Category Archives: Poland

Vaclav Havel: “Czech proverb fits this situation perfectly: The height of the tree is recognized once it has fallen.”

Posted on December 18, 2011 by Barbara Dillon Hillas

Posted in Communism, Czech Republic, Dissidents, History, Poland, Vaclav Havel | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Christmas music.

Posted on December 14, 2011 by Barbara Dillon Hillas

I remember how delighted I was to discover Czech and Polish Christmas Carols.  Enjoy.

Posted in Culture, Czech Republic, Memories, Poland, Religion | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

A Thousand Years of Polish Jewry.

Posted on November 18, 2011 by Barbara Dillon Hillas

Poland’s Jews lived there for 1,000 years. Ninety percent of them were killed during World War II. In 2013 the Museum of the History of Polish Jews will open in Warsaw. Here is a very interesting video of a mini-lecture … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Holocaust, Poland | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Today, 67 years ago, the Warsaw Uprising began.

Posted on August 1, 2011 by Barbara Dillon Hillas

This is what I wrote in May 2008: One of the most painful memories of Polish history is World War II. I cannot count the times I have had Poles say to me that they are baffled that the world … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Poland, World War II | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Warsaw: City of Ruins.

Posted on May 24, 2011 by Barbara Dillon Hillas

The marvel of technology that shows what human cruelty has wrought: destruction and devastation. ‘City of Ruins’, a five minute-long documentary which simulates an aircraft flight over the ruined Polish capital of Warsaw in 1945, has received the prestigious Silver … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Germany, History, Poland, Soviet Union, World War II | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

30 years ago today Pope John Paul II was shot.

Posted on May 13, 2011 by Barbara Dillon Hillas

Pope John Paul II was shot on the feast day of Our Lady of Fatima. Pat Gohn at Patheos explains the relationship between the Polish Pope, the Virgin Mary, three shepherd children, the attempted assassination, and the significance of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Anniversary, Crime, History, Poland, Religion | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Irena Sendlerowa and the Polish women of World War II.

Posted on April 27, 2011 by Barbara Dillon Hillas

PBS will be airing this Sunday a special program dedicated to the Polish Catholic women of World War II that fought against the Nazi Germans to save the Jewish children from annihilation. One of these women was Irena Sendlerowa (Irena … Continue reading →

Posted in Anti-Semitism, Auschwitz, Empathy, Holocaust, Irena Sendler, Poland, World War II | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

“Stop seeing Poland as a place of death.”

Posted on April 27, 2011 by Barbara Dillon Hillas

Poland’s Jews are finding they can lead normal lives, according to this lovely article.  It reaffirms what I thought when I lived in Warsaw.  A few years ago, I wrote about the last Jew of Góra Kalwaria and my impressions: … Continue reading →

Posted in Anti-Semitism, Auschwitz, Felix Karpman, Góra Kalwaria, Holocaust, Poland | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Lech Walesa giving a helping hand.

Posted on April 24, 2011 by Barbara Dillon Hillas

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The horses of Poland.

Posted on April 14, 2011 by Barbara Dillon Hillas

The tarpans were thought to be extinct…and then a German zoologist began genetic modification to bring out the “Aryan” in the breed.  You can still find them in Poland. In the fifth century B.C., Herodotus wrote of how much he … Continue reading →

Posted in Animal kingdom, Hunting, Poland, Science | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Ferdinand The Bull: an allegory?

Posted on April 13, 2011 by Barbara Dillon Hillas

The story of a “political” animal…  Apparently, Hitler banned the book, though Stalin approved of it, and allowed only this children’s book, that was not about communism, to be disseminated in Poland.  Life Magazine had a wonderful spread on the … Continue reading →

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Krakow.

Posted on April 12, 2011 by Barbara Dillon Hillas

A while back, National Geographic had an interesting video regarding the restoration that Poland’s beautiful Krakow.

Posted in Architecture, Poland | Tagged | Leave a comment

The story of Jan Karski, a Polish Catholic who tried to tell the world of the Nazi attrocities.

Posted on April 4, 2011 by Barbara Dillon Hillas

If you have never heard of Jan Karski, do read the article by Dalya Alberge: The extraordinary memoir of a Polish resistance fighter who gave the first eyewitness report on the Holocaust to the Allies is to be published for … Continue reading →

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Góra Kalwaria.

Posted on March 3, 2011 by Barbara Dillon Hillas

It was 70 years ago to the day that the shtetl Góra Kalwaria lost all of its Jews.  According to the Yad Vashem website, the Jews from Góra Kalwaria, or Gur as it was known then, were deported to the … Continue reading →

Posted in Auschwitz, Felix Karpman, Góra Kalwaria, Holocaust, Poland, Religion, World War II | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Poland and Israel.

Posted on February 27, 2011 by Barbara Dillon Hillas

Interesting interview by Haaretz of the Polish Foreign Minister: What is the meaning of the phenomenal renewal of Jewish culture in Poland today? Should we really accept the thesis, heard more and more, that Poland is a philo-Semitic country nowadays? … Continue reading →

Posted in Anti-Semitism, History, Holocaust, Memories, Poland | Tagged , | Leave a comment