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History of Jews in Poland FAR

History of Jews in Poland has been nominated for a featured article review. Articles are typically reviewed for two weeks. Please leave your comments and help us to return the article to featured quality. If concerns are not addressed during the review period, articles are moved onto the Featured Article Removal Candidates list for a further period, where editors may declare "Keep" or "Remove" the article from featured status. The instructions for the review process are here. Reviewers' concerns are here.

Grammar - Article Zygmunt Kurnatowski

Article Zygmunt Kurnatowski, Major General of army of Polish kingdom, is needing immediate attention. Please correct Grammar, etc. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.86.173.19 (talk • contribs) 16:09, March 31, 2008

POlski katechizm

Do we have anything about this? Szopen (talk) 09:54, 27 June 2008 (UTC)

Raids on communist prisons in Poland (1944-1946)

Help is much appreciated with this freshly created article, see Raids on communist prisons in Poland (1944-1946). Thanks in advance. Tymek (talk) 05:34, 28 June 2008 (UTC)

Thank you.

I wish to thank all editors who supported me during the blockade. While I don't see myself engaging as much as I did before, at least untill certain issues on Misplaced Pages aren't dealt with-be certain that I will continue to provide needed information and historic data as well as consult possible improvements to all articles.

Thank you once again.

--Molobo (talk) 21:53, 30 June 2008 (UTC)

Good to see you back. Tymek (talk) 18:12, 1 July 2008 (UTC)

Podlachian Voivodeship

User:Ajh1492 seems to have made a unilateral decision (citing official sources) to rename Podlachian to Podlaskie Voivodeship, and is amending numerous articles accordingly. Are people happy with this?--Kotniski (talk) 11:05, 1 July 2008 (UTC)

I have really no opinion on Podlachia vs. Podlaskie, but there is an annoying lack of consistency in the naming of voivodeship articles: Why do we have the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship (rather than "Holy Cross"), but Subcarpathian Voivodeship (rather than "Podkarpackie") etc.? I'd say we should either "translate" all names (as difficult as that may be), or none. Not translating at all would also avoid some translation pitfalls regarding "Silesia": Unlike in Polish, where Śląsk (without any qualifiers) is generally understood to mean Górny Śląsk, the term "Silesia" in English normally refers to the whole of Silesia, i.e. Lower and Upper Silesia. Thus, the correct "translation" of województwo śląskie is "Upper Silesian Voivodeship". However, the translation problem also extends to other Poland-related articles, such as political parties; e.g. titles like REASON of Polish Left or Right of the Republic sound pretty strange... --Thorsten1 (talk) 15:27, 1 July 2008 (UTC)

Hmm, a large chunk of Śląskie isn't even part of Silesia... But I don't think we can be too imaginative in our translations - either we use an established translation from the real world, or if there is none, use an absolutely straightforward translation or else not translate at all. I believe that was the strategy adopted for the voivodeship names, a long time ago (well, before my time). I don't object to their being changed if there's a compelling reason, as long as we bear in mind how much work is going to be entailed (they appear in lots of articles). I certainly agree that those political party names sound weird though - I would move them to their Polish names, unless the translations are established in the English-speaking world (which I greatly doubt).--Kotniski (talk) 15:52, 1 July 2008 (UTC)

I already moved REASON of Polish Left to the Polish name once, but this got reverted. --Thorsten1 (talk) 16:01, 1 July 2008 (UTC)

English usage is inconsistent - we are not here to impose on it consistencies it doesn't have. "Holy Cross Voivodeship" would be a practically en.wiki-only affectation - the second link on Google for that is a quote from a Misplaced Pages discussion "I am surprised that your creativity stopped one step before "Boat Voivodeship" or "Holy Cross Voivodeship" . We have the same "inconsistencies" in Category:States of Germany (Mecklenburg-Vorpommern not Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, but Rhineland-Palatinate) and Category:Provinces of the Netherlands (Zeeland not Sealand, but North Brabant not Noord-Brabant) because they reflect the inconsistency of actual English use. The "incorrect" translation of Silesia to represent Upper Silesia is unfortunate, but we must reflect what English-speakers use and read elsewhere - we are not here to right the wrongs of English usage, just to record them and make sure that the inconsistency is accurately and neutrally pointed out in the text itself.

At a quick glance, Podlachian Voivodeship also seems to be almost an en.wiki invention - Podlachia is used to refer to the historical area but not the modern-day voivodeship, apart from one atlas. This looks like a case where the indigenous use has become the English use - but that is not to say that Silesian Voivodeship should be moved to a polonized title either.

I agree that the naming of the political parties seems incorrect - someone should look into the usage in English-language texts, as I doubt the names will be translated in that way. If there's good evidence that the Polish name is used in English, then move it or go through WP:RM. Knepflerle (talk) 16:28, 1 July 2008 (UTC)

In the case of this Polish province ("voivodeship"), I would use the actual Polish name, "Podlaskie." (I would also call such an administrative unit a "province" — the 18th-century Polish-Lithuanian "provinces" ("prowincyje") would be better rendered in English as "Regions.") Nihil novi (talk) 17:21, 1 July 2008 (UTC)

From my post on the Podlachian Voivodeship talk page where there was an extensive, multi-year discussion on the name through 1 AUG 2007 with no consensus.

(quote)

Checking the following official Polish government english websites:

• Federal Government - Poland Investment and Foreign Investment Agency - Podlaskie
• Federal Government - Ministry of Foreign Affairs - Podlaskie

We should respect the Polish Government and use their translation to English - Podlaskie.

Plus, as mentioned above, the EU uses Podlaskie - European Commission - Rural Development

(/quote)

We should be using the official english translation as defined by the Polish government. I just don't see where extra discussion is needed.

Ajh1492 (talk) 18:59, 1 July 2008 (UTC)

See WP:OFFICIALNAMES; en.wp does not use translations merely because they are official. Knepflerle (talk) 21:24, 1 July 2008 (UTC)

The name was determined after a long discussion at now inactive Misplaced Pages:WikiProject Geography of Poland (see its talk). Unfortunately, I believe that all editors involved in this discussion - Balcer, Lysy, Appleseed - are now retired :( --_{Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus| talk} 20:42, 1 July 2008 (UTC)

@Knepflerle: "English usage is inconsistent - we are not here to impose on it consistencies it doesn't have." Absolutely, but neither are we here to impose on it random inconsistencies according to our very own liking. Or is there any evidence for the present, seemingly accidental mixture of translations and non-translations being in use in English? One way or the other, we're imposing something here. ""I am surprised that your creativity stopped one step before "Boat Voivodeship" or "Holy Cross Voivodeship". This statement (not yours, noted) lumps two things together: There is a case for "Holy Cross Voivodeship" indeed, "Holy Cross Mountains" being the traditional English name for the utterly unpronounceable Świętokrzyskie Mountains (also used by Britannica). On the other hand, I suppose no one has ever referred to Łódź as "Boat" in real life. (On Misplaced Pages, it wouldn't surprise me that much, after I just had to remove "Shouts" as a "translation" of the name Krzyki ... "The "incorrect" translation of Silesia to represent Upper Silesia is unfortunate, but we must reflect what English-speakers use and read elsewhere - we are not here to right the wrongs of English usage, just to record them." I couldn't agree more with this premise, but it leads me to the opposite conclusion: When English speakers speak of "Silesia", they mean the whole of it or even only Lower Silesia - hence Śląsk should be translated as Upper Silesia, because that reflects what English speakers use. The current situation just transfers the usage of Polish speakers into English (Śląsk = Silesia), regardless and in spite of actual English usage. Note that I'm not saying we need to change this; I'm just using the example to point out how difficult all this really is. And to keep things in perspective, most native speakers of English have no clue where Silesia is, most won't even know the name. That's the crux of the matter, anyway: There hardly is any reliable English usage that we could follow. This also extends to the parties: Groups that are obscure even by Polish standards, such as "RACJA...", hardly get discussed outside Poland.

Ultimately, I see no better way than the one suggested by Ajh1492: Let's just stick to the Polish names found here and here. Sure, some of those names will drive English speakers nuts. But then, we wouldn't really use "Wschodnia Saksonia Południowa" in Polish, either, would we? --Thorsten1 (talk) 21:14, 1 July 2008 (UTC)

Currently, there's two separate, competing articles: Podlaskie Voivodeship and Podlachian Voivodeship... :o --Thorsten1 (talk) 21:26, 1 July 2008 (UTC)

Podlachian Voivodeship was set to redirect to Podlaskie Voivodeship.

On use of "Wschodnia Saksonia Południowa", It's the same reason why it's hot dogi and not gorący pies in Polish . . .

Here's a solution. Misplaced Pages should use the English translation for proper place names in a country as defined by the Foreign Ministry / Department of State of that country. Simple solution.

en.wp does not use translations merely because they are official. Huh? I think that train of thought would just lead en.wp to irrelevance.

Ajh1492 (talk) 22:49, 1 July 2008 (UTC)

Well, that has been the practice up to now at en.wp - you can judge whether it has lead to irrelevance or not. If you disagree with the current practice, start a discussion at WT:OFFICIALNAMES and achieve a general consensus there first.

Please also note that this is a discussion about what we call the current modern-day administrative unit - this does not say anything about previous incarnations and does not support edits such as this one ; I doubt there were any proclamations of the voivodeship's official English name between 1513 and 1795, and the usage of Podlachia for this timeframe in English is fairly standard.

Most importantly, please do not copy content from one page to another and making a redirect at the first page - this is called a "cut-and-paste move" and causes problems with copyright issues - please use this page for move requests. Reading WP:How to fix cut and paste moves and WP:MOVE will give you all the guidance you need. Knepflerle (talk) 10:50, 2 July 2008 (UTC)

"Podlachian Voivodeship" does not redirect to "Podlaskie Voivodeship" now. The former article should be deleted (after incorporation of any useful material into the latter). Nihil novi (talk) 22:59, 1 July 2008 (UTC)

I will finish merging the pages. The Podlaskie page was originally a copy of the Podlachian page, but I have updated it with additional material and references.

Ajh1492 (talk) 02:17, 2 July 2008 (UTC)

Vilnius University

Categories: Universities in Lithuania | History of Lithuania | Education in Vilnius | Educational institutions established in the 1570s | Education in the Soviet Union | Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour | 1579 establishments

No cathegory informs about Polish past 1920-1939. An example of Soviet language in the article: the Polish inhabitants of Lithuania were given a choice to leave for Poland. Xx236 (talk) 14:01, 1 July 2008 (UTC)

Try adding Category:Defunct universities and colleges in Poland. Same for the Lviv University, I guess. But the problem is that in is incorrect, of would be better. Or perhaps we need to create some other new category... Consider that Immanuel Kant State University of Russia does not have any category indicating it had a German history... There is however an article on the former University of Königsberg, with its own category, which does use the "Defunct universities and colleges in Germany" category. --_{Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus| talk} 16:44, 1 July 2008 (UTC)

I did it in March and got comment looks like someone is using a grossly outdated map.Xx236 (talk) 13:32, 2 July 2008 (UTC)

Lokyz keeps to write his version of history. Germans were expelled from Lithuania, the Poles had a choice. Poor Germans and happy Poles. Xx236 (talk) 13:38, 2 July 2008 (UTC)

To deal with such users one has to provide a reference which makes it clear they are wrong. If you have a refernece that states Poles were expelled, please use it, and it is unlikely you will be reverted.--_{Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus| talk} 15:18, 2 July 2008 (UTC)

Stanislaw Pyjas

I was surprised to see that Misplaced Pages did not have article on this person, anyway, better late than never. Please help out, as this is a very interesting and talked about topic. See Stanislaw Pyjas. Tymek (talk) 18:15, 1 July 2008 (UTC)

Changes to the WP:1.0 assessment scheme

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Please leave a message with us if you have any queries regarding the introduction of the revised scheme. This scheme should allow the team to start producing offline selections for your project and the wider community within the next year. Thanks for using the Misplaced Pages 1.0 scheme! For the 1.0 Editorial Team, §hepBot (Disable) 21:15, 4 July 2008 (UTC)

Notable residents?

Note: The following statement has been included in Talk:Kraków, under Notable residents? Make sure to check it out.

There’s a continuous, unremitting problem with the so called notable residents of most Polish cities. The choices are always arbitrary and suspiciously selective. The names are added by chance and equally quickly removed and than reinserted. The "section" idea poses unnecessary challenges for metropolitan cities such as Kraków, where notable residents would count in thousands. The problem with smaller cities is even worse, where red links and attempts at self-promotion abound. Various special interest groups often use this channel to prove a point about their own ethnic presence ahead of everybody else. The question is, should we continue with this practise, or perhaps aim at creating sub-articles for those cities, and call them "Notable residents of such and such city" instead? The section is widely discouraged by the League of Copyeditors and absent in practically all quality articles on world cities anyway. --Poeticbent talk 18:00, 8 July 2008 (UTC)

First choice: Burn, salt and remove. Second choice: create an article on notable residesnts of Polish cities, based on reliable works on that subject.--_{Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus| talk} 19:28, 8 July 2008 (UTC)

The possible creation of a series of new articles about notable residents of various Polish cities would have to be followed by a creation of a new category, i.e. Category:Notable residents by city in Poland | Wrocław#Prominent residents | Poznań#Notable residents | Zielona Góra#Famous residents | Toruń#Notable residents etc. The category template would have to be added at the bottom of every new article (created fairly easily by cut-and-paste method). The idea would take a huge load of never-ending reverts off our shoulders. On the other hand, if we remove these sections from all city articles in one sweep (without new articles created on their basis), there will be an outcry among a variety of editors from right across the board. --Poeticbent talk 20:32, 8 July 2008 (UTC)

1939 in Poland

Since I am particularly interested in the last days of the Second Polish Republic, I have started this article 1939 in Poland, help will be appreciated, as there is a lot of stuff to be added. Tymek (talk) 18:04, 8 July 2008 (UTC)

Szczebrzeszyn

Could someone please take a look at the 'Early History' section of Szczebrzeszyn? I'm trying to copy-edit this article but due to less-than-desirable understanding of Polish history, I am unsure how to write a good transition between trade rights (paragraph 2) and familial ownership/rule (paragraph 3). I'm unsure if a good transition would even be possible, but the sudden discussion of familial ownership/rule is jarring as it has no explanation what-so-ever. Thanks for your assistance! --gardsmyg (talk) 07:08, 9 July 2008 (UTC)

History of the Jews in Poland

History of the Jews in Poland - this once good article has recently became subject of edit wars, in which some users try to hide unwanted facts and promote their particular agendas. Tymek (talk) 19:26, 9 July 2008 (UTC)