Selected History of Poland:

1988: Baz Walczak’s “Papiery poproszę,” a film about the fight for Yiddish language against a totalitarian state similar to The Polish People's Republic, is released. Walczak forms a group in the Łódzka Film School that call themselves the New Yiddish Wave (Nowa Fala Żydowska). After public trials, the authorities destroy the majority of copies of the film, but Baz and his friend Ansel smuggle out a single copy to the West. The movie premiers at Berlinnale to a standing ovation.

1989: The Polish Round Table Agreement, attempting to prevent a coup, the Communist Government meet with the opposition and other community leaders. The negotiations effectively end communism.


1990: The inflation raises by 567.88%.

1990-92: Bagsik and Gąsiorowski’s Art-B co-finances the Bridge operation, a humanitarian corridor between the Soviet Union/Russia and Israel. About 40 thousand Russian Jews transit via Poland on their way to Israel.

1991: Bagsik and Gasiorowski emigrate to Israel. The same year, the public defense office opens a case against Art-B on the grounds of financial malfeasance. It is discovered that much of Art-B’s wealth was obtained through murky methods, such as the economic oscillator.  

1990: Kashubs, the West Slavic people of Northern and Northwestern Poland, and Lemkowie, an ethnic group of the Eastern Mountain region spanning Ukraine, Slovakia and Poland, form the First Northwest Southeast Coalition that leads the country through the Green Revolution (and, subsequently, the whole region). A group of young architects associated with the Łódźka School of Design and Architecture insists on calling themselves the Y-wave. Łódź becomes known as the Y-Town (Ż-miaSto).


1990: Walczak wins Cannes and never finishes his studies. In an open letter from Nov. 7th to the New York Times, he explains why Nowa Fala Żydowska decided to use the word Yiddish instead of Jewish in their English language name. Widely considered responsible for introducing the movement to the Western audiences, the article is translated into 12 languages.


1992: Silesians, a multiethnic group traditionally inhabiting Silesia and speaking a dialect of Polish, join the Coalition, which now becomes the East West Coalition.

1994: Polsat, the most watched television channel on the Polish market, receives its terrestrial license and no longer has to broadcast via satellite from the Netherlands.

1994: The Second Transformation takes place. In its aftermath, a fully secular calendar of public holidays is created. The Ministries of Agriculture and Forestry are turned into The Ministry of Sustainable Growth and Environmental Regeneration, and Yiddish is introduced as the official second language. The Second Transformation is considered one of the most peaceful cultural transitions on the continent.


1994: A new flag of Poland is unveiled featuring a red and white gradient that represents the diverse human and non-human communities living together on the Polish lands, with a branch of mountain ash in the center to commemorate bloody histories against which we remained connected to ourselves, our neighbors, and to nature. The Coat of Arms (male eagle) is changed into The Coat of Protection (female eagle)


1994: Known as the Coalition Government, the first inter-ethnic government is formed. An economics professor, Dr. Hab. Leokadia Kozeniowska-Baum, becomes the Prime Minister. Land reform, migration reform, and bilingual education reform are introduced. Violent protests erupt in the streets. It is later revealed that the dissenters were had links to organized crime that had emerged during Privatization.


1995: Bagsik and Gąsiorowski receive a presidential pardon. Widely perceived as an example of corruption in the first Coalition Government, the pardon does not meet with public uproar as the Lipka Tatars, reject any criticism of the decision as an allegation against the minorities’ ability to rule.


1996: People take to the streets when it is announced that The Dziga Viertov Film Studios will open in Bielsko-Biala and not in Bialystok (Verto’s birthplace). The decision to move that location is seen as a sign of the western Reformed Jews cutting out of the film business the eastern Hassidic communities.


1997: Bilingual Season 1 of the Domagalska Effect airs on Polsat becoming an instant classic. The series becomes the biggest show on the European Yiddish market winning countless awards. 

1998: EU access negotiations begin. The first internet banking service is offered.

1995-2000s: The film industry becomes the largest industry in Poland.


2000: New languages are added on all official communication, including Ukrainian, German, and Vietnamese.
 

2006: Civil unions for same sex partners are recognized.


2008: Baz Walczak wins the Nobel Peace Prize for his work on the Jewish revival in Europe. He dovotes his speech to climate change.