Our Man In Warsaw

Who is Robert Strybel?
For years journalist Robert Strybel has been providing the Polish Falcons of America with a variety of news and feature articles for the Sokol Polski, the PFA's official publication. Now you can have access on-line to all of his most recent work, from answering questions submitted by readers to Polish news stories to recipes. [View Profile]

Newsbytes [9/26/07]
Brief News Stories Of Polish Interest
A Danish “help wanted” bus is touring the Polish countryside touting the advantages of working in Denmark, a country that could use some 100,000 more workers. In this unique employment agency on wheels, prospective Polish guest workers learn what opportunities are available and can obtain leads for jobs as bus and truck drivers, plumbers, carpenters, electricians and masons. Those fluent in German or English get first crack at jobs that pay four to five times what workers earn in Poland. [Read More Newsbytes]

Feature Article [9/26/07]
"Katyn" May Be Veteran Director's Last Production
Director Andrzej Wajda, 81, has said that for him this was the last moment to undertake a project of this magnitude, requiring immense effort and energy. He had mulled over the venture for years. [Full Story]

Feature Article [8/23/07]
Poland's Favorite Polish Foods
Not long ago, the Polish newsweekly Wprost (similar to our Time and Newsweek) published the results of a survey on Polish food attitudes which included a question on the respondents’ 10 favorite foods. Some of the responses may come as a surprise to the average Polish American reader of this newspaper. [Full Story]

Did You Know That? [8/23/07]
Various Factoids About Poland
The Stars and Stripes should be on the viewer’s left and Poland’s colors on the right, according to American flag etiquette, whenever an American and Polish flag are displayed crossed. When both anthems are performed in public, “Jeszcze Polska nie zginela” should come first, followed by “The Star-Spangled Banner”. [Go To Section]

Feature Article [8/23/07]
Pol-Am Globetrotter On Seventh Around-The-World Trip
The two countries have been discussing the possible return of valuable works of art, music and literature off and on for 15 years. Already back in 1977, Polish Communist leader Edward Gierek gave East German dictator Erich Honecker the original scores of Mozart’s “The Magic Flute”, “Symphony No. 41 (Jupiter symphony)” and “Mass in C-minor” as well as Bach’s “Concerto in C-minor”. In return, Honecker handed over a portrait of Poland's 17th-century King Jan III Sobieski. [Full Story]

Answerman [8/23/07]
Ask Our Man In Warsaw
The PFA's Polish Answerman answers questions submitted by readers. Also, find out how to ask Robert Strybel your own Polish-related question that you would like answered. [Go To Section]

Feature Article [8/23/07]
Enrich Your Club Or Parish Social Scene With St. Andrew's Event Festivities
St. Andrew’s Eve (November 29th) continues to be a popular celebration, especially with the younger set. It has traditionally been associated with fortune-telling, especially eligible young ladies’ quest for a suitor who will lead her to the altar. [Full Story]

Feature Article [8/23/07]
Thanksgiving –– Polonian Style
Thanksgiving Day, celebrated in the US on the fourth Thursday of November and in Canada on the second Monday of October, is obviously not a Polish-rooted holiday, but it has been eagerly observed by Polonians since way back when. [Full Story]

Feature Article [8/23/07]
Poland Rejects One-Sided German Art Claims
The two countries have been discussing the possible return of valuable works of art, music and literature off and on for 15 years. Already back in 1977, Polish Communist leader Edward Gierek gave East German dictator Erich Honecker the original scores of Mozart’s “The Magic Flute”, “Symphony No. 41 (Jupiter symphony)” and “Mass in C-minor” as well as Bach’s “Concerto in C-minor”. In return, Honecker handed over a portrait of Poland's 17th-century King Jan III Sobieski. [Full Story]

Feature Article [7/23/07]
Poland's "Black Sunday"
President Lech Kaczynski rushed to the site of the worst Polish road accident ever to occur abroad, where he was joined by his sympathetic French counterpart Nicolas Sarkozy. The unsuspecting 50 Poles from the Szczecin area of northwestern Poland, including two drivers and three priests, had been on their way to the well-known Marian shrine of Notre-Dame de La Salette, when a brake failure suddenly prevented their speeding bus from negotiating a curve. [Full Story]

Feature Article [7/23/07]
Poland Not Giving Up On Mazur Extradition
The Polish authorities do not intend to drop their efforts to bring 62-year-old Polish-born Chicago businessman to justice, despite the ruling of a judge who recently denied their extradition request. [Full Story]

Feature Article [7/23/07]
The Last Mazurka: A Polish 20-Century Saga
Andrew Tarnowski’s The Last Mazurka is a gripping, emotional tale of one of Poland’s illustrious aristocratic clans grappling with their own ambitions, passions and failures amid the turbulent tides of the last century. [Full Story]