Polish Greatness

[yiostheoy]

Why are Polish garbage cans made of glass?

[So they can window shop.]

 

[yiostheoy]

Why can't you bury a Polish sailor at sea?

[Because sh!t floats.]

 

[yiostheoy]

Which is the only nation with a worse military record than Poland?

[Italy.]

 

[yiostheoy]

Who else?

[Austria-Hungary.]

 

[yiostheoy]

Repetitious.
As boring as the first time.
No one dislikes Polish people for being Polish.

Agree.

We just have to tell the jokes slower for them.

 

[pismoe]

Here it is important to understand how, exactly, Americans ‘become white’. The history of Polish-Americans is an illuminating example. Upon arriving in the U.S. en masse in the late 19th and early 20th century, Poles endured discrimination based on their appearance, religion and culture. The largest wave of Polish immigration came in the late 19th and early 20th century. This was for two main reasons: 1. terrible economic conditions in Poland (which at that point was not a country but partitioned between Austria, Germany, and Russia), which led to mass hunger and 2. ethnic persecution, especially in the section ruled by Russia. cIn 1903, the New England Magazine This was a mainstream publication. decried the Poles’ “expressionless Slavic faces” and “stunted figures” as well as their inherent “ignorance” and “propensity to violence”. Working for terrible wages, Polish workers were renamed things like “Thomas Jefferson” by their bigoted Anglo-Saxon bosses who refused to utter Polish names.

The Poles, in other words, were not considered white. Far from it: they were considered a mysterious menace that should be expelled. When Polish-American Leon Czolgosz killed President William McKinley in 1901, all Poles were deemed . potential violent anarchists. “All people are mourning, and it is caused by a maniac who is of our nationality,” a Polish-American newspaper wrote, pressured to apologize for their own people. The collective blame of Poles for terrorism bears great similarity to how Muslims (both in the U.S. and Europe) are collectively blamed today.

But then something changed. In 1919, Irish gangs in blackface attacked Polish neighborhoods in Chicago in an attempt to convince Poles, and other Eastern European groups, that they, too, were “white” and should join them in the fight against blacks. As historian.David R. Roediger recalls, “Poles argued that the riot was a conflict between blacks and whites, with Poles abstaining because they belonged to neither group.” But the Irish gangs considered whiteness, as is often the case in America, as anti-blackness. And as in the early 20th century Chicago experienced an influx not only of white immigrants from Europe, but blacks from the South, white groups who felt threatened by black arrivals decided that it would be politically advantageous if the Poles were considered white as well.

Over time, the strategy of positioning Poles as “white” against a dark-skinned “other” was successful. Poles came to consider themselves white, and more importantly, they came to be considered white by their fellow Americans, as did Italians, Greeks, Jews, Russians, and others from Southern and Eastern Europe, all of whom held an ambivalent racial status in U.S. society. Also, intermarriage between white ethnic groups led some to embrace a broader white identity.

With that new white identity came the ability to practice the discrimination they had once endured.

How do you become “white” in America?

------------------------------------------- thing is , who cares IM2. Poles are good people , generally viewed , recognized as WHITE by just about everyone . The ones that don't , well feck'em IM2.

 

[SobieskiSavedEurope]

Which is the only nation with a worse military record than Poland?

[Italy.]

Poland actually has one of the best military records.

 

[SobieskiSavedEurope]

Why can't you bury a Polish sailor at sea?

[Because sh!t floats.]

Yeah, no one hates on Poles, and Polish jokes have ended, sure.

 

[SobieskiSavedEurope]

Bin-e offers in-the-bin sorting
Poland-based firm says its bin can separate recyclables immediately after collection.

July 23, 2017
Recycling Today Staff
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The Poznan, Poland-based makers of Bin-e collection devices say attendees at the Pioneers’17 in Vienna, which took place in June 2017, showed great interest in the devices, which are designed to separate recyclables from each other by material inside the bin.



Bin-e says its product line “will automatically segregate your [discarded items] and free [users of public space collection bins] from the never-ending struggle whether you should throw your package into the plastics or paper.”



The early June Pioneers’17 event in Vienna brought together more than 2,500 people “who create the world of modern technology,” says Bin-e in a press release. “It was no coincidence that this particular place, where business meets innovation, was chosen for Bin-e’s premiere. However, the inventors did not expect the great amount of attention their device attracted.”



“When we found out that we were the only ones from Poland who were given the opportunity to introduce our product in the most crowded place we have ever seen, we immediately realized that it is going to be a big test,” says Marcin Lotysz, Bin-e’s chief technology officer. “The whole team worked very hard to prepare the device on time. Today was a success thanks to everyone who invested so much time, knowledge and money into the development of our smart waste bin.”




Bin-e says when a discarded item is placed Bin-e’s main chamber, proprietary technology allows recognition to occur so the item “is distributed to the right [interior] bin.” Additionally, says the company, the Bin-e has a compression function. “This is important because enterprises pay more not only for unsegregated waste but also for [greater density].”



Lotysz says people’s attitude toward waste management and discarding recyclable items inspired the invention of the Bin-e. “We had been running a company for a couple of years and segregating waste was quite a serious issue there. It seemed to be obvious, you need to put the glass waste into the bin for glass and the plastic waste into the bin for plastics. But in fact, people were always running around the office with a package trying to figure out which bin they should choose. This meant people either don't know how to do it or it is simply too much effort.”



Continues Lotysz, “When we dug deeper into recycling and waste management data we found out that only 10 percent of trash worldwide is being recycled. What about the rest? It is everywhere, all around the globe, polluting our environment a little bit more every day. So, we came up with a solution to [make the process] less dependent on the decisions humans make standing in front of the waste bin.”



He says the pilot version of Bin-e is currently being prepared and the company is planning to release it the fall of 2017. “A smart office dedicated edition is going to be available in 2018,” says Lotysz, adding, “The next stages are also already planned – an outdoor version and finally, a device we will be able

to use at our homes.”



Remarks Jakub Lubonski, CEO of Bin-e, “There’s still a long way to go. Our ambitions and plans are big, but for now we have to focus on the current situation and follow our plans step by step. From

the very beginning the smart waste bin was supposed to appear on the global market. Such a

strategy determines our intense search for potential partners who will help us to




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Bin-e offers in-the-bin sorting - Recycling Today

 

[SobieskiSavedEurope]

Polish scientists develop a technology for solar cells and LCD displays
Posted on 27-02-2016Editing Team

Filip Granek and Zbigniew Rozynek, young physicists with many years of international experience in research, are developing a breakthrough technology to produce ultra-thin, electrically conductive lines. The technology benefit the manufacturers of LCD displays, thin-film solar cells and touchscreens. The technological concept has already been successfully validated, and the patent procedure initiated. Valuation of the company XTPL, which is involved in the commercialization of the invention, may reach a capitalization of a billion dollars in the future.

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The Polish researchers envision the creation of a new Transparent Conductive Film (TCF), which can be widely used in electronics, especially in the production of liquid-crystal displays, thin-film solar cells and touchscreens. The new technology enables cheaper production and more efficient products; it also makes it possible to apply the films on flexible foil.

Today, cells and displays widely use the element indium in the form of indium tin oxide (ITO), which is used as a so-called transparent electrode. Unfortunately, due to its crystalline structure, ITO loses its properties when bent. This makes it impossible to use in modern flexible products that meet the requirements of the market and customers. In addition, the price of indium is high and variable, and global resources are largely controlled by one country – China. Our invention will replace indium. The introduction of a new generation of conductive layers, on which we are working, will allow global manufacturers to become independent of the uncertain indium market. In other words, our technology will be cheaper, more efficient and more convenient, and it will benefit users, who will get brighter displays with ever larger screen sizes and more efficient photovoltaic panels. – Filip Granek, PhD

Polish scientists develop a technology for solar cells and LCD displays -

 

[SobieskiSavedEurope]

Polish-made scientific instruments have taken part in a number of space missions. They have been installed on such probes as Huygens/Cassini, Mars/Venus Express or Herschel. Polish engineers have become specialists in several sectors of the space industry, where today they are a class in itself.

• See also:
• Space Research Centre
• Polish Space Agency to be
  set up
• Mars Challenge in Poland!
• Polish students design
  mission to Mars

Launched into orbit during the last two years, the Lem, Hevelius and PW-Sat satellites do not close the list of space devices designed in our country. Polish engineers from the Space Research Centre of the Polish Academy of Sciences have been working with different space agencies since the 1970s.

It all began with Interkosmos, a Soviet programme that enabled Eastern Bloc countries to engage in space exploration, General Mirosław Hermaszewski participated in a space flight in 1978, and Polish instruments to measure plasma waves were put into orbit on board the Kopernik 500 satellite under this programme.

“Close to 70 different devices made at the Centre have been launched into outer space so far,” Professor Marek Banaszkiewicz, Director of the Space Research Centre, told Polska.pl. Starting in the early 1990s, Poland has been cooperating with members of the European Space Agency. This allowed our scientists and engineers to carry out joint space experiments with colleagues from the UK, Italy, Germany and France. “Foreign contractors realized that we have extensive know-how when it comes to designing specific types of instruments, and that we are much cheaper and oftentimes more reliable than Western firms. All this has won us new customers” added Professor Banaszkiewicz.

© ESA–C.Carreau/ATG medialab">

Polish scientists were involved in preparations for such acclaimed space missions as Huygens/Cassini, Venus/Mars Express or Rosetta. They designed special sensors to measure temperature and heat conduction. The apparatus was subsequently installed on the Huygens probe, which set off towards Saturn as part of the Cassini mission. Satellites heading for Mars and Venus are also equipped with Polish-made planetary Fourier spectrometers that measure infrared radiation. The Rosetta mission, whose task is to land on the Churyumov–Gerasimenko comet in 2014, features a Polish device for taking and analysing the comet’s soil samples.

“In the course of over forty years, Poland has specialized in building instruments for exploring the Sun with x-rays. Our second area of expertise is measuring plasma waves, which involves studying the impact of plasma on the terrestrial magnetic field,” said Professor Banaszkiewicz.

The research focuses on analysing solar flares, a potentially dangerous phenomenon that generates streams of high-energy particles. They can put at risk both astronauts at the International Space Station and people down on Earth. A case in point is the magnetic storm that was caused by a coronal mass ejection in March 1989, leading to a massive power grid shutdown in the Canadian province of Quebec. The blackout, which lasted up to nine hours, affected six million people. Satellites can also break in a similar way.

The Sun is the destination of two missions that will be launched soon: the European Solar Orbiter and the Russian InterHelio-Zond. Both will be equipped with Polish measuring instruments.

“There are fields where our technologies are a cut above international competitors. We should find our own niches in the space industry, invest in them and become global leaders,” emphasized Professor Banaszkiewicz.

Poland has been a member of the European Space Agency since 2012. After joining the organization, our country has gained access to funds for implementing ESA projects and developing space technologies by Polish companies. Plans are afoot to establish a Polish Space Agency, which will coordinate those initiatives.

Polish technology in outer space

 

[flacaltenn]

this is a show of proof how the polish practiced the same discrimination against people of color as every other white ethnic group

I'm not getting that from the material you posted.. Maybe YOU should read it again. Because what I GOT from your material was that the Poles WERE victims and tools of the Irish and other Whites who APPARENTLY just tried to convince them that they were not white. But EVENTUALLY -- SOMEHOW --- it all worked out that they were white after all. Or maybe they aren't. But the IMPORTANT point to YOU was --- Poles were NOT black..

Do I have right now? Was there RACIAL discrimination against the Poles? Against the Irish? Are those even "races"???

You cannot call whites discriminating against whites racial discrimination. This is ethnic discrimination. What happened to the Polish, Irish, Italians, etc., was ethnocentrism not racism. They did this among themselves. Blacks did to do this to them. This is where whites get things conflated in their attempt to lecture us on how we didn't have it so hard and how we weren't the only ones that were victims of racism. Whites were not victims of racism. Ethnocentrism is not racism. Not saying it's a good thing, but it is not racism. And at the same time while whites were doing this to each other, every white group practiced discrimination against blacks and other non whites. Notice the last sentence because THAT is my point, not the simplistic conclusion that Poles were not black.

It was YOU and your source that made it about skin color. Go back and read the (supposed) accusations from the Irish. Therefore the analysis sucks. Because Poles are a culture. They might have some uniquely identifying DNA for long-time Poles -- but that has nothing to do with skin color or race.

Your source made a BIG F'ing deal about the drama of whites arguing over their OWN racial purity. Only to end up at --- the "us" vs "them" conclusion that you like to see.

 

[ChrisL]

I'm Polish too, but have a couple of other nationalities too (the combination of my parents of course). I don't really feel any need to defend Polish people or Poland since I identify as an American. I don't know anything about Poland, never lived there. I do wish I had asked my grandfather some more questions about his past and stuff when he was still alive. I just wasn't very interested in these things when I was a kid, so I never asked. I've never been discriminated against because of my "race" and obviously I am as white as white can be (or pink if I spend too much time in the sun!). But then, I don't go around making everyone aware of my nationalities either. Seems quite silly to me actually. I think of every person as an individual and put little stock into a person's ethnicity or those old fashioned stereotypes.

 

[IM2]

this is a show of proof how the polish practiced the same discrimination against people of color as every other white ethnic group

I'm not getting that from the material you posted.. Maybe YOU should read it again. Because what I GOT from your material was that the Poles WERE victims and tools of the Irish and other Whites who APPARENTLY just tried to convince them that they were not white. But EVENTUALLY -- SOMEHOW --- it all worked out that they were white after all. Or maybe they aren't. But the IMPORTANT point to YOU was --- Poles were NOT black..

Do I have right now? Was there RACIAL discrimination against the Poles? Against the Irish? Are those even "races"???

You cannot call whites discriminating against whites racial discrimination. This is ethnic discrimination. What happened to the Polish, Irish, Italians, etc., was ethnocentrism not racism. They did this among themselves. Blacks did to do this to them. This is where whites get things conflated in their attempt to lecture us on how we didn't have it so hard and how we weren't the only ones that were victims of racism. Whites were not victims of racism. Ethnocentrism is not racism. Not saying it's a good thing, but it is not racism. And at the same time while whites were doing this to each other, every white group practiced discrimination against blacks and other non whites. Notice the last sentence because THAT is my point, not the simplistic conclusion that Poles were not black.

It was YOU and your source that made it about skin color. Go back and read the (supposed) accusations from the Irish. Therefore the analysis sucks. Because Poles are a culture. They might have some uniquely identifying DNA for long-time Poles -- but that has nothing to do with skin color or race.

Your source made a BIG F'ing deal about the drama of whites arguing over their OWN racial purity. Only to end up at --- the "us" vs "them" conclusion that you like to see.

You .need to pay attention to what the article was about. The article was titled, How do you become “white” in America?. The first 2 sentences say this, Here it is important to understand how, exactly, Americans ‘become white’. The history of Polish-Americans is an illuminating example. After this, the article went into detailing the history of the polish in America. You ignored to first two sentences which set the premise for the rest of the article. The source did not make any drama about anyone arguing over racial purity.The accusations from the Irish is not the point of the article, it was an illustration of what poles went though, but the reality still mains that they dropped all that to practice racism against blacks because they decided much like the Irish did, that it was more important be white, than to be polish.

You always want to argue when race is bought up. That is a tell tale symptom that you are not colorblind but I fact you have a severe racial bias. There are whites who I have held such discussion with who do not deny racism at every turn like you and most of these guys do. And not all of them are liberals. I live in a republican state so I can say that. Now I'm sure you will tell me how you do not deny that racism exists but you have refused to see how the poles practiced racism against blacks and that what they faced was not racism as is being asserted here.

 

[flacaltenn]

You always want to argue when race is bought up. That is a tell tale symptom that you are not colorblind but I fact you have a severe racial bias.

And you don't ARGUE when race is the topic??

OK -- I've been called a racist. I guess I'm not buying into that "remote diagnosis".. You don't know racists. You don't know anything about my life or actions. I was "detained" during a race riot outside a Head Start location in Miami when a bunch of cops tried to put young black girls head thru our storefront window. I did a little "push back"...

I'm not buying anymore of this crap... You have no support. You've alienated all the neutral folks. Continue down that road. Please. Just won't be with me...

 

[IM2]

You always want to argue when race is bought up. That is a tell tale symptom that you are not colorblind but I fact you have a severe racial bias.

And you don't ARGUE when race is the topic??

OK -- I've been called a racist. I guess I'm not buying into that "remote diagnosis".. You don't know racists. You don't know anything about my life or actions. I was "detained" during a race riot outside a Head Start location in Miami when a bunch of cops tried to put young black girls head thru our storefront window. I did a little "push back"...

I'm not buying anymore of this crap... You have no support. You've alienated all the neutral folks. Continue down that road. Please. Just won't be with me...

You aren't neutral. You missed the entire point of the article. You fail to understand that I am a 56 year old black man. I DO know what a racist is. You got detained for doing what was right and think that is supposed to mean something? You have denied racism even in policy that was expressly written to deny people because of race. But you call yourself neutral. HA!

 

[SobieskiSavedEurope]

this is a show of proof how the polish practiced the same discrimination against people of color as every other white ethnic group

I'm not getting that from the material you posted.. Maybe YOU should read it again. Because what I GOT from your material was that the Poles WERE victims and tools of the Irish and other Whites who APPARENTLY just tried to convince them that they were not white. But EVENTUALLY -- SOMEHOW --- it all worked out that they were white after all. Or maybe they aren't. But the IMPORTANT point to YOU was --- Poles were NOT black..

Do I have right now? Was there RACIAL discrimination against the Poles? Against the Irish? Are those even "races"???

You cannot call whites discriminating against whites racial discrimination. This is ethnic discrimination. What happened to the Polish, Irish, Italians, etc., was ethnocentrism not racism. They did this among themselves. Blacks did to do this to them. This is where whites get things conflated in their attempt to lecture us on how we didn't have it so hard and how we weren't the only ones that were victims of racism. Whites were not victims of racism. Ethnocentrism is not racism. Not saying it's a good thing, but it is not racism. And at the same time while whites were doing this to each other, every white group practiced discrimination against blacks and other non whites. Notice the last sentence because THAT is my point, not the simplistic conclusion that Poles were not black.

It was YOU and your source that made it about skin color. Go back and read the (supposed) accusations from the Irish. Therefore the analysis sucks. Because Poles are a culture. They might have some uniquely identifying DNA for long-time Poles -- but that has nothing to do with skin color or race.

Your source made a BIG F'ing deal about the drama of whites arguing over their OWN racial purity. Only to end up at --- the "us" vs "them" conclusion that you like to see.

You .need to pay attention to what the article was about. The article was titled, How do you become “white” in America?. The first 2 sentences say this, Here it is important to understand how, exactly, Americans ‘become white’. The history of Polish-Americans is an illuminating example. After this, the article went into detailing the history of the polish in America. You ignored to first two sentences which set the premise for the rest of the article. The source did not make any drama about anyone arguing over racial purity.The accusations from the Irish is not the point of the article, it was an illustration of what poles went though, but the reality still mains that they dropped all that to practice racism against blacks because they decided much like the Irish did, that it was more important be white, than to be polish.

You always want to argue when race is bought up. That is a tell tale symptom that you are not colorblind but I fact you have a severe racial bias. There are whites who I have held such discussion with who do not deny racism at every turn like you and most of these guys do. And not all of them are liberals. I live in a republican state so I can say that. Now I'm sure you will tell me how you do not deny that racism exists but you have refused to see how the poles practiced racism against blacks and that what they faced was not racism as is being asserted here.

So, Poles weren't White when being White had advantages?

Now, that being White holds disadvantages Poles are White?

I think it stinks that a Pole who has the same SAT scores as a Black, would most of the time be denied college.

 

[SobieskiSavedEurope]

‘Were We All People?’
‘The Auschwitz Volunteer,’ by Witold Pilecki
By TIMOTHY SNYDERJUNE 22, 2012

One man volunteered for Auschwitz, and now we have his story. In September 1940 the 39-year-old Polish cavalry officer Witold Pilecki deliberately walked into a German roundup in Warsaw, and was sent by train to the new German camp. His astounding choice was made within, and for, Poland’s anti-Nazi underground.

Poland had been destroyed a year earlier by its two powerful neighbors: eastern Poland had been annexed by the Soviet Union; the western half, including Warsaw, was taken by Nazi Germany. The Soviets overwhelmed Polish attempts at resistance in their zone, but under the Germans, officers like Pilecki managed to establish confidential networks that would come to be known as the Underground State and the Home Army. Auschwitz was set up to render Polish opposition to German rule impossible, and the first transport from Warsaw, in August 1940, had included two of Pilecki’s comrades. He went to Auschwitz to discover what had become of them, and what the camp meant for Poland and the world. This he learned and conveyed.

Pilecki’s report on Auschwitz, unpublishable for decades in Communist Poland and now translated into English under the title “The Auschwitz Volunteer,” is a historical document of the greatest importance. Pilecki was able to smuggle out several brief reports from Auschwitz in 1940, 1941 and 1942, and wrote two shorter reports after his escape in 1943. The long report that constitutes this book dates from 1945 and summarizes what he noted along the way: the brutality of Auschwitz as a German concentration camp for Poles in 1940 and 1941, and its transformation into something worse over the course of the war.

In the beginning, Poles in the camp were killed in public, in improvised and quite brutal ways; in time, deliberate exposure to the elements, concealed shootings and phenol injections became the rule. By the end of the war, Poles would be the third-largest victim group at Auschwitz, after Hungarian Jews and Polish Jews. But during Pilecki’s first year they were most of the prisoners and most of the victims.

‘The Auschwitz Volunteer,’ by Witold Pilecki

 

[IM2]

this is a show of proof how the polish practiced the same discrimination against people of color as every other white ethnic group

I'm not getting that from the material you posted.. Maybe YOU should read it again. Because what I GOT from your material was that the Poles WERE victims and tools of the Irish and other Whites who APPARENTLY just tried to convince them that they were not white. But EVENTUALLY -- SOMEHOW --- it all worked out that they were white after all. Or maybe they aren't. But the IMPORTANT point to YOU was --- Poles were NOT black..

Do I have right now? Was there RACIAL discrimination against the Poles? Against the Irish? Are those even "races"???

You cannot call whites discriminating against whites racial discrimination. This is ethnic discrimination. What happened to the Polish, Irish, Italians, etc., was ethnocentrism not racism. They did this among themselves. Blacks did to do this to them. This is where whites get things conflated in their attempt to lecture us on how we didn't have it so hard and how we weren't the only ones that were victims of racism. Whites were not victims of racism. Ethnocentrism is not racism. Not saying it's a good thing, but it is not racism. And at the same time while whites were doing this to each other, every white group practiced discrimination against blacks and other non whites. Notice the last sentence because THAT is my point, not the simplistic conclusion that Poles were not black.

It was YOU and your source that made it about skin color. Go back and read the (supposed) accusations from the Irish. Therefore the analysis sucks. Because Poles are a culture. They might have some uniquely identifying DNA for long-time Poles -- but that has nothing to do with skin color or race.

Your source made a BIG F'ing deal about the drama of whites arguing over their OWN racial purity. Only to end up at --- the "us" vs "them" conclusion that you like to see.

You .need to pay attention to what the article was about. The article was titled, How do you become “white” in America?. The first 2 sentences say this, Here it is important to understand how, exactly, Americans ‘become white’. The history of Polish-Americans is an illuminating example. After this, the article went into detailing the history of the polish in America. You ignored to first two sentences which set the premise for the rest of the article. The source did not make any drama about anyone arguing over racial purity.The accusations from the Irish is not the point of the article, it was an illustration of what poles went though, but the reality still mains that they dropped all that to practice racism against blacks because they decided much like the Irish did, that it was more important be white, than to be polish.

You always want to argue when race is bought up. That is a tell tale symptom that you are not colorblind but I fact you have a severe racial bias. There are whites who I have held such discussion with who do not deny racism at every turn like you and most of these guys do. And not all of them are liberals. I live in a republican state so I can say that. Now I'm sure you will tell me how you do not deny that racism exists but you have refused to see how the poles practiced racism against blacks and that what they faced was not racism as is being asserted here.

So, Poles weren't White when being White had advantages?

Now, that being White holds disadvantages Poles are White?

I think it stinks that a Pole who has the same SAT scores as a Black, would most of the time be denied college.

There is no disadvantage to being white and poles are not denied college based on SAT scores while blacks aren't. SAT scores are no indicator of qualification and has never been the only criteria used by colleges for admission. Besides the article says that poles decided it was better to be white than polish and used it to discriminate against blacks.

 

[IM2]

‘Were We All People?’
‘The Auschwitz Volunteer,’ by Witold Pilecki
By TIMOTHY SNYDERJUNE 22, 2012

One man volunteered for Auschwitz, and now we have his story. In September 1940 the 39-year-old Polish cavalry officer Witold Pilecki deliberately walked into a German roundup in Warsaw, and was sent by train to the new German camp. His astounding choice was made within, and for, Poland’s anti-Nazi underground.

Poland had been destroyed a year earlier by its two powerful neighbors: eastern Poland had been annexed by the Soviet Union; the western half, including Warsaw, was taken by Nazi Germany. The Soviets overwhelmed Polish attempts at resistance in their zone, but under the Germans, officers like Pilecki managed to establish confidential networks that would come to be known as the Underground State and the Home Army. Auschwitz was set up to render Polish opposition to German rule impossible, and the first transport from Warsaw, in August 1940, had included two of Pilecki’s comrades. He went to Auschwitz to discover what had become of them, and what the camp meant for Poland and the world. This he learned and conveyed.

Pilecki’s report on Auschwitz, unpublishable for decades in Communist Poland and now translated into English under the title “The Auschwitz Volunteer,” is a historical document of the greatest importance. Pilecki was able to smuggle out several brief reports from Auschwitz in 1940, 1941 and 1942, and wrote two shorter reports after his escape in 1943. The long report that constitutes this book dates from 1945 and summarizes what he noted along the way: the brutality of Auschwitz as a German concentration camp for Poles in 1940 and 1941, and its transformation into something worse over the course of the war.

In the beginning, Poles in the camp were killed in public, in improvised and quite brutal ways; in time, deliberate exposure to the elements, concealed shootings and phenol injections became the rule. By the end of the war, Poles would be the third-largest victim group at Auschwitz, after Hungarian Jews and Polish Jews. But during Pilecki’s first year they were most of the prisoners and most of the victims.

‘The Auschwitz Volunteer,’ by Witold Pilecki

And poles were done in by another group of whites. On top of that it did not happen in America.

Ethnocentrism is not racism. Understand that.