Polish Officials Research Articles

Why Did Poland Choose The F-16?

Abstract : On December 27, 2002, Poland's Minister of Defense Jerzy Szrnajdzinski announced Poland's decision to purchase 48 state-of-the art F-16's fighter aircraft from Lockheed Martin. The deal of the century, as it was characterized by Christopher P. Hill, U.S. Ambassador to Poland, was sealed on April 18, 2003 with the signing of the contract by Polish and U.S. officials, and Lockheed Martin senior executives. The contracts involved three separate, but related, agreements: the sale of 48 F-16 52+; an offset package to invest in Poland over a 10 year period; and favorable U.S. Government-backed low-interest financing. Poland's decision to purchase the F-16 had interwoven capability, interoperability, economic, and political dimensions. The main issues that drove Poland's decision to purchase the F-16 included a technical analysis of competing aircraft, price, financing, offsets, and politics. The mass media and the business community, particularly in Poland, portrayed the deal primarily in economic terms, emphasizing the favorable financing offered by the U.S. and the unprecedented offset agreement. Polish officials and politicians painted a picture of a more balanced decision for their constituents, one that emphasized price, tactical, and operational criteria over offsets. Academics, pundits, and officials from the losing bidders, Dassault and Saab/BAE, weighed politics more heavily in their assessment of the decision process than aircraft capabilities or economics. The hypothesis of this paper is that although capability, interoperability and economic interests played important roles in the Polish decision to purchase the F-16, political considerations dominated. This paper provides a comprehensive synthesis of the Polish fighter aircraft selection process, assesses the dominate issues, and answers the question, Why did Poland choose the F-l6?

ORGANIZED AND UNSOLICITED COLLABORATION IN THE HOLOCAUST

The lethal intentions of the Nazi Final Solution to the Jewish Question through mass murder adds a special dimension to the common and banal phenomenon of collaboration between sections of the popu...

The Development and Institutionalization of Romani Representation and Administration. Part 2: Beginnings of Modern Institutionalization (Nineteenth Century—World War II)

This article is the second in this series, following “Part 1: The Legacy of Early Institutionalism: From Gypsy Fiefs to Gypsy Kings”, which covered the period from the arrival of Gypsies to Europe until the mid-nineteenth century and was published in Volume 32, Number 3 of Nationalities Papers. Part 2 describes the birth of the first modern forms of ethnically-based political and social organizations established by Romani elites from the nineteenth century up until the Second World War (WWII). The main pattern of the development of Romani representation and administration until the mid-nineteenth century—as described in Part 1—distinguished between institutionalization from within and without. In the time period described here, the pattern changes because the majority of organizations and institutions established in order to represent and administer Roma are started upon the initiative of Romani leaders. Some are, however, created under the umbrella or patronage of non-Romani authorities or organizations and their activities are controlled by these patrons; others are created in (various degrees of) cooperation with non-Romani authorities or organizations and a few are created and operate independently. In addition, during this period the first few non-Romani non-governmental organizations start to take interest in the plight of Roma, and some organizations are specifically created to address their plight and lobby “on their behalf.” The other pattern of the development that emerges in this period is the gradual ascent of the institutionalization to higher levels. While until the nineteenth century most of the Gypsies organized themselves locally and regionally (with the exception of the Polish Office of the Gypsy Kings and the Chief Voivods in Transylvania and Hungary), in this period we see the first attempts by Roma themselves to expand the institutionalization countrywide and even internationally. These patterns are again explored in the conclusion (and summarized in Table 1), while the main body deals with the various arrangements in a more or less chronological and geographical order.

"Like Animals or Worse": Narratives of Culture and Emotion by U.S. and British POWs and Airmen behind Soviet Lines, 1944-1945*

As the B-17 bombed a German refinery on 2 December 1944 and flak punched through the gas tanks, Lt. R. E. Beam pointed the falling plane eastward. The mixed-ethnic American crew bailed out over Kuzmina in the western Ukraine, a mixed-ethnic region where “melting pot” remained a foreign notion. Like the more than seven thousand other Americans and British who found themselves behind Soviet lines in 1944–45, Beam's crew encountered a variety of cultural differences. Proving their American identity quickly became a matter of life and death because they were often mistaken for Germans. Surrounded by threatening Polish peasants, G. P. Schramn did some “fast talking” to explain how a German speaker could “still be an American.” Speaking in Ukrainian, airman John Dmytryshyn identified himself as American to a peasant, who replied cryptically that he “did not know what an American was.” D. A. Shepard recounted that he landed among anti-Soviet “Ukrainian ‘bandits,’ a form of partisan group.” A partisan who had lived in the United States told Shepard in English about the Ukrainians’ “army of 4,000,000 men,” warned him “not to tell the Russians or the Polish officials about their guns,” and predicted that “as soon as Germany is defeated Russia would go to war against America.” Some of Beam's crew landed near Soviet1 soldiers, who took them for Germans and continued shooting until convinced by shouts of “Amerikanski!” and “Roosevelt!”2

Įtampos, baimės, neapykantos pulsas : Lietuvos respublika lenkiškoje Vilniaus spaudoje (1922-1923)

At the beginning of the 20th century, some Polish speaking intellectuals identified themselves with the historical Lithuania. This article discusses their reaction to the decision of the Parliament in Vilnius in 1922 to incorporate Central Lithuania into Poland. Particularly interesting in this context is how the population of the entity which had only short ly before been called "Central Lithuania" felt about the "other" Lithuania. This other part - the Lithuanian Republic - was usually referred to as "Kaunas' Lithuania" in the Polish-language press. For this analysis the content of three Polish newspapers was examined: the conservative "Slowo" and the nationalist democratic "Dziennik Wilenski", both dailies, and the bimonthly "Przegląd Wilenski", which took a Krajowcy (Landespatriotismus) standpoint. Most of the information the reader of those papers received about the Lithuanian Republic appeared in short purportedly message-like articles in the dailies. They referred mainly to the political life of Lithuania: changes among cabinet minister, speeches of politicians as well as foreign policy. Besides, especially in "Slowo", a considerable amount of information was given about the economy of the area, going as much into detail as the price of grain in Kaunas or Klaipėda. It appears that the main purpose of some of the messages was to present Lithuania in a bad light. Others concentrated entirely on the Polish community in Lithuania, their life and persecution they experienced. The overall impression the reader of these articles must have received was that Lithuania was ridden by chaos. It is also noticeable that there is almost no reference to cultural affairs in Lithuania. The dailies also tried to bring across a similar message in their longer articles. With reference to the geopolitical situation, it was often claimed that Lithuania was a bridge between the Soviets and the Germans. Furthermore, it was suggested that Lithuanian politicians were merely puppets controlled by the enemies of Poland. This was under lined by the insinuation that Lithuania was simply too small, given the size of its population, to be entitled to exist as a normal state. Consequently the nigh end of the Lithuanian state was repeat edly hinted at in the dailies. Such a negative approach was highly criticized by "Przegląd Wilenski", which blamed Polish officials and the press alike for the sour relationship between the two nations. It was the only newspaper which did not question the will and ability of the post-war Lithuanian state to act on its own in international politics. "Przegląd Wilenski" was in fact the only paper still upholding the idea of the citizenship of the historical Lithuania and there fore was sympathetic towards the country bearing "Lithuania" in its name. The daily newspapers, despite supporting opposite ends in the political spectrum of the time, were very alike in their depreciating attitudes towards the Lithuanian Republic.

Support for the integration of the Polish aerospace industry into the European Aerospace Industry Structure

The Polish aerospace industry and AECMA, the European Association of Aerospace Industries, held a Conference in Warsaw on 10 and 11 May 2000, discussing links between the aerospace industries in Poland and activities underway within the European Union. The Conference was coordinated and supported by the Polish Office of the Committee for European Integration and the European Commission through the TAIEX (Technical Assistance Information Exchange Office) of the DG Enlargement and the Enterprise Directorate-General.

Service or Benefice? Officeholders in Poland and Sweden of the seventeenth century

Abstract Exploring the differential structures of social and political power in early modern Europe, this paper examines the contrasting experiences of Poland and Sweden by focusing on the growth of civil office in each country. Central to the study is an understanding of the books of disciplinary regulation imposed on office holders, and how and why these measures were enforced. As the author illustrates, the two case studies give very different conclusions. In Sweden, as exemplified in the trial of leading members of the Swedish Council in 1680, the holder of civic office was constrained by a ‘corset of bureaucratic routine’. Strict, and widely enforced, rules governed activities such as office hours, dress and rates of remuneration. In contrast, Polish office holders pursued appointments not in the name of civic efficiency but to grasp social and political privilege. At the end of the article Kopczynski discusses some of the factors involved in these differences, laying emphasis on the structures of po...

U.S. unit to cut sulfur pollution at Polish plant

U.S. and Polish officials gathered last month at the Skawina Power Station near Krakow, Poland, to dedicate what they call showcase pollution control that uses advanced U.S. technology and equipment to reduce acid-rain-producing sulfur emissions. The advanced flue gas desulfurization (FGD) unit is viewed as a prototype of efforts by the U.S. Department of Energy to help upgrade pollution control and other operations at power plants in Poland and elsewhere in Eastern Europe. Such projects also offer a large potential market for U.S. companies. Many power plants in Eastern Europe are aging and in need of repair. Poland alone has about 40 power stations like Skawina, with total capacity of more than 30,000 MW. Once one of Eastern Europe's most beautiful cities, Krakow in recent decades has suffered from unchecked industrial pollution that has damaged buildings and monuments and created health problems. In March 1990, DOE signed an agreement with the Polish ...

Political Authority and Party Secretaries in Poland, 1975–1986. By Paul G. Lewis. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1989. 344p. $54.50.

List of tables Preface List of abbreviations 1. Communist power and party authority in Poland 2. Provincial party secretaries: Polish officials in comparative perspectives 3. Provincial party committees in Poland, 1975-80 4. Indecision and odnowa: obstacles to re-establishing party authority 5. Renewal and party authority: the extraordinary congress and its consequences 6. The advance of the military 7. Political normalisation and party authority 8. The Polish road to political stability: ruling without authority 9. Conclusion Notes Index.

The repositories of the Prussian State Library collection in Lower Silesia during the World War II

German cultural institutions had been conducting preparations to secure their collections in the event of a war since mid-1930s. The Prussian State Library, the holdings of which included the most precious German manuscripts and prints, was one of those institutions. Air attacks carried out on the capital of the Third Reich triggered the decision to evacuate the collection to Thüringen, Brandenburg, Pomerania and Lower Silesia. Largest deposits had been located in the latter. The unique heritage items stored there included medieval manuscripts, prayer books, music autographs and newspaper yearbooks as well as letters and private documents of many prominent representatives of German culture and art. Those items were evacuated, among other places, to Fürstenstein (Książ) Gießmannsdorf (Gościszów), Gröditzburg (Grodziec), Grüssau (Krzeszów), Fischbach (Karpniki) and Hirschberg (Jelenia Góra). The evacuation was conducted in cooperation with the heritage conservator for Lower Silesia, professor Günther Grundmann. With his assistance, in the course of a few years, a unique collection was created in Lower Silesia. Towards the end of the war the collection was deprived of proper care, as the authorities lacked resources to secure it. This resulted in the destruction of some items during military actions. The remaining parts of the collection had been taken over by Polish officials and were transferred to library collections in Krakow, Warszawa, Olsztyn, Toruń, Lublin and Łódź.

Polish Officials in Danzig Case.

State Servitudes — Status of Foreign Officials in National Territory — Poland and the Free City of Danzig.