Portal:Poland/Did you know/archive

2016

May – June 2016

... that an average of 150,000 braided ring-shaped breads, known as obwarzanki krakowskie (pictured) are sold daily from street carts in Kraków?
... that common hogweed was originally the main ingredient of borscht?
... that in 1921 more than 95% of the Czechoslovak citizens of Polish ethnicity lived in the Těšín electoral district?
... that SS officer Herbert Mehlhorn was involved in the camouflage of the mass graves of Jewish victims at the Chełmno extermination camp?
... that Bogna Burska's initial painting compositions were narratives of congealed blood forms made with red paints applied by fingers on walls, canvas, and glass?

April 2016

Frumka Płotnicka

... that underground courier Frumka Płotnicka (pictured), who delivered weapons and instructions for making Molotov cocktails and hand grenades to Jews in Nazi-occupied Poland, died in the Będzin Ghetto uprising?
... that the light, crisp, smoky, and highly carbonated Grodziskie beer was once nicknamed "Polish Champagne"?
... that the German-Polish astronomer Johannes Hevelius declared that one needed the eyes of a lynx to see Lynx?

March 2016

Ewa Bandrowska-Turska

... that in 1939, a trans-Atlantic radio broadcast featured coloratura soprano Ewa Bandrowska-Turska (pictured) singing four songs by Karol Szymanowski from the Wawel Castle in Kraków for the U.S. audience?
... that Ewa Gryziecka's world record in women's javelin throw lasted 35 minutes?
... that the green-legged partridge and the Polish-bred Green-legged Partridge belong to different species?

February 2016

... that Agnieszka Popielewicz (pictured) hosts the behind-the-scenes episodes of Taniec z gwiazdami, the Polish version of Dancing with the Stars?
... that the image of Marianna Dolińska's hanged children has been falsely used to represent victims of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army?
... that Pilot Pirx, Stanisław Lem's sci-fi character, defeats a perfect android thanks to human imperfection?
... that Polish football player Łukasz Cieślewicz was named player of the year in the Faroe Islands in 2011 and 2015?
... that the type fossil of the damselfly Electropodagrion belongs to the Museum of Amber Inclusions of the University of Gdańsk?

January 2016

Selection 1

Piotr Domaradzki

... that Piotr Domaradzki (pictured) was active in the Solidarity movement before being granted asylum in the United States, where he worked as editor-in-chief of the country's largest Polish-language newspaper?
... that Monica Gardner's life was shaped by finding out that Bonnie Prince Charlie's mother was Polish?
... that, during The Holocaust in German-occupied Poland, Cypora Zonszajn could not live without her closest family and returned to the Siedlce Ghetto to perish along with them?

Selection 2

Temerl Bergson

... that Temerl Bergson (pictured), a wealthy businesswoman and benefactress of Hasidic Jews in 19th-century Poland, "distributed money like ashes"?
... that the Coexist symbol used on bumper stickers was first published as a 3 m × 5 m (9.8 ft × 16.4 ft) outdoor poster by a Polish artist in a juried exhibition in Jerusalem?
... that at the Valletta Summit on Migration, where European and African leaders discussed the European migrant crisis, Poland was only represented by an undersecretary of state due to a clash with the first sitting of the country's new parliament?

2015

December 2015

... that the fossil crane fly Elephantomyia pulchella (pictured) was redescribed by Polish paleoentomologist Iwona Kania of the University of Rzeszów?
... that the writer Maria Dąbrowska reported to the Polish authorities that Poles in Bosnia and Herzegovina lived better than villagers in Poland?
... that Vietnamese people in Poland, significantly composed of illegal immigrants, are one of the country's largest ethnic minorities?
... that one of the founders of CD Projekt, publisher of The Witcher video game series, used to peddle cracked copies of PC games in a Warsaw marketplace?

November 2015

... that the fossil crane fly Elephantomyia bozenae (pictured), discovered in Baltic amber, is named after the Polish biologist Bożena Szala?
... that in 1890, Henry Lowenfeld, an immigrant from Poland, established the UK's first brewer of non-alcoholic beer, in Fulham, London?
... that between 1942 and 1944, Polish resistance fighter Antoni Koper hid Jews from the Warsaw Ghetto in his apartment?
... that, when described, at least five males of the fossil crane fly Elephantomyia irinae were known from inclusions in Baltic amber from the collection of the Polish Academy of Sciences?

October 2015

Slippery jacks

... that slippery jacks (pictured), known in Polish as maślaki, deriving from a word meaning "buttery", are considered a delicacy in Polish cuisine?
... that the Smithsonian Channel documentary Treblinka: Hitler's Killing Machine was inspired by bathroom tiles made by the company now known as Opoczno S.A.?
... that during the Holocaust, Roman Gross was rescued from the Tarnopol Ghetto by Józef Regent, whom he in turn had rescued from deportation earlier in the war?
... that at the age of thirteen, Shmuel Shilo survived three roundups of Jews from the Łuck Ghetto and lived to tell the story?

August – September 2015

... that the P-badge (pictured) for Polish forced laborers was the first official, public badge introduced by Nazi Germany, preceding the Jewish yellow star by over a year?
... that Jakub Kagan‎, one of the best known Polish-Jewish composers of popular music who formed Kagan's Jazz Band in the interwar Warsaw, died during the Holocaust?
... that Polish Roman Catholic midwife Stanisława Leszczyńska delivered about 3,000 babies at the Auschwitz concentration camp?

June – July 2015

... that the Polish street food known as zapiekanka (pictured) has been described both as "Polish pizza" and "a poor relative of its distant Italian cousin"?
... that Polish-born Joseph Conrad has been described as one of the "two great English-language writers of sea stories"?
... that six members of the Polish-Ruthenian noble Szeptycki family were bishops, some Greek Catholic and one Roman Catholic?
... that a forest glade near Palmiry became "one of the most notorious places of mass executions" in Poland after Nazi war crimes were committed there?
... that some 80,000 Poles have been waiting for over sixty years for compensation for the immovable property lost to the Soviet Union in lands east of the Bug River?

May 2015

Textile manufacturing plant in the Warsaw Ghetto

... that the textile company Többens and Schultz (plant pictured), owned and operated by two major war profiteers in the Warsaw Ghetto, supplied the German army with uniforms, socks, and other garments?
... that the autobiographical novel A Brief Stop on the Road from Auschwitz, set partly in German-occupied Poland, ends with the suicide of the author's father?
... that the Lithuanian-Polish border is the only land border that the Baltic States share with a country that is not a member of the Russian-aligned Commonwealth of Independent States?

April 2015

... that the motto of a cookbook by Paul Tremo (pictured), a court chef to King Stanislaus Augustus of Poland, was, "not everyone thinks, but everyone eats"?
... that during the Września children strike of 1901–04, ethnic Polish schoolchildren were flogged for protesting against religious instruction in German?
... that Kali, a fine art painter, was a veteran of the Polish resistance movement during World War II?
... that Filipinki was the first Polish all-girl vocal group?
... that the Polish-born Jakub Mareczko was the most successful under-23 cyclist in Italy in 2014?

March 2015

... that Maximilian Kolbe volunteered to die in place of a stranger in the Auschwitz concentration camp?
... that the painter Bronisława Janowska rejected a marriage proposal from the man she loved because he was divorced?
... that the 1990 Earth-grazing meteoroid above Czechoslovakia and Poland was observed from two sites, which for the first time enabled geometrical calculations of the orbit of such a body?

January – February 2015

... that Kolejka ("Queue"), a popular Polish educational board game about communist shortage economy, has itself been in short supply?
... that the Bloody Sunday massacre of Jews took place in German-occupied Stanisławów two months before the Stanislau Ghetto was formally set up in December 1941?
... that the temporary removal of The Partisans, a Boston sculpture depicting Polish cursed soldiers, triggered protests by the Polish-American community?
... that the 21st-century economic migration of Poles to Western Europe is comparable in size to the migration of Poles to the United States in the 19th and 20th centuries?

2014

December 2014

... that Jeremi Wiśniowiecki (pictured) was one of the wealthiest Polish magnates, ruling over 200,000 subjects living on estates in what is today Ukraine?
... that the settlements of Mikuszowice and Komorowice were divided by a national border for centuries, but are now part of one city and one country?
... that Lem, Poland's first scientific artificial satellite, sees blue stars while Heweliusz, its second, sees red stars?

November 2014

Selection 1

Carpathian newt (Lissotriton montandoni)

... that the Carpathian newt (pictured), native to the mountains of southern Poland, sometimes hybridises with the smooth newt?
... that Florian Znaniecki was the father of sociology in Poland?
... that the first president of Poland, Gabriel Narutowicz, was assassinated five days after taking office, amidst a right-wing propaganda campaign accusing him of being "an atheist, a Freemason, and a Jew"?
... that "We want to be Germans and nothing but Germans" was a call sent out to the world by the Jungdeutsche Partei members of the German minority living in prewar Poland?

Selection 2

... that the Conversations with an Executioner were held between Jürgen Stroop, who destroyed the Warsaw Ghetto, and Kazimierz Moczarski (pictured), a resistance fighter who was supposed to kill him, while they shared a death row cell?
... that the Polish inventor and bridge designer Marian Lutosławski was killed in a mass execution by the Bolsheviks several days before his trial was supposed to take place?
... that the world's first monument to Wikipedia was unveiled in Słubice in late October 2014?

October 2014

Selection 1

Fiat Abarth 500C, manufactured in Tychy, Poland

... that the size of its automotive industry makes Poland one of the largest producers of light vehicles in Central and Eastern Europe (Polish-manufactured Fiat Abarth 500C pictured)?
... that the Sonderkommando photographs of events around the Auschwitz gas chambers in 1944 were smuggled out of the camp in a toothpaste tube?
... that Jan Matejko, one of the most famous Polish painters, trafficked arms to the insurgents' camp during the January Uprising of 1863?

Selection 2

Fragment of an Aerolot poster

... that Aerolot (poster fragment pictured), the predecessor of Poland's flag carrier, LOT Polish Airlines, has common roots with Lufthansa, the flag carrier of Germany?
... that Otto Stadie, a nurse who served at Adolf Hitler's headquarters with the Nazi euthanasia program, kept the register of stolen gold and diamonds at Treblinka?
... that Aleksander Lesser was one of the first artists to paint scenes from modern Polish Jewish history?

August – September 2014

Selection 1

Leaning Tower of Toruń

... that legend has it that a Teutonic Knight erected the Leaning Tower of Toruń (pictured) so as to atone for falling in love with a woman, the tower's tilt signifying his deviant conduct?
... that the massacre of about 1,500 Jews in Józefów was committed by the men of the German Reserve Police Battalion 101, who were too old for the regular army?
... that the officially reported unemployment rate in Poland rose from near zero in 1989 to over 13 percent in 2012?
... that the protests of conservative Catholic groups in Poland against the play Golgota Picnic included attempted exorcisms?

Selection 2

... that the trilingual 14th-century Sankt Florian Psalter (page pictured) contains one of the oldest texts in Polish?
... that the Counter-Reformation in Poland concluded successfully with the Repnin Sejm of 1768, which abolished legal discrimination against religious dissidents?
... that the Polish resistance heisted over a million US dollars in młynarki, the currency of the General Government, so popularly named after the head of its central bank, Feliks Młynarski?
... that many kindergartens in Poland were named after the children's television series Jacek i Agatka?

July 2014

Selection 1

Equality Parade in 2006

... that the Equality Parade (pictured) held annually in Warsaw since 2001, is the oldest pride parade in any former Eastern bloc country?
... that about 3,500 Jews from the Pińsk Ghetto and from nearby Kobryń were murdered at Bronna Góra in June 1942?
... that Florian Znaniecki, a Polish American philosopher and sociologist, coined the terms "culturalism" and "humanistic coefficient"?
... that the Polish Armed Forces in the West contributed one division to Operation Overlord, the largest seaborne invasion in history?

Selection 2

... that Görlitz/Zgorzelec (pictured) is one of several towns split by the postwar Germany–Poland border, which follows mostly the Oder–Neisse line?
... that, when it occurred, the mass shooting in the Pińsk Ghetto was the second largest anti-Jewish operation in a single settlement?
... that The Polish Peasant in Europe and America has been called a "neglected classic" of American empirical sociology?

June 2014

Selection 1

Lilpop, Rau i Loewenstein logo

... that Lilpop, Rau i Loewenstein (logo pictured) was the largest manufacturing company in Poland before its factory was destroyed by the Germans during World War II?
... that World War II resistance fighter Jerzy Zakulski, who rescued a Jewish mother and child from the Kraków Ghetto, was executed by Poland after the war?
... that Father Józef Kowalski, an Auschwitz prisoner, was one of 108 Polish Martyrs beatified in front of 600,000 people by Pope John Paul II?

Selection 2

Polish and Ukrainian border posts

... that the Poland–Ukraine border (border posts pictured), the most often crossed stretch of the European Union's eastern boundary, is also a major smuggling route?
... that the last murdered Jews of the Mińsk Mazowiecki Ghetto came from the iron foundry of K. Rudzki i S-ka?
... that Wacław Kopisto was one of the Silent Unseen rescuers of Home Army prisoners tortured at a Pinsk prison?

May 2014

Selection 1

... that the Kraków Society of Friends of Fine Arts erected their own palace (pictured) in the Old Town using public donations?
... that the death of Polish Army chaplain Ignacy Skorupka at the Battle of Warsaw was used as a political tool by Józef Piłsudski's opponents?
... that all five compositions for harpsichord by Iannis Xenakis, among them Komboï, were dedicated to the Polish-born harpsichordist Elisabeth Chojnacka?

Selection 2

Daszyńska-Golińska

... that Zofia Daszyńska-Golińska (pictured) taught at Warsaw's Flying University before becoming a Polish senator?
... that K. Rudzki i S-ka, a Polish engineering company, built roughly 20 percent of all rail bridges in the Russian Empire, including the Khabarovsk and Maurzyce Bridges?
... that Fort Srebrna Góra, a rare example of a surviving 18th-century mountain stronghold, is also known as the "Gibraltar of Silesia"?
... that because of opposition by the Polish communist government, the Warsaw Uprising Monument was constructed over 40 years after the event it commemorates?

April 2014

Selection 1

The Great Synagogue of Piotrków

... that the Piotrków Trybunalski Ghetto (synagogue pictured), created only 38 days after the invasion of Poland in World War II, was the first Jewish ghetto in German-occupied Europe?
... that Alfreda Markowska, a Polska Roma, was awarded the Order of Polonia Restituta for saving Jewish and Roma children from death in the Holocaust and the Porajmos during World War II?
... that Frédéric Chopin left his homeland in 1831 and never returned?

Selection 2

An engraving of the Szombierki Power Station

... that the Szombierki Heat Power Station (pictured) is considered one of the "Seven Architectural Wonders of the Silesian Voivodeship"?
... that Szlama Ber Winer escaped the work commando at the Chełmno extermination camp and managed to write a report about his experience soon before his and his family's death in the gas chambers of Bełżec?
... that Ewa Ziarek, a Polish American philosopher, wrote the book An Ethics of Dissensus?

Selection 3

... that the canvas of Skarga's Sermon (detail pictured), a painting by Jan Matejko, covers more than 8 square metres (86 sq ft)?
... that Rywka Lipszyc's diary of her life as a teenager in the Łódź Ghetto during the Holocaust in Poland was published 70 years after it was written?
... that the Monument to the Fallen and Murdered in the East in Warsaw commemorates victims of the Soviet invasion of Poland during World War II and subsequent repressions?

March 2014

Selection 1

Ulica Floriańska (St. Florian Street) in Kraków

... that the 13th-century Ulica Floriańska (Saint Florian Street, pictured) in Kraków is one of the most prestigious thoroughfares in Poland?
... that the Upper Silesian Railway was part of the first rail network connecting Berlin, Vienna, Kraków and Warsaw by the late 1840s?
... that The Dream of Jacob, a composition by Krzysztof Penderecki based on the biblical account of Jacob's Ladder, was featured in the American horror movie The Shining?

Selection 2

... that Zbigniew Bródka (pictured), the first Pole to win an Olympic gold medal in men's 1500 metres speed skating, is a professional firefighter?
... that Żywoty świętych ("Lives of the Saints") by the Polish Jesuit Piotr Skarga contained graphic and detailed descriptions of tortures and suffering?
... that Stanisław Salmonowicz, once repressed by Polish communist authorities, has published over a thousand works of history?

Selection 3

Mechanical billy goats butting heads atop the Poznań Town Hall

... that mechanical billy goats (pictured) butting heads atop the mid-16th century Poznań city hall attract hundreds of spectators daily?
... that Jan Matuszyński, who earned medical degrees in Tübingen and Paris, died of tuberculosis in the arms of Frédéric Chopin and George Sand?
... that the delay of planned restoration of the ruined Katowice historic train station, which attained monument status in 1975, has led to public protests?

February 2014

Selection 1

... that Zambian-born Polish economist and MP Killion Munyama (pictured) did not originally plan to stay in Poland, but the fall of communism changed his mind?
... that Poland is considered a founding member of the United Nations despite not having attended the first meeting?
... that one of the international reactions to the Euromaidan was the formation of a human chain on the Polish-Ukrainian border crossing at Medyka as a sign of support for pro-EU protesters in Ukraine?

Selection 2

... that the PL-01 (pictured) is a new tank design developed in Poland?
... that the Treaty of Bytom and Będzin ended the fourteen-month long imprisonment of Maximilian III, Archduke of Austria, in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth?
... that Irena Jurgielewiczowa, a writer best known for the children's novel Ten obcy ("That Stranger"), was also an underground teacher and a resistance fighter in World War II?

Selection 3

... that the UFO-like Kielce Bus Station (pictured) has been praised as "one of the most valuable" architectural designs of the last decades of the People's Republic of Poland?
... that, although Piotr Skarga's political treatise Kazania sejmowe ("Sermons to the Diet") was ignored during his lifetime, he was labeled a "patriotic seer" centuries after his death?
... that the creation of the Warsaw Gay Movement was a counter-reaction of Polish gays against Operation Hyacinth?

January 2014

Selection 1

Twelve mazurek cakes

... that mazurek cakes (pictured) are traditionally served in Poland during Easter and Christmas?
... that Austrian tennis player Adam Baworowski, a Roland Garros semifinalist, fought in World War II, first in the Polish Army against Germany and then in the Wehrmacht on the Eastern Front?
... that a memorial to the victims of Treblinka extermination camp, created by sculptor Franciszek Duszeńko, was unveiled by the Marshal of the Sejm of the Republic of Poland in the presence of 30,000 visitors?
... that the findings of the Katyn Commission concerning the Soviet massacre of 22,000 Polish prisoners of war were denied for seventy years?

Selection 2

... that Poland annually celebrates the defeat of Russia in the Battle of Warsaw (2008 celebration parade pictured)?
... that neither of the major combatants won the bloody Greater Poland Civil War which terminated after the accession of ten-year old Hedwig (Jadwiga) to the Polish throne?
... that according to Franciszek Ząbecki, the SS-Sturmbannführer Theodor van Eupen executed prisoners of the Treblinka Arbeitslager by "taking shots at them, as if they were partridges"?
... that while international rankings show corruption in Poland as steadily decreasing, over 80 percent of the Polish public still sees it as a significant problem for the country?

2013

December 2013

Selection 1

... that the Maurzyce Bridge (pictured), built in 1928 near Łowicz, was the first welded road bridge in the world?
... that the 13 Ramsar sites of Poland help with the conservation and sustainable utilization of wetlands?
... that the Bródno Jewish Cemetery is one of the largest Jewish cemeteries in Europe?
... that Tadeusz Iwiński called Philippines–Poland relations a relationship "that was broken by mistake"?

Selection 2

Rainbow installation in Warsaw

... that the Tęcza (pictured), a rainbow arch installation in Warsaw, has been vandalized several times due to anti-LGBT sentiments?
... that an early 18th-century civil war in Poland gave rise to a proverb about a state of division, disorder and anarchy?
... that Berek Lajcher chose a hot summer day to launch a prisoner revolt at the Treblinka death camp while German and Ukrainian guards went swimming in the nearby Bug River?
... that the Biosphere Reserves of Poland include the last and largest remaining mixed deciduous primeval forest on the North European Plain?

Selection 3

... that during the 1950s, Communist propaganda for the war against the potato beetle alleged that the insect (pictured) was introduced into East Germany, Poland and Czechoslovakia by the United States as a form of entomological warfare?
... that Polish-Jewish publisher Samuel Orgelbrand financed the printing of his Encyklopedia Powszechna ("Universal Encyclopedia"), the first modern Polish encyclopedia, with proceeds from sales of the Babylonian Talmud?
... that Polish nationalism is more restrictive in terms of ethnicity and religion than the earlier Polish-Lithuanian identity?

November 2013

Selection 1

Monument to Józef Piłsudski in Warsaw's Piłsudski Square

... that the location of the Józef Piłsudski Monument in Warsaw (pictured) has been criticized by its designer?
... that station master Franciszek Ząbecki collected incriminating evidence against Holocaust perpetrators by keeping record of railway deliveries to the Treblinka extermination camp?
... that Polish advocates of Neo-Slavism, such as Roman Dmowski, believed that reconciliation with the Russians was necessary to counter the German threat?
... that people questioned both the closure of the Philippine Embassy in Warsaw in 1993 and its re-opening in 2009?

Selection 2

Rejtan, or the Fall of Poland (fragment)

... that Jan Matejko's painting Rejtan (fragment pictured) caused a scandal, won a gold medal in Paris, was purchased by Emperor Franz Joseph I, and looted by Nazis?
... that Polish jurist and activist Józef Wybicki wrote the national anthem of Poland while serving in the Polish Legions in Italy?
... that Anna Poray retold life-stories of thousands of rescuers including those who died in punishment for trying to save Jews during the Holocaust in Poland?
... that Józef Piłsudski's cult of personality succeeded in making him one of the most popular figures in Polish history?

Selection 3

Courtyard of the Brzeg Castle

... that the Brzeg Castle (courtyard pictured) in Silesia houses Poland's only preserved medieval hunting bow?
... that the statue of Roman Dmowski, the "father of Polish nationalism", has proven to be one of the most controversial monuments in Warsaw?
... that Ryszard Siwiec, protesting the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia, was the first political protester to commit suicide by self-immolation in Central and Eastern Europe?
... that there were around 525 Filipinos in Poland as of September 2012, and that most of them resided in the country temporarily?

October 2013

Selection 1

... that Samuel Willenberg (pictured) is the last living survivor of the prisoner uprising at the Treblinka extermination camp during the Holocaust in Poland?
... that dozens of Red Army soldiers switched sides and joined the Polish Army after several lost engagements during the Soviet invasion of Poland in 1939?
... that Testament mój ("My Testament") was the poetical last will of Juliusz Słowacki, one of the Three Bards of Polish poetry?
... that the resistance movement in Auschwitz was formed by the Polish Home Army partisan Witold Pilecki?
... that, in the 1970s, the propaganda in the People's Republic of Poland exploited the technique of exaggerating political and economic successes?

Selection 2

... that only two and a half pages survive of the Bible of Queen Sophia (pictured), a priceless artifact of the Old Polish language?
... that from 1930 through 1933, Jews constituted the majority of the Young Communist League of Poland membership?
... that Kamienie na szaniec ("Stones for the Rampant"), a novel describing the lives of three Polish underground youth paramilitary members, was published shortly after their deaths in German-occupied Poland?
... that the inactive Polish A.B. Dobrowolski Polar Station is still occasionally visited by explorers of the Antarctic?
... that both German soldiers and former Polish prisoners of German concentration camps were treated at a war-time hospital close to the Lärbro Church in Sweden?

September 2013

Selection 1

Cloister of the Mogiła Abbey

... that the mandatory 13 brothers moved into the Mogiła Abbey (cloister pictured) around 1225?
... that although the Mongols won the Battle of Tursko in 1241, at first the Polish forces managed to capture the enemy camp?
... that kosynierzy, a war scythe-wielding peasantry militia, became one of the symbols of the struggle for Polish independence?
... that the Polish question was a major recurring issue in European diplomacy for well over a century, following the partitions of Poland in the late 18th century?
... that Russian victory at the Battle of Warsaw in 1831 ended the Polish November Uprising?

Selection 2

... that St. Francis' Church (pictured) in the Old Town of Kraków displays an exact replica of the Shroud of Turin, blessed by Pope John Paul II in 2003?
... that the Thorn Castle (now in Toruń), one of the first castles of the Teutonic Knights, was demolished by rebellious burghers a century or so after its construction, at the beginning of the Thirteen Years' War?
... that one of the unofficial mottos of Poland, "God, Honor, Fatherland", likely originated from the Napoleonic motto of the Order of the Legion of Honor ?
... that the National Rifle Factory, a major firearms producer in interwar Poland, also designed its own weaponry, including an anti-tank rifle?

August 2013

Selection 1

... that scholars are not sure who is portrayed in Rembrandt's painting A Polish Nobleman (pictured)?
... that the Old City of Zamość, one of the World Heritage Sites in Poland, is recognized as an "outstanding example of a Renaissance planned town"?
... that the German libretto of Boris Blacher's last opera, Yvonne, Prinzessin von Burgund was based on a Polish play by Witold Gombrowicz?
... that a photograph of the execution of Jews near Ivanhorod, Ukraine, by members of the SS Einsatzgruppe was intercepted by the Polish resistance in 1942?

Selection 2

... that the Medieval Town of Toruń (pictured), one of the World Heritage Sites in Poland, is recognized as an excellent example of a European medieval town?
... that King Vladislaus I of Poland took advantage of the Teutonic Siege of Medvėgalis in Samogitia to attack Kulmerland?
... that the 30-year-old heiress of the Szebnie estate died of typhus contracted while caring for sick prisoners at the Szebnie concentration camp in 1942?
... that the Sikorski Memorial in Gibraltar commemorates the death of General Władysław Sikorski in a 1943 air crash?
... that Krzysztof Meyer's opera Cyberiada is based on a series of humorous science fiction stories by Stanisław Lem?

July 2013

Manuscript of the poem

... that publication of one of Adam Mickiewicz's first poems, "Oda do młodości" ("Ode to Youth"; manuscript pictured), was delayed due to censorship?
... that much of the success of the Christianization of Moravia, an empire that extended into what is now southern Poland, is attributed to the work of Saints Cyril and Methodius?
... that the short story Janko Muzykant ("Johnny the Musician") was one of Henryk Sienkiewicz's works mentioned in a speech during his 1905 Nobel Prize in Literature ceremony?
... that archaeological excavations conducted in May 2013 at the Sobibór Museum unearthed an escape tunnel made by Holocaust victims in the Sobibór extermination camp?

June 2013

Selection 1

Casimir Pulaski Monument c. 1900

... that the Casimir Pulaski Monument (pictured) in Savannah, Georgia, the first monument to the Polish–American hero in the United States, was built over 70 years after a U.S. Congress resolution calling for it?
... that Tygodnik Ilustrowany ("Illustrated Weekly") was a major Polish magazine published from 1859 until World War II?
... that the Majdanek State Museum, with its permanent collection of evidence and rare artefacts from the Holocaut in German-occupied Poland, was the first museum of its kind in the world?
... that Poland has over 2,000 nature reserves, the first of which were created in the 19th century?

Selection 2

... that the Wawel Dragon statue (pictured) in Kraków breathes fire?
... that the Treaty of Buda enabled Louis I of Hungary to become king of Poland because his uncle had no legitimate sons, but had to be followed by the Treaty of Kassa (Košice) because Louis himself had no sons?
... that Jerzy Żuławski's Trylogia Księżycowa ("Lunar Trilogy"), published between 1901 and 1911, was a major milestone in the history of science fiction and fantasy in Poland?
... that the inmates of Poniatowa concentration camp dug their own graves as fake air-raid trenches?

Selection 3

... that Maria Konopnicka's (pictured) poem Rota ("Oath") became so popular, it was seen as an unofficial anthem of Poland?
... that the personal union of Hungary and Poland fell apart due to the regent Elizabeth of Bosnia's reluctance to give up her grip on power by moving from Buda to Kraków, where she had no supporters?
... that the soldiers who enlisted in the Polish Armed Forces in the West during World War II were known as "Sikorski's tourists"?
... that the final conviction in the Chełmno Trials of the Chełmno extermination camp personnel was imposed in Poland 56 years after the war ended?

May 2013

Selection 1

A Polish ducat, or red złoty, minted in 1831

... that the last Polish red zlotys (example pictured) were known as "insurgent ducats", produced at the Warsaw mint in 1831, on the eve of the November Uprising?
... that one of the leaders of the Kraków Uprising in 1846 was killed while leading a religious procession?
... that the statue of General Casimir Pulaski in Washington, D.C., was sculpted by Kazimierz Chodziński?
... that Polish postmodernism met with severe impediments not so much from the communist establishment as from Solidarity and the Catholic Church?

Selection 2

... that Polish girls (pictured) get wet and spanked on Easter Monday, but have their revenge on the following day?
... that a series of mostly pagan uprisings in the 1030s threw the fledgling Kingdom of Poland into chaos?
... that Grand Duke Leszek the White and a number of other Polish Piast dukes were ambushed in their baths during the 13th-century Gąsawa massacre?
... that Frédéric Chopin, Juliusz Słowacki, and Napoleon III were all in love with Maria Wodzińska?
... that the Majdanek concentration camp trial was the longest Nazi war crimes trial in history, spanning over 30 years?

April 2013

Selection 1

A Polish Easter palm

... that one of the Easter traditions in Poland includes making and displaying of an Easter palm (example pictured), the tallest of which can reach over 30 metres (98 ft)?
... that Margaret Michaelis-Sachs took photos of the Jewish market in Kraków which "carry the weight of history, offering a visual trace of a way of life that was destroyed by fascism"?
... that welfare in Poland is covered by the constitution of Poland, which contains an article dedicated to social security as a right of all citizens?

Selection 2

... that the first concert of the Kraków Philharmonic Orchestra (hall pictured) in postwar Poland took place three months ahead of the end of World War II in Europe?
... that the engraver Jacopo Caraglio fled to Venice from the Sack of Rome in 1527, before moving to Poland as court goldsmith?
... that the Giedroyc Doctrine, developed by émigré publicist Jerzy Giedroyc in the 1970s, shaped the eastern policy of Poland after 1989?

Selection 3

... that developments in the Polish film industry during the Interbellum saw the emergence of stars like Pola Negri (pictured)?
... that during the uprising of 1794, Tadeusz Kościuszko's army successfully defended Warsaw from forces led by King Frederick William II of Prussia?
... that poverty in Poland is more likely to affect young than old people?

March 2013

Selection 1

... that the magnates of Poland and Lithuania (pictured) often had private armies and exerted significant political influence on the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth?
... that the Oświęcim Chapel in Krosno is associated with a legend of romantic love between Stanisław Oświęcim and his sister Anna?
... that the humanistic coefficient is a major element in Florian Znaniecki's sociological theory?
... that Capella Cracoviensis, a chamber music ensemble, received enthusiastic reviews after it switched to period instruments?

Selection 2

... that one of the critical or endangered ecoregions in Poland is home to the wisent (pictured), the heaviest wild land animal in Europe?
... that Rebbetzin Vichna Kaplan, the prize pupil of Sarah Schenirer and founder of the first Bais Yaakov high school in America, was initially rejected from joining Schenirer's teachers seminary in Kraków?
... that August Agbola O'Browne was the only black participant in the Warsaw Uprising of 1944?
... that the Italian-Polish film September Eleven 1683 used over 10,000 extras and 3,000 horses in its battle scenes?

February 2013

Selection 1

... that the Gorce Mountains (pictured) are home to the brown bear, black stork and fire salamander?
... that many of King Stephen Báthory's captains in the Livonian War had served in Obrona Potoczna ("Current Defense"), a military formation which defended Polish-Lithuanian borders from Tatar raids in the sixteenth century?
... that the Zakłodzie meteorite was found in an area where a fireball had been observed a century earlier?
... that during the Siege of Zbarazh, the Polish-Lithuanian army withstood assaults of the Cossack and Tatar armies about twenty times its own size?
... that the Krkonoše / Karkonosze Biosphere Reserve (MaB) is one of only two successful UNESCO transboundary management structures in existence?

Selection 2

... that an exact replica of Our Lady of Lourdes from the Grotto of Apparitions in France adorns the high altar of the Church of the Holy Virgin Mary of Lourdes (pictured) in Kraków?
... that during the Battle of Żownin, Cossack forces constructed a bridge under the cover of darkness to relocate their camp?
... that the death of General Władysław Sikorski, Polish wartime prime minister-in-exile, in the 1943 Gibraltar B-24 crash, led to a number of conspiracy theories?
... that at the Battle of Dubienka, Tadeusz Kościuszko repulsed an attack from Imperial Russian Army forces five times the size of his own?
... that in January 2013, the cybercrime Virut botnet was partially taken down by NASK, the Polish domain registrar?

January 2013

Selection 1

Mikołaj Zyblikiewicz by Jan Matejko

... that Mikołaj Zyblikiewicz (pictured), the City President of Kraków, obtained Emperor Franz Joseph's approval for saving the royal Wawel Castle from further decay by proposing to make it an imperial residence in Poland's former capital?
... that Polish Jewish resistance fighter Vladka Meed was a primary source for the 2001 television movie Uprising?
... that the Christmas Midnight Mass is known in Polish as pasterka, or "shepherds' mass"?

Selection 2

... that the Monument to the Ghetto Heroes (pictured), site of Willy Brandt's Warschauer Kniefall in 1970, was made from labradorite intended to be used in Nazi German monuments?
... that award-winning realist artist Zygmunt Ajdukiewicz illustrated the Austro-Hungarian 24-volume encyclopedia initiated and sponsored by Crown Prince Rudolf?
... that following the death of Pope John Paul II, some 40,000 Catholics gathered in front of the Episcopal Palace in Kraków for a night vigil and prayer?

2012

December 2012

Selection 1

... that painter Franciszek Ksawery Lampi specialized in Romantic depictions of attractive women (example pictured)?
... that the village of Borzęcin was first mentioned in historical documents by the Polish chronicler Jan Długosz in his Liber beneficiorum?
... that Jacek Malczewski, a Symbolist painter, drew his inspiration from exotic and Biblical sources, but inadvertently translated them back into Polish folklore in his own art?
... that in the 1946 Wimbledon Championships Polish tennis champion Ignacy Tłoczyński was declared stateless by the Communist government of Poland because of his Allied affiliations in World War II?
... that Warsaw-born Canadian skier Karolina Wisniewska was the first Canadian to win four para-alpine medals at a single Paralympic Games?

Selection 2

... that Baroness Maria Bal (pictured as Angel of Death) served as a live model for a series of Symbolist portraits of women, as well as nude studies and mythological creatures, by Jacek Malczewski?
... that Ruthenian nobility became increasingly Polonized with time?
... that the Legislative Sejm of 1919–21 was the first national parliament of the Second Republic of Poland?
... that Marcel Déat, the French author of the World War II anti-war slogan Why Die for Danzig?, later became a Nazi collaborator?

Selection 3

Henryk Chmielewski aka Papcio Chmiel

... that Henryk Chmielewski (pictured) was the first comic book author to be awarded with the Medal for Merit to Culture, Gold Class, the highest Polish order given for artistic achievement?
... that during the partitions of Poland, Polish parliamentary tradition was continued in the Austrian partition, first by the Sejm of the Estates and later by the Sejm of the Land?
... that the immediate inspiration for the founding of the "Sztuka" Society of Polish Artists came from the ground-breaking fin-de-siècle art exhibition at the Cloth Hall of Kraków?
... that Augustyn Łukosz, a Polish minority politician in Czechoslovakia, was a member of the autonomous Silesian Parliament in Poland before his death at the Mauthausen Concentration Camp?

November 2012

Selection 1

National Museum of Wrocław

... that the National Museum of Wrocław (pictured) holds one of the largest collections of contemporary art in Poland, extending even to the museum's remodelled attic?
... that hundreds of thousands of art pieces were looted from Poland during World War II by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union?
... that Solidarity trade union leader Lech Wałęsa was a target of fake police reports produced by the Communist secret service in the People's Republic of Poland?
... that the Keret House in Warsaw is the world's narrowest residential building?

Selection 2

Onufry Zagłoba as portrayed by Piotr Stachiewicz

... that Onufry Zagłoba (pictured), a character in Henryk Sienkiewicz's Trilogy, has been compared to William Shakespeare's Falstaff?
... that 444 years ago, Poland's Royal Posts were entrusted to an Italian banker, Sebastiano Montelupi?
... that Count Emeryk Hutten-Czapski gathered his historical collections for the National Museum of Kraków mainly through purchasing entire collections of other noble families?
... that in the first half of the 19th century, the Sejm of the Grand Duchy of Posen continued Polish parliamentary traditions in the territories of the Prussian partition?

Selection 3

... that Wojciech Stattler (pictured) introduced live model studies, including nude art models, to the School of Fine Arts in Kraków?
... that popes awarded blessed swords and hats to defenders of Christendom, including at least 12 emperors, 10 kings of France, 7 kings of Poland, 6 kings of Spain, and the nation of Switzerland?
... that the Royal postmaster Roberto Bandinelli moved to Poland to escape possible imprisonment in Florence?
... that only one of the 114 registered museums in Poland is privately owned?

October 2012

Selection 1

... that Jan Nepomucen Głowacki, considered the father of the Polish school of landscape painting, was the first to devote an entire series of works to the Tatra Mountains (example pictured)?
... that Rabbi Aryeh Tzvi Frumer, a leading rosh yeshiva in prewar Poland, was forced to work in a Warsaw Ghetto factory making footwear for German soldiers?
... that Albert Einstein's letter to the World Congress of Intellectuals in Defense of Peace, held in 1948 in Wrocław, was censored to remove his call for a world government?
... that the Polish-Russian border, now only 232 km (144 mi) long, used to be much longer?

Selection 2

... that 120 Polish miners died in the rubble when the newly built train tunnel collapsed along the Poprad River Gorge (pictured) in the Beskid Mountains?
... that Eustachy Trepka, Stanisław Murzynowski, and Hieronim Malecki were early Polish Lutherans who translated the Gospels, works of Martin Luther, and other religious texts while working in Königsberg in the 16th century?
... that Leopold Loeffler, who worked on commissions for the court of Franz Joseph, became the professor at the School of Fine Arts in Kraków on the invitation of Poland's national painter, Jan Matejko?
... that when Rabbi Avraham Kalmanowitz cried, "even the [U.S.] State Department listened"?
... that Władysław Machejek was a political hack writer during the Stalinist terror in Poland following World War II?

Selection 3

The synagogue of Radzanów

... that a 19th-century brick synagogue (pictured) in Radzanów designed with Moorish-style motifs, serves now as a public library as there are no Jews left in the village?
... that the Polish-Latin dictionary written by one of the Polish Brethren, Jan Mączyński, included translations of jargon and was the subject of a satirical poem by Jan Kochanowski?
... that Poczta Królewiecka ("Königsberg Post"), published from 1718 to 1720, was the second oldest Polish newspaper?
... that the account of life in the Yertsevo labor camp, described in the book A World Apart by Gustaw Herling-Grudziński, preceded Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn's revelations about gulags by a decade?

September 2012

Selection 1

Teofila Ludwika Zasławska

... that Teofila Ludwika Zasławska (pictured) and her second husband owned the Baranów Sandomierski Castle and three other palaces designed by royal architect Tylman van Gameren?
... that Hans Weinreich issued the first printed books in Lithuanian and Old Prussian, as well as the first Polish translation of Luther's Small Catechism?
... that painter Leopold Pilichowski was known for his commitment to social commentary and psychological depictions of Jewish themes in a heavily industrialized environment?
... that the Stanisław Baranowski Spitsbergen Polar Station is named after the Polish glaciologist Stanisław Baranowski who died in a coma following an accident at the Henryk Arctowski Polish Antarctic Station?

Selection 2

Male nude by Maurycy Trębacz, 1887

... that painter Maurycy Trębacz belonged to the first generation of Jewish artists from Poland who broke away from the age-old religious prohibition on portraying a human figure (example pictured)?
... that Hieronymus Roth, an alderman of Königsberg who wanted Ducal Prussia to remain a Polish fief, was imprisoned for life by Great Elector Frederick William?
... that Austrian historian Dagobert Frey led the Gestapo in a mass looting campaign from the Warsaw and Kraków museums and national art galleries during the Nazi German occupation of Poland?

Selection 3

Statues of Jeremi Przybora and Jerzy Wasowski, hosts of the Elderly Gentemen's Cabaret

... that Kabaret Starszych Panów ("Elderly Gentlemen's Cabaret"; statues of the hosts pictured) was a cult Polish TV show, poking fun at the reality of the early People's Republic of Poland?
... that the first Protestant translation of the New Testament into Polish was published by Jan Seklucjan in Königsberg between 1551 and 1553?
... that artist and academician Władysław Łuszczkiewicz, who taught and inspired Poland's national painter Jan Matejko, gave private art classes for free to struggling artists?
... that just before the invasion of Poland, members of the German minority from Deutscher Volksverband were trained in sabotage by the Abwehr agents arriving in Poland from Germany?

August 2012

Selection 1

The Great Map

... that the Great Polish Map of Scotland (portion pictured) was the brainchild of a Polish war veteran and is claimed to be the largest terrain relief model in the world?
... that the Battle of Martynów in 1624 was one of the largest Polish victories over the Tatar raiders?
... that Rabbi Alexander Zusia Friedman alerted world Jewry to the start of deportations from the Warsaw Ghetto to death camps in a coded message referring to "Mr. Amos"?
... that a majority of German-Swedish forces in the Battle of Czarne mutinied, capitulated and then joined the Polish Army?

Selection 2

... that the Swedes withdrew from the nearly won Battle of Dirschau (now Tczew) in 1624 due to the wound received by their king, Gustavus Adolphus?
... that Michael Sokolski, inventor of the Scantron multiple-choice optical answer sheet system, used to drive Polish tanks in Italy during World War II?
... that the ruined town of Miedzianka in Poland was a site of a secret Soviet uranium mine?
... that a sketch by Kabaret Olgi Lipińskiej ("Olga Lipińska Cabaret") resulted in an official protest by the Soviet embassy in Warsaw, followed by secret police questioning?

Selection 3

... that Bajan's list records the kill scores of Polish fighter pilots of World War II (number of German aircraft shot down by the 303 Squadron chalked onto a Hurricane pictured)?
... that the Cossack Zhmaylo Uprising ended without a decisive battle having been fought?
... that sources give two different commanders for the Polish forces participating in the Battle of Grudziądz of 1659?
... that one of the most popular Polish cabarets, Pod Egidą ("Under the Aegis"), performing since 1967, faced persecution from the communist authorities in the People's Republic of Poland?

Selection 4

... that the Union of Jewish Religious Communities in Poland recovers and restores synagogues (example pictured) that had been nationalized under Communist rule?
... that the Battle of Ochmatów in 1644 was one of the largest victories of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth over the Crimean Tatars?
... that in 1981, Mirosław Chojecki went on a hunger strike for 33 days?
... that Dorota Krzysztofek, a glamour model, challenged her 2008 conviction for sunbathing topless and won her case in a court of appeals?

July 2012

Selection 1

... that Jan Matejko created an ironic self-caricature of himself painting one of his works, Astronomer Copernicus, or Conversations with God (pictured)?
... that Ignacy Krasicki's Pan Podstoli, penned in 1778, was one of the first Polish novels?
... that during the Stalinist terror Baron Jerzy Waldorff defamed Catholic priests while serving as an editor of the popular Kraków magazine Przekrój?
... that Kabaret TEY was one of the most popular Polish cabarets of the 1970s and 1980s?
... that the 1976 song "Żeby Polska była Polską" ("Let Poland Be Poland") by Jan Pietrzak became one of the anthems of Solidarity?

Selection 2

Łazienkowska Thoroughfare

... that the Łazienkowska Thoroughfare (pictured), the most famous road in Poland, was part of the main transportation route for UEFA Euro 2012 connecting the Okęcie Airport with the National Stadium in Warsaw?
... that Karol Boscamp-Lasopolski, a courtier and diplomat, was executed by an angry mob during the Kościuszko Uprising?
... that Jan Matejko's painting The Hanging of the Sigismund Bell received a golden medal at the Paris World's Fair of 1878?
... that the PZL SM-4 Łątka helicopter never flew, because its engine was not approved for use in flight?
... that composer Włodzimierz Korcz received most recognition for the music to "Let Poland Be Poland", a protest song which was adopted as an informal anthem of the Solidarity trade union in Communist Poland?

Selection 3

Szkieletor in 2008

... that the NOT Tower (pictured) in Kraków was nicknamed Skeletor after it had been abandoned by the Polish Federation of Engineering Associations and left unfinished for 30 years?
... that Polish historian Stefania Wolicka was one of the first women to receive a PhD in modern Europe?
... that communist Poland's ORMO voluntary police reserves specialized in staging and performing criminal acts, unlawful arrests, and street beatings of peaceful protesters?
... that theatre director and TV comedy producer Olga Lipińska launched her cabaret under Soviet-style socialism hoping to make the world a better place?
... that the Piotruś mountain in the Low Beskid range is the site of a pond and stream where Saint John of Dukla is said to have rested?

June 2012

Selection 1

... that Jadwiga Apostoł (pictured), a school teacher and conspirator, survived three Nazi German camps, including Auschwitz, and was jailed in Stalinist Poland on trumped-up charges soon after her return?
... that the Army of the Congress Poland was disbanded after the November Uprising, which marked the end of an independent Polish army for close to a century?
... that the Polish Writers' Union had an annual budget set by the state allowing for food supplements, health clinics, foreign travel, cars, vacations, stipends, and cash prizes?
... that Albert Finney initially declined the role of the Polish-born pontiff in Herbert Wise's TV biopic Pope John Paul II as he did not want to play someone so high-profile?

Selection 2

Polish soldiers 1588–1632

... that the military of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (troops pictured) was so underfunded that it was often outnumbered 12 to 1 by neighboring armies?
... that children as young as eight were forced to work in a stone quarry in a Polenlager during the German occupation of Polish Silesia?
... that, during their fight against the Moldo-Wallachian Cuza regime, Românul editors agitated in international radical circles, assisted the rebellious Polish émigrés, and feigned madness?
... that Stanisław Klimecki served as the mayor of Kraków only for a few weeks before being fired and arrested by the Gestapo in September 1939, which led to his execution in 1942?
... that Wojciech Smarzowski's film Róża won the Polish Film Award in seven categories in 2011?

Selection 3

... that the army of the Duchy of Warsaw (troops pictured) was able to field almost 100,000 men, more than the larger Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth ever could for its army?
... that Polish resistance member Tadeusz Popek was one of only two known prisoners to have escaped from the Nazi German torture centre at the Palace Hotel in Zakopane?
... that the Poznań dance style was copied by Manchester City football fans after their team played Lech Poznań?
... that Bruno Müller was implicated in Nazi German atrocities against Polish academics, Ukrainian Jews, and prisoners in a slave labor camp, but died a free man?

Selection 4

... that Jan Matejko's painting Stańczyk (pictured), portraying a solemn court jester, is considered one of the most recognized and significant paintings of Poland?
... that Tadeusz Lehr-Spławiński was released from Sachsenhausen concentration camp with a group of Kraków academics due to protest by prominent Italians including Benito Mussolini and the Holy See?
... that the large prehistoric amphibian Cyclotosaurus, known mostly from finds in Germany and Poland, had a skull up to 70 cm long?
... that Edward Gierek of Poland and János Kádár of Hungary placed themselves within the pro-Soviet orthodox camp at the 1976 European Communist Conference, but expressed certain individual nuances?
... that the subversive newsletter made for German occupation authorities by the Polish underground Tatra Confederation was so well written that the Germans thought it was produced internally?

May 2012

Selection 1

... that at its extreme, serfdom in Poland required a peasant (pictured, in stocks) to work eight days a week for his feudal lord?
... that an opole was an early Polish administrative division that predated the creation of a unified Kingdom of Poland?
... that the privileges of Polish nobility were unprecedented in Europe, giving the nobles the right to control most legislation, foreign relations, taxation, elect a king and rebel against him?
... that on the southern slopes of Maja e Thatë lies the Cave of Haxhia, a Nature Monument of Albania, explored by Polish speleologists?

Selection 2

Łukasz Orbitowski

... that writer Łukasz Orbitowski (pictured) was one of the pioneers of setting horror stories in mundane, modern Polish cities?
... that the baptism of Poland in 966 led to its recognition by other European powers?
... that slavery existed in Poland during the Middle Ages, but eventually disappeared with the transformation of slaves into serfs?
... that Krzysztof Szwernicki was named "Apostle of Siberia" by Pope Leo XIII?

April 2012

Selection 1

Piotr Skrzynecki

... that Piotr Skrzynecki (pictured), founder of the Piwnica pod Baranami ("Rams Cellar") cabaret, who became a "legend in his own lifetime", did not care for material wealth and was homeless for a time?
... that deputies of the Sejm of the Duchy of Warsaw circumvented the restriction on debating by staying in the chamber after the session officially ended?
... that Polish mathematician Stefan Banach and poet Zbigniew Herbert survived the Holocaust working as feeders of lice?

Selection 2

Dethronement of Nicholas I by the Polish Sejm

... that in one of its last acts, the Sejm of the Congress Poland (session pictured) deposed Emperor Nicholas I of Russia from the Polish throne?
... that Kaytek the Wizard, the second novel by Polish author and pedagogue Janusz Korczak to be translated into English, has often been compared to Harry Potter?
... that in 1968, Alfred Jahn, rector of the Wrocław University, supported students who were striking against communist censorship and lost his position as a result?

March 2012

... that Battle of Grunwald (fragment pictured), a large canvas painting by Jan Matejko, was among the most wanted artifacts that Nazi Germany planned to destroy?
... that the Society of Friends of the Constitution, formed in 1791 to support the Constitution of 3 May, was the first Polish political party?
... that the fourth Rebbe of Radomsk, founder of a network of 36 Hasidic yeshivas in pre-war Poland, paid for the education of over 4,000 students out of his own pocket?
... that hundreds of Polish coal miners spent two weeks underground in the 1981 strike at the Piast Coal Mine in Bieruń?

February 2012

Selection 1

... that Polish writer Ferdynand Goetel (pictured) participated in the first delegation sent by the Nazis to confirm the discovery of the Katyn massacre perpetrated by the Soviets?
... that the 1764 Russo-Prussian alliance, formed two years after the signatories clashed in the Seven Years' War, allowed them to intervene in internal matters of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth?
... that Polish writer and educator Konrad Prószyński, author of internationally recognized primers, had to struggle with the censorship in the Russian Empire?
... that Dovid Bornsztain, the third Sochatchover rebbe, supervised the education of several hundred yeshiva students in the Warsaw Ghetto?
... that the Karlino oil eruption put an end to the dreams of Poland becoming a "second Kuwait"?

Selection 2

... that the figure of Abbé Morio in Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace was modeled on Scipione Piattoli (pictured), one of the drafters of the Polish Constitution of May 3, 1791?
... that the abolition of serfdom in Poland was spurred by unrest and uprisings such as the Kraków Uprising and the January Uprising?
... that Siedlce pogrom in the Congress Poland was organized by the Russian Empire's secret police, and carried out by the Imperial Russian Army, whose soldiers were later decorated?
... that the exploits of the Polish partisan People's Army were significantly exaggerated by the propaganda of the People's Republic of Poland?

Selection 3

Portrait of Piotr Tomicki

... that Stanisław Samostrzelnik, the first Polish Renaissance painter known by name, portrayed Bishop Piotr Tomicki (pictured)?
... that Prussia refused to meet its obligations from the Polish–Prussian alliance of 1790, and instead of aiding Poland during the Polish–Russian War of 1792, it helped Russia quell the Kościuszko Uprising the following year?
... that bibliophile, literary historian and theatre director Jan Lorentowicz, who first published the complete works of Jan Kochanowski, was also an amazing father according to his daughter's memoirs?
... that one of the largest operations of the Combat Organization of the Polish Socialist Party became known as the Bloody Wednesday?
... that Stanisław Jaros was executed in 1963 for trying to kill Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev and Polish Communist leader Władysław Gomułka?

January 2012

Selection 1

The PKO Rotunda after the 1979 gas explosion

... that 49 people died and 135 were injured in the 1979 gas explosion in Warsaw's PKO Rotunda (pictured)?
... that Hieronim Ossoliński, a 16th-century Polish politician who helped unite Poland and Lithuania, also wanted to establish a Protestant national church?
... that the Polish Armed Forces in the East fought in Russia from the First World War, through the Russian Revolution of 1917 up to the Polish–Soviet War?
... that playwright Jerzy Szaniawski, who married at age of 76, was starved and physically abused by his wife, 20 years his junior, until his death in 1970?
... that Polish model and fashion designer Joanna Horodyńska used to present a TV program while laying in a foam-filled bath tub?

Selection 2

... that according to Czesław Miłosz, Karol Hubert Rostworowski (pictured) is most remembered for his tragedy about the killing of an unrecognised son?
... that the ideas of 17th-century Polish reformer Stanisław Dunin-Karwicki have been both praised as the harbinger of later reforms and criticized for not going far enough?
... that Polish actor and singer-songwriter Andrzej Bogucki and his wife were awarded the title Righteous among the Nations for helping Polish Jewish pianist Władysław Szpilman escape the Warsaw Ghetto?
... that the 1971 Łódź strikes were the only successful industrial action in pre-1980 Communist Poland?
... that Tadeusz Wrona, who safely landed LOT Flight 16 from New York to Warsaw after the landing gear failed to deploy, was decorated with the Order of Polonia Restituta?

Selection 3

Tyszkiewicz Palace, a former seat of the Polish Academy of Literature

... that a socialist writer, Andrzej Strug, declined to join the prestigious Polish Academy of Literature (pictured) because he was upset by their criticism of freemasonry?
... that Kazimierz Karwowski holds the record for the highest number of times he was elected to the Sejm of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth?
... that the anti-religious campaign culminating in the Stalinist show trial of the Kraków Curia led to the imprisonment of 123 Polish Roman Catholic priests in just one year?
... that Wroniec, a dark fairy tale by Jacek Dukaj, was a taboo-breaking take on martial law imposed in Poland on 13 December 1981?
... that a Polish women's magazine, Miasto Kobiet ("Women's City"), organizes a recurring clothing swap known as Szafobranie, or "Wardrobe Picking"?

2011

December 2011

Selection 1

Celestyn Czaplic

... that when confronted with an ethical dilemma, Celestyn Czaplic's (pictured) contemporaries asked themselves, "what would Czaplic think of that?"
... that the Zielony Balonik ("Green Baloon") literary cabaret of Kraków was rumoured to be a place of "orgies, nude dancing and all manner of dissipation"?
... that during a decade of the interbellum, Germany and Poland fought a customs war?
... that the poem "Murzynek Bambo" ("Bambo the Little Negro") by Julian Tuwim has been criticised for its portrayal of black people?
... that before his death in 2011, Tadeusz Sawicz was believed to have been the last surviving Polish pilot to have fought in the Battle of Britain?

Selection 2

The New Jewish Cemetery of Kraków

... that headstones from the New Jewish Cemetery (pictured) of Kraków were used to pave the courtyard of commandant Amon Göth's house in the Kraków-Płaszów concentration camp?
... that Teofil Lenartowicz wrote a poem about a heavenly golden cup decorated with scenes of idealized Polish countryside?
... that the plans for a popular front between communists and socialists in Poland collapsed after the Oblicze Dnia ("Face of the Day") newspaper was launched in 1936?
... that Natalia Tułasiewicz, a Polish teacher, was one of only two lay women beatified among the 108 Martyrs of World War II?

Selection 3

A memorial wooden cross in front of the Presidential Palace in Warsaw in the summer of 2010

... that the cross in front of the Presidential Palace in Warsaw (pictured) became a focus of a major controversy in 2010, regarding the relations between church and state in Poland?
... that diplomat Michał Radziwiłł the Red was described as a psychopath by his own cousin, politician Krzysztof Mikołaj Radziwiłł?
... that Kasper Twardowski's erotic poem, banned by Bishop Marcin Szyszkowski of Kraków, was rejected by the poet himself as immoral?
... that Jerzy Bielecki escaped from the Auschwitz concentration camp in a stolen SS uniform, with a girl he fell in love with?

October − November 2011

Selection 1

Tadeusz Rejtan, fragment of the painting by Jan Matejko

... that Tadeusz Rejtan is remembered in Poland for his dramatic gesture (pictured) as a symbol of patriotism?
... that the Treaty of Kępno (1282) between Mestwin II and Przemysł II transferred control over Gdańsk Pomerania and facilitated the reunification of Poland?
... that there were over a dozen Zaporozhian Cossacks uprisings against the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Russian Empire?
... that the 1773 French satirical drawing of the First Partition of Poland, The Troelfth Cake, was banned in several European countries?
... that the Rędziński Bridge, a recently constructed cable-stayed bridge spanning the Oder river in Wrocław, is the tallest and longest bridge in Poland?

Selection 2

The Prussian Painting at the Sukiennice Museum in Kraków, Poland

... that Prussian Homage (fragment pictured) by Jan Matejko was among the most wanted Polish paintings searched for by the Nazis during World War II?
... that both the Tarnogród Confederation and the Silent Sejm were engineered by Emperor Peter the Great to strengthen Russia's influence in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth?
... that the same Partition Sejm that acceded to the First Partition of Poland also created the Commission of National Education, regarded as Europe's first ministry of education?
... that Wojciech Pietranik was told to replace the Sydney Opera House with the Roman Colosseum in his design for the Sydney 2000 Olympic medals?

September 2011

Selection 1

... that after World War II, Polish resistance organizer and Warsaw Uprising fighter Jan Mazurkiewicz (pictured) was brutally tortured by the authorities in communist Poland?
... that the Hetman Party of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth called upon Russia to help defend their Golden Liberties?
... that the group of reformers known as Kołłątaj's Forge popularized the ideals of the French Revolution in Poland?
... that Hugo Steinhaus "discovered" Stefan Banach and helped re-establish mathematics at the University of Wrocław after World War II?

Selection 2

... that a masterpiece painting (fragment pictured) by Jan Matejko shows more than a dozen figures involved in the passing of the Constitution of 1791?
... that Polish Jacobin activist, officer of the Polish Legions, Kazimierz Konopka, gained notoriety for his involvements in the unrest and hangings during the Kościuszko Uprising?
... that the World War II idea of a Polish-Czechoslovakian confederation was eventually discarded by the Czechs, whose leader favoured a prospective alliance with the Soviet Union?

Selection 3

Statue of the Wawel Dragon by Bronisław Chromy

... that the Smok, an extinct genus of large carnivorous archosaur, is named after the legendary Wawel Dragon (statue pictured)?
... that an effigy of Jan Suchorzewski, who once threatened to kill his son to prevent the signing of the Constitution of 1791, was hanged during the Kościuszko Uprising?
... that Wacław Gluth-Nowowiejski's World War II memoir The Commonwealth of Ruins, about his experience of hiding in a destroyed city as a Robinson Crusoe of Warsaw, was adapted into a short comic?

August 2011

Selection 1

Donald Tusk

... that the figure of Józef Tusk, grandfather of current Prime Minister Donald Tusk (pictured), was in the center of the "Wehrmacht affair" during the 2005 Polish presidential election campaign?
... that the Duchy of Opole and Racibórz, one of many in Silesia, was created in the 13th century, split by the end of it, and recreated in the 16th by John the Good?
... that among the Jewish ghettos in German-occupied Poland the most populous was the Warsaw Ghetto with over 400,000 inhabitants crammed into an area of 1.3 sq mi (3.4 km²)?
... that Polish-born cosmetics entrepreneur Lydia Sarfati is credited with introducing seaweed-based skin treatments in the United States?

Selection 2

Warsaw in ruins, 1945

... that Władysław Szpilman, whose life inspired the film The Pianist, was the most famous of the Robinson Crusoes of Warsaw hiding in the ruins of the city (pictured) after its planned destruction by the Nazi Germans?
... that ORP Huragan and ORP Orkan, the first two destroyers scheduled to be constructed by domestic shipyards for the Polish Navy, were never completed due to the German invasion of Poland?
... that Rzeczpospolita Polska, the official magazine of the Polish Underground State, published 80 issues in the dangerous conditions of occupied Poland?
... that as political prisoners were released due to the fall of communism in Poland, regular prisoners rioted, demanding better conditions and an amnesty?

Selection 3

Rubber stamp of the Revolutionary Avengers

... that an anarchist group called the Revolutionary Avengers (rubber stamp pictured), active 1910–1914, has been described as the most radical terrorist organization in the history of Poland?
... that David Olère was the only artist who worked as a member of the Sonderkommando at the Auschwitz concentration camp and survived?
... that the mining settlement of Bwana Mkubwa received thousands of Polish refugees who arrived in Northern Rhodesia during World War II?
... that May 3rd Constitution Day, among the most important Polish holidays, was banned in the former communist state, the People's Republic of Poland?

July 2011

Selection 1

New York-based artist Olek

... that participants in performance art by Polish-born American artist Olek (pictured) are literally crocheted into her body suits, without fasteners?
... that the term Dominium maris baltici, referring to Danish and Swedish hegemonial ambitions in the Baltic Sea basin, was probably coined by King Sigismund II Augustus of Poland?
... that the Polish faculty expelled by the Nazis from the University of Poznań during World War II created the underground University of the Western Lands?
... that Solidarity's victory in the Polish legislative election of 1989, ushering the fall of communism in Eastern Europe, was a surprise to both the communists and the opposition?

Selection 2

... that the kremówka cream cake (pictured) gained international recognition after Pope John Paul II noted he had once eaten 18 of them as part of a bet?
... that Tadeusz Vetulani was a pioneer of biodiversity research in Poland and conducted studies about the forest tarpan and the konik horse, launching restoration and breeding schemes?
... that the 1945 Augustów roundup which resulted in the disappearance and likely murder of about 600 Polish citizens by the Soviet Union is considered the largest crime committed in Poland after World War II?
... that Tom Kahn organized a $300,000 aid from AFL–CIO to the Solidarity labor union in 1980–1981, despite Secretary of State Edmund Muskie's warnings that this aid might provoke a new Soviet invasion of Poland?

Selection 3

... that Polish architect Stefan Kuryłowicz (one of his buildings pictured) is credited with modernizing the architecture of Warsaw in the decades following the collapse of Communism?
... that Polish-German "cotton king" Juliusz Karol Kunitzer survived a 1893 assassination attempt, but died during that of 1905?
... that bas reliefs being made by the sculptor Henryk Kuna for a public monument in Vilnius were used as cemetery pavers during the Nazi occupation of the city?
... that during World War II, the Polish Teachers' Union was mostly active through the Secret Teaching Organization?
... that the album Kayah i Bregović by Goran Bregović and Kayah was the first to receive a Diamond award by the Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry?

June 2011

Selection 1

... that Polish Countess Eveline Hańska (pictured) was once ordered by a doctor to stick her feet into a small pig in order to treat her gout?
... that Bible translations into Polish date from the 13th century?
... that in the Battle of Byczyna, Polish Chancellor and Hetman Jan Zamoyski took Austrian Archduke Maximilian III prisoner, ending the brief War of the Polish Succession?
... that Polish armoured trains proved to be surprisingly successful during the Invasion of Poland in 1939?
... that father and son Augustyn and Roman Träger were Polish intelligence agents who provided the Allies with crucial information about German testing of the V-1 and V-2 rockets during World War II?

Selection 2

The Church of Saints Peter and Paul in Kraków

... that at 46.5 metres (153 ft), the longest Foucault pendulum in Poland is suspended inside the Church of Saints Peter and Paul (pictured) in the Old Town district of Kraków?
... that Captain Władysław Raginis is known as a modern Leonidas for facing Nazi German forces which outnumbered the Poles 40:1 in the Battle of Wizna?
... that the Central Committee of Polish Jews, formed in 1944, was instrumental in organizing and implementing the aliyah, or Jewish migration to the new State of Israel?
... that the Battle of Bautzen in 1945 was the bloodiest battle of the Polish Army since the Battle of Bzura in 1939?
... that Czerwono-Czarni, or "the Red and Blacks", were the first Polish rock band to cut a record?

May 2011

Selection 1

Franciscan Church of Zamość

... that the Franciscan Church (pictured) in Zamość was among the largest churches in 17th-century Poland?
... that the extinct trapdoor spider Baltocteniza was identified from a specimen preserved in Baltic amber owned by the Polish Academy of Sciences?
... that French Marshal Claude Victor-Perrin, was captured by a Prussian freikorps on his way to command the 1807 Siege of Kolberg (now Kołobrzeg)?
... that the Polish State Forests agency oversees 77.8 percent of forestland in Poland?
... that Polish anti-Communist fighter turned Stalinist informant, Edward Wasilewski, committed suicide in 1968, on the day of the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia?

Selection 2

... that the 75-metre (246 ft) tall towers of St. Florian's Cathedral (pictured) in Warsaw's eastern district of Praga highlight its role as a form of protest against the Russian domination of Poland?
... that the adjective "Polish-Lithuanian" refers to pre-nationalistic, multicultural inhabitants of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, unlike the modern understanding of the two nationalities?
... that Anthony Sadowski, after escaping captivity in the Great Northern War in 1704, came to America and helped Daniel Boone's father found Amity Township in Pennsylvania?
... that in 2003 the German author Dieter Schenk became an honorary citizen of Gdańsk after his work led a German court to overturn a World War II ruling on the defenders of the Polish Post Office in Danzig?

April 2011

Selection 1

An inundated road sign in Stary Dwór

... that the 1997 Central European flood (pictured) was caused by some of the heaviest rains ever recorded?
... that Polish neurologist Włodzimierz Godłowski was one of the victims of the Katyn massacre?
... that due to his criticism of the Polish communist government, best-selling historian and dissident Paweł Jasienica had his books removed from distribution and prohibited from printing?

Selection 2

Map of Poland under German occupation in 1942

... that the Commission for Polish Relief provided limited food and medical supplies to Nazi-occupied Poland (map pictured) until late 1941, in spite of Britain's 1940 blockade of shipments to German-occupied Europe?
... that in the aftermath of World War I, Polish agronomist Mieczysław Jałowiecki lost his renowned estates in Lithuania?
... that Władysław Marian Jakowicki, a Polish physician and rector of the Stefan Batory University of Wilno, was one of 19 faculty members arrested during the Soviet invasion of Poland in 1939 who disappeared without a trace?

March 2011

Selection 1

... that Romantic poet Juliusz Słowacki (pictured) is considered one of the Three Bards of Polish literature?
... that the Battle of Grochowiska, one of the largest battles of the January Uprising, has been also described as the "most bloody" and a "Pyrrhic victory" for the Polish insurgents?
... that the Polish canned fish paste known as paprykarz szczeciński was inspired by an African dish?

Selection 2

Krzysztof Matyjaszewski

... that with over 40,000 citations in scientific literature, Polish-American polymer chemist Krzysztof Matyjaszewski (pictured) is one of the most cited chemists in the world?
... that Polish and Italian prisoners taken by the Russians after the Battle of Krzykawka were deported to Siberia?
... that the Polish anti-Nazi Pomeranian Griffin resistance organization was persecuted by the Soviets due to its strongly Catholic character?

February 2011

Selection 1

Zouaves of Death

... that the Zouaves of Death (pictured), a Polish military unit of the 1863 January Uprising, drew their traditions from the French Zouaves of the Crimean War?
... that Soviet tank commander Aleksandra Samusenko was buried near the monument to German Emperor William I in Łobez in north-eastern Poland?
... that Polish athlete Edward Sarul became the first ever World Champion in the shot put in 1983, but missed the 1984 Summer Olympics due to the Eastern Bloc boycott?

Selection 2

... that 17 Polish songs by Frédéric Chopin (pictured) were published after the composer's death as his Op. 74?
... that François Rochebrune, the French commander of the Zouaves of Death, disciplined panicked Polish troops in the Battle of Grochowiska by asking them what time it was, which was the only Polish he knew?
... that interments at the Gunnersbury Cemetery in London include a Polish president-in-exile and a Polish commander-in-chief?
... that as theologian to the Pontifical Household, Wojciech Giertych provides advice to the pope on theological issues?

January 2011

... that Zakopane Style architecture (example pictured) became so popular that designs it inspired were built in Warsaw, Łódź, and even in Saldutiškis, Lithuania?
... that the Darżlubie Forest is the second largest site of Nazi mass killings of Poles and Jews in Pomerania?
... that deputy minister Roman Romkowski, charged along with Director-general Anatol Fejgin and Col. Józef Różański of the Polish Ministry of Public Security, was sentenced to 15 years in prison in 1957?
... that Polish mixed martial artist Rafał Moks won the 2010 M-1 Global Middleweight Championship?

2010

December 2010

Selection 1

... that before departing from Kraków for his victorious Battle of Vienna against the Ottoman Empire, King John III Sobieski said his final prayers at the Carmelite Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary (pictured)?
... that Konstanty Jodko-Narkiewicz survived the burning of the hydrogen balloon Star of Poland in 1938?
... that Saint Maximilian Kolbe was called the "Apostle of Consecration to Mary"?
... that the execution of Witold Pilecki, Polish Righteous among the Nations, was carried out by the Mokotów Prison Staff Sergeant Piotr Śmietański?

Selection 2

Zygmunt Padlewski

... that in the aftermath of the unsuccessful January Uprising, Polish insurgent Zygmunt Padlewski (pictured) was captured and executed by the Russian authorities?
... that several peaks of the Andean Cordillera de la Ramada, including the highest, Mercedario, were first climbed by a Polish expedition organized by the Tatra Society in 1934?
... that the murder of worshipers in Kysylyn during the massacres of Poles in Volhynia became the subject of a 2009 historical documentary for the Polish Television?

November 2010

Selection 1

... that the Jagiellonian tapestries (example pictured) became state property of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth by the testament of King Sigismund II Augustus?
... that the Tenczyn Castle was captured and pillaged because of a rumor that the Polish Crown Jewels were hidden in its walls?
... that there are several explanations of Frédéric Chopin's illness?
... that geneticist Piotr Słonimski joined with colleagues to organize support for scientists repressed during 1982–1983, the time of martial law in Poland?

Selection 2

... that the plafond in the Kraków Bishops' Palace in Kielce (pictured) depicts its founder's victory over the Polish Brethren Protestant church, which taught the equality and brotherhood of all people?
... that Hebraic studies specialist Harris Lenowitz has translated the works of 18th-century Jewish Messiah claimant Jacob Frank from Polish into English?
... that the most valuable biosphere reserve in Poland's Pisz Forest is home to the Mute Swan, which arrives in numbers reaching up to 2,000 birds in time of moult?

October 2010

Selection 1

... that the so-called Hungarian Crown (pictured), part of the Polish Crown Jewels, was modeled after the Holy Crown of Hungary?
... that Mikołaj Błociszewski was the Polish negotiator in the diplomatic talks whose failure led to the Polish-Lithuanian–Teutonic War of 1409–1411?
... that the Sanok Castle was the seat of Isabella Jagiellon, Queen of Hungary, after her escape from Transylvania?
... that the Heu-Aktion involved systematic kidnapping of Polish children by Nazi Germany?
... that Dawid Baziak began his professional mixed martial arts career with five consecutive technical knockout victories?

Selection 2

... that Janusz Radziwiłł, considered by some as a traitor of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, died in the besieged Tykocin Castle (pictured)?
... that the Homagial Crown was probably the coronation crown of king Vladislaus II?
... that the 1493 Sejm held at the Piotrków Trybunalski Castle was the first bicameral parliament in Poland?
... that Izrael Chaim Wilner, who took part in the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, left his notebook of poems with the Dominican nuns in Vilnius, where he hid during the early part of Nazi occupation of Poland?
... that after missing the whole of 2009 through injury, mixed martial artist Jan Błachowicz returned at KSW XIII to defeat two opponents on the same night?

September 2010

Selection 1

... that the new building of the Warsaw University Library (pictured) in Warsaw was consecrated in 1999 by Pope John Paul II?
... that the town of Marche, Arkansas, was founded by a Polish count who wanted to restore the agricultural environment familiar to most Poles before their arrival in the United States?
... that the Republic of Ostrów was a short-lived autonomous republic created in the aftermath of World War I?
... that ships from the Royal Navy, the Royal Norwegian Navy and the Polish Navy participated in the British Commando raid Operation Anklet?

Selection 2

... that the Crown of Boleslaus the Brave (replica pictured) was melted down in 1794 and recreated in 2003 using some of its original gold?
... that Tadeusz Adamowski, a pioneer of ice hockey in interwar Poland, played the sport at Harvard, coached the Polish national team, and was imprisoned in a German Oflag during World War II?
... that when Nazi Germany invaded Poland, Polish-Jewish poet Rajzel Żychlińsky fled by taking a taxicab?
... that the Mausoleum of Struggle and Martyrdom in Warsaw preserves cells in which Nazis tortured and killed Polish resistance fighters?

Selection 3

... that the roccoco Abbot's Palace (pictured) at Oliwa founded by Jacek Rybiński, the last Cistercian abbot of the Oliwa monastery, was burned down by German troops during World War II?
... that soon after the creation of the Łomża Ghetto, Nazi Germans killed all the Jews suspected of collaborating with the previous occupying power, the Soviet Union?
... that Władysław Wawrzyniak, one of the founders of the Republic of Ostrów, was among the victims of the Katyn massacre?
... that with over 1.2 million burials, the Bródno Cemetery is the largest cemetery in Warsaw?

August 2010

Selection 1

... that in 1983 Janusz Krupski (pictured), who died in the 2010 Polish air force crash in Smolensk, was kidnapped by the communist secret police and burned with acid but that his thick sweater saved his life?
... that the Ślężanie were a tribe of the Polish group of West Slavs, inhabiting territory of Silesia, which is named after them, around Mount Ślęża and the Ślęza River?
... that only five units of the production model PWS-5, a Polish liaison aircraft, were built?
... that in 1938 Nazi authorities Germanized over 1,500 Old Prussian, Lithuanian and Polish place names in East Prussia?
... that Abraham Blum, a Bundist participant in the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, was murdered by the Gestapo, but his wife Luba Blum-Bielicka, a nurse, survived the Holocaust and ran an orphanage in post-war Poland?

Selection 2

PWS-6 airplane

... that the PWS-6 (pictured) was the first Polish aircraft fitted with slats – but the prototype is the only model ever produced?
... that although Princess Louise of Prussia was noble-born, her German-Polish daughter Elisabeth Radziwiłł was considered an unsuitable marriage prospect for future emperor Wilhelm I?
... that Polish lawyer Henryk Cederbaum was expelled from the bar after defending a Polish shopkeeper who accused the Russian governor-general's wife of shoplifting?
... that the anti-Nazi resistance group "Olimp", organized in 1941 by members of the Polish minority in Breslau, was named after Mount Olympus because of their remote main meeting place?

Selection 3

Róża Thun

... that MEP Ryszard Czarnecki thought fellow Polish MEP Róża Gräfin von Thun und Hohenstein (pictured) might harm the Civic Platform in the 2009 elections because of her German-sounding name?
... that after Bolesław III Wrymouth defeated Pomeranian dukes at the Battle of Nakło, he gave Nakło and other fortified settlements on the river Noteć to Swantopolk I as a fief?
... that PWS-3 was the first sports aircraft manufactured by the Polish aerospace industry?
... that Thorvaldsen's equestrian statue of Prince Józef Poniatowski spent 80 years in Russian Field Marshal Ivan Paskevich's Gomel Palace but was destroyed within 20 years after its return to Warsaw?
... that according to a legend, the Bachorza manor in Mazovia is haunted?

Selection 4

... that the Marie Curie Museum building (pictured) in Warsaw, in which the two-time Nobel Prize winner was born, was deliberately destroyed during WWII?
... that the PWS-4, a Polish sports aircraft built in 1928, was not developed beyond a single prototype?
... that despite great risks, the Polish Jaskółka class minesweeper ORP Rybitwa successfully towed her sister ship ORP Mewa to port after Mewa had been hit by German bombs in September 1939?
... that Zbigniew Babiński, a Polish military and sports aviator who constructed gliders before World War I, was one of the victims of the Katyn massacre?
... that Ujazdów Avenue in Warsaw was renamed after Stalin in 1953, but the traditional name was restored three years later?

July 2010

Selection 1

... that the manufacturer of the Polish SHL brand of motorcycles (model SHL 98 pictured) was nationalized after World War II and closed in the 1970s?
... that Polish aviator Józef Lewoniewski planned to fly the PWS-52 monoplane prototype around the world?
... that publicist Stephen Rivers arranged Jane Fonda's 1987 trip to Poland, where she went to express her support for Lech Wałęsa, leader of the then-banned Solidarity movement?
... that works of the Polish artist Dorota Nieznalska stirred a religious controversy and charges of blasphemy in Poland?
... that Polish aerial photographer Mariusz Adamski is known for shooting aircraft from unusual perspectives?

Selection 2

The Polish Rider

... that Polish scholars have suggested that the model for The Polish Rider (pictured) was in fact Rembrandt's son Titus?
... that the Glider Experimental Works, created after World War II, became the main Polish centre for designing gliders?
... that in 1949 the Polish, Hungarian, Bulgarian, Yugoslav and Czechoslovak socialist parties founded the Socialist Union of Central-Eastern Europe as a common centre for work in exile?
... that Zbigniew Ścibor-Rylski, a trained aviator, took part in the Warsaw Uprising of World War II and later headed an automobile repair bureau in Poznań?

June 2010

Archbishop Józef Kowalczyk

... that Józef Kowalczyk (pictured) served longer in one country than any other apostolic nuncio?
... that the Warsaw Lyceum, where Nicolas Chopin was a teacher and his son Frédéric Chopin a pupil, was founded by the Prussian government as a German language school?
... that the 1923 children's novel King Matt the First is as popular in Poland as Peter Pan is in the English-speaking world?
... that Barbara Zdunk was one of tens of thousands of people executed for witchcraft in Europe and America?
... that the 2010 Moscow Victory Day Parade was the first Victory Day Parade to include Polish and other NATO troops marching down Moscow's Red Square?

May 2010

Sławomir Skrzypek

... that Sławomir Skrzypek (pictured), the Polish central banker who died in the Tu-154 crash, had recently come into open conflict with the Council of Ministers of Poland?
... that Pope John Paul II traveled more than all his predecessors combined?
... that with the Treaty of Bromberg in 1657, the rulers of Brandenburg-Prussia were freed of Polish vassalage for the Duchy of Prussia?
... that SMS Schleswig-Holstein, one of the five Deutschland-class battleships, fired the first shots of World War II during the Battle of Westerplatte?
... that Pope John Paul II coined the term "Alliance of the Hearts of Jesus and Mary" in his Angelus address on 15 September 1985?

April 2010

Selection 1

... that Augustus the Strong (pictured) lost the Polish crown in the Treaty of Altranstädt (1706), but regained it after the Treaty of Thorn (1709)?
... that one political faction in Isabelline Spain was known as the polacos because of its leader's Polish ancestry?
... that the Treaty of Pozvol triggered the Livonian War?
... that, during the bombing of Berlin, Minuscule 658, 659 and 661 were sent out of Berlin for safekeeping and were later found in Poland?

Selection 2

... that in 2005, composer Krzysztof Penderecki (pictured) added a ciaccona for strings to his Polish Requiem, begun in 1980?
... that by the Treaty of Vilnius (1561), Gotthard Kettler exchanged his office as Grand Master of the Livonian Order for that of a duke of Courland and Semigallia?
... that of the two competing Polish kings in 1705, one was allied with Russia and the other one with Sweden?
... that Elżbieta Sieniawska was one of the most powerful women in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth during the reign of Augustus the Strong?

March 2010

... that 18th-century painter Szymon Czechowicz (one of his works pictured) established a school of painting and thereby greatly influenced Polish art?
... that some historians consider a 1619 strike by Polish craftsmen in the Jamestown Settlement to be the first strike in North American history?
... that in the Treaty of Bromberg, Poland-Lithuania accepted Hohenzollern sovereignty in the Duchy of Prussia in return for an "eternal alliance"?
... that the Alvensleben Convention allowed Russian troops to cross the Prussian border in pursuit of Polish revolutionaries of the 1863 January Uprising?
... that the Polish Independent Socialist Labour Party of Joseph Kruk merged into the Labour Zionist Poalei Zion in 1937?

February 2010

Selection 1

... that Mannerist architecture and sculpture in Poland (example pictured) were dominant between 1550 and 1650, when they were finally replaced with Baroque?
... that Emanuel Chobot, chairman of the Polish Socialist Workers Party in interwar Czechoslovakia, was active in the cooperative movement?
... that the British cargo ship Empire Builder was handed over to the Polish government-in-exile on completion in January 1942?
... that the Polish–Czech Friendship Trail was closed to tourists outside the two countries until the dissolution of Czechoslovakia in 1993?

Selection 2

... that the bronze Gniezno Doors, of about 1175, are the only Romanesque doors in Europe decorated with scenes from the life of a saint (his murder pictured)?
... that the neo-romantic Chłopomania movement based in Young Poland's fascination with folk culture inspired Polish playwright Stanisław Wyspiański to marry a peasant wife in 1900?
... that the most prominent leader of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia within the Polish minority, Karol Śliwka, died in the Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp in 1943?
... that five Fablok Luxtorpeda trains were constructed under the leadership of Klemens Stefan Sielecki?

January 2010

Selection 1

... that the defense of Allenstein (now Olsztyn; castle pictured) in 1521 against a siege by the Teutonic Knights was successfully organized by the Catholic cleric and astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus?
... that there are different theories about the parentage of Constance, the Piast princess who ruled over Wodzisław Śląski until her death in 1351?
... that Polish publicist and politician Jan Ludwik Popławski was one of the first chief activists and ideologues of the right-wing National Democracy political camp?
... that chaplain Władysław Gurgacz, member of the Polish anti-communist resistance, opposed lethal force, but was nonetheless executed by the Polish communist authorities?

Selection 2

Title page of a 1599 edition of the Wujek Bible

... that the Jakub Wujek Bible (pictured) served as the main Catholic Bible translation into Polish for more than three centuries?
... that the opening of the Gesta principum Polonorum, a history of early Poland written sometime in the 1110s, is addressed to Martin I, the Archbishop of Gniezno?
... that Poland–Lithuania and the Ottoman Empire signed a "perpetual" peace in 1533?
... that the Głos magazine was closed during the revolution of 1905 in the Congress Kingdom of Poland?
... that the Embassy of Poland in London at Portland Place did not open until ten years after the country became independent?

2009

December 2009

Selection 1

Konstanty Laszczka, with nude in clay

... that the Polish Art Nouveau sculptor Konstanty Laszczka (pictured) produced symbolic bronze statues of female nudes overwhelmed with sadness?
... that the assumption of modern historians that Elisabeth of Greater Poland is a daughter of Elisabeth of Hungary is based on them sharing the same name and both coming from Hungary?
... that the Zamojski Academy, the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in Poland, was founded in 1594 at Zamość by Royal Chancellor Jan Zamoyski?
... that the Nicolaus Copernicus Monument erected in 1853 at Thorn in Prussia (now Toruń, Poland), his home town, bears a Latin inscription drawn up by Alexander von Humboldt?

Selection 2

Badge of the Chrobry II Battalion

... that one of the platoons of the Chrobry II Battalion (badge pictured) was led by Witold Pilecki, who later wrote the first-ever report on the Holocaust?
... that the Duchy of Belz was passed as a dowry by King Ladislaus II of Poland to Duke Siemowit IV of Masovia, upon Siemowit's marriage to Ladislaus's sister, Alexandra?
... that Ivan Naumovich, a major Ukrainian pro-Russian cultural and political figure, as a youth supported the Polish national movement?
... that Polish general Józef Haller de Hallenburg faked his death in the 1918 Battle of Kaniów?
... that the entire Częstochowa massacre, in which hundreds of Poles and Jews were murdered by the Wehrmacht, was captured in narrative form by a German photographer?

Selection 3

Władysław Oporowski

... that Archbishop Władysław Oporowski (pictured), Primate of Poland, was a chief political rival of Cardinal Zbigniew Oleśnicki?
... that Steven van Herwijck created portrait medals of both Sigismund II Augustus of Poland and Elizabeth I of England?
... that the Puławy Legion of the Imperial Russian Army, supported by the National Democracy party, was formed to counteract the Polish Legions of the Austro–Hungarian Army, an initiative of Józef Piłsudski?
... that Leon Wasilewski of the Polish Socialist Party learned Yiddish in order to be able to edit the party's Yiddish-language newspaper Der arbeyter?
... that the proposed Lithuanian–Polish–Ukrainian Brigade reflects the Polish government's attempts to tie Ukraine more closely to the West?

Selection 4

Wronki Prison

... that the Wronki Prison (pictured) is the largest penitentiary in Poland?
... that the unsuccessful siege of Hlukhiv and the following retreat became the worst defeats of the Polish army in the Russo-Polish War of 1654–1667?
... that in the attack on Hrubieszów partisans of the Polish Freedom and Independence group coöperated with the Ukrainian Insurgent Army, even though the two groups had previously often fought each other?
... that one of those killed in the mass murders in Piaśnica, Sister Alicja Kotowska, was beatified together with 107 other victims of Nazi terror in 1999 by Pope John Paul II?
... that Polish media mogul Jan Wejchert, founder of the TVN television network, converted a ruined papermill into a shopping center?

November 2009

Selection 1

Karl Wilhelm Scheibler

... that Karl Wilhelm Scheibler (pictured), the "Cotton King" of Łódź, sold his stock at triple the price after the American Civil War broke out?
... that Tadeusz Kościuszko initially did not want to support the Greater Poland Uprising of 1794 in order to avoid a two-front war against both Russia and Prussia?
... that Narcyz Wiatr, a Polish activist in the agrarian movement and member of the anti-Nazi resistance group Peasant Battalions, was murdered by the communist secret police in Kraków’s Planty Park?
... that Michał Klepfisz, a hero of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, saved his comrades' lives by throwing himself on a German machine gun?
... that the head of Polish communist secret police Stanisław Radkiewicz ordered his agents to "liquidate" members of the Polish Peasant Party, and make it look like the work of the anti-communist underground?

Selection 2

... that Dymitr of Goraj (pictured, kneeling), one of the most powerful people in the late 14th-century Kingdom of Poland, was instrumental in preventing the marriage between Jadwiga of Poland and Wilhelm Habsburg?
... that Kordian, a romanticist drama by one of Poland's Three Bards, Juliusz Słowacki, is a polemic with Dziady, an earlier work by another of the Three Bards, Adam Mickiewicz?
... that a Polish railway worker, Wojciech Najsarek, was one of the first victims of World War II?
... that the Polish town of Polanów was completely destroyed during the World War II?
... that Sara Szweber, one of a few women who held leadership positions in the Jewish socialist movement, after the invasion of Poland was threatened with arrest by the NKVD and fled to the United States?

Selection 3

... that in the Polish–Muscovite War of 1577–1582 (Siege of Pskov pictured), Muscovy failed in its attempt to gain access to the Baltic Sea?
... that in 1882, almost a century after the final partition of Poland, Polish explorer Stefan Szolc-Rogoziński tried to found a Polish colony in Cameroon?
... that many Jews of the Radom Ghetto in German-occupied Poland were forced to work in the local arms factory?
... that one of the most notable actions of the minor sabotage in occupied Poland during World War II involved stealing a propaganda plaque from the monument of Nicolaus Copernicus?
... that Emilia Malessa, a Polish soldier in the anti-communist resistance, committed suicide after she had trusted the Security Chief Józef Różański and revealed her fellow soldiers, which led to their arrest?

Selection 4

... that the Nicolaus Copernicus Monument in Warsaw (pictured) was inspired by a comment made by Napoleon, and was nearly melted down by Nazi Germany after the Warsaw Uprising?
... that during the Seven Years' War, Kolberg (now Kołobrzeg) was besieged three times?
... that Adolf Bniński, Polish presidential candidate in 1926, was the Government Delegate of the Polish Underground State for the Polish territories annexed by Nazi Germany?
... that Maurycy Orzech and Leon Feiner wrote a telegraph informing Bundist member of the Polish government in Exile, Szmul Zygielbojm, of the outbreak of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising?

October 2009

Selection 1

Trzy Korony

... that the observation deck atop the Trzy Korony Mountain (pictured) in the Pieniny National Park hangs over a 500-metre (1,600 ft) precipice with a near perfect view of the Dunajec River Gorge?
... that, after defeating the troops of Petro Doroshenko in the Battle of Podhajce, Jan Sobieski was promoted to Grand Crown Hetman, the highest military rank in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth?
... that Dr. Wacław Olszak, Polish physician and former mayor of Karviná, Czechoslovakia, was murdered by the Nazis just ten days after the war started?
... that Leon Feiner, a leader of the Bund and of Żegota, wrote many communiqués to the Western Allies describing the Holocaust in Poland?
... that the Polish Committee for Settling of Place Names determined 32,138 toponyms of Poland in between 1946 and 1950?

Selection 2

Manor in the village of Mereszowszczyzna, Kosava, Belarus

... that the architectural style of the manor houses known as dwór or dworek (example pictured) that evolved during the late Polish Renaissance period still inspires some contemporary Polish manors?
... that rigged elections to the People's Assemblies of Western Ukraine and Western Belarus became an official legitimization of Soviet annexation of eastern Poland in 1939?
... that Edward Fokczyński of the AVA Radio Company knew that Poland had solved Germany's Enigma ciphers, but kept the secret even while being worked to death at Sachsenhausen?
... that as a result of the Okęcie Airport incident in 1980, four top players of the Polish national football team were disqualified, and one of them never capped for Poland again?
... that Polish archaeologist Mieczysław Domaradzki, who was based in Bulgaria for 22 years studying the archaeology of Thrace, discovered the ancient market centre Pistiros?

September 2009

Selection 1

... that in May 1945, Marian Bernaciak (pictured) helped defeat a force of 680 soldiers supported by armored cars in the largest battle between the communist government of Poland and the anti-communist resistance?
... that Jadwiga of Żagań bore no sons to her husband, Casimir III the Great, which spelled the end of the Piast Dynasty in the Kingdom of Poland?
... that during the Holocaust, of the four Jews rescued by Stanisław Jasiński and his daughter from Kostopol in Eastern Poland, only Szmuel Liderman survived the massacres of Poles in Volhynia?
... that collective punishment meted out to mostly innocent Ukrainian peasants by Polish authorities during the Galicia Pacification campaign resulted in increased bitterness and encouraged extremists on both sides?
... that the Kraków City Council has forty-three elected members, including the mayor?

Selection 2

Allied airmen's graves in the Rakowicki Cemetery

... that all Allied pilots shot down over Poland in World War II are laid to rest at the Rakowicki Cemetery (pictured) in Kraków?
... that the anti-government August 31, 1982 demonstrations in Poland ended with four demonstrators killed and unknown number wounded?
... that the decision of Pope Pius XII to appoint German apostolic administrators to occupied Poland during World War II was labelled "one of his most controversial decisions"?
... that Polish pilot Władysław Turowicz moved to Pakistan, became a citizen, and has since become known as the "Rocket-Missile Man of Pakistan"?
... that the 1937 peasant strike in Poland was the largest anti-government demonstration in the Second Polish Republic?

Selection 3

Church of St. Casimir the Prince

... that once a year almost 1,000 mummified bodies are put on public display inside the monastic crypt at the Church of St. Casimir the Prince (pictured), one of many churches of Kraków ?
... that Ambassador Kazimierz Papée protested to Secretary of State Cardinal Luigi Maglione regarding the Holocaust in Poland that "when something becomes notorious, proof is not required"?
... that Polish partisan leader Władysław Łukasiuk, despite his paralyzed leg, always marched at the head of his unit, using his carbine as a crutch?
... that architect Chrystian Piotr Aigner used a range of styles including Neoclassical, Palladian, Neo-Gothic, Empire and Romantic?
... that after the declaration of martial law in 1981, Kornel Morawiecki became one of the most wanted people in Poland?

August 2009

Józef and Wiktoria Ulma

... that the family of Józef and Wiktoria Ulma (pictured), Polish Righteous among the Nations from Markowa, was summarily executed for rescuing their Jewish countrymen during the Holocaust?
... that the Mayor of Danzig, Conrad Letzkau, was treacherously murdered in 1412 by the Teutonic Knights for his support of Poland and refusal to pay taxes?
... that the Środa treasure, one of the most valuable archeological finds in 20th-century Europe, was originally lost during the Black Plague?
... that Nazi German regulation of Polish forced laborers intentionally created and supported discrimination on the basis of ethnicity?
... that an East German defector hijacked a Polish plane in 1978 to escape to West Germany?

July 2009

... that Polish philosopher Józef Kalasanty Szaniawski (pictured) began as an advocate for restoring Poland's independence but ended as a high government official in Russian Poland – and an enemy of philosophy?
... that the 1988 Polish strikes shook the country's Communist regime to such an extent that it was forced to begin talks on relegalization of Solidarity?
... that the Black Procession of Polish burghers in 1789 resulted in the passage of the belated major urban reform in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth?
... that Operation Antyk was the Polish Underground State's anti-communist propaganda department?
... that Jan Władysław Dawid was a lecturer at the Flying University in Warsaw?

June 2009

Jan Dekert

... that Polish merchant Jan Dekert (pictured) was a vocal advocate for the enfranchisement of burghers during the Great Sejm in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth?
... that former Polish president, Lech Wałęsa, only won 1 percent of the vote in the 2000 presidential election?
... that the Lipka Rebellion of 1672 was the only time that the Muslim Lipka Tatars mutinied against the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth?
... that Polish Jesuit missionary Jan Mikołaj Smogulecki introduced the knowledge of logarithms to China in the mid-17th century?
... that the Hel Fortified Area was the last place in Poland to surrender to the invading Wehrmacht in 1939, and during World War II it was used as a Kriegsmarine base?

May 2009

... that during the Battle of Yevenes, Polish lancers of the Legion of the Vistula (pictured) lost all their banners, which caused the dissolution of the regiment?
... that thanks to its well-preserved medieval fortifications, the town of Paczków is called the Polish Carcassone?
... that light-cavalrymen of the Polish 1st Light Cavalry Regiment of the Imperial Guard saved Napoleon's life at least three times?
... that the Broadway play Irena's Vow tells the story of Irena Gut, a Polish nurse who during World War II saved twelve Jews from the Holocaust at the risk of her own life?
... that Independent Students Union was the student arm of Polish opposition movement Solidarity?

Portal:Poland/Did you know/archive

Contents

2016

May – June 2016

April 2016

March 2016

February 2016

January 2016

Selection 1

Selection 2

2015

December 2015

November 2015

October 2015

August – September 2015

June – July 2015

May 2015

April 2015

March 2015

January – February 2015

2014

December 2014

November 2014

Selection 1

Selection 2

October 2014

Selection 1

Selection 2

August – September 2014

Selection 1

Selection 2

July 2014

Selection 1

Selection 2

June 2014

Selection 1

Selection 2

May 2014

Selection 1

Selection 2

April 2014

Selection 1

Selection 2

Selection 3

March 2014

Selection 1

Selection 2

Selection 3

February 2014

Selection 1

Selection 2

Selection 3

January 2014

Selection 1

Selection 2

2013

December 2013

Selection 1

Selection 2

Selection 3

November 2013

Selection 1

Selection 2

Selection 3

October 2013

Selection 1

Selection 2

September 2013

Selection 1

Selection 2

August 2013

Selection 1

Selection 2

July 2013

June 2013

Selection 1

Selection 2

Selection 3

May 2013

Selection 1