A few years ago, Krakow grandly celebrated the 750th anniversary of the citys founding. According to tradition, it was on the basis of a document issued in 1257 that the princely (and later royal) stronghold became a full-fledged city. Only that this tradition does not quite agree with the facts. Kr
In our pages we have already written about how the Home Army almost sent Hans Frank into the afterlife. However, this was not the first attempted assassination attempt on a German dignitary by the Krakow underground. On April 20, 1943 - Hitlers birthday - the punishing arm of the Underground State a
How many times did each of us complain about these mean shopwomen, straight from the previous era. They will not smile, they will not advise you, and they serve the ham with their bare paws. And all at a turtle or snails pace. It wouldnt have passed before the war! Many things were missing in t
A Pole, a Frenchman, two nephews and a saber and a glass. No, this is not a mistake at all. Today I would like to introduce you to the story of a French ensign who, due to his merits and strong drinks, became a second lieutenant of the 2nd Infantry Rifle Division ... well, he almost became one.
Anglo-Saxon history books are full of stories about SS men and Nazi apparatchiks who buried various treasures in tunnels and caves in the last days of the war:gold, works of art, weapons ... But why should we get excited about what they did Teutons, if we had our own treasures? And the boys from the
The former Republic became a noble nation. The lord brothers ruled and chose a king for themselves. It did not help a certain Samuel Zborowski. Along with his head falling from the stump of the executioner, the glory of the family ended, and Mr. Jan Zamoyski began drinking beer, which he brewed for
Krakow for over five years served as the capital of the General Government. Therefore, as the front grew closer and closer to the city, it was decided that it would become a fortress. It was intended to defend Festung Krakau for many weeks, which was to bind considerable forces of the Red Army. It w
You probably remember from your history lessons some Ibrahim Ibn Jakub - a Jewish traveler from Muslim Spain, who was the first to write something about the Polish state. The curious merchant told about the customs of the Slavs, about the brave warriors of Prince Mieszko, as well as about the people
He had a huge palace in Warsaw, made a fortune on the lease of a tobacco monopoly, introduced French capital to Congress Poland, founded Bank Handlowy, Towarzystwo Kredytowe Miasto Warsaw, Kasa Przemysłowców, Warszawskie Towarzystwo Ubezpieczeń od Ognia, Towarzystwo Kopalń Węgla i Zakłady Hutniczych
Almost every self-respecting city and town has a town hall. Wrocław, Poznań, Tarnów or even Głogów Małopolski have it. Only in the former capital, the royal city of Krakow, it is not possible to find a historic town hall by a strange coincidence. Only a lonely tower has survived in the market square
It has become common ground in the public consciousness that Krakow managed to avoid the worst swastika terror during World War II (excluding the extermination of the Jewish population, of course). Meanwhile, the German occupier carried out mass murders not only in places such as Palmiry or Wawer. T
It would seem that the position of the head of the Investigation Office in Łódź at the end of the 19th century was quite a job. Well, basically it was, but there is no rose without thorns. Jan Kowalik, who performed this function, found out about it when a relative of the tsar fell victim to the pic
Hans Frank, the infamous general governor of the occupied Polish lands, hanged on the gallows in the Nuremberg prison on October 16, 1946. However, the king of Poland almost ended his miserable life almost three years earlier, dying in an attack organized by soldiers of the Home Army ! It is th
In 1945 newspapers appeared in Poland like mushrooms after rain. The communists quickly dealt with this impulse of freedom, closing, seizing and confiscating almost everything with a title, edition and vignette. There is only one extra-system journal left. In addition, it lasted until the end of the
Nobody doubts that Adolf Hitler wanted a war with Poland. But what about ordinary Germans? According to the book by German historian Jochen Böhler, many of them were not at all eager to conquer Poland, and even ... they were mortally afraid of a confrontation with the Slavs from the Vistula River.
It should be remembered that the September campaign did not consist only of battles fought by soldiers. On the very first day of the war, the Germans began the systematic extermination of the Polish population. Here are some of their most heinous crimes. For memory and warning. From the very fir
In Poland, discussions about the sense of the Warsaw Uprising continue to this day. Its critics argue that had it not been for the uprising, Poland would have kept its capital intact, as would the French, Paris. Only that in 1939 Warsaw was a city of rubble, the sight of which terrified even ... the
The werewolf was disenchanted. Pop culture serves it in youth series, movies and games. In a word:everywhere. Today, no one trembles anymore at the approaching full moon, although just over 110 years ago it was different. The werewolves were scared for real. Lycanthropy is commonly found in Sla
In June 1935, at the Consulate General of the Republic of Poland in Jerusalem, a certain Stanley Philipson presented a project to establish a new city in Palestine. There would be no sensation in this, if not for the fact that the new housing estate was to be named after ... Marshal Piłsudski, who d
There was no shortage of absurdities in old Poland. One of them was undoubtedly the organization of the cavalry. It meant that there were never a hundred horsemen in the officially 100-person unit. At best ninety of them served, but often only ... 20-25. In historical books, we often find the s
The greatest generals in history are General Sherman and the General Grant . But the trick, in this resounding statement, is that we are referring to the Sequoias or Redwoods (Sequoiadendron giganteum, Giant Sequoias ) Sherman and Grant. General Grant . Located in Grant Grove (within Kings Canyon
The war of Castilian succession covered the years 1474 to 1479 . In 1474 the most brilliant period in the history of Spain begins:the Catholic Monarchs transmit to their heirs an effective instrument, a Castilian State, coherent, strong, dynamic; Carlos V and Felipe II transform Spain into a hegemon
Just as Japan has the Kamakura period and the Muromachi period, there are several period divisions in British history. This time I would like to summarize the history of the Norman dynasty in England, which lasted from 1066 to 1154. Norman Conquest The beginning of the Norman dynasty begins
The Treaty of Paris of 1898, signed on December 10, put an end to the Spanish-American War –Disaster of 98 – and gave the finishing touch to the Spanish overseas empire. Through this treaty, Spain abandoned its demands on Cuba and declared its independence, and the Philippines, Guam and Puerto Rico