In Polish culture, the True Pole (Polish : prawdziwy Polak, plural: Polish : prawdziwi Polacy) is a stereotype of an ideal Polish person. This stereotype is closely associated with Polish Catholicism. The "true Pole" expression is often invoked in Polish right-wing and nationalist rhetoric.
A particular trait of "True Poles" is their adherence to Roman Catholicism. As a popular saying, among several versions, goes, "prawdziwy Polak to katolik" ("a true Pole is a Catholic"). [1] In particular, Catholicism was the criterion used by Polish officials to identify persons as Poles among the rural population of Western Belarus and Western Ukraine ("Eastern Borderlands" of Poland) who did not have an ethnic self-identification and referred to themselves as "tutejszy". [1] [2] While this criterion was important for maintaining the national identity during the times of the Partitions of Poland by the non-Catholic powers, it was detrimental to the integration of Eastern Borderlands during the times of the independent Second Polish Republic. [3]
The transition from the religious tolerance of Rzecz Pospolita to the monoreligious attitude and the identification of "Polishness" with Catholicism started in the second half of 17th century, under the influence of wars with non-Catholic neighbors: Islamic Turkey, Lutheran Sweden and Eastern Orthodox Russia and Cossacks. Gradually the discrimination against religious dissidents increased. Eventually the Constitution of 3 May of 1791 declared Catholicism the state religion while granting religious freedom to dissidents. [4]
Professor Brian Porter–Szűcs asserts that the inseparable association of Poles and Catholicism as it is known today was finalized by the very end of the 19th century, and he links this with the emergence of the hyphenated term "Polak-Katolik" ("Pole-Catholic"), unusual for Polish orthography. He stated that until then the expressions like "Polish therefore Catholic" ("Polak więc katolik") were usually mere demographic statements, and only at the beginning of the 20th century, they came to mean the declaration that the only proper Pole ought to be a Catholic. [5]
This criterion has routinely been used by Polish nationalists with their motto "Poland for the Poles". A notable incident was with Polish General Władysław Anders, who was of Baltic German Protestant origin. After World War II he was a member of the Polish government-in-exile in London and was repeatedly accused by nationalists for being "not a Pole", so that he had to go to courts and successfully sue them for libel. [6]
The "true Pole" stereotype is still strong in politics of modern, post-Communist Poland, particularly within right-wing and nationalist circles. [7]
Prof. Mikołaj Cześnik asserts that people who are using this kind of language are usually usurping the right to be the representatives of "true Polishness", while their opponents are the traitors of the Polishness. [8]
Witold Starzewski wrote in Przegląd :
There is a large group in Polish society who believe that only they are entitled to the definition of "Pole". All the others are "pretend Poles", who either are poisoned by hostile propaganda or are servants (agents) of Russia and Germany, always hostile to us, and of course of the Jews and masons. A true Pole is a faithful listener of Radio Maryja and a reader of Gazeta Polska . He will not touch Gazeta Wyborcza and only tolerates Rzeczpospolita with difficulty.
He is convinced that Poles are a noble nation, unlucky only because of their neighbors, who are their eternal enemies, and because of the wickedness of allies who always treacherously abandon us in times of need. [9]
Michał Nogaś wrote in Gazeta Wyborcza that the numbers of the "non-true Poles" is steadily growing. Below is a small sample from their list assembled by Nogaś: people who do not vote for Law and Justice, non-heteronormative people, defenders of the Białowieża Forest and other green areas, opponents of the Vistula Spit canal, opponents of the total appropriation of public media by the authorities, cyclists, [nb 1] vegetarians and vegans, atheists, ... [10]
Eastern Borderlands or simply Borderlands was a term coined for the eastern part of the Second Polish Republic during the interwar period (1918–1939). Largely agricultural and extensively multi-ethnic with a Polish minority, it amounted to nearly half of the territory of interwar Poland. Historically situated in the eastern Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, following the 18th-century foreign partitions it was divided between the Empires of Russia and Austria-Hungary, and ceded to Poland in 1921 after the Treaty of Riga. As a result of the post-World War II border changes, all of the territory was ceded to the USSR, and none of it is in modern Poland.
Andrzej Sakson is a Polish sociologist and historian. Since 2004 he has been the director of the Western Institute in Poznań.
Polonophobia, also referred to as anti-Polonism or anti-Polish sentiment are terms for negative attitudes, prejudices, and actions against Poles as an ethnic group, Poland as their country, and their culture. These include ethnic prejudice against Poles and persons of Polish descent, other forms of discrimination, and mistreatment of Poles and the Polish diaspora.
Marek Jan Chodakiewicz is a Polish-American historian specializing in Central European history of the 19th and 20th centuries. He teaches at the Patrick Henry College and at the Institute of World Politics. He has been described as conservative and nationalistic, and his attitude towards minorities has been widely criticized.
Poland does not use the euro as its currency. However, under the terms of their Treaty of Accession with the European Union, all new Member States "shall participate in the Economic and Monetary Union from the date of accession as a Member State with a derogation", which means that Poland is obliged to eventually replace its currency, the złoty, with the euro.
The All-Polish Youth refers to two inter-linked Polish far-right ultranationalist youth organizations, with a Catholic-nationalist philosophy. Its agenda declares that its aim is "to raise Polish youth in a Catholic and patriotic spirit".
Stanisław Andrzej Michalkiewicz is a Polish far-right political commentator, lawyer, former politician, opposition activist in the communist Polish People's Republic, and book author.
The Poles in Lithuania, also called Lithuanian Poles, estimated at 183,000 people in the Lithuanian census of 2021 or 6.5% of Lithuania's total population, are the country's largest ethnic minority.
Fear: Anti-Semitism in Poland after Auschwitz: An Essay in Historical Interpretation, is a book by Jan T. Gross, published by Random House and Princeton University Press in 2006. An edited Polish version was published in 2008 by Znak Publishers in Kraków as Strach: antysemityzm w Polsce tuż po wojnie: historia moralnej zapaści. In the book, Gross explores the issues concerning incidents of post-war anti-Jewish violence in Poland, with particular focus on the 1946 Kielce pogrom. Fear has received international attention and reviews in major newspapers; receiving both praise and criticism.
Jan Błoński was a Polish historian, literary critic, publicist and translator. He was a leading representative of the Kraków school of literary criticism, which wielded significant influence in postwar Poland.
Atheism and irreligion is uncommon in Poland with Catholic Christianity as the largest faith. However, it is on the rise, which has caused tensions in the country. According to a 2020 CBOS survey, non-believers make up 3% of Poland's population.
Wojciech Jerzy Muszyński is a Polish historian. His areas of interest are the recent history of Poland and military history.
Jan Krzysztof Żaryn is a Polish historian, professor and politician, who was a Senator in the Senate of Poland from 2015 to 2019.
Klementyna Suchanow is a Polish author, editor, and activist. She is the co-founder of the women's rights movement All-Poland Women's Strike.
A Polish withdrawal from the European Union, or Polexit, is the name given to a hypothetical Polish withdrawal from the European Union. The term was coined after Brexit, the process of Britain's withdrawal from the EU which took place between 2016 and 2020. Opinion polls held in the country, between 2016 and 2021, indicated majority support for continued membership of the European Union (EU). A 2022 survey indicated that "[at] least eight-in-ten adults in Poland" believed that the EU "promotes peace, democratic values and prosperity". The 2023 Polish parliamentary election was won by a coalition of predominantly pro-EU parties.
The Roman Dmowski and Ignacy Jan Paderewski Institute for the Legacy of Polish National Thought is a Polish educational and historical research institute. Announced to appear at a press conference on 3 February 2020, it was formally inaugurated by the Minister of Culture and National Heritage, Piotr Gliński, on 17 February that year.
Falanga is a Polish national radical organization founded in January 2009. It is currently led by the former coordinator of the Masovian Brigade of the National Radical Camp (ONR), Bartosz Bekier.
Marian Kałuski - Polish-Australian journalist, writer, historian and traveler.
The Independence March is an annual patriotic and nationalist demonstration in Warsaw held on Poland's Independence Day, November 11. Since 2011 the March has attracted annually up to 10 thousand participants. In 2020 the March was organized like a car procession. It is organized by far-right ultranationalist organisations and parties: National Radical Camp (ONR), All-Poland Youth and the National Movement.