Things have really reached boiling point and one could colloquially add that the shit really has hit the fan in Poland. A ‘faecal’ assailant soiled the plaque commemorating the death of President Lech Kaczyński and 95 other passengers in the Smolensk air tragedy. A 71-year-old threw a strategically aimed pot of poo at the memorial tablet in central Warsaw. He was arrested by police and taken away. This follows several months of squabbling over what should happen to the cross that was temporarily erected outside the Presidential Palace by scouts in memory of the victims of the Smolensk tragedy.
José Luis Zapatero & Jarek Kaczyński - Feel the Love
It all started when President Bronisław Komorowski announced that the temporary wooden cross should be transferred to a more appropriate place, specifically Saint Anne’s Church, not far from the Presidential Palace. The cross is of course a religious symbol and not a symbol of state and it is inappropriate to leave it outside the Presidential Palace. His comments kicked off a storm with Jarosław Kaczyński claiming Komorowski was anti-catholic and a proponent of the evil of what he termed ‘Zapaterism’.
Crucifixion Anyone?
The odd thing is that no one, apart from Jarosław Kaczyński, seems to know what evil deed it is that Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero has done. With a lack of decent policies, sound ideas and competent opinions, Kaczyński has been using the cross as a political makeweight. In fact, he has said that the policies of Law & Justice (PiS) will now revolve around the Smolensk tragedy. Kaczyński is literally crucifying his own party and followers in pursuit of his own personal mission. His personal loss seems to have clouded his judgement and the cross has begun to symbolise his hurt rather than the mission of Christ and his followers. Those so-called ‘defenders’ of the cross are to Catholics what hooligans are to regular football fans.
Christian or Fascist?
A fine example of the utter blindness of these so-called Christians was their behaviour when the day came to move the cross. Priests from Saint Anne’s came to lead the cross in procession from the Presidential Palace to Saint Anne’s Church. The reaction of these ‘Catholics’ was to scream and shout at the Catholic priests calling them traitors and, of all things, “Jews”. Odd, to say the least. We have reached an impasse and the only real way to resolve it is for the two main protagonists, President Komorowski and Jarosław Kaczyński, to sit down and reach an adequate compromise. Then again pigs might fly…
Jan Wróbel in a recent article in Wirtualna Polska talks about the ‘rydzykisation’ (pol. rydzykizacja) of not only Poland but surprisingly also of Civic Platform (PO). He is, of course, referring to Tadeusz Rydzyk the de facto head of catholic Radio Maryja and catholic TV station TV Trwam. He claims that although ‘rydze’ (pol. red pine mushrooms – a pun on the word Rydzyk) have been growing in the fields of Law and Justice (PiS) for quite some time, PO has now become infested. Wróbel believes the tide is turning. Many people were overjoyed when PiS was defeated in the parliamentary elections and the three-headed PiS-Samoobrona-LPR monster was resoundingly vanquished. However, the Smoleńsk tragedy changed all that and Law and Justice, like a phoenix from the flames, has returned and is ready to do battle.
Kaczyński - King of Conservatives
Civic Platform could have never expected the support with which millions of people endowed Lech Kaczyński following his death in Smolensk. In many ways, he is a martyr… a political martyr. His death has in many ways helped turn around the fortunes of both PiS and his brother Jarosław Kaczyński. Before his death, all polls were showing a landslide victory for Bronisław Komorowski against Lech Kaczyński. Following the tragedy, Jarosław Kaczyński was only several percentage points away from defeating Komorowski in the presidential campaign. Radio Maryja and TV Trwam helped in this campaign but the truth of the matter is that many people were simply fed up with PO’s promises, PR and politicking. They wanted more substance and Jarosław Kaczyński was the man to give it to them.
Palikot - the Real Demon
Even though Komorowski won, Civic Platform wants revenge. It wants revenge for all those weeks of post-Smolensk emotional turmoil, Kaczyński adulation and Kaczyński hero worship. It too needs its Rydzyk, a hate-filled character that can move mountains. Civic Platform has unleashed its biggest monster. PO has unleashed Janusz Palikot. Compared to him, Tadeusz Rydzyk is a cherub. When we talk about a rydzykisation of Polish politics, we are actually talking about a politics of negation, of antipathy and of hate. Rydzyk has perfected this to an art (to the benefit of PiS). Now PO, with all their talk of a politics of love, of positivity and cooperation, are doing the same with Palikot. Is he, as so many supporters of PiS believe, a harbinger of moral decay, or is he a sobering force in Poland’s emotional-driven political battleground?
If anyone had previously believed Poland was a secular state there is no doubt now that the opposite is true following the tragic Smolensk air crash. In some ways it was comforting to see the very public outpouring of grief after the disaster but what was striking were the religious overtones that accompanied the grief. Mourners spoke of the “need” to join in grief and the “duty” of every “real Polish, Catholic patriot” to say goodbye to the President. What was even more striking were the mourners who queued for up to eighteen hours to kneel and make the sign of the cross before the coffins of President Lech Kaczyński and Maria Kaczyński. To outsiders looking in, it would appear that tens of thousands of Polish people were saying farewell to a holy man, a saint perhaps.
The Virgin Mary's New Clothes
Now it seems that a piece of the Tupolev Tu-154 has taken on Holy Relic status. Inhabitants of Smolensk found a small piece of the plane and gifted it to Poland. Father Roman Majewski of the Jasna Góra Monastery, Poland’s most famous holy sanctuary, has said that this relic will become “a testament to the tragedy and a symbol of our love for our nation”. The tiny piece of the Tupolev Tu-154 will adorn the new ‘robes and crown’ of the Black Madonna of Częstochowa, Poland’s holiest relic. As well as the piece of the Tupolev, the Virgin Mary’s new robes, designed by Mariusz Drapikowski, will also contain fragments of meteorites found on the Moon, Mars and Mercury.
It occurred to me that it has been twenty years since Poland regained its freedom way back in 1989. Twenty years of ‘transformation’ (as Polish people like to call it) have fashioned the country that we now call Poland. I wonder whether everything that has happened over these twenty years is a consequence of the baggage of communism. Could some things have been avoided? Could Poland have taken a different route? Below is a list of (what I think to be) the most important events in Poland of the last twenty years (in chronological order):
Defining Moment?
Round Table Talks (5th April 1989) A constant bone of contention between Law and Justice (PiS) and Poland’s other political parties. This is the moment when the communists decide to sit down and discuss with Solidarity the future of Poland.
Rydzyk Radio (9th December 1991) Radio Maryja is founded in Toruń. After a mere three years this local Catholic radio station, the patron of which is controversial cleric Father Tadeusz Rydzyk, obtains a licence to broadcast nationally helping it later become the voice of right-wing Polish Catholicism.
War Upstairs (4th June 1992) Jan Olszewski’s weak minority government is toppled by President Lech Wałęsa who, fearing a backlash and possible coup d’etat following Antoni Macierewicz’s much-maligned Vetting Act, decides to put an end to the Olszewski-Kaczyński-Macierewicz madness.
Charitable Change?
Orchestrating Help (3rd January 1993) Jerzy Owsiak sets in motion what will later become the largest and most celebrated charitable event in Polish history. The very first Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity raised $1.5 million, an unprecedented sum in a country new to such events.
Russians Leave (17th September 1993) In what turns out to be a major coup for Lech Wałęsa and a welcome surprise for Poles, Russian President Boris Yeltsin agrees to the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Poland. In mid September, President Wałęsa bids farewell to the last of the Russian soldiers.
Poland Joins NATO (12th March 1999) Finally, after years of oppression, Polish people around the world breathe a sigh of relief when Minister of Foreign Affairs Bronisław Geremek signs Poland’s NATO membership agreement.
Changing Europe?
Poland Joins EU (1st May 2004) Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) leader and Prime Minister, Leszek Miller signs the paperwork in April 2003, the referendum takes place in June 2003 and within less than a year, Poland becomes a fully-fledged member of Europe’s finest club.
Death of Hope (2nd April 2005) The death of John Paul II marked the end of an era for many. During his papacy he travelled to more countries than any previous Vicar of Rome. For Poles, his death also marked the passing of their chief flag-bearer, spiritual leader and beacon of hope.
Poland Going Euro (18th April 2007) Much to the amazement of all concerned, Michel Platini, head of UEFA, announces that the joint bid by Poland and Ukraine to host the European Football Championships in 2012 is victorious. Poland’s future is looking brighter…
Soaring Higher?
Buzek Tops (14th July 2009) Former Polish Prime Minister takes the helm of the European Parliament becoming Poland’s first ever President of the European Parliament. Although not a particularly powerful post, it demonstrates Poland’s increasing influence in the EU.
It occurred to me that it has been over twenty years since Poland regained its freedom way back in 1989. Twenty years of ‘transformation’ (as Polish people like to call it) have fashioned the country that we now call Poland. I wonder whether everything that has happened over these twenty years is a consequence of the baggage of communism. Could some things have been avoided? Could Poland have taken a different route?
Some may argue that such questions are always futile and lead to nothing but frustration. I disagree. They may help us re-evaluate the reasons why certain decisions were taken, why leaders, politicians and media personalities did what they did, how this affected society, and how, in the future, we might be able to avoid some of the needless mistakes that were made.
Below is a list of (what I think to be) the most important events in Poland of the last twenty years (in chronological order):
Event No. 1: The Round Table Talks (5th April 1989)
A constant bone of contention between Law and Justice (PiS) and seemingly Poland’s other political parties. This was the moment when the communists decided to sit down and discuss with Solidarity the future of Poland.
Event No. 2: Rydzyk Radio (9th December 1991)
Radio Maryja is founded in Toruń. This local Catholic radio station, the patron of which is controversial cleric Father Tadeusz Rydzyk, obtains a licence to broadcast nationally three years after being founded later becoming the voice of right-wing Polish Catholicism.
Event No. 3: The Change Upstairs (4th June 1992)
Jan Olszewski’s weak minority government is toppled by President Lech Wałęsa who, fearing a backlash and possible coup d’etat following Antoni Macierewicz’s much-maligned Vetting Act, decides to put an end to the Olszewski-Kaczyński-Macierewicz madness.
Event No. 4: Orchestrating Help (3rd January 1993)
Jerzy Owsiak sets in motion what will later become the largest and most celebrated charitable event in Polish history. The very first Great Orchestra of Christmas Help raised $1.5 million, an unprecedented sum in a country new to such events.
Event No. 5: Russians Leave (17th September 1993)
What turned out to be one Lech Wałęsa’s major coups and much to the joyous surprise of the whole country, Russian President Boris Yelcyn agrees to the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Poland. In mid September, President Wałęsa bids farewell to the last of the Russian soldiers.
Event No. 6: Poland joins NATO (12th March 1999)
Finally, after years of oppression, Polish people around the world breathe a sigh of relief when Minister of Foreign Affairs Bronisław Geremek signs Poland’s NATO membership agreement.
Event No. 7: Poland joins the EU (1st May 2004)
Left Democratic Alliance (SLD) leader and Prime Minister, Leszek Miller signs the paperwork in April 2003, the referendum takes place in June 2003 and within less than a year, Poland becomes a fully-fledged member of Europe’s finest club.
Event No. 8: Death of Hope (2nd April 2005)
The death of John Paul II marked the end of an era for many. During his papacy he travelled to more countries than any previous Vicar of Rome. For Poles, his passing marked also the passing of their chief flag-bearer, spiritual leader and beacon of hope.
Event No. 9: Poland Going Euro (18th April 2007)
Much to the amazement of all concerned, Michel Platini, head of UEFA, announces that the joint bid by Poland and Ukraine to host the European Football Championships in 2012 is victorious. Poland’s future is looking brighter…
Event No. 10: Buzek Tops (14th July 2009)
Former Polish Prime Minister takes the helm of the European Parliament becoming Poland’s first ever President of the European Parliament. Although not a particularly powerful post, it demonstrates Poland’s increasing influence in the EU.
For a number of years now there has been a growing trend within right-wing Polish politics which is particularly perplexing. Right-wing politics is often equated with patriotic and nationalist sentiments, glorifying past (and present) achievements as well as demonstrating the greatness of one’s nation. However, attitudes within right-wing (and liberal) circles in Poland seem to be advocating a different approach. This approach reached its apex when Law and Justice (PiS) came to power in 2005.
The Christ Nation
Together with the far-right League of Polish Families (LPR) and populist Self-Defence (Samoobrona), this approach became entrenched and particularly visible in Polish foreign policy during the PiS years. Polish politics (heavily influenced by the Catholic church at the time) embraced an almost ‘Christic’ and/or ‘martyrological’ approach to their own history. Poland was seen by these politicians to be both the saviour and martyr of Europe, the ‘Christ’ of European nations.
The German Invasion
When arguing for Poland’s God-given right to have more votes in the EU’s then new system of voting, one of the Kaczyński brothers said that had it not been for World War II, Poland’s population would be greater and so they deserve more votes in the EU. This attitude continued throughout their term in office and continues today. Certain politicians feel Poland ‘deserves’ more because it suffered so much. This attitude of Poland being the ‘eternal victim’ is extremely dangerous for a number of reasons.
The Destruction of Self
Firstly, with it comes a large whiff of misplaced arrogance which, to the outside world, is particularly irritating when the only arguments that can be heard coming from the Polish camp are that Poland deserves more because it had to live though both Nazism and Communism. Secondly, when such a victim complex becomes entrenched its proponents begin to genuinely believe it. So much so that extolling the virtues of being a victim turns into a form of flagellation or even historical and political self-mutilation.
The New History
Recently, there has been much talk about historical revisionism. Russia particularly has been found guilty of practising the re-writing of history. However, is Poland’s victim status also a form of revisionism? Believing that Poland is forever Europe’s martyr is useful as it absolves the nation of crimes previously committed, such as Jedwabne or Operation Wisła. How can the victim have ever been the tormentor?
Inspired by what I had read and researched for a recent post, I decided to grab my bike and head down south to deepest, darkest Lemko Land. I decided to pick a place (or places) that were close to water. My destinations were the villages of Łosie and Klimkówka (the latter being created after the old Klimkówka had been cleared and flooded to make way for a reservoir). Armed only with my 15-year-old bike and mobile phone (with which to take pictures) I decided to attack this lost part of Europe and discover what hidden treasures this multicultural mountain land had to offer.
Kwiatoń Cerkiew
On my very first full day in the Low Beskids, in the heartland of what was once the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria, I decided to go in search of signs of the Greek Catholic culture which was once so rich in Poland. What remains of Greek Catholic (and indeed Orthodox) culture in Poland is a sprinkling of wooden cerkiews (churches) around south-eastern Poland. In Polish there is a distinction made between Roman Catholic kościół and Greek Catholic/Orthodox cerkiew. Also, Roman Catholics refer to their priest as ksiądz whereas Greek Catholics often refer to their priest as jegomość.
Leszczyny Cerkiew
I began my 60km biking marathon in search of Poland’s wooden (Lemko) Greek Catholic and Orthodox cerkiews starting with Łosie, followed by the picturesque Leszczyny, Kunkowa, Uście Górlickie, Kwiatoń (reckoned to be the most beautiful wooden cerkiew in Poland owing to its perfect proportions), Skwirtne, Gładyszów, Przysłup (high up on a hill) and Nowica (hidden in a forest). What struck me was that in many of these villages, the local cerkiew actually catered to three different parishes: Roman Catholic, Greek Catholic and Orthodox. A real religious melting pot.
Road-side Cyrillic
Certainly, evidence of this bubbling religious and cultural hotpot lies in the cerkiews dotted around the gorgeous landscape high upon the Beskid hilltops or in glades deep within the Beskid forests. But we can also see it in the numerous patriarchal (three-bar) crosses strewn across Lemko Land. These (Eastern Orthodox) stone crosses can be seen every few kilometres on all of the village roads in the Beskids. On closer inspection, the patriarchal crosses bear witness to the linguistic diversity of this region with inscriptions almost exclusively written in the Cyrillic script.
Bilingual Poland
Language is often seen as one of the chief factors that define a nation. Likewise, the Lemkos also have their own language: Rusyn. There are now decidedly fewer speakers of the Lemko dialect of Rusyn than before the war but the language is seeing somewhat of a revival with many villages taking a vote on whether they wish to introduce bilingual signs. Several villages have already decided to do so. With such a small number of Lemko inhabitants, this can only be undertaken with the goodwill of the Polish majority. Bielanka is such an example where the decision to introduce bilingual signs was passed with a one-vote majority.
Land of Legend
Łemkowszczyzna is not only a rich cultural, religious and linguistic mix but it is also a land full of stories, myths and legends. Every cerkiew on a hill, cross by the side of the road or wellspring has a story to tell – a reason for being there. Perhaps a demon was thwarted by a farmer, the Virgin Mary appeared to a young peasant girl or a spring burst out of the ground after an apparition had been seen wandering around the nearby field. One thing is sure in Lemko Land: that cerkiew, that cross and that mountain spring is still there and can still be seen.
History is all about ifs and buts and one particular region seems indicative of this statement. This region is Lemko Land, better known as Łemkowszczyzna or Lemkivshchyna. Sadly, the population of this region was decimated by Operation Wisła which forcibly repatriated and/or deported thousands of Lemkos changing the character of the region forever. It’s odd walking, cycling, driving around this beautiful area of Poland. Literally thousands of abandoned villages litter the landscape. Beautiful Byzantine rite or Orthodox churches stand either in disrepair or have been converted into Catholic churches. It’s not a surprise to come across a cross or tombstone sticking crookedly out of some bushes, in a field. Today’s Łemkowszczyzna reminds us of what could have been, what should have been.
Map of Lemko Land
Lemko Republics Two interesting incidents highlight the distinctness of the Lemkos from their neighbouring Poles. The first followed the conclusion of the First World War. When it became apparent that the borders of a new Europe would soon be drawn up (later concluded by, amongst others, the Treaty of Versailles and the Polish Minority Treaty in 1919) the Lemkos, as well as their fellow Poles, realised that this is their chance for freedom, self-determination and independence. Lemko villages centred around Komańcza and Florynka formed two states. The Komańcza Republic was formed (in Komańcza) on the 4th November 1918 and lasted until the 23rd January 1919 when the Polish authorities put a brutal end to it. The Rusyn National Republic of Lemkos was formed in Florynka and lasted from the 5th December 1918 till January 1921 when members of the ruling committee were arrested by the Polish government. However small these republics may have been, they demonstrated this minority’s need for self-determination
Tylawa Church Still Stands
Lemko Schisms The second incident took place several years later, in 1926, although its origins lie deep in the past with the Union of Brest which was signed in 1596. This declaration saw thousands of Orthodox Christian worshippers in Ruthenia (including Lemko worshippers) reject the (Eastern) Patriach of Constantinople and accept the authority of the Patriach of Rome (i.e. the Pope). These so-called Uniate/Greek Catholic churches still exist today, even though the Lemkos have always been more pro-Orthodox and Russophile. These pro-Orthodox tendencies came to the surface in 1911 when Father Maksym Sandowicz (now an Orthodox saint) oversaw the conversion of the Greek Catholic inhabitants of Grab and Wyszowate (back) to Orthodoxy. Several years later, the Lemko worhsippers of Tylawa and Trzciana decided to convert to Orthodoxy on the 16th November 1926. This incident goes by the name of the Tylawa Schism.
Epifaniusz Drowniak
Lost Lemkos This paints a mixed historical picture of the fortunes of the Lemkos in Poland: one of distinctness and failed self-determination. Estimates place the Lemko population at somewhere around 1.5 million (according to the BBC) spread across three countries: Poland, Slovakia and Ukraine. Before the Second World War, approximately 150,000 declared Lemkos are thought to have lived in Poland. The 2002 census put this figure at a mere 5,863, although many believe this could be as high as 50,000. Even so, a shortfall of over 100,000 people is a sad, sad loss. Intolerance, prejudice and ignorance were ultimately the undoing of the Lemkos in Poland. Ever so slowly, however, we are witnessing a sluggish Lemko revival with festivals, museums and cultural events sprouting up around the Beskidy and Bieszczady. Someone who wonderfully mirrors the fortunes of the Lemkos is Epifaniusz Drowniak, a Lemko who lived alone and in extreme poverty for most of his life. He often goes by the name of Nikifor.
Many thanks to my good pal Jim for giving me the heads up about this text. It’s a great piece about the life of the post-war Polonia, that is the Polish people who came to the United Kingdom after World War II (as part of the UK Polish Repatriation Act) as opposed to those Polish people who have come to the UK post-EU accession. I’m ‘posting’ the text in full (copyright The Guardian 2009):
As a child growing up in Derby in the 60s I spoke Polish beautifully, thanks to my grandmother. While my mother went out to work, my grandmother, who spoke no English, looked after me, teaching me to speak her native tongue. Babcia, as we called her, dressed in black with stout brown shoes, wore her grey hair in a bun, and carried a walking stick. She was the hub of our household – she could cook Polish delicacies, play Chopin on the piano and make paper storks. I adored her.
My father, Jerzy, had escaped from Poland after the Germans invaded, travelling on foot across Europe to England, where he became a pilot in the RAF. At the end of the war, he met my English mother at a dance organised by my maternal grandfather to help lonely young Polish pilots. In 1957, he arranged for my grandmother, Maria, who was living in a tiny flat in Warsaw in increasing distress under the privations of communism, to come to the UK.
Like other Polish families in the area, we spent our weekends in the vast Polish club that kept our community’s culture alive. My father helped to establish Dom Polski (Polish House) in the 1950s and it was known as the air force club because the founders were pilots. It provided a focus for all those old comrades and their history. I remember one woman at the club who had a concentration camp number tattooed on her arm, and another whose husband and daughter got off the train transporting them to Siberia to buy bread, only for the train to leave without them. She never saw them again. There were people who had been taken east through Russia as slave labour, others who were taken west to provide a workforce for German farms and factories.
The walls of the club were covered with black-and-white photos of Polish pilots, and a huge propeller from a Spitfire was fixed to one wall. On Saturday mornings my sisters and I would study Polish at the school it ran, and on Saturday nights, my parents would go dancing. On Sundays, we played tombola there over lunch.
But my love affair with Polish culture began to fade when I was five – the year Babcia died. We had been so close that when she was dying, her last words were to ask that I should be looked after. I couldn’t believe she was dead, and went from being confident and cocky to a very quiet child.
Without Babcia’s childcare, my mother had to give up her full-time job and take part-time work in a school across the road. I was placed in the reception class and, accustomed to being at home alone with Babcia, I hated it. I don’t remember making a conscious decision, but in shock I refused to speak Polish until I saw Babcia again.
My sisters and I continued to go to Polish school, but the language would not return. Despite the efforts of my father, even a family trip to Poland in 1965 could not bring it back. When six years later my father died too, at just 53, our Polish connection almost ceased to exist. I left Derby and went to university in London. I never spoke Polish, never ate Polish food nor visited Poland. My childhood was gone and almost forgotten.
Then in 2004, more than 30 years later, things changed again. A new wave of Polish immigrants had arrived and I began to hear the language of my childhood all around me – every time I got on a bus. I saw Polish news-papers in the capital and Polish food for sale in the shops. The language sounded so familiar yet somehow distant – as if it were something I tried to grab but was always out of reach.
In Derby, Dom Polski had closed down. The building was decaying and up for rent; the old soldiers and air force men were almost all dead, and the second and third generations too busy to worry about it. But my memory had been jogged. I began to write a novel about a fictional Polish family and, at the same time, decided to enrol at a Polish language school.
Each week I went through half-remembered phrases, getting bogged down in the intricate grammar and impossible inflections. When my book was published, it put me back in touch with schoolfriends who like me were second-generation Polish. And strangely, in my language classes, I still had my accent and I found words and phrases would sometimes come unbidden, long lost speech patterns making a sudden reappearance. I had found my childhood again.
Joanna Czechowska
Her book, The Black Madonna of Derby (or Goodbye Polsko)is published by Silkmill Press.
The bizarre news that a group of catholic extremists are planning to pray their way into boycotting Madonna’s concert in Warsaw on the 15th August has caused quite a stir. Marian Brudzyński, a former member of the ultra-right-wing League of Polish Families (LPR), who heads Pro Polonia, a group which promotes ‘tradition’, ‘love of the nation’ and ‘religious values’ has called for the nation to boycott Madonna’s concert through prayer.
Holy Plan
What is remarkable is that Brudzyński et al (in all probability together with a horde of Bible-bashing grannies) has managed to create such a media stir that his dastardly plan might actually work. The former LPR crony plans to camp out in Plac Bankowy (a key square in central Warsaw), together with the ‘masses’ and… pray. The pray-fest will begin at the end of the month and will last for two weeks ending on the 15th August – the date of Madonna’s concert.
Queen of Poland, not Queen of Pop
Holy Square The reasons for Brudzyński’s holy boycott is the fact that Madonna’s concert coincides with the church festival of the Assumption of… the other Madonna, that is the Virgin Mary (also known as the ‘Queen of Poland’). August 15th is also an important historical date for many Poles. On this day, the Poles routed the Soviet Army in what is now called the ‘Miracle on the Vistula’. Brudzyński is not a happy chappy and not well pleased with Madonna (the singer).
Holy War Brudzyński has already managed to get a priest on board who will lead the prayers that will be regularly held in the open on Plac Bankowy. He has also taken the outrageous step of writing to Polish church authorities in an effort to get the Mayor of Warsaw, Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz excommunicated for her part in bringing Madonna to Warsaw. Ironically, Gronkiewicz-Waltz has absolutely nothing to do with the organisation of the concert. More information about Brudzyński et al can be found at Newzar.
Many, many years ago in a land of wild forests and lonely hills there lived a race of evil creatures called the Bies. These creatures looked like humans but were somewhat stockier, had horns and large black wings sprouting from their shoulders. They were, by all accounts, a thoroughly evil bunch and above all hated humankind. In order to make life harder for the farmers, rangers and simple folk living in this land, the Bies created the Czad, a mischievous little folk whose goal it was to pester, irritate and annoy humans. Everyday experience became story, story turned into legend and legend grew into fable. And the land of the Bies and Czad became known as the Bieszczady.
Lonely Mountains After travelling to the Bieszczady in the south of Poland, I was once again struck by the diversity that was once part and parcel of Poland’s cultural makeup. Alas, much of this wonderful cultural diversity is no longer with us or is slowly eroding away so that in a few decades’ time we will have forgotten that such diversity once existed in this corner of Europe. The Bieszczady mountains and the surrounding area are a truly enchanting part of the world. Sparsely populated with the odd village springing up every now and again, you get the feeling that nature, not humankind, is king here.
Cultural Mix
Summit of Nations The Bieszczady is an area with a unique history, a real cultural melting pot with Hungarian, Ukrainian, Boyko, Slovakian, Lemko, Romanian and Polish influences to be seen everywhere. A wonderful metaphor for this cultural confluence is Krzemieniec mountain – the point at which Ukraine, Slovakia and Poland converge. Travelling around the Polish part of the Bieszczady one notices odd words and phrases popping into the names of places, restaurants, companies and the suchlike. The Hungarian name of Krzemieniec, Kremenaros, seems to be quite a common linguistic tag, for example.
Demise of Diversity One of the greatest surprises here is the inordinately large number of abandoned villages, cemeteries and churches, or rather Ukrainian/Lemko/Boyko villages and orthodox churches. Due to the now infamous forced deportation of Ukrainians, Lemkos and Boykos from Poland as part of the ridiculously patriotically-named Operation Wisła, the cultural map of the Bieszczady has been changed forever becoming tainted with a pallid homogeneity that still hangs over the area like the kiss of death. The Bieszczady was once a thriving region of many faiths, languages and cultures. It is now one of the most sparsely populated and poorest regions of Poland. All in the name of purity and reserving Poland for the Poles.
Posted by Raf Uzar 
