Understanding Polish culture

Key historical events

• 966 – Duke Mieszko I, the historically recognised founder of the Polish state, adopts Catholic Christianity
• 1025 – Boleslaw I- proclaims the Kingdom of Poland
• 1569 – Poland signs Union of Lublin with the Grand Duchy of Lithuania to establish the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
• 1772 – The Commonwealth is subjected to the first of three major partitions by its neighbours Prussia, Russia and Austria
• 1807 – Napoleon creates the Duchy of Warsaw as a client state to rally Polish support for his cause
• 1918 – After more than a century of foreign rule, an independent Polish state is restored after the end of World War One, with Marshal Jozef Pilsudski as head of state
• 1939 – Nazi Germany invades Poland. Beginning of World War Two. Germany begins systematic persecution of the large Jewish population
• 1941 – Germans start to build concentration camps in Poland. Their names – Auschwitz, Treblinka, Majdanek – become synonymous with the Holocaust
• 1945 – Soviet forces capture Warsaw in January. All German forces are driven from Poland by March. Poland loses territory to the Soviet Union but gains some from Germany
• 1947 – Poland becomes a Communist People’s Republic after Soviet-run elections
• 1981 – Martial law imposed. Many of Solidarity’s leaders, including Walesa, are imprisoned
• 1989 – Round-table talks between Solidarity, the Communists and the Catholic Church pave the way for fall of communism in Poland
• 1999 – Poland joins NATO
• 2004 May – Poland is one of 10 new states to join the EU

Religious outlook

• Roman Catholics make up 90% of Poland’s population
• The Roman Catholic Church is said to have played a pivotal role in the fall of communism in Poland
• The appointment of Cardinal Karol Wojtyla as Pope John Paul II in 1978 further strengthened the Roman Catholic Church in Poland
• The religion is studied as an optional subject in school

Socioeconomics

• Poland remains one of the world’s leading producers of ryeand Other principal crops include wheat and sugar beets
• The surface area of agricultural land in Poland constitutes nearly 50% of the total area of the country
• Unemployment rate is 3%

Food

• Polish cuisine is rich in meat, especially pork, chicken and game, in addition to a wide range of vegetables, spices, mushrooms, and herbs
• Among the well-known Polish national dishes are bigos(hunters stew), pierogi (dumplings with various fillings,) kotlet schabowy (pork loin breaded cutlet), gołąbki  (cabbage roll), zupa ogórkowa  (sour cucumber soup), zupa grzybowa (mushroom soup), rosół (meat broth), żurek (sour rye soup)
• A popular type of Polish street food is zapiekanka, a pizza-like baguette with cheese, mushrooms, onion, ketchup, and sometimes meat
• Tłusty Czwartek, or “Fat Thursday”, is a Polish culinary custom on the last Thursday before Lent, equivalent to Pancake Day
• Traditional Christmas Evesupper called Wigilia is meatless (except for fish)

Society

• Poland is pretty much ethnically homogeneous
• The family is the centre of the social structure
• Religion is very important
• Polish culture values laboriousness, punctuality, and respect for deadlines
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Culture, beliefs and traditions

• Poles celebrate birthdays and name days (birth date of the saint after whom they are named)
• Poles prefer to remove shoes at home and to wear slippers
•  ‘All Saints’ Day takes place on November 1st. On this day Poles visit cemeteries to honour their loved ones who have passed away
• On Christmas Eve, Poles practice breaking and sharing of a thin white wafer with all family members. While sharing the wafer, individuals express wishes of good health and prosperity for the coming year
• On the first day of Spring is a way to say goodbye to winter and includes children making a Marzanna (a straw doll with beautiful colorful ribbons) and playing truancy. Once the Marzanna is made, adults will help set it on fire while the whole group casts it into the river
• On Easter Monday boys and girls play water fight using a mixture of water guns, buckets, and pussy willow branches
• Picking wild mushrooms at the end of summer is a popular family activity for Poles

Communication

• Greetings are generally reserved yet courteous
• Poles address people by their honorific title, “Pan” for a man and “Pani” for a woman, and their surname
• Do not use first names until invited to. Moving from the use of formal to the informal names is an important step
• Handshakes are quite firm and eye contact is valued
• Many men still kiss women’s hands upon greeting them

Education

• Education in Poland is compulsory. Every child must receive education from when they are 7 years old until they are 18 years old
• It is also mandatory for 6-year-old children to receive one year of kindergarten (pre-school)
• Primary school lasts eight years (grades 1–8)
• Secondary school lasts 4 or 5 years
• After graduating from secondary school and passing the final exam, called the matura, one can pursue a higher educationat a university, college, etc
• For further information, please see our OMG on Polish Education

UK differences to note

• The cost of living in the U.K is far higher than it is in Poland
• Children start education when they are 6 years old
• School year starts on 1^st September and ends on 25^th June
• Pupils don’t wear uniforms at school
• Poles are known for being direct communicators, i.e. they say what they are thinking