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Published in 2016 by Cavendish Square Publishing, LLC
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Copyright 2016 by Cavendish Square Publishing, LLC
Third Edition
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Heale, Jay.
Poland / Jay Heale, Pawel Grajnert, and Debbie Nevins.
pages cm. (Cultures of the world)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-50260-340-1 (hardcover) ISBN 978-1-50260-341-8 (ebook)
1. PolandJuvenile literature. I. Grajnert, Paul. II. Nevins, Debbie. III. Title.
DK4147.H4 2016
943.8dc23
2015010564
Writers, Jay Heale and Pawel Grajnert; Debbie Nevins, third edition
Editorial Director, third edition: David McNamara
Editor, third edition: Debbie Nevins
Art Director, third edition: Jeffrey Talbot
Designer, third edition: Jessica Nevins
Production Manager, third edition: Jennifer Ryder-Talbot
Cover Picture Researcher: Stephanie Flecha
Picture Researcher, third edition: Jessica Nevins
PICTURE CREDITS
The photographs in this book are used with the permission of: Henryk T. Kaiser/Photolibrary/Getty Images, cover; Przemek Klos/Shutterstock.com, 1; kilerus/Shutterstock.com, 3; Mirek Nowaczyk/Shutterstock.com, 5; PETRAS MALUKAS/AFP/Getty Images, 7; Sean Gallup/Getty Images, 8; AKNIOLKA/Shutterstock.com, 9; Patryk Kosmider/Shutterstock.com, 10; Curioso/Shutterstock.com, 11; Dariusz Paciorek/Getty Images, 12; Lukasz Kurbiel/Shutterstock.com, 13; Stanislaw Tokarski/Shutterstock.com, 14; Jacek_Kadaj/Shutterstock.com, 15; Jorg Hackemann/Shutterstock.com, 16; Oleksiy Mark/Shutterstock.com, 17; Pawel Kazmierczak/Shutterstock.com, 18; ppart/Shutterstock.com, 19; Aleksander Bolbot/Shutterstock.com, 20; Pyty/Shutterstock.com, 20; PHOTOCREO Michal Bednarek/Shutterstock.com, 21; Pecold/Shutterstock.com, 22; Mariusz Szczygiel/Shutterstock.com, 24; S-F/Shutterstock.com, 25; File:Rzeczpospolita Rozbiory 2.png/Halibutt/Wikimedia Commons, 26; File:Portret Tadeusz Kosciuszko.jpg/Juliusz Kossak (18241899)/Wikimedia Commons, 28; PlusONE/Shutterstock.com, 30; Keystone/Getty Images, 32; Thierry CAMPION/GAMMA/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images, 33; Keystone/Getty Images, 35; PAUL J. RICHARDS/AFP/Getty Images, 36; WOJTEK RADWANSKI/AFP/Getty Images, 37; Dariusz Leszczynski/Shutterstock.com, 38; Universal History Archive/UIG via Getty Images, 40; File:Zgromadzenie Narodowe 4 czerwca 2014 Kancelaria Senatu 03.JPG/Katarzyna Czerwiska/Wikimedia Commons, 42; File:KPRP 20130131 WG 267 BRONISLAW KOMOROWSKI.jpg/Wojciech Grzdziski/Wikimedia Commons, 43; Carsten Koall/Getty Images, 44; Bartek Sadowski/Bloomberg via Getty Images, 46; Bartek Sadowski/Bloomberg via Getty Images, 48; Peter Probst/Shutterstock.com, 49; Ulrich Baumgarten via Getty Images, 50; JANEK SKARZYNSKI/AFP/Getty Images, 52; JANEK SKARZYNSKI/AFP/Getty Images, 54; belizar/Shutterstock.com, 56; Jean-Pierre Lescourret/Lonely Planet Images/Getty Images, 58; Stanislaw Tokarski/Shutterstock.com, 59; Tomasz Bidermann/Shutterstock.com, 60; Masson/Shutterstock.com, 61; Sovfoto/UIG via Getty Images, 63; Aleksandra H. Kossowska/Shutterstock.com, 64; Martin Dimitrov/E+/Getty Images, 66; PHOTOCREO Michal Bednarek/Shutterstock.com, 68; AP Photo/Alik Keplicz, 69; Er Creatives Services Ltd/Iconica/Getty Images, 70; wjarek/Shutterstock.com, 71; AP Photo/Alik Keplicz, 72; villorejo/iStock/Thinkstock, 73; bartosz_zakrzewski/iStock/Thinkstock, 74; Anilah/Shutterstock.com, 75; Pawel Kazmierczak/Shutterstock.com, 76; Keystone/Getty Images, 79; Gianni Ferrari/Cover/Getty Images, 80; JANEK SKARZYNSKI/AFP/Getty Images, 82; Xseon/Shutterstock.com, 83; Mariusz Switulski/Shutterstock.com, 84; JANEK SKARZYNSKI/AFP/Getty Images, 86; Dariush M/Shutterstock.com, 87; Joymsk140/Shutterstock.com, 88; Tupungato/Shutterstock.com, 90; WOJTEK RADWANSKI/AFP/Getty Images, 93; RedKoala/Shutterstock.com, 94; anandoart/Shutterstock.com, 96; Aleksey Stemmer/Shutterstock.com, 97; Marcin Krzyzak/Shutterstock.com, 98; JANEK SKARZYNSKI/AFP/Getty Images, 99; David Corio/Redferns/Getty Images, 100; Kevin Winter/Getty Images, 101; karnizz/Shutterstock.com, 102; Agnes Kantaruk/Shutterstock.com, 103; IgorXIII/Shutterstock.com, 104; Tata2anka/Shutterstock.com, 106; Dziurek/Shutterstock.com, 108; Dziurek/Shutterstock.com, 109; Mike Hewitt/Getty Images, 110; marekusz/Shutterstock.com, 111; Olaf Protze/LightRocket via Getty Images, 112; Pablo77/Shutterstock.com, 114; Michal Ludwiczak/Shutterstock.com, 116; Pawel Kazmierczak/Shutterstock.com, 117; JANEK SKARZYNSKI/AFP/Getty Images, 118; JANEK SKARZYNSKI/AFP/Getty Images, 119; Witold Skrypczak/Lonely Planet Images/Getty Images, 120; Curioso/Shutterstock.com, 122; Teresa Kasprzycka/Shutterstock.com, 124; Malgorzata Kistryn/Shutterstock.com, 125; Ice Cherry/Shutterstock.com, 126; bozulek/Shutterstock.com, 127; Dar1930/Shutterstock.com, 128; JANEK SKARZYNSKI/AFP/Getty Images, 129; mffoto/Shutterstock.com, 130; Razmarinka/Shutterstock.com, 131.
PRECEDING PAGE
A little girl jumps on stones with the Tatra Mountains in the background.
Printed in the United States of America
CONTENTS
S OME PEOPLE SAY POLAND IS A BLEAK AND DEPRESSING PLACE some Poles themselves even say so.
Given the countrys turbulent history, such an assessment might have been understandable in the past. But is it still true today?
The Polish flag is red and white, but perhaps it should be black and blue, for all the beatings the country has endured. Poland has been squeezed, squashed, slashed, and stolenand literally wiped off the map. It has been patched back together only to be brutalized by occupying forcesfirst by German Nazis during World War II, and then by the Soviet Union after the war.
The Nazis chose Poland as the place to build their factories of death. In a few short years, they killed off six million Poles, including three million Polish Jews almost the entire Jewish population. For those Poles who didnt die, the pure terror of living had to have lasting effects on the national character.
After the Nazis, what little life was left in Polands veins would be further sucked out by yet another bloodthirsty ideology. Soviet Communism brought a bleak, gray, dehumanizing uniformity to Polish society; a life of grim weariness, of having to stand on one long line for bread, and then on another long line for meat, only to find the provisions had run out. Poles were shut up and shut off from the rest of the world, feeling forgotten.