Quick FAQ for Wroclaw (Wroclove :D) for collaborators from around the world

Poland is in Central Europe, not Eastern (we use Central European Standard Time even). This because Russia is also partially in Europe (not European Union though).

Breslau is Pre-WW2 name for current Wroclaw in Lower Silesia. Don't use it here as it immediately brings bad emotions into the talk and it is not what you want :) Leave nazis in the past.

Breslau is still the german name of the city as it was originally a silesian and prussian city. You can't just eradicate a city's past by giving it a new name. Has nothing to do with the nazis.

@dneustadt Yeah it is still official german name, so be free to use it in Germany. Altough it's also changing as Wroclaw is making moves to change this with Wroclove campains. Younger germans use Breslau less and less.

If you come here and use Breslau, don't be shocked when you will be corrected and less empathically treated :)

@irene yeah, this is why "Polish Concentration Camps" are ok too ? :P

@irene wrong answer, concentration camps were never polish and never will be.

Of course it's "Breslau" in German and will always be. Poland itself isn't called "Polska" in German, but "Polen". Just like the Italian capitol city isn't called "Roma" in German, but "Rom", and the whole country is "Italien" instead of "Italia".

@irene there is something wrong with the wording of "Polish Concentration Camps" because it's ambigous. It can mean "Concentration Camps on Polish territory", which is correct. But it can also mean "Concentration Camps operated by Poland / Poles", which is incorrect.

@irene that's linguistics 101, not an argument. People don't take offence at words, but at the meaning expressed by them. If you now claim that words don't actually express anything, then you don't have language anymore, you only have noises.

Btw, my favourite expression in Polish:

"ja chcę kawę pić i ciasto jeść."

@irene how do you tell these two possibilities apart?

@irene it has nothing to do with "specific camps". Claiming it's "just words" to you indicates that you lack the history knowledge to even remotely understand what is being talked and implied.

@irene so we're back to "there is no language, there are only noises". I have already refuted that one.

OF COURSE people react to the meaning, not to "the words"(tm) in this example.

@irene it's not about the city name. It's about the innuendo whether that city is Polish or whether Germany can/should/will reclaim it. Language is a bit more complex than just the direct meaning. Quite frequently, it's also about the implied, but unspoken aspects between the lines.

@irene no, it's just that I understand what's being spoken and you overlook the point. But let's see:

@alkuzad what do you say - did I get the implication right or not?

@Fast-Nop yep fast-nop, you called what I wanted to do also on this topic. Words are not "just words". You can't call someone fat cause he weights 200kg and expect "thank you" in return.

This example is only on surface an just wording. It touches a lot of history, a lot of pain, regret and an hope, that future will be better here.

I personally heard Germans claiming that in future Wroclaw will belong to them again. 3 german tourists in city centre. Still today not all people like how things ended.

Some of Germans even helped clean-up and rebuild this city right right after war ended, before someone told them that they actually lost this part of country and have to get out.

@Fast-Nop wrong verb order, should be like that: „ja chcę PIĆ kawę i JEŚĆ ciasto” ;)

And...
@alkuzad we have to remember, that Wrocław is just Wrocław, a Polish city. Just like Lviv is now Lviv, an Ukrainian city. We (Poles) have the same problem with „our” eastern regions, like Germans with our western regions.

Also, Breslau is just localized name, not official. Just like Köln is Kolonia in Polish, or Cottbus is Chociebuż.

@mlask are u referencing to 'all I need is lvov' memes ? :D Yeah this is perfect example of how people still can't manage the past too :)