Re: Poland
Originally Posted by scot47
(Post 12573659)
And when they travel they take selfies. The me-obsessed generation.
Regarding 'selfie', I note that it was chosen as the Word of the Year in 2013 by the Oxford English Dictionary. :eek: In the same year here in France, the Word of the Year was 'transparence', which as we well know has several meanings depending on the context. Culturally worlds apart. 'Culturally' speaking, Australia has laid claim to inventing the modern day selfie in 2001. No further comment......;) |
Re: Poland
I remember travelling by train with a group of young people (under 25) from Victoria Rail Station to Warsaw in 1963. My first foreign adventure organised by CND. For me the beginning of a life of travel and teaching in Europe, Africa, the Middle East and best of all - Bulgaria. 4 weeks in Lublin, Krakow and Warsaw. At that time "Holocaust Tourism" had not yet developed but we were encouraged to visit Majdanek and Auschwitz.
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Re: Poland
Originally Posted by scot47
(Post 12563679)
... One of the more exotic places I visited was the area around Klodzko in Silesia. German territory until 1945 when the Potsdam Agreement handed all this ethnically German territory to "Polska Ludowa". Ethnic Cleansing ? The term had not been coined at the time this happened.
I have always been glad to have travelled in so many exotic places (Europe and the Middle East, mainly), but I do regret being so damn ignorant of the places - ignorant of the histories, the languages and the lifestyles. I've spent much of my life since, trying to acquire the knowledge I was missing then. |
Re: Poland
Not always so easy to decide who is German and who is Polish. In Silesia, Pomerania and Prussia there were many families which had people of both ethnicities. Not all "Germans" left in 1945 and it is in any case difficult in many cases to stick a labek on people as being EITHER'OR. Ethnicity is not binary !
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Re: Poland
Originally Posted by scot47
(Post 12577011)
Not always so easy to decide who is German and who is Polish. In Silesia, Pomerania and Prussia there were many families which had people of both ethnicities. Not all "Germans" left in 1945 and it is in any case difficult in many cases to stick a labek on people as being EITHER'OR. Ethnicity is not binary !
My family originated in PoznaĆ, known as Posen when it was under German control. |
Re: Poland
Missed this thread before, very glad I have caught up with it, great stories!
Been to Warsaw several times on business before retiring, going to Krakow at the end of May (co incidentally booked the flights today). My Father worked in Poland in the '60s, never quite sure what he did there... |
Re: Poland
Travelled in the new Polish lands of Silesia 1966-1968
I noticed that no one in my student circles was aware that Poland had been moved to the West at the expense of Germany. as a result of the Potsdam Agreement. Large tracts of land were handed over to Poland.That included Silesai, Pomerania, and Prussia. Huge numnbers were resettled "heim ins Reich". Justice ? |
Re: Poland
Originally Posted by scot47
(Post 12657771)
Travelled in the new Polish lands of Silesia 1966-1968
I noticed that no one in my student circles was aware that Poland had been moved to the West at the expense of Germany. as a result of the Potsdam Agreement. Large tracts of land were handed over to Poland.That included Silesia, Pomerania, and Prussia. Huge numbers were resettled "heim ins Reich". Justice? |
Re: Poland
The German minority in Romania was not expelled in 1945, but many have now left. Most went to West Germany.. The story of the Saxon minority in Bulgaria is different. They were resettled inside the Reich in 1943 as part of an agreement between Berlin and Sofia (at that time a co-belligerent). When I lived in rural Bulgaria (1995-2008) my home was in a village neighbouring a village that had been ethnically German (Tsarev Brod near Shumen)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsarev_Brod |
Re: Poland
As I expected, no responses to this. I get interested in things that others find strange. I will leave the others to their interests and continue on "The Road Less Travelled"
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Re: Poland
Originally Posted by scot47
(Post 12671004)
As I expected, no responses to this. I get interested in things that others find strange. I will leave the others to their interests and continue on "The Road Less Travelled"
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Re: Poland
As a student visiting Poland in the early 1960s I experienced that. On returning to small-town Scotland none of my pals and fellow-students wanted to hear from me about my experiences, I learned from that not to bother people with Traveller's Tales.
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Re: Poland
Originally Posted by scot47
(Post 12671069)
As a student visiting Poland in the early 1960s I experienced that. On returning to small-town Scotland none of my pals and fellow-students wanted to hear from me about my experiences, I learned from that not to bother people with Traveller's Tales.
With regards to the German heritage of Eastern Europe it is being rediscovered by the younger generation. Just listened to an interesting report about German culture in the Czech Republic and how the younger Czechs start asking questions about that time, researching, discussing and discovering. |
Re: Poland
Originally Posted by Assanah
(Post 12671203)
I think that might also have to do with the propaganda during the cold war. I used to think that everything in the former East is grey and borring....until I visited the places. Travel and learn.
With regards to the German heritage of Eastern Europe it is being rediscovered by the younger generation. Just listened to an interesting report about German culture in the Czech Republic and how the younger Czechs start asking questions about that time, researching, discussing and discovering. |
Re: Poland
Originally Posted by scot47
(Post 12671069)
As a student visiting Poland in the early 1960s I experienced that. On returning to small-town Scotland none of my pals and fellow-students wanted to hear from me about my experiences, I learned from that not to bother people with Traveller's Tales.
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