Importance of awareness of Poland's heritage and culture among Polish children abroad

How important is it that Polish children abroad are aware of their Polish heritage and culture?

I think it is important. I have a couple of aunts that said right to my face years ago before my grandmother died 'what do you want to learn the language for?' 'it is a dead language.' Then 4 years ago I made a trip to Poland to visit family I never knew about. The cousins there asked me why I couldn't speak the language. When I got back from my trip I threw the comment about the language being dead back in my aunts faces and they did not like being reminded of that fact. Not only that the only time I ever Polish being spoken the most often was during holidays and occasionally when the everybody paid an official visit partly because of the old folks. So now I am trying to play catch up to learn.

It is important, but after two or three generations it becomes more and more difficult. At some point, the connection is pretty much lost - but that's only natural.

Somehow Jewish people can overcame those difficulties.

Only if separating and isolating yourself from the host culture and living in ghettos is the price you are willing to pay. Don't be surprised though if the locals become increasingly hostile, as it seems to happen with the Turks and North Africans in western Europe right now.

I am the third generation that has lived out side of poland. I have seen the connection lost. My family can no longer speak the language excepr for some words. I am trying to reconect to my heritage thoe. It is extreamly important at least for me to know were I come from.

Jews lived in ghettos because they were persecuted. Also, in the past, isolation was the ONLY way to survive as a culture... and survive they did. 3000 years strong. If they didn't, Judaism would be extinct in the world today. So I guess it depends on how much you value your roots.

So to the original poster:


I would say it's important.

These days, it much easier to maintain your culture while still being a part of your host country. Jews don't live in ghettos in the US. They are a thriving and integral part of the community, yet still are able to maintain their identity.

Heritage is not that hard to maintain. If the parents know the language, they should teach it to their children, as well as teach some history and culture. Further generations won't be as "authentic" as people living in Poland, or any other country of origin, of course, but you can always maintain something.

Maybe it's easier to maintain one's heritage in the US, though, since it is a nation of immigrants where it's more or less expected that at some point, your family came from somewhere else. And so the stigma of being from somewhere else or not "fully integrating" into the mainstream culture isn't that great.

Jewish people in some places were restricted to living in ghettos (as in Venice, home of the original ghetto) and where there were no restrictions there was (and for the very orthodox still is) a rule that you have to go to the synagogue on foot, hence living within walking distance even now. Less orthodox people don't bother with that rule and even among Hasidic communities some discreetly park a few streets away.

There are some fascinating bits of history and the new museum in Warsaw (really the best museum in he country) will help spread awareness among that part of Poland's culture among tourists including those with Polish roots.

I always thought teaching my kids polish was a waste of time and it is here really. Unfortunately I failed because its now another obstacle to going there to live. So apart from the cultural thing you have been talking about I give you a real life example of how this has come to bite me on the butt. You can't predict the future too far forward. You never know when this will become handy. After learning from this fail I would say to people, do it, teach them.

Another language, as well as any cultural importance, is a real gift to any child. Once you've learnt the first two languages, learning others becomes easier and Polish is also a gateway to other languages with similar grammar.

Jon357....I wish I had you opinion years ago. Sigh.

Community is not the same thing as a ghetto. It does not force the isolation of a group. Living within walking distance to a synagogue is a religious matter rather a matter of isolating oneself. There are many conservative and reform Jews who managed and still manage to be contributing, productive members of society. There are also many orthodox Jews in the US who abide the mitzvot and are still part of the society. Staying true to their religious traditions (as long as they are not impinging on other people's rights) is NOT isolation.

There is however a ghettoisation effect - not only predicated by ethnicity or religion; any discrete group can practice this. There are some signs of this within the Polish community in Britain and to a lesser extent within the British community in Poland.

This is one very interesting and important thread.

Children are future of every people. You would note that i said `people`, not `nation`. Its because, every word is important. So when one think of Poland and Poles, one needs to comprehend that we here speak of one old ethos, of old civilization, old people. Nations are young and, plus, those who invented nations, invented nationalism, too.

Anyway, Polish children should be fully aware of their great heritage. They should be very early liberated from complexes imposed on older generations of Poles. Complexes imposed on them by those who defeated and humiliated Polish ancestors. Complexes that are result of false teachings that state that are Poles newcomers to Europe. Those are anti-Slavic teachings of Anglo-Germanic historical schools. Teachings that are colored by their political interests.

But, no. There is many proofs that shows how are Poles, same as other Slavs, natives of Europe. Tell it to Polish children. Protect them. Save them. Long live Poland and Polish people.

Salute to Poles from Novi Sad, from Serbia!

Slavia Mati, Sarmatia Besmrtna

Crow. Young Polish people do not have an inferiority complex. They are part of a modern, forward-looking Europe, and they see the obvious benefits of being in the EU all around them. Perhaps you are projecting your own fears onto them. I see Serbians are in the world news again.

It is critically important. Another poster on this thread understandably expressed regret for not passing along the Polish he learned growing up to his own children. Polish children living abroad have often faced difficult and unnecessary situations where they are denied learning about their own heritage and ancestral language while simultaneous and hypocritically being told that they need to value the diversity expressed by other groups which do retain their own distinctive languages, culture and customs.

The Polish language and culture deserve the same amount of respect and preservation outside of Poland as any other special interest group would demand be given to their own.


What a laugh! You do mean the same EU that is on the brink of collapse thanks to anonymous, unaccountable, bureaucratic heavy-handedness; financial mismanagement; economic malaise; uncontrolled immigration (including from outside the EU), and widespread discontent among average people suffering under its yoke.

Poland may have benefited in recent years due in part to some EU subsidies. But Polish ministers know these won't last forever and haven't structured Poland's economy to rely solely on them. On top of this Poland has flourished while the rest of the EU has been adrift thanks to not abandoning the złoty for the increasingly untenable and hazardous Euro currency.

There is a tiny minority of posters on PF who try to spin a fictional narrative of the future being one of a just a few Orwellian superstates. The reality however is that there is no one in any age group who is casting aside his or her own language, culture and national flag for the sake of advancing an EU dystopia. You show me one that does and I'll show you a meddling, power-hungry, socially inept Marxist who is desperate to have his or her own discredited ideology rule over all no matter what the costs are to everyone else.

ah, believe me my friend, its very simple. Those who don`t control us tend to destroy us. With it they in fact honor us. Eventually, we shall extinct or we shall win.

Our mind-set which luring us to work in direction of formation of some new Commonwealth is by some magnates and powers seen as heresy against destine that they planed for us.

I definitely think people should be made aware of their history and culture. However, one must also be modern and understand that things change. I don't think it's good to be 100% stuck in the past. Respect the past and strive to understand it, and allow it to inform the present and the future, but don't allow it to control the latter two.

I am genuinely curious about this claim that somebody is claiming Poles and Slavs are "newcomers" to Europe, hence not true Europeans I've never heard this before. Who is saying this?


What? Did you mean to say those who DO control us tend to destroy us?

Bieganski. You know nothing about Europe. People suffering under the yoke of the EU? Stop watching Fox news. It's rotting your brain.
Texas. Don't try to understand Crow. It's a waste of time and energy

Tell to Polish children to buy more Polish products, on the first place Polish and then products from other Slavic countries. Let them hold consumption of products from other countries just on the third place. Let our people have jobs.

You are obviously a proud and eager shill for neo-bolshevik thought reform.

Homo Sovieticus was a caricature of derision used by those who suffered under your failed ideology and so too is your futile attempt to rebrand it under the moniker of Homo Europaeus.

Europe is regarded as a continent. Depending on whose definition you use regarding where Europe begins and where it ends there are as many of 50 countries which reside on the European continent. The EU is currently comprised of only 28 countries. The EU certainly does not represent Europe despite the name it has given to itself. To think it does would be like saying the United States of America is representative of the independent countries of Canada and Mexico because they all just happened to be on the continent of North America and conduct trade with each other.

Most citizens within the EU cannot even communicate with each other due to language barriers. And good luck thinking that any will abandon their native language for glory of the EU. Poles will never be having German as the first language for matters of law and commerce. Do you really believe the Greeks would do something like this? Ha! And imagine the pro-EU French casting their own language to the side and putting English first for the sake of EU harmonization. It will never happen!

Even after decades now with this EU experiment all countries within it still have their own independent political structures, independent diplomatic representation, as well as independent policies both within and outside their distinct national borders. Sure they may pay lip service to common policies but there isn't a single member state who is "all in."

You can fantasize all you want to but there are no Poles who go around identifying themselves to others as first and foremost "European." Why? Because there is no one in Italy, Spain, Greece or even dear old Blighty who goes around calling themselves "European." This is so whether amongst their own kind, each other, or when they meet and greet people from non-EU countries. Indeed, there was grass roots outrage at the time when simply the color for country issued passports within the EU were changed to a common burgundy and gold. Yet, despite the passing of decades, there is still not a single country in the EU which is clamoring to have EU passports issued to their citizens instead of their own national ones.

Furthermore, there are no politicians in Poland or any other EU country who are about to give up their influence, titles and perks for positions like prime minister and president and take a downgrade to being nothing more than a regional governor and see their countries reduced to a sleepy, low profile territory or state like Nunavut in Canada (yeah, go look it up, it's there) or Oregon in the US.


Absolutely. The EU's unemployment rate (especially among young people) has been chronically high. No one in the EU who has been denied opportunities during their working years particularly in their youth are going to be raising the EU flag high and cheer how "modern, forward-looking the EU is with obvious benefits all around" as you absurdly claimed.

The Eurozone economy has been a laggard for years. Do your own search and you will find plenty of articles highlighting how the only thing booming in the EU is the black market economy. This is because citizens of the EU are suffering under the yoke of punitive taxes and burdensome regulations. The reality is that the average citizen who resides in the EU does not trust the EU establishment and its policies which intrude into daily life.

And because economies go in cycles which ultimately result in bad politicians and their bad policies being tossed out it is all the more reason for Poles living abroad to ensure their children are not cut off from knowing their heritage and to remain fluent in Polish. This will give them the most options in life rather than being sidetracked and subsumed by socialist malcontents daydreaming of exercising party power through continentalism.


I did a search and Fox news is owned by a dual-national Australian-American who has operations and interests all around the world. From what I've seen it's safe to say that none of his current or former media holdings could be regarded as advocates for Polish heritage, culture and language. The owner apparently isn't pro-EU but this is purely down to not being happy about bureaucratic red tape which hampers his corporation from making more inroads in the EU marketplace. Multi-national corporatists like this owner don't care about national identity and sovereignty but only their company's bottom line. Latter-day Marxists like yourself don't care about national identity and sovereignty either but only your ideology's power over others. I don't watch this Fox news station but I don't see why you personally would be so critical of it since you clearly share so much in common with its owner with your only differences being about level of taxes and extent of regulations.

Good old Cartman! Yet again proving he knows nothing about Poland or Europe; although that's no surprise, seeing as he's never been here and has what is at best a hugely warped view of Poland, Poles and everything Polish. However, he does demonstrate that certain Americans need to learn that while racism was most certainly a problem in the Poland of yesterday, it is in no way part of Poland's culture today and is no more a part of Poland's heritage than the genocide his countrymen committed on the native Americans is part of his American heritage.

Anyway, hello all from the Czech Republic, where I've spent an excellent day with my fellow Europeans and much enjoyed talking about elements of our shared culture and heritage (particularly Pilsner, IPA and Kwasnicowe).

For once Bieganski EU was never meant to be "one country" with the same language, national symbols and all that. It's an union when it's support to have your own identity on equal rights with the others.

You are also wrong about what ppl feel and think about Europe. Ppl do recognise themselfs as Europeans. Maybe not over nationality but who said that's the point? There are many Silesians who see hemselfs as only Silesians, never Poles and still it works.

And what about this neo-bolshevik reform? Do you have any idea what you are talking about?

Especial attention should be given to the Polish children in diaspora. Investments of Polish state are necessary here.