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After many weeks of a long fasting Lenten season, the people of Poland looked forward to Resurrection Sunday and enjoying all the foodstuffs they had denied themselves for so long - eggs, dairy products and meat.  White sausage called biała kiełbasa with marjoram for Easter. Sophie Knab photo. In reality, for many families, meat was not something that was generally seen on the table outside of fasting days anyway. The exceptions were great celebrations like christenings, weddings, Christmas and Easter. For these holidays, a carefully raised pig was slaughtered and the meat processed quickly to avoid spoilage. Some went into jars, some salted down in barrels and the rest went into making sausage. Some sausage was smoked but this often required many long days and sometimes weeks before it was ready for consumption. After such a long fast, something was needed for the Easter table that didn’t take quite so long. The simplest and relatively most affordable meat product to prepare was biała kiełbasa i.e., white sausage. The thigh, rump, shoulder, or belly of the pig was cut into chunks, various spices and seasonings added and then stuffed into cleaned intestinal casings. It could be consumed within a few hours after production by boiling in water or baking. Every region had its own version of this type of sausage and every family its own safely guarded recipe. Spices such as coriander, cardamom and nutmeg lent unique flavors if you could afford such luxuries. Salt and pepper were also both expensive commodities. For a long time housewives depended on locally available spices like crushed juniper berries to add flavor to their meat and soups. In the 19th century Kronice Miasta Poznania (Chronicle of the City of Poznań) we find the following description: "The ceremonial Easter breakfast commenced at noon. The table was laden with delectable dishes... A particular delicacy was white sausage baked with onions and juniper berries.” In the Podlasie region, the coarsely ground sausage was heavily flavored with garlic, something that could be grown and stored through the winter. Homegrown herbs like dill, garlic, and wild caraway were also used. In Małopolska (Lesser Poland) the preferred seasoning was pepper and marjoram.  Marjoram (Origanum majorana), majeranek in the Polish language, was brought to Poland in the 16th century during the time of the Renaissance and became extremely popular both in the kitchen and stillroom. Krzystof Kluk in his Dycyonarz roslinny (Dictionary of Plants) of 1787 states “it has a pleasant aroma and spicey taste and used as a seasoning in the kitchen.” Easily grown in pots in a kitchen window or in the garden, everyone knew that marjoram worked best in richer, fattier dishes. It was common knowledge that it help digest fatty foods. It was an indispensable addition to any of the roasted meats that appeared on the Easter table. ← Sophie Knab photo  White sausage with marjoram as a meat for Easter crossed the oceans as Poles immigrated to other countries. It continues to be made at home by descendants of those immigrants and appears in Polish markets and even local supermarkets where it’s often called the “holiday” sausage. It’s also found in the Easter baskets taken to be blessed on Holy Saturday and much enjoyed at the Easter Sunday morning breakfast. ←Sophie Knab photo. My Easter basket for blessing a few years ago with biała kiełbasa but will certainly be in this year’s basket on Holy Saturday as well. Thank you for reading. A Blessed Holy Week to all. For more about Easter traditions and recipes: Polish Customs, Traditions and Folklore (2024) and Polish Country Kitchen Cookbook (20212) by Hippocrene Books, Inc. Hippocrene Books, Inc. is offering a special promotion of 40% off on all my books through Indiepubs.com with the promo code HIPPOCRENE40. indiepubs.com/search?type=product&q=sophie+hodorowicz+knab
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The Oskar Schindler Enamel Factory Museum in in Kraków honors and documents the history of the German businessman Oskar Schindler who saved a thousand Jews from death by giving them gainful employment and preventing them from being sent to an extermination camp.  The permanent exhibition titled "Kraków – the Occupation Period 1939–1945," also tells the history of occupied Kraków and what it was like to live in that city during its occupation by the Germans during World War II. ←The Germanization of Kraków’s Market Square Ed Knab photo Thousands of photographs and artifacts of the city of Kraków, its inhabitants, streets, shops, the military might of the German Reich and everyday life of what Kraków looked like as an occupied city is on exhibit. It also shows the total and complete subjugation the Polish and Jewish people had to endure throughout the occupation: the racial discrimination against Jews, the terrors against the Polish intelligentsia and the deportation for forced labor that faced anyone who was unemployed. On the second floor of the museum is a small room given the title of Labor Office. It is plain and looks innocuous enough belying the fact that the Labor Office, the Arbeitsamt in German, was among the most feared institutions established by the Germans in occupied Poland. It assigned jobs to the unemployed and everyone had to be employed in the interests of the Germans either in Poland, in any territories of Poland annexed into Germany, in any country occupied by the Germans or in Germany itself. ↑ Filing cabinets in Labor Office in museum ↑an example of personal file of forced laborer Ed Knab photo sent to work through the German labor office in Kraków. IPN photo. Will ye, nill ye, everyone had to work for the benefit of the Third Reich under penalty of death or being sent to a concentration camp, often one and the same. Men were separated from their families. Adolescents girls as young as 14 were sent alone without protection. Women with small children were not exempt. All were torn from their homes and forced to work, oftentimes under horrendous conditions, in agriculture or industry, wherever they were sent.  German bureaucrats registering Polish workers for labor in Kraków 1940  Polish women lined up to register for labor in Kraków labor office. 1940
A poster at the museum describing the events of forced labor in that city states: “By June 1943, approximately thirteen thousand people were deported from Kraków itself with approximately 31,000 deported from the Kraków county district.” Written for Women's History Month in remembrance and honor of the women of Poland who suffered as forced laborers in Nazi Germany during World War II. Thank you for reading. If you would like to read more about this particular event in history please see: Wearing the Letter P. Polish Women as Forced Laborers in Nazi Germany 1939-1945. Hippocrene Books, Inc. indiepubs.com/search?type=product&q=sophie+hodorowicz+knab The Lenten season within the Christian faith is a preparation period before Easter designed to emulate the 40 days Jesus spent fasting in the desert before his death.  It is meant to be a time of quiet contemplation and self-examination, of limiting worldly distractions and reflecting on the passion and death of Jesus Christ…all intended to help Christians prepare their hearts for the joyous celebration of Jesus' Resurrection. This is often done through spending time in silent prayer at the foot of a cross, or participating in the Way of the Cross that takes the faithful through the events that led to His death and crucifixion. In its long and venerable history as a Catholic nation, Poland has observed this liturgical period with great reverence and solemnity and developed its very own unique Lenten devotion called Gorzkie Żale, the Bitter Lamentations. This Passion service emerged in Poland at the church of the Holy Cross in Warsaw. ← Edward Knab photo in the village of Okrągła, Poland  Initially titled Snopek Miry, it consists of hymns that meditate on the Passion of Christ and the sorrows of His mother, Mary. It was sung for the first time on the first Sunday of Lent on March 13,1707- three centuries ago- and continues to this day in Poland and throughout the Polish diaspora world-wide on Sunday afternoons during Lent. Even older than the Bitter Lamentations is Poland’s history of proclaiming its Catholic faith through the erection of thousands of crosses across its entire landscape either on top of pillars and chapels or as a single, massive structure that rose high in the sky, visible from long distances to inspire thought and prayer. The crosses were called Boże Męki, or God’s Passion/Suffering. ←Radomska Biblioteka Cyfrowa Public domain There are three different lamentations with different hymns and contemplations with numerous stanza's that rotate each Sunday through the Lenten season. The following are just a few excerpts sung on the first Sunday of Lent along with examples of the crosses that dot the Polish landscape and inspire contemplation.  Each Lamentation begins with the : Pobudka, the Awakening or Wake up call which gives it its title. Gorzkie żale, przybywajcie, Serca nasze przenikajcie, Rozpłyńcie się, me źrenice, Toczcie smutnych łez krynice. Let us pray in contemplation, While we sing this lamentation. With eyes tearful, hearts repenting, Let us grieve with no relenting. ← Edward Knab photo in the village of Frampol, Poland  The Hymn Żal duszę ściska, serce boleść czuje, Gdy słodki Jezus na śmierć się gotuje; Klęczy w Ogrójcu, gdy krwawy pot leje, Me serce mdleje. Sorrow afflicts me, my heart bleeds in pain As sweet Jesus, prepares for death Kneeling in the garden, drenched in bloody sweat My heart sickens.  The Lament Jezu, na zabicie okrutne, Cichy Baranku od wrogów szukany, Jezu mój kochany! Jesus, sought by the maddened rabble like meekest of lambs driven to slaughter. My Jesus, I love you. ← Edward Knab photo from a roadside chapel in the village of Lipa, Poland  At the foot of many crosses is an image of the Blessed Mother who also suffered as she watched the sacrifice of her Son and gives meaning to the last part of the devotion: The Soul Converses With The Sorrowing Mother Powiedz mi, o Panno moja, Czemu blednieje twarz Twoja? Czemu gorzkie łzy lejesz? Widzę, że Syn ukochany, W Ogrójcu cały zalany, Potu krwawym potokiem. O Matko, źródło miłości, Niech czuję gwałt Twej żałości! Dozwól mi z sobą płakać! Tell me, O my Virgin, why does your face turn pale? Why do you shed bitter tears? I see your beloved Son, in the Garden of Olives, completely drenched in a bloody stream of sweat. O Mother, source of love, let me feel the violence of your sorrow! Allow me to weep with you! ↑ Edward Knab photo from a roadside chapel in the village of Kurzyna Mała, Poland For those who lived in small hamlets and villages far from parish churches, the devotion was held in someone's home along with other prayers and Lenten hymns. Palm Sunday was the last time the Gorzki Żale devotion was sung. The Christian world now entered Holy Week and the Passion of Christ. Thanks so much for reading. For more about the roadside crosses and shrines of Poland see: Spirit of Place: The Roadside Shrines of Poland Hippocrene Books, Inc. and about the celebration of Holy Week and Easter see: Polish Customs, Traditions and Folklore, also by Hippocrene Books, Inc. Hippocrene Books, Inc. is offering a special promotion of 40% off on all my books through Indiepubs.com with the promo code HIPPOCRENE40. https://indiepubs.com/search?type=product&q=sophie+hodorowicz+knab The books are also available at Polish Art Center www.polartcenter.com/Polish-Customs-Traditions-and-Folklore-Softcover-p/9836057.htm Candlemas, celebrated on February 2, is a Christian feast day commemorating the presentation of Jesus at the Temple, marking the end of the Christmas-Epiphany season  Thunder candles made by Polish American beekeeper David Newman, Buffalo, NY
On this day, beeswax candles are brought to churches to be blessed, and then carried in a procession. These candles are called "gromnice" (thunder candles), and the common name of the feast day – Our Lady of the Thunder Candle – derives from them. The candles blessed on this day were taken home and used to safeguard the family, barns and home. They were lit during during times of crisis and stress, especially during storms where lightning could strike the home and devastate their lives. They were lit at the bedside of the sick and the dying. In Poland, and among the Polish diaspora throughout the world, this feast day officially concludes the Christmas season. On this day, nativity scenes are dismantled in churches and homes, Christmas trees are taken down in homes, and the singing of carols ceases. Here are three previous blog posts about this important feast day in Poland (1) how the candles are made in Poland (2) an account of the day from a Polish woman's diary in 1895 (3) Candlemas in the eyes of Polish painter Teodor Axentowicz www.sophieknab.com/blog/making-the-candles-for-candlemas www.sophieknab.com/blog/candlemas-day-in-1895 www.sophieknab.com/blog/the-hucul-and-candlemas-through-the-eyes-of-polish-painter-teodor-axentowicz For more about Polish customs and traditions: Polish Customs, Traditions and Folklore, Hippocrene Books, Inc. 2024. Hippocrene Books, Inc. is offering a special promotion of 40% off on all my books through Indiepubs.com with the promo code HIPPOCRENE40. https://indiepubs.com/search?type=product&q=sophie+hodorowicz+knab Common juniper (Juniperus communis) has always played a very versatile and significant role in Polish culture.  Juniper berries and branch. Photo credit: pl.wikipedia.org The berries of the shrub are edible and as such were used as a spice in cooking certain dishes especially game and the traditional bigos cooked over an open fire by hunters. In folk medicine, a dozen or so ripe juniper berries were chewed or steeped in alcohol to make a tincture and said to be effective for stomach weakness and against colic. Juniper tea treated internal ailments of the kidneys and liver. The oil extracted from its berries was an effective antiseptic. As a native plant the common juniper was indispensable medicinally and also played an important role within yearly customs and traditions one of which was on the Feast of Three Kings, known as Epiphany, and celebrated on January 6th.  The day commemorates the Three Kings who brought gifts to the Christ Child. According to the Gospel of Matthew, three men named Caspar (sometimes written Gaspar or Kaspar), Melchior, and Balthazar followed the star of Bethlehem to meet the Infant Jesus and offered gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. Postcard by M. Ichnowski. 1938 Photo courtesy of Krystyna Bartosik. In his book "Lud polski - jego zwyczaje, zabobony" published in 1830, author Łukasz Gołębiowski (1773-1849) writes: “On this day, the faithful of Poland attended church where the priest blessed kredę (chalk), jałowiec (juniper)and żywicę (myrrh). In the Kurpie region of Poland where juniper grows in abundance in the sandy soil, ethnographer Adam Chętnik wrote: "On Epiphany, people bless juniper branches along with juniper berries in the church.” The juniper berries and shrub were used as a substitute for frankincense. Immediately after the service, people hurried home with the blessed items. The blessed chalk was used to write the initials of the Wise Men plus the year on the upper door frame of the main room in the house, sometimes, but not always adding the year.  ← Sophie Knab photo. Skansen in Toruń, Poland 2025 The blessed chalk was used to write the initials of the Wise Men plus the year on the upper door frame of the main room in the house. Inviting God’s protection on the house. During the time when cooking was done over an open fire in Poland, the blessed juniper branches were thrown into the fire, emitting masses of thick, aromatic smoke used to incense the home, to purify it, to fumigate it against all diseases and illness. It was considered a remedy for all diseases, spells, and other misfortunes. As the naturalist Krzysztof Kluk (1739-1796) wrote in his monumental work, „Dykcyonarz roślinnym” (Dictionary of plants) it "corrected bad air." In later years, when stoves with metal plates covered the fire for heating and cooking, the juniper berries were burned on top of the stove plate, with the belief that the scent would kill any plague and promote health. The gifts of Magii have withstood the test of time through the centuries. To this day, the rich, sweet and smoky scent of incense used in church services largely comes from the burning a blend of frankincense (a fragrant resin from Boswellia tree) and myrrh (a resin of Commiphora tree). For more about Epiphany and the customs of Poland: Polish Customs, Traditions and Folklore, Hippocrene Books, Inc. 2024 For more about the use of juniper and the plants of Poland: Polish Herbs, Flowers and Folk Medicine, Hippocrene Books, Inc. 2020 Thanks for reading. The Feast of the Three Kings ended the Twelve Days of Christmas but still within the time frame to wish everyone a healthy and happy new year. Best to everyone in 2026! My mother was born on All Soul’s Day in the small town of Nisko on the eastern border of today's modern-day Poland but what was then known as Galicia.   ← My mother as young woman in Poland before WWII She lived through two world wars, lost her country and her family through forced laborer in Nazi Germany, communist take over and then immigration to America. She never tired of talking about her family in Poland. In 2006 I am looking for my great grandparents buried in the cemetery in a town called Racławice. The one church, one cemetery for all the local villages was Racławice. The faithful had to walk the distance or take horse and carriage for church services. I am with my husband, my brother and his wife and my niece. We are without any preparation, any other research whatsoever, armed with just countless family stories, the names of her grandparents and where they are buried. I don’t know what I was thinking. The cemetery is large, the burial site for many of the small, surrounding villages for many years. I thought it would be small. We fan out, we wander, we are unsuccessful (of course!). We start to leave. On our way through the gate a man passes us and hearing us speaking English stops us and says to me in Polish “Were you looking for family?” I say yes but without success. He asks the name and says “I’ve seen it somewhere.” I think to myself, what are the chances? but we head back in to search and sure enough, after a while he shouts out. We could never have found it ourselves, tucked away on a little knoll near a tree. On the crucifix their names are engraved on the teensiest little metal plaque.  The cement stone on the ground has eroded and is so decrepit and covered in moss as to be almost unreadable. But we found them: Anna Warchoł and Tomasz Zalewski, my mother’s grandparents on her father’s side; great grandparents to me and my brothers and great, great grandparents to my niece. An amazing feeling. We clean it as best we can. Take photos. Say a prayer. Express our thanks to the man who, like in the best of fairy tales, appears unexpectedly just at the right moment to come to our aid. Another minute and we would have been gone, this story untold.  ← In September of 2024 I revisit the grave. The marker on the ground is unrecognizable, their names erased. I am heartsick. I resolve not to let their names disappear into the ground, for the sake of my mother, who so valued family. My cousins Anna and Jadzia in Poland are ken to help and contact a local monument company to make a new headstone and a slab the length of a coffin that is traditional for graves in Polish cemeteries. They keep me posted via phone calls, emails, send photos. My brothers come together to share the cost, all in memory of our mother and ancestors. On this November 2nd, 2025, All Soul's Day, on my mother’s birthday, her grandparents have a new gravestone, one that will last another hundred years, one that future generations will be able to locate more easily, one where they can leave their flowers and their candles and fulfill the Polish saying: “Kto żyje w pamięci swych bliskich, żyje wiecznie” meaning, He who lives in the memory of his closest, lives forever.  In memoriam. Anna Warchoł (1863-1909) and Tomasz Zalewski(1858-1898)
For customs and traditions associated with All Soul's Day or death and burial customs of Poland see: Polish Customs, Traditions and Folklore, Hippocrene Books, Inc. www.amazon.com/Polish-Customs-Traditions-Folklore-Hodorowicz/dp/0781814510/ref=sr_1_1?crid=45WRULWPPZY7&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.q2FzX-R1lP6KGlidZ61Mm2IeBISY4ykf5zVNqCV3xseM1a-jULlckF-6fKfMGhys.tVhxs2RmMjLziMTxtzzk7ZXbhJZ76FzE0WjwLXlzpOs&dib_tag=se&keywords=hodorowicz-knab%2C+sophie+polish+traditions%2C+customs%2C+and+folklore&qid=1762088959&sprefix=Polish The first mentions of pumpkin use in Poland come from botanical and herbal medicine texts instead of cookbooks.  Pumpkins drying on roof of house. Village of Horodyszcze in Pińsk district of Polesie 1936 polona.pl public domain In his 1786 book titled Dykcyonarz roślinny (Plant dictionary) Krzysztof Kluk(1739-1796) describes the many types of Cucurbita L., - the squashes and pumpkins generally called bania, or dynia in Polish. “Some varieties are popular in our country gardens- round, flat, long, grooved, white, green, yellow striped and one that looks like a hat. Added to wheat flour with egg and some parsley will make wonderful noodles.” He also recommends: “Cook the pumpkin in water, run through a food mill or crush through a colander, add eggs, wheat bread crumbs, ginger, pepper and bake into a tart.” In addition: “one part pumpkin, two parts flour mixed with kwas (sour dough starter) makes a delicious bread.” While it was also eaten by the wealthy, the pumpkin was treated as a vegetable typical of the cuisine of the poorer classes. A single pumpkin, usually weighing several kilograms, could make a large pot of thick, hearty soup. They could be made into pancakes and, as Fr.Kluk mentioned, into noodles, tarts and bread. Pumpkin seeds also gave an oil. In centuries past pumpkins were also planted in gardens mainly as fodder for domestic animals. It’s a fact that pumpkins can be stored for up to several months in a cool, dry place making them useful in winter or during times of food scarcity but after a lot of searching on Polish websites, I wasn’t able determine why or for what purpose the pumpkins were being dried on the roof in the above photo.  Pumpkins drying on top of a lean-to at another homestead in Horodyszcze polona.pl I was able to locate the village in the Słownik geograficzny Królestwa Polskiego i innych krajów słowiańskich, Tom III (Geographical Dictionary of the Kingdom of Poland and other Slavic countries Vol.3 p.144) which often gives information about what is cultivated in the surrounding area but there was no mention. Up until World War II, the village was once part of Poland, now belonging to Belarus. The former eastern borderlands of Poland became parts of Ukraine, Lithuania and Belarus and called the Kresy, the former Eastern borderlands of Poland.   Here is another homestead also in Polesie the village of Zajezier also now Belarus. Narodowy Archiwum Cyfrowy. 1936 public domain
Maybe someone reading this has knowledge of the Polesie region and can help enlighten us as to this particular aspect of Polish culture and history. For more about Poland and it's country culinary heritage: Polish Country Kitchen Cookbook by Sophie Hodorowicz Knab. Hippocrene Books, Inc. https://www.hippocrenebooks.com/store/p369/Polish_Country_Kitchen_Cookbook%3A_Expanded_Edition.html  Saint Hildegard was a 12th-century German Benedictine nun who was a visionary, poet, composer, naturalist, scientist, herbalist, theologian and one of the greatest figures of the 12th century. She wrote theological and botanical texts, two books on medicine and herbal cures and was a true pioneer in the field of natural medicine and a healthy lifestyle. Her many works explored not only the spiritual dimension of humanity but also emphasized the importance of harmony between body and mind. ← Photo: Strona Zdrowia  ← Her life story was available in print in Poland by 1640 and her teachings are still widely read and promoted by organizations such as Polskie Centrum Św. Hildegardy Alfreda Walkowska, i.e., the Polish Center of Saint Hildegard Alfreda Walkowska and Polskie Towarzystwo Przyjacioł Św. Hildegardy, the Polish Society of Friends of Saint Hildegard. Saint Hildegard's found favor in Poland primarily through her wholistic approach to a healthy lifestyle. She regarded nutrition extremely important for human health. Her diet recommendations were based on the consumption of spelt, an ancient grain and a type of wheat (Triticum spelta), said to improve digestion, metabolism and lower cholesterol. She urged eating vegetables, fruit, and moderate amounts of meat. While this is common knowledge in today’s modern scientific era, one can’t help but be impressed that Hildegard was so ahead of her time during the 12th century! Her healthy lifestyle also included natural healing methods through the use of herbs. Popular in Poland is Wino Pietruszkowe Św. Hildegardy, St. Hildegard’s Parsley Wine, which was purported (and still is according to Polish websites) to be a natural remedy for heart problems, circulation and rheumatic ailments.  ←Flat leaf parsley from my garden Fresh parsley was always readily available in Polish herb and kitchen gardens. Finely chopped parsley was sprinkled on a batch of new potatoes. It was added to soups and vegetables and meats of all kinds and made into Hildegard's medicinal wine. To make St. Hildegard's health-giving parsley wine, you needed: 10 stalks fresh parsley 1 liter of red wine 3-5 tablespoons of honey 2 tablespoons of wine vinegar Bring the wine, parsley, and wine vinegar to a boil, then simmer for 5 minutes. Then add the honey and simmer for another 5 minutes. After cooling, pour the resulting mixture into bottles. Drink 1 glass 3 times a day after meals. Hildegard died on September 17, in the year 1179.  ←Photo:Catholicsaintmedals.com Her theological and scientific writings, which included accounts of her mystical visions, her detailed works on medicine and natural science as well as leading a life of virtue led her to be added to the list of saints of the Roman Catholic Church. She was also declared to be a Doctor of the Church. This made her the fourth female Doctor in the history of the Church, following St. Catherine of Siena, St. Thérèse of Lisieux, and St. Teresa of Ávila. Sources:https://blog.ogrodyhildegardy.pl/pl/wino-pietruszkowe-sw-hildegardy
https://swiat-orkiszu.pl/blog/166_WINO-PIETRUSZKOWE-%C5%9AW--HILDEGARDY Polish Herbs, Flowers and Folk Medicine. Hippocrene Books, Inc. https://www.hippocrenebooks.com/store/p467/Polish_Herbs_Flowers_and_Folk_Medicine.htm  The outbreak of World War II and the entry of German troops into Poland on September 1, 1939 began a devastation of such catastrophic proportions that after the war, at the Trial of War Criminals before the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg, the Nazi defendants were charged with planning and executing war crimes and the practice of "total war" which included methods of combat and of military occupation that was in direct conflict with the laws of war. Their actions against civilian populations were not justified by military necessity. 1 Prior to the invasion, in his talk to his commanding generals in August of 1939, Hitler stated he had ordered his Death Head Units "to kill without pity or mercy all men, women, and children of Polish race or language...Poland will be depopulated and colonized with Germans." 2 During the five long years of German occupation, the citizens of Poland were subject to inhumane acts and unspeakable atrocities. The Germans herded the Jews into ghettos where they slowly starved to death and those who survived were systematically murdered in the infamous gas chambers of Auschwitz, Belzec, Majdanek, and Treblinka that they built on Polish soil. The Siti and Roma gypsies shared a similar fate. And amidst all the chaos, all the death, destruction and inhuman acts, the Germans were carrying out a policy of economic exploitation, a policy to keep Hitler's war effort going at top speed: everyone had to work for the interest of the Third Reich.  German propaganda poster enticing Polish women to volunteer for agricultural work work in Germany. Note the letter "P" patch attached to right side of the sweater worn by the Polish woman. Photo: Hrabia tytus.pl For the people of Poland, working for the Reich became compulsory. Laborers were needed in Germany in all aspects of agriculture and industry to replace the workers who had been called up into Hitler’s military branches. When propaganda failed to bring in the needed number of volunteer workers, the people of Poland were rounded up while sitting at the movies, coming out of church, or walking down the street. Entire city blocks and entire country villages were surrounded, the victims held in temporary arrest until everyone could be examined as a potential worker for Germany.  ← Photo depicting round up of individuals at Evangelical Reformed Church in Warsaw located on Solidarność Street. Wkipedia.pl photo Those who met the criteria were forcibly and promptly shipped to German territories against their will. The German war economy was achieved by the impressment and deportation of millions of individuals from their homeland into Germany against their will and forced to work for the benefit of the German Reich. Marked with the letter “P” for Pole, they were exploited for their labor where they died from abuse, hunger, physical illness and suicide. Footnotes: 1 Trial of War Criminals before the International Military Tribunal Nuremberg, Germany Volume 2 Document L-3 Nazi Conspiracy and Aggression Volume 8 The story of the girls and women of Poland who were forcibly taken from their homes in Poland, sent to Germany and exploited for their labor during World War II can be found in the book: Wearing the Letter P: Polish Women as Forced Laborers in Nazi Germany 1939-1945. Hippocrene Books, Inc. https://www.hippocrenebooks.com/store/p400/Wearing_the_Letter_P%3A_Polish_Women_as_Forced_Laborers_in_Nazi_Germany%2C_1939-1945.htm
It’s noon on Sunday on a hot summer day in the 1960’s. The sun is pouring into the kitchen. There are pots boiling on top of every burner of the stove. We are still in our church-going clothes sitting down to our big Sunday meal after mass. Everybody is sweating buckets. What does my mother serve up? Hot soup. Not just any soup but hot chicken soup.  Little did I know back then that hot chicken soup on Sunday was a Polish tradition. There’s even a Polish saying: Niedziela bez rosołu to nie niedziela. Sunday without chicken soup is not a Sunday. How did chicken soup come to be so closely associated with a Polish Sunday dinner? Let's start with the name. The Polish word for chicken soup is rosoł. It means bullion or broth or a clear soup made from bones and meat. The word comes from the distant past, when meat was preserved by salting and drying. To make it edible it had to be desalted by soaking and cooking in water. The broth from cooking the meat was called rozsół (or rozsol) from the word rozsolić, to desalt. The end result was a brine, a salty water. In the first cookbook published in Poland in 1682 titled Compendium Ferculorum or Collection of Dishes by Stanisław Czerniecki, we find a recipe for utilizing the resulting salty water that comes from long-term boiling of meat. He called it Polish broth. "The method of cooking Polish broth is as follows. Take beef or veal meat, hazel grouse or partridge, pigeon and whatever meat can be used for cooking. Soak…arrange in a pot, cook. Strain the broth through a sieve and pour (back into) into the meat, put in parsley, butter, salt (wow! more salt!)…. And when it is ready, serve hot on the table. You should also know that you should put in every broth what is needed so that it does not stink of water or wind, that is, parsley, or dill, onion, or garlic, nutmeg flower, or rosemary, or even pepper, according to taste or preference, and neither lemon nor rosemary will disfigure the broth."  One wonders what the “stink of water or wind” might mean…but maybe best not to know… Interestingly, the seventeenth-century broth was served not only with "Polish and Italian noodles", but also with croutons, figatella (meatballs), sorrel, peas, gooseberries, or "garden things", i.e. vegetables and herbs. At the time it was considered a meat dish, not a soup. By the 19th century, no one seemed to remember Czerniecki's recipe. It lost its role as a meat dish and became a dish where the broth was the central focus and the meat and bones became secondary. It became a hot liquid dish…a soup. In Cieszyn Silesia, the broth was made from lamb, and in Upper Silesia from pigeons. By the turn of the century, perhaps when pigeons were harder to come by, Polish cookbooks recommend the addition of beef to make a rich, delicious, healthy broth.  While such a dish may have been common among the wealthy, chicken soup was considered a luxury among the poorer population. For one thing, in the barnyards of the less well-to-do, chickens were kept for their egg laying abilities, not to eat but to sell in order to buy things like salt and/or kerosene to light lamps. When the chicken got “old” and not laying as well, it was sacrificed to make soup for a special occasion like a Sunday dinner. Because making the broth required long, slow cooking to release the flavors, it had to be made on a day when there was time to prepare such a dish, most often on a Sunday when there was no work in the fields. ←Sierpc, Poland. Photo by Edward Knab  ← My cousin Johanna’s chicken coop in Poland Poland’s Narodowy Centrum Kultury (National Centre for Culture) whose role is maintaining and promoting national and state traditions writes: "… cooked long and slowly, so that it barely, barely blinked, gaining flavor from marrow bones, fatty roosters and firm pieces of beef, enriched with vegetables, browned onion, lovage and sometimes other spices, served most often with small noodles, but sometimes with poured dumplings or potatoes it became our “national soup.” Growing up, I distinctly remember the chunks of beef with marrow and chicken parts when my mother made it. We had the hot broth with noodles, carrots (sometimes a gizzard floating on top) as the first course. The cooked chicken and beef, served with potatoes (sprinkled with dill) and a vegetable became the second course. This is still how my cousin in Poland recently served up chicken soup for Sunday dinner. It was a hot that summer Sunday, too! It is one of the most beloved soups of all Poles and remains inseparable from the Sunday menu. Whether sweltering on a hot summer day, or cozy around the table when it’s snowing, in Polish tradition, Sunday without chicken soup is not a Sunday. For more about the history and traditions associated with Polish cooking see: Polish Country Kitchen Cookbook, Hippocrene Books, Inc. 2012 https://nck.pl/projekty-kulturalne/projekty/ojczysty-dodaj-do-ulubionych/ciekawostki-jezykowe/rosol-,c,.ajax |
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One of the biggest moments in my life was being able to sign for my very own library card. When I'm not reading, researching and writing I'm riding my bike, sewing or gardening. I love flea markets, folk art, and traveling to Poland.
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