Flying the Flag

FREE July 2008 Edition 45 krakow POST ISSN 1898-4762 www.krakowpost.com Krakow Polish police graduate U.S. training course >> page 3 Poland Rape victim denied legal abortion for weeks >> page 6 Feature The lowdown on summer festivals >> page 10, 11 Business Buying a flat in Krakow, part 1 >> page 13 Sport Image: Polish Institute and Sikorski Museum, London Polish pilots of the 303 Kosciuszko Fighter Squadron in Britain, 1942 Poland looks forward From left to right: F/O Eugeniusz Horbaczewski, F/O Janusz Marciniak, S/ Ldr Jan Zumbach to the Olympics >> page 14 Culture FLYING THE FLAG Copernicus book sells for $2.2 million tine exploits of Polish couriers Besides drawing attention to >> page 15 who sneaked intelligence out of the illustrious successes of Po- Nazi-occupied Europe. land’s fighting forces, Mr. Kawc- British MP Seeks Holiday zynski was at pains to point out Mr. Kawczynski singled out that most of today’s Polish im- life “the liberal elite of the BBC” as migrants are “extremely hard City in Poles’ Honour especially culpable in tarnish- working and law-abiding.” ing the image of today’s Polish > by night immigrants, claiming that the Mr. Kawczynski is not standing Notes From the Nick Hodge news corporation “will not dare alone in his bid – the bill has to refer to controversial immi- been ordered by a cross-party Underground gration” from other parts of the group that includes Liberal, /CL 2 little after midday on Daniel Kawczynski, Conserva- world. Conservative and Labour MPs. June 4th, a decidedly tive MP for the borough of > reviews tall British MP – six Shrewsbury and Atcham, deliv- The thrust of the speech was Nevertheless, the BBC was quick A foot eight to be pre- ered a six-minute diatribe, citing to establish a bank holiday that to counter Mr. Kawczynski’s al- Drop In, Fork Out, cise - rose from his seat in the a catalogue of Polish achieve- would “celebrate the contribu- legations about anti-Polish bias. Get Served House of Commons to harangue ments, from the airborne hero- tion of Polish citizens to Great A spokesman for the corpora- /CL 3, 5 the honourable members about ics of Polish pilots during the Britain since 1940.” tion declared, “the picture he the gallantry of Polish soldiers Battle of Britain, to the clandes- paints is not one we recognise.” > spotlight during the Second World War. The spokesman vigorously denied that the BBC focused only First Step...A National “As a person of Polish origin,” “I feel compelled to speak out on Poles, yet did confirm that Museum exhibition he proclaimed, “I have tried not “Polish nationals make up one /CL 6 to abuse my position here in because of my deep concern of the largest groups of re- the House of Commons to focus cently arrived legal immigrants > posted on Poles, yet I feel compelled to about how Polish immigration into the UK and our coverage speak out because of my deep reflects this.” Concerts, exhibitions & concern about how Polish im- is being covered in the media.” parties migration is being covered in It is not the first time >> /CL 7, 8, 9, 10 the media.” that complaints have 2 2 Krakow Post JULY 2008 www.krakowpost.com News Krakow been made about media coverage of << Continued from 1 For Your Freedom And Ours Letters Poles in the UK. In March this year, Besides touting the “tremendous the Federation of Poles in Great Britain “reluctantly” dispatched a contribution” that Polish immi- To the editor letter to the Press Complaints Commission, citing the Daily Mail, grants make to today’s Britain, a newspaper traditionally associated with Conservative voters, as Tory MP Daniel Kawczynski cited a RE: Debate, Krakow Post June 2008 guilty of anti-Polish bias. The Polish Federation noted some 50 number of historic achievements Dear Editor, Daily Mail headlines that were allegedly anti-Polish in sentiment. within the framework of the Al- The newspaper denied discrimination against Poles, brandishing The question of a Jewish “revival,” of the sur- lied World War II victory. Many of vival of “true Jewish life” and of Jewish cul- examples of “balanced” articles. these have not made an imprint ture in Kazimierz (and the associated attempt in the West’s popular imagination, at determining cultural authenticity) is a false However, whilst sections of the media have inspired rancour with yet Poles take pride in the points problem. To use the terms of Ruth Ellen Gru- regards to the handling of Polish issues, it appears that the Brit- below. ber (author of Virtually Jewish: Reinventing ish public has not been swayed. Christopher Alexander, who has Jewish Culture in Europe) and Jean Baudrillard (infamous French philosopher), the important regularly employed Poles at his landscaping firm in London over “Never in the field of human conflict question is rather: what are the effects of the the last five years, seems typical in his enthusiasm: “I find that was so much owed by so many to so virtualization and simulation of Jewish Kazimi- they [the Poles] get along well with all the other staff including few.” So said Churchill of the Allied erz’s disinherited cultural heritage? British, Australians, New Zealanders, and Bulgarians. I get the feel- pilots who fought in the Battle of Brit- ing that people like the Polish here because they are friendly and ain. As it was, a Polish squadron (303) Duncan Rhodes’ optimism and lack of cynicism ...it has work hard. London is a cosmopolitan city and diversity in culture are refreshing. However, he opposes the sup- “ dispatched more Nazi aircraft than any posed Jewish “revival,” grounded in heartfelt been has come to be a large part of what makes it special.” other RAF unit. Some 17,000 Polish philo-Semitism, to the “rules of economics” airmen fought alongside the Royal Air that must accompany development and urban trans- Speaking to the Krakow Post, Daniel Kawczynski remained staunch Force during the war. revitalization. I would say that it is exactly in his criticism of sections of the British media, stating that there these “rules of economics” (read capitalism) formed was excessive coverage of Polish immigration, considering that The Poles provided the fourth larg- that drive this ‘revival’. The heritage tourism “nine out of ten immigrants to Britain are not Eastern European; industry is as strong a force in the Jewish ‘re- est armed force of the Western Allies. vival’ as local philo-Semitic interest. I’d like to into a they are Africans and from the Indian subcontinent.” He expressed They took part in critical engagements point out that contrary to his claim (and con- concern about recent acts of violence against Poles, although thank- during the Normandy Campaign under trary to popular belief), neither Alef, Ariel, nor Jewish fully the number of reported assaults remains meagre at present. “ General Maczek, as well as at Arnhem, Once Upon a Time in Kazimierz are kosher res- Tobruk and Monte Cassino. During the taurants. The only one in Kazimierz is at the Disney- The MP said that “all in all” he has had “very positive feedback” Eden Hotel. I’d also like to draw your reader’s latter conflict, Polish troops helped attention to the fact that, on its website, Ariel land about his bid to launch the Polish bank holiday. Nevertheless, the open the road to Rome after the fail- invites you, “to have [a] virtual trip through bill will not have an easy passage. The concept has come up against ure of three other Allied assaults. Cracow’s Kazimierz,” and that a sign at Once some robust criticism, largely owing to its singularity of approach. Upon a Time in Kazimierz invites you in for, “a Simon Hughes, a Liberal Democrat MP, suggested in the Commons Documents recently released by trip down memory lane.” that “to single out one nation and its contribution for one specific Britain’s Foreign Office show that 43 recognition would not be in the interests of either the Polish com- Kazimierz is now a simulated Jewish quarter. percent of Allied intelligence from The president of Krakow’s Jewish community munity or the other communities in the United Kingdom.” Continental Europe came from Polish has even stated that he regrets the fact that sources. Poles were widely credited there are so few Jews living in Kazimierz, and During his interview with the Krakow Post, Mr. Kawczynski con- with providing the best espionage on that it has been transformed into a Jewish Dis- fided that his fundamental goal was to raise awareness of Polish Nazi-occupied territory. Poland’s “un- neyland. issues, and that to a large extent he was being “ironic” in his bid to derground state” was the most highly create an exclusively Polish holiday. He added that in many ways Soren Gauger claims that Jewish culture in Ka- developed of the occupied nations. zimierz is understood in a symbolic sense. I’d it was “not really appropriate” to launch a holiday that excluded say it is understood as commodity. He tells us other expatriates. Nevertheless, he is wholeheartedly committed Polish cryptographers Henryk Zygal- that an otherness existed in Kazimierz not long to the idea of a bank holiday ski, Jerzy Rozycki and Marian Rejewski ago; an alcoholic, alternative, and dispossessed in tribute to “all hard working provided the crucial breakthrough in otherness, but importantly, it is a non-Jewish immigrants in Great Britain,” otherness he describes. The focus on this non- deciphering Nazi ciphers on the in- Jewish otherness is exactly the product of the whom he asserts should be famous Enigma Machine.

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