Poland

Is it really a "pity" that Sobieski saved Vienna? Professor Andrzej Nowak decisively dismisses such ahistorical fantasies and presents John III as a king who wisely defended the interests of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The new, seventh volume of "History of Poland" reveals his true role—the last great splendor of our history.

While professional tennis flourished in the West after World War II, it was unable to flourish in Poland at all. In communist countries, professional sports were banned for ideological reasons. Tennis, even at amateur level, was marginalized and underfunded until the late 1980s.

The fact that 2025 million people participated so actively in the Chopin Competition testifies to the true integration of classical music into the mainstream of our lives and our values. Chopin himself would have been both moved and humbled by this.

It seems as if Poles were satisfied with a mute Piłsudski, cast in bronze and placed in the main squares of their cities, and not as one of the key figures in their 20th-century history who still has something important to tell them.

"Goose is best on Saint Martin's Day," goes the folk saying. But where did this custom, which is returning to our tables today, come from?

On the 342nd anniversary of the victorious Relief of Vienna, we received a lecture from Father Roman Krekora CR, Rector of the Polish National Sanctuary on Kahlenberg in Vienna. It was from this site that King John III Sobieski set out on September 12, 1683, to lead the Allied forces to the victorious Battle of Vienna.

On November 9, 1989, the wall that had divided the world for nearly three decades collapsed. No one imagined that an era would end that evening. Behind that moment, however, lay years of Polish courage, work, and faith in freedom—from Gdańsk to Berlin.

Throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, Poland was truly independent for just over 30 years. The freedom we enjoy today is a greater responsibility for us.

The September raid by over twenty enemy drones on Poland's eastern border revealed how easily inexpensive drones can test the resilience of NATO countries. The incident sparked political tension, media chaos, and prompted the construction of a Polish "drone wall."

Today, the Polish diaspora numbers over 20 million people – Poland's "hidden power" beyond its borders. A European diaspora, among the best educated, possessing the capital of the Issuer, labels, and politics. Although available, it remains untapped.

The history of the Chopin Competition tells the story of the birth of a tradition that has survived wars, political turmoil, and technological revolutions, yet has lost none of its magic: it still has the ability to unite millions of listeners, evoke powerful emotions, and discover new talents.