40 Photos From Polish Social Media Profiles That Raise As Many Questions As They Provide Answers
Poland is a country in Central Europe with a history that spans over a thousand years. Its diverse territory extends from the beaches of the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in its south, but in order to truly understand this place, we must look at the people who live there.
Enter 'Pictures from Polish profiles.' This Facebook page collects all the colorful photos that Poles upload to their social media accounts, providing a no-filter glimpse into their everyday life. From priests and policemen to football hooligans and babcias, continue scrolling to meet the folks and see what they're up to!
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According to Culture.pl, a website about the country run by its residents, Poles are really hospitable. "[As one] Polish saying goes: 'A guest in the house [is a] God in the house'. Hospitality plays a crucial role in Polish culture," they introduced themselves. "Poles often choose to entertain guests in their households, which on many occasions involves the preparation of a proper, home-cooked meal by the hosts. A spectacular display of Polish hospitality takes place during the Christmas and Easter celebrations when people invite numerous relatives and friends over for meals that often feature a whole array of home-made dishes."
Also, Polish people won't admit defeat. "Some might consider calling Poles 'indomitable' surprising, since Poland was once partitioned for over a century. Nevertheless, Poles were perceived as such, for instance, by the great Argentinian writer Jorge Luis Borges," the folks at Culture.pl explained. "There are a number of good reasons to share his view. Whenever Poland fell to foreign powers, Poles would rebel over and over again. Admittedly, most of our uprisings turned out to be crushing defeats, but that didn’t break our spirit ‒ we would simply prepare for the next rebellion. In the end, here we are, free and prosperous."
As the last point might suggest, Poles are also courageous. "Poland was the first nation to stand up to Nazi Germany when Hitler invaded in 1939. Shortly after this attack, Poland was also invaded by the Soviet Union and for some time battled against the two great powers at once, showing tremendous courage. During World War II, the penalty for lending assistance to Jews was death. Nevertheless Poles are the most numerous national group among the Righteous Among the Nations, people decorated by Israel’s Yad Vashem Institute for rescuing Jews from the Holocaust."
If he is a real priest and this is real holy water and he says the right words, it counts.
All of the struggles made these people really sharp. "In the 1940s, the Soviet Union imposed communism on Poland. This system led to many absurdities such as food stores having nothing but vinegar in stock. These realities forced Poles to become resourceful. For example, the so-called 'line committee' was a solution for those who needed to wait in line for a very long time. It was possible to register your place in the queue with a committee formed by a group of volunteers, and therefore leave the line without losing your spot."
But no matter what, they remain in touch with nature. "Recently, an acquaintance of mine from abroad visited Poland and was startled to discover that, during the summer, you can get wild bilberries and blueberries for a few złotys on every street corner. In his home country, wild-grown produce is a great and pricey rarity. Meanwhile, Poles will often pick their own wild-grown fruit as well as many different kinds of edible forest mushrooms. Pretty cool considering that, coming straight from mother nature, these things are as healthy as it gets."
Sounds like a gang I'd like to meet!
Hotel and restaurant "Alicja"
Good for them for bringing some color and style to such a drab place.
theres someone right underneath i can see part of his head AND IS THAT MF TAKIN A PICTURE
'Damn it Jakub, this is not what people put on their LinkedIn accounts. You will never find a job like this.'
Aw, I used to love the comic when I was a kid! I still remember the names, too! Will, Irma, Taranee, Cornelia, Hay-Lin. Their initials spelled out "witch".
It's weird that this shows up in Poland, too, given that I'm pretty sure the original was in French and the English version never really got the love it deserved :(
Load More Replies..."Funeral services"
He's holding very popular amongst kids ice cream packaging... Yes, people were selling even packages 😐 And it wasn't easy to get hold of the ice cream itself!
The guy in the middle looks like Krzysztof Krawczyk (RIP) he was a very popular singer since the 70s
I see Walter White survived cancer and started a new life in Poland
The date of pic here is important - new year's eve. The girl is probably peeling the potatoes for a trafitional Polish veggie and mayonnaise salad. This is something which you could find on every Polish table on each ocasion - birthdays, Christmas, Easter, New Year's Eve, weddings, proms - you name it :)
To be honest, that's one of my better memories from school. I'm guessing that picture shows preparations to 'wigilia klasowa' - christmas eve celebration on last day of school before christmas holiday. It was an opportunity for a more laid back contact with classmates and faculty. In highschool we would add smuggled alcohol to that Pepsi and share it with some professors who seemed 'cool'.
Little explanation: I am on the group of Polish Pictures Community. The aim is to gather pictures which are 'very Polish' in the way they look. So there are funny pictures, but also wholesome, sentimental, sad, everyday etc. They are not gathered to make fun. This is why there is a lot of pope (or The Pope, cause in Poland many people are obsessed with John Paul II), a lot of priests, a lot of Kaczynski, but also a lot of our mums and dads, a lot of shops we are doing groceries, streets we are walking. A little bit of absurd, a little bit of megalomania, a little bit of simple lives with addition of families making bigos and veggie salad all the time. This is Poland and these are pictures of it.
I found all photos endearing - a bit more text would have been nice
Load More Replies...Looks almost exactly like Russia of the 1990s, minus the Pope. I'm sure these photos are not representative of the whole country.
They are not. On polish websites we have even crazier picture compilations captioned "Russia is not a place - it's a state of mind" also not representative of russian nation either. Both share common themes - old people having fun (I consider such pics kinda wholesome), hot girls in weird situations (like that gal peeling potatoes in formal attire), some crazy drunk idiots and religious figures in the wild.
Load More Replies...Except for all the pictures of Pope John Paul II, looks like Wisconsin.
I once wanted to buy sweets in Poland. They have a huge variety of little chocolate goodness wrapped individually and you can buy as much as you want. Since I wanted to try all of them I stuffed it all into one bag, which was then getting quite big. BIG mistake. When I went to the checkout the cashier told me they all had different prices (which were not displayed) so she had to take out all of them, count them and scan eevery single code. The row behind me was getting longer and longer. I was so embarrassed and felt so sorry for the cashier... 🙈🙈🙈 But I never made that mistake again. And the chocolates were delicious. Also: polish fireworks are super loud!!!
I get it that the author/photographer wanted to show "everyday life" in Poland, but really, there's got to be more to the country than this. What about city life, and well dressed people too. They can't all be fat and badly dressed.
I now know no more about Poland than I did before wasting my time on this post.
Remember Poland banned abortions and are working to ban LGBT and leave the eu
Yes, our government is bonkers but that doesn't mean all Poles are like that! This government is supported by uneducated xenophobic people that you can find anywhere in the world. Poland has a lot better people and a lot more to offer that one could assume having seen this stereotypical post.
Load More Replies...Well yes, Poles are hospitable IF you are not from LGBTQ community, ppl of colour, Muslims, Jews, atheists, Germans, Russians, and recently immigrants - because as we know right now refugees from Afghanistan dying in the woods on Poland/Belarus borders.
The Polish people look like a fun bunch. Pragmatic but silly. My kind of people.
I have a theory (having lived in Eastern Europe a while ago): A lot of Slavic women are very attractive, but a lot of Slavic men look like they want to rip your head off. Such a huge difference! :D
That's not description, that's humiliation. Well, except the whole John-Paul II thing.
Why humiliation? Some pics show unorthodox yet smart ideas, other show ugly people having fun (which is kinda wholesome tbh) and some are just old old pics from ages past. The only thing that made me cringe were pics with people in tracksuits. But that's just polish equivalent od british chavs or russian gopniks - just a minority.
Load More Replies...Little explanation: I am on the group of Polish Pictures Community. The aim is to gather pictures which are 'very Polish' in the way they look. So there are funny pictures, but also wholesome, sentimental, sad, everyday etc. They are not gathered to make fun. This is why there is a lot of pope (or The Pope, cause in Poland many people are obsessed with John Paul II), a lot of priests, a lot of Kaczynski, but also a lot of our mums and dads, a lot of shops we are doing groceries, streets we are walking. A little bit of absurd, a little bit of megalomania, a little bit of simple lives with addition of families making bigos and veggie salad all the time. This is Poland and these are pictures of it.
I found all photos endearing - a bit more text would have been nice
Load More Replies...Looks almost exactly like Russia of the 1990s, minus the Pope. I'm sure these photos are not representative of the whole country.
They are not. On polish websites we have even crazier picture compilations captioned "Russia is not a place - it's a state of mind" also not representative of russian nation either. Both share common themes - old people having fun (I consider such pics kinda wholesome), hot girls in weird situations (like that gal peeling potatoes in formal attire), some crazy drunk idiots and religious figures in the wild.
Load More Replies...Except for all the pictures of Pope John Paul II, looks like Wisconsin.
I once wanted to buy sweets in Poland. They have a huge variety of little chocolate goodness wrapped individually and you can buy as much as you want. Since I wanted to try all of them I stuffed it all into one bag, which was then getting quite big. BIG mistake. When I went to the checkout the cashier told me they all had different prices (which were not displayed) so she had to take out all of them, count them and scan eevery single code. The row behind me was getting longer and longer. I was so embarrassed and felt so sorry for the cashier... 🙈🙈🙈 But I never made that mistake again. And the chocolates were delicious. Also: polish fireworks are super loud!!!
I get it that the author/photographer wanted to show "everyday life" in Poland, but really, there's got to be more to the country than this. What about city life, and well dressed people too. They can't all be fat and badly dressed.
I now know no more about Poland than I did before wasting my time on this post.
Remember Poland banned abortions and are working to ban LGBT and leave the eu
Yes, our government is bonkers but that doesn't mean all Poles are like that! This government is supported by uneducated xenophobic people that you can find anywhere in the world. Poland has a lot better people and a lot more to offer that one could assume having seen this stereotypical post.
Load More Replies...Well yes, Poles are hospitable IF you are not from LGBTQ community, ppl of colour, Muslims, Jews, atheists, Germans, Russians, and recently immigrants - because as we know right now refugees from Afghanistan dying in the woods on Poland/Belarus borders.
The Polish people look like a fun bunch. Pragmatic but silly. My kind of people.
I have a theory (having lived in Eastern Europe a while ago): A lot of Slavic women are very attractive, but a lot of Slavic men look like they want to rip your head off. Such a huge difference! :D
That's not description, that's humiliation. Well, except the whole John-Paul II thing.
Why humiliation? Some pics show unorthodox yet smart ideas, other show ugly people having fun (which is kinda wholesome tbh) and some are just old old pics from ages past. The only thing that made me cringe were pics with people in tracksuits. But that's just polish equivalent od british chavs or russian gopniks - just a minority.
Load More Replies...