Something ironic about my family heritage id like to share.

[Septimus]

k well let me start off by saying i had no clue of any of this history up to a few weeks ago, and i just found it ironic and thought id share it.

my family originated from the polish area and scandinavia.

after ww1 when a polish state was brough back into existance there stood a small city known as "The free state of Danzig" now here were it gets ironic. one of my favorite musical artists is called "danzig" and to top it all off once me and my friends had a wierd discussion were we talked about what we would name our future children, and i chose "danzig" cause i thought its a good differential way of the origina and more traditional "daniel". anyway...:

some more history: on september 1st (my BIRTHDAY!) 1939, hitler's armies attacked and invaded the free state of danzig, a reason for the starting of WW2.

just thought this was all a little too ironic. tells me what u think.

u can read more on this history here: http://www.zum.de/whkmla/region/eceurope/danzig19191939.html

[thephenom]

Interesting.....

I'm gonna name my son, Barton. :devil

[egarrard]

Originally posted by Septimus
and to top it all off once me and my friends had a wierd discussion were we talked about what we would name our future children, and i chose "danzig" cause i thought its a good differential way of the origina and more traditional "daniel". anyway...:
u can read more on this history here: http://www.zum.de/whkmla/region/eceurope/danzig19191939.html Interesting conjecture. So was Danzig (Gdansk) originally a Jewish enclave? The history you linked to didn't go back to it's settlement.

[Septimus]

Originally posted by egarrard
Interesting conjecture. So was Danzig (Gdansk) originally a Jewish enclave? The history you linked to didn't go back to it's settlement.

readin up on it, as far as i can find it has always been a christian center, and ruled by the french, germains, prussians, and polish.

if u can help me find more it would be great.

[egarrard]

Originally posted by Septimus
readin up on it, as far as i can find it has always been a christian center, and ruled by the french, germains, prussians, and polish.

if u can help me find more it would be great. I'm just going on the common "Dan" in the names. That would seem to denote a Jewish origin, as opposed to a Christian one.

[egarrard]

I found a history of Polish Vodka... :Beer

http://www.theculturedtraveler.com/Archives/FEB2004/Vodka.htm

[egarrard]

Gdansk History


The beginnings of colonisation in the Gdañsk area date back to the 7th century when it was a little grouping of fishing hamlets. Because of its strategic position at the head of the Vistula RiverGdañsk developed as an important trade centre for amber and salt.

10th
The first Christian mission comes to the small fishing village of Gdañsk. The bishop of Prague christens the inhabitants in 997. The area is appropriated to the newborn Polish state.

11th
Boles³aw I the Brave is recognised as the first king of Poland in 1025. Merchants from Lubeck arrive in the town of Gdañsk in 1224, bringing with them the Lubeck Law which codifies trade issues. Gdañsk welcomes vessels from England, Sweden and the Walloon Lands, among others, and is noted as a potentially great port.

12th
The Dominican friars are transferred from Kraków to Gdañsk. They host the first Dominican Fair in the old town in August, a tradition which continues to this day.

13th
In 1241 Tatars invade Poland and Central Europe. The Teutonic Knights penetrate Polish regions from 1226. By now Gdañsk is a prospering port with a population of 8,000.

14th
In 1333-70 Kazimierz III the Great reigns as one of Poland's most noted rulers. The Teutonic Knights make a treacherous assault on the old town of Gdañsk (GdanskDE in German) and build a new town nearby. The Knights crown Malbork, 60km south, the capital of their Teutonic state. In 1361 Gdañsk joins the Hanseatic League, a German trade organisation, and its sea port prospers.

15th
Polish-Lithuanian forces defeat the Teutonic Knights in 1410, thereby stopping German expansion eastward. The flight of the Teutonic Knights in 1454 is a great relief for the city which swears allegiance to King W³adys³aw II Jagie³³o and receives many royal privileges. It maintains its strong trading position, strengthened further in 1454 when it joins the Kingdom of Poland.

16th
Equal rights between Protestants and Catholics are acknowledged by King Zygmunt II August. Political stability, prosperity and cultural achievement peak. The City becomes the largest Polish city and as a lively export centre, is nicknamed the 'Granary of Europe'. Polish Astronomer Nicholas Copernicus publishes his discovery of the earth's orbit around the sun.

17th
The Swedish army ransacks Poland. Gdañsk is one of the few cities to withstand the deluge of the 1650s with an expanding population of 77,000. However, the Swedish-Polish wars leave Gdañsk with an empty cash box and enormous debts. Future outstanding astronomer, Jan Heweliusz, is born in Gdañsk on January 28, 1611.

18th
Poland becomes a playground for Tsar Peter the Great, and in 1734Gdañsk is besieged by the Russian army. Stanis³aw August Poniatowski is elected last king of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1764. Austria, Prussia and Russia impose the first partition of Poland in 1772-73. As a result Gdañsk loses its trade routes and falls into decline. The constitution of May 3, 1791 restores hereditary monarchy and reforms the political system. A second Prussian-Russian agreement on the second partition of Poland is concluded. Tadeusz Koúciuszko leads a peasant army in rebellion against foreign rule in 1794. One year later Austria, Prussia and Russia impose a third partition of Poland, ending Polish independence for more than a century. In an additional treaty, they agree to abolish the very name of Poland and so it ceases to exist on maps for 123 years.

19th
The semi-independent Duchy of Warsaw is established in 1807-13 by Napoleon. During this time Gdañsk is established as a free city, with French troops stationed there. After Napoleon's defeat and the Congress of Vienna in 1815, Poland is partitioned anew: Gdañsk is given back to Prussia, becoming incorporated within East Prussia, of which the capital is Königsberg (Królewiec/Kaliningrad). The city is thus cut off from the grain fields of Poland and is further crippled by high duty taxes imposed by the Prussian government. In 1878 Gdañsk - mainly for military reasons - regains its position as the capital of the Pomerania (Pomorze) region (the stretch of coastline between the mouth of the Oder and the Wis³a lagoon, in northern Poland). An era of Romanticism is born in 1820-55, with Poland producing such figures as Chopin and Mickiewicz. The 1830-31 November Revolt against Russian rule culminates in a Polish defeat. Russians suppress Polish culture and institutions. An attempted insurrection against the Austrians also backfires. The January Insurrection of 1863-64 in the Russian sector fails, resulting in mass emigration to France and deportation to Siberia.

20th
After the defeat of Germany in WWI, the partition of Poland collapses. Gdañsk is caught up in a tug of war between Poland and Germany who turn to the League of Nations for assistance. On November 11, 1918 Poland regains its independence of state, giving birth to the Second Polish Republic. The free city of GdanskDE is established in 1920 and its own parliament is elected in May. In 1919-21 Poland wages war against Russia and Ukraine. 1922-26 sees the construction of Gdynia Port, Poland's only port strategically situated at the end of the Polish corridor (the stretch of shoreline awarded to Poland after WWI). Gabriel Narutowiczs is elected president of Poland on December 9, 1922, and assassinated a week later on December 16, 1922. Hyper inflation hits Poland in 1923. In 1926 Józef Pi³sudski gains power by coup and establishes the Sanacja government that rules until 1939. Poland signs a non-aggression treaty with the Soviet Union in 1932 and a non-violence treaty with Germany in 1934. In 1939, WWII starts with Nazi Germany's September 1 attack on Poland's military posts at Westerplatte in GdanskDE, followed by the September 17 invasions by the Soviet Union (previously agreed to under the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact). Polish forces are defeated. A Polish government-in-exile forms in London. In 1940-41 the Soviet Union incarcerates 1.5 million Poles in labour camps and executes thousands of prisoners of war, before ceding Polish lands to Germans. In 1940-44 all Polish territory falls under Nazi occupation and becomes its primary killing ground. Six million Poles, including three million Jews, are killed in concentration camps. In 1943, a mass grave of Polish officers is discovered in Katyñ. On August 2, 1944, the Warsaw uprising by the resistance Polish Home Army receives no Soviet assistance and is crushed by the Nazis. On April 28, 1945, the Soviet Army seizes GdanskDE and destroys the city, leaving a smouldering mass of rubble. The Red Army 'liberates' Polish territories and establishes a communist-dominated coalition government in 1945. Under the Yalta agreement in February 1945, the Allies place Poland, including GdanskDE, in the Soviet zone. From 1945 Poland is Sovietised. All property and business are nationalised, organised religion is attacked and opposition leaders are imprisoned. In 1947 the Communists consolidate political monopoly after rigged elections. In 1955 the Warsaw Pact is created. Under the leadership of W³adys³aw Gomu³ka in October 1956 a political thaw starts. By 1968 popular disenchantment with Gomu³ka begins and an opposition that will eventually overthrow the government is born.

more... (http://www.inyourpocket.com/poland/en/category?cid=3132)