Can someone give me information on Eastern Poland?

scorpio:

Eastern Poland is part of the 'true' Polish lands which extended out to Pińsk and Tarnopol prior to WWII, unlike Western Poland which was once occupied and mixed with Germans and Prussians. In the East, you will find more of the traditional and real Poland. It is generally poorer than the West and more agricultural based, but the cities, towns, and villages are quite nice.

Also, for those interested in Jewish traditions, Eastern Poland contained most of the Shtetls during the high point of Jewish culture prior to the holocaust. In fact, most of the Shtetls were located in the area around Kresy, during at times was part of the Pale of Jewish settlement.

I reside between Tarnów and Nowy Sącz, which is considered South-Eastern Poland, part of former Austrian Galicia (Galicja). This area is the heart of Polish culture.

LeftyThreads: 19 Posts: 160 Joined: Jul 23, 09	Jul 25, 09, 13:03 / #
I'm curious about eastern Poland... is it similar to the rest of Poland? I mean you tend to hear about the cities such as Warszawa, Kraków, Poznań, Łódź, Szczecin but I never hear anything about eastern Poland. Are the people there earning the same money as in the more popular parts? Is life as rosy? Is it more industrial or agriculture based? Maybe it's more substance living? etc etc Can someone tell me about eastern Poland? dzieki Left

scorpioThreads: 26 Posts: 196 Joined: Nov 15, 07	Jul 25, 09, 13:52 / #
Eastern Poland is part of the 'true' Polish lands which extended out to Pińsk and Tarnopol prior to WWII, unlike Western Poland which was once occupied and mixed with Germans and Prussians. In the East, you will find more of the traditional and real Poland. It is generally poorer than the West and more agricultural based, but the cities, towns, and villages are quite nice. Also, for those interested in Jewish traditions, Eastern Poland contained most of the Shtetls during the high point of Jewish culture prior to the holocaust. In fact, most of the Shtetls were located in the area around Kresy, during at times was part of the Pale of Jewish settlement. I reside between Tarnów and Nowy Sącz, which is considered South-Eastern Poland, part of former Austrian Galicia (Galicja). This area is the heart of Polish culture.

Grzegorz_Threads: 81 Posts: 6,213 Joined: Nov 16, 06	Jul 25, 09, 14:56 / #
scorpio: Eastern Poland is part of the 'true' Polish lands which extended out to Pińsk and Tarnopol prior to WWII, unlike Western Poland which was once occupied and mixed with Germans and Prussians. In the East, you will find more of the traditional and real Poland. It is generally poorer than the West and more agricultural based, but the cities, towns, and villages are quite nice. Also, for those interested in Jewish traditions, Eastern Poland contained most of the Shtetls during the high point of Jewish culture prior to the holocaust. In fact, most of the Shtetls were located in the area around Kresy, during at times was part of the Pale of Jewish settlement. I reside between Tarnów and Nowy Sącz, which is considered South-Eastern Poland, part of former Austrian Galicia (Galicja). This area is the heart of Polish culture. I generally agree except the poor east and rich west stereotype. Draw the lines on the map between Warsaw, Kraków, Katowice, Wrocław, Poznań, 3city and Warsaw and vast majority of Polish economy is located inside of that area. The rest (not only east but also west and north) is poor. Look at Pommerania. There's hardly anything between 3 city and Szczecin. There's less than 2 million people living on the area of Holland.

LeftyThreads: 19 Posts: 160 Joined: Jul 23, 09	Aug 22, 09, 22:01 / #
I'm still at bit disappointed I didn't get a better response to this thread!

dnzThreads: 25 Posts: 804 Joined: Dec 2, 07	Aug 23, 09, 02:13 / #
Lefty: I'm still at bit disappointed I didn't get a better response to this thread! What a shame :(

StephanieThreads: 1 Posts: 7 Joined: Aug 16, 09	Aug 23, 09, 05:13 / #
I lived in a couple of villages outside of Lublin in eastern Poland, and wrote of the experiences on my site. These little vignettes are some 10 years old now, but offer a glimpse into life as I saw it through a new expat's eyes: Cat Lady in Karczmiska Drugie http://www.familylifeabroad.com/cat.html Blind Expat http://www.familylifeabroad.com/blindexpat.html Adaptability http://www.familylifeabroad.com/adaptability.html The poverty in the countryside was striking, and has perhaps hampered the economic growth of the city (pop 350,000). We had friends who had (still have) homes -- which many of us would recognize more as cabins -- with no indoor plumbing; women (usually with many children) who washed their laundry by hand, etc. Families in southern Poland villages can have nice lives too, of course. (The ones I knew who lived in abject poverty tended to have no education and/or alcohol abuse problems.) The doctor in our village, for example, had a beautiful and very large home, nice car, etc. It'll be interesting to see how Wroclaw compares to what I've known of life in southern Poland -- especially with respect to what is considered important.

SeanBMThreads: 41 Posts: 8,727 Joined: Mar 10, 08	Aug 23, 09, 11:50 / #
I divide Poland into three The partition of Poland (3). Poland did not exist for about 140 year and it was divided up between Russian, German and Austrian. I drove a lot through Poland and I could see the ghost towns in the east. Something like 30% more funding is relocated from E.U. funds to help the east develop. It is an interesting place for people who want to set up factories and other investments. Lefty: Is it more industrial or agriculture based? Agricultural. Lefty: Are the people there earning the same money as in the more popular parts? No, people in the east get less money for the same work. Lefty: Is life as rosy? I don't know what you mean by this question?. Work is not so easy to come by in Poland, particularly in the east of Poland.

LeftyThreads: 19 Posts: 160 Joined: Jul 23, 09	Aug 31, 09, 11:43 / #
Stephanie: Stephanie Thank you. SeanBM: I drove a lot through Poland and I could see the ghost towns in the east. Something like 30% more funding is relocated from E.U. funds to help the east develop. It is an interesting place for people who want to set up factories and other investments. I see, is this more foreign investments for instance the type we see going on in China? How about availability of goods? For example is petrol widely available? (I don't mean to sound stupid if the answer is obvious!) SeanBM: No, people in the east get less money for the same work. In this case I wonder why people don't flock west...? SeanBM: Work is not so easy to come by in Poland, particularly in the east of Poland. I see. Thank you.

AniqueThreads: - Posts: 6 Joined: Aug 4, 09	Edited by: Anique Aug 31, 09, 16:21 / #
My family comes from a city in Świętokrzyskie voivodeship and even it's about 100 km South from Warsaw it's considered as 'Poland B' ('Poland A' is on the West). And of course 'Poland B" is considered as 'worse Poland'. Usually people think that Eastern Poland has worse access to 'civilisation goods' (I must admit I don't agree with that in 100%). That the roads are in bad condition, people are narrow-minded, etc. My friend studies Pharmacy in Lublin and she says the city is great, developing and full of perspectives for the future. Of course Lublin is the capital of Lubelskie voivodeship and as its 'business-card' must be (or be trying to be) that way. There are regions in Eastern Poland that are poor and seem to be forgotten by government but they're trying to gain new investors (people want to work but the unemployment is the main problem there). Areas in Eastern Europe seem to be closer to nature, not as much polluted as other regions of Poland, with common people residing their motherland. If you want to have a picture of Eastern Poland I recommend a movie 'U Pana Boga za Piecem' by Jacek Bromski. It's a comedy and probably it shows polish habits and defects in a lampoon-way but it gives a glimpse of how the Eastern Poland looks like. (And if you're planning to visit Poland I recommend Śwętokrzyskie as the home of witches' sabbaths, neolithic flint mines and dinosaurs ;D )

ukpolskaThreads: 51 Posts: 2,238 Joined: Oct 23, 06 MEMBER	Edited by: ukpolska Aug 31, 09, 16:27 / #
What you mean here :) I go sking here as well as it is only 55mins dirve from where I live. Dinozaury - JuraPark Bałtów English site juraparkbaltow.pl/index_en.php