have become standard procedure at this point. Because of their popularity you'll witness ridiculous lines at the various windows around the roundhouse, but the wait is worth it. At 8-10zł it's a great value and will sustain you through a night of heavy drinking. To leave town without having tried a Plac Nowy zapiekanka would be felonious, as would settling for one anywhere else in Kraków.

Zupa (Soup)

Barszcz

Poland has three signature soups:barszcz, żurek and flaki. A nourishing beetroot soup, barszcz may be served with potatoes and veggies tossed in, with a croquette or miniature pierogi floating in it, or simply as broth in a mug expressly for drinking ('barszcz solo'). A recommended alternative to other beverages with any winter meal, we'd be surprised if you can find a bad cup of barszcz anywhere in Kraków.

It doesn't get any more Polish than żurek - a unique sour rye soup with sausage, potatoes and occasionally egg chucked in, and often served in a bread bowl.

If you're of strong constitution and feeling truly adventurous, spring for flaki - beef tripe soup enriched with veggies, herbs and spices. A hearty standby in most kitchens, we personally save the pleasure for compromising situations involving mother-in-laws, but we still have to give credit to any local restaurant bold enough to keep this on their menu.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
A Guide to Polish Food & Cuisine | 11 Essential Dishes

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Discover and browse free city guides to Europe's top capital cities and weekend break destinations

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
18 Scrumptious Polish Dishes That Will Rock Your World

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Yeah, it's a lot of meat, cheese and potatoes. And your problem is?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Piotr's Polish Kitchen - European Home Restaurant

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Best European, Polish Food Home Restaurant in Tin Hau, Hong Kong! Have you ever wondered what Polish food is like? Hearty and eclectic, this is what I l...

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Polish customs and traditions Poles are fun lovers who enjoy festivities, traditions and centuries-old Polish customs. The most ancient rituals, especially those dating back to pagan times, have long lost their magical character, becoming a colorful vestige of the past and a form of amusement. Links with tradition are felt the strongest during the greatest religious feasts, such as Christmas, Easter, Corpus Christi processions and All Saints' Day.

St. Andrew Day Rituals (Andrzejki) - November 29th

Not diamonds, but picket fences, melted candle wax and walnut shells are a girls best friend on this special night. November 29th - just before the full moon is the Eve of St. Andrew's Day (Andrzejki). This is a special time for young Polish girls who want to find a husband. On this night and the next day, fortunes are told and the results are not taken lightly.
Here are a few ways that fortunes are told:
The most popular way is by melting wax and pouring it into a bowl of cold water. Wax is then picked up from the water, raised to the light, and the girls try to see the similarities of it to real objects.

Depending on the shapes, fortunes are told for the following year. If nothing meaningful comes up, there is always a chance that a girl will dream of something important dealing with her future, that night - but only if she could remember it.

In another traditional Polish customs way of fortune telling, girls stand in a circle leaning over a bowl of water with a small floating walnut shell containing a tiny-lighted candle. Each girl pastes a slip of paper with the name of a favored young man on the inside edge of the bowl above the water. To whichever name the lighted candle sailed to and burnt, a marriage proposal from him could be expected.

Also, during the day, a girl counts to the fourteenth post on a fence to see what her future husband will look like - fat, thin, short, tall, old, young. In another game, a scarf, a ribbon, and a rosary are placed separately under three plates. A girl, her eyes blindfolded, turns around three times while other girls rearrange the plates. If she draws a scarf, it means marriage; a ribbon - single for another year; rosary - becomes a spinster or a nun. Source

St. Barbara Feast - Miner's Day - December 4th

One of the most celebrated days associated with workers group is St. Barbara's Day on December 4th. St. Barbara is a patron of coal miners - one of the most time honoured professions in Poland. Through the centuries going deep under the earth was dangerous and often deadly. Although there is no caste system, Poland miners traditionally have been elevated to a special social station of their own. Not only for the Feast of St. Barbara, but also for weddings, funerals and other important political or social ceremonies, miners wear an especially smart looking black uniform adorned with red feathers.

Miners' profession was always considered dangerous but prestigious therefore this day called "Barbórka" or Barburka" (there was a long battle between puritans of the Polish language which form is correct) was celebrated for centuries in a spectacular way. The name of the feast originate of course from St. Barbara as a patron.

Miners are dressed in the special uniforms during Barbórka. The uniform consists of black suit and hat with a feather. The color of the feather (white, red or black) depends on the rank of the miner. Miners wear their decorative uniforms not only during Barbórka but also for weddings, funerals and other important political or social ceremonies. Below is a picture of miners in their decorative uniforms with beautiful red feathers.

Barbórka is a time for miners balls. Miners from coal-mines of Silesia and Zagłębie do not work underground during this day but participate in festivities. A big ball takes place each year in Kraków's University of Mining and Metallurgy (AGH) which collides with a time of Advent.

Barbórka is celebrated not only in Poland but also in other countries of the region with strong mining tradition like in Germany and in Czech Republic. In Germany the celebration is called "Barbarafeier".

St. Barbara is not only a patron of coal-miners but also a patron of geologists, mathematicians and many others professions. Her patronage is linked with the fact that according to the legend she was imprisoned in a tall tower. Her imprisonment led to association with variety of construction professions. Her festivities take place in geological institutes and universities of Germany and Austria. St. Barbara is also connected strongly with the Orthodox Church's tradition.

We had in Poland over hundred mines! Besides black and brown coal also copper and silver are excavated and also salt. But salt miners have their own patron, St. Kinga. St. Kinga's feast is on July 24th. Source

Św. Mikołaj - St. Nicholas Day - December 6th

If you're over in Poland during the month of December, you probably won't find any presents under the Christmas tree. The reason: traditionally, Christmas trees are not displayed until they are put up on Christmas Eve Day, and Jolly St. Nick brought the kids presents on his namesake day, December 6th.

St. Nick over in Poland does a much better job keeping a list of who's naughty or nice. "Rózga" is a little something that might show up from St. Nick's bag of goodies for children that do not behave they way they are expected to throughout the year. It is (similar to a cane) made from a limb from the birch tree and used for corporal punishment. The naughtier kids are the bigger the "rózga" will be.

It is not to say presents aren't also given on Christmas Eve (rather than the typical American Christmas Day). Since St. Nick brings presents a couple weeks before Christmas in Polish customs style, usually God's helpers are responsible for bringing gifts on Christmas Eve. In Wielkopolska (Greater Poland - Poznań and West-Central region) the Starman - a man with a "gwiazdor" (star) brings the gifts to the children. The tradition of starman predates the tradition of Santa Claus.

In Lesser Poland and Silesia a small "aniołek" (angel) who is a messenger for the baby Jesus brings presents to kids on Christmas Eve. The small angel is invisible, but the angel's presence is signalized by the sound of a ringing bell, and a moment later - the presents magically appear.

Polish Christmas

Wesołych Świąt Bożego Narodzenia! That is the way to say "Merry Christmas" in Polish. Polish Christmas Carols or kolędy are numerous and beautiful, especially when sung in Polish parishes at the Christmas Eve Mass. This Mass is called the Pasterka, which means the Shepherds Watch, and there is popular belief in Poland that while the congregation is praying, peace descends on the snow-clad earth and that during that holy night, the humble companions of men - the domestic animals - assume voices. But only the innocent of heart may hear them.

Christmas Day itself in the traditional Polish custom is spent in rest, prayer, and visits to various members of the family. In Poland, from Christmas Day until the twelfth night, boys trudge from village to village with an illuminated star and sing carols. In some districts, the boys carry on puppet shows called szopki. These are built like a little house with two towers, open in the front where a small crib is set and before which marionettes sing their dialogues.

During the Christmas season, the theaters give special performances. On the feast of the Epiphany, the priest and the organist visit the homes, bless them and write over their doors the initials of the three wise men - KMB (Kasper, Melchior and Balthazar) - in the belief that this will spare the homes from misfortune.

The Christmas season closes on February 2, known as Candlemas Day. On that day, people carry candles to church and have them blessed for use in their homes during storms, sickness and death. Source

Polish Christmas, by Numbers

Poles are a quite conservative - they pay a great deal of attention to tradition at Christmas. So, how does the Polish Christmas tradition look through the lens of statistics?

There are strong ties to tradition, religion, and family. Here's a look at Wigilia which to Americans is known as Christmas Eve:

Sharing the Christmas opłatek (opłatki plural)is observed by 99 percent in Poland. (The waffers, which each participant holds out so the others around the table may take a bit of it like communion)

Eating traditional Christmas Eve dishes happens in 98 percent of the homes. Just behind these traditions come decorating the Christmas tree, fasting on Christmas Eve until dinner and preparing an additional place at the Christmas table for an unexpected guest - which we will discuss in a little more detail in a moment.

Putting hay beneath the tablecloth is still practiced by 61%. The least important thing for Poles is dressing up as Santa Claus - only 36% see someone dressed like St. Nick.

Another element of the Polish Christmas Eve is the custom of visiting the graves of deceased relatives. The survey said this was important for 75% of Poles. For 68 percent of the nation, it is important to sing Christmas carols.

Here's a little more about the importance of the empty seat at the table. Nearly all Polish families prepare the extra place. And, nearly a third invite a poor or lonely person to share Wigilia.

The patriotic duty to remember people who are in exile or far from home, has its roots in Polish hospitality - and in times when Poland lay divided between Russia, Prussia and Austria. Keeping a space open pays tribute to these loved ones. The first casualties of French soldiers from Napoleon's failed winter attack on Russia retreated to many of these open seats two centuries ago as unexpected guests. And, were well cared for by Poles. Source

Opłatek - History & Background

Sharing of opłatek was, and still is the core and essence of Christmas Eve celebration throughout Poland. Opłatek is essentially an unconsecrated bread wafer of the type used during Holy Communion. It has been suggested that the sharing of this bread wafer at the Wigilia table is a modification of what was once the sharing of ritual bread called podpomyk.

This was a thin, flat bread traditionally baked before placing the loaves of bread dough in the oven. The baking of this first bread was not a chance happening, but an absolute responsibility. The housewife shaped this thin bread on a flat surface and, scraped aside the glowing embers of the flames, giving its name - "before the flames".

To easily break this bread into parts after baking, the housewife made heavy marks of a checkerboard pattern across the top. This bread baked quickly, with bubbles on he top. It was eaten not only by the inhabitants of the house but was also sent to friendly neighbors. The appearance of this bread in conjunction with the oplatek gave rise to the conjecture that it was an early form of the bread wafer.

In Poland, the bread wafer was known from the time of Christianity, but used only during Holy Mass. By the 15th century, the bread wafers were being made on a larger scale for popular use.

Wafers were used as snacks with wine, as a seal for letters, and for making Christmas decorations. Developing simultaneously with the spread of wafers was the art of iron engraving. Rectangular shaped irons, the insides engraved with various religious motifs, were used to emboss scenes on the wafer. The dough was poured on one side, the other half closed over, and the iron held over a fire until the wafer was baked.

Over time, the responsibility of making and distributing the bread wafer was taken by the church organist, who received a small payment. White bread wafers were made for human consumption and other colours like pink for animals. More about Polish Christmas Source

St. Stephen's Day

St. Stephen's Day in Polish customs is known as the second holiday. This is a day for visiting and expressing Christmas greetings. And when night begins to fall, you can hear stamping and jingling, and then Christmas carol singing outside. These are carolers - Herody, who began their wandering from home to home. Herody is a popular form of caroling and this is a live performance usually, done by twelve young boys.

Dressed in special costumes they are: King Herod, field marshal, a knight, a soldier, an angel, a devil, death, a J-e-w, Mary, shepherds, sometimes Three Kings and an accordionist. They sing pastoral songs, carols, and when let into the house, play scenes from King Herod's life. Oration and songs vary and depend on to whom they are addressed - to the owner of the house, to a young girl about to be married, to a widow, etc. At the conclusion, they are offered refreshments and some money. No less popular is caroling with a Szopka - and with a star. Usually, those are carried by three caroling teenagers. They too are given some money.

Some time ago, caroling began on St. Stephen's Day and lasted until February 2, the Feast of the Purification of the Blessed Mother. Today it lasts until January 6, the Feast of Three Kings, saying then, goodbye to a merry season.

Nativity Scenes in Poland

The Christmas crèche is common to all of the Christian faith. Crèche (also spelled creche) is a French word that means crib, so it is an appropriate label for the Nativity scene. In Poland; however, they take the construction of scaled models or human sized mangers to a high level of artistry. In Polish the word used is Szopka and is a recognized Polish institution.

Mentioning the word szopka (creche) or jaselka (nativity play) to someone born in Poland conjures images of the live nativity scenes, puppet shows, pageant plays and shimmering fairy tale castle-like scenes celebrating the birth of our Savior.

In the Middle Ages, Polish artisans created elaborate puppet theaters called szopkas to stage morality plays. Today, tiny versions mostly made of paper are still a common sight during the Christmas season in Polish homes, churches and many other places, but live performances survive as well.

The custom originated in the 13th century when St. Francis of Assisi, set the first Nativity tableau. Soon there after It was brought to Poland by Franciscan monks. The earliest sign of a manger scene in Poland was in St. Andrew's church in Kraków. The first crìches were quite simple. With the passing of time monks took on the roles of the figurines, and developed a living nativity.

Throughout the 18th century, native artisans were making crèches that were distinctively Polish in architectural design, folk costume and motif. Each region developed its own unique design, but it was in Kraków that it developed into a high art.

Eventually, dialogue crept in and the jaselka play developed. Monks were replaced in due course by common folk and even the nobility. Figures from history, local tradition and legend, such as Pan Twardowski were added for national color. Allegorical figures such as the devil and smierc (death) carrying a scythe soon appeared, along with Biblical figures, such as, the Holy Family and King Herod.

Even the inanimate crèche without human actors was improved upon. Around the early 1700s stringed marionette or stick puppets replaced the static figures. The performances presented two types of integrated plots: a Biblical one telling the Nativity story and a lay one of traditional, folk and satirical nature.

Still taking place in church, it was soon realized that the excitement of such entertainment had gotten out of hand. In 1736, these plays were banned from the churches by Bishop Teodor Czartoryski, permitting only immobile scenes of a strictly Biblical Christmas. Both the live and puppet shows now were passed down to the people, who included them in the ritual of caroling (kolędnicy).

Following the ban the performances evolved into a true expression of folk art. The live "jasełka" became a traveling show beginning on St. Stephen's Day (December 26). The Bethlehem locale, was now set in Poland. Original characters and much of the traditional dialogue were preserved, but in the hands of artists and students it became a mirror of community life, with political satire and local anecdotes added in.

Key moments were preserved, such as the well-known scene between King Herod and the devil. The devil triumphantly exclaims in retribution for Herod's Massacre of the Innocents, "Królu Herodzie za twe zbytki, chodz do piekla, bos ty brzydki" (King Herod for your wicked ways come with me to hell because you are deplorable). This scene was extremely popular with the audience.

By the 19th century several elements defined the scaled model version of the szopka. The present day shape found inspiration in the existing structures of Kraków. The stable's roof was covered by a second story and was flanked by two towers. The two towers eventually resembled the Kosciół Mariacki (St. Mary's Church) and the central Renaissance dome was reminiscent of Wawel Castle's Zygmunt Chapel. By the end of the 19th century the stable was moved to the second floor and bottom floor was filled with figures of folklore and history.

The outbreak of World Wars I & II put a temporary end to the szopka, but the tradition lives on in succession of any political or military interruption. Competitions have become an annual holiday tradition with a magnitude of entrants. Kraków hosts the competition in the central Rynek (marketplace) Square. The puppet shows survive to this day as popular entertainment and are anticipated by the public each Christmas. Source

New Year's Eve - Sylwester

In Poland New Year's Eve is known as St. Sylvester's Eve. This name according to legends arose from Pope Sylvester I who was supposed to have imprisoned a dragon called Leviathan who was supposedly able to escape on the first day of the year 1000, devour the land and the people, and was suppose to have set fire to the heavens. On New Year's Day, when the world did not come to an end, there was great rejoicing and from then on this day was called St Sylvester's Eve.

New Year's Eve in the city in Poland is celebrated at more or less formal balls. Some of them have a long-lasting tradition. For example the ball at the Warsaw Philharmonic Society, or the sportsmen's ball, is attended by "the man of the year". And, a New Year's Eve ball always begins with a polonaise.

In the country, New Year's Eve day has traditionally been an occasion to commit pranks of all kinds. It was not unusual for the village jokesters to disassemble somebody's wagon and reassemble it on the roof of a house, or to smear windows and door knobs with tar. In the Żywiec region for example, groups of boys (Jukace) disguised as devils, Gypsies and beggars scour the village, and with the earsplitting rattling of empty cans they would accost any young woman they come across and knock her down in snow. All the tricks are forgiven for they are believed to be ousting the old passing year.

One important characteristic of New Year's Day was bread-baking. Different animals were shaped from the dough - sheep, rabbits, geese, cows (byśki). Godparents often gave these bread animals with best wishes to godchildren as presents. In some areas of Poland pączki or donuts were baked to assure wealth for the whole year. Bread in the shapes of a ring (korowaj), a cross or a child were hidden at the dinner table and used for fortune telling. If someone found a ring, marriage awaited. A cross - entry into clergy. And a child - that meant a child out of wedlock.

Other traditions include: those who wake up early on New Year's Day will wake up early for the rest of the year. Those who touched the floor with the right foot when getting up from bed could expect a lot of good luck the whole year. And those who wanted to get rich had to put change in a small bag and run through the fields shaking the bag and making a lot of noise.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Polish customs and traditions Poles are fun lovers who enjoy festivities, traditions and centuries-old Polish customs. The most ancient rituals, especially those dating back to pagan times, have long lost their magical character, becoming a colorful vestige of the past and a form of amusement.

# data[].attributes.headline
Some of the best cities in Poland and why they are worth visiting! 

# data[].attributes.subject
Some of the best cities in Poland and why they are worth visiting! 

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
small, The Eternal Wisdom of Polish Proverbs, eternal_wisdom_of_polish_proverbs_4.jpg, What Polish proverb could this be? Hint: it's not about the cat being black; Photo: Marek Maliszewski #language & literature#culture

If proverbs are indeed the practical wisdom of a nation, then what do Polish proverbs have to tell us about the wisdom of the Poles?

As common Polish wisdom has it, there's supposed to be a proverb for every occasion. Browsing through the mind-blowing expanse of Polish paraemiography, one can't help but feel that most of the time there's usually even more than one. More often than not, that they actually represent opposite views. So is there anything like proverbial philosophy, and if so what would the philosophy of Polish folklore be?

Here's a look at the most popular, interesting and awkward Polish proverbs. What do they say about Polish cultural and historical reality? What happens when you translate them? And what you can learn from them? Because, as one Polish proverb claims, 'Two words are enough for a wise head,' or Mądrej głowie dość dwie słowie!

There's an old Polish proverb that says...

The question we should start with is: are 'Polish proverbs' really a thing in the first place? If so, where should we look for authentic ones? Well, certainly not in American popular culture. Perhaps the most famous case of a show celebrating the argumentative force of (allegedly) Polish proverbs came in the 1972 crime series Banacek. The dubiously handsome protagonist of the show, a freelance insurance investigator of Polish origins, played by George Peppard, regularly uses supposedly Polish proverbs, mostly absurd stuff like this:

Only someone with nothing to be sorry about smiles at the rear of an elephant.

A duck with three wings and a loaf of bread is a brother to the turkey.

Though the hippopotamus has no stinger in his tail, a wise man would rather be sat on by a bee.

As you can see, these are not Polish proverbs but rest assured, Polish has also some outrageous stuff out there, so just read on.

So where do we start our search for original Polish proverbs? The first step could be to look for some actual indigenous animals. So forget Banacek's elephants, hippopotami or tigers - and meet the true animal kingdom of the Polish proverb.

Animals in Polish proverbs

1. To divide the skin while it's still on the bear

Polish original: Nie dziel skóry na niedźwiedziu

English equivalent: Don't count your chickens before they're hatched.

The bear (Polish: niedźwiedź) is featured prominently in many Polish proverbs and sayings - a likely trace of a one-time ubiquitous presence of these wild animals in Polish forests. The literal sense of the proverb invokes an image of a hunter contemplating what he will do with the bear's skin before he actually hunts the bear. The phrase is often used in Polish as a call 'not to divide the skin while it's still on the bear!' and can apply to any untimely future plans.

Another popular idiomatic phrase speaks of a 'bear's favour', or a niedźwiedzia przysługa, which is a favour which, when granted, ends up being more trouble than it was worth.

2. A wolf carried away [its prey] many a time, [but] was eventually carried away itself

Another wild animal featured prominently in Polish proverbs is the wolf. The proverb is used to express the idea that there's an end to all ruthless actions and this end comes inevitably, no matter how powerful a person seems at the time. Or as another popular phrasal expression goes, Przyjdzie kryska na matyska! (Matthew will meet his end, sort of).

If you like wolves and language, you might enjoy another strange Polish phrase forbidding calling the wolf out of the woods: n ie wywołuj wilka z lasu!

How about birds?

3. Better a sparrow in hand than a pigeon on the roof

As you can see, Polish is more specific and perhaps practical in its use of bird species (sparrows and pigeons), where English favours the more general 'birds.' Thus, the quantitative criterion is also missing from the Polish. The question remains: what do you do with a bird/sparrow in hand?

4. Once among the crows, caw as they do

This Polish proverb may be understood as a general call for social conformism - or is it just some common sense in the face of an adverse environment? Either way, a bit of mimicry and authentic camouflage won't kill you. If you need more proof, you may find another Polish bird proverb helpful: Kruk krukowi oka nie wykole - 'A crow won't pick another crow's eye out.'

Polish proverbial pessimism

5. Misfortunes come in pairs

Another English equivalent could be the phrase 'it never rains but pours' - which however highlights the intensity of misfortune rather than its quantity, whereas the Polish equivalent is explicitly concerned with number of misfortunes. In fact, the suggestion is that bad things which happen to you in life, come in pairs or tandems (imagine them walking hand in hand). This is usually construed to mean that something bad is often followed by yet another disaster. The good news is that the Polish streak of bad luck is limited to two items only.

6. From the rain, straight under the drainpipe

This proverb presents quite an expressive image for an otherwise universal situation, in which a bad situation ends up getting worse despite attempts to improve it. But where the English employs a continuum of hotness to express the growing discomfort, Polish goes for cold and wet. This awful rainy weather is described in Polish as leje jak z cebra - 'it's pouring as if from a bucket.'

7. A Pole is wise after the harm's been done.

Polish metaphysical pessimism is perhaps best encapsulated in this self-referential statement (though 'Pole' here can be also translated as 'man' in general). The phrase is usually used in the aftermath of any kind of failure which causes substantial harm but which in retrospect seems easily avoidable, and at that time is nothing but an obvious lesson in practical wisdom.

8. Hope is the mother of the stupid

This obviously metaphorical but hardly elegant saying is used to express an otherwise rational idea that hope alone, which usually manifests itself in idle waiting, will not bring any material effect if it is not supported by a fair deal of serious activity and work. A complementary saying defines hope as 'the last die' ( nadzieja umiera ostatnia).

Luxury vs. modesty

9. You can't get a headache from abundance

While modesty is certainly a virtue, some Polish proverbs make a case for the contrary. This one, opposite to some now fashionable trends in contemporary household minimalism, argues that one actually can't have too many things. But rather than a sign of contemporary capitalist lavish abundance, the proverb is likely a relic of more traditional household economics where all items could at one point be used again, re-purposed or recycled.

The Polish need for splendour finds its ultimate expression in the traditional saying zastaw się a postaw się. Difficult to translate, and a bit ambivalent, the phrase can function as an incentive to spend more than you have, if only for one special occasion - or a slightly ironic critique of precisely this approach.

10. If you don't have what you like, like what you have

Polish original: Jak się nie ma, co się lubi, to się lubi, co się ma.

This common sense wisdom hardly needs any explanation. The proverb nowadays seems vaguely connected with the shortage of goods under the communist regime, where its usage was understandably broader.

Practical advice

11. (Hidden) from the eyes, (out) from the heart

Luckily, the centuries-old Polish proverbial philosophy also developed some more uplifting phrases: This one suggests that when you don;t have something right in front of you, that you stop thinking about it, you somehow detach from it. The practical result: it doesn't bother you anymore (pertaining to heartache, mostly). While this may be quite an accurate psychological description of our everyday routine, it's surely not something that most psychoanalysts would subscribe to. Well, practical proverbial wisdom knows better.

12. As you make your bed, so you must lie

The meaning of this is pretty much the same as that of the English 'what you reap is what you sow.' You can blame or praise only yourself for your ups and downs in life... and, you know, beauty sleep is important!

13. He who digs pits for others will fall in them himself

The scheme will always turn against the schemer. This proverb could be considered a more pessimistic version of 'what goes around comes around.' The latter suggesting that good karma can also come back to you. The Polish version focuses on the bad things (of course) that can come back to haunt you...

14. Where there are six cooks, there's nothing to eat

This popular proverb suggests that a surplus of people involved in an activity (any activity, not only cooking) can spoil the overall effect. Note: the gender stereotype hidden in the Polish phrase, where the form kucharki (sg: kucharka) suggests that being a cook is traditionally a chore for women. Note no. 2: six ( sześć) is there for the rhyme.

15. Old love does not corrode

This proverb suggests that an old flame never dies. The metaphorical phrasing may suggest that true love is some kind of stainless metal which does not corrode with time.

Sharp oblong objects

This brings us to sharp objects which - as it turns out - are good material for all kind of proverbial wisdom. Here are a couple of examples:

16. The scythe met the stone

Polish original: Trafiła kosa na kamień.

English equivalents: Diamond cut diamond; it takes one to know one.

This is something you say when you see that a person known for his/her cruelty, finally meets their match. Which obviously raises some sense of Schadenfreude or at least a smirk on the part of the person speaking.

16. The awl has come out of the sack

This figurative phrase refers to any situation when the hidden truth finally comes to light; it is often used in conjunction with bringing to light someone's hidden motives.

17. The drowning man catches at a razor blade

A drowning man clutches at straws, offers a similar image, and yet the Polish razor blades seems like an even more poignant image of despair (and of macabre, too).

18. Every stick has two ends

What seems like a banal assertion of a fact, it has a deeper meaning which in English is usually expressed by the phrase 'it's a mixed blessing.' However, it can also be interpreted as 'a double-edged sword'. So beware, because it seems every proverb has two ends...

Horses and carts...

19. When the hag gets off the cart, the horses have it easier

Polish seems to have a predilection for proverbs featuring carts and horses (a possible trace of a prevalently rural character of the Polish society in the past?) This one happens to have a woman on it - or rather a baba, an offensive term meaning a hag or crone. Here she is considered a useless person on the wagon (one could say she is 'a fifth wheel'), which also presupposes that the person driving the cart is a man. In other words, a woman seems just a redundant extra load that needs to be disposed of... But this somewhat sexist proverb is actually used when referencing getting rid of anything or anyone that is a useless and troublesome burden.

20. Once on the wagon, once underneath it

Polish original: Raz na wozie, raz pod wozem

English equivalent: What goes up must come down; You win some, you lose some

Another cart proverb...The Polish phrasing can be seen as a more figurative equivalent of the popular metaphor of the ever-turning wheel of fortune, which represents fortune (luck) as a wheel, taking people up and down. Sidenote: riding under a cart would probably be extremely painful.

21. Lord's grace rides on a motley horse

Another proverb and another horse. The figurative sense of the Polish sentence is that the favour of people in high positions is always uncertain and can change on a whim. This can be a reflection on the social hierarchy which had the lower classes dependent on the upper classes.

22. The master's eye makes the horse fat

Another horse and another master. This ancient proverb states that looking after your possessions will bring good results.

Animals, sharp objects, pessimism and wagons... one can sure learn some important life lessons from the abundant treasure trove of Polish proverbs. So... live long and prosper! (That one isn't exactly Polish...)
Author: Mikołaj Gliński, 4 April 2017
Polish proverbs polish language Polish alphabet [{"nid":"44785","uuid":"8a710cf4-95c2-4b6c-8caa-615e1ca9112b","type":"article","langcode":"en","field_event_date":"","title":"The Eternal Wisdom of Polish Proverbs","field_introduction":"If proverbs are indeed the practical wisdom of a nation, then what do Polish proverbs have to tell us about the wisdom of the Poles?","field_summary":"If proverbs are indeed the practical wisdom of a nation, then what do Polish proverbs have to tell us about the wisdom of the Poles?","path":"/en/article/the-eternal-wisdom-of-polish-proverbs","topics_data":"a:2:{i:0;a:3:{s:3:"tid";s:5:"59609";s:4:"name";s:26:"#language & literature";s:4:"path";a:2:{s:5:"alias";s:26:"/topic/language-literature";s:8:"langcode";s:2:"en";}}i:1;a:3:{s:3:"tid";s:5:"59644";s:4:"name";s:8:"#culture";s:4:"path";a:2:{s:5:"alias";s:14:"/topic/culture";s:8:"langcode";s:2:"en";}}}","field_cover_display":"default","image_title":"","image_alt":"","image_360_auto":"/sites/default/files/styles/360_auto/public/field/image/eternal_wisdom_of_polish_proverbs_8.jpg?itok=a7ZNZr0t","image_260_auto":"/sites/default/files/styles/260_auto_cover/public/field/image/eternal_wisdom_of_polish_proverbs_8.jpg?itok=S7UV4eEN","image_560_auto":"/sites/default/files/styles/560_auto/public/field/image/eternal_wisdom_of_polish_proverbs_8.jpg?itok=TxS_hETm","image_860_auto":"/sites/default/files/styles/860_auto/public/field/image/eternal_wisdom_of_polish_proverbs_8.jpg?itok=pdCaisJz","image_1160_auto":"/sites/default/files/styles/1160_auto/public/field/image/eternal_wisdom_of_polish_proverbs_8.jpg?itok=4fC0cQ_D","field_video_media":"","field_media_video_file":"","field_media_video_embed":"","field_gallery_pictures":"","field_duration":"","cover_height":"266","cover_width":"470","cover_ratio_percent":"56.5957"}]

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
If proverbs are indeed the practical wisdom of a nation, then what do Polish proverbs have to tell us about the wisdom of the Poles?

# data[].attributes.headline
Strange phrases Polish people love to use

# data[].attributes.subject
Strange phrases Polish people love to use

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Here are some phrasal expressions Polish people like using a lot, but whose literal meaning can be quite confounding for non-native speakers. Translating them makes little sense, but we did it anyway to see what we could uncover. Can you guess what they mean?

Knowing these phrases can help you better understand what Poles are actually saying. Maybe you can even start using them if you're feeling brave enough!

1. What does gingerbread have to do with a windmill?

This is certainly the most effective, though probably not the most polite, way to caution the person you are talking with that what they just said has little relevance or connection to the topic of your conversation. Use cautiously.
Pole 1: I saw Grzegorz at the post office this morning.
Pole 2: I've decided my favourite colour is blue.
Pole 1: What does gingerbread have to do with a windmill?
2. He did me a bear's service

What is a 'bear's service'? Well, it's a disservice. The phrase refers to a favour which, when granted, ends up being more trouble than it was worth. The traditional explanation is that when a bear's deadly pat hits you on the head, it kills both you and the fly it's trying to swat.

Pole 1: You did me a bear's service by cleaning my desk.
Pole 2: But it looks so tidy now.
Pole 1: Yeah, but you threw away all my notes for the lecture I need to give.

3. Don't call a wolf out of the woods

Calling the wolf out of the woods is not something you would normally do, right? Not that it could ever be effective too. The saying pertains to a situation where someone is invoking an outcome that is not wished for or which could even be dangerous, a self-fulfilling prophecy of sorts. One partial English equivalent has dogs ('Let sleeping dogs lie') or devil himself ('Talk of the devil' when somebody appears). So consider the wolf to be a Polish devil. The saying is likely a relic of not only times when wolves were a real threat but also when the spoken word had real power.
Pole 1: I just hope he will be fine and nothing bad happens to him...
Pole 2: Don't call a wolf out of the woods.
Speaking of wolves, when you are speaking about someone and that person suddenly appears, in Polish that person is also a wolf: 'Speak of the wolf!' ( o wilku mowa) It's much like the English phrase 'Speak of the devil!'

4. What is supposed to hang, won't drown!

This one is more about fatalism and basically means that what is about to happen will happen. The literal sense of this saying eludes even the most seasoned speakers of Polish even though they still know perfectly well when and how to use the phrase. Use it when you feel like some things in life are just bound to be the way they are and there's nothing people can do about it.
Pole 1: Please be careful and watch out for yourself!
Pole 2: No worries, what is supposed to hang, won't drown!
5. After birds

This is what Poles say when they want to say something is definitely and irrevocably over and done with. It is usually accompanied by a sense of a regret which comes with lost opportunities. A more colloquial variant has 'ptoki' (instead of 'ptaki').
Pole 2: I searched the trash and found your notes for the lecture.
Pole 1: After birds. I gave the lecture yesterday.
6. To turn the cat around by its tail

Trying to turn a cat around by its tail does sound like something troublesome, though for Poles the truth is, it's primarily irritating. The phrase refers to the gentle art of presenting facts in a false or distorted light (lying is the next step). This could include artful or blunt rhetorical manoeuvres, like shifting one's ground.

Pole 1: The mayor has been turning the cat around by its tail again.
Pole 2: What did he do this time?
Pole 1: He made some speech about how people need to embrace email, all while he's been shutting down half the city's post offices.
P ole 2: Scandalous!

7. To hang dogs on someone

The history of this one goes back to the times when Mediaeval criminals were hung along with dogs in order to humiliate them even more (that is, to humiliate the humans). Luckily, these barbarian times are long gone and the contemporary usage of the phrase is limited to slandering someone's reputation only.
Pole 1: I hate Grzegorz he's the nastiest and most stupid person I know.
Pole 2: Stop hanging dogs on him.
If you like sayings with dogs and a tinge of the macabre you can also consider the proverb: Tu jest pies pogrzebany ('Here lies the dog, buried'). The English equivalent would be Shakespeare's famous line from Hamlet: 'Aye, there's the rub!'

8. Frankincense to the dead

This humorous phrase refers to something which is of little use, redundant or dispensable and often comes up in connection with some failed attempt to remedy a problem.

Pole 1: Maybe I can get my son to eat his greens by buying him tickets to see Tomasz Stańko in concert?
Pole 2: Sounds about as helpful as incense to the dead.

If you still need to refer to someone using a picturesque Polish phrase, you can try to descibe someone as the fifth wheel of the cart, or piąte koło u wozu.

9. This goes together like an ox and a carriage

When you want to say that something is a terrible match, use this phrase. A more radical version compares 'a fist' and 'a nose' - if you're confused what the idea is: they don't match!
Pole 1: I wonder what the new post office building will be like. The street it's in is full of 19th-century buildings.
Pole 2: I heard they wanted to make it a modernist block.
Pole 1: That goes together like an ox and a carriage. And what are your favourite sayings Poles use... Do you know similar expressions in your language? Let us know! Author: Mikołaj Gliński, 11 Oct 2017; updated by AZ, 4 Jan 2018
Polish proverbs polish sayings polish phrasal expressions [{"nid":"42849","uuid":"f71680ff-0a17-4361-8f68-31762cda74d9","type":"article","langcode":"en","field_event_date":"","title":"Proszę ‒ Poland Word by Word","field_introduction":"Proszę means please, but it's also so much more. Here's why it's perhaps the most useful Polish word you'll ever learn","field_summary":"Proszę means please, but it's also so much more. Here's why it's perhaps the most useful Polish word you'll ever learn","path":"/en/article/prosze-poland-word-by-word","topics_data":"a:1:{i:0;a:3:{s:3:"tid";s:5:"59644";s:4:"name";s:8:"#culture";s:4:"path";a:2:{s:5:"alias";s:14:"/topic/culture";s:8:"langcode";s:2:"en";}}}","field_cover_display":"default","image_title":"","image_alt":"","image_360_auto":"/sites/default/files/styles/360_auto/public/field/image/gehenna_fn.jpg?itok=FWFA0PSZ","image_260_auto":"/sites/default/files/styles/260_auto_cover/public/field/image/gehenna_fn.jpg?itok=-IcDaihF","image_560_auto":"/sites/default/files/styles/560_auto/public/field/image/gehenna_fn.jpg?itok=N-63u9ih","image_860_auto":"/sites/default/files/styles/860_auto/public/field/image/gehenna_fn.jpg?itok=Pg2k8TqZ","image_1160_auto":"/sites/default/files/styles/1160_auto/public/field/image/gehenna_fn.jpg?itok=U4a1_zmn","field_video_media":"","field_media_video_file":"","field_media_video_embed":"","field_gallery_pictures":"","field_duration":"","cover_height":"249","cover_width":"440","cover_ratio_percent":"56.5909"}]

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Here are some phrasal expressions Polish people like using a lot, but whose literal meaning can be quite confounding for non-native speakers. Translating them makes little sense, but we did it anyway to see what we could uncover. Can you guess what they mean?

# data[].attributes.headline
More Polish sayings commonly used by Polish people!

# data[].attributes.subject
More Polish sayings commonly used by Polish people!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Each country has its' own sayings. Some of them may be similar or have similar meanings as in other countries. However Polish sayings, when translated exactly, word by word, most of the times don't make to much sense.

Today I will try to explain the meaning of some of them to you.

Let's start with this one:

"Słowo się rzekło, kobyłka u płotu"

Few have a chance to understand the meaning of this old Polish saying. Most Poles might point to the very sense of it and they know why they pronounce these few strange-arranged words to say what is intended, but few understand their real meaning.

It seems nonsense when translated literally: "A word was said - a mare is standing by the fence". This old saying has a long historic background. In the 15th century, before there were newspapers and photographs, the kings could often venture out "incognito" among their subjects and "check up on them".

The story goes that the famous Polish King Jan Sobieski III, the savior of Vienna (1683), notot far from his palace, made a bet with a petty noble ( małostkowy szlachetny) who didn't recognize him. Sobieski was kidding him that a man in his position would never get a chance to speak to the King. Jan bet his favourite mare. He was obviously going to "throw" the bet and let the poor man win, just for the amusement of his traveling companions. The hot-headed gentry-man demanded that his partner must present him immediately to the King. Sobieski then said to the confused gentryman: "słowo się rzekło, kobyłka u płotu", pointing to the horse.

Hundreds of such wonderful sayings are functioning in the Polish language making it rich and nice to hear. The language is really a living monument.

Another great saying:

"Nie dla wszystkich skrzypce grają"

"The violin doesn't play for everybody"

This is the reason why Itzhak Perlman can make pretty music with the cheapest fiddle, while even a Stradivarius is of no help to me...:)

"Co po trzeźwemu myśli, to po pijanemu powie"

"What one thinks when sober, one says when drunk"

This one is as old as the hills. "In vino veritas" is Latin for "In wine there is truth" - "W winie jest prawda"

"Potrzebny jak dziura w moście"

"As necessary as a hole in the bridge"

I need that like a hole in the head!

"Ręka rękę myje, noga nogę wspiera"

"Hand washes hand, leg supports leg"

You scratch my back, and I'll scratch yours! Quid pro quo (Latin for "something for something") Polish - "coś za coś"

Here are few more:

"Jak cię widzą, tak cię piszą"

How they see you, that's how they perceive you

"Gdyby kózka nie skakała, to by nóżki nie złamała"

If the goat didn't jump, she wouldn't have broken her leg

"Gdyby kózka nie skakała, to by smutne życie miała"

If the goat didn't jump, she'd have a miserable life

"Swój ciągnie do swojego"

Same kinds attract

"Każdy sądzi według siebie"

Everyone judges according to themselves

"Z kim się zadajesz, takim się stajesz"

You become whom you befriend

"Kto się czubi, ten się lubi"

Those who argue, like each other

"Baba z wozu koniom lżej"

When the woman gets off the wagon, horses have an easier time

"Lepszy wróbel w garści niż gołąb na dachu"

It's better to have a sparrow in your hand, than a pigeon on the roof

"Co nagle, to po diable"

The devil dictates when you're in a hurry

"W zdrowym ciele, zdrowy duch"

Healthy soul in a healthy body

"Mądry Polak po szkodzie"

Smart Pole after the damage is done

"Co kraj to obyczaj"

Each country has it's own tradition

"Co ciało lubi, to duszę zgubi"

What likes the body will lose the soul

"Komu pora, temu czas"

When it's your time, you have to go

"Kwiat bez zapachu, jak człowiek bez duszy"

A flower without a smell is like a man without a soul

"Komu w drogę, temu gwóźdź w nogę"

who wants/needs to leave, stick a nail in his foot

"Sukces ma wieju ojców, porażka jest sierotą"

A success has many fathers, a failure is an orphan

"Musi to na Rusi, a w Polsce jak kto chce"

A must is in Russia, in Poland you do however you want

"Kto pije i pali ten nie ma robali"

The one who both smokes and drinks doesn't get roundworms

"Modli się pod figurą a diabła ma za skorą"

He(she) prays but has a devil under the skin.

"Panu Bogu świeczkę, a diabłu ogarek"

A candle for God, a stump for the devil (said about two faced people)

"Szczęście jest pomiędzy ustami i brzegiem kielicha"

Happiness is between the lips and the rim of a glass

"Ładnemu we wszystkim ładnie"

A pretty person looks pretty in everything

"Nie chwal dnia przed zachodem słońca"

Don't praise the day before sunset

"Wszędzie dobrze, ale w domu najlepiej"

Everywhere's fine, but best at home

"Potrzeba jest matką wynalazków"

Necessity is the mother of invention

Do nast ępnego razu... (Till next time...)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Each country has its' own sayings. Some of them may be similar or have similar meanings as in other countries. However Polish sayings, when translated exactly,

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Polish sayings and expressions that make you laugh

Polish language is full of bizarre idioms and if you look closely at the literal meaning you will realise they are often downright hilarious. Here is a list of the 7 funniest Polish sayings and expressions. Use them to sound like a regular Pole!

#7.Not my circus, not my monkeys
Polish: Nie mój cyrk, nie moje małpy

A complicated and fun way of saying that something is not your problem.

#6. Don't divide the skin while it's still on the bear
Polish: Nie dziel skóry na niedźwiedziu

A Polish way of saying to not celebrate too early. Poles know that first you need to catch a bear!

#5. Don't teach a father how to make children
Polish: Nie ucz ojca dzieci robić

The English version is actually as bizarre as Polish - Don't teach your grandmother how to suck eggs. It's nothing more than an advice given to a person that is unnecessary as they already know it (and probably they even have more knowledge about the topic than the person giving the advice).

#4.To drill a hole in someone's belly
Polish: Wiercić komuś dziurę w brzuchu

DIY-driven saying expressing annoyance or pestering.

#3. To throw peas onto a wall
Polish: Rzucać grochem o ścianę

This is how Poles describe being ignored...

#2. Don't call the wolf from the forest
Polish: Nie wywołuj wilka z lasu

Poles don't tempt fate, they don't call the wolf from the forest.

#1. Stuff yourself with hay
Polish: Wypchać się sianem

A Polish person won't tell you to get lost, they will tell you to 'stuff yourself with hay'

Comments

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Top 7 The Funniest Polish Sayings and Expressions | Poland Unraveled

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Polish language is full of bizarre idioms and here is a list of 7 the funniest Polish sayings and expressions. Use them to sound like a regular Pole!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Sound'n'Grace & Filip Lato – 100 [Official Music Video]

# data[].attributes.headline
Meaning and history of Poland's national anthem

# data[].attributes.subject
Meaning and history of Poland's national anthem

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
When Poland's national anthem was composed in 1797, the country had disappeared from the map of Europe, as Prussia, Russia and Austria carved it up between them.
So for Poles, the stirring Mazurek Dąbrowskiego, also called Pieśń Legionów Polskich we Włoszech (Song of the Polish Legions in Italy), was of special importance - beginning with the words Jeszcze Polska nie umarła... (Poland has not yet died...).

The song was written by Józef Wybicki, in Italy, and received its first public performance on July 20, 1797. It celebrates Jan Henryk Dąbrowski (pictured), a commander in the doomed Kościuszko Uprising of 1794 and the man who later established the Polish Legions in Napoleon's French army. In fact, Napoleon himself is mentioned in the anthem, cited as the man who at the time was believed to have shown Poland the way forward towards freedom.

The anthem has undergone minor changes over the years, the most notable being the first line, which is now 'Jeszcze Polska nie zginęła' (Poland has not yet perished). It was first adopted as Poland's 'Hymn Narodowe' in 1926.

Here it is, with words in Polish and English. You can also download the text files of the lyrics in both languages, from Poland's official promotional website, or directly here in Polish and English.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
A Short History of Poland's National Anthem

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
When Poland's national anthem was composed in 1797, the country had disappeared from the map of Europe, as Prussia, Russia and Austria carved it up between them. So for Poles, the stirring Mazurek Dąbrowskiego, also called Pieśń Legionów Polskich we Włoszech (Song of the Polish Legions in Italy), was of special importance - beginning with the words Jeszcze Polska nie umarła...

# data[].attributes.headline
How Poland's boarders have changed over the centuries

# data[].attributes.subject
How Poland's boarders have changed over the centuries

# data[].attributes.headline
Polskie zabobony - Polish superstitions 

# data[].attributes.subject
Polskie zabobony - Polish superstitions 

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
You've heard of international superstitions like 'don't walk under a ladder', but how about some exclusive to Poland? The 13 super-Polish beliefs presented here include why you shouldn't count pierogi while they're still cooking, what you need to say to dwarves when you can't find something - and why you have to watch out for the number seven...

# data[].attributes.headline
Polish customs that come from old superstitions and beliefs 

# data[].attributes.subject
Polish customs that come from old superstitions and beliefs 

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
7 Confusing Polish Customs

small, 7 Confusing Polish Customs, marzanna_jeziorzany_2014_fot_jacek_swierczynski_forum.jpg, Drowning of the 10-meters tall Marzanna in Jeziorzany, Poland, 2014. Photo: Jacek Świerczyński / Forum #heritage#culture

Every country has customs that shock and confuse foreigners. Polish people going about their daily business or celebrating special occasions often do things that will make your jaw drop, but are considered perfectly normal here. Culture.pl has a short list of the most surprising Polish habits and culture shocks.

Poland's most surprising customs usually stem from relics of pagan culture or folk traditions (sometimes combined with religious observances), therefore our list starts with the pagan roots of Polish culture before moving on to odd eating habits, but feel free to send us your anecdotes from any sphere of life.

1. Marzanna - Burning and drowning a straw effigy

Marzanna is the Polish name for a Slavic goddess associated with death, winter and nature. Even though pagan religion was theoretically eradicated from Poland in the early 11 th century, Marzanna is still alive thanks to a popular ritual. Every year, on the first day of spring, people would make an effigy, set it on fire, and then drown it in a river. The aim of the ritual is to chase off winter and encourage nature to revive.

The Marzanna doll is traditionally made of straw and white canvas and decorated with colourful ribbons. Her sacrifice is subject to several rules: you can't touch her while she is in the water (your hand would wither), you can't look back while coming back from the river (you'd bring illnesses upon you and your relatives). The Catholic church was fighting this ritual even until the early 20 th century but never succeeded in stamping it out. The Marzanna tradition is still popular in some parts of Poland even though people no longer believe it really helps spring come sooner.

2. Oczepiny - Racy wedding games

If you ever happen to be at a Polish wedding party and you hear the word oczepiny you can run or stay put, but if you stay, you'll most probably find yourself involved in a wedding game far outside your comfort zone.

Oczepiny is a common Slavic rite which symbolises the transition of the bride from being a maiden to being a married women. Traditionally the bride had her hair cut or shortened and a cap put on. This is also where the name comes from, as czepiec is Polish for a cap.

From that point, oczepiny has taken a circuitous route to become, nowadays, the moment when the most insane wedding games are organised. It usually starts with the popular throwing of the bride's bouquet and then... anything can happen. If "carnival" in anthropology means moving the borders of what is socially acceptable and what is not, then oczepiny are a carnival par excellence. You may be asked to pass an orange to the auntie you don't know without using your hands (imagine the embarrassment), you could be asked to change your gender for a while and dance the rumba or the tango with a person of the same sex, you could be asked to down far too much booze in a very short time, and so on.

Remember: run, or stay at your own peril.

3. Poprawiny - Having a second wedding party after the first

The dictionary says it is a continuation of a wedding party the day after the main event. It is also referred to as a champagne brunch, which couldn't be more misleading. Rarely is there champagne at a poprawiny and if there is a word in French that describes poprawiny it is déjà vu.

Poprawiny basically means starting the wedding party all over again, in the middle of the day after the wedding party, and sometimes it is even carried on to the third day. There are even legends of week-long wedding parties organised by Gorals - the inhabitants of the Polish Tatra mountains.

4. Christmas - straw under the tablecloth, and an extra plate for an unexpected guest

Celebrating both Christmas and Easter is very important to Poles, and there are a plethora of little habits and traditions to obey. For example, at Christmas you have to put a little bit of straw under the tablecloth and set one extra plate for an unexpected guest. The explanation?

Putting a few blades of straw is what remains of a tradition of decorating the whole table with straw and grains and even putting a sheaf in the corner (which was even practised by noble families living in demesnes). The reason behind it was that Jesus Christ was born in a manger, in a little stable in Bethlehem, and the straw is to symbolise the paucity of the circumstances of his coming to Earth.

An old Polish proverb says ' Gość w dom, Bóg w dom', which means that the presence of a guest is God's blessing. Hospitality is a part of the Polish identity and Poles are determined not to leave anybody alone or hungry on Christmas - this is why they traditionally put an extra plate on the Christmas table. In fact, rarely does any unexpected guest come but if you ever happen to be in Poland and your friends know that you have nobody to spend Christmas evening with, expect several invitations!

5. Śmigus Dyngus - Pouring buckets of water on strangers

Among the Easter code of rituals Śmigus Dyngus may be the most unexpected. What it is nowadays is a free-for-all, all-day water battle played out with water pistols, bottles, water balloons thrown from windows, plastic bags or whatever means are on hand - in some rare instances even fire trucks have been known to join in.

The provenance of this custom is linked with both Christianity, where splashing with water is evocative of the baptism or blessing, and with a traditional folk game between young boys and girls, who celebrated the arrival of spring, the revival of nature's fertility and, when the opportunity arose, looked into possibility of future bonding.

6. Kanapki - Sliced bread instead of sandwiches

The fundamental question that arises after a few days in Poland is: what is the kanapka everybody is eating and talking about? Be aware that if your Polish friends offer you a sandwich, you might only receive one slice of bread.

Kanapka is the Polish word for most types of snacks that have a slice (or slices) of bread as a base component. It refers to all types of sandwiches but, above all else, to the Poles, it means the beloved open sandwich. And among the surprising eating habits of Poland, the ultra-dominance of the open sandwich on every Poles' working-day menu is the one that puzzles foreigners the most. Kanapka is the first choice for breakfast, lunch and supper, and doesn't really differ depending on time of the day.

Is the open sandwich a Polish invention? Not really, and it is much older than it might seem. It derives from a Medieval habit of using a thick slice of bread as a plate. At the end of the meal, the bread-plate was eaten, or given to a servant or a dog. Guess what happens with the uneaten sandwiches nowadays...

7. Foraging - Picking (and eating) mushrooms in the forest

While most foreigners would never dream of risking a possibly lethal case of poisoning by eating something they found in a forest, mushroom picking is a Polish holiday craze. People love it, and because approximately 30% of Poland is covered with beautiful woodland it is one of the most common ways of spending free time outdoors. Poles are eager to wake up in the early morning to pick mushrooms before others, and they teach children the names of all the species of mushrooms as well as acquaint them with techniques of recognising if the mushroom is edible or lethally poisonous. Picking mushrooms is a serious thing in Poland and Polish mushroom dishes are usually world-class delights.
Author: Wojciech Oleksiak, 23rd April 2015
polish wedding 12 dishes of polish christmas polish christmas easter polish customs polish food heritage guide to polish culture [{"nid":"42839","uuid":"16fc2fb2-ec34-48ae-8812-b8754f59d9b3","type":"article","langcode":"en","field_event_date":"","title":"Pokój – Poland Word by Word","field_introduction":"Pokój is a Polish word meaning peace. But it also means room, as the two words are homonyms.","field_summary":"Pokój is a Polish word meaning peace. But it also means room, as the two words are homonyms.","path":"/en/article/pokoj-poland-word-by-word","topics_data":"a:1:{i:0;a:3:{s:3:"tid";s:5:"59644";s:4:"name";s:8:"#culture";s:4:"path";a:2:{s:5:"alias";s:14:"/topic/culture";s:8:"langcode";s:2:"en";}}}","field_cover_display":"default","image_title":"","image_alt":"","image_360_auto":"/sites/default/files/styles/360_auto/public/images/imported/HISTORIA/13_grudnia_stan_wojenny/full_solidarnosc_123_forum_770_0.jpg?itok=BW_3yA8D","image_260_auto":"/sites/default/files/styles/260_auto_cover/public/images/imported/HISTORIA/13_grudnia_stan_wojenny/full_solidarnosc_123_forum_770_0.jpg?itok=VeoDM-J6","image_560_auto":"/sites/default/files/styles/560_auto/public/images/imported/HISTORIA/13_grudnia_stan_wojenny/full_solidarnosc_123_forum_770_0.jpg?itok=ay33X5W8","image_860_auto":"/sites/default/files/styles/860_auto/public/images/imported/HISTORIA/13_grudnia_stan_wojenny/full_solidarnosc_123_forum_770_0.jpg?itok=tRqFMK20","image_1160_auto":"/sites/default/files/styles/1160_auto/public/images/imported/HISTORIA/13_grudnia_stan_wojenny/full_solidarnosc_123_forum_770_0.jpg?itok=eWPgww71","field_video_media":"","field_media_video_file":"","field_media_video_embed":"","field_gallery_pictures":"","field_duration":"","cover_height":"249","cover_width":"440","cover_ratio_percent":"56.5909"}]

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
small, 7 Confusing Polish Customs, marzanna_jeziorzany_2014_fot_jacek_swierczynski_forum.jpg, Drowning of the 10-meters tall Marzanna in Jeziorzany, Poland, 2014. Photo: Jacek Świerczyński / Forum #heritage #culture Every country has customs that shock and confuse foreigners. Polish people going about their daily business or celebrating special occasions often do things that will make your jaw drop, but are considered perfectly normal here.

# data[].attributes.headline
Supernatural beings and places in Polish culture 

# data[].attributes.subject
Supernatural beings and places in Polish culture 

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
9 Supernatural Beings and Places of Polish Folklore

small, 9 Supernatural Beings and Places of Polish Folklore, full_mickiewicz_rynek_forum_770.jpg, View of the Adam Mickiewicz monument on a November eve, photo: Wojciech Kryński / Forum #culture

Poland was a battleground between east and west. Crushed, bombed and robbed by unscrupulous and power-thirsty rulers, its lands are soaked in blood and its cities have been meticulously rebuilt on the bodies of those who died for them.

With a legacy steeped in murder, death and terror beyond belief, it comes as no surprise that this should be reflected in legends, both urban and traditional. Several of these are associated with historical sites which can be visited, although not by the faint of heart.

1. Vampire Graves

Vampire graves are recognised by the positioning of the body in the tomb. Vampires were buried face down, in the fetal position, with their heads cut off and placed between their legs, with wooden or metal pegs and studs piercing their bodies, or in a grave held down by rocks. Many such graves have been discovered in different parts of Poland. Underneath Kraków's main square researchers discovered female skeletons laid in the fetal position, and in Kazimierz Dolny the body of a woman was found with her hand cut off and placed in her mouth.

The most important discovery was made in Gliwice during construction works for a new highway. Workers found several beheaded bodies. Their skulls were placed between their legs - one of many ways to prevent the dead from returning. It wasn't an uncommon occurrence to pronounce dead those who were still alive. They would wake up in the ground and struggle for their lives. Those who managed to escape the earth would would run around in circles like a beheaded chicken. Ritualistic burials were thus a preventive measure against vampires and the resuscitated dead.

2. Chapel of Skulls

Czermna is a village in Lower Silesia in the far south of Poland. The town has a small baroque church with an unusual chapel, built of 3,000 skeletons of victims of the Thirty Years and the Silesian wars and people who died of cholera, the plague, syphilis and starvation. Inside are a crucifix and two carvings of angels, one with a Latin inscription that reads "Arise from the Dead". Construction on the so-called "sanctuary of silence" started in 1776 and was completed 18 years later.

The chapel was a collaboration between Czech priest Vaclav Tomasek and a local gravedigger, J Langer. The crypt of the chapel contains a further 21,000 bodies, presumably ones that didn't get arranged before both artists themselves died. Their bones were dutifully added to the exhibit.

3. The Black Volga

Legend has it that in the 1960s and 70s a black limo roamed the streets of Warsaw. The car was a Volga, typical of the Communist elite. Its wheel rims were white and its windows adorned with white curtains. It is said to have been driven by a priest, or a nun. Some say even the devil himself. The driver would stop a passerby to ask for directions or the time and then snatch the person. Their main prey was children. Inside the car, there was a blood transfusion station and the victim's blood would be taken to cure rich leukaemia patients. This urban tale has Soviet origins, and is known as far away as Mongolia.

4. The Wawel Chakra

The Earth is said to have seven force centres. Like the chakras in the tantric and yogic teachings of Hinduism, they are sources of spiritual energy. It is believed that one of those places is Wawel Hill in Kraków, specifically, St. Gereon's chapel from the 11th century. According to the legend, Greek philosopher, mystic and explorer Appollonius of Tyana discovered a hill with positive radiation, now called Wawel, during one of his voyages. He left there one of his talismans, which unlocked the full potential of the chakra radiation.

5. The White Lady of Kraków

A strange and tragic story is associated with Krakow's city hall. Legend has it that two hundred years ago a priest was called to perform last rites for a dying person. He was taken to his clients by carriage. Once he arrived, the priest was taken to a chamber in which he found a body covered by a cloak. Two people entered the room: an old man and a young girl dressed in white. The priest was told to perform the rite on the girl. After the act was completed the mysterious body emerged from under the cloak. Dressed entirely in red, he turned out to be an executioner and beheaded the girl. Later on the priest found out that she was a young countess punished by her father for a romantic affair with a butler. Apparently the father buried her in the basement of the building. Since then the White Lady has glided along the halls of the mansion.

6. The torture room of Andreas von Schlieben

Halfway between Poznan and Berlin there is a spooky castle-turned-hotel. The ghost of its former owner, Commander Andreas von Schlieben, was first spotted in 1820. Those who make his acquaintance nowadays are all men and visit the estate in spring and summer. Guests even have the choice of opting for a night in the 'torture room'. Fitted with a huge solid wood bed, it comes complete with clunky manacles suspended from the walls and other scary bits and pieces.

7. Devilish friends, Rokita and Boruta

According to the legend Rokita was a generous villain who lived with other bandits on Chyb mountain. He would rob rich merchants and hand over the spoils to the villagers. Boruta, on the other hand, inhabited the cellar of Łęczyca castle in central Poland. He was a tall nobleman with a thick black moustache. He wore a long overcoat to hide his tail and a hat to cover his horns. His black eyes revealed his demonic soul. Each Pole tells a different story about him. According to some he was evil and mischievious, according to others he was good. For all intents and purposes, Rokita and Boruta were drinking buddies. One night they were enjoying a merry evening in an inn in Łodz when the barman refused to sell them another pint. Rokita paid but turned the coins into burning chips. The owner was duly paid but he couldn't take his earnings.

8. The horrific fate of Barbara Zdunk

In 1807 a fire ripped through the old town. Authorities blamed the town eccentric, a maid called Barbara Zdunk. Imprisoned for three years in the castle dungeons, she was raped repeatedly and gave birth to two children that nobody knows what happened to. She was burnt at the stake in 1811 and was the last woman in Europe to be burnt for witchcraft. Reszel Castle is now an artist's hotel and guests regularly speak of hearing stumbling, murmurs and strange footsteps. Even though a visit from Ghost Hunters International discredited the presence of supernatural forces in the castle, the nearby river called Sajna exhibits more worrying signs. An entrance to the underground dungeons can be found there with groans and yelps coming from the inside. Finally, a tragic accident happened at the location, in which a father and son had died when driving on a motorbike. Up to this day, the cause of the accident has not been discovered.

9. Demonic Possession in Wrocław

On the main square, two townhouses from the Middle Ages are linked together by an overhanging archway symbolic of a couple holding hands. Some say this is Wroclaw's most romantic building but under the archway there was once a cemetery and the inscription reads Mors Ianua Vitae - Death is the gate to life. This was once the setting of a horrid murder. A grandson butchered his grandmother in a devilish frenzy. He is said to have been possessed by a demonic dwarf who resided in the nearby St Elizabeth's church. According to some, the grandmother's shrieks can still be heard.

Author: Marta Jazowska 28/10/2014

halloween polish folklore scary tales from Poland Chapel of Skulls The Wawel Chakra Reszel Castle [{"nid":"44513","uuid":"a5a7e8fe-6a62-4282-9cae-a00286a71c7a","type":"article","langcode":"en","field_event_date":"","title":"Slavic Daemons: The Good, The Bad & The Ugly","field_introduction":"Countless daemons of Slavic origin used to hide in the woods, lakes and fields of Old Poland – or at least in the imagination of its people. Whether malicious or friendly, these creatures are no longer considered a viable force any more, but they’re certainly curious aspects of a past long gone. ","field_summary":"Countless daemons of Slavic origin used to hide in the woods, lakes and fields of Old Poland – or at least in the imagination of its people. Whether malicious or friendly, these creatures are no longer considered a viable force any more, but they’re certainly curious aspects of a past long gone. ","path":"/en/article/slavic-daemons-the-good-the-bad-the-ugly","topics_data":"a:2:{i:0;a:3:{s:3:"tid";s:5:"59624";s:4:"name";s:9:"#heritage";s:4:"path";a:2:{s:5:"alias";s:15:"/topic/heritage";s:8:"langcode";s:2:"en";}}i:1;a:3:{s:3:"tid";s:5:"59644";s:4:"name";s:8:"#culture";s:4:"path";a:2:{s:5:"alias";s:14:"/topic/culture";s:8:"langcode";s:2:"en";}}}","field_cover_display":"default","image_title":"","image_alt":"","image_360_auto":"/sites/default/files/styles/360_auto/public/images/imported/HISTORIA/slovianie/boruta_leczca_forum_0.jpg?itok=pCyLbdFF","image_260_auto":"/sites/default/files/styles/260_auto_cover/public/images/imported/HISTORIA/slovianie/boruta_leczca_forum_0.jpg?itok=yOA7Pzu6","image_560_auto":"/sites/default/files/styles/560_auto/public/images/imported/HISTORIA/slovianie/boruta_leczca_forum_0.jpg?itok=5Zpqk0mX","image_860_auto":"/sites/default/files/styles/860_auto/public/images/imported/HISTORIA/slovianie/boruta_leczca_forum_0.jpg?itok=JR3M_xYb","image_1160_auto":"/sites/default/files/styles/1160_auto/public/images/imported/HISTORIA/slovianie/boruta_leczca_forum_0.jpg?itok=8OugoyO4","field_video_media":"","field_media_video_file":"","field_media_video_embed":"","field_gallery_pictures":"","field_duration":"","cover_height":"266","cover_width":"470","cover_ratio_percent":"56.5957"}]

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
9 Supernatural Beings and Places of Polish Folklore

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
small, 9 Supernatural Beings and Places of Polish Folklore, full_mickiewicz_rynek_forum_770.jpg, View of the Adam Mickiewicz monument on a November eve, photo: Wojciech Kryński / Forum #culture Poland was a battleground between east and west. Crushed, bombed and robbed by unscrupulous and power-thirsty rulers, its lands are soaked in blood and its cities have been meticulously rebuilt on the bodies of those who died for them.

# data[].attributes.headline
Slavic beliefs - before we became Catholic 

# data[].attributes.subject
Slavic beliefs - before we became Catholic 

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
small, What Is Known About Slavic Mythology, swiatowid_forum_0.jpg, Świętowit vel Svantevit, a statue of the pagan Slavic god; Photo: Andrzej Sidor / Forum #heritage#culture

Unlike some creatures of ancient Slavic demonology, like vampires and strigoi, which went on to earn a good deal of worldwide notoriety and even became part of popular culture, Slavic mythology remains to a large extent a terra incognita.

But the awe-inspiring names of Perun, Veles, Svantevit, and Triglav testify to a much larger (if also largely forgotten) realm of Slavic myth and religion. Unfortunately our pagan ancestors left almost no traces of their religion, rituals, and myths. We have no surviving testimonies of Slavic prayers or myths, little iconography and hardly any artefacts - and certainly no spectacular archaeological finds, like the ruins of ancient Slavic temples. In fact, much of what we know about Slavic religion comes from Christian chroniclers writing their accounts at a time when Slavic religion was already in decline.

All of this doesn't mean that our knowledge about Slavic religion amounts to nothing. For historians of Slavic religions, this lack of source material was a challenge - a call to resort to other methods and reconstruction, like drawing on the finds of other disciplines, such as linguistics, ethnology, archeology, comparative religion, and Indo-European studies, as well as searching for surviving relics of the ancient pagan religion still present in the tales, legends, and customs of the Slavic folk. Their results can often be called sensational.

So if you've ever wondered about multi-headed Slavic idols, horse divination, human sacrifices (allegedly made by Slavic peoples), and Slavic cosmogony, read on. (For the Slavic Myth of Creation go here)

Gods

While it's not certain if the Slavic religion had an organized pantheon of gods comparable to other Indo-European peoples like the Greeks, Romans or Scandinavians, Slavs surely had their deities. While many of them can reflect a more ancient shared Indo-European past, it remains disputable whether these gods were worshipped on the whole vast expanses of Slavic Europe (which ranged from the Baltic to the Black Sea) or rather varied depending on the locale and specific Slavic tribe.

Perun

Perun is undoubtedly the highest god of the Slavic Pantheon. Worshipped across wide expanses of Slavic Europe and even beyond (as Perkunas he also appears in Baltic mythology), Perun is the reigning lord of the heavens, and the god of lightning and thunder. As a thunder-god he has been compared to Zeus in Greek or Thor in Norse mythology.

The name Perun itself goes back to the Proto-European root * per- or * perk-, meaning 'to hit, or strike' and can be translated as 'He who strikes'. In fact, the name of this ancient god survives in the Polish language, where it came to denote 'thunder'( piorun).

While Perun was likely worshipped across the whole area of Slavic settlement, he is best attested for in Eastern Slavic sources. According to the early Ruthenian chronicles, Prince Vladimir the Great erected a cult statue of Perun (along with other Pagan idols) outside of his palace in Kiev shortly after he started his rule in 980. The statue of Perun was made of wood with a silver head and a golden moustache.

As the greatest Slavic god, Perun was considered equal in power to the new Christian God. This however was no mitigating circumstance, as in 988 shortly after the Kiev Duchy adopted Christianity, the same ruler ordered that the pagan idols be destroyed. The greatest of them, Perun, was tied to a horse, dragged down a hill, and repeatedly beaten with sticks, before being eventually thrown into the Dnieper River. Vladimir then ordered that the statue be floated downstream until it passed the Dnieper Rapids. Only then should the soldiers leave it. The place where the idol washed ashore, as the chronicler adds, came to be known as Perunja Ren' (the Shallows of Perun).

Incarnations of Perun

It is likely that the cult of Perun and the god himself took on different forms and names, depending on where it was worshipped across the vast expanses of Slavic Europe. This goes for a peculiar triad of gods worshipped on the island of Rugia (Slavic Rana, today Rügen off the German Baltic coast) which in Middle Ages was inhabited by the Slavic tribes of Rani (or Ruiani).

The highest god of the island was called Ruievit (a name that can be translated as the Lord of Rugia). According to descriptions, the idol of Ruievit worshipped on the island had seven faces and seven swords fixed around his waist, with the eighth sword firmly placed in the god's hand.

The two other gods Porevit and Porenut also had multi-faced idols, typical of the Slavic religious cult. The statue of Porevit sported five heads and Porenut had four (with a fifth face carved into his chest). While the name of Porevit (reconstructed as 'lord of force') suggests that his domain was mostly that of the military power, the name of Porenut could point to another fact, namely that Porenut was the son of Perun (Pol. Piorunic). This in turn, as Aleksander Gieysztor suggests, could be an argument for a theory that Ruievit was just another name for Perun, namely the Perun ruling over the Rugia, with Porevit and Porenut acting as his twin sons.

Veles

Veles (or Volos) is sometimes called the second most important god of Slavic religion. The old Ruthenian chronicle which calls him skotiy bog makes him the god of cattle. This would also position him as the god of wealth (as cattle was one of the main markers of a family's wealth). Other hints suggest he could have been linked to such domains as magic, poetry, oaths, the underworld, and the dead.

Veles is sometimes seen as the mythical antagonist of Perun, part of a structural pattern that may reflect a more ancient Indo-European myth of a primordial rivalry between the two opposing supreme deities (compare: Mitra and Varuna in Hindu mythology). Historians and ethnographers suspect that the relics of this ancient notion may have survived even centuries after Christianisation, and can be found in the Slavic Cosmogonic myth which transposes the same theme of rivalry between God and the Devil (See below: Slavic Creation Myth), the latter being a version of Veles. This identification can be observed in Czech folklore as late as the 16th century, where the phrase 'Jdi za moře k Velesu' (Go across the sea to Veles!) means 'Go to the devil!'.

Triglav

Another god connected to oath-making and divination, Triglav is best attested for the Pomerania region (Baltic Coast). In fact, he may be only a local form of Veles.

A three-headed statue of Triglav in Szczecin was described by Christian writers as covering its mouth and eyes with a golden encasement which was interpreted as the god's refusal to witness people's sins. The three heads of the god stood for the three realms ruled by Triglav: the heavens, the Earth, and the underworld.

Sventovit

Called also Svetovid and, Sventovit may be the most famous of all multi-headed Slavic gods. He was worshipped in Arcona on the island of Rügen (Rugia), where a monumental statue of him stood in the central point of the temple. According to the Danish historian Saxo Grammaticus, the figure had four heads and four necks, and held a drinking horn in one hand. Saxo also mentions that the style of the idol's moustache and hairdo as mimicking the local fashion. He also recounted numerous forms of war divination performed around the temple, often involving a white horse, a holy animal of Sventovit, which may suggest that the deity had similar functions to Veles and Triglav.

Another god similar to Sventovit and a possible incarnation of the mighty Perun is Jarovit (Gerovit). Venerated in Wolgast (in Pomerania) and Havelberg (inhabited by the Polabian tribe of Brezani) he was compared by the Medieval Christian scribes to Mars, Roman god of war.

The twilight of the Slavic gods

In 1168 Arcona, which had been the last point of resistance of the Polabian Slavs, was seized by the Danes under King Valdemar I. The event became the symbolical end of not only Slavic resistance but also the Slavic pagan religion. In a brutal display of power, the Christian invaders led by Bishop Absalon destroyed the ancient cult venues and idols, including the statue of Svantevit. As described by Polish historian Karol Modzelewski:

The crowd of pagan followers watched as the armed invaders violated one taboo sphere after another. The fence around the shrine was taken apart, the curtains which enshrouded the statue were torn down, two men were ordered to chop down the legs of the sacred figure. Then a piece of rope was put around the god's neck, as he was dragged to the victorious camp, where the kitchen servants would chop him up for firewood.

The last moments of Svantevit are described by Saxo Grammaticus:

With a gigantic crash the idol tumbled to earth. The swaths of purple drapery which hung about the sanctuary certainly glittered, but were so rotten with decay that they could not survive being touched. The sanctum also contained the prodigious horns of wild animals, astonishing no less in themselves than in their ornamentation. A devil was seen departing from the innermost shrine in the guise of a black animal, until it disappeared abruptly from the gaze of bystanders.

These were the last moments of Svantevit and the Slavic religion. In the Eastern (Ukraine, Belarus, Russia) and Western (Poland, Czech) regions inhabited by the Slavs, the pagan cult had been extirpated even earlier following the conversion to Christianity in the 10th century.

Other gods

Stribog - god of wealth and winds.

Mokosh - one of the few female goddesses in the Slavic pantheon, but her origins likely go back to the mythology of Finno-Ugric tribes. She was linked with the cult of the Great Mother.

Svarog - god of the sun, celestial fire, and blacksmithing; sometimes identified with the Greek Hephaistos. The popularity of Svarog in Western Slavic lands is reflected in such geographic names as Swarzędz in Wielkopolska or Schwerin (Slav. Svazhin) in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.

Dažbog - son of Svarog (and hence also known as Svarožič), like his father also a solar deity, god of the sacred fire of the hearth.

Hors - one of the deities worshipped in Vladimir's Kiev before Christianity; possibly a lunar deity, Hors comes from Iranian mythology.

Semargl - was a deity of vegetation, connected with good harvests; like Hors it must be derived from Iranian mythology, where a similar creature, a griffin with a dog's body, is known as Simurgh.

Spirits and demonology

Obviously, apart from the major gods, Slavic religion had a whole array of lesser deities, local gods, house spirits, and demons. The most important of those was likely Rod - a Slavic personification of fate. Rod was usually accompanied by Rozhanitsy - invisible female creatures who immediately after a child's birth decide as to its destiny (similar to Roman Parcae or Greek Moirai; i.e. Fates). The name of both Rod and Rozhanitzy goes back to Slavic root meaning 'birth'. A similar concept is Dola, a female deity or protective spirit which takes care of the household and sometimes nurses children.

The afterlife

We know very little about the Slavic concepts of life after death. However, the diverse array of blood-thirsty demons, like upiers (Pol. upiór), vampires ( wąpierz, wampierz), and strigoi ( strzyga), which survived in Slavic folklore long after Christianization, could suggest a rather grim notion of the afterlife of the Slavic soul.

Slavic cult

Little is known of rituals and cult venues in Slavic religion. It seems likely that many ceremonies were performed in the open air, around natural venues, like holy trees (oaks, in particular, as linked to Perun), groves, river sources, hills, and stones. Christian writers also mention and sometimes carefully describe pagan temples, like the Sventovit temple in Arcona. However these 'pagan churches' are attested primarily as late as 11th and 12th centuries and are limited to Polabia and Pomerania. This led some scholars to suspect that these structures may be rather a late Pagan reaction to the advance of Christianity and its architecture.

Human sacrifice?

According to Thietmar of Merseburg, Slavic gods liked the taste of human and animal blood. Another Medieval scribe depicts in detail the gory martyrdom in 1066 of a Mecklemburg bishop, John, whose head was sacrificed to the god Radegost. And human sacrifice was also attributed to Perun. While these are all late testimonies (and coming from Christian writers), many scholars consider human sacrifice as not an altogether improbable element of the Slavic religion. As analogies with other cultures show, human sacrifice could have been a functional element of early Indo-European religion, even in as late and as 'civilized' cultures as the Roman Republic (compare the human sacrifice ordered by Julius Caesar at the Campus Martialis in 46 BC).

A more typical feature of Slavic religious ritual was horse divination. Horses (often white) appear in many records of Slavic ritual war divination. The horse's behaviour was crucial in the community's decision-making process regarding such decisions as going to war, waging a battle, etc.

Slavic creation myth?

How about a set of Slavic myths and beliefs? We have very little information as to the original rites and the underlying myths of the Slavic religion. No extant mythical corpus (tales explaining the origins of man, world, etc) and scant information from Christian writers have forced scholars to look for this material elsewhere. Slavic folklore in particular turned out a particularly fruitful ground of research: it turned out that the ancient pagan tales told many centuries after the introduction of Christianity preserved some of the most rudimental Slavic mythical conceptions. One of such tales, told by a Polish peasant from near Sieradz in the late 19th century, may actually tell us a lot about how Slavic peoples imagined the beginnings of the world:

In the beginning there was nothing other than heaven and ocean, God in his boat, and a devil emerging from the sea foam. He sat next to the God. It was the Devil who suggested to God the idea of creating the world, as he couldn't accomplish it himself. The Devil dived in and came back with a handful of sand taken from the bottom. God scattered it on water and created the beginnings of the Earth, which however was so small that they both hardly fit. God and Devil inhabited the Earth, when the Devil decided he would push the sleeping God off into the water. But all he did was to make the Earth grow from the God's side, from the East, and from his side from the West. The two creators started an argument which ended with God withdrawing to the Heavens, and the Devil being precipitated into the abyss by God's thunderbolts.

The Iranian roots of Slavic religion?

As Aleksander Gieysztor, one of the most accomplished scholars of Slavic religion, observed, this cosmogonic myth weaves together two motifs typical of Indo-European mythology: one is the oceanic origin of all Being, from which all life originates, the other is the dualistic aspect of creation, a result of the collaboration of the two otherwise antagonistic mythical figures.

These figures in the story told to ethnographers by a 19th-century Polish peasant are represented by God and the Devil, but as Gieysztor suggests, they maybe only names behind which much more ancient deities hide, like, why not, Perun and Veles (compare the thunderbolts).

The radically dualistic aspect of this myth, known best from Iranian mythology (compare Ahur Mazda and Ariman) is further explained by the long-time close relations which connected Slavs and Iranian tribes (like the Sarmatians) living in the northern Black Sea area. In fact, as Gieysztor proves, much of the most essential Slavic religious vocabulary owes to these close neighbourly ties, including the words for heavens (Slavic nebo, Iranian nabah) or god (Slavic bog vs Iranian baga). Which is yet another fascinating chapter in the little known history of Slavic religion.
Bibliography:
Aleksander Gieysztor, Mitologia Słowian, Warsaw 2006

Henryk Łowmiański, Religia Słowian i jej upadek, Warsaw 1979

Piotr Węcowski, Perun i inni [aricle] in: "Polityka: 966 Narodziny Polski - Pomocnik Historyczny".

Author: Mikołaj Gliński, March 2016

Slavic mythology heritage Christianity history of Poland history Slavic gods Perun Triglav Veles mythology [{"nid":"42353","uuid":"bc8c15f2-b969-4fc0-99e9-76528f7e7d26","type":"article","langcode":"en","field_event_date":"","title":"What Is Known About Slavic Mythology","field_introduction":"Unlike some creatures of ancient Slavic demonology, like vampires and strigoi, which went on to earn a good deal of worldwide notoriety and even became part of popular culture, Slavic mythology remains to a large extent a terra incognita.","field_summary":"Unlike some creatures of ancient Slavic demonology, like vampires and strigoi, which went on to earn some worldwide notoriety and even became part of popular culture, Slavic mythology remains to a large extent a terra incognita.","path":"/en/article/what-is-known-about-slavic-mythology","topics_data":"a:2:{i:0;a:3:{s:3:"tid";s:5:"59624";s:4:"name";s:9:"#heritage";s:4:"path";a:2:{s:5:"alias";s:15:"/topic/heritage";s:8:"langcode";s:2:"en";}}i:1;a:3:{s:3:"tid";s:5:"59644";s:4:"name";s:8:"#culture";s:4:"path";a:2:{s:5:"alias";s:14:"/topic/culture";s:8:"langcode";s:2:"en";}}}","field_cover_display":"default","image_title":"","image_alt":"","image_360_auto":"/sites/default/files/styles/360_auto/public/field/image/swiatowid_forum_0_0.jpg?itok=ed7D3oyT","image_260_auto":"/sites/default/files/styles/260_auto_cover/public/field/image/swiatowid_forum_0_0.jpg?itok=kFXei7jT","image_560_auto":"/sites/default/files/styles/560_auto/public/field/image/swiatowid_forum_0_0.jpg?itok=vnxYVlA_","image_860_auto":"/sites/default/files/styles/860_auto/public/field/image/swiatowid_forum_0_0.jpg?itok=Z_FMU9o8","image_1160_auto":"/sites/default/files/styles/1160_auto/public/field/image/swiatowid_forum_0_0.jpg?itok=gVdJOMiR","field_video_media":"","field_media_video_file":"","field_media_video_embed":"","field_gallery_pictures":"","field_duration":"","cover_height":"249","cover_width":"440","cover_ratio_percent":"56.5909"}]

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
small, What Is Known About Slavic Mythology, swiatowid_forum_0.jpg, Świętowit vel Svantevit, a statue of the pagan Slavic god; Photo: Andrzej Sidor / Forum #heritage #culture Unlike some creatures of ancient Slavic demonology, like vampires and strigoi, which went on to earn a good deal of worldwide notoriety and even became part of popular culture, Slavic mythology remains to a large extent a terra incognita.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
SKŁADANKA MARYLI RODOWICZ - KLASYKA POLSKIEJ MUZYKI!!!

# data[].attributes.headline
Lekcja 6 - a catch up material for those who missed last lesson/ revision for all. 

# data[].attributes.subject
Lekcja 6 - a catch up material for those who missed last lesson/ revision for all. 

# data[].attributes.body
Please ignore the last comment in the video - as I was attempting the recording of the last page, my phone refused to cooperate and I was unable to finish... We will go over the grammar and vocabulary again during the next lesson. I hope you find it helpful :)