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Warsaw 44 (2014) dir. Jan Komasa

📣 Warszawa 14 kwietnia 📣 Start na Placu Zbawiciela o 13:00

for people who actually care about basing their opinion off of all of the information instead of, idk, none or clickbaity article headlines... here is what tomasz baginski said in his interview when it comes to changing things from the books:

There is also the question of the recipient’s sensitivity. I often point this out to others [in the production team], such as how they simplify politics in the plot. We, Poles, see various political events differently because of our history and experiences. We see more nuances. Especially in the context of what is happening beyond our eastern border. We can recognize this gray area where various influences and powers flow. It is more understandable and transparent to us. For example, that this person is good and this one is bad, but also a little good, and here it’s rather gray and we understand why this good hero does some unpleasant things. We catch it in three seconds. I had the same perceptual block when I presented Hardkor 44 [a never-made variation on the Warsaw Uprising] abroad years ago and tried to explain: there was an uprising against Germany, but the Russians were across the river, and on the German side there were also soldiers from Hungary or Ukraine. For Americans, it was completely incomprehensible, too complicated, because they grew up in a different historical context, where everything was arranged: America is always good, the rest are the bad guys. And there are no complications. When a series is made for a huge mass of viewers, with different experiences, from different parts of the world, and a large part of them are Americans, these simplifications not only make sense, they are necessary. It’s painful for us, and for me too, but the higher level of nuance and complexity will have a smaller range, it won’t reach people. Sometimes it may go too far, but we have to make these decisions and accept them.

and here is the thing he said about tiktok in an interview over a year ago when talking about s2 because for some reason we're bringing this up:

BAGINSKI: I see the fastening of the processes Jacek Dukaj wrote about in his book – "Po piśmie" ("After the script"). We resign from cause-and-effect chains, from the linear narration. This book-like narration. When it comes to shows, the younger the public is, the logic of the plot is less significant.

INTERVIEWER: What is significant, then?

BAGINSKI: Just pure emotions. A bare emotional mix. Those people grow up on TikTok, Youtube, they jump from a video to video...

INTERVIEWER: You're talking to such person.

BAGINSKI: So, it's time to be serious: Dear children, what you do to yourself makes you less resilient for longer content, for long and complicated chains of cause an effect.

INTERVIEWER: You're talking about something else that's hidden between your words. What you mean is that you don't know how to make a show kids'd like to watch.

BAGINSKI: Generally, I try to know what people react to and like to watch. Long and complex narratives will remain, it'll be like a classic shelf in a bookstore. People will still read that, it will be popular at some point. But the edge of the mass audience is moving a bit into the a less linear narration, less cohesive one. I think it's inevitable. As reading is not natural for the human brain.

INTERVIEWER: Yep, you gotta learn it, it's hard.

BAGINSKI: Oh, in this sense, yes. You need a lot of effort to learn to recognise all these symbols. You probably don't remember that. If you're a genius, you read when you're 3. It's some big effort for your brain, moreover, it's not natural. The things we receive with our heads... There's nothing literary there. We have to learn literature. Learn to receive it and write it. It's like mathematics, a lot of abstract symbols you have to learn to recognise. People who understand it will remain, the people who work on narration, they have to work on texts. But, more and more people won't need it. Why write if I can record or say it? Why write if I can receive emotions in a different way. It's a controversial thesis. When Dukaj published it, there was a lot of arguments like: "But I still read! My friends, too!" However, we talk about trends in a scale.

INTERVIEWER: Yeah, it's not about you or your friend.

BAGINSKI: We talk about global trends. The success of TikTok wouldn't be possible without that. It's happening. It's just easier to watch and click, watch another one, than read a book and follow all those twists and plots. We'll see how it goes. I think The Witcher is safe for now, there are still a few more years... Maybe it's because of the generation.

in either case, it’s pretty obvious he’s not blaming ~*~the fans~*~ for the changes the show made to the books but talking about how american/western media is made and younger audiences who grew up on social media in general.

Marvel Comics released four G. I. Joe Yearbooks during the title’s 12 year run.

Essentially the series’ Annuals, the G. I. Joe Yearbooks were more like 64 page magazines, containing not only a main and occasionally) a back up story, but also a yearly review and write ups on the then popular Marvel-Sunbow animated series, giving updates on upcoming episodes.

Of the four G. I. Joe Yearbooks released by Marvel (oddly, neither DDP nor IDW ever released their versions of the format), G. I. Joe Yearbook #2 remains a favorite for the following reasons:

- The cover by Mike Golden. Its too bad he never rendered this in airbrush as he did for the covers for G. I. Joe #s 23, 27, 29, 36 & Yearbook #1. Its near perfect in terms of personnel…Plus the American flag background makes it one of the four ‘Patriotic covers’ used in the Marvel run: G. I. Joe #s 4, 152, and Yearbooks 1 and 2.

- It featured the return of the October Guard, the Warsaw Pact counterpart of the G. I. Joe Team.

- The article on the G. I. Joe cartoon which explains how an episode is created, a preview of then new Joes Low-Light, Slipstream and Mainframe, the then new Cobra Emperor and a few others.

- The then up to date Marvel G. I. Joe Cover Gallery from G. I. Joe #1-44 (Operation: Lady Doomsday/Hot Potato to Improvisations Upon A Theme), complete with titles. •

Its too bad neither DDP nor IDW released their own versions though. These were mostly good annuals, with Yearbooks #1 and 2 as the standouts.

• Given that Snake-Eyes, Torpedo, Ripcord, and Lady J essentially represent the elite members of the team (Commando, US Navy SEALs (SEa-Air-Land), H. A. L. O. (High-Altitude Low Opening) Jumper and Intelligence (Covert Operations), its too bad Roadblock was added as the fifth Joe rep. Stalker (as a Ranger) would’ve made more sense.

• IDW reprinted the G. I. Joe Yearbooks, but Unlike Marvel and DC’s true Facsimile Editions which do reprint original tales completely, along with the ads of the era, IDW’s (excepting the reprint of Yearbook #1) cut back on the original content. In the case of Yearbook #2, the Marvel Joe Cover Gallery was severely truncated. Besides, all the reprints sport new covers- hardly real Facsimile editions.

The Prince of Wales’ Court Circular entries for March 2023

Total: 20 engagements

Solo:

Public: 7

Private: 6

Joint (w/ Kate and/or other BRF members):

Public: 5

Private: 2

Breakdown:

March 1: Presented Leeks to the Welsh Guards at Combermere Barracks, St Leonards Road, Windsor, Berkshire, on the occasion of St David’s Day

March 2: (2)

Received The Crown Prince and Princess of Norway at Windsor Castle

Held a Meeting with Norwegian business delegates

March 6: Chaired a Meeting of The Prince's Council at 10 Buckingham Gate, London SW1

March 7: Held an Investiture at Windsor Castle

March 9: Visited Hayes Muslim Centre, 3 Pump Lane, Hayes, Middlesex, and were received by Ms Manju Malhi (Deputy Lieutenant of Greater London)

March 10: Received Ms. Hannah Jones (Chief Executive, the Earthshot Prize) at Windsor Castle

March 13: (2)

Attended the Commonwealth Service in Westminster Abbey

Attended a Reception at Buckingham Palace on the occasion of Commonwealth Day

March 14: Held a Royal Foundation Meeting at Windsor Castle

March 17: Presented Shamrock to the Irish Guards at Mons Barracks, Aldershot, Hampshire, on the occasion of St Patrick’s Day

March 20: Received Mr Alastair Martin (Secretary of the Duchy of Cornwall) at Windsor Castle

March 21: Held an Earthshot Prize Meeting

March 22: (4)

Met British troops at the Rzeszow-Jasionka International Airport

Visited a Polish Military Base in Rzeszow

Visited British troops providing support to Poland and Ukraine

Met Ukrainian refugees living in temporary accommodation in Warsaw

March 23: (3)

Laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Plac Marszalka Józefa Pilsudskiego, Warsaw

Called upon The President of the Republic of Poland at the President’s Chancellery, Warsaw

Met Ukrainian staff and refugees who are settled in the Polish community at Hala Koszyki, Koszykowa 63, Warsaw

——————————————————————————

Current Total for 2023: 44 engagements

44 ?

44: A random fact about anything

Some metro stations in Warsaw are built to double as nuclear shelters. They are equipped with meter-thick blast doors that are currently hidden in the walls. They are no longer certified for which standing nuclear bombardment but they are still operational and blast doors are sometimes used to prevent flooding of metro stations during exceeding waterfall.

Beyoncé RWT Look #44

Balmain

Worn 1x for the OPENING ACT - Warsaw N2

Last week we had some celebrations in Poland. We celebrated Polish Flag Day among others. I still can see some flags flapping around town from people's balconies.

But this particular photo is from Sopot, 2021. I think it was the day of the Anniversary of Warsaw Uprising '44, that's why the flag.

And of course those plants on that balcony looking magnificent!

The Good German Officer

Saved the Pianist

Wilhelm Adalbert Hosenfeld was born in Hesse, Germany in 1895 to a pious Catholic family. Charitable activities were a big part of his childhood. He joined the Wandervogel movement, a German wilderness youth group that was a precursor to the hippie movement (Wandervogel was outlawed by Hitler in 1933.) Wilm fought for Germany during World War I and was severely wounded in action. He received the Iron Cross Second Class.

After the war, Wilm got married in a traditional Catholic ceremony and he and his wife, Annemarie, had five children. The family settled in Hunfeld and Wilm worked as a schoolteacher. Annemarie was a pacifist and peace activist who influenced him enormously.  In 1939, when Wilm was 44 years old, Wilm was drafted by Hitler into the Wehrmacht, the German army. Stationed in Poland, he oversaw the building and running of a POW camp. He was moved throughout Poland and finally, in July 1940, where he stayed for the remainder of the war. Wilm had an interesting assignment: he was in charge of sports events at the Warsaw Army Stadium. 

In the 1930’s, Wilm joined the Nazi party, convinced that nationalist policy was the best for Germany. But once he arrived in Poland in 1940 and saw the brutality, he quickly became disillusioned. He read Mein Kampf and was shocked to learn the truth about Hitler’s ideology. 

He was horrified at how his countrymen were treating Poles and Jews. Being German, once a source of pride, felt like an embarrassment. Wilm looked for ways he could be helpful to the victims of his own army’s persecution. The first Jew saved by Wilm was Leon Warm, who’d escaped from a train headed to death camp Treblinka. Wilm procured false identity documents for Warm, and gave him a job in the sports stadium. One day Wilm was riding his bike through the Polish countryside when he saw a pregnant young Jewish woman running in great agitation. He followed and learned that her husband was in a concentration camp. She begged him for help, and he wrote down her husband’s name and promised that he would be home in three days. Nobody knows exactly what transpired, but Wilm kept his promise. Another time, he learned that the brother-in-law of a priest who was active in the Polish resistance was being taken to an extermination camp. Wilm located the truck, flagged it down, and told the S.S. officer that he needed a man for his labor crew. He “randomly” selected the priest’s brother-in-law, saving his life.

After the Warsaw Ghetto uprising in 1943 was brutally suppressed by the Nazis, Wilm wrote “… these animals. With horrible mass murder of the Jews we have lost this war. We have brought an eternal curse upon ourselves and will be forever covered with shame. We have no right for compassion or mercy; we all have a share in the guilt.”

A year after the ghetto uprising was the Warsaw uprising, a well-organized attempt by the Polish resistance to liberate Warsaw from the German occupation. This uprising also was quashed, and all Poles were kicked out of the city. As a German officer, Wilm stayed in Warsaw and encountered an unexpected survivor of the uprising. Wladyslaw Szpillman was a well-known Jewish pianist whose entire family had been deported to Treblinka. Wladyslaw avoided the same fate when the police officer overseeing deportations recognized him and allowed him to escape. The musician took shelter in the bombed-out shell of a building in Warsaw, trying desperately to cling to life despite the lack of food and heat. In November 1944, Wilm encountered Wladyslaw near death and provided the pianist with food, supplies, and safety from arrest. Wilm saved Wladyslaw’s life, enabling the composer’s prolific career composing and performing until his death in 2000 at age 88. Wladyslaw’s story, and Wilm’s crucial role in it, were dramatized in the acclaimed film “The Pianist.”

When the war ended, Wladyslaw was one of only twenty Jews left in Warsaw (before the war, 375,000 Jews lived there, 30% of the population.) Wilm surrendered to the Soviets along with the men he was commanding. Despite his renunciation of Nazism and heroic actions, the Soviets convicted him of war crimes for being a German officer, and sentenced him to 25 years of hard labor. In 1946 he wrote to his wife, begging her to track down the Jews he’d saved and ask them to testify on his behalf. She was able to find Wladyslaw and he agreed to help but unfortunately it did no good. Tragically, Wilm Hosenfeld died in a Soviet POW camp on August 13, 1952 having suffered a ruptured thoracic aorta. Wolf Biermann wrote about Wilm’s sad death: “He had been tortured in captivity… he then suffered several cerebral strokes. By the end he was in a confused state of mind, a beaten child who does not understand the blows. He died with his spirit utterly broken.”

After Wilm’s death, the Szpilman and Warm families advocated for decades for him to be honored as Righteous Among the Nations, and Wilm Hosenfeld finally received that designation in 2008, His children proudly accepted the award on his behalf. 

For following his conscience rather than unjust orders and saving lives, we honor Wilm Hosenfeld as this week’s Thursday Hero.

Accidental Talmudist

Special investigators in Poland say they have found two mass graves containing the ashes of at least 8,000 Poles slain by the Nazis during World War II in forest executions that the Nazis later tried to hide by incinerating the bodies and planting trees on the burial pits.

Investigators from a national historical institute marked the finding this week with speeches and wreath-laying at the site in the Bialuty Forest, 100 miles north of Warsaw.

Starting in March 1944, the bodies that the occupying Nazis had secretly buried in the forest were "brought out, burned and pulverized in order to prevent this crime from ever being known, in order to prevent anyone taking responsibility for it," Karol Nawrocki, the head of the Institute of National Remembrance, said Wednesday.

"These efforts were not successful," Nawrocki said.

The Nazis used other inmates, chiefly Jewish, to do the cover-up job. Those inmates were also killed.

Institute experts said at least 17 tons of ashes were found in two pits that are 10 feet deep, meaning that remains of at least 8,000 people are buried there.

The victims were mostly inmates of the Soldau Nazi German prisoner camp in the Polish town of Dzialdowo who were executed in the forest between 1940-44, the experts said. An estimated 30,000 people, mostly Polish elites, military, resistance fighters and Jews were inmates at the camp and a large number of them were killed or died, in the Nazis' plan of extermination.

The forest has been known as the burial site of the slain inmates but the exact location of the mass graves and the number of the victims were not known until now. The institute's archeologists and anthropologists located the two mass graves this month.

The institute investigates Nazi crimes and also communist crimes against Poles and has the power to bring charges against the suspects if they are still alive.

Events 8.21 (after 1900)

1901 – Six hundred American school teachers, Thomasites, arrived in Manila on the USAT Thomas. 1911 – The Mona Lisa is stolen by Vincenzo Peruggia, a Louvre employee. 1914 – World War I: The Battle of Charleroi, a successful German attack across the River Sambre that pre-empted a French offensive in the same area. 1918 – World War I: The Second Battle of the Somme begins. 1942 – World War II: The Guadalcanal Campaign: American forces defeat an attack by Imperial Japanese Army soldiers in the Battle of the Tenaru. 1944 – Dumbarton Oaks Conference, prelude to the United Nations, begins. 1944 – World War II: Canadian and Polish units capture the strategically important town of Falaise, Calvados, France. 1945 – Physicist Harry Daghlian is fatally irradiated in a criticality accident during an experiment with the Demon core at Los Alamos National Laboratory. 1957 – The Soviet Union successfully conducts a long-range test flight of the R-7 Semyorka, the first intercontinental ballistic missile. 1959 – United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs an executive order proclaiming Hawaii the 50th state of the union. Hawaii's admission is currently commemorated by Hawaii Admission Day. 1963 – Xá Lợi Pagoda raids: The Army of the Republic of Vietnam Special Forces loyal to Ngô Đình Nhu, brother of President Ngo Dinh Diem, vandalizes Buddhist pagodas across the country, arresting thousands and leaving an estimated hundreds dead. 1965 – The Socialist Republic of Romania is proclaimed, following the adoption of a new constitution. 1968 – Cold War: Nicolae Ceaușescu, leader of the Socialist Republic of Romania, publicly condemns the Soviet-led Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia, encouraging the Romanian population to arm itself against possible Soviet reprisals. 1968 – James Anderson Jr. posthumously receives the first Medal of Honor to be awarded to an African American U.S. Marine. 1971 – A bomb exploded in the Liberal Party campaign rally in Plaza Miranda, Manila, Philippines with several anti-Marcos political candidates injured. 1982 – Lebanese Civil War: The first troops of a multinational force lands in Beirut to oversee the Palestine Liberation Organization's withdrawal from Lebanon. 1983 – Philippine opposition leader Benigno Aquino Jr. is assassinated at Manila International Airport (now renamed Ninoy Aquino International Airport in his honor). 1986 – Carbon dioxide gas erupts from volcanic Lake Nyos in Cameroon, killing up to 1,800 people within a 20-kilometre (12 mi) range. 1988 – The 6.9 Mw  Nepal earthquake shakes the Nepal–India border with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe), leaving 709–1,450 people killed and thousands injured. 1991 – Latvia declares renewal of its full independence after its occupation by the Soviet Union since 1940. 1991 – Coup attempt against Mikhail Gorbachev collapses. 1993 – NASA loses contact with the Mars Observer spacecraft. 1994 – Royal Air Maroc Flight 630 crashes in Douar Izounine, Morocco, killing all 44 people on board. 1995 – Atlantic Southeast Airlines Flight 529, an Embraer EMB 120 Brasilia, attempts to divert to West Georgia Regional Airport after the left engine fails, but the aircraft crashes in Carroll County near Carrollton, Georgia, killing nine of the 29 people on board. 2000 – American golfer Tiger Woods wins the 82nd PGA Championship and becomes the first golfer since Ben Hogan in 1953 to win three majors in a calendar year. 2013 – Hundreds of people are reported killed by chemical attacks in the Ghouta region of Syria. 2017 – A solar eclipse traverses the continental United States.

Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine has caused unimaginable suffering for millions of people and overturned Europe’s security architecture. With little end to the fighting in sight and Ukraine’s armed forces poised to go on the offensive with more arms coming from the West, there is a silver lining to the conflict. Warsaw and Kyiv have become strong allies.

The declaration that “there’s no free Poland without a free Ukraine”—often attributed to Poland’s founding father, Jozef Pilsudski—that bound Poles and Ukrainians to stop Soviet imperialism in 1919 rings equally true today. At the time, the Red Army was planning on igniting world revolution but was stopped and turned back by Polish and Ukrainian forces.

Then, as today, the slogan proves that the notion of a Europe without a sovereign Ukraine is no longer conceivable. For Kyiv and Warsaw, the prosperity of one is pinned to the success and stability of the other. The opening lines of the two countries’ national anthems are nearly identical: “Poland/Ukraine is not yet lost,” conveying a unique characteristic of national obstinacy to survive partition, occupation, or enemy aggression. Both were penned in defiance of Russian imperialism.

Despite episodes of friendship, relations between Poles and Ukrainians in the 20th century were marked by animosity and ethnic cleansings. Soviet and Nazi German occupations turned borderlands into bloodlands, with mutual grievances and stereotypes leaving lasting scars. After 1945, the communist regime in Poland internally displaced Ukrainians to fulfill objectives set out to “resolve the Ukrainian problem once and for all.” Civilians, suspected of nationalistic tendencies, were regarded as sympathizers of “bestial” Ukrainian insurgents, who slaughtered thousands of Poles in Volhynia and Eastern Galicia in 1943-44.

Collective responsibility was applied in 1947, when more than 140,000 Ukrainians were driven from borderland regions in the southeast to postwar territories in the north and west (onetime German lands that had become part of Poland). The goal of this military operation (code name ‘Vistula’) was to destroy Ukrainian identity and culture in communist Poland.

Regime propaganda in film and literature cultivated a harmful image of Ukrainians as bloodthirsty fascists. Even though Poland was the first country, along with Canada, to recognize Ukraine’s independence in 1991, public polling showed that negative views toward Ukrainians lingered throughout the 1990s. This difficult history makes Poles’ solidarity with Ukraine today even more remarkable.

Poland knows that when given the tools and know-how, Ukraine will quickly shift from being a consumer of Western security to a critical provider of it for the Euro-Atlantic community. These like-minded anti-imperialists not only threaten to upend Russian President Vladimir Putin’s revanchist drive once and for all but are accelerating the shift of Europe’s political and military center of gravity east, something that will redefine the European Union and NATO for decades to come. The West should prepare for contingencies following the fall of Putin’s empire—one of which is a postwar Europe underpinned by a Polish-Ukrainian strategic alliance.

Nothing irritates Putin more than close relations among the nations of East Central Europe that were once part of the Soviet bloc, opposed Russian expansionism in the past, and contributed to the collapse of the Soviet Union, which Putin bemoaned was the “greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the century.” Strategic measures such as the recent joint declaration by the presidents of Lithuania, Poland, and Ukraine reaffirming their readiness to continue strengthening Kyiv’s defense capabilities and promoting more support in NATO and the EU drive him mad.

In his eyes, Ukraine, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and Belarus constitute a gray zone of small states within Moscow’s sphere of influence, the so-called near abroad, that remain up for grabs in the global contest between superpowers. Putin regards their Euro-Atlantic membership and aspirations as a dangerous impediment to overcome; without keeping them under Russia’s boot, he doesn’t see a way to rebuild and expand Moscow’s influence.

It’s no surprise then that these countries are the targets of Russian cyberattacks, disinformation campaigns, political meddling, and armed aggression. To counter Putin’s ambitions, they have launched various multilateral frameworks. These include the Lublin Triangle, a trilateral platform designed to build stronger political, economic, infrastructure, security, defense, and cultural links among Lithuania, Poland, and Ukraine, and the Riga Format between the Baltic states and Poland. Given Hungary’s pro-Russian attitude and France and Germany’s initial wavering on helping Ukraine, these multilateral forums have eclipsed the influence and importance of previous Eastern European blocs, such as the Visegrad Group.

Strategic ties between Warsaw and Kyiv are developing pragmatically. Criticized at one time by partners as a political laggard, Poland recognized the threat posed by Putin’s neoimperialist rhetoric to Ukraine and the Euro-Atlantic alliance, in which Warsaw is securely anchored. It is Europe’s leading security entrepreneur, modernizing its armaments to meet its commitments of defending allies and deterring threats—rising to the rank of key ally against a revanchist Putin.

The outpouring of solidarity shown by everyday Poles toward Ukrainians seeking refuge from war goes without saying. Since Feb. 24, 2022, more than 9 million Ukrainians have entered Poland, with as many as 1.5 million to 2 million staying and others returning home. While millions fled to Poland seeking safety, there was no need for refugee camps. Instead of makeshift tents and temporary U.N. campgrounds common during refugee crises, Poles opened their homes to their Ukrainian neighbors. Considered an outlier by some European partners on its refugee positions in the past, Poland is now the continent’s unquestioned humanitarian giant, suggesting a sense of moral obligation that coincides with a fraternal affinity with Ukraine.

More than 1.3 million Ukrainians have received the Polish equivalent of a Social Security number, which allows them to find legal employment. They are given access to public health care, kindergartens, schools, and direct financial assistance. According to the Polish Economic Institute, between January and September 2022, 3,600 companies with Ukrainian capital and 10,200 Ukrainian sole proprietorships were established in Poland; 66 percent of the businesses surveyed declared that they would continue operating in Poland regardless of the situation in Ukraine.

Moreover, individuals returning to Ukraine after the war are likely to remember the hospitality shown to them by Poles and will be influenced not only by Russia’s war of extermination but also by positive experiences in Poland. Having been part of the workforce, a large number of adults will be able to communicate in Polish, while their children will be fluent after having spent a few months or years in Poland’s educational system. Already, the number of Ukrainians interested in learning Polish is rising (36 percent) and will continue to do so.

Developing social bonds will likely affect future political relations between the two states. Findings of a public opinion poll conducted in Ukraine by the Mieroszewski Centre indicate that while 40 percent of respondents think Poland and Ukraine should simply be good neighbors, 58 percent of Ukrainians believe that the two should forge closer ties beyond that: 29 percent prefer an alliance where both support each other while coordinating on foreign policy, and another 29 percent believe that relations should take the form of a commonwealth with a purely symbolic border and a common foreign policy.

Try as he may, Putin’s war machine has been unable to successfully do what Nazi Germany or the Soviet Union did in the past—exploit animosities to divide Poles and Ukrainians. Russian propaganda spread throughout the war about Poland’s purported secret plans of regaining western Ukrainian territories that belonged to it in the past is unconvincing. If anything, it’s having the opposite effect.

Of course, Poles and Ukrainians have mutual grievances about tragic events of the past, especially in the 20th century. For the sake of the victims’ memory, events such as the murder of Poles in Volhynia and Eastern Galicia in 1943-44 and the forced resettlement of Ukrainians in 1947 should not be swept under the rug but rather studied and commemorated. A good sign is how more emphasis is being placed on what unites rather than divides the two countries—namely, the existential threat of Russian neoimperialism.

The Polish and Ukrainian presidents laying flowers side by side at a military cemetery in Lviv, a city the two nations fought over in the early 20th century, became an iconic image galvanizing how history isn’t standing in the way of pursuing strategic ties. The more time younger generations who don’t live with past scars and memories spend together, the more likely reconciliation over historical events is possible.

An outspoken defender of Ukraine’s territorial integrity on the global stage, Poland is seen by more and more Ukrainians as not only a friend but a crucial ally: 87 percent of Ukrainians trust Polish President Andrzej Duda more than any other Western leader, including U.S. President Joe Biden (79 percent). Poles also have a favorable view of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. In one poll, he topped the list of foreign leaders whom Poles trust most (86 percent), with Biden coming in second (74 percent).

To commemorate Poland’s Independence Day last November, Zelensky recorded a message in which he said, “Ukrainians will always remember the help they received from Poles. You are our allies, and your country is our sister. We have had our differences, but we are kin, and we are free.” That same day, Ukraine’s first lady, Olena Zelenska, posted a spot depicting a Ukrainian woman and her children leaving their home, finding shelter in Poland, and receiving comfort in the arms of a Polish volunteer. When her husband dies in the war, she says: “When I realize that I’ll never see him again, you cry with me. When I don’t have the strength to go on, you help lift me up. I am Ukraine. You are Poland. And our hearts beat together.” It is difficult to recall a moment in history when Poles and Ukrainians were this close.

Putin’s aggression and the atrocities committed against innocent civilians have permanently turned Ukrainians away from Russians and any idea of pursuing postwar ties with Moscow, let alone forgiving them. Soldiers on the front lines and victims in towns such as Bucha are creating a new generation of heroes and martyrs that the entire nation—and world—calls their own. Their sacrifices automatically reaffirm Ukrainians’ national consciousness and identity around strong anti-imperialist sentiments—something they share with their closest allies Poland and the United States. Kyiv’s natural trajectory in the future is to gravitate closer to Poland and the West.

This process shouldn’t be treated by either country as a make-or-break moment for the bilateral relationship but as a genuine desire by both to prove authoritarian bullies like Putin wrong.

In his groundbreaking work Imperial Ends, Alexander Motyl notes that empires end not when the core ceases to control the peripheries but when the peripheries begin to significantly interact with one another. This process is now underway between Poland and Ukraine. With Poland firmly ingrained in the Euro-Atlantic community and Ukraine aspiring to join its formal structures, their postwar relationship can’t be superficial but must be dynamic.

A strong partnership built around the Warsaw-Kyiv nexus, backed by stakeholders like Canada, Britain, and the United States, will underpin Europe as it goes through the painstaking process of reprioritizing political, economic, and defense agendas. If the West fails to champion this strategic partnership that could hasten Putin’s defeat, there is a dangerous possibility of leaving Europe vulnerable to a hostile Russia and future instability.

Daily Wrap Up December 2-3, 2022

Under the cut:

The Ukrainian foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, has said that 17 Ukrainian embassies or diplomatic missions around the world have received letter bombs or packages containing animal parts, including cows eyes, in recent days.

European Union member states have agreed to put a $60 a barrel price cap on Russian oil after Poland, which was holding out, gave the green light to the deal. In an effort to reduce the Kremlin’s income from fossil fuels, the EU has agreed to limit the amount that can be paid for seaborne oil to diminish Moscow’s ability to finance its war in Ukraine.

Russia "will not accept" a price cap on its oil and is analysing how to respond, the Kremlin said in comments reported on Saturday, in response to a deal by Western powers aimed at limiting a key source of funding for its war in Ukraine.

The Ukrainian army has recaptured 13 settlements in the Luhansk region, the eastern most oblast in the country, according to the head of the regional administration, Serhiy Haidai.

Russian troops in Ukraine are deliberately attacking the country’s museums, libraries and other cultural institutions, according to a report issued by the US and Ukrainian chapters of the international writers’ organisation PEN.

More details have been published about attacks on Ukraine on Friday, in an update from the general staff of the Ukrainian armed forces. They said Russia continues to shell civilian infrastructure and is trying to go on the offensive in Avdiivka and Bakhmut. Russia launched five missile strikes, 27 airstrikes and 44 rocket launcher attacks on Bakhmut and Avdiivka.

All Russian collaborators have left the town of Oleshky, located on the eastern bank of Dnipro River, 23 kilometers across from the liberated Kherson, the Ukrainian military’s National Resistance Center reported on Dec. 3.

“The Ukrainian foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, has said that 17 Ukrainian embassies or diplomatic missions around the world have received letter bombs or packages containing animal parts, including cows eyes, in recent days.

In an interview with CNN, he said: “It started with an explosion at the embassy of Ukraine in Spain,” Kuleba said. “But what followed this explosion was more weird, and I would even say sick.”

A letter bomb at the Ukrainian embassy in Madrid left a staff member with minor injuries on Wednesday. Others have been sent to the Spanish prime minister, the deputy prime minister and the US embassy.

Ukraine’s foreign affairs spokesperson, Oleg Nikolenko, said that embassies in Hungary, the Netherlands, Poland, Croatia, Italy and Austria are among those to receive the packages.

When asked who he thought was behind the letters, Kuleba told CNN said: “I feel tempted to say, to name Russia straight away, because first of all you have to answer the question, who benefits?

“Maybe this terror response is the Russian answer to the diplomatic horror that we created for Russia on the international arena, and this is how they try to fight back while they are losing the real diplomatic battles one after another.”

Russia has denied any responsibility for the packages in Madrid. On Wednesday, its embassy in Spain said: “Any terrorist threat or act, even more so directed against a diplomatic mission, is totally reprehensible.””-via The Guardian

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“European Union member states have agreed to put a $60 a barrel price cap on Russian oil after Poland, which was holding out, gave the green light to the deal.

In an effort to reduce the Kremlin’s income from fossil fuels, the EU has agreed to limit the amount that can be paid for seaborne oil to diminish Moscow’s ability to finance its war in Ukraine.

The price cap also aims to avert a surge in global oil prices after the EU’s embargo on Russian crude takes effect on 5 December.

Warsaw had held out on approving the deal in order to examine an adjustment mechanism to keep the cap below the market price – having pushed in negotiations for the cap to be as low as possible.

Poland’s ambassador to the EU, Andrzej Sadoś, said on Friday that the mechanism in the final deal would keep the price cap at least 5% below the market rate.

However, security experts from the CSIS thinktank have suggested a cap at $60 is toothless since it is above the price of existing Russian oil prices of about $52 a barrel.

It has been estimated that Russian oil is sold at a profit from $40-45 a barrel, but Russia’s true extraction costs are hard to estimate.

The cap is expected to be formally announced on Sunday, and oil embargoes in the EU and G7 will begin next week.”-via The Guardian

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“Russia "will not accept" a price cap on its oil and is analysing how to respond, the Kremlin said in comments reported on Saturday, in response to a deal by Western powers aimed at limiting a key source of funding for its war in Ukraine.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow had made preparations for Friday's price cap announcement by the Group of Seven nations, the European Union and Australia, the Russian state news agency TASS reported.

"We will not accept this cap," RIA news agency quoted him as saying. He added that Russia would conduct a rapid analysis of the agreement and respond after that, RIA reported.

Russia has repeatedly said it will not supply oil to countries that implement the cap - a stance reaffirmed by Mikhail Ulyanov, Moscow's ambassador to international organisations in Vienna, in posts on social media on Saturday.

"Starting from this year Europe will live without Russian oil," he said.

The G7 price cap will allow non-EU countries to continue importing seaborne Russian crude oil, but it will prohibit shipping, insurance and re-insurance companies from handling cargoes of Russian crude around the globe, unless it is sold for less than $60. That could complicate the shipment of Russian crude priced above the cap, even to countries which are not part of the agreement.

Russian Urals crude traded at around $67 a barrel on Friday.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the cap will particularly benefit low- and medium-income countries that have borne the brunt of high energy and food prices.

"With Russia's economy already contracting and its budget increasingly stretched thin, the price cap will immediately cut into (President Vladimir) Putin’s most important source of revenue," Yellen said in a statement.

In comments published on Telegram, Russia's embassy in the United States criticised what it called the "dangerous" Western move and said Moscow would continue to find buyers for its oil.”-via Reuters

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“The Ukrainian army has recaptured 13 settlements in the Luhansk region, the eastern most oblast in the country, according to the head of the regional administration, Serhiy Haidai.

He said that artillery was still being fired at the villages by Russian forces. Doctors are due to visit next week and firewood is being organised for residents, Haidai posted on Telegram.”-via The Guardian

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“Russian troops in Ukraine are deliberately attacking the country’s museums, libraries and other cultural institutions, according to a report issued by the US and Ukrainian chapters of the international writers’ organisation PEN.

The report stated:

Culture is not collateral damage in the war against Ukraine; it’s a target, a central pillar of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s justification for the war.

Putin has repeatedly claimed that Ukrainian culture and language simply don’t exist. By targeting art museums, music halls, libraries, theaters and historical sites, he attempts to make it so.”

PEN cited Ukraine’s Ministry of Culture as saying that 529 “cultural heritage and cultural institutions” have been destroyed or damaged since the war started. The figure includes both sites of national importance and cultural venues in towns and villages, the report said.

The list includes the bombing in March of a theatre in Mariupol, where hundreds of people were sheltering. Around 600 people died in the attack, according to an Associated Press investigation.

The PEN report said Russian soldiers have also seized and destroyed Ukrainian literature and Ukrainian-language books from public libraries in occupied regions.

However, it acknowledged “it is not always possible to determine if the bombings of cultural sites are deliberate or the result of Russia’s indiscriminate bombing of civilian areas.”

PEN Ukraine said it has documented 31 civilian writers, artists and other cultural workers killed in Russian attacks this year, and that some other cultural figures have died while fighting with Ukrainian forces.”-via The Guardian

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“More details have been published about attacks on Ukraine on Friday, in an update from the general staff of the Ukrainian armed forces.

They said Russia continues to shell civilian infrastructure and is trying to go on the offensive in Avdiivka and Bakhmut.

Russia launched five missile strikes, 27 airstrikes and 44 rocket launcher attacks on Ukrainian towns, cities and troops.

The main target for Russian airstrikes was Bakhmut and Avdiivka, both in Donetsk oblast in the east of Ukraine.

Kherson city has continued to be shelled since its recapture by Ukrainian troops.”-via The Guardian

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“All Russian collaborators have left the town of Oleshky, located on the eastern bank of Dnipro River, 23 kilometers across from the liberated Kherson, the Ukrainian military’s National Resistance Center reported on Dec. 3. The center reports those people held positions in the occupation administration and police force.”-via Kyiv Independent

Hey, I'd like to know your opinion on this

Does it seem to you that (recent) Polish movies (or at least those famous enough to be blockbusters and on the opposite extreme, arthouse films) are getting kind of crass? At least for the standards of a Romanian TV rating aka the ones I grew up with, these movies have way too much graphic violence and sex. 3 specific examples that I've watched (with the teachers!!) That I remember off the top of my head: Warsaw 44 (worst), Najmro and The Zookeper's wife (ok this 3rd one I actually liked but it was still very shocking compared to your average ww2 movie). Not saying that these movies are badly made, they're actually almost Hollywood level tbh. Maybe it's Romania that has a lot of censorship, but frankly even by American movie standards I found Polish movies quite shocking. I'd like to know how you see this and what the TV rating rules are for you guys and also. Movie recommendations why not

bestie i would love to be able to answer this properly, but the last time i watched a polish movie was when i was forced to do so in middle school :(