Polish culture spreads in UK

The Krakow Post
NO. 12
WWW.KRAKOWPOST.COM
JULY 26-AUGUST 1, 2007 WEEKLY
Polish culture spreads in UK
The bookstore chain Borders has become the first highbrow retailer to respond to the surge of Poles in the UK, introducing a Polish-language section in its stores. The first Polish title to be sold in Borders was “Swiat Wedlung
Clarskona” (“The World According to Clarkson”) by British writer Jeremy Clarkson, who has sold millions of books in Poland. PHOTO/LUK Agency
THIS WEEK
Dell gears up in
Poland, not Ireland
The move is part of an int’l
cost-cutting scheme motivated
by Poland’s cheap labor costs 2
Fewer restrictions
for foreign workers
Good news for illegal workers and immigrants in Poland;
more specifically, for Russians,
Ukrainians and Belarusians 4
Sacrifice rituals in
Mayan Empire
Archaeologists from Krakow
continue research in the land of
the Maya during their second excavation tour in Guatemala
6
Danuta Filipowicz
STAFF JOURNALIST
It began with Polish plumbers, nannies
and au pairs.
So many of them came that the Tyskie
beer and the kinds of sausages they liked
began appearing on British supermarket
shelves.
Now businesses besides food and consumer items are trying to cash in on the
growing number of Polish immigrants in
the UK.
In addition, Polish groups are promoting
their culture in the isles. And cities such as
Krakow are trying to tap Britain’s and Ireland’s swelling interest in Poland by promoting themselves as a place to vacation.
The bookstore chain Borders has become
the first highbrow retailer to respond to the
surge of Poles in Britain. It has introduced a
Polish-language section in its stores.
The first title in Polish to be sold at
Borders was “Swiat Wedlung Clarskona”
(“The World According to Clarkson”) by
British writer Jeremy Clarkson, who has
sold millions of books in Poland.
Borders stores in London’s Oxford Street,
Southampton and Birmingham have already
begun selling over 100 Polish titles.
A nationwide rollout is planned for later
this year.
Borders in Dublin is buying a range
of Polish titles for the company’s stores
throughout Ireland.
The move is a response to the “many
requests from Poles here,” said Borders
spokesman Alistair Spalding.
Titles range from best-selling Polish
writers to translations of such popular English-language books as “Bridget Jones’s
Diary,” “The Da Vinci Code,” “Pride and
Prejudice” and the “Harry Potter” series
to guides helping Polish immigrants adapt
to their new surroundings, such as “Your
British Dream: Czyli Jak Sobie Poradzic W
Wielkiej Brytani” (“Your British Dream:
How to Live in Great Britain”).
Children’s titles, including a world atlas
and Hans Christian Andersen books, reflect
the increasing number of Polish families
settling in Britain.
Bookstores besides Borders offer few
titles in Polish for now. A Borders customer adviser in Leeds, in West Yorkshire,
England, said competitors’ offerings are
restricted mostly to dictionaries, language
books and Mary Pininska’s “Polish Cookbook.”
In addition to books, Borders is offering Polish films on DVD. They include
“The Three Colors Trilogy” by Krzysztof
Kieslowski, “Oliver, Oliver” by Agnieszka
Holland and many of the films that Roman
Polanski directed. Borders is also selling
CDs of Polish classical music.
Meanwhile, the Polish association NI, a
nonprofit organization that provides information and support to Polish immigrants, is
promoting Polish culture in the UK.
So is the monthly magazine “Glosik”
(“Little Voice”), which informs Polish immigrants about issues affecting their life in
Northern Ireland.
The Polish Consulate in Edinburgh,
Scotland, helped “Glosik” organize a Polish Cultural Week in Belfast this summer.
See THE UK on Page 12
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P O L A N D
The Krakow Post
R E G I O N A L
N E W S
Czech opposition to U.S.
radar plans grows: poll
The number of Czechs opposed to siting
a radar in their country as part of a U.S. missile defense shield has risen to nearly two
thirds, according to a poll published late last
week.
Some 65 percent of Czechs are opposed to
the tracking radar, according to the CVVM
poll of 1,013 people between June 4 and 11,
up from 61 percent in a similar poll in May.
Forty percent of those questioned in the
latest survey said they were “decisively opposed” to installing the U.S. radar in their
country, compared to only six percent who
said they were “decisively in favor” of the
move.
A quarter, or 25 percent, said they were
“rather opposed” while 22 percent said they
were “rather in favor.”
“We can see a new increase in the opponents to the (radar) base,” CVVM said in a
report published on its web site.
The poll also showed that 74 percent of
Czechs think the question of whether to join
the U.S. missile defense shield should be the
subject of a referendum, contrary to the center-right government’s call for a parliament
vote on the issue.
In addition to the powerful tracking radar
in the Czech Republic, Washington wants
to site 10 interceptor missiles in Poland as
part of an extended defense shield against
airborne attacks.
Russia has expressed outrage over the
plans, which it says will threaten its security,
and has suggested it would target missiles at
Europe if the U.S. goes ahead with the proposal. (AFP)
JULY 26-AUGUST 1, 2007
Dell cutting back in Ireland
while gearing up in Poland
The move is part of a worldwide cost-cutting scheme and was motivated by less expensive labor
and production costs in Poland
Yushchenko joins opening of
Nazi camp museum
Survivors of the former concentration
camp Flossenbuerg and Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko late last week inaugurated a museum at the site where about
30,000 prisoners died during the Nazi era.
Yushchenko, whose father was a prisoner at the camp in the final months of World
War II, said it was impossible to understand
what the victims had endured but that the
exhibition underscored a commitment not
to allow history to repeat itself.
The ceremony brought together more
than 80 survivors and nearly 300 relatives
of former prisoners as well as German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier and
leaders of Germany’s Jewish and Roma
communities.
Steinmeier called Flossenbuerg “a site of
German shame” and “a memorial place for
active remembrance.”
Some 100,000 people, most of them
from eastern Europe, were held prisoner
in Flossenbuerg and its some 90 satellite
camps stretching from southern Germany
into today’s Czech Republic between 1938
and 1945.
About 30,000 died there including the
dissident theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer.
The camp was overshadowed by the
other, larger Nazi concentration camp in
Bavaria, Dachau, and was little known
until the 1990s in part because of its location along Europe’s Iron Curtain during the
Cold War.
After World War II many of the camp’s
buildings were razed and the property was
used to build private homes and a factory.
Restoration work and the creation of the
museum with funding from Bavaria, the
German government and the EU are intended to keep the memory of the prisoners
and their ordeal alive, organizers said.
The camp’s former kitchen and laundry
room were rebuilt to house the exhibition,
which includes original letters, documents
and artifacts that shed light on the experiences of individual prisoners. (AFP)
Lukashenko decides to fire
Belarus PM: report
Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko
has decided to fire Prime Minister Sergei
Sidorski, Russian business daily Kommersant reported late last week quoting sources
in the Belarus government.
A decree covering Sidorski’s departure
from the post and “nomination to another
function” was signed last week, the paper
said, and could be made public at any time.
Experts quoted by the newspaper said the
move could be explained by “planned rotation” or the country’s poor economic performance. (AFP)
Dell’s decision to locate a production facility in Lodz is aimed at taking advantage of lower labor costs, property costs and production costs in Poland. Poland also has a well-educated workforce, analysts say.
Danuta Filipowicz
STAFF JOURNALIST
The American computer manufacturer
Dell is eliminating jobs at its main European
manufacturing plant in Limerick, Ireland,
and gearing up to start production in Poland
to cut costs, the Irish Independent newspaper reported.
Although the number of jobs to be cut in
Limerick is minimal for the moment, and
will be achieved by means other than layoffs, the writing is clearly on the wall for the
Irish plant. Lower wages and property prices in Poland mean Dell is likely to build up
the workforce at its planned facility in Lodz
and, over time, reduce Limerick’s.
The Ireland and Poland developments
come as Dell is cutting costs worldwide to
cope with falling sales of desktop computers last year.
In June, CEO Michael Dell said the company would reduce its global workforce 10
percent. The cuts would be in all parts of the
world, Dell said.
On June 13 the company said it would
shed 100 jobs in Limerick through attrition
and buyouts rather than layoffs.
“Dell employs 3,500 people in its Limerick plant so voluntary job cuts of between
Rolling Stones donating
share of Polish concert
proceeds to bus crash fund
agence france-presse
British rockers The Rolling Stones
went ahead with a concert in Poland
despite three days of national mourning
for 26 pilgrims killed in a bus accident in
France, organizers said early this week.
While the group decided not to call
off the concert on Wednesday evening,
which drew tens of thousands of fans to
Warsaw, victims’ families will receive a
share of the proceeds, concert promotion
firm Viva Art said in a statement.
The company did not specify the sum
to be donated by the Rolling Stones nor
the concert’s sponsors.
The event at a Warsaw race-track was
part of the group’s current European
tour, and began only hours before the official end of the three days of mourning
declared by President Lech Kaczynski
in the wake of Sunday’s deadly crash in
the French Alps.
Mick Jagger and fellow band members asked the crowd to observe a min-
ute’s silence during the event, organizers said.
Several performers called off concerts scheduled to take place during
the mourning period, notably British
star Rod Stewart, who postponed an
event scheduled for Tuesday in the historic shipyard in the Baltic Sea city of
Gdansk.
The pilgrims’ bus crash in the French
Alps has sent a shockwave across Poland, where more than 90 percent of the
38.2 mln people are Roman Catholic.
The Polish-registered vehicle, carrying 48 pilgrims and two drivers back
from visiting a local Roman Catholic
shrine, had brake trouble Sunday morning as it drove down a steep and winding road between Gap and Grenoble,
officials said.
It smashed through the safety barrier,
hurtling 40 meters (130 feet) onto the
banks of a river below and catching fire.
Twenty-six people were killed and 24
injured, 14 of them seriously.
80 to 100 people, representing less than 3
percent of the workforce, falls well short
of their global target of 10 percent and
highlights Dell’s continued commitment to
Limerick and the region,” said Reg Freake,
a former Dell executive who is president of
the Limerick Chamber of Commerce. “The
situation could have been a lot worse.”
Limerick, the mainstay of Dell’s European manufacturing operation, opened in
1990. Overall, Dell employs about 5,000 in
Ireland.
The total includes hundreds at the Cherrywood customer service center in Dublin,
the largest in Ireland. Dell plans no job
eliminations there.
The center handles sales within Ireland
plus sales to the home-computer market and
small-and-medium business market in the
UK.
“Dell has become one of the biggest exporters and contributors to employment and
commerce in Ireland,” Freake said. “However, we mustn’t become too complacent or
assume that the economy is rosy.”
Dell’s decision to locate a production facility in Lodz is aimed at taking advantage
of lower labor costs, property costs and production costs in Poland. Poland also has a
well-educated workforce, analysts say.
Once the Lodz plant is completed this
fall, its workforce can grow steadily to the
size of the one in Limerick, according to
Iwona Janicka of Warsaw, who is responsible for Dell investments in Poland.
The plant “will play an important role
in providing additional capacity to support
Dell’s long-term growth,” she said.
Lodz is one of the most attractive investment locations in Poland, analysts say.
It is a large, rapidly developing industrial,
economic, intellectual and administrative
center. Early in this decade Mayor Jerzy
Kropiwnicki worked with the consultants
McKinsey and Company on an economic
development plan for Lodz. Since 2005 the
city has been following the plan to create
entrepreneurial centers in household goods,
logistics and other business areas.
Estimates are that the new strategy will
generate 25,000 jobs by 2010 and 40,000
by 2015. Other international companies that
have been located in Lodz in recent years
include Bosch-Siemens, a joint venture
between Robert Bosh GmbH Stuttgart and
Siemens AG Munich, Europe’s largest engineering firms; Indesit, an Italian company
that is one of the three largest producers of
household appliances in Europe; Gillette, the
shaving equipment manufacturer that is part
of the American household products maker
Procter & Gamble; America’s VF Corporation, the world’s largest clothing company
and a leader in jeanswear; ABB, the Zurich-based power- and automation-technology giant; Philips, the Dutch electronics
company; Polska Grupa Farmaceutyczna,
the Polish pharmaceuticals distributor, and
America’s Hutchinson, a world leader in
precision manufacturing.
Baltics, Poland want EU to
seek alternative options to
Nord Stream pipeline
agence france-presse
The Baltic states and Poland will ask
the European Commission to study alternatives to a disputed Russian-German
undersea gas pipeline project, Lithuanian
Economics Minister Vytas Navickas said
early this week.
“The text of the document is basically approved. It should be signed and sent to the
EC this week,” Navickas told AFP.
“We expect the answer from the EC this
year and believe that the reply will be positive,” he said.
Navickas said that a new feasibility study
by the EU’s executive arm could highlight
the advantages of building the pipeline on
land.
“This is not just about the environment,
which of course is very important,” he said.
“There are plans to build separate pipeline to Latvia and Kaliningrad in the future,
so maybe it’s better to reconsider the route
of the pipeline now, before it enters the sea.
“If we had a study, we could compare
and discuss things based on arguments,”
he said.
Russian gas giant Gazprom and German
firms BASF and E.ON agreed in 2005 to
set up the Nord Stream consortium to build
a 1,200-kilometer (740-mile) gas pipeline
beneath the Baltic Sea and be ready to
turn on the taps by 2010. Construction of
a stretch of pipeline has already begun in
Russia, but the consortium is waiting for
environmental assessments from affected
countries.
Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Poland,
as well as countries such as Sweden, have
expressed disquiet about the project from
the outset, arguing that it poses an ecological risk.
The pipeline consortium and German officials counter that the project will undergo a
rigorous approval process and comply with
all relevant EU environmental rules.
The Baltic states and Poland have also
blasted fellow EU member Germany for allegedly shunting aside their economic interests, such as potential transit revenues from
a land pipeline.
The 4.8-bln-euro ($6.6-bln) pipeline is
expected to transport 57 bln cubic meters of
gas per year, securing supplies to the avid
German market – and will be a boon for the
rest of the 27-nation EU, Germany argues.
P O L A N D
JULY 26-AUGUST 1, 2007
The Krakow Post
3
Poles are becoming more satisfied
The European Happy Planet Index results are composed of a satisfaction survey, life expectancy figures and resource-use evidence
to 33 percent.
Despite a slight increase in optimism
A happiness index composed of three since last year, Poles’ trust in the governcomponents – people’s feelings about their ment and parliament is among the lowest in
lives, their country’s life expectancy and the EU. Eighteen percent trust the governtheir country’s use of resources – indicates ment and 15 percent parliament.
that Poles are happier than their much
Trust in government is slightly higher
wealthier counterparts in the UK.
in Romania, 19 percent; Lithuania, 20 perThe London-based New Economics
cent, and Bulgaria, 22 percent. Trust in parFoundation’s Happy Planet Index shows liament is slightly lower than Bulgaria’s 14
Poland in 19th place among the 27 EU percent and at the same level as Lithuania’s
members and three other countries in the 15 percent.
survey. The UK is 21st, Dziennik newspaper
Ninety-seven percent of Poles said they
reported.
feel attached to their country. Attachment
The life-satisfaction component of the to their city, town or village also was strong
Happy Planet Index is based on the EU’s
– 93 percent. Poles’ feelings of attachment
Eurobarometer survey of residents of memhave always been higher than 90 percent in
ber countries.
all previous surveys.
Its results showed that
The proportion of
Poles’ optimism is soaring.
Poles who feel attached
Seventy-seven percent of The Happy Planet In- to the EU is much lower
the 1,000 Poles interviewed
dex shows Poland in – 65 percent – but that
in the Eurobarometer suris still the second-highvey said they are satisfied 19th place among the est figure in the EU.
with their lives, compared
the Belgians score
27 EU members and Only
with 50 percent in 2004.
higher, with a figure of
That is only slightly bethree other countries 66 percent.
low the EU average of 80
The lowest figures
in the survey.
percent.
for attachment to the EU
The
Eurobarometer
are in Finland, 30 persurvey was conducted
cent; The Netherlands,
between April 10 and May 15 of this year 32 percent; Cyprus, 32 percent; and the UK,
for the European Commission’s represen34 percent.
tative in Poland. It involved Poles aged 15
The number of Poles who think EU
and older. The most content peoples in the membership is a good thing has increased
EU are the Danes, Swedes and Dutch, with substantially to 67 percent since the country
a whopping 97 percent satisfaction rating.
joined the union in May 2004. Just before
Low ratings included Romania’s 53 percent,
the country joined, only 42 percent thought
Hungary’s 51 and Bulgaria’s 36.
it a good idea. The average EU-wide satisThe number of Poles who expect posifaction figure is 57 percent.
tive changes in their lives has also risen
The percentage of Poles who believe the
significantly from 32 percent in the autumn
country has benefited from EU memberof 2006 to 40 percent today. The 40 percent ship is on the rise as well. Only 50 percent
figure matched the EU average.
thought so in the spring of 2004. The figure
The percentage of Poles who believe their has jumped to 78 percent. The EU-wide avhousehold financial situation will improve erage is 59 percent.
in the next 12 months has also jumped. ThirSixty-eight percent of citizens of newty-three percent expect an improvement. A member countries believe their countries
year ago the figure was 24 percent. More
have benefited from EU membership versus
than half of Poles – 53 percent – do not ex57 percent of citizens of old-member counpect any change in their financial situation, tries. Sixty-three percent of Poles think their
however.
country’s economy is more stable because it
Poles thus beat the EU’s 27 percent averis a member of the EU.
age for optimism about household finances.
Poles’ trust in the EU as an institution
The percentage of Poles who consider
has grown along with their feelings that the
the over-all economy good has risen from union is helping their country economically.
33 percent last year to 45 percent. And the
Just before Poland joined, 33 percent of
proportion who expect it to improve in the Poles said they trusted the EU. Half a year
next 12 months has climbed from 18 percent
later the figure had reached 50 percent. Now
cc:GDFL:Sergio Galletti
the krakow post
Pictured above is the European Parliament in Brussels. The percentage of Poles who believe the country has benefited since acquiring EU membership is on the rise. Only 50 percent thought so in the spring of 2004. The figure has jumped to 78 percent. The
EU-wide average is 59 percent.
it is 68 percent. Only 18 percent of Poles express distrust in the EU.
EU-wide trust in the institution is at 57
percent. The 12 new member countries have
a higher trust rating than the 15 old ones – 65
percent versus 55 percent.
The New Economics Foundation melded
the Eurobarometer results with life expectancy figures and evidence of a country’s
efficient use of resources. It considered efficient use of resources an indication that a
country’s residents were healthier – and thus
happier. The foundation says it is trying to
improve the quality of life by promoting
innovative solutions to economic, environmental and social problems. The Happy
Planet Index is a way to get people to think
about the foundation’s objectives.
To measure a country’s efficient use
of resources, the foundation looked at the
amount of resources a nation used to support the lifestyles of its citizens – basically
that country’s carbon footprint.
The Happy Planet Index covered all 27
EU members and three of the four members
of the European Free Trade Association
(EFTA). Liechtenstein, with a population of
less than 40,000, was not included.
Combining well-being – as measured by
the satisfaction survey and life expectancy
– and a carbon-footprint measurement gave
the New Economics Foundation a picture of
Poland’s PGF buys two pharmaceutical
sector companies in neighboring Lithuania
agence france-presse
Poland’s largest drugs wholesaler Polska
Grupa Farmaceutyczna (PGF) said early
this week that it was taking over two pharmaceutical sector companies in neighboring Lithuania.
In a statement released in Vilnius, PGF
said it was acquiring a stake of 50 percent
plus one share in the wholesaler Limedika
and the Gintarine Vaistine chain of pharmacies. The value of the transaction was not
disclosed.
Limedika, which logged sales worth
266.7 mln litas (77.2 mln euro, $106.8 mln)
in 2006, is one of the largest suppliers in
Lithuania and holds about 20 percent of the
drugs market in the Baltic country.
Polish firm wins first serious
public tender from EU nation
The Krakow Post
Marketing and Consulting Service International Sp. z o.o. (MCSI), a small Warsaw-based IT company, has won a tender to
provide public offices in Wales with computer equipment, “Puls Biznesu” (“Business Pulse”) reported.
The IT tender includes the provision of
computer equipment to approximately 200
offices, schools and police departments
in the country. The equipment, which includes 22,500 personal computers, will be
produced in Poland at a cost equivalent to 7
mln British pounds.
According to “Puls Biznesu,” MCSI employs 40 people and in 2006 had an income
of 100 mln zloty, with a 4 mln zloty profit.
The company hopes to double its income
this year and to enter the Warsaw Stock Exchange within the next two years.
This is the first time that a Polish company has won a serious public tender from
an EU nation. MCSI hopes to receive
similar orders from Germany, Austria and
Switzerland. MCSI offers a wide range
of IT services, from counseling to project
realization. The company has been active
on the IT and telecommunications market
since 1996.
Gintarine Vaistine, meanwhile, operates
112 pharmacies in Lithuania, which has a
population of 3.4 mln people.
The chain’s turnover last year was 81.1
mln litas.
Neither Lithuanian company has released its profit figure for 2006.
Last year, PGF’s sales reached a record
4.0 bln zloty (1.1 bln euro, $1.47 bln), and
the company generated a net profit of 62.7
mln zloty.
The takeover is a further sign of the
cross-cutting ties between the Polish and
Lithuanian pharmaceutical sectors.
In April 2006, Lithuania’s largest drug
producer Sanitas took over Polish manufacturer Jelfa in a deal worth more than 534
mln zloty.
relative carbon efficiency across Europe.
The UK came in a poor 21st in the Happy
Planet Index of 30 countries, behind France
and Germany, with only the transition countries of Portugal, Greece and Luxembourg
doing worse. Even Poland and Romania
were ahead of the UK.
Iceland topped the index with a 72 percent
score. Scandinavian countries were the most
resource-efficient, giving them high marks
as well. Sweden had a 63 percent score and
Norway 56 percent.
Poland’s score was 46 percent, better than
the marks of the Czechs and Hungarians.
Such transition nations as Estonia, Latvia
and Bulgaria had scores toward the bottom.
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P O L A N D
The Krakow Post
R E G I O N A L
N E W S
Insect larvae found on pizzas
in Czech Republic
Czech authorities late last week ordered
the withdrawal of tens of thousands of
frozen pizzas made by local manufacturer
Guseppe after they were found to contain
insect larvae.
“Our inspectors found 9,990 rotting pizzas in Guseppe’s depots,” said Ivo Klimes,
a spokesman for the Czech food inspection
agency SZPI.
He said 12,000 other pizzas had already
been put on sale in the Czech Republic and
would be withdrawn.
“But people have already bought a certain amount,” Klimes said.
Set up in 1993, the firm is a subsidiary of
Norway’s Orkla group. (AFP)
JULY 26-AUGUST 1, 2007
Poland promises speedy response to
EU’s shipyard restructuring ultimatum
Czech skier ties the knot at
-30, but it ain’t cool enough
Lithuania refuses extradition
to U.S. for cyber-crime suspect
A Lithuanian court said early this week
that it had rejected a U.S. extradition request
for a suspected cyber-criminal accused of
defrauding online stores.
In a statement, the Baltic country’s appeals court said it had turned down the
joint demand by U.S. justice authorities and
Lithuania’s chief prosecutor, on the grounds
that Paulius Kalpokas’ alleged offences took
place within Lithuania.
Kalpokas, a 24-year-old Lithuanian citizen, was arrested in his home country in
the autumn of 2006 in a joint operation by
Lithuanian and U.S. officials.
He has remained behind bars since then.
He is charged with the illegal appropriation and exchange of credit card data and
money via the sites of Internet stores, whose
names were not revealed by the court.
The appeals court said that after a hearing it had decided that Lithuania’s legislation did not provide grounds for extraditing
Kalpokas to the U.S.
“Lithuanian legal institutions have priority for the investigation of the alleged crime
as it was conducted from Lithuania,” the
court said in a ruling.
It also stressed that Lithuanian citizens
should enjoy all the rights guaranteed by the
European Convention on Human Rights,
including freedom from excessively-long
legal probes. Extradition procedures would
simply delay the prosecution of Kalpokas,
the court said. Convicted cyber-criminals
can face up to six years in prison under
Lithuanian law. (AFP)
The EU battle with Poland over the Gdansk shipyard is the latest chapter in the facility’s rich history. A strike by 17,000 workers in August 1980 at the then Lenin Shipyard, forced authorities to the negotiating table and led to the creation of Solidarity, the Communist bloc’s first free trade union, an event which helped hasten the final demise of Poland’s regime in 1989.
Fewer restrictions for foreign employees
LUK Agency
Czech skier Vaclav Sura, who has undertaken a Polar expedition, got married in a
refrigerated warehouse in sub-zero temperatures but it was not cool enough for him,
press reports said early this week.
Sura tied the knot at minus 30 degrees
Celsius (minus 22 Fahrenheit).
“It would have been better at minus 50
degrees and with winds,” said the 42-yearold who staged an expedition to the North
Pole in May 2005.
The guests sported anoraks and snow
boots and all the flowers and accessories
were specially chosen to withstand the cold.
The venue was festooned with photographs
from Sura’s expedition. (AFP)
Michal Wojtas
STAFF JOURNALIST
Leaders of Belarus opposition
youth group detained
Leaders of an opposition youth group
were detained overnight in Belarus’ capital
Minsk, the Malady Front group’s spokesman told AFP.
Pavel Severinets and Alexei Shein managed to “inform us only that they were
accused of theft, and then the mobile telephone was switched off,” Boris Garetsky
said, adding that they were detained as they
were leaving a McDonalds.
“The authorities are launching a new
wave of repressions, as the EU axed customs privileges for Belarus and so they no
longer need to make the appearances of a
liberalizing regime,” Garetsky said.
Severinets had been freed from jail in
May after being convicted for organizing an
unsanctioned rally.
Strict laws regulate political groups in
Belarus, limiting effective opposition. Nongovernmental organizations have also been
affected. Several political candidates who
challenged the re-election of Belarus’s authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko
in March have since been jailed, many with
sentences lasting years. (AFP)
Good news for illegal workers and immigrants in Poland; more specifically,
for Russians, Ukrainians, Belarusians
Jaroslaw Kaczynski’s government has decided to relax restrictions for employees
from outside the EU seeking work in Poland.
Polish emigration to Germany, The
Netherlands and the UK for better-paying jobs has led to shortages of workers in
many sectors of the Polish economy.
That has prompted Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski’s government to make it
easier for citizens of three countries outside the EU to work here.
Employers can now hire Russians,
Ukrainians and Belarusians without the
work permits that the Ministry of Labor
and Social Policy once demanded.
The only requirement for the immigrants to obtain three-month visas is an
employer’s guarantee to hire them.
In the past, immigrant workers had to
complete a dozen requirements and pay a
fee of almost 2,000 zloty.
The short term of the visas means that
Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian workers will not have the same rights that
citizens of EU countries do to work in
Poland.
Vice Minister of Labor Kazimierz
Kuberski said the Polish economy needs
more programmers, engineers, medical
workers, construction workers and agricultural workers. To help Poland obtain
those workers, he said, the ministry plans
to seek additional changes in the laws governing guest workers. And it plans to publish job advertisements in Ukraine.
The ministry is also talking with China, India and Vietnam about allowing
their citizens to work in Poland without
permits. News reports says there is little
chance of that happening in the near future, however. The relaxed restrictions
mean that many of the estimated 80,000 to
300,000 foreigners who have been working illegally in Poland will likely become
taxpayers. Because of the workers’ illegal
status, employers don’t register them. That
means the government misses out on taxing them and on getting the social security
payments that employers are supposed to
make on their workers.
The change in both immigration and
labor laws also is good news for those
who have lived in Poland illegally for at
least 10 years. The “second illegal-immigrant amnesty” provision gives illegals six
months to legalize their stay.
To receive a permanent residency card,
a foreigner must certify that he or she has
lived in Poland, with breaks no longer
than 10 months, since January 1, 1997.
Two other conditions for the card are a
job and an apartment rental contract. Four
years ago 4,000 people legalized their
stays in Poland. Most were from Armenia
or Vietnam.
The length-of-stay requirement for the
second amnesty is longer this time so fewer applicants are expected. The first wave
of amnesty recipients had to prove they
had been in the country six years.
P O L A N D
JULY 26-AUGUST 1, 2007
The Krakow Post
5
Poland’s wealthiest switch places
“Forbes” rates wealthiest six billionaires, who owe their fortunes to the Warsaw Stock Exchange, sports and entertainment
Not long ago America’s “Forbes” magazine declared Michal Solowow the world’s richest Pole, with a fortune estimated at $2.4 bln.
Michal Wojtas
STAFF JOURNALIST
Not long ago America’s “Forbes” magazine declared Michal Solowow the world’s
richest Pole, with a fortune estimated at
$2.4 bln.
Gazeta Wyborcza contends he is no longer the richest man in Poland. The banker
and financier Leszek Czarnecki is worth
$3.9 bln, the newspaper said.
Czarnecki, Solowow and the other three
Poles on the magazine’s list of the world’s
946 billionaires – Roman Karkosik, Jan
Wejchert and Zygmunt Solorz-Zak – have
made their fortunes largely on the Warsaw
Stock Exchange, whose combined value has
tripled in four years. Many have become
sponsors of sports teams or bought sports
facilities.
Meanwhile, Gazeta Wyborcza says Poland has six billionaires, not five. It says
“Forbes” failed to include Ryszard Krauze,
whom Gazeta Wyborcza says is worth $2
bln. He also made much of his fortune on the
Like Solowow, he is a sports enthusiast
stock exchange, Gazeta Wyborcza says.
but prefers scuba diving and climbing to
Czarnecki started his first company, EuSolowow’s car racing. The two men also
ropejski Fundusz Leasingowy, in 1991 in
are the same age – 45. Solowow started his
Wroclaw.
first construction company soon after graduThe leasing company, which leased cars,
ating from college in Kielce, in southeastcomputers and factory machines to busiern Poland. He put about
nesses, filled a gap in the
$10,000 he had saved durPolish market.
Solowow started his first
ing his studies into creatCzarnecki sold it 10
construction company soon
years later for 900 mln
after graduating from college ing a company that he sold
in 2002 for $44 mln.
zloty or $330 mln.
in Kielce, in southeastern
That year he was already
Then he created a finanPoland. He invested about
cial group, Getin Hold$10,000 that he saved during on “Wprost” magazine’s
annual “100 Wealthiest
ing, consisting of a bank,
his studies into creating a
insurance companies and
company that he sold in 2002 Poles” list.
His management team
leasing companies.
for $44 mln.
specialized in buying nearHis shares have jumped
bankrupt privately owned
130 percent since September 2006. During this time Solowow’s companies, making them profitable, then
fortune has doubled – but it wasn’t enough listing them on the stock exchange.
Solowow turned Barlinek, an ailing
to keep pace with Czarnecki, Gazeta Wyborwood-processing company, into one of the
cza said.
In his hometown Czarnecki is known for world’s largest floorboard producers. Other
plans to build the country’s second-highest Solowow companies include the ceramics
producer Cersanit, the housing developer
building – a 220-meter Sky Tower.
Echo and the daily Zycie Warszawy.
Thousands of investors on the Warsaw
Stock Exchange have made money by buying shares in his companies because there is
a feeling they are almost certain to go up.
Solowow is also one of Poland’s top racecar drivers. His took second place in the
2006 Polish rally championships and third
in the European rally championships.
Poland’s four other billionaires also enjoy
sports, mainly as sponsors.
Krauze, best known for owning Poland’s
biggest software company, Prokom, is active in three.
Prokom’s basketball team just won its
fourth championship in a row.
Prokom also owns the soccer club Arka
Gdynia and a tennis complex in the Baltic
Sea town of Sopot, where one of two Polish World Tennis Association tournaments
takes place.
Although Prokom is the most visible part
of Krauze’s $2 bln empire, it’s just a small
slice of it.
The Baltic coast-based entrepreneur also
invests in construction, pharmacy and oil
and gasoline.
Karkosik, owner of several steel and
chemical companies, is sponsoring a motorcycle racing team from his native Torun. He
is also worth $2 bln.
And Wejchert’s ITI has bought a major
stake in last year’s soccer champion, Legia
Warszawa. ITI owns TVN, the third most
popular television station in Poland. It has
helped push Wejchert’s fortune to $ 1 bln.
The second most popular broadcaster,
Polsat, is the company at the heart of Solorz-Zak’s $1.5 bln fortune.
“Forbes” listed Sololow in its March 2007
edition as being the 407th richest man in the
world. The other four Poles ranked between
488 and 799.
Having four Poles on the list isn’t impressive when compared with the number in
other countries, of course. Spain, which has
about the same population as Poland – 40
mln – has 20 billionaires, for example.
But Poland is playing catch-up because
it’s had only 18 years of capitalism.
The Warsaw Stock Exchange has been the
prime factor in the fortunes of Poland’s five
billionaires and many other wealthy Poles.
The exchange started in 1991 with five
newly privatized companies. Now it lists
309 companies.
The biggest is Orlen, with annual revenues of 45 bln zloty or $16.6 bln.
The former state-owned oil and gasoline
producer and distributor has a major share in
the Polish fuel market and has expanded its
business to nearby countries.
Another big company on the exchange is
Telekomunikacja Polska, Poland’s Number
1 phone and Internet-service provider, with
10 mln customers.
France Telecom owns 47 percent of the
concern, which the Polish government
privatized some years ago.
The government owns an 84 percent
stake in another big player on the exchange,
Polskie Gornictwo Naftowe i Gazownictwo,
which provides natural gas to homes.
Next year another state-owned company,
the electricity provider Polskie Sieci Elektroenergetyczne, should go public. Polityka
magazine says it’s the third-largest company
in Poland by value.
The most important index of the Warsaw
Stock Exchange is the Warszawski Indeks
Gieldowy or WIG. It represents the value of
all listed companies.
The last four years have seen unprecedented growth in the index. In fact WIG
tripled during this period, reaching a peak of
66,951.73 points on July 4.
No extradition to Poland for murder of top cop
Mazur called Papala the night he was
killed and arranged to meet him at the home
A U.S. judge late last week blocked the of Jozef Sasin, the retired general of the Seextradition of businessman Edward Mazur curity Service.
to Poland on charges he paid for the murder
Papala was shot in the head while seatof that country’s top cop in 1998.
ed in his car as he returned home from the
“The court finds that the government’s meeting.
evidence falls short of establishing probable
His wife, who was walking their dog at
cause to believe that Mr. Mazur committed the time, saw a thin man with long legs run
the crime charged,” said Judge Arlander away from the garage after she heard the
Keys in a written opinion.
sound of the gunfire.
Mazur, who has dual Mazur, who has dual Polish
Polish prosecutors inPolish and U.S. citizenterviewed Mazur several
and U.S. citizenship, was
ship, was accused of paytimes but did not request
accused of paying $40,000 his arrest and extradition
ing $40,000 for the murder
for
the
murder
of
chief
of Chief Superintendent
until April 2005. He was
superintendent Marek
Marek Papala who was
detained in jail while
Papala who was gunned
gunned down in June
awaiting his extradition
down in June 1998.
1998, a few months after
hearing at the request of
he retired. The U.S. govU.S. prosecutors.
ernment presented evidence that Mazur met
Judge Keys ruled Friday that the key eviwith a mob hit man, Artur Zirajewski, and
dence against Mazur – Zirajewski’s statetwo other men at a Gdansk hotel in April ments – was riddled with contradictions and
1998 to order the murder. Zirajewski, who
errors and noted that Zirajewski admits he
was later arrested for other crimes and did made those statements in an attempt to get a
not carry out the hit, gave a number of in- lighter sentence.
terviews with police describing the plan to
Keys said this was the first time he denied
murder Papala, as did other men involved in
an extradition request in his more than 12
the conspiracy.
years on the bench.
The judge also examined statements from
“The evidences gives rise to, at most, a
Papala’s wife, who said Mazur has come to soundly-based belief that Mr. Mazur was
their house a couple times and had offered hanging out with some rather shady charto help the general organize a trip to the U.S. acters,” Keys wrote. “But that alone is not
to study English.
enough to send him to Poland.”
agence france-presse
AGENCJA NIERUCHOMOŚCI
www.property-krakow.com
NOCLEGI W APARTAMENTACH
www.aaakrakow.com
[email protected]
A U.S. judge late last week blocked the extradition of businessman Edward Mazur to
Poland on charges he paid for the murder of that country’s top cop in 1998.
CALL IN AND SEE US!
ul. Napoleona Cybulskiego 2
6
K R A K O W
The Krakow Post
JULY 26-AUGUST 1, 2007
Funerals, sacrifice rituals in Mayan Empire
Archaeologists from Jagiellonian University in Krakow continue research in the land of the Maya during their second excavation tour to Nakum, Guatemala
the krakow post
Jagiellonian
University
archaeologists have made
exciting finds during their
second expedition to the
Mayan pyramids of Nakum,
Guatemala.
Team members found a
crypt with a body inside one
pyramid, probably someone
who had been sacrificed, the
team said. The sacrifice occurred between the years 100
and 250 C.E., they estimated.
They found evidence of
sacrifices inside other pyramids as well during their
expedition in May to June,
2007. The Mayans routinely
sacrificed humans to appease
their gods.
The archaeologists’ most
important find was nine
heads made of clay. Some
depicted Mayan gods, the
Polish Press Agency (PAP)
reported.
Professors Jaroslaw Zralka and Wieslaw Koszkul of
the Institute of Archaeology
at Jagiellonian University
started the pyramid project
last year.
The Jagiellonian team was
in Nakum, a former Mayan
ceremonial center in the jungles of northern Guatemala,
from April to June 2006.
The Foundation for the
Advancement of Mesoamerican Studies in Crystal River,
Florida, has financed the Jagiellonian expeditions. The
foundation was established in
1993 to foster understanding
of ancient Indian cultures.
One of the most important
finds at Nakum last year was
the tomb of a woman who
was a member of the Mayan
royal family. It was the first
tomb excavated inside a Nakum pyramid, the foundation
said.
The tomb contained many
riches, including a rare jade
necklace with a human face
etched on one side and a
short hieroglyphic text on the
other.
Scholars say Nakum was
founded in the 7th or 8th Century. Its palace and temple
complexes are hidden in the
jungle, guarding secrets of
those who lived there 2,800
years ago.
This year the archaeologists found a stone crypt with
a body six meters below it.
The person – it has yet to be
determined whether a man or
woman – was lying on his or
her back facing south.
The person’s head was
placed in a ceramic dish that
Jagiellonian University
archaeologists have made
exciting finds during
their second expedition
to the Mayan pyramids
of Nakum, Guatemala.
had been colorfully painted
and covered with another
dish in geometrical patterns.
The person had probably
been sacrificed but might
have been laid to rest in a
burial ritual that suggested
sacrifice.
The head’s placement in a
ceramic dish suggested that
the burial occurred between
the 2nd and 3rd centuries, the
archaeologists said.
In a pyramid adjacent to
where the crypt was found,
team members found two
well-preserved chambers dating from the 5th and 6th centuries a few meters below the
surface.
In one chamber they found
a small round hole leading to
an arched room, which appeared by its shape and size
to be a tomb.
After removing the earth
covering the room, they discovered it contained the painting of the head of someone
singing. The team also found
stucco handles that could be
used to close the room.
Team members said the
room could have been used
for some time as a place to
prepare the dead for burial.
Later it could actually have
been used as a tomb, they
said.
Human teeth and a bead
the archaeologists discovered
on the floor of the tomb indicated that the chamber was
used for burial rituals, the
team said.
The archaeologists said
there were signs the tomb had
been robbed, possibly by the
Mayans themselves.
One piece of evidence
indicating that the pyramids
contained victims of sacrifice was cylindrical decorations made of what appear
to be human bones. They
were found seven meters
below the surface of one
pyramid.
The archaeologists also
found ceramic discs with perforated openings, jade beads
and a jade pendulum depicting the head of a monkey or a
man with a monkey mask.
In the center of that discovery was a dish, placed upside
down, covering a collection
of pebbles, clay fragments,
earth and sand.
In the earth buried below
the dish were nine clay heads,
some depicting Mayan gods,
plus an unusual ceramic cylinder with a lid and another
jade pendulum with a monkey face. That was the best
find of the expedition, the excited team members said.
The nine heads could reflect the nine levels of the underworld that Mesoamerican
tribes believed in, the archaeologists said.
They will consider that
possibility as part of their
comprehensive analysis of all
the finds.
The Jagiellonian team will
continue its work at the pyramid site in 2008.
This year the archaeologists found a stone crypt with a body six meters below it. The person – it has yet to be determined
whether a man or woman – was lying on his or her back facing south.
Polish salt mines no hardship for asthma patients
Elise Menand
agence france-presse
It’s not exactly your average aerobics
class: the teacher is a physiotherapist, and
the students are asthmatic.
And the gym is 130 meters (426 feet) below ground, in the world’s oldest working
salt mine. While the idea of a spell in the salt
mines might conjure up visions of being sent
to Siberia, Wieliczka is a benign venue for
hundreds of patients who every year head to
the underground sanatorium near Krakow,
in southern Poland. For 500 euro ($690)
– which is often covered by health insurance
– the mostly asthmatic or allergic patients
can spend 14 days deep in the mine’s microclimate, breathing the therapeutic air.
“This air is absolutely beneficial for asthmatics, because they don’t have any contact
with allergens,” said lung specialist Marta
Rzepecka.
The patients get more than just a break
from the dust and germs of the outside
world, spending more than six hours a day
on exercises and games which teach them to
control their breathing.
The high levels of humidity and sodium
chloride in the mine also help speed the regeneration of the mucous membranes, said
Rzepecka. The treatment is effective in 90
percent of cases, she added.
“We also see an improvement in the overall functioning of the respiratory system,”
said physiotherapist Dorota Wodnicka.
“They have less feeling of asphyxiation.
The children take fewer antibiotics and they
have fewer symptoms,” she said.
Wieliczka, which is 15 kilometers (nine
miles) from Krakow, has been mined for salt
non-stop since the Middle Ages. It boasts
an impressive network of galleries totalling
300 kilometers (186 miles) that not only
The mine’s medical role dates
back to the 19th Century,
when Polish physician Feliks
Boczkowski began using salt
baths to treat numerous conditions, including exhaustion due
to “excessive” lovemaking.
house the sanatorium but have become a
major tourist attraction and a UNESCO
World Heritage site that draws more than a
mln visitors a year.
The mine’s medical role dates back to the
early 19th Century, when Polish physician
Feliks Boczkowski began using salt baths in
1826 to treat a variety of conditions. Among
these were infertility, hysteria and even exhaustion due to “excessive” lovemaking.
The initial idea did not outlive Boczkowski: the salt-bath therapy ended at Wieliczka
when he died in 1855.
The current sanatorium was opened a
century later, and is among the most reputed of several dotted across Central and
Eastern Europe.
Russian Liliana Prishchepa said she had
brought her granddaughter from Moscow
to Wieliczka on the advice of a friend from
Ukraine who was treated here.
“Her problems disappeared after just
two stays,” said Prishchepa, adding that she
hoped for the same result for little Anastasia.
But Wieliczka does not offer a magic wand,
Rzepecka cautioned.
“Asthma is a chronic illness which is impossible to cure completely,” she said.
“But medication plus care in a salt mine
can force asthma into remission, in which
sufferers don’t have any symptoms, feel
better, and have a better quality of life,” she
said.
Marzena Janowska, a Pole who lives in
China, said she was simply delighted not to
have to take strong medication for the duration of her stay at Wieliczka.
“Whenever I breathe outside, I have a
pain in the chest. I feel better down here,”
she said.
Janowska said that she still considers
medication to be the solution for her asthma,
but added: “Sometimes it’s better to try natural methods first.”
The site already generated interest in the
14th and 15th centuries, when lore says privileged royal guests would be given tours of
its labyrinth of passageways and chambers.
Today aside from the clinic, other curiosities at Wieliczka include an impressive
underground cathedral carved from the salt
and rock, statues sculpted from the salt, and
a museum with artwork and underground
lakes.
First tram cafe to open
Justyna Krzywicka
Staff Journalist
Krakow will be home to the first cafe
tram in Poland. Two bidders, Jordan and
the Przewlocki Company, have won the
MPK tender for the purchase of a Nuremberg tram and the rights to use the city’s
tramlines to initiate a new conceptual
coffee shop tram. The cafe tram will commence its inaugural journey on August 13
from pl. Wszystkich Swietych at 11:00
taking its first cafe enthusiastic passengers
on a trip around the city.
Like its Stockholm or Copenhagen
counterparts, the coffee shop tram will
serve its passengers with refreshments
while taking them on journeys around the
city. The tram will function according to
a timetable, available within a week, and
passengers will be able to hop on and
off the tram at its designated tram stops.
One of the owners of the concept, Krystian Przewlocki, told The Krakow Post
he wants the tram to be another way of
showing people the sights of Krakow “in
a comfortable setting.” The old 20-meter
Nuremberg tram has undergone renovation and refurbishment, complete with
new electrical fittings, brake and mechanical improvements and safety checks. The
tram will retain a late 19th Century deco
with comfortable couches and tables in
place of regular tram seats. A ceiling constructed solely of mirrors, as well as table
lamps and golden fixtures will add to the
unique ambiance. The tram will also have
four video monitors informing its passengers of Krakow’s history and a guide
presenting information about the city in
English and Polish.
Of course the tram’s major draw card is
its ability to serve coffee and a bite to eat.
Przewlocki is excited about the tram being
one of a kind in Poland. “The tram will
not only be the first coffee shop tram but
will also be the first air-conditioned tram
in Poland,” he said. The tram is also fitted
with water tanks, sinks and espresso coffee machines.
Grzegorz Dyrkacz, responsible for
tram traffic management at MPK, assures
the cafe tram will not cause any congestion problems on its routes. “The tram will
not run in peak hours, and will avoid the
Karmelicka and Basztowa tramlines,” he
told The Krakow Post. He added that the
Cichy Kacik and the Wawrzyniec tram
stops will be the designated rest stop areas
for the cafe.
In a signed agreement, the private operator will reimburse the electricity usage
of the tram to MPK, which in turn has an
agreement signed with the town’s electricity board. The tram will be operated by
experienced licensed tram drivers hired by
the private company. Dyrkacz emphasized
that should the private company require
additional help from its pool of operators,
MPK would be happy to assist.
Aside from its daily routes the tram is
available for group hire and private parties.
The cafe tram can also be hired for additional tram routes, such as Nowa Huta.
K R A K O W
JULY 26-AUGUST 1, 2007
The Krakow Post
7
Health-conscious Krakow goes smoke free
LUK Agency
The Smoke-Free Premises campaign will hit Warsaw, Wroclaw, Poznan and Katowice by September of this year. There is
wide interest in the campaign already with 30 businesses signing up in Warsaw alone
Numerous Krakow venues are joining the Smoke-Free Premises campaign and prohibiting smoking.
Justyna Krzywicka
STAFF JOURNALIST
The Smoke-Free Premises campaign has
been in full swing in Krakow since March
2007. With close to 70 local businesses, including restaurants, coffee shops, hotels and
bars signing up, the campaign is intending
to take its success nationwide. Organized
by the Manko Association in Krakow, the
grassroots campaign aims at raising awareness of the damage caused by second-hand
smoke, encouraging local businesses to establish a smoke-free environment. In return,
the campaign provides advertising for supporting businesses in their posters, maps, articles in their monthly magazine and infor-
mation on their web site. Among the many
businesses providing campaign support are
Massolit Books and Cafe, Dynia Cafe Bar,
the Siesta Cafe and the Leopolis Hotel.
The Smoke-Free Premises campaign
will hit Warsaw, Wroclaw, Poznan and
Katowice by September of this year. Ewa
Zamoscinska, the project manager responsible for generating awareness among local
businesses, says there is wide interest in
the campaign already with 30 businesses
signing up in Warsaw alone. The quickest
way to sign up is via the internet on the
campaign’s web site.
The Smoke-Free Premises campaign
intends to provide residents in every Polish city with the choice of a smoke-free
environment while dining out or sitting in a
pub. Lukasz Salwarowski, the Association’s
president, claims that Poland cannot rely on
legislative changes to implement smokefree areas. Instead, the campaign is aimed
at “providing such a solution by creating
local awareness to the problem from the
grassroots level, providing punters with the
choice, and avoiding strict governmentally
imposed prohibitions.”
Salwarowski added that “Poles by nature
hate being told what they can and cannot
do. Choice, therefore, is the obvious option.
The Smoke-Free Premises campaign is
about providing that choice. You can choose
not to breathe second-hand smoke by selecting a cafe or restaurant that will offer you
Anger over Botanical Garden plans
Grazyna Zawada
STAFF JOURNALIST
The controversy began when the Municipal Office for Spatial Development announced a competition to develop the area
east of Rynek Glowny near the Botanical
Garden. The offices called upon interested
investors to submit a range of projects for
possible implementation in the area. Many
local residents became enraged at the idea.
Today, the area surrounding the Botanical Garden is built up with mostly tenement
buildings from the end of the 19th Century
and the Jagiellonian University Clinic – its
department buildings stretching along ul.
Kopernika. At the end of the street is the
beautiful and old Jagiellonian University
Botanical Garden, which serves as a teach-
ing aid for students and professors in field
experiments. One of the plans submitted
by investors suggested renting the space to
build luxury apartment flats. Not surprising-
The old Jagiellonian University Botanical Garden, which
not only serves as a teaching
aid for students and professors in field experiments, but
also as a beautiful park with
monuments of nature.
ly, the idea is causing a public outcry from
Krakow’s residents.
“We have a very old tree, about 180
years old, which is hard to find in the city
center nowadays,” says Professor Bogdan
Zemanek, director of the Botanical Garden.
Because of their age, the trees cannot be
moved and replanted. Moreover, the garden’s ecosystem would be ruined.
“Many people come here in the summer,
and 90 percent of them are foreigners,” says
the cashier in the garden’s ticket office. “It’s
a ridiculous idea to close the garden!” she
insists. After the news went public, Krakow’s Internet forum seethed, with some
responses nearing fanaticism.
“Send Krakow’s architects for mental
treatment!” wrote a guest signed in as “zzz”
on www.forum.gazeta.pl/krakow. “Let the
investors use Wawel Castle’s courtyard,
there is a lot of space there!” wrote “DIFF.”
“PIOR” concluded, “I will nail myself to the
door not to let anybody destroy the area.”
Director of Municipal Office for Spacial Planning
Magdalena Jaskiewicz speaks with The Krakow Post
about the confusion with the Botanical Garden
Grazyna Zawada
STAFF JOURNALIST
The Krakow Post: What is this competition
that is creating so much controversy?
Director Magdalena Jaskiewicz: It is a
studio project, which means it will never
be completed. We organized it as a sort of a
brainstorm for the Krakow community and
private investors who already have their lots
in the eastern part of the old city to encourage them to develop the area, to show them
possible benefits from refreshing the area.
But as I said before, it is only to remain on
paper.
Q: And the confusion with the garden?
A: I personally don’t know who came up
with the idea of taking over the garden,
and think it’s a totally ridiculous idea. Even
speaking of it is compromising. The garden
will surely remain in its place, the area belongs to the Krakow community and is under Jagiellonian University’s management.
Q: Are you sure it will be left alone?
A: Really it would be very difficult to remove this kind of institution. The University
would have to agree, as well as the Krakow
community and head conservator of Kra-
kow, because the Botanical Garden is officially listed in Krakow’s monument register.
Besides there is enormous public pressure.
If somebody agreed to destroy the Botanical Garden, then it would mean that there are
no longer any sanctities in Krakow. What’s
next? Rynek Glowny?
Q: So what’s the point in publicizing that
news?
A: In my opinion somebody wants to blur an
investment somewhere in the area. If everybody focuses on the garden, nobody will notice it, or everybody will say, “Well at least
they’ve left the garden alone.”
the option of a smoke-free environment. We rent to proprietors implementing smokejust need to make sure that customers have
free environments. While the option is still
the possibility to make that choice.”
available, very little municipal property is
So far 70 businesses in Krakow have
rented out to the hospitality industry.
signed up, with 28 restaurants and cafes
One concern is whether fewer customalready completely smoke-free. The reers would visit smoke-free places. Bisadamaining businesses have provided customBogdan claims that smoke-free areas are
ers with smoke-free areas within premises. more successful in the hospitality industry.
Elzbieta Bisada-Bogdan,
“Our internal studies have
manager of the historishown that customers
Poland is a long way off want smoke-free alternacal Wierzynek restaurant
in following other EU
which sponsored the
tives. Even smokers ask
campaign and was the
countries such as France for tables in smoke-free
first restaurant in Krakow and England, which have rooms. The number of
to go smoke-free over
customers we may have
completely prohibited
a year and a half ago,
lost to our smoke-free
pointed out that “smoke- smoking in public places. policy is estimated as less
free environments are a
than one percent,” she
standard these days, with hospitality insaid.
dustries having a responsibility to not only
Michal Konopa, manger of a local reallook after the health of their customers but
estate business, expresses his delight in the
also of their employees.” Wierzynek has
campaign: “Finally changes are evident. I
seven smoke-free areas and one smokers’ have been sick to death of reeking of smoke
lounge in the restaurant.
every time I venture out for a beer or meal.
This is a progressive statement, given Poles need to adjust their mentality when it
the reluctance of the hospitality sector
comes to smoking. We have implemented
mentality to consider workers’ health conso many changes in our society in the last
cerns. Zamoscinska says “there is a lot of
16 years – this is peanuts in comparison. If
hospitality staff out there, from barmen to
the Parisians can do it, then surely Krakovwaiters, who are disgruntled at their emians don’t have too much to whine about.”
ployers’ approach to second-hand smoke.
Smoking related health concerns have
Many employers still have a ‘like it or lump also kicked off the Responsible Selling camit’ mentality when it comes to smoking and
paign aimed at vendors selling cigarettes to
are hard to convince of the detrimental
minors. The campaign is organized by the
health factors.”
Malopolska Regional Council, and wants
Poland is a long way off in following
to target the 92 percent of businesses across
other EU countries such as France and the region selling cigarettes to under-aged
England, which have completely prohibited kids. Janusz Gruca, the managing organizer,
smoking in public places.
says the campaign will be in full swing by
The “major problem is law enforcement. autumn this year.
You can pass a statute, but who will conThe Manko Association is a non-profit
trol and monitor that it will be abided by? organization established by students in
We already have enacted laws prohibit1998 and has transgressed the university
ing smoking in public areas, but no one is
boundaries by taking on social awareness
enforcing them,” said Andrzej Furmanik and environmental projects across the city.
of the Krakow County Wicestarosta (Vice
County Deputy).
Smoke-free restaurants, hotels, bars or
Enticing business owners seems to be
cafes can be recognized by stickers indicatthe most viable solution. Marek Jachowicz ing support for the campaign. A map of the
from the health promotion department in smoke-free premises in Krakow is available
Krakow’s Municipal Council recalled that from the campaign’s web site:
in 1996 a local municipal act was passed www.lokalbezpapierosa.pl; or,
giving a 15 percent discount on municipal by contacting: [email protected].
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8
K R A K O W
The Krakow Post
JULY 26-AUGUST 1, 2007
Rope Park opens:
Krakow has a new attraction for thrill-seekers
Nine-meters seems a long way down when crossing a swaying bridge and clutching fingers to a safety rope.
Krzysztof Skonieczny
Staff JOURNALIST
At the end of ul. Widlakowa, behind the
ramshackle buildings of Pychowice, there is
a small forest with a little clearing and a large
sign – “Krakowski Park Linowy” (“Krakow
Rope Park”). The park rests quietly beyond
wooden an inconspicuous gate and a small
parking lot. The calm rustle of the trees is
deceiving, however, as the experience that
awaits visitors is not for the faint-hearted.
The owner, Piotr Rzewuski, is a plump,
mustached man in his late 40s. When he
heard we were journalists, he suggested that
we walk with him through the park before
asking any questions. Grinning, he said that
we could ask them later, if we still had any.
First, we were led through some standard safety procedures that included signing
declarations that we knew the rules of the
park and were not under the influence of
alcohol. Then, we proceeded to the training
area, where we were given all the essential
equipment – helmets, harnesses and gloves
– and comprehensively instructed on how
to handle them. Next, we climbed a ladder
towards the first platform.
The change in height makes a huge difference in perspective – what seemed perfectly
safe from the ground now made our fingers
clutch at the safety rope more tightly.
The 200-meter course begins with a fairly
easy-to-cross footbridge, but becomes increasingly more difficult with each of the 21
platforms situated five to nine meters above
the ground. Some crossings require a good
sense of balance – like the “Tibetan bridges”
(one rope for the legs and one or two for the
arms). Others demand more strength – for
example, the “spider’s web” or tire bridges.
Overall, the seemingly short course takes
from 40 to 60 minutes to complete.
At the end, it’s a relief to see the slide that
finally takes you back to steady ground.
Standing once again on solid earth, we
felt satisfaction and the urge to come back
– some day in the far-distant future.
Rzewuski explained that he came up with
the idea for the park while “unemployed for
some time and searching for a way to make
a living. A friend saw a park like this in Warsaw. I had experience working with heights,
so I decided to give it a shot.”
Rzewuski lives in nearby Pychowice
Mansion and has plans for the area that include horse-riding and driving tourists on
off-road trips.
“The most important thing about this
place,” he added, “is that you are very close
to the city center, but can rest in nature. The
park was designed for both children and
adults, but we hope to make a separate park
entirely for children, too.”
Park rules state that visitors must have a
minimum height of 150 centimeters, but exceptions can be made. Grzegorz Golab, an
11-year-old boy somewhat shorter than the
height-limit, also completed the course.
“I had problems on one of the obstacles,
but overall, the place is great,” he said with
a wide grin.
Getting there is easiest by bus – line 112
or 162 from Rondo Grunwaldzkie. Get off at
stop “Pychowice II.” Then follow the signs
to “Park Linowy” on ul. Widlakowa. General adult tickets cost 25 zloty, 20 zloty for
those under 16, or 35 zloty if you want an
instructor to assist you through the course.
Also, most of the staff speaks English.
Krakow expands offers for foreign students
Martyna Olszowska
staff Journalist
More and more international students are
coming to Krakow to study.
Jagiellonian University spokesman Katarzyna
Pilitowska says that Krakow has become a cosmopolitan city due to the increasing number of
foreign students enrolling at local universities.
A total of 1,700 students studied at Jagiellonian University alone this year. Jagiellonian University is one of the oldest universities in Europe.
Other higher educational institutions in Krakow
such as the University of Science and Technology and Economics Academy have also seen an
increase in the number of foreign students enrolling in their institutions over past years.
This number is expected to increase next year,
as many universities have begun offering more
English-language majors.
“We have 100 places for the English-language
International Relations program. These spots are
open to both Polish and foreign students,” said
Dorota Wydymus, administrator of the International Admissions Office at Tischner European
University.
Majors taught in English have a different curriculum from its Polish counterpart, with a specific emphasis on business.
“Market research shows that most students
interested in studying in English want to have a
career with a major international corporation,”
Wydymus said.
After their third year of study, students choose
one of three specializations: International BusiPilitowska stated that the international stuness, International Tourism, or European Integradent program directors plan to visit partner cittion. A year at the university costs 3,500 euro.
ies and universities. This year, they have already
Information and application forms for protraveled to Canada, Japan and the U.S.
spective students are available at the Tischner
Not only Europeans are interested in Poland’s
web site: www.wse.krakow.pl.
universities.
Although foreigners frequently choose manWhen Poland joined the EU, its educational
agement, marketing, law and psychology as
market opened not only to Ukraine, Russia, Kaspecializations at Jagiellonian University, the
zakhstan and our other eastern neighbors, but
university’s Medical Colalso to students from more
lege holds the record for inremote countries like China,
When Poland became a part
ternational enrollment with
India and Africa.
of the EU, the educational
nearly 400 students, most of
Pawel
Swierk
from
them from Norway, Canada
Krakow’s AGH University
market started to open not
and the U.S.
of Science and Technology
only for Ukraine, Russia,
Jagiellonian University
confirms this trend and asKazakhstan and our other
offers many degree, as well
sures that all foreign students
Eastern
neighbors,
but
also
as non-degree programs and
will be taken. AGH is openfor students from more
courses: European Studing new majors in some of
remote countries like China,
ies, English and American
its departments: Control and
Literature, Biotechnology,
Measurement Microsystems,
India and Africa.
Natural Science and InterFunctional Materials and
disciplinary Programs in the
Coatings, Mathematics of
Humanities and Social Sciences. An EnglishFinance and Insurance, General Geology and
language version of the university’s web site is
Environmental Protection. The university is also
being set up to allow students to register online
offering additional Ph.D programs. Enrollment
(www.uj.edu.pl).
fees are determined annually, but are unlikely to
Foreign students pay from 2,400 to 9,000
drop below 2,000 euro per year.
euro depending on their specialization. This is
Apart from documents confirming that a stuless expensive than in most European countries.
dent successfully completed prerequisite levels
Intent on raising interest among foreign students
of schooling, a letter to the rector asking for adto study in Krakow, universities have begun
mission is needed.
developing programs to promote themselves
Noriko Nagashige from Japan just loves Polabroad.
ish theater. Even though she has 6 years of study
behind her in Tokyo, she came to Krakow a few
years ago to continue her education in theatrical studies. “This city is the best for studying,
especially with my specialization,” Noriko says.
“Where else can I find so many great theaters?”
When Noriko first came to Poland, she knew
very little Polish. She credits her course studies
and life in the dormitory with improving her
command of the language.
“Living together in the same room with other
students, I had to speak Polish all the time,” she
says. “I was in contact with some very lively language.” She says she likes Poland and the people
she has met here. “Polish students are amazing,
because they are so active. They are always
working somewhere,” she observes.
Every university in Krakow prepares special courses and events to help foreign students
like Noriko get used to their new surroundings,
which are sometimes considered quite exotic by
the newcomers.
“Obviously, a young person who starts to
study in a remote country can feel lost,” says
Wydymus. “That’s why Tischner European University has a special orientation program, which
helps these students during the first months of
their stay in Poland by introducing them to different people.”
Foreigners at Jagiellonian University have no
problem finding a place in the dormitory.
“In practice, every application for a room in
one of our dormitories is accepted,” Pilitowska
says. “We are pleased that the number of foreign
students is increasing every year.”
K R A K O W
JULY 26-AUGUST 1, 2007
The Krakow Post
Balice int’l airport rapidly expanding
Anna Fratczak
chosen by the airport board to carry out the
project.
Construction should begin by the end of
A Spanish-Warsaw team has won a compenext year and be finished in 2010.
tition for best design of an enlarged passenger
“The cost shouldn’t surpass 70 mln euro,”
terminal at Balice International Airport.
said Pietrzak, who added that “the money for
However, the Estudio Lamela team may
enlarging the terminal will come from EU
not actually get to design the terminal plus the
funds. ”
hotel and parking that will go with it. That’s
The terminal is just one of a number of
because the airport board does not have to go
Balice projects planned for the new several
with the winning design but can choose one of
years. Those who take the train to and from
the top three. The second-place winner was a
the airport will be glad to hear that a rail line
London-Krakow team and
is planned to be built all the
the third-place winner a
way to the terminal. CurThe new terminal will
Krakow entrant.
rently, the train’s final stop
have 23,000 square me- is 200 meters from the airThe project involves
“enlargement of the pasport. A projected surge in
ters of space, about
senger terminal by buildauto traffic to and from the
50 percent more than
ing a new pavilion in an
airport has led to plans to
the current 15,000
area between the presently
add lanes to the road servsquare
meters.
existing passenger termiing the facility. Instead of
nal and the terminal cargo
two lanes, the road will be
area, plus building a hotel
four lanes, separated by a
and parking,” said airport spokesman Piotr
greenbelt. It will link Krakow’s Armii KrajPietrzak.
owej Street with Balice. The airport has already
The new terminal will have 23,000 square
added the equipment for 15 passenger checkmeters of space, about 50 percent more than
in points and five security-control points in the
the current 15,000 square meters. The hotel
terminal. Right now the equipment is serving
and the multi-level parking area will go up opthe passengers of low-cost airlines.
posite the enlarged terminal.
In the future it will be used only for pasThe winning team’s design is clean and
sengers of EU members and other countries
elegant, said Architecture Professor Stefan
which signed the Schengen Agreement. The
Kurylowicz, head of the group that judged
agreement was signed in 1985 to harmonize
the competition. It also harmonizes with the
external border controls among EU members
airport’s existing architecture, he said.
and the non-EU nations of Switzerland, NorThe winners received 80,000 zloty in prize
way and Iceland.
money.
The agreement is expected to apply to PoSecond price of 50,000 zloty went to the deland in April of 2008.
sign of HOK International Limited of London
The number of travelers using Balice Interand Wizja sp.zoo of Krakow.
national Airport jumped by 50 percent last year
Third prize 30,000 zloty went to Kontrato 3 mln.
punkt V of Krakow.
When the enlarged terminal is finished,
Although the prize money was no small
Balice will be able to serve 9 mln travelers a
win, the big financial prize will go to the team
year.
EasyJet: New routes to
Edinburgh and Bournemouth from Balice
the krakow post
editor-in-chief
Two new destinations, Krakow – Edinburgh and Krakow – Bournemouth, will be
launched on October 29, EasyJet airlines
announced last week. Starting October 29,
regular flights to Edinburgh will be scheduled four times a week. The airplanes to
Bournemouth are planned to fly three times
a week starting October 30. Edinburgh,
the capitol of Scotland, is the second most
popular UK tourist destination after London.
Bournemouth is a big health resort town located on the southern coast of England. The
one-way tickets are already on sale for 109
zloty.
An EasyJet airline estimates serving
around 100,000 travelers 12 months from
now. Currently EasyJet flies to Bristol and
London (Luton) from Warsaw, Belfast, Bristol, Dortmund and Liverpool and to London
(Luton and Gatwick) and Newcastle from
Krakow. “Launching two new routes in
Krakow testifies, that we are interested in
the Polish market,” says John Kohlsaat, the
company regional sales manager.
EasyJet is a leading low-cost European
airline. Currently it serves 302 destinations
between 79 airports in 22 countries. Last
year EasyJet served 35 mln passengers.
Krakow-Edinburgh Flights
Monday, Wednesday, Friday
Edinburgh 07:50 – Krakow 11:30/12:00 –
Edinburgh 13:40
Saturday
Edinburgh 16:20 – Krakow 20:00/20:30 –
Edinburgh 22:10
Krakow-Bournemouth Flights
Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday
Bournemouth 15:55 – Krakow 19:35/13:45 –
Bournemouth 15:25
Model of Balice’s terminal expansion plan.
Plaszow memorial plan raises some hackles
LUK Agency
Plans to turn the former Nazi concentration camp into a state-run, Auschwitz-type “living museum” spark controversy
Plaszow memorial.
Jakub Szufnarowski
STAFF JOURNALIST
Jewish groups object to plans of building additions to Plaszow designed with
tourists in mind. And real estate developers
object to a plan for a construction-free buffer zone around Plaszow because it would
mean they couldn’t develop the area.
The Ministry of Culture will take over
Plaszow to give it the best chance of being
preserved, according to the daily Gazeta
Wyborcza. Jaroslaw Sellin, the deputy
minister of culture, said the ministry wants
Plaszow to join “the official list of museums created on the sites of former concentration camps. These places need to be
provided with the best possible care, and
the state can guaranteed that.”
Krakow’s City Council pushed for the
9
project – and the ministry taking control
of it.
Proxima Design Group of Krakow
recently won a competition to add a few
structural elements to Plaszow to make it
more inviting to tourists and others who
want to know about its place in the Holocaust.
The competition judges said they liked
the design’s simplicity.
Illuminated poles will delineate the
camp’s borders. A footbridge leading to
the main entrance will be suspended above
ground so visitors will not step on the
ashes of people murdered in the camp. The
footbridge will give visitors a view of the
camp’s square.
The outlines of the long-gone barracks that once housed the camp’s prisoners will be delineated by furrows in the
ground that will be covered with glass
and illuminated.
Even the minimalist concepts of the
winning designers are raising hackles,
however.
Some Krakow City Council members
object to the design, said Janusz Sepiol,
head of the city’s cultural affairs office.
And some Jewish groups object to poles
being placed into ground that, because of
the bodies buried there, essentially serves
as a cemetery, Sepiol said.
It’s important that the project be completed, however, Sepiol said. “If it is done
with the use of funds granted to us by the
ministry, that’s even better,” he said.
City officials said the Proxima Project Group’s design interferes less with
the camp’s environment than any design
submitted.
An issue that is grating developers is
the greenbelt, or protective zone, that will
be set up around the Plaszow camp once
it gets the same national-memorial status
that Auschwitz has.
Developers have been eyeing the land
adjacent to the camp for some time. A protective zone means they will be unable to
develop it.
Before World War II, there were two
Jewish cemeteries in the Plaszow area.
The Germans destroyed them in 1942
when they began building the concentration camp.
In 1943, the Nazis put approximately
25,000 people, including Jews, Poles,
Roma, Italians, Hungarians and Romanians, in 200 barracks at Plaszow.
There is not much left of the camp today: a cemetery administrative building,
Commandant Amon Goethe’s residence,
two execution sites, foundations of some
of the barracks and remnants of rock quarries that the prisoners worked.
The site has basically been turned into
a landscaped park. A number of signs and
a monument erected in the 1960s inform
visitors that they are entering land covered
with the ashes of thousands of people who
were murdered there during World War II.
10
K A T O W I C E
The Krakow Post
JULY 26-AUGUST 1, 2007
Katowice Main Railway Station investors
Danuta Filipowicz
STAFF JOURNALIST
State-owned Polish State Railways, or
PKP, wants to renovate the central station in
Katowice, the Silesian capital 80 kilometers
from Krakow, with the help of outside investors. It will choose the prime contractor for
the 300-mln-euro project in January of 2008,
according to the Katowice edition of the daily
Gazeta Wyborcza.
Which company is going to do that, will
be announced in January 2008, informed
Katowice’s regional supplement of Gazeta
Wyborcza, as the bidding process for investors
has been approved by the Executive Board of
PKP earlier.
The most important railway investment
in Silesia in the next several years will help
Katowice develop a transportation hub that
integrates a modern railway center, bus station
and auto parking area.
Because the station is a public project,
Minister of Transportation Jerzy Polaczek is
overseeing it. The schedule for the work was
set May 18 at a meeting of Polaczek, Silesian
Governor Tomasz Pietrzykowski and Andrzej
Wach, president of PKP Group, the parent of
the railway company.
One of the top contenders to build the
project is expected to be Hungarian TriGranit
Development Corporation, the leading real estate development corporation in Central and
Eastern Europe. It built the Silesia City Center, one of the three biggest shopping malls in
Poland.
TriGranit’s decided to make its first Polish
investment in Silesia because the region is one
of the country’s most densely populated and
plays an important role in the Polish economy.
About 2.9 mln people live within 45 minutes’
driving distance from the mall. TriGranit has
been involved in real estate development
since 1997. It specializes in building multifunctional urban complexes. It also has exten-
The most important railway
investment in Silesia in the
next several years will help
Katowice develop a transportation hub that integrates
a modern railway center, bus
station and auto parking area.
sive experience in revitalization projects and
public-private partnership projects.
TriGranit has completed major development projects in Budapest, Bratislava and
Prague. The total value of its projects exceeds
1 bln euro.
At present, the company is working on or
preparing investment projects in 10 European
countries, including several cities in Poland,
Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia and
Croatia. TriGranit has declined comment on
the Katowice railway project, as has another
company that is considered a leading contender, the Irish development group Keyinvest.
Keyinvest has put nearly 500 mln euro into
Polish real estate development since 2001. It
has built office buildings, retail centers and
residential complexes.
One its best-known projects is Warsaw’s
Grzybowska, a ritzy apartment tower that it
is building with the help of the internationally
renowned designers Epstain Poland and SOM
of London. The project will offer 27 floors of
apartments, five levels of underground parking, a fitness center, restaurant and offices.
The Ministry of Transportation said bids
for the Katowice station will be taken until
the middle of September. The winner will be
chosen by the end of the year and announced
in January. The Katowice station was built
over 13 years – from 1959 to 1972. It is the
biggest and most important railway station in
the Gornoslaski Okreg Przemyslowy region,
the metropolitan area that takes in Katowice
and surrounding cities in Silesian Province.
Domestic and international rail connections
run from there to almost every big city in the
country and Europe.
The station is a sparkling example of modern architecture. Some of the top architects
of the period – Waclaw Klyszewski, Jerzy
Mokrzynski and Eugeniusz Wierzbicki – designed the beautiful main hall. Another top
architect, Waclaw Zalewski, oversaw the design. At one time PKP considered demolishing the station and replacing it with an entirely
new one. Protests from the public and architects groups in Poland and abroad prompted
the company to change its mind.
cc:sa:Jan Mehlich
Hungarian TriGranit Development Corporation and Irish Developers Group Keyinvest may be the top investors in Katowice
Katowice Main Railway Station.
Festival of tradition, identity and
folklore: Beskidy Highlander Week
of Culture (TKB) commences
Joanna Zabierek
Staff Journalist
Klepok, a wooden bird on two wheels,
is one of the most recognizable traditional
toys in Beskidy. It represents the Beskidy
Highlander Week of Culture (TKB), said to
be one of the oldest and biggest folk festivals in Poland, possibly even Europe.
This year’s 44th annual festival begins
July 28. In several towns, the most notorious being Szczyrk, Oswiecim, Zywiec,
Makow Podhalanski and Wisla (where the
story of the festival began), highlanders
from Beskidy and other, mainly European,
countries will come together to hold a great
holiday folklore festival. The event will not
only be a chance for the groups to celebrate
together but also to compete in various
categories such as traditional song, dance,
genuine ritual recreation and presentation
of traditional customs.
Every group adds to the festival’s charm
by presenting their most valuable traditions.
Many events are held during the TKB. One
of the smaller ones is “Wawrzyncowe
Hudy” (“St. Lawrence’s Bonfires”) in Ujsoly, which includes concerts and street
parades. The oldest and most traditional
Polish songs and music will be played,
transforming
contemporary
folk-pop
groups. The festival will also have folk art
and crafts exhibitions, showing folk artists
at work and providing samples of tradition-
al highlander cuisine with honey vodka.
The event will be held in a beautiful setting
surrounded by the Beskidy Mountains.
The 44th TKB Program:
The 38th Festival of Polish Highlander Folklore
in Zywiec (July 28-31)
The 18th International Folk Meetings
in Szczyrk (August 1-4)
The 60th Highlander Feast
in Jablunkov, Czech Republic (August 3-5)
The 13th Istebna Feast in Istebna (July 28-29)
The 29th St. Lawrence’s Bonfires in Ujsoly (August 4)
Brazilian restaurant
in the Old Town
ul. Sw. Tomasza 28
We invite you every
day from 12:00 p.m.
Reservations: Tel.: (0) 12 422-5323 www.ipanema.pl
A R T S
JULY 26-AUGUST 1, 2007
&
I D E A S
The Krakow Post
11
New horizons at international film festival in Wroclaw
The 7th Era New Horizons International Film Festival includes over 350 films. The first seven days of the festival are over,
but everyone is waiting for Sunday’s New Horizons International Competition when the audience will become the jury
The film, “4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days,” directed by Cristian Mungiu, is certainly one of the best features of the 7th Era New
Horizons International Film Festival. It’s a shocking minimalist film that tells a story of two students in 1980s Communist Romania while abortion was strictly forbidden. When one girl decides to have an abortion done, she undergoes the terror of the surgery
at a dirty hotel performed by a brutal “doctor.”
Martyna Olszowska
STAFF JOURNALIST
The 7th Era New Horizons International
Film Festival includes over 350 films, 100
movie premieres and about 600 shows in 13
cinema auditoriums. Wroclaw has become a
film Mecca for thousands of people coming
to see films from all over the world. Even
the heat can’t discourage them as the screenings are held in air-conditioned theaters. The
first seven days of the festival are over, but
everyone is waiting for Sunday’s deciding
New Horizons International Competition
when the audience will become the jury.
“From the very beginning we wanted to
create an opportunity to watch the latest
and most recent movies which are the great
events of international festivals or win in
Cannes or Venice,” says Roman Gutek,
the festival director. “Sometimes these are
films that didn’t gain recognition of the
jury but we admire these pictures.” The
festival is also famed for introducing Polish audiences to new films from Bollywood
(India) and Asia.
Last year, critics objected that too much
minimalist cinema was presented at the festival, especially in the competition.
This year, one such film is the Japanese
“The Mourning Forest” by Naomi Kawase,
who won the Grand Prize of the Cannes
Festival. The film is a calm, philosophic and
beautifully photographed story about how a
man must finally find peace after the death
of his child and wife. The audience either
fell in love with it or fell asleep in it. Yet,
such films also characterize a good festival
as they awaken lively discussions.
Survey shows scandalous Doda
Robaczewska is most popular
among Polish teenagers, results
shock local opera community
Philip Palmer
staff journalist
In what would appear to be a rather
pointless exercise, one of the most respected Polish market research agencies
recently asked 1,000 Poles of different
generations who the most outstanding
Polish musical artist is.
The survey was commissioned by the
Director of Mazowiecki Teatr Muzyczny Operetta in Warsaw in an attempt
to found out how aware the average Pole
was of the charismatic operatic tenor, Jan
Kiepura, who achieved worldwide fame
on the stage and screen between the wars.
Having stockpiled a fortune from concert
appearances, he built a gargantuan villa
in the fashionable spa town of KrynicaZdroj. Since 1967, the town has held
an annual festival to commemorate his
achievements and promote new talent.
Jan Kiepura’s name was discreetly inserted by the TNS OBOP agency into a
list of currently popular music stars that
included Doda Robaczewska, Maryla
Rodowicz and Krzysztof Krawczyk. Unsurprisingly, Kiepura’s name was selected by a fair few respondents in their 40s,
but none who were younger. Rodowicz
and Krawczyk, who are middle-aged
media-friendly artists with big stage personas, appealed to the broadest range of
ages. Pop diva, Doda “Elektroda,” whose
off-stage behavior is primed to give off
a faint whiff of mildly titillating scandal
was most popular with teenagers.
All pretty predictable. But, according to the press, musical “experts” have
In what would appear to be a
rather pointless exercise, one
of the most respected Polish
market research agencies
recently asked 1,000 Poles
of different generations who
the most outstanding Polish
musical artist is.
been insisting that Poles should see the
results of the survey as an indictment of
their musical judgment. But they are not
totally to blame. The indoctrination starts
young. Critical faculties are stunted from
childhood due to a combination of cynical media onslaught and the rudimentary
music lessons they receive at school from
uninspired part-timers. As they reach
adulthood, stage charisma and media exposure rather than pure talent determine
whether they purchase a recording or attend a concert.. In short, as happens in
practically all western-style democracies,
the government invests much less in musical education than they ought to and the
media are determining the tastes of Mr.
Average rather than the other way round.
What is intriguing, however, is the vehement counter-reaction of the opera community. Boguslaw Kaczynski, director of
the annual Kiepura festival told Dziennik
Polski, “This is functional illiteracy…
unless the Ministry of Culture, the educational authorities and journalists do
something, we will become a nation of
deaf savages.”
Unfortunately, by attempting to shore
up the reputation of a long-dead tenor
who mainly appeals to older people
and the opera cognoscenti, he’s almost
definitely fighting a losing battle. Jan
Kiepura achieved extraordinary success,
gracing the stage of some of the most
prestigious theaters in the world. But, I
won’t be replacing the Doda album my
10-year-old niece asked for as a Birthday
present with a Kiepura recording. That
would be indoctrination.
The Cannes Golden Palm winner – “4
Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days” from Romania
– opened the festival last Thursday. Cristian
Mungiu, the director of the film, confessed
that he keeps the Golden Palm in hiding
because of his child’s tendency of throwing
any object that gets near his hands.
The film “4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days”
is certainly one of the best features of the 7th
ENH. It’s a shocking minimalist film that
tells a story of two students in 1980s Communist Romania while abortion was strictly
forbidden. When one girl decides to have an
abortion done, she undergoes the terror of
the surgery at a dirty hotel performed by a
brutal “doctor.”
The motionless camera concentrates on
faces and reactions giving audiences a sense
of being in the middle of the events and
making the emotions more present.
The film forces one to focus entirely on
the screen, as any movement could destroy
the atmosphere that Mungiu’s movie creates. It becomes less about abortion problems or difficult communism times. “I wanted to
tell a story about events
that I know well. For me
it is a film about the relationship between people,
about decisions that we
have to take and about
consequences of these decisions,” says Mungiu.
Festival
participants
unable to get into Mungiu’s sold-out film had the
opportunity to watch Sam
Garbarski’s “Irina Palm,”
co-produced by Great
Britain, Belgium and
France. After the screening the audience saw a
live concert by Marianne
Faithfull, Mick Jagger’s
famous muse and the leading star in the film.
This was Faithfull’s second concert in Wroclaw. Wroclaw is considered her unlucky
city, with the poor turnout at her first concert
here a few years ago. Such poor luck is unfortunate as the concert-goers admitted that
the hour was magical. “She was fantastic,
she is a volcano of energy,” was one spectator’s reaction. The 60-year-old artist enchanted the audience both in the cinema and
during the concert. Faithful gives a fantastic
performance as Irina Palm, an old woman
who decides to work in a sex shop to earn
money for her sick grandson. The warm and
funny story raised the enthusiasm of the festival’s audience, who applauded and laughed
throughout the two-hour screening.
As always, the festival provided audiences with the opportunity to meet with the
film festival actors and directors.
This year Hal Hartley, who has a retrospective during the festival, is one of the
most exciting guests.
This American film director is a leader of
independent cinema in the U.S. In Poland he
is deemed the most famous unknown legend; while the director himself is very popular here, his films are virtually unknown being practically inaccessible.
Big crowds and a full cinema auditorium
should be of little surprise at Hartley’s film
screening.
For dessert, the festival has a few Australian films. These movies from the 1970s and
80s were the Australian New Wave films
that won audiences’ hearts all over the world
during the country’s film renaissance. All
the films being shown were chosen by David
Stratton, a well-known Australian film critic
who writes for the newspaper “The Australian” and the U.S. magazine “Variety.”
Apart from the new movies there was a
one-time chance to see the silent film “The
Kelly’s Gang” from 1906. Rumor has it that
this Australian movie was actually the first
feature film ever made. Unfortunately, as
only 17 minutes of the film have survived,
it is impossible to view the original film in
its full length.
Stratton admits that after the great New
Wave film era ended, Australian cinema
went into a crisis. “In the 1980s we were
winning [the film market] with artistic
films. Now because of the Hollywood invasion young people want to make films like
“Matrix,” he says. “I think that they should
recall their origins, their culture. This is
what I think can interest an audience all over
the world.”
The last Australian films that were popular both in Australia and in other countries
were stories like Rolf de Heer’s “Ten Canoes,” which explores the Aboriginal legend
and made completely by using an Aboriginal language and actors. Or Sue Brooks’
“Japanese story,” a warm love story with
Tony Collete (featured actress in the popular
romantic comedy “Muriel’s Wedding”) and
beautiful Australian landscapes. These are
not genre films with large budgets but rather
intimate portraits of relationships and feelings, with magical Australian lights that lure
Wroclaw’s foreign audiences, too.
For many years the festival took part in
Cieszyn, a small, picturesque city bordering the Czech Republic. When the festival
became too big and Cieszyn too small,
the festival’s move to Wroclaw became
necessary. The growing popularity of the
festival can also be seen in the age of its
participants. A few years
ago this was primarily a
festival for youth.
Now an increasing
number of older filmgoers come to the festival.
Among the oldest guests
are the Kalinowskis at
nearly 70 years old. They
have watched many movies in their lives. Bogdan
Kalinowski takes notes
during all the screenings,
“not to forget” he says.
His wife, Maria, admits
that she often relies on
her husband’s opinion but
this year she wants to see
the Hal Hartley films for
herself. They don’t have
any problem with seats as
there is always a pair booked for them in
advance.
Most festival participants spent the first
day in feverish planning of individual
screening schedules.
This was a real undertaking with so many
fantastic films and only 10 days to see them.
Now the city is filled with feverish running
from one cinema to another and from one
meeting to another. The evenings are filled
with concerts, beer in the festival club and
all-night discussions about the films watched
with other people passionate about moving pictures. The festival lasts until Sunday
leaving a few more days to get to Wroclaw.
The town is only three hours from Krakow by train. There will still be a chance to
see Australian movies such as the new “Japanese story” or “The Magician” and the older
and perhaps most famous of the Australian
New Wave films – “Newsfront.” However,
this weekend belongs to Mexican film “Silent Light” of Carlos Reygadas. Fans fortunate to have seen it say the film has a real
chance of winning the competition, though
it is still too early to say. Also playing will be
retrospectives of Hal Hartley’s dance films
and documentaries.
Because the nation mourned the death
of 27 Polish pilgrims in France, all planned
pre-screening concerts and commercial activities were suspended until Wednesday.
Complete information and a screening
schedule are available on the web site in
English: www.eranowehoryzonty.pl. All
non-English films have English subtitles.
Wroclaw has become a film Mecca
for thousands of
people coming to
see films from all
over the world.
Even the heat can’t
discourage them as
the screenings are
held in air-conditioned theaters.
12
A R T S
The Krakow Post
&
I D E A S
JULY 26-AUGUST 1, 2007
“Great Krakow” exhibit:
The city presented in old photographs
Martyna Olszowska
Staff Journalist
Summer with Pies Gallery
makes art with numbers
Malgorzata Mleczko
Staff Journalist
The Summer with Pies Gallery
Project is launching an exhibit entitled, “The Bold and Beautiful,” at
Artpol on Friday, July 27, at 20:00.
The new project consists of the
work from young artists such as
Zielona Gora, Basia Banda and Seweryn Swacha. The exhibit is scheduled
to run until August 8. The artists have
collaborated to present a series of watercolor paintings of myriad famous
artists and cultural icons, including
rock stars, models and leaders of totalitarian countries.
Basia Banda is known for her work
illuminating sexual stereotypes, while
Swacha’s paintings often refer to popculture and mass media.
In “The Bold and the Beautiful,”
they meld characteristic features of
their individual artistic styles to create a project bursting with ironic
commentary on the chaos of the mass
media and class culture they believe
surrounds us.
The selection of models is extensive, ranging from Kurt Cobain,
Wojciech Jaruzelski, Leon Wyc-
zolkowski, Marcin Swietlicki to Jozef
Pilsudzki and Cookie Monster.
The paintings seem to be a kind of
puzzle. It’s difficult to figure out who
is who because as the paintings are
only signed with numbers. The viewers solve the puzzle by using clues
from the images, which contain features commonly associated with the
famous figures – Charles Bronson has
a gun, Pilsudzki has his mustache, and
Swietlicki is smoking a cigarette.
Artpol is a group of young Academy
of Fine Art students who are fulfilling
Krakow’s need for ambitious exhibitions. “The Bold and the Beautiful” is
their fourth collaborative project.
Galeria Pies is a private gallery in
Poznan managed by David Radziszewski. In the summer, he prepares a series of exhibitions at Krakow’s Artpol
gallery. The project is called, “Summer with Pies Gallery.”
Upcoming shows include exhibitions by Tomek Mroz and Magda
Starska.
Basia Banda and Seweryn Swacha,
“The Bold and the Beautiful”
July 27 (20:00) – August 8
Artpol, ul. Zacisze 14
UK firms race to capitalize
on Polish niche markets
From THE UK on Page 1
It started Monday and ends Sunday.
The festivities include concerts, exhibitions, conferences, a film festival and a picnic in Belfast’s Botanical Gardens.
The objectives of the event are to introduce Poland’s cultural heritage to Northern
Irelanders and to help the Polish community integrate in their new home.
A Polish Picnic in the Botanical Gardens
last year was such a hit that the sponsors
decided to hold one again in 2007.
Krakow organized a major tourist promotion blitz in Belfast this week at several
locations. The city, one of the most popular
destinations in Europe for vacationers from
Britain and Ireland, pitched its cultural and
tourism attractions to Irish tour operators
and journalists at Belfast City Hall.
It is also highlighting its cultural and
tourism draws with a multimedia presentation to shoppers at Belfast’s biggest retail
mall. The promotion started Wednesday
and will run through Sunday. In addition
to Krakow sights, it will feature the area’s
food.
Krakow’s legendary Lajkonik character is taking part in the promotions. He is
a bearded man resembling a Tatar with a
pointed hat, Mongol-looking clothes and a
wooden horse around his waist.
Krakow will use the Polish Picnic on
Sunday as another promotion venue. It will
offer Krakow food to picnickers. The city’s
Boba Jazz Band will also be performing.
Pianist Barbara Karaskiewicz performed
at the culture week opening at Belfast City
Hall. Her repertoire ranges from baroque
pieces to modern classical music.
Many youth groups are also performing
this week. They include Potty Umbrella, DJ
33evolutions, RPA, HH and Funky.
“Within the last few years 1 mln Poles
have arrived here,” said Pawel Potoroczyn,
director of the Polish Institute of Culture in
London, “so it isn’t strange that interest in
Polish culture and in Poles has grown as
well.”
Although the official figure of Poles in
the UK and Ireland is listed as 600,000, the
actual number is believed to be over 1 mln.
An exhibition opened recently at the Walery
Rzewuski Museum of the History of Photography. From July to October, the exhibit will
show old Krakow’s architectural development
between the years 1909-1939. City plans, maps
and photographs reveal places no longer in
existence and how the absence of some buildings in Krakow would make life very difficult
to imagine today. “Great Krakow” is a slogan
from the beginning of the 20th Century. Just a
century ago, the city included primarily what is
now referred to as the Old City, while the current outer districts were just small surrounding
villages. An idea was conceived to annex the
neighboring communities between 1910-1915.
At the time, the plan seemed pompous, becoming the object of constant ridicule and satirical
articles.
Contrary to the predictions, however, rural
areas annexed to the urbanized city did not
make it more “great.” Resulting from the development boom, the newly annexed districts
acquired Krakow’s Three Poets Avenues. Replacing a former ring road, the spot became the
center of new series of monuments.
The Museum of History of the Photography
ul. Jozefitow 16
Phone: 634-59-32, fax: 631-04-56
www.mhf.krakow.pl
Gallery open:
Wednesday – Friday, 11:00-18:00
Saturday – Sunday, 10:00-15:30
Tickets: Normal - 5 zloty, Reduced - 3 zloty
Sunday admission free
Circa 1938, al. Adam Mickiewicz. Photograph by Stanislaw Mucha.
Rozstaje ethnic music festival kicks off
Maria Kmita
Staff Journalist
Thursday July 26:
The 9th International Rozstaje Ethnic
World-Music Festival begins on July 26.
As every year, the festival will be a
crossing of different musical styles and
genres, ranging from traditional to experimental, borderline jazz, folk, rock and classical music inspired by traditional themes.
This year’s bands are coming in large measure from Central and Eastern Europe: the
Carpathian region, the Balkan Peninsula
and the distant Yakutsk.
Of this year’s Polish groups, “Kaszebe”
comes highly recommended.
Established by the well-known jazz musician Olo Walicki, the ensemble is regarded as a revolutionary entity of the Polish
ethno-jazz scene.
Joanna Slawinska is also performing
with her band, which will be playing songs
from their new album. Roma bard and poet
Teresa Mirga will sing together with Kale
Bala from Spisz. Among the many foreign
musicians performing will be the Bulgarian
duo Elitsa Todorova and Stoyan Yankoulov
and Siberian Project Chyskyyrai with singers from Yakutsk, Valentina Romanova and
Gendos. Concerts will be accompanied by
numerous workshops, meetings and movie
showcases.
Inauguration:
Kirgizia Yurts on Crossroads
15.00-18.00 at
RYNEK SZCZEPANSKI
Concert:
Kaszebe-Olo Walicki and band
21:00-22:00 at
RYNEK SZCZEPANSKI
Friday, July 27:
Gendos camp
15:00-17:00 at
RYNEK SZCZEPANSKI
Workshops, presentations, meetings
on the yurt on the square
Rozstaje Cinema
17:00-19:00 at
RYNEK SZCZEPANSKI
“White Dragon-the Great Shaman of Kyrgyz,”
dir: Taraz Zurba
“On the Taimyr,” writ: Simczienko,
oper: E.I. Timlin
“Taboo-the Last Shaman,”
dir: Nikolaj Pluznikow,
oper: Nikita Chocholow
Workshops with
Teresa Mirga & Kale Bala
17:00-18:00 at
RYNEK SZCZEPANSKI
Teaching traditional Roma songs
Concerts on Rynek Szczepanski:
19:00-20:00
Songs from Montenegro
20:00-21:00
Sygysh-Gendos (Yakutsk)
21:00-22:00
Chyskyyrai-Valentina Romanova
& Stanislav Parfienov (Yakutsk)
Saturday, July 28:
Gendos camp
At 15:00-17:00 at
RYNEK SZCZEPANSKI
Workshops, presentations, meetings
on the yurt on the square
Workshops:
Traditional dance
17:00-18:00 at
RYNEK SZCZEPANSKI
Rozstaje Cinema
At 17:00-19:00 at
RYNEK SZCZEPANSKI
“White Dragon-the Great Shaman of Kyrgyz,” dir:
Taraz Zurba
“On the Taimyr,” writ: Simczienko, oper: E.I.
Timlin
“Taboo-the Last Shaman,” dir: Nikolaj Pluznikow,
oper: Nikita Chocholow
Concerts on Rynek Szczepanski:
19:00-20:00
Muzicka & Draguni (Slovakia)
21:00-22:00
“You can be” (Mozesz byc)
Joanna Slowinska with band
22:00-23:00
“Water” (Woda)
Many faces of Polish feminist Natalia LL
greet guests at Foto Medium Art Gallery
Jakub Szufnarski
Staff Journalist
Natalia LL, a true icon of Polish political
and feminist art, boldly explores the subject
of the human body.
The artist is keen on scandal and fascinated with sex and Satanism--to list just a
few of the more commonly held opinions of
her and her work. Natalia LL does not seem
to mind the publicity, as she continues upon
her artistic quest. Some of her photography
and video art is currently on exhibit at the
Foto Medium Art Gallery in Krakow.
Natalia LL’s artistic output is deeply
rooted in the aesthetics of conceptual art
and body art. Her works require intellectual
effort and forces its viewers to question the
basic nature of existence and what it means
to be a human being.
The artist is also very interested in existential and metaphysical issues. In her
most recent work (“Soul of a Tree”), she
approaches Eastern philosophy and spirituality as she addresses the concept of reincarnation.
From the beginning of the 21st century,
Natalia LL’s art has personally and uniquely targeted both the social and political
events of the day.
At the same time, it is very much focused
on the artist’s own personal problems and
makes numerous references to the tradition
of body art.
Natalia LL was born in 1937. From 1957
to 1963, she studied in the National Higher
School of Fine Arts in Wrocław. In 1970,
she co-founded an artistic group and gallery called PERMAFO. Starting from the
mid-1970s, the artist joined the international feminist art movement. She soon became
one of its most outstanding representatives.
Today she is recognized throughout the
world for her activities.
The artist’s works presented in Foto
Medium Art Gallery include the cycles:
“Consumer Art” (1972) and “Post-Consumer Art” (1975). Particularly worth seeing are the large-size photographs entitled
“Velvet Terror” (1970) and “Eroticism of
Terror” (2004), which envelop the exhibition. The display is made complete by
video film shows, which span the artist’s
entire career.
Natalia LL
Galeria Foto-Medium-Art
ul. Karmelicka 28/12,
July 20-August 29
JULY 26-AUGUST 1, 2007
A R T S
&
I D E A S
One-dimensional
theater hits Krakow
The Krakow Post
13
Special appearance
by ex-Coltrane
drummer
Rashied Ali (far left), John Coltrane’s percussionist of choice.
Philip Palmer
Staff JOURNALIST
“My Brilliant Divorce,” a monodrama by Irish playwright Geraldine Aron, performed in English by Christina Paul-Podleska.
Soren A. Gauger
staff journalist
One knows one has been to see a truly
remarkable piece of theater, though admittedly this happens none too often, because
one goes home thinking: “Is it possible that
life is so rich, profound and extraordinary?”
Leaving the Ludowy Theater staging of
“My Brilliant Divorce,” a monodrama written by Irish playwright Geraldine Aron and
performed in English by Christina PaulPodleska, one walks out asking oneself: “Is
it possible that life is so barren, wretched
and superficial?”
There have been many very interesting
artistic attempts to show this barrenness of
modern life, perhaps starting with Fitzgerald
and moving through the Theater of the Absurd to the contemporary films of Michael
Haneke, but Aron’s play has nothing to do
with this tradition. In the films of Haneke,
for instance, the audience watches the characters endure tedium and senselessness and
is horrified to confront the possibility that
they might be watching a reflection of their
own lives. Here the viewer is gleefully expected to have a life just as meaningless as
the heroine, to laugh with her at her foibles,
to uncritically identify with the tedious reality being portrayed because - as the play
seems to suggest - there is nothing at all
horrifying about this vacuity. Smile! - this
dreary reality is yours and mine as well.
The play, in brief, is the “moving yet optimistic and funny” (press release) story of a
woman whom we encounter just as her husband is leaving her for someone younger.
We follow our protagonist through her mood
swings, her attempts to forget her husband,
her dismay at her own aging, and her mildly
slapstick forays into the dating scene as a
middle-aged woman. The humor is the sort
There have been many very
interesting artistic attempts
to show this barrenness of
modern life, perhaps starting
with Fitzgerald and moving
through the Theater of the
Absurd to the contemporary
films of Michael Haneke,
but Aron’s play has nothing
to do with this tradition.
familiar to watchers of sassy British sitcoms
of the “Absolutely Fabulous” ilk [consulting the Internet after writing this, I find my
reference more apt than I expected - one of
the stars of the above-mentioned sitcom has
performed “Brilliant Divorce” at the Edinburgh Festival].
Self-deprecating asides, heaps of pop
culture references and candid sexuality
(there is a long segment on the difficulties
of buying a vibrator) are the main leitmotifs
here. Never is there any indication that the
main character’s life and thoughts rise above
these extremely shallow watermarks.
And here we come to another troubling
aspect. While attempting to portray a woman
of liberated sensibilities, Brilliant Divorce’s
central message is that when the man packs
up and leaves, the woman is a pathetic
creature, her life is a shambles, and her one
focus is to find another man to regain her
womanhood, and pronto. Outside of this,
a woman’s only real interests are reading
trashy magazines (for the lonely hearts column in particular!), shopping for cosmetics, and combating the effects of aging. It
may indeed be true that many middle-aged
women’s lives boil down to this shabby constellation of pursuits, and there is a certain
segment of viewers who will argue that this
is contemporary reality, and thus it deserves
to be shown. This is a desperate argument
one hears a lot of nowadays to defend art
that merits no defense; if there is one lesson
that reality television has taught us, it is that
much of “reality” needs to be chucked overboard as worthless ballast, and that reality
alone does not make a thing interesting, let
alone intelligent.
Actress Christina Paul-Podleska does a
valiant job struggling with the script, but it
is a losing battle. It is difficult to say if she
has range, because the text keeps her monotonously flippant, leaving her no room to
explore what might be real emotions in the
character. Director Jerzy Gruza manages to
use the tight space effectively.
Of course, if what you want from theater
is a string of jokes about Christian Dior,
microwave ovens, gynecologists and “Who
Wants to Be a Millionaire,” then you will
find all of this (and more!), and the above
criticisms will be unwarranted and possibly
irrelevant.
After all, there was one gentleman in the
audience who laughed at every joke without
exception. But by now, at least, you have
been warned.
On July 26, a quintet led by veteran percussionist, Rashied Ali, will be giving a
special concert at Radio Krakow to mark the
40th anniversary of the death of saxophonist, John Coltrane.
Rashied Ali was John Coltrane’s percussionist of choice in the final and most experimental phase of his career. The young
Rashied Ali was influenced by classical Indian music and is best known for creating a
drumming style that eschewed regular pulse
in favor of a multi-layered drone that enabled soloists to explore a theoretically infinite range of rhythmic possibilities over the
top. Coltrane labeled this approach “multidirectional” and it is probably most evident
on the album “Interstellar Space,” which Ali
and Coltrane recorded as a duo a few months
before Coltrane’s untimely death.
Ali first featured with Coltrane in 1965 in
a short-lived experiment with two percussionists that was composed of Coltrane’s
regular quartet with the addition of Rashied
Ali. The resultant cacophony resulted in the
pianist, McCoy Tyner and other drummer,
Elvin Jones, walking out of the band, leaving Ali as the sole percussionist, a position
he was to occupy for the next two years.
Coltrane carried a lot of clout with record
producers and constantly encouraged them
to release recordings by younger avantgarde musicians. After his death, musicians
like Rashied Ali struggled to make a living.
Even so, he opened his own club, Ali’s Alley, in 1973, to spread the message. He also
posthumously repaid John Coltrane for his
support by mentoring his young son, Ravi
Coltrane, who appeared in U Muniaka jazz
club just off the main square a couple of
years ago.
After the last few years, however,
Rashied Ali has made a number of appearances around the world with high-profile
performers and younger musicians. His explosive set at London’s Pizza in The Park
was regarded as one of the highlights of the
summer program.
Venue: Radio Krakow
al. Juliusza Slowackiego 22
Admission: 70 zloty/40 zloty (Students)
14
The Krakow Post
A L T E R N A T I V E
C O N S U M E R
JULY 26-AUGUST 1, 2007
Car for every climate – “The Bandit”
The name Bandit, or Bandzior, comes from what some people call its sleek, aggressive design – one suitable for fast driving
For Poles, the Duzy (“Big”) Fiat will always be a symbol of life during Poland’s Communist era.
Pawel Piejko
staff journalist
The big version of the Fiat had a sevenyear manufacturing run in Poland before
World War II, and another 16-year heyday
from 1967 to 1983.
Poland continued to make an unlicensed
version from 1983 and 1991. The Italian
parent jerked the license because the Poles
had strayed too far from the original design.
Poland also produced a small Fiat from
1972 to 2000.
The first Fiat made in Poland, the 508,
appeared in 1932. It was the most common
car on Polish roads before the war. After
the German invasion in 1939, production
ended.
It took more than 30 years for the Italians
to renew Poland’s production license. The
full-sized Polish Fiat 125p began rolling off
the assembly lines of the Warsaw car company FSO in 1967.
FSO had been looking for a successor to
its Warszawa since 1965. Fiat’s 125, which
could accommodate five people, seemed a
good fit.
FSO made some changes in the 125,
however – and that’s why it was dubbed
the 125p. FSO used cheaper material in the
body. In addition, the Polish car’s interior
was changed.
Still, the Polish Fiat was technically and
stylistically advanced for the 1960s.
The first models had 1,300 or 1,500 cubic-centimeter engines. Later on, a sports
car version boasted a 2,000 cubic-centimeter engine.
The Fiat 125p set a 25,000-kilometer
speed record on an expressway from Wroclaw to another Polish city, Legnica, in the
1970s. The average speed was 138 kilometers per hour.
Later the car set records for 30,000 miles
and 50,000 kilometers that are still unbroken.
Fiat 125p also took part in Monte Carlo
and Safari rallies.
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To distinguish the 125p from the Maluch
126p, or small Fiat, it was nicknamed the
Duzy Fiat, or Big Fiat.
Other nicknames are the Bandit and the
Kanciak. The name Bandit, or Bandzior,
comes from what some people call its sleek,
aggressive design – one suitable for fast
driving.
Kanciak comes from the Polish word
“kant,” or edge. That car got its name because the design contained many edges.
Owning a Duzy Fiat meant you were
somebody in Poland. You weren’t as important as the big shots who drove Volga’s but
you had some status.
There was for two reasons: first, you had
to have a good chunk of money to buy a Fiat.
And, second, you needed a special coupon
to buy the car – the coupons were available
only to leading Communist Party members.
Non-privileged Poles had to be satisfied
with small people’s cars like the Maluch or
the Syrena.
Roman Skwarek wrote in a handbook
about the 125p in 1969 that “the cars will
be destined for both the cold and tropical
climate zones.
All 125p cars will be ready for difficult
conditions and their durability will be extended.” This was a clear sign that the Polish
Fiat was to be exported.
Adrian Agatowski, 24, of Belchatow,
who is such a fan of the Duzy Fiat that he
started a web site about it, said: “I noticed
once a surprising ad for a Fiat 125p with the
steering wheel on the right side, characteristic for the UK.”
Those who knew the history of the car
would not have been surprised, however.
Two-thirds of production during the early
years of the Polish Fiat was sent abroad to
pay for the license fees that the Italian parent required.
Communist countries that imported the
125p included East Germany, Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Yugoslavia.
Britons knew the Polish Fiat as the cheapest car on the market – about 3,000 pounds
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in 1991. They also knew it was a poor-quality car.
Other Western countries which sold the
Polish 125p included Ireland, France, Austria, Holland, Sweden and Finland.
Many Third World countries bought the
Polish Fiat as well. In fact, assembly lines
to make the car were set up in Egypt and
Colombia in 1973 and later in Thailand and
Indonesia.
FSO provided the overseas factories with
large components, which were then snapped
together – much of the work stayed in Poland.
Polish Fiat 125p fans contend that the
best versions of the car were made before
1973.
“I love the bandit’s car body – it was aggressive,” Adrian said. “Early models on
the Italian license had a lot of chrome, with
shiny bumpers and wing mirrors.”
The Fiat 125 designers used a lot of
chrome and nickel, especially in the front of
the car – on the bumpers and door handles
and around the headlights. The car had a
stylish and tasteful interior, too.
But the need to make the Polish Fiat
cheaper meant that after 1973 plastic replaced metal trim and grillwork and decorative details disappeared from the inside.
Duzy Fiat collectors consider the post1972 versions, called the MR, rubbish.
In 1983 the Italians refused to renew
Poland’s license for the Duzy Fiat because
of all the changes. But FSO kept making the
car, changing its name to the FSO 125p.
The Duzy Fiat assembly lines finally went
silent in 1991 after Poland had produced
1.45 mln licensed and unlicensed cars.
Several versions of the big Polish Fiat
appeared during its manufacturing run. One
was the Estate, introduced in 1972. It was
big and sturdy, so it was modified into an
ambulance car. It’s likely that some small
hospitals are still using it.
There were also pickup-truck versions of
the Duzy Fiat, suitable for delivery use.
The funniest version was the Dachshund.
Two Estate cars were bolted together to give
the Dachshund two extra doors and seats.
The result was a kind of minibus.
Some of the Dachshunds were made into
convertibles and used to give tours of Warsaw. Unfortunately, not many of these peculiar vehicles have survived.
In addition to a passenger car, the Duzy
Fiat was used as a police car and a taxicab.
In fact, its use as a taxi was immortalized
in a hit TV comedy from the 1980s called
“Zmiennicy.”
“One of the characters drove a yellow
125p cab, and every Polish kid remembers
it,” Adrian said. For them the Duzy Fiat will
always be a symbol of life during Poland’s
Communist era.
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JULY 26-AUGUST 1, 2007
The Krakow Post
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