The Undeniable Power of Poland

www.ozy.com [OZY]() The newsletter to fuel — and thrill — your mind. Read for deep dives into the unmissable ideas and topics shaping our world. Jan 10, 2022 TODAY You know when the Polish jokes stopped? Right around the time a Polish shipyard electrician led a pro-democratic movement that crashed communism in Poland and catapulted him to statesmanhood and a Nobel Peace Prize. Lech Wałęsa became the first president of a non-communist Poland and suddenly the jokes stopped. Sure, Polish Pope John Paul II helped, but the heavy lifting? All Wałęsa. So goodbye to set-ups of people derided as not so bright. And hello to something more in keeping with…reality? Then a floodgate of the curious opens on an entire history that was there the whole time but for the jokes. Marie Curie? A Polish scientist. Don’t let the French last name fool you (that was her married name). Frédéric François Chopin? He was born Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin. People may still argue about his nationality, but the fact remains that. Nicolaus Copernicus? He was born in Poland as well. And resisting the temptation to romanticize it, it’s worth remembering that it’s a place with real people, 38.5 million at last count, real problems and a history that both factors in misery and documents survival in spite of it. RUMORS OF ITS DEMISE? A SKOSH PREMATURE 1 - Essex Vs. Krakow: Discuss The right-leaning political tides in Albion have had Brits searching for someone to be cranky with now that South Asians and Blacks from the Caribbean have become part of the local tapestry of generalized racist abuse, so naturally the gyre’s turned, Brexit-fueled, and it’s the Poles’ turn. A minority underclass in England and heavily represented in the jobs that Brits don’t want to do, Poles in the U.K. have been drawing disfavor. [So their response? So long.]( 2 - And When China Comes a-Calling After existing for years as a junior “partner” to the Soviets, Poland has weathered a relatively decentralized world that has them [making strange bedfellows]( with the other formerly great communist power, China (snark alert: China is, actually, still supposed to be a communist country). While part of that has been an energy issue and their mutual attraction to coal, surprisingly, some of it also has everything to do with clean energies. So carbon-footprint-wise, maybe two steps back and three steps forward, it’s a calculation that Poland thinks works for it. 3 - Flexing the Worst Kind of Muscle Poland’s ruling party — the uncomfortably nationalist/populist Law and Justice (PiS) party — ushered in its second term in one of the worst ways possible: by tightening what was already one of Europe’s most restrictive anti-abortion laws. The resulting backlash that saw thousands hit the streets in protest has seen the government take a predictable, if not totally obvious, next step: It vetoed the EU’s trillion euro coronavirus recovery package. Because? Objections over the provision requiring that participating countries respect the “rule of law.” Apparently, [a bridge too far]( for the hard right wing PiS party. 4 - Or IS It Premature? Are aggressively right-wing/nationalist governments going to be able to sculpt sufficiently profitable futures for all of its citizens to make it work as a country? This remains to be seen. With inflation in Poland on the rise, are the recent anti-democratic moves good for business? [Some say no](. Some say hell no. However, one of the more notable doomsayers, sociologist Jan Sowa, predicted that with waves of residents emigrating, leaving behind a sizable number making a subsistence living, there was a possibility that Poland [would cease to exist by 2020](. As of this writing? Poland exists still. So there’s that. BEYOND THE POLITICS 1 - The Fame, The Fashion We’re unsure of what you have to do to earn the nickname “the Donatella Versace of Poland,” but whatever it is, [Ewa Minge did it](. While not widely known for or appreciated as a fashion hub, Poland shows definitively that it’s not the place that manages to pull it off but the people from that place. Case in point was the ur-fashion of Ms. Minge, whose mixture of design acumen and business smarts is a thing of beauty to behold. 2 - For Those About to Polish Rock Rock and pop music in Poland is a serious thing. Especially when you consider that prior to the fall of communism, it was largely something that had to be sneaked in and enjoyed the way that you enjoy drugs. So if you’re [a rock musician]( of a certain age, and you’ve been making music for awhile? You’re an outlaw. And is there anything cooler than hanging out with outlaws? 3 - Hit the Ground Running. And Running. And Running. Unless you’re from the Netherlands, one of the first things you might notice going to Poland is that, suddenly, you’re short. But even more than Poles being physically large, something in the national character — resilience, determination and the ability to endure misery — has built strong athletes, triathletes in fact. Which is why, COVID-19 variants be damned, the [European Ironman Triathlon]( is scheduled to be run, cycled and swum in August 2022. Watching or participating? Set your watches and mark your calendars. 4 - Zipping Up Your Boots. Getting Back to Your Roots With genealogy trackers and the possibility that one of the 38.5 million people in Poland — diced and sliced first by the Nazis and then the Soviets — might be a relative, an industry has sprung up that our writer took full advantage of. Armed with a 67-year-old letter from a great-grandfather, and a genealogical assist from local researcher Zenon Znamirowski to assist, he was off to [discover invisible family]( made visible and a country he barely knew. THE DARK 1 - Boxing Out of Auschwitz The choice was simple for 18-year-old Hertzka Haft: [fight or die](. Simple but not strange given that he was in Auschwitz and had been pressed into service entertaining Nazis in the way that best suited his build and interests: boxing. And while you’ve heard coaches say that winning is not everything, in Auschwitz it most certainly was as opponents he beat were typically put to death. A horror no matter how you shook it. Especially when you consider Haft’s post-war career was … yes, a boxer. A compelling tale of tough choices and what it does to you to have to make them. 2 - A Rather Singular Angel of Mercy Arrested. Tortured. Sentenced to death. For life during wartime, this might not be considered unusual. But to escape and return to what got you sentenced to death in the first place — rescuing Jewish children from the Warsaw ghetto who were to be shipped off to certain death at Auschwitz — was. At the very least not many had done this, which is why [Irena Sendler]( is such a figure of major note. Despite the fact that the PiS party today objects to the camps being called Polish death camps, the concentration camps at Auschwitz, in Poland, were exactly that. Which Sendler knew and worked her level best to stop. 3 - Death Semantics The imbroglio over whether the death camps established, built and run by Nazis during World War II should be called [German death camps or Polish death camps]( resurfaced in 2018 and shows no sign of reaching any kind of clear conclusion anytime soon. Initially kicked off in 2012 when, during a medal ceremony, President Barack Obama casually referred to the Polish death camps, it struck a nerve. Were the Poles victims? Always? Or perpetrators? Sometimes? The jury is out, the debate rages on. 4 - A Nice Day for a Wedding The happiest day of your life? A day you’ll never forget? Both? When you step out of the church in Poland and look up into the sky to see planes flying by emblazoned with swastikas, that’s a fair certainty. Life will never be the same and it wasn’t. But when you get [married the same day that the Nazis invaded]( Poland, there’s another guarantee: Anything after that has to be just a little bit better. THE LIGHT 1 - Letting the Ground Grow Anew We have a friend whose family was chased out of Poland, then Prague, becoming stateless and eventually making their way to Switzerland. Given all of the places he had been and all of the languages he learned to speak, where did he choose to live? Berlin. Because? “Because!” Similarly, a New Yorker went from Queens to Israel and then to Krakow — his one intention being? [To resurrect Jewish life]( in a city where it had been decimated during the war years. Because? BECAUSE! 2 - Game Time! Despite aggressively nationalist rumblings from PiS, and a troubled history even before the Nazi invasion, Poland has stepped into modernity with a quickness. Straight into the brand new, shiny world of all things high tech including, very significantly, [the video game industry](. Also known as a license to print money. But with the country’s third biggest video game company not printing but selling $21 million of video games, it’s pretty clear, commerce in Poland will not be stopped. So, you can code? Get thee to Warsaw! 3 - Polish Tango? The ubiquity of hip-hop means, of course, there’s got to be Polish hip-hop. Though Polish is one of the hardest languages to learn, that in no way is a reflection that it would not work as rhyming slang. And so it is that [Taco Hemingway](, one of the biggest rap stars in Poland (real name Filip Szczesniak) just had a hugely significant song released. Called “Polskie Tango” or “Polish Tango,” it criticizes the ruling party PiS and put Hemingway right in the middle of culture wars raging over left-leaning folks who sympathize with his patriotic anti-PiS take and right-wing nationalists who want to beat his head in. Sounds eerily familiar. 4 - And a Plus-Size Polish Émigré Emerges The claim that Poland has not caught up to body positivity, plus-size sexy is maybe just one reason that [Romi Chase left Warsaw]( for Miami, but she could have run her thriving OnlyFans sexy emporium from there just as easily. But in the weather sweepstakes? Miami wins out over Warsaw, and so there she is killing it in Miami and refusing to lose a single pound while doing it. Go Deeper What to read: - [A Minor Apocalypse]( (1979), Tadeusz Konwicki: One of the funniest, darkest and most deeply Polish books ever. The book starts out with an artist being handed a can of gas and a pack of matches and being told to set himself aflame on the stairs of Congress that night as a form of protest. A more famous artist’s death would overshadow why he was doing it. A lesser artist would be overshadowed by the fiery death. It is our narrator’s perfect mediocrity that got him chosen. Does he do it? Does he not? Mandatory reading to get the answer to that. - [Being There]( (1970), Jerzy Kosiński: Better known for the movie of the same name starring Peter Sellers, Kosiński’s novel is a wicked satire about what happens when nature doesn’t so much abhor a vacuum as it does extol the great virtues of vacuum-hood. Every empty platitude uttered by our lead protagonist is misread as deeply significant. A perfect avatar for the last 40 years of American political life. Kosiński, sadly, also killed himself. His suicide note read: "I am going to put myself to sleep now for a bit longer than usual. Call it Eternity." What to watch: - Day of the Wacko ([Polish](: Dzień świra) (2002): Despite a history of pain and serial invasions, the Polish sense of humor, both dark and biting, cuts deep and wide. Marek Koterski’s film follows the attempts of an OCD-riddled teacher to write a verse over a never-ending series of seemingly endless interruptions. A winner of several Polish film awards, Day of the Wacko is wickedly funny. - Ida (2013): And we’re BACK. To? To wartime miseries. Ida, though it’s based in 1962, is about a Jewish girl orphaned during World War II and delivered to a nunnery to be raised. Directed by Paweł Pawlikowski and written by Pawlikowski and Rebecca Lenkiewicz, the film touches on the trouble wrought by Hitler, Stalin and to a certain degree the church. In the shape of a dark road flick, the two female leads — Ida, the would-be nun, and her aunt, a Red Wanda prosecutor during the Soviet occupation — Ida was a sensation when it was released. Well worth a walk down terror lane. What to listen to: - [iSing](: Two Polish brothers coded their asses off, and they came up with an app-based karaoke solution that features multiple singers, groups and sing-offs — all in a grand effort to turn the World Wide Web into the biggest karaoke bar ever. Depending on your feelings about karaoke, this is either the greatest thing in the world or the worst. However, side note: If you’re a musician, it opens up a heretofore uncovered revenue stream. - [Polcast](: This podcast, while based in Toronto, is hosted by Polish ex-pats Tomasz Kniat and Małgorzata Bonikowska. If, in general, you dig on magazine style programming, this is the place to go to Polish-ize your daily doings. Polish Radio has syndicated the show as well, so it’s exactly what you might be listening to if you were in Poland and interested in things like … Polish recipes, for example. [8Chan Creator Fredrick Brennan on 'The Carlos Watson Show']( You may not know the name Fredrick Brennan but you have certainly felt his impact. Today, the creator of controversial imageboard 8Chan join the show. Brennan opens up about his difficult childhood in foster care and experience with brittle bone disease, internet “incel” culture and his regrets. Plus, don’t miss his deep dive into the dangerous QAnon, who he thinks is behind it, why former President Trump fueled the fire and why he sees a fascist coup still to come. To listen to the full, unedited conversation between Carlos and [#FredrickBrennan](, subscribe to the podcast version of the show here: [( [Watch now]( ABOUT OZY OZY is a diverse, global and forward-looking media and entertainment company focused on “the New and the Next.” OZY creates space for fresh perspectives and offers new takes on everything from news and culture to technology, business, learning and entertainment. 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