Polish Language Blog

Hel (with one “L”) is a very pleasant place, I know because I went there yesterday. I would post some photos, however the file upload problem hasn’t been resolved yet (but the guys from Transparent are doing what they can to get it sorted out).

So, instead of looking at pretty pictures of Hel, you’ll have to read my descriptions of the place. In that case, let’s make them short: Hel is indeed lovely, but I wouldn’t want to be there during letnie wakacje (summer vacation) – the place turns into a madhouse.

If you can’t make it to Hel in person, you can always visit the town’s official webpage. It’s called GoHel.pl. “Go Hel” also seems to be the official city slogan. But oddly enough, there’s no English language version of the website. It’s in Polish only. (Why then “Go Hel”? To appear more “European” and what-not?)

What got me interested (and confused) was this sentence:
Witamy w Helu! (Welcome to Hel)

“Hmmm…. odd,” I thought. “Weren’t is used to be ‘Witamy na Helu’ once upon a time, or am I going totally senile?”

You see, Hel is an interesting place, not only because it’s at the very tip of Poland, but also because nobody’s really sure how to correctly say “I’m going to Hel”, or as it turned out yesterday – “Welcome to Hel.”

I’ve always thought that “Witamy na Helu” was correct. Apparently not, according to the Urząd Miejski in Hel. It’s “Witamy w Helu.”

Ok, fair enough, we say “Witamy w Gdańsku” and “Witamy w Warszawie” and Hel simply wanted to conform. I can live with that.

But how do we say “I’m going to Hel”?

I’ve always thought that “jadę na Hel” was correct. 99% of the population, if asked about it, would automatically answer “na Hel.” But apparently, it’s only correct if you’re talking about the entire Hel Peninsula. Then you “jedziesz na Hel.”

If however, you’re only talking about the town of Hel, then you “jedziesz do Helu.” At least that’s how a helpful Hel dweller explained it to me yesterday.

Whatever. People in Hel can say “Witamy w Helu” all they want. They’re not going to convince me.
So there!

I’m planning to return “na Hel” soon!

One of our readers, Debbie, had a question about a town, which she thought might have been in Galicja (“Galicia” in English). And because this is a blog about all things Polish, we’re talking here about the Polish Galicia, not the one in Spain.
Debbie wasn’t sure of the spelling, but luckily, I knew exactly what town she had in mind. Now, what are the odds of that? Huh?

You see, I am a huge fan of Feliks Falk (a well-known Polish movie director) and it just so happens that I read somewhere he was born in a place called Stanisławów (Stanislau). Which just so happens is exactly the place Debbie was looking for.

That’s the good news. The bad news is that now the town is known as Ivano-Frankivsk (or Iwano-Frankowsk in Polish). But until 1962, it had a different name – Stanislau in German, or Stanisławów in Polish. And it’s no longer in Austria. Between 1919 and 1939 it was in Poland, then in the USSR, and these days it’s in western Ukraine. So if someone had been born, let’s say in 1915, and lived all his life in Stanislau/ Stanisławów/ Ivano-Frankivsk, he would have lived in four different countries without ever leaving the town. That’s central Europe for you.

So what’s up with the name? The original one was given the place by a Polish nobleman – Andrzej Potocki to honor his father – Stanisław “Rewera” Potocki, who had something to do with fighting the Swedes during the “deluge” back in the 17th century. The guy liked to fight, apparently. He also defeated the Cossacks once upon a time and battled Russian armies. Now wonder his son named a town after him.

Then in 1962, the Soviets decided to change the name to honor a famous Ukrainian poet – Ivan Franko, who also happened to be born somewhere in the vicinity. At least they had the good sense to rename it after a poet, and not a revolutionary, because then in the 1990s it would have to be changed again. And as such, the name stuck. Ivano-Frankivsk, formerly known as Stanislau.

It actually looks like a very agreeable town, and I wouldn’t mind visiting it when I’m in Ukraine.

As an aside, I’ve already mentioned that Feliks Falk was born there, now I see that the little town was quite productive when it comes to performing arts. Zbigniew Cybulski (Polish James Dean) and Anna Seniuk (better known as Magda Karwowska from “Czterdziestolatek” – a famous Polish TV series) were also born in Stanisławów.

Image courtesy of Jewishgen Shtetlinks

One of the readers, Ed, had a question about a village called Bobrowniki Wielkie, located somewhere near Tarnów. Ed’s mother was born in Bobrowniki and he wanted to know more about the place. Initially, I was stumped, I never heard of it myself. But no worries, after a bit of searching, I found some info.

I was surprised to learn that the village still existed, in the same place nearby Tarnów where it had been for centuries, and with the same name today as back in the olden days. What were the odds of that? Huh? But that’s not all! I even found a whole web page dedicated to the village of Bobrowniki Wielkie. Now, what are the odds of THAT? There’s a wee little village in Poland, it has all of 700 residents and one of them decides to set up a web page! Lucky for us!

Unfortunately, the page is in Polish only, so you will be stuck reading my English summary.

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