Victoria Fox's Blog, page 69
August 30, 2024
Holidays by the sea. “The upper class is bringing us closer and closer to the toilets”
– We have a trailer divided into three bedrooms and a vestibule, but it’s still a small space for a family. You cook on a small stove and then have to wash the dishes. You have to empty the toilet, wash the clothes and then dry them, which is difficult when it’s raining. And there’s sand everywhere – dry from the beach, wet from your feet after windsurfing. It gets applied to both the vestibule and the trailer, says Joanna.
It’s been almost a quarter of a century since they first arrived here. It used to be cheap, then it got more and more expensive. Tents used to dominate, now trailers. They sit side by side, in rows. The most expensive seats are in the front row, right next to the bay.
– Once, friends who were vacationing in a luxury hotel in Jurata came to our campsite in Chałupy – the doctor recalls. They said they wanted to be served during their vacation, not to cook, wash or clean. They thought that those who wanted a cheap vacation came to the campsite. They sat for a while and were amazed that they were so close to the water. They really liked the view of the bay. When they found out about this, they had to pay 20 thousand PLN to park a trailer on the beach. They groaned.
– And our campsite is not one of the most expensive. There are some places where the price of a seat in the first row this season is as low as PLN 35,000. – says Joana.
There is no wind
When I look for accommodation in Chałupy in the last week of June and find a trailer for rent, they tell me I’m very lucky. PLN 400 per day. The trailer is located next to the toilet. Around me there are only ones like the one I got: placed next to each other. The distances between the trailers and the toilets are so small that when I go to take a shower I’m afraid I’ll hit someone who’s trying to get out of the trailer with the door.
I can’t sleep at night, it’s hot in the trailer. I wake up in the middle of the night, tired of breathing hot air. I go to the bay because I heard that those who want to swim the most go out with their boards right after sunrise. However, the bay is empty. There is no wind.
– It wasn’t windy yesterday either. Tomorrow will be better – say the instructors at kitesurfing schools. 12 hours of lessons with an instructor plus rental of equipment and a wetsuit cost PLN 1,850, but when there are days like today when there is no wind, they have nothing to do. Unless someone wants some theory.
– How many lessons do you need to take to be able to handle water? – I’m asking.
– 10, 12 individual lessons and you can swim – says Piotr (he graduated from medical school last month, has been coming to Hel for years to have fun and earns money teaching others during the holidays). Children and adults, including those over 50, have lessons. However, not everyone is here to swim.
– Honestly? When I look at some of them, I wonder why they came here, says Piotr.
Ola (second year psychology student) says she often hears from the people she teaches that there is no other place as nice in Poland. They claim they are free from worries here.
“They certainly have no money,” says the third instructor, Kuba. He comes from the Czech Republic, a backpacker type – here today, there tomorrow, windswept, hair disheveled. “When I arrived in Chałupy and saw these trailers, half a meter apart from each other, I thought: are they crazy? It’s a horror story,” he says. He hates getting lost in this maze of trailers. He would never want to spend his vacation here. And he would have left here a long time ago, but he fell in love. And he’s sitting here because of the girl. “Love keeps me going. But what keeps the others here?” he says. Sometimes it’s windy, sometimes it’s not, and some people worry about the wind, others don’t care, because they didn’t come here to swim.
– I often wonder why they want to be here? They sit in the middle of this crowd, uncomfortable, because after all, camping is camping. And they spend so much that you could spend your vacation in a hotel in the Caribbean, says Kuba.
The surfers’ mecca
– There are no studies that allow us to assess what percentage of Poles like Chałupy and why – smiles Dr. Michał Lutostański, sociologist at the SWPS University of Humanities and Social Sciences. We can only imagine that many people are attracted by the semi-subcultural atmosphere. – Although the Polish coast is full of characteristic places: Władysławowo and Mielno are associated with entertainment, the area around Jantar and the Vistula Spit – with families, there is no other place like Chałupy. Called a surfer’s mecca, it attracts those who want to stay in that environment – explains Dr. Lutostański.
“It was really a surfing mecca in the past. But not anymore,” says Wojtek, a windsurfing instructor. For more than a dozen years, he has been earning money here every summer by giving lessons to tourists. He looks at them and sees how much this place is changing.
– It used to be Polish California. People on this sand surrounded by water wanted to come and have fun, and it was like in Wodecki’s song “Chałupy Welcome To, Bahama mama luz”. To surf on a board you need patience and a lot of time to find the best conditions, that is, the right wind and a good wave. Initially, those who came were those who had a lot of time, some freelancers who organized their work so that they could wait for the conditions. Or backpackers who didn’t need to arrange anything, just waited for a good wind. Casual, colorful, interesting, walking barefoot all day, laughing, smoking cigarettes. Behind them came those who were curious about the world that was emerging here. They started encouraging their friends. And so – besides the surfers – a lot of random people came here who don’t even want to get on the board. When more people started arriving than the campsites could accommodate, prices had to rise, and tents, which could not be set up for PLN 20,000 or PLN 30,000, began to be replaced by trailers. Now trailers are replacing trailers – the older ones, bought for PLN 50,000, are being replaced by newer ones costing almost a quarter of a million. The middle class, which used to occupy the first or second row, is being pushed ever closer to the toilets by the upper class, says Wojtek.
And he adds: – Here you can find the latest Audi and BMW models, but also Porsches, Aventadors and Maseratis. Owners of these comfortable cars don’t want to feel uncomfortable. Some people buy two caravans to have more space. They build terraces in front of the caravan, in the caravan. They are installing a jacuzzi. There are more and more caravans with a stylish bathroom so that you don’t have to use shared toilets, a comfortable sofa, heated floors in case it gets cold, a dishwasher, a washing machine and a 50-inch TV.
Children’s Republic
“We don’t have a TV, we don’t use computers, we read and play board games,” says Joanna, who tries to maintain the camping atmosphere with her family. For many years she resented her husband for still coming here. “Now I see that those were good years,” he says. “Well, especially for the children,” he explains.
My son, when it’s windy, gets up at five in the morning because, sorry, the waves don’t wait. Then, at nine o’clock, he stops by for breakfast and heads towards the bay. My daughter goes to classes at nine o’clock, she’s a windsurfing instructor and, when the wind is good, she works until 6 p.m.
– It’s great that they were able to grow up here – says Joanna. In real camping conditions – if they weren’t taking a windsurfing or kitesurfing class, they were on their bikes, trampolines or playing cops and robbers. There was never any need to look for activities for the children. These are some of the children from Bullerbyn. These 6 or 7-year-olds were no longer attached to their mother or father, but to their friends. Moving between trailers. It happened that one “aunt” would feed them dinner and the other would feed them dessert. We still have that atmosphere at our campsite, you can arrange a meeting with the family from the neighboring trailer: I’m going to do yoga or ride my bike now, go check on my Johnny. And then I’ll go check on their son, he says.
Friendships have developed over the years. – My daughter has two friends she has known here since she was born, year after year. They wait until the holidays just to see each other again.
– I came here with my parents and I feel attracted – says Martyna (she is 28 years old, works in a recruitment agency), who goes camping in Chałupy every year with her friends. Now she has a son and they have children. In a 2×6 trailer, second row from the road. Cramped, without luxuries and they pay 3,000 a week. Out of sentiment, for the sake of the old years we spend here. – My husband said: this is crazy. He wouldn’t participate, says Olga, Martyna’s friend, a lawyer. Her husband doesn’t understand: 3,000 for such a cramped space? And that’s still not enough, a friend of mine rented his trailer for them and it was cheap.
Absurdities of the new times
– Probably just because there are still people who have been coming here for years, who created or at least remember the atmosphere of the old Chałupy, this place still has something of that time. However, I am worried about the absurdities of the new times. These people who come here only pretend to be surfers, because you won’t see them in the water, but rather drinking Moët champagne – says Wojtek.
– I expect there to be a counter-trend at some point. People will realize that all they have achieved is to turn a cool surfing spot into a banana stand. Maybe they will start moving elsewhere, and only those who have been coming here for a long time will stay. And those who would like to be here but can’t afford it now will start coming. There will be new energy, not even more money. For now, those who want to surf are increasingly moving and looking for new places. When it comes to water sports, Żuławy Wiślane, Stara Wisła and the area around Elbląg look promising. These places are just waiting for their time. People with passion and a tent will arrive first. Once the word gets out that things are getting interesting there, people will come after them in Passats and then in Ferraris.
Jailed FTX director withdraws request to force government to honor plea deal
“Mr. Salame withdraws the Petition so that Ms. Bond may present the matter in her action,” Salame’s attorneys wrote in the new court documents. “To be clear, Mr. Salame stands by the facts set forth in the Petition and his accompanying affidavit. However, Mr. Salame withdraws the Petition so that Ms. Bond may develop the facts and a ruling may be made on her case.”
Will the government not recognise the Supreme Court ruling on PiS finances? MEP: The Audit Chamber is not a court
The National Electoral Commission treated PiS very kindly. Only a small part of the funds spent outside the system was considered illegal. – he said on “Guest of Radio ZET” Michał WawrykiewiczCivic Coalition MEP and lawyer, commenting on the decision of the National Electoral Commission, which rejected the report of the PiS electoral commission. He added that It is very good that such a decision exists, as it shows the entire political world and public opinion that there is no consent for something like what PiS did during not only this campaign, but also the previous ones.
“Without a doubt, this is a legal decision”
– The National Electoral Commission made this decision after a long debate and analysis of documents. Therefore, it is undoubtedly a legal decision. The current composition and functioning of the National Electoral Commission is the result of the PiS changes, which transformed the National Electoral Commission from a judicial body to an elected political body. – he explained Wawrykiewicz. I think that the National Electoral Commission, in this extraordinary situation, has never had such an attack on public funds, and that the decision of the National Electoral Commission was cautious, because it will probably be verified by the court. – he added. In Wawrykiewicz’s opinion, The National Electoral Commission probably indicated only those violations that were absolutely irrefutable in its opinion, so that this decision was upheld in the court’s opinion..
What to do with the Supreme Federal Court’s decision?
The problem arises precisely in the case of the assessment of the Supreme Federal Court. Extraordinary Control and Public Affairs Chamber of the Supreme Federal Court it is not a court. This is what the EU institutions say. If the case comes to this House, it should be treated as if the Supreme Court had not verified the decision of the National Electoral Commission and as if it were still in force and the Minister of Finance should behave in this sense as if the Supreme Court had not verified the decision of the National Electoral Commission. – he explained.
But the decision of the National Electoral Commission may be sent to Labor Chambers of the Supreme Courtthis has happened before too. Then the judicial judges are in the House and then the Minister of Finance should deal with the judgment of the judicial court. Then it should be treated as if the Supreme Court had considered the case. – he added.
August 29, 2024
“My values haven’t changed”
Vice President Kamala Harris was pressed about her policy development Thursday in her first interview since becoming the Democratic presidential nominee, sitting alongside running mate Tim Walz.
The highly anticipated interview with CNN’s Dana Bash came after Harris was pressed to answer other questions from nonpartisan reporters and fully outline how his views differ from those of President Joe Biden. He has largely avoided doing either in the 39 days since he decided not to run for re-election and endorsed her instead.
“I think the most important and significant aspect of my political perspective,” Harris said when asked about his policy evolution, “is that my values haven’t changed.”
However, he admitted that his experience as vice president has made him update his views on certain issues.
Tim Walz and Kamala Harris in an interview with CNN’s Dana Bash on Thursday.
“I think it’s important to build consensus and it’s important to find a common place to understand where we can really solve problems,” Harris added, seemingly nodding to how political realities may have influenced his views.
Harris ran for president in 2019 on a progressive agenda that included “Medicare for All,” the Green New Deal, and a ban on hydraulic fracturing, a method of extracting natural gas or oil known as “fracking.” That campaign caught fire, and when Biden chose Harris as his running mate, he naturally embraced his agenda and platform.
But with Harris now at the top of the ticket — along with a shift in politics — it’s been unclear where he diverges from his 2019 campaign and Biden’s policies, some of which are incompatible.
Harris has not sat for an interview or stood at a press conference since Biden stepped aside and endorsed him, meaning the public has seen him almost exclusively through the campaign-driven lens of protests, online videos and last week’s Democratic National Convention.
Any other modern presidential candidate in history would have done numerous one-on-one interviews in the primaries and general elections long before they sit down with their running mate for a joint interview in late summer.
But Harris had no such luxury, given the timing of his rise. He has had to recalibrate his political positions and build campaign infrastructure on the fly during the white heat of the presidential election.
Harris is also simultaneously trying to make a turn to the ideological center, as is usual for presidential candidates in the November election season.
For example, Harris told Bash that he no longer supports a fracking ban because he has seen during his time as vice president that the United States can achieve its climate change goals without denying oil and gas extraction, a key industry. on the battlefield in the state of Pennsylvania.
“We can do that without banning fracking,” Harris said. “Actually, Dana, Dana, I gave the resignation that actually increased the rent on fracking as vice president. So I’m very clear about where I stand.”
Still, Harris appeared defensive at times when pressed to acknowledge that he had changed his position or asked to point out the evidence that led him to change his views.
Asked if he supported his 2019 support for decriminalizing illegal border crossings, Harris did not directly answer, but said there should be consequences for illegal crossings, and touted his experience taking on multinational gangs as “attorney general of a border state” in California.
Harris also said he is interested in appointing a Republican to his board.
“I have spent my career attracting different opinions. I think it’s important to have people at the table when important decisions are made with different perspectives, different experiences,” Harris said. “And I think it would be in the best interest of the American public to have a Republican on my board.”
Walz sat quietly for most of the interview before being asked about his own controversies — including moments in the past when he appeared to play up parts of his 24 years of experience in the Army National Guard.
In a 2018 speech after the school shooting, Minnesota Governor Walz suggested the gun used was similar to the one he carried “in the war,” even though he had never seen combat.
Walz said his wife, Gwen, an English teacher, tells him “my grammar isn’t always right,” but he dismissed the controversy as largely Republican bullshit.
“If it’s not this, it’s an attack on my kids for showing love to me, or it’s an attack on my dog — I’m not going to do that. And one thing I never do is I never downplay I have never had, nor will I ever do, the service of another member. I think they will see my students come out, and they will vouch for me , when I do them.”
An interview that lasted only 30 minutes could only cover so much. Many difficult questions for Harris and Walz remain unanswered. And it didn’t have time to delve into softer – but often just as fascinating to voters – topics about the candidates’ personalities or mutual relationships.
There were no questions, for example, about the messy US withdrawal from Afghanistan or former President Donald Trump’s controversial visit to Arlington National Cemetery this week.
Harris has faced increasing demands from Republicans and many in the news media to answer tough questions, and a single interview is unlikely to completely silence those awaiting the Sept. 10 debate with Trump.
“If you translate [an interview] to a major event, and you raise the stakes for yourself,” Barack Obama’s former top strategist David Axelrod said on a CNN panel before the interview.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
Hello, this is Polsat, when to watch the host, Edward Miszczak
The magazine “Halo tu Polsat” will be broadcast from Friday to Sunday, from 8:00 to 11:00. It will compete with “Dzień Dobry TVN”, in which stars play several roles in the new season – this week, Adam Małysz, and with “Pytanie na breakfast”, which will soon get a new studio and main stars. Both shows have been running for many years and air daily.
The new Polsat program will have three pairs of hosts – this Krzysztof Ibisz and Paulina Sykut-Jeżyna and Maciej Rock and Agnieszka Hyży and Katarzyna Cichopek and Maciej Kurzajewski. Ewa Wachowicz, Mateusz Gessler and Martin Jimenez Castro will be in charge of the kitchen. The parents’ corner will be led by Marcelina Zawadzka. The breakfast reporters will be Anna Rubaj, Aleksander Sikora and Maks Behr. The program team is led by Luiza Zając. The “Halo tu Polsat” studio has been established in the Cyfrowy Polsat complex. 4
Edward Miszczak, photo: AKPA/Gałązka
Patryk Pallus: You said that the strength of “halo tu polsat” is proven pairs of hosts. To what extent does the success of the show depend not on the studio or the guests, but on well-selected presenters?
Edward Miszczak: Our advantage is that we don’t have to add anyone to the team. When creating new pairs, especially when adding a new person to the current leader, you never know if the two people will work well together. Our couples have great experience running shows together. The production team is also very experienced.
Who is on the “halo tu polsat” team besides the hosts?
This is a very young but experienced team. We have people from newspapers, radio and television. So far, the team has been working on the concept of the programme, and now it is being implemented in the studio. The control room is important because we produce the programme using many cameras. The role of the vision implementer is to follow the editor’s suggestions and create a conversational atmosphere. In addition, we want to blur the boundaries between the individual elements of the programme. Mateusz Gessler, while preparing a meal in the kitchen, can join in a conversation taking place on the sofa.
How many people does the program team have?
In addition to the leaders, there are 25 people on our team.
“halo tu polsat” will be differentiated by the presence of the audience on the mezzanine. Will they just watch the program from above or will there be some interaction with them?
We call them the audience, but I think they are just spectators. Nowadays it is very difficult to get tickets, for example, for the audience of “Dancing with the Stars”. After seeing themselves on TV, viewers want to come to the studio even more. The audience will create the atmosphere of our show. What exactly will be their role in “halo tu polsat” remains to be seen. Entertainment shows that have an audience also have a special entertainer who is supposed to encourage them. Our audience has to learn our show for themselves.
Work on the zero issue has been going on for the last few days, there was plenty of time for it. But the magazine will be released on Friday, three issues will have to be produced, one day at a time. This is a big challenge because a live show is the most difficult format on television.
It is, above all, a huge logistics machine. Our studio is located in the huge Cyfrowy Polsat complex, where we have several halls with studios. Guests have to come to us, some on their own, others have to be transported. This is the beginning. All studios work almost non-stop, because we also rent them to external companies, for example, Netflix recently filmed “Hevelius” here. Sometimes it is difficult for Polsat TV to keep to this schedule. Fortunately, we have our own studio “500” and we like this place.
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The studio is spacious and very colorful. Was the idea to put the viewer in a good mood in the morning?
Yes, after all, it is three hours of live programming. We go on air after two hours of the news band, which has about 10%. Market share. Our audience has gotten used to broadcasting on a major channel. Then, especially on weekends, we have to extend the afternoon band and survive until the evening, when we watch our most important Polsat programming items, such as “Your Face Sounds Familiar”, “Cabaret Live” and “Dancing with the Stars”.
Read also: Polsat updates “It must be the music”. New judges and presenters
During the meeting with journalists, you spoke about the importance of a good atmosphere on the program.
The setting is the most important aspect of the breakfast show, not necessarily the content of the conversations. Often the show is on, but the viewer does not follow exactly what is happening on the screen. The show accompanies us in our morning tasks, having breakfast, taking the children to school, etc. That is why the setting, the appearance of the studio and the language used by the presenters are important.
Will there be short news programs on “halo tu polsat”?
Yes, they will be prepared by Polsat News. They will be more lifestyle-oriented sites, but there will be many socio-political topics in our program. However, we will not compete with Polsat News. “halo tu polsat” should be a weekly opinion magazine.
I read in one of the interviews that the program will also feature calls from viewers.
We need to communicate with our audience. However, telephone communication is a bit outdated, so we will focus on social media. Interia will be responsible for this. This is a portal that, like few others, will know how to enrich our offering in the digital world. I rely heavily on the activity of our viewers on the Internet.
Who is the author of the studio’s design, graphics and logo?
Anna Mioduszewska is responsible for the set design, Maciej Burzykowski is responsible for the graphic design and Michał Kush is responsible for the music.
Breakfast shows are mainly aimed at women, while Polsat has a more male audience. Will men also find something for themselves on the new breakfast menu?
No other TV channel has as much programming aimed at men as Polsat. We show volleyball players playing, and they also have fantastic wives and partners. If interesting material about the behind-the-scenes aspects of the sport appears on “halo tu polsat”, not only women will watch us.
What kind of viewing results do you expect for “halo tu polsat”?
We’re starting out as the last show in the market. We have promotional support at the beginning, but then it’s going to be a real fight for the result. I’ve done a lot of shows, so I have some guesses about what it’s going to be like. We probably won’t be No. 1 by the end of the year, but we’re going to fight and make progress in the market. I think it’s going to last two seasons.
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WhatsApp may soon let you filter chats with custom lists
Last week, we learned that WhatsApp was developing a feature that would allow users to add people and group chats to lists. Now, we hear that WhatsApp is working on allowing users to filter chats using these custom lists.
This revelation comes from WABetaInfowho also shared screenshots of how users can filter chats with custom lists. Custom list labels will appear next to the current “All,” “Unread,” and “Groups” labels in the app. The filter name will be the same as the list, and when you click on it, you’ll see the individual and group chats associated with that list.
The feature was discovered in the WhatsApp beta app for Android, with version number 2.24.18.16. However, since it is still in development, it is not available even for beta users. But you can expect it to appear for everyone on the beta channel in the coming weeks before it is made available to the public.
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Joining Cillian Murphy in the film is… Drum roll… Barry Keoghan
New Delhi:
For all you Barry Keoghan fans, we have some great news. An actor who was nominated for an Oscar for his role Banshees of Inisherinhas joined the cast of an upcoming Netflix movie Peaky Blinders. Deadline reports that Barry will share the screen with Cillian Murphy and Rebecca Ferguson in the film version of the hit series. While Cillian is set to reprise his role as Tommy Shelby, details of Barry’s role have yet to be revealed.
In June, Netflix UK’s official Instagram handle announced upcoming movie. They released an image of the manuscript that revealed key details on the front page – director Tom Harper’s name, OG Peaky Blinders star Cillian Murphy and writer Steven Knight. Message caption read. “BIG NEWS: The #PeakyBlinders movie is coming to Netflix! “Looks like Tommy Shelby wasn’t done with me… So excited to be collaborating with Steven Knight and Tom Harper on the movie version of Peaky Blinders. This is one for the fans. – Cillian Murphy.”
Check it out:
Peaky Blinders there are six seasons in total. The show premiered in 2013, with subsequent seasons being released in 2014, 2016, 2017, 2019 and 2022. The first four seasons were broadcast on BBC Two, while the remaining seasons aired on BBC One. In addition to Cillian Murphy, the series stars Sam Neill, Paul Anderson, Sophie Rundle, Ned Dennehy and Benjamin Zephaniah in central roles. All six seasons Peaky Blinders are currently streaming on Netflix.
As for the upcoming film, the project will be produced by Steven Knight, Caryn Mandabach, Cillian Murphy and Guy Heeley. Executive producers are Tom Harper, David Kosse, Jamie Glazebrook, Andrew Warren and David Mason. The Peaky Blinders the film is made together with BBC Film.
How much is the US’s “galactic privilege” worth?
The concept of this privilege appears frequently in economic literature, also in its French version (privilège exorbitant). It was because of the envious French, whose later president Valéry Giscard d’Estaing criticized the special position and possibilities of the American political economy as early as the 1960s. At that time, he was still Minister of Finance of the 5th Republic.
Giscard was concerned about the uniqueness that the dollar provided to post-war America. The situation was even different then, because – according to the agreements made at Bretton Woods in 1944 – the dollar became the world’s official reserve currency, exchangeable for gold. All other currencies were to be “pegged” to the dollar. This whole dollar-gold system ended in August 1971, when President Nixon unilaterally separated the dollar from gold. Thus began the emergence of a new system of floating exchange rates, in which the dollar (and not gold) is a kind of beacon towards which the rest of the world’s monetary authorities try (more or less) to orient themselves.
In the new system, the dollar also enjoys a “galactic privilege.” According to the three economists, its current position is due to two things. First, the dollar is the world’s largest reserve currency, held by foreign governments, corporations, and ordinary people. Although it has many competitors, it is still preferred because of its enormous liquidity (dollars can be sold at any time and without problems) and because the US currency is widely accepted as collateral for any transaction. Second, this unique position of the dollar allows the government in Washington to issue debt securities that are considered super safe. As a result, America has an essentially unlimited capacity for borrowing. And the issue of deficits and debt only concerns the United States if the local political class sees it that way.
Polish hospitals to receive abortion guidance
On Friday, Polish hospitals will receive guidelines from the Health Ministry aimed at improving real access to abortion. They were developed in cooperation with the health and justice ministries.
Minister of Health, Izabela Leszczyna
/Rafael Guz /PAP
Hospitals will be provided with detailed information on the applicable legal provisions regarding access to termination of pregnancy.
“The guidelines will be a tool that will allow medical institutions to adequately adapt the legal provisions in this area, and thus improve the effective availability of the procedure for termination of pregnancy. This tool aims to ensure equal and lawful treatment for women who wish to exercise their rights in this area of law,” said Jakub Gołąb, spokesman for the Ministry of Health.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk said last Friday that there would be no majority in the current parliament in favor of “legal abortion in the full sense of the word.”. He announced, among other things, that in this case “there will be a completely different practice in the Public Prosecutor’s Office and in Polish hospitals”.
In early August, Attorney General Adam Bodnar issued guidelines to prosecutors on handling cases involving refusal to terminate a pregnancy and medical abortion.
On July 12, the Sejm rejected the draft amendment to the Criminal Code, which presumed the decriminalization of abortion assistance and termination of pregnancy with the consent of the pregnant woman up to the 12th week of pregnancy.It took several votes to approve the amendment, including from MPs from the ruling coalition.
According to the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), Polish abortion regulations violate women’s rights. This is the result of an investigation into Polish abortion law launched in 2021. The Committee noted that Polish law is so restrictive that, for fear of legal liability, some doctors do not perform abortions even in situations where the law allows it, which can threaten the woman’s life.
In 2023, 423 pregnancy terminations were carried out in hospitals; in 2022 – 161; in 2021 – 107, in 2020 – 1,076, in 2019 – 1,110.
In October 2020, the Constitutional Court ruled that the premise allowing termination of pregnancy was unconstitutional due to the high probability of severe and irreversible fetal impairment. The Constitutional Court’s decision came into force on January 27, 2021, and the provision allowing abortion for this condition lost its validity. Currently, termination of pregnancy is possible in two cases: when the pregnancy threatens the life or health of the woman, or when it results from a prohibited act (for example, rape or incest)..
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September 1939 Campaign. “In the West it is almost a blank space”
It’s strange, because in the UK and the US we are obsessed with the Second World War. Books about it are constantly on the bestseller lists, writing them has almost become an industry. You can choose from monographs about the Normandy landings, the fall of Berlin, the Battle of Stalingrad or the Ardennes campaign. And the September campaign was almost a blank spot. In popular single-volume monographs on the Second World War, the invasion of Poland is usually described in a few short paragraphs. Sometimes it’s comical – everything comes down to games in the English Parliament, and the real battles are completely omitted.
What do German sources say about the September Campaign?
– Heinz Guderian’s memoirs are quite useful. But the rest is just propaganda. In 1939 and 1940, many books were published praising the German victory and emphasizing the inferiority of the Poles. Goebbels’ people spread the myth of Polish stupidity, the permanent element of which was the “cavalry attack on tanks”. And these fabricated stories were picked up by Western historiography. The British and French liked this image of the Second Polish Republic as a completely incompetent ally, because it avoided questions about its own responsibility.
After the war, the September Campaign became a marginal topic in German historiography. It was treated as a curiosity, irrelevant in the context of later events. Although great books like those by Jochen Boehler were rare.
It is difficult to understand today, but in Poland in September 1939 there was optimism among civilians and military personnel. Why?
– That’s a very good question. The fact that Poles were optimistic in September is incomprehensible from our point of view. But the job of a historian is to bring to light those voices that do not fit into our ideas.
This optimism was only partly due to the fact that the Polish media promised that the Germans would receive a booty. There were other reasons: Poland regained its independence thanks to the efforts of its soldiers. Then, with its own efforts, it defended the borders in 1920. It was extremely proud of its army.
An even greater paradox was that ordinary Germans did not want this war at all.
– Hitler was so popular because he managed to restore Germany’s position in the world and take control of the territories he wanted without starting a war. This was the case with the Rhineland, Czechoslovakia and Austria. The Germans were happy that he had done it this way and were convinced that the same would happen with Poland – he would threaten the Poles, there might be some military action, but it would not be a war. In the previous one they had lost two million people and did not want to go to another one. The guidelines sent immediately after Hitler’s speech announcing the conflict with Poland clearly emphasized that it should not be called a “war”, but rather “skirmishes caused by Polish attacks”.
Hitler was very keen for the Germans to buy into this version, which is why the Gliwice provocation was so important. It was supposed to be a way of portraying the Poles as scoundrels who had broken the peace and attacked Germany. Gliwice was a key element of Hitler’s plan also because he believed that thanks to this provocation he would be able to separate Poland from the Western Allies. He was extremely surprised when the British and French declared war on him.
How do you assess their attitude towards Poland?
– It was a betrayal, but I do not agree with those who see cynical Machiavellianism in the actions of the British and French – who pushed the Poles into the war to save their own skins for a while. Driven by their own arrogance, the British and French believed that it was enough for Hitler to say: if he tries again what he did in Czechoslovakia (with the consent of London and Paris, by the way), there will be consequences. However, apart from the ultimatum, there was no real plan of action.
They thought that the “paper tiger” would be enough to bring Hitler to his senses. But Hitler was not a reasonable man. Besides, a large part of the French believed that one should not “die for Gdańsk”. As a result, the French did nothing serious. True, they entered the Saarland on September 7…
But they did it without conviction.
– General Gamelin acted as if his only goal was not to lose any soldiers. And they could have achieved quite a lot. The German army in the West was very weak, the French outnumbered them 3 to 1, but they did not know that. If they had attacked more zealously, they would have quickly realized their strength. All the actions of the French were inflated to the limit by the Polish media. It was announced that they would arrive soon, that they had already captured Stuttgart and bombed Frankfurt. Pure fantasy.
The Poles’ strategic plan was based on the assumption that they would receive help from the Western powers. When they did not receive this help, this plan lost all meaning. The Germans were much stronger, but the lack of help from the West increased their advantage even further. This is a key element in all these events.
Did the Poles have a chance? One million soldiers made us the fifth largest in the world. At the same time, in the last five years before the war, the Polish armament budget amounted to 3%. German.
– The Poles had no chance. In artillery the Germans had a 3:1 advantage, in tanks the same, and in aviation 5:1. In addition, Polish equipment was much older, slower and less effective. One of the scoffers described the situation in the Polish army as the implementation of the “doctrine of poverty”. This had obvious consequences – when we compare the losses in the September Campaign, the number of casualties among Polish soldiers is four times higher.
It is, of course, regrettable that Poland did not invest in modernizing the army and that the command did not understand the essence of modern conflict. However, this required very, very large expenditures, and the Polish economy had no possibility of bearing these costs. The amount that Germany spent on one armored division was greater than the entire Polish military budget.
Above all, Poland was a loser because of its location. Both Hitler and Stalin did not agree with its continued existence. This was the essence of the problem: as long as Germany and the Soviet Union were hostile to each other, as they were for most of the 1930s, Poland could function in relative stability. But once both countries found a common goal, it became clear that the first victim would be Poland. And even if more money had been spent, if the defense strategy had been different, and if the French had entered the Saar with real vigor – perhaps the Poles would have fought longer. But the Russians would still have attacked them from behind. In 1939, Poland chose the option that seemed the best – an alliance with the West. The problem was that neither option was good at the time.
What fundamental mistakes did the Poles make? You highlight, for example, the cult of secrecy, which made coordinated action impossible.
– The Polish plan was quite sensible: to entrench themselves in positions that were easier to defend and not to defend areas where there was no chance. The problem was that no matter how quickly the Poles withdrew, the retreat was always too slow. Because they were dealing with German motorized units.
British war correspondent Clare Hollingworth wrote that the Poles do not realize that they will never be able to create a unified front line.
– In 1939, the units at the front did not know where their neighbours were and what their objectives were. Even the highest-ranking commanders were only informed about the tasks they themselves were supposed to perform. The Supreme Command often had little contact with reality at the front, sometimes drawing its information from German reports. In addition, this command left Warsaw at some point. This undoubtedly contributed to an even faster defeat. The Germans had an extremely extensive communication system, for example. And the Poles were blind and deaf… This is the cult of secrecy in the Polish army. It goes back to the time of Piłsudski.
And what can Poles be most proud of?
– Wherever they established defensive lines – near Mokra, Mława, Węgierska Górka – they fought brilliantly. Even Hitler praised the Polish soldier. In a speech in Gdańsk, he praised the Polish rank and file.
Was this war different from previous ones?
– Many things about the September campaign foreshadow what happened later. Like the deliberate targeting of civilians on a large scale – to such an extent that the dividing line between the front and the rest begins to blur. There are massive bombings of cities. Of course, there was the Spanish Guernica. But the scale of the bombings in Poland – in Wieluń, Warsaw, Frampol and many other places – was completely different from before. It was Polish cities that paved the way for what happened in Coventry and Dresden. We also have ethnic cleansing, in the autumn there were massacres in numerous cities and villages, the victims of which were prisoners and ordinary residents, Poles and Jews. The main motive was simple racism. And finally there is the blitzkrieg, although it is not fully developed. Some units use it, others do not. But because the Germans are moving very quickly, it all looks like a blitzkrieg.
What surprised you the most?
– The scale of the cruelty. It was a shock to me. It is often emphasized that during the Second World War we are dealing with rampant barbarity. The French campaign seems almost chivalrous and total war only begins in 1941, with the attack on the USSR. But it is clear that this theory is wrong. In 1939, the Germans murdered Poles for racial reasons, the Soviets for class reasons. The massacres of civilians are ideologically motivated. Szymon Datner calculated that during the September Campaign there were 15 massacres of civilians per day. While during the entire French campaign there were two. The difference is so striking.
You write about situations where there was direct interaction between German soldiers and the Red Army.
– Both sides tried to avoid each other. Stalin wanted to maintain the illusion of neutrality in this conflict. That is why Soviet commanders were ordered to maintain a distance of 25 kilometers from German troops. But it is clearly visible that where there was contact – cooperation during the capture of Lviv or during the famous victory parade in Brest – mutual relations were very difficult. For many years, soldiers on both sides felt that they were bitter enemies of each other. And this has not changed. Sometimes there were skirmishes between them.
In communist times, September 17 was presented as a humanitarian intervention; today’s Russian version is that the USSR never invaded Poland. In 2016, a blogger was prosecuted in Russia for publishing a text about Soviet-German cooperation in September 1939. Charge: “spreading false information.”
Did you study in Poland because you were a student of Norman Davies?
– I was his student, a researcher, and later I wrote a book with him about Wrocław. Norman shaped me as a historian.
At first, I was mainly interested in German history. But I have the impression that this history, especially that of the Third Reich, is stagnant. And there is not much more you can do. And Polish history is fascinating and gives much more scope for reinterpretation and writing something truly new. That is why I started writing about it. And I still intend to.
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