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I really love reading the answers by all the armchair “experts” who get their so-called facts from Facebook and god knows what other fake news sites. Apparently, they’re experts on everything, despite never having lived in the region, not knowing even basic history, who probably didn't even known who Kurds or other ethnic groups in the region were until ISIS. And now all of a sudden they know more then the people actually living thru these events…how interesting…Anyways, back to actual FACTS!Kurds were divided into 4 regions after the Treaty of Lausanne; Syria, Iraq, Turkey and Iran. Since the question only asks about the Kurds in Iraq and Syria, I will only focus on those two regions.Iraqi Kurds (Bashuri Kurds)Yes, Israel does support the Kurds in Iraq and has in an official capacity since 1960, although much of it has been covert. The relationship between the Kurds and Israel; however, extends much earlier then 1960, as many Kurds in Iraq helped to smuggle Jews to Israel during the Farhud genocide. In turn, Israel helped Kurds during the “Anfal Genocide” (https://www.hrw.org/reports/1993/iraqanfal/ANFALINT.htm) Saddam committed against the Kurdish community (In which Saddam killed an estimated 150,000–200,000 Kurds, forcibly relocated hundreds of thousands more (many of whom died in the process) and razed hundreds of villages to the ground.) Many tribes in Kurdistan were also of Jewish descent, coming from tribes that resettled there after Assyrian conquest of the northern kingdom of Israel. So, the relationship has been a long and mutually beneficial one.“Israeli expert on Iraqi Kurdistan-Israel relations Prof. Ofra Bengio of Tel Aviv University and the Moshe Dayan Center told the Magazine that the Kurds are deeply interested in Israel, and that her own book The Kurds of Iraq was translated into Kurdish.“Both countries’ legitimacy is contested by its neighbors, which the Kurds understand as a mutual fate, a shared history,” said Bengio. “There is also an actual shared history. Jews lived on relatively good terms in Kurdistan, and Israel’s ties with the Kurds trace back to the 1960s and earlier. The Kurds see the Israeli nation-building project as a model and consider Zionist leaders inspirational.”Kurds in SyriaThe relationship with the Kurds in Syria; however, has been much more recent, as the Kurds only recently attained autonomy there over the past couple years. While “Israel does not have formal relations with the Syrian Kurds and they have many different interests, an analysis of the regional alliances will reveal that the status of Rojava is relevant to Jerusalem’s national security interest in undermining Iran’s hegemony.” (Why Rojava matters for Israel)Typically, Israel usually tries to avoid taking a public stand on political strife in neighboring countries, so for the past six years, Israel has followed a “policy of non-intervention” in Syria except when the security of its northern borders are challenged. So far, it has been careful to stay out of the politics of the civil war in Syria and limit its involvement, at least publicly, to targeted security concerns and humanitarian matters.However, Israel’s efforts to strike alliances with effective groups on the ground have failed. Tehran is clearly determined to establish a foothold on Israel’s northern border and set up bases for Hezbollah, which would amount to a Syrian version of the Lebanese militia. It appears abundantly clear that the Kurds are the most qualified (if not the only candidate ) in Syria on which Israel can count for support.” (The Syrian Kurds: Israel's forgotten ally )So if Israel supports the Kurds in Syria, they cannot do so openly, as their policy has been to keep silent about any presence they have Syria. Most likely they do, even if it’s not direct, as the Kurds are the only buffer between Israel and other nations which are hostile to Israel. Considering that the United States and France directly support, train and equip the Syrian Kurds, who have also received assistance from countries such as France and Germany, it is not unfathomable to think Israel would help as well, albeit indirectly or covertly.Israeli TV Reports From Syrian Democratic Forces-held Territory For First Time EverRead on for a more detailed answer:The Kurdish and Jewish relationship goes back centuries:In antiquity:The Jewish community in Mesopotamia was one of the oldest in the world, dating back to the Babylonian conquest of the southern tribes of Israel, (mostly the tribe of Judah) in 586 BCE. A smaller group of Israelites were taken into captivity almost 150 years earlier from the northern part of Israel by Assyria, in 722 BCE.The Medes\kurdish relationship with the Jews:2 Kings 17:6In the ninth year of Hoshea the king of Assyria took Samaria, and carried Israel away into Assyria, and placed them in Halah and in Habor by the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.First mention of the Medes in Scripture is found in the prophetic utterance of Isaiah when he declared 175 years before it was fulfilled, “Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them, which shall not regard silver; and as for gold, they shall not delight in it” (Isaiah 13:17; cp. 21:2).Jeremiah also states that the Medes will be used of God to destroy Babylon: “Make bright the arrows; gather the shields: the Lord hath raised up the spirit of the kings of the Medes: for his device is against Babylon, to destroy it; because it is the vengeance of the Lord, the vengeance of his temple” (Jeremiah 51:11; cp. 51:28).“While the prophetic record concerning the Medes and the Persians is clear and its fulfillment is confirmed by history, its principal importance is historical rather than prophetic. In contrast to the Babylonian Empire which is significant for its destruction of Jerusalem, the city of God, beginning Gentile dominion over Israel which will not culminate until Christ comes in His second advent, the rise of the Medes and the Persians is important as forming the background of Israel’s partial restoration.Three of the historical books, namely, Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther and three of the minor prophets, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi have their context in the reign of the Medo-Persian Empire. During this period the captives of Judah were permitted to go back to Jerusalem and restore their ancient city and its temple. The key to the Babylonian Empire is Gentile dominion over Jerusalem. The key to the Empire of the Medes and the Persians is restoration of Jerusalem.Daniel gives a whole chapter to the account of his being cast into the lions’ den. This important episode in the life of Daniel, while affording many spiritual lessons of God’s care over His prophet as well as foreshadowing God’s protection over the people of Israel as a whole, illustrates the beneficent attitude of the Medes and the Persians to the people whom they had conquered. Their deference to individual religious faith is manifested in the attitude of Darius to Daniel and his earnest desire that Daniel might be delivered from the lions.Darius himself, described in Daniel 5:31 as “Darius the Median,” is properly identified as Gobryas or Gubaru, a governor of Babylon appointed by Cyrus the supreme monarch of the empire of the Medes and the Persians. (Cyrus II or Cyrus the Great reigned from 559 b.c. until he was killed in battle in 530 b.c.) Darius the Mede is mentioned a number of times in Daniel (6:1, 6, 9, 25, 28; 9:1; 11:1). Darius seems to have reigned under Cyrus in governing the southern portion of the kingdom known as the Fertile Crescent. The statement that “Daniel prospered in the reign of Darius, and in the reign of Cyrus the Persian” (Daniel 6:28) must therefore be interpreted as the reign of Darius under the contemporary reign of Cyrus.”In contemporary history:The Kurdish and Israeli governments share a long-winded relationship, “dating back to the eighth century when Kurdistan was home to the Jewish Benjamin tribe”. Today, over 200,000 Jewish-Kurds have resettled in modern-day Israel after the ‘Farhud’ violence under the Hussein regime, and have carved out strong pro-Kurdish sentiment in the Israeli political sphere.8th Century:Tradition holds that Israelites of the tribe of Benjamin first arrived in the area of modern Kurdistan after the Assyrian conquest of the Kingdom of Israel during the 8th century BC. According to the Torah, it is believed that the tribe of Benjamin is one of the ten tribes of Israel which were dispersed by the Neo-Assyrian Empire circa 722 BCE.12th Century:An ancient tradition relates that the “Jews of Kurdistan are the descendants of the Ten Tribes from the time of the Assyrian exile. The first to mention this was R. *Benjamin of Tudela , the 12th century traveler who visited Kurdistan in about 1170 and found more than 100 Jewish communities. In the town of *Amadiya alone, there were 25,000 Jews who spoke the language of the Targum (Aramaic) and whose numbers included scholars.” The Jews of Kurdistan spoke an Aramaic with insertions of Turkish, Persian, Kurdish, Arabic, and Hebrew words. They called it the "language of the Targum" or Lishna Yehudiyya("language of the Jews"), as well as Lashon ha-Galut. The Arabs called it jabalī, i.e., "of the mountains," because it was essentially spoken by the inhabitants of the mountainsBenjamin of Tudela also gives the account of David Alroi, the messanic leader from central Kurdistan, who rebelled against the king of Persis and had plans to lead the Jews back to Jerusalem.” These travellers also report of well-established and wealthy Jewish communities in Mosul, which was the commercial and spiritual center of Kurdistan. Many Jews fearful of approaching crusaders, had fled from Syria and Palestine to Babylonia and Kurdistan. The Jews of Mosul enjoyed some degree of autonomy over managing their own community.[12] (at this time, Mosul was a Kurdish city).1500–1600’sAsenath Barzani, who later married Rabi Jacob MizrahiAbout 30 Kurdish paytanim are known from among the inhabitants of Barazan, Mosul, Amadiya, Ḥarīr, Naṣībīn, *Zākho , and other places. They wrote religious and secular poems in Hebrew and in Aramaic; 54 of them were published by Abraham Ben-Jacob in his book Kehillot Yehudei Kurdistan (1961). The most important of these poets were R. Samuel b. Nethanel ha-Levi *Barazani , who was also a rosh yeshivah in Mosul during the 17th century, and his daughter Asenath; R. Phineas b. R. Isaac Ḥariri and his son R. Ḥayyim; R. Simeon b. Jonah Mizraḥi; R. Gershon b. Raḥamim; R. Simeon b. Benjamin Abidani; R. Moses b. Isaac Bajulnaya; R. Samuel b. Simeon ʿAjamiya; R. Baruch b. Samuel Mizraḥi, the author of Shirei Zimrah; and others.Of particular importance was Asenath Barzani, who was a young Jewish-Kurdish woman who served as “rosh yeshivah in Mosul and as a leader of the Jewish community”.She is considered the “first female rabbi of Jewish history by some scholars, and her writings demonstrate her mastery of Hebrew, Torah, Talmud, Midrash, and Kabbalah.” Asenath died in 1670 and was buried in Amediye, in Kurdistan-Iraq.Farhud Genocide:During the " Farhud Genocide , “179 Jews of both sexes and all ages were killed, 242 children were left orphans, and 586 businesses were looted, 911 buildings housing more than 12,000 people were pillaged. The total property loss was estimated by the Jewish community's own investigating committee to be approximately 680,000 pounds.” (Remembering the Destruction of Iraqi Jewry)Due to rising anti-semitism, Jews in Iraq were targeted by pro-Nazi Arab officers, policemen and civilians. Although Fritz Grobba, The Nazi- envoy to the Middle East, was successful in recruiting Arab Iraqis, as well as Arabs in other nations, he had no such luck with the Kurds.“Israeli intelligence veterans say that cooperation took the form of military training for Kurds in northern Iraq, in return for their help in smuggling out Jews as well as in spying on Saddam Hussein’s regime in Iraq”.When the Israeli Government talks about “Kurds smuggling Jews out” they are speaking about the Farhud genocide. When Fritz Grobba arrived in Iraq to rally the Arabs to the Nazi cause by promising to help them evict the British who the Arabs saw as “colonialist occupiers”, he also tried to appeal to the Kurds and Sheikh Barzinji in the same way that he did the Iranians and Reza Shah -Exposing Iran's links to the Nazis - Jewish Telegraphic Agency . Grobba’s argument was that both groups, the Kurds and the Iranians, were part of the “Aryan Nation’s”, and that they should join in with their “German brethren” in attacking Jews. Although getting rid of the British in Kurdistan (which had conducted several RAF bombings against Kurds in the Kurdistan region of Iraq) was an attractive proposition, Sheikh Barzanji and the Kurds refused to join the Nazis. Instead the Kurds helped both Kurdish Jews and Iraqi Jews escape persecution by smuggling them thru the Kurdish mountains. As a result, the Kurdish-Iraq and Israeli relationship was born as Israel did not forget what the Kurds did for Jews in iraq.Sheikh Mahmud Barzanji (center)1940’s-1950’s: Kurdish and Iraqi Jews flee to Israel in Operation Ali Baba, later named Operation Ezra and NehemiahKurdish-Jewish Family immigrating to IsraelThe Kurdish Immigrants Who Built IsraelIraqi Jews on board a plane to IsraelThe expulsion that backfired: When Iraq kicked out its JewsRabbi Moshe Gabai, head of the Jews of Zakho, with President of Israel Yitzhak Ben-Zvi1960’s:Israel has maintained discreet military, intelligence and business ties with the Kurds since the 1960s, seeing in the minority ethnic group a buffer against shared Arab adversaries.Barzani’s Secret Trips to Israel:In 1961, when the Kurdish revolution was in dire straits, activist Ismet Sherif Vanly (above) suggested to Kurdish leader Mulla Mustafa Barzani that he contact Jerusalem for help. Vanly went to Israel where he met Prime Minister Levi Eshkol, as well as Shimon Peres. Following that visit, the Israeli government sent a permanent representative to Iraqi Kurdistan. The Israelis also attempted to arrange meetings for Vanly with U.S. officials, but the latter refused.“In 1963 & 1968, Mullah Mustafa Barzani made his first Secret trip to Israel as well as his second, respectivelyMustafa Barzani with Yaakov Hazan the Leader of Mapam party in Israel in 1968Mustafa Barzani with Yaakov Hazan the Leader of Mapam party in Israel in 1963Barzani & Mardinli Musa Dayan (Moşê Dayan)Visit of the Mossad to Kurdish leader Mullah Mustafa Barzani's head quarter in Kurdistan's mountains.— With Safti Barzani, Ahron Cohen, Nissim Avraham, Şêrko Sebrî and Diyar Kurde Israel.The Secret Friendship Behind Israel’s Support Of Kurdish IndependenceFirst Kurdish-Iraqi War 1961–1970Iran was in the “middle of a conflict with Iraq over the border between the two countries by the Shatt ul-Arab river. The Iranian Monarch Mohammad Pahlavi Shah believed that Iraq unlawfully reigned over what actually belonged to Iran. Furthermore, Iran feared the Soviet’s growing influence in Iraq, who later was to become an ally of the superpower in the Middle East. By supporting the Iraqi Kurds and thereby making them reliant on himself, the Shah would now be able to make demands of them: The Kurdish-Iranian Peshmerga, PDFKI, who had been attacking Iran, was hiding in Iraqi Kurdistan. In return for helping the Iraqi Kurds, the Shah demanded that Barzanî put an end to PDKI’s activities in Iraqi Kurdistan and hand over some of their activists to Iran. Barzanî accepted. (Israel once supported the Kurds – but then left them in the lurch )The Iranian Monarch, Shah Mohammed PahlaviIsrael “supported the Kurds partly as a counterweight to Soviet’s influence in Iraq but also to distract the Iraqi army.Israeli military advisers not only trained Kurdish guerrillas as a way to reduce the potential military threat Iraq presented to the Jewish state, but also the threat that Syria presented to Israel. This training operation was codenamed "Marvad" (Carpet). In the mid-1960s, Shimon Peres, the Israeli Deputy Minister of Defense and later Prime Minister, met secretly with Kumran Ali Bedir-Khan, a Kurdish leader who had spied for the Israelis in the 1940s and 1950s.According to a former senior Mossad official Eliezer Tsafrir, Israel had military advisers at the headquarters of Mulla Mustafa Barzani in 1963, where they trained and supplied the Kurdish units with fire arms, field and anti-aircraft artillery. Israel also spent tens of millions of dollars on the support of the Kurds, supplying them via Iran, which pursued its own goals in Iraq and had close ties with Israel up until 1979.The Parastin, the intelligence service of the Kurdish Democratic Party, was also established with Mossad’s support in the late 1960s. The operations conducted by the Israeli intelligence agency in Northern Iraq were of particular significance for Israel because the Iraqi Kurds were pounded not only by the Iraqi troops but also by the regular army of Syria, another Arab state ruled by the Baath party. After the commencement of active hostilities in Northern Iraq against the Kurds in 1963, Syria, concerned about the spread of the Kurdish sepa- ratism in its territory, offered necessary support to Baghdad to combat the Kurdish forces. The Syrian troops strengthened by air force and heavy artillery ac- tively participated in the hostilities against the Kurds at Mosul, Zakho and Dohuk. Moreover, as the Baathist regimes in Syria and Iraq attempted to unite the two states into one, a military alliance was signed in October 1963 in Damascus under which the integrated Syrian-Iraqi armed forces were supposed to be created. However, when these attempts failed in a short while and due to the fierce Kurdish resistance in the North, the Syrian troops were withdrawn from the Kurdish-populated provinces. Thus, owing to the Israeli support of the Iraqi Kurds, in turn, sizable Syrian forces were also diverted from the borders of Israel as well.Aryeh (Lova) Eliav, an Israeli Cabinet member, personally rode a mule over the mountains in 1966 to deliver a field hospital to the Kurds. The important defection of an Iraqi air force MIG pilot and his plane to Israel in August 1966, was effected with Kurdish help, while Israeli officers apparently assistedHospital established by Jewish-Israeli doctors in KurdistanMossad agents in Kurdistan-Iraq with “Shamo” the bear, which was given to them as a giftThe US and “Secretary of State Henry Kissinger wanted to do their ally, the Shah of Iran, a favor by supporting Iraq’s opponents – i.e. the Kurds. Furthermore, the US was also worried of the Soviet’s role in Iraq. In addition, they were supposedly promised oil of Barzanî as well; the Kurdish areas of Iraq were rich on oil. And last but not least, Kissinger wanted to support their close ally, Israel. If the Kurds attacked Iraq, the latter would have fewer resources to attack Israel with, during the Yom Kippur War.”Picture of the Shah of Iran with Kissinger1967The “British-born David Kimche, later deputy head of the Mossad, travelled on a non-Israeli passport to Kurdistan to appraise the situation. He was followed by Dov Tamari, a commando unit leader, who explored the idea of a permanent IDF training unit in the Kurdish mountains. This led to periodic six month stints for IDF personnel who trained peshmerga officers in the Marvad programme.Following the Six Day war, Israeli assistance for the Kurds increased considerably, as Israel realized that the ongoing Kurdish-Iraqi battles tied up Iraqi forces so they were not able to battle Israel instead. Slowly, captured Soviet arms made their way to Kurdistan.” (https://www.thejc.com/comment/analysis/a-movement-backed-by-israel-for-half-a-century-1.445216)Yaakov Nimrodi, the influential Israeli military attache in Tehran, served as the main channel. At times, Israeli advisers wore Iranian uniforms. In September 1967, Barzani again visited Israel and presented Moshe Dayan, the Israeli Defense Minister, with a curved Kurdish dagger. Barzani also found Israeli mortars superior to those he had been using and asked for more.1968–1970 Iraqi CoupBy 1968, Iraq went thru a coup that made Saddam Hussein Vice-President of Iraq. He began negotiations with the Kurds, and on May 11, 1968, promised the Kurds autonomy. According to the agreement made; “Kurdish and Arabic were to become the two official languages of Kurdistan; Kurdish participation in the government would become complete; officials in Kurdistan needed to be Kurds themselves or Kurdish speaking; and the Vice President had to be a Kurd.” ( Israel once supported the Kurds – but then left them in the lurch ) Unfortunately, however, Saddam reigned on the May 11, 1970 agreement, and he made several attempts at assassinating Mullah Mustafa Barzanî and his son and successor, Idris Barzani who ultimately died of a heart attack later on (1944–1987).Saddam Hussein, first became Vice-President of Iraq, then President, then permanent Dictator of IraqAfter being betrayed by Saddam, the Kurds resumed their fight, but this time the Kurds were backed by Iran, Israel and the United States.1973 Yom-Kippur WarDuring the Yom Kippur War in October 1973, in which Syria and Egypt were attacking Israel, only one Iraqi unit was able to participate in the Arab-Israeli war. The rest of the Iraqi units were busy fighting Barzanî in Iraq. The Kurds attacked Iraqi soldiers on Israeli demand.” Hence, Israel sent units to train and arm Kurdish Peshmerga fighters. (The precarious Kurdish-Israeli relationship, post-Kirkuk - Atlantic Council)1975 Algiers Accord:By 1975, Saddam came to the realization that “parts of the Iraqi territory by the Shatt ul-Arab border demarcation had to be given to Iran in order to prevent further Iranian support of the Iraqi Kurds”;“If we don’t give away the southern part of the country to Iran, we will lose the northern (Kurdish) part,” Saddam allegedly stated.On March, 1975 , Algerian President Houari Boumédiènne oversaw negotiations between Iran and Iraq in an agreement that would be called “The Algiers Accord”.In this Accord, Iraq and Iran outlined the borders between the two countries. In addition, Iran would stop supplying the Kurds of Iraq with weapons in return for “the transfer of Iraqi territory to Iran—especially half the width of the Shatt al-Arab, the river through which ships could sail to a number of major Iranian ports.”Israel's aid to the Kurds was being transferred through Iran, so Iran's decision also prevented the continuation of Israeli aid to the Kurds (the only other possible route being Turkey which was also hostile to the idea of a Kurdish autonomy in northern Iraq as a dangerous precedent for the Kurds in eastern Turkey, as well as being hostile to any type of Kurdish nationalism).“Iran also requested that the CIA and Mossad end the military support of the Kurds. Most of the people thought that after the end of international support, the Iraqi government would negotiate with the Kurds, but the Vice-Chairman at the time, Saddam Hussein, launched an aggressive campaign against the Kurds to “end them forever”. Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi interfered and succeeded in establishing a cease fire, but on 1 April, the Iraqi government relaunched the campaign intent on killing not only Kurdish fighters but Kurdish civilians as well, (a precursor to the Anfal Genocide). The Iraqi Army slaughtered thousands of Kurds with 100,000 Kurdish refugees fleeing to Iran with their leader, Mullah Mustafa Barzani. [16]1979 Rise of the Islamic Regime in IranAfter the establishment and formation of Israel as a country, Iran was one of the first Muslim-majority countries to acknowledge and recognize Israel’s sovereignty. After the 1953 Coup d’etat which installed Mohamed Reza Pahlavi, and subsequently his son, Shah Mohammed Pahlavi, relations between the two countries significantly improved. [1] Israel viewed Iran as a natural ally as a non-Arab power in the Middle East, and as a result,Israel had a permanent delegation in Tehran which thereafter led to permanent Ambassadors. After the Six-Day War, Iran supplied Israel with a significant portion of its oil needs and Iranian oil was shipped to European markets via the joint Israeli-Iranian Eilat-Ashkelon pipeline.[20] Brisk trade between the countries continued until 1979, along with many Iranian-Israeli military links and projects which were kept secret.Ayatollah KhomeiniAfter the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran led by the Ayatollah Khomeini, however, the newly formed Islamic Republic of Iran severed all diplomatic and commercial ties with Israel. The new Islamic regime also closed down the Israeli Embassy in Tehran, handing it over to the “Palestinian Liberation Front (PLO)”. The new government also refused to recognize the legitimacy of Israel as a state, and was sharply anti-Zionist. This stance only worsened with time, as a cold peace turned to outright hostility in the early 1990’s, leading Yitzhak Rabin’s government to adopt a more aggressive posture on Iran.[3]As a result, however, the Israeli Government began to use Iraqi Kurdistan not only as a base from which to obtain intelligence on Iraq, but also served as a base for Israeli intelligence collection on the Islamic regime.Anfal Genocide 1980–1988Al–Anfal, which is Arabic for “the spoils of war”, is the name of the eighth sura, or chapter, of the Quran. It tells a tale in which followers of Mohammed pillage the lands of nonbelievers. Some say the government chose the term for its campaign against the Kurds of northern Iraq because it suggested a religious justification for its actions.What was certain was that Saddam Hussein wanted to murder the Kurds, and began a mammoth campaign of civic annihilation, displacement and mass killing. The Anfal was unleashed against the Kurds from early 1980 through September 1988, and was tied to Saddam’s goals in the final phase of the Iran-Iraq war. Beginning with bombings of PUK and KDP targets, Saddam quickly moved to civilian targets. By 1987, Saddam had enlisted the help of his cousin, Ali Hassan Al-Majid (who was well known for his brutality) to take charge of the “Kurdish situation”. Also known by his nickname of “Chemical Ali due to his use of chemical warfare against the Kurds, Al-Majid began dropping poison gas not only on peshmerga targets but civilian villages.In early 1988, the Anfal began in earnest. A “directive from Baghdad ordered commanders to bomb rural areas of the north day or night “in order to kill the largest number of persons present.” The same directive declared that “all persons captured in those villages shall be detained and interrogated by the security services, and those between the ages of 15 and 70 shall be executed after any useful information has been obtained from them”. (A journey into the killing fields . PBS )182,000 Kurds were killed in the Anfal Campaign, with the village of Halabja alone sustaining 5,000 civilians dead. Hundreds of Kurdish villages were razed to the ground, with thousands of more Kurds forcibly relocated to different areas, including Iran. Mass graves uncovered thousands of people who had been shot and buried, and evidence uncovered in 2003 found that many Kurdish girls had been sold into slavery to Arab states by Saddam’s government. Thousands more Kurdish refugees fled the region and were given asylum in Europe, Australia or North America, forever being displaced from their homes.Civilian Kurds who were killed during the Al-Anfal campaign by chemical gasIraqi Kurds commemorate Halabja massacreDuring this time, Nahum Admoni, Mossad chief in the 1980s, described initiating assistance to the Kurds as “definitely humanitarian, an emotional aid to an oppressed minority”.1991 First Gulf WarAfter Kurdish forces assisted US- led Coalition forces in the First and Second Gulf Wars, Saddam responded with another brutal campaign against the Kurds in retaliation.All over the world, the Jewish organizations started a vigorous lobbying campaigns to aid the Iraqi Kurds and to exert pressure on Iraq to stop the persecutions (Barron, A. US and Israeli Jews Express Support for Kurdish Refugees // Washington Report of Middle East Affairs, May-June 1991, p.64.) Israel demonstrated its sympathy with the Kurds by means of large-scale supplies of medication and first-aid items through the Turkish-Iraqi border. This campaign was organized by the Israeli community of the Iraqi Jews. The Iraqi Jews even organized a large-scale demonstration at the residence of the Israeli Prime Minister Shamir during the meeting of the latter with the US State Secretary James Baker calling on the US government to defend the Kurds from reprisals ( Shahak, I. Open Secrets: Israeli Nuclear and Foreign Policies // (Experience Progress historia/shahak/opensec/07.htm)2003 Liberation of Iraq“Colonel Amir Goren, who served in the IDF for over 30 years and is now 53, describes himself as an “international anti-terrorism expert,” providing “tailored solutions” to “combat, physical and technological needs” for “public and private organizations” in several geographies. He led a group of Israelis who trained Iraqi Kurdish security forces and Peshmerga from 2004-2006, working as a subcontractor for an American company that sought to build the KRG’s security capacity. His tasks included the training of special forces and training and developing security for Erbil international airport.Goren’s team was 90 percent Israeli: all IDF veterans with an average age of 30-40. There were “several tens” of Israelis working in Kurdistan under Goren, handpicked by him. He said that his men were the only Israelis he was aware of operating in Iraq at the time. Some had served under him in the IDF, and others were selected based on their skills, CVs, and a test Goren provided gauging their intelligence, academic abilities, loyalty and trustworthiness.Goren used a fake identity in Kurdistan, claiming to be born of a Turkish Muslim father and Bulgarian Christian mother, and—like the rest of the Israelis in his team—never revealed himself as a Jew or Israeli. (The remaining 10 percent of his group were mainly from Britain and South Africa: They also used fake names, but acknowledged their background.) He did not bring a passport with him and held none during his stay, instead using a “special document.” In response to a question about whether clearance was specifically granted for this by KRG officials, he replied: “The people who should know that, knew that.” He chose not to reveal how he entered Kurdistan, or whether he left and returned during his time there.When asked what impressed him most about the Kurdish security forces, Goren replied: “Their personal motivation. They believed in their country, they were dedicated to their goal. I was impressed by their striving for independence and desire to connect to the rest of the world.”2012In January 2012 the French newspaper Le Figaro claimed that Israeli intelligence agents were recruiting and training Iranian dissidents in clandestine bases located in Iraq’s Kurdish region. A year later The Washington Post disclosed that Turkey had revealed to Iranian intelligence a network of Israeli spies working in Iran, including ten people believed to be Kurds who reportedly met with Mossad members in Turkey. This precarious relationship between Israel and Turkey—along with the risks and costs to both sides—persists today.“2015 ISISEliezer Gheizi Safrir, Mossad’s station chief in Kurdistan in the 1970’s:“Israeli politicians and cabinet members have often compared Iraqi Kurdistan as a mirror image of a pre-1948 Israel—championing self-determination and paralleling both states’ non-Arab identity—and saw Kurdistan’s friendship in line with Israel’s “alliance of the periphery” foreign policy agenda. Especially after a successful campaign against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, Iraqi Kurdistan appeared the ideal destination for Israel to stave off Iran’s growing ‘Shia crescent’ and fragment centralized Arab efforts”.(The precarious Kurdish-Israeli relationship, post-Kirkuk - Atlantic Council)“On the level of economic strategy, Israel granted critical support to the KRG by buying Kurdish oil in 2015, when no other country was willing to do so because of Baghdad’s threat to sue. KRG Minister of Natural Resources Ashti Hawrami even admitted to the arrangement, saying that to avoid detection Kurdish oil was often funneled through Israel. Iraq’s Oil Minister, Husayn Shahristani, repeatedly inquired as to the nature of the KRG’s dealings with Israel and the Mossad, to which KRG Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani said he wanted to reply: “Are you the Minister of Oil or of Intelligence?”*I would like to note that while Germany did the lion’s share of taking in Yezidi Kurdish refugees as well as trauma victims (women and children who had been sold as sex slaves or “cubs of the caliphate”), Israel also initiated a program to help, in Israel as well as Iraq:““We began working in Iraq a month after the Islamic State invaded, in September 2014,” said Yotam Polizer, co-chief executive officer of IsrAID. “And we immediately understood that the thing we could help most with was in the field of trauma treatment and psychological help, for which there was enormous need.”Over the past few years, the organization has sent some 20 Israeli experts with dual citizenship to Iraq to help treat these psychological wounds.Two years ago, the organization was contacted by three members of Bar-Ilan’s faculty – Dr. Yaakov Hoffman, a clinical psychologist and researcher, Prof. Amit Shrira, a psychologist and Prof. Ari Zivotofsky, a brain researcher. All were studying trauma among Yazidi women, and Zivotofsky had even visited Iraq.They proposed offering training in treating complex PTSD to people who deal with the traumatized population. Their plan was to adapt a therapy method known as STAIR, which was developed by Prof. Marylene Cloitre of California.Thus was born a joint venture that, with Mirza’s help, brought 15 young women from Iraq for training in Israel. The semi-secret operation required complex preparations, including giving the Foreign Ministry detailed information about each of the women months in advance.“We worked for a year and a half to build the infrastructure for this and learn about Yazidi culture,” Hoffman said. “We tried to build an optimal model for effective training in these situations, but in the end, the people undergoing the training aren’t psychologists and mental health experts. So we can’t know what contribution the training will really make.”Dr. Mordechai Kedar, of Bar-Ilan University in Israel, “What happened to the Kurds will happen to Israel. The Kurds fought ISIS, sacrificed their soldiers and people, and were thrown to the wolves once they were not needed. That is exactly what the world’s nations will do to Israel once it extricates them from the Iranian problem. Why not? The immediate interests of each and every country and not the moral rights of the Kurds and the Israelis are what makes the world go round.”The Kurds, particularly the Kurds in Iraq, have actually had a long relationship with Israel. However, the Kurds have always been fearful of being called “Zionists” by the Arab and/or Islamic nations due to the fact that it could be used to justify (at least in the Muslim nation’s eyes) more genocides/massacres against the Kurds in order to “get even” with Israel. Dictators like Saddam or even Assad who espoused pan-arabism and forced arabization would have used the Israeli-Kurdish relationship as fodder for increased operations against the Kurds. Fearful of this, the relationship was kept covert until 2003, when the shadow of Saddam no longer hung over Kurds. Of course, today those who want to vilify Kurds still make ludicrous claims that “Israel only helps the Kurds because they want to make a second Israel in the Middle East”.However, the relationship is mutually beneficial for both countries.The “Kurdish factor has always played a special role in the geo-strategy of Israel after the establishment of the Jewish State. The Kurdish-Israeli relations are a major element of Israel’s policy in the Near and Middle East, and effective leverage to exert pressure on Iraq (and to a less extent, Syria) in order to detract the attention of the Baghdad government and to prevent its active intervention into the Arab- Israeli conflict. At the same time, it should be noted that the historical and cultural nearness of the Jews and Kurds determined by a strong and numerous Jewish community in Iraq believed to be the oldest in the world contributed to the close con- tacts between Israel and the Kurds. Despite the exodus of nearly the whole community, nity from Iraq to Israel, the Iraqi Jews have retained their uniqueness, traditions and culture, and to a great extent determined the policy of Israel towards the Kurds, as well as Iraq, Syria, Turkey, and Iran. The Kurdish community of Israel also made its contribution to this matter, although to a limited extent.” (Minasian, S. http://www.noravank.am/upload/pdf/256_en.pdf )JEWISH/ISRAELI LEADERS WHO HAVE SPOKEN OUT IN SUPPORT OF THE KURDS, AS WELL AS FOR SUPPORT OF THE 2017 REFERENDUMGolda Meir: Henry Kissinger recalled in his memoir that when he served as secretary of state between 1973 and 1977, Israel appealed “for additional support for the Kurds” and that Golda Meir actively campaigned for Barzani, trying to persuade Kissinger to support Barzani’s party in taking over Iraqi Kurdistan.Eliezer Tsafrir, (former Mossad station chief in Kurdish northern Iraq who is now retired from Israeli government service) said the secrecy around the ties had been maintained at the request of the Kurds:"We'd love it to be out in the open, to have an embassy there, to have normal relations. But we keep it clandestine because that’s what they want,” he told Reuters.Amos Gilad: "Our silence - in public, at least – is best. Any unnecessary utterance on our part can only harm them (Kurds),” senior Israeli defence official Amos Gilad said on Tuesday.Shimon Peres: "The Kurds have, de facto, created their own state, which is democratic. One of the signs of a democracy is the granting of equality to women," Peres said. (Israel tells U.S. Kurdish independence is 'foregone conclusion' )Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman in Paris:"Iraq is breaking up before our eyes and it would appear that the creation of an independent Kurdish state is a foregone conclusion," Lieberman's spokesman quoted him as telling Kerry.Maj. Gen. (ret.) Amos Yadlin, (Executive Director for INSS and former Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) Chief of Military Intelligence), highlighted that “Kurds were the only force fighting IS as their highest priority.”Ehud Olmert (former Prime Minister of Israel) reiterated Israel’s support for the people of Kurdistan and said his country would continue to be a friend of the Kurds.“Well, needless to say, Israel has been friendly and a sympathizer of the Kurdish situation for many, many years,” Olmert told Kurdistan 24 during a Jerusalem Post Conference in New York over the weekend.“I had the privilege of meeting with top Kurdish leaders when I was Prime Minister,” he said, “and I hope that these relations will continue and the support of Israel will continue for the Kurdish needs and aspirations.”Israel Katz (Netanyahu’s intelligemce Minister: The issue at present is to prevent an attack on the Kurds, extermination of the Kurds and any harm to them, their autonomy and region, something that Turkey and Iran and internal [Shia] and other powers in Iraq and part of the Iraqi government want,” Israel Katz, told Tel Aviv radio station 102 FM on Friday.Israeli Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked: on Kurdish sovereigntyIsraeli minister calls for Kurdish statehoodBenjamin Netanyahu: "(Israel) supports the legitimate efforts of the Kurdish people to achieve their own state.””“With respect to the Kurds, they are a warrior nation that is politically moderate, has proven they can be politically committed, and is worthy of statehood.”“It is upon us to support the international efforts to strengthen Jordan, and support the Kurds’ aspiration for independence,” Netanyahu said. The Kurds, he said, are a “fighting people that have proven political commitment and political moderation, and they’re also worthy of their own political independence.”Israeli General Yair Golan, Former IDF Deputy Chief: “I think the Kurds are, by nature, a moderate element with a positive influence on the surrounding people. And from my personal perspective, the Kurdistan Workers Party is not a terrorist organization,” he said during the event at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.*one person tried to claim that Bibi “knocked down” Yair Golan’s comments right away and the reason isn’t because he doesn’t agree, but because Israel doesn’t want to risk antagonizing Turkey. The same reason why Israel — along with other countries, including the United States — has refrained from formally recognizing the Armenian genocide over fears of angering Turkey, which they need to keep in NATO.Russian Ambassador to Turkey Andrey Karlov said that his country does not consider the Kurds in Syria or the PKK terrorists: ““We understand Turkey’s concerns with regard to global terrorism. Especially after the terrorist attack in Ankara the other day.” Karlov told Russian news agency Ria Novosti on Saturday. “But neither the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) nor the Democratic Union Party (PYD) are considered terrorist organizations by either Russia or the United Nations Security Council,” (https://www.rudaw.net/english/middleeast/turkey/19102015)Guess what happened to Andrey Karlov? He was shot dead in Turkey during a press conference. Just as conveniently, the assassin was shot dead by other Turkish police. Just like the murder of Tahir Elçi, which the Turkish government claimed was carried out by “Pkk Terrorists”. Terrorists shot him alright, in the form of three Turkish police officers who orchestrated the attack in a way so that they would not be seen as responsible in the footage. Evidence of that can be found here; Forensic Architecture , New Report: 'Rights Lawyer Tahir Elci Shot by Turkish Police' In Turkey, everything and anything that happens is because of “Pkk”. They literally get scapegoated for anything and everything. Now Erdogan claims its Gulen and PKK together, which is even more ludicrous, considering they oppose each other.But Bibi would have to avoid antagonizing Turkey as the relationship with the two countries was very strained after the Flotilla incident.(Haim Malka)Turkish-Israeli relations have been on life support since the December 2008 Gaza War. Since then, there have been few high-level political discussions, and the bilateral agenda, outside of military sales, has been limited. Turkey no longer views Israel as a strategic asset, and 2010 was the first year Turkey did not request Israeli assistance in Congress on the Armenian genocide issue. Even if diplomatic ties are mended down the road, the fact remains that Turkey’s government appears to have embraced Israel’s arch foes, Iran and Hamas. Rather than a potential mediator, Turkey has effectively become a party to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Given such diverging interests, it is likely that the Gaza flotilla incident, which the Turkish government indirectly supported, will intensify the long and painful break in Turkish-Israeli relations.Bibi’s statement was : ““Israel condemns all terrorism in Turkey and expects that Turkey will condemn all terrorist attacks in Israel,” Netanyahu said after a deadly bombing in Istanbul in December. “The fight against terrorism must be mutual. It must be mutual in condemnation and in countermeasures, and this is what the state of Israel expects from all countries it is in contact with, including Turkey.” (Rebuffing former top general, Netanyahu says Kurdish PKK a terror group)“Israel opposes the PKK and considers it a terrorist organization, in contrast to Turkey, which supports the terrorist group Hamas,” he said while on a state visit to Argentina. “While Israel is opposed to any kind of terrorism, it supports the legitimate means of the Kurdish people to obtain their own state.”(Rebuffing former top general, Netanyahu says Kurdish PKK a terror group)This basically means that Netanyahu hopes by denouncing Pkk that Turkey will denounce Hamas and other groups carrying out attacks in israel which is a joke, considering there are Hamas bases in Turkey run by the Turkish government.However, after Erdogan denounced Israel for “attacks against Palestinians” and claimed “Israel Using Same Methods as Nazis on Palestinians in Gaza, Erdogan Says (Israel using same methods as Nazis on Palestinians in Gaza, Erdogan says ) Bibi’s response was : “I am not used to receiving lectures about morality from a leader who bombs Kurdish villagers in his native Turkey, who jails journalists, who helps Iran get around international sanctions, and who helps terrorists, including in Gaza, kill innocent people,” said Netanyahu.Gideon Sa’ar has also urged Israel to support Kurdish independence, saying that; “they have proven themselves over decades to be a reliable strategic partner for us.” And again, on the day of the referendum in late September, “I hope that if there is a majority for independence, Israel will be the first country to recognize Iraqi Kurdistan.”Notable Kurdish-IsraelisMoshe BarzaniMoshe BarazaniBarazani joined Lehi at an early age, following in the footsteps of his brother. Initially, he was a member of Lehi's youth division and posted propaganda leaflets, but later joined the fighting force. He participated in numerous sabotage operations, laying mines to destroy British vehicles and taking part in railway sabotage.While awaiting execution in the Central Prison in Jerusalem's Russian Compound, he met Irgun fighter Meir Feinstein, who had also been sentenced to death. On April 21, 1947, shortly before their scheduled executions, they committed suicide with an improvised grenade which had been smuggled inside a hollowed-out orange. The two embraced each other with the live grenade lodged between them. The story of Feinstein and Barazani became a celebrated tale in Israel.Syrian (Rojava) Kurds:I have written much less about the Syrian Kurds or Rojava Kurds, simply because of the fact that the Rojava has only recently established a federalist state and begun working with the West.Even more unfortunately, they are being heavily threatened not only by Assad, but by Turkey as well. Turkey’s goal is to eliminate the YPG/YPJ, and their tactics have been endless. At this point in time, I don’t want to get into details about American/French/Israeli/German/Canadian or any country's Support for the Rojava Kurds. This type of information at the current time is highly sensitive. But I will say this: it is in the benefit of all civilized nations that Rojava succeeds.

Polish people are great at all fields and disciplines.. not all of them at once are great at everything of course but but most of them are good at something.. Polish contribution to the world’s development is outstanding.Here some great Polish people who were very good at what they were doing..1951 - the presentESO accession agreement with Poland 2014.Poland joins the European Southern Observatory ESO (2014), 16-nation intergovernmental research organisation for astronomy.[3]PW-Sat - the first Polish satellite launched into space (2012); other Polish satellites include Lem and HeweliuszAsymmetric numeral systems (ANS), a family of entropy encoding methods introduced by Jarosław Duda from Jagiellonian University, used in data compressionKrzysztof Matyjaszewski, a Polish-American chemist, discoverer of atom-transfer radical polymerizationBohdan Paczyński; a Polish astronomer, credited with the development of a new method of detecting space objects and establishing their mass using the gravitational lenses effect; he is acknowledged for coining the term microlensingGraphene acquisition - In 2011 the Institute of Electronic Materials Technology and Department of Physics, Warsaw University announced a joint development of acquisition technology of large pieces of graphene with the best quality so far. In April the same year, Polish scientists with support from the Polish Ministry of Economy began the procedure for granting a patent to their discovery around the world.Blue laser - first blue laser in PolandArtificial heart - an implant, program: "Polish Artificial Heart"PSR 1257+12 - a pulsar located 2,630 light years from Earth. It is believed to be orbited by at least four planets. These were the first extrasolar planets ever discovered (by a Polish astronomer, Aleksander Wolszczan, in 1992). Polish astronomy has traditionally been among the best in the world.Władysław Świątecki, a Polish physicist noted for pioneering research in nuclear physics including the nuclear shell modeland for coining the term the island of stabilityJack Tramiel, a Polish American businessman, best known for founding Commodore International; Commodore PET, Commodore VIC-20 and Commodore 64 are some home computers produced while he was running the companyFoundation For Polish Science - a non-governmental organisation aiming at supporting academics with high potential - since (1991)PZL W-3 Sokół - a helicopter, FAA certificate in (1989)Paul Baran, a Polish-American engineer who was a pioneer in the development of computer networks; he was one of the two independent inventors of packet switching, which is today the dominant basis for data communications in computer networks worldwideHenryk Magnuski, a Polish telecommunications engineer who worked for Motorola in Chicago. He was the inventor of the first Walkie-Talkies and one of the authors of his company success in the fields of radio communicationBenoit Mandelbrot, mathematician of Polish descent; known for developing a theory of "roughness and self-similarity" and significant contributions to fractal geometry and chaos theory; Mandelbrot setFlaris LAR01, a Polish five-seat single-engined very light jet, currently under development by Metal-Master of Jelenia GóraSolaris Urbino 18 Hybrid, a low-floor articulated hybrid buses from the Solaris Urbino series for city communication services manufactured by Solaris Bus & Coach in Bolechowo near Poznań in PolandPZL Kania - a helicopter, first prototype (1979), FAR-29 certificate (early 1980s)Odra (computer) - a line of computers manufactured in Wrocław (1959/1960)K-202- first Polish microcomputer invented by Jacek Karpiński (1971)FB MSBS, an assault rifle developed by FB "Łucznik" RadomFB Beryl, an assault rifle designed and produced by the Łucznik Arms Factory in the city of RadomPolish Polar Station, Hornsund - since (1957)PZL SW-4 Puszczyk - a Polish light single-engine multipurpose helicopter manufactured by PZL SwidnikEP-09 - 'B0B0' Polish electric locomotive classPT-91 - a Polish main battle tank. Designed at the Research and Development Centre of Mechanical Systems OBRUM (Ośrodek Badawczo-Rozwojowy Urządzeń Mechanicznych) in GliwiceGrom (missile) - an anti-aircraft missile206FM - class minesweeper (NATO: "Krogulec")Meteor (rocket)- a series of sounding rockets (1963)PZL TS-11 Iskra - a jet trainer aircraft, used by the air forces of Poland and India (1960)Lim-6 - attack aircraft (1955)Mizar system, a system consisting of a formal language for writing mathematical definitions and proofs, a proof assistant, which is able to mechanically check proofs written in this language, and a library of formalized mathematics, which can be used in the proof of new theorems; it was designed by Polish mathematician Andrzej Trybulec in 1973Mieczysław G. Bekker, a Polish engineer and scientist, co-authored the general idea and contributed significantly to the design and construction of the Lunar Roving Vehicle used by missions Apollo 15, Apollo 16, and Apollo 17 on the MoonThe Polish Academy of Sciences, headquartered in Warsaw, was founded in 1952.Hilary Koprowski, Polish virologist and immunologist, inventor of the world's first effective live polio vaccineAndrzej Udalski, initiator of the OGLE project, which led to the such significant discoveries as the detection of the first merger of a binary star, first Cepheid pulsating stars in the eclipsing binary systems, unique Nova systems, quazars and galaxiesStefania Jabłońska, Polish physician; in 1972 Jabłońska proposed the association of the human papilloma viruses with skin cancer in epidermodysplasia verruciformis; in 1978 Jabłońska and Gerard Orth at the Pasteur Institute discovered HPV-5 in skin cancer; Jabłońska was awarded the 1985 Robert Koch PrizeAndrew Schally, Polish-American endocrinologist and Nobel Prize laureateTomasz Dietl, a Polish physicist; known for developing the theory, confirmed in recent years, of diluted ferromagnetic semiconductors, and for demonstrating new methods in controlling magnetizationRyszard Horodecki, a Polish physicist; he contributed largely to the field of quantum informatics and theoretical physics; Peres-Horodecki criterionAndrzej Szczeklik, a Polish immunologist; credited with discovering the anti-thrombotic properties of aspirin, and studies on the pathogenesis and treatment of aspirin-induced bronchial asthmaAntoni Zygmund, a Polish mathematician, considered one of the greatest analysts of the 20th centuryLeonid Hurwicz, a Polish economist and mathematician; he originated incentive compatibility and mechanism design, which show how desired outcomes are achieved in economics, social science and political scienceArtur Ekert, a Polish physicist; one of the inventors of quantum cryptographyJacek Pałkiewicz, a Polish journalist, traveler and explorer; fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, discoverer of the sources of the Amazon RiverKazimierz Kuratowski, a Polish mathematician, a leading representatives of the Warsaw School of Mathematics; Kuratowski's theorem, Kuratowski-Zorn lemma; Kuratowski closure axiomsTadek Marek, a Polish automobile engineer, known for his Aston Martin enginesOtto Marcin Nikodym, a Polish mathematician; Radon-Nikodym theoremZygmunt Bauman, a Polish sociologist and philosopher; one of the world's most eminent social theorists writing on issues as diverse as modernity and the Holocaust, postmodern consumerism as well as the concept of liquid modernity which he introducedKazimierz Dąbrowski, a Polish psychologist; he developed the theory of positive disintegration, which describes how a person's development grows as a result of accumulated experiencesAnna Wierzbicka, a Polish linguist; known for her work in semantics, pragmatics and cross-cultural linguistics; she's credited with formulating the theory of natural semantic metalanguage and the concept of semantic primesAndrzej Grzegorczyk, a Polish mathematician; he introduced the Grzegorczyk hierarchy - a subrecursive hierarchy that foreshadowed computational complexity theoryStanisław Jaśkowski, a Polish mathematician; he is regarded as one of the founders of natural deduction, which he discovered independently of Gerhard Gentzen in the 1930s; he was among the first to propose a formal calculus of inconsistency-tolerant (or paraconsistent) logic; furthermore, Jaśkowski was a pioneer in the investigation of both intuitionistic logic and free logic.Karol Borsuk, a Polish mathematician; his main area of interest was topology; he introduced the theory of absolute retracts (ARs) and absolute neighborhood retracts (ANRs), and the cohomotopy groups, later called Borsuk–Spanier cohomotopy groups; he also founded shape theory; Borsuk's conjecture, Borsuk-Ulam theoremJerzy Konorski, a Polish neurophysiologist; he discovered secondary conditioned reflexes and operant conditioning and proposed the idea of gnostic neurons - a concept similar to the grandmother cell; he also coined the term neural plasticity, and he developed theoretical ideas regarding itAntoni Kępiński, a Polish psychiatrist; he developed the psychological theory of information metabolism which explores human social interactions based on information processing which significantly influenced the development of socionicsZbigniew Religa, a Polish cardiac surgeon; a pioneer in human heart transplantation; in 1987 he performed the first successful heart transplant in Poland; in 1995 he was the first surgeon to graft an artificial valve created from materials taken from human corpses; in 2004 Religa and his team developed an implantable pump for a pneumatic heart assistance systemMaria Siemionow, a renowned Polish transplantation surgeon and scientist who gained world recognition when she led a team of eight surgeons through the world's first near-total face transplant at the Cleveland Clinic in 2008Tadeusz Krwawicz, a Polish ophthalmologist; he pioneered the use of cryosurgery in ophthalmology; he was the first to describe a method of cataract extraction by cryoadhesion in 1961, and to develop a probe by means of which cataracts can be grasped and extractedAlbert Sabin, a Polish-American medical researcher, best known for developing the oral polio vaccine which has played a key role in nearly eradicating the diseaseStefan Kudelski, a Polish audio engineer known for creating the Nagra series of professional audio recordersZdzisław Pawlak, a Polish mathematician and computer scientist; known for his contribution to many branches of theoretical computer science; he is credited with introducing the rough set theory and also known for his fundamental works on it; he had also introduced the Pawlak flow graphs, a graphical framework for reasoning from dataJan Czekanowski, a Polish anthropologist, ethnographer, statistician and linguist; one of the founders of computational linguistics, he introduced the Czekanowski binary indexHenryk Iwaniec, mathematician, he is noted for his outstanding contributions to analytic number theory and sieve theory; Friedlander-Iwaniec theorem1901-1950Polish mine detector was a metal detector used for detecting land mines, developed during World War II (1941–42) by Polish Lieutenant Józef Stanisław Kozacki. It contributed substantially to British Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery's 1942 victory over German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel at El Alamein.Cryptologic bomb was a special-purpose machine designed in 1932 by Polish mathematician-cryptologist Marian Rejewskito speed the breaking of the Enigma machine ciphers that would be used by Nazi Germany in World War II. It was a forerunner of the "Bombes" that would be used by the British at Bletchley Park, and which would be a major element in the Allied Ultra program that may have decided the outcome of World War II.Biuro Szyfrów (Cipher Bureau) was the Polish military intelligence agency that made the first break (1932, just as Adolf Hitler was about to take power in Germany) into the German Enigma machine cipher that would be used by Nazi Germanythrough World War II, and kept reading Enigma ciphers at least until France's capitulation in June 1940.Czochralski process - a method of crystal growth used to obtain single crystals of semiconductors (e.g. silicon, germanium and gallium arsenide), metals (e.g. palladium, platinum, silver, gold) and salts (1916)Joseph Rotblat, Polish physicist who worked on the Manhattan Project, Nobel LaureateStanisław Ulam, a Polish-American mathematician who participated in America's, Manhattan Project, originated the Teller–Ulam design of thermonuclear weapons, discovered the concept of cellular automaton, invented the Monte Carlo methods of computation, and suggested nuclear pulse propulsion.Wacław Struszyński, a Polish electronics engineer who made a vital contribution to the defeat of U-boats in the Battle of the Atlantic, he designed a radio antenna which enabled effective high frequency (HF) radio direction finding systems to be installed on Royal Navy convoy escort ships. Such direction finding systems were referred to as HF/DF or Huff-Duff, and enabled the bearings of U-boats to be determined when the U-boats made high frequency radio transmissions.Vickers Tank Periscope MK.IV - the first device to allow the tank commander to have a 360-degree view from his turret, invented by engineer Rudolf Gundlach (1936)Polish notation - also known as prefix notation, is a method of mathematical expression (1920)Reverse Polish notation - (RPN), also known as postfix notation (1920)Zygalski sheets, also known as "perforated sheets" (invented in 1938 by Henryk Zygalski), were one of a number of devices created by the Polish Cipher Bureau to facilitate the breaking of German Enigma ciphers.Stefan Banach - mathematician, Banach space, Banach-Tarski paradox, Banach algebra, Functional analysisLwów School of Mathematics was a group of eminent Polish mathematicians that included Hugo Steinhaus, Stanisław Ulam, Mark Kac and many more.Tadeusz Banachiewicz, a Polish astronomer, inventor of the chronocinematograph7TP - light tank of the Second World War (1935)FB Vis, a 9×19mm caliber, single-action, semi-automatic pistolPZL.23 Karaś- light bomber and reconnaissance aircraft designed in the PZL (1934)PZL P.11, a Polish fighter aircraft, designed by Zygmunt Pulawski in the early 1930s by PZL in Warsaw;it was briefly the most advanced fighter aircraft of its kind in the worldPZL.37 Łoś - twin-engine medium bomber designed in the PZL by Jerzy Dąbrowski(mid-1930s)LWS-6 Żubr - initially a passenger plane. Since the Polish airline LOT bought Douglas DC-2 planes instead, the project was converted to a bomber aircraft (early-1930s)SS Sołdek - the first ship built in Poland after World War II (1948)Alfred Korzybski, Polish philosopher and mathematician who developed the field of general semantics and is known for the map–territory relationMieczysław Wolfke - "one of precursors in the development of holography" (a quote from Dennis Gabor)Hugo Steinhaus, a Polish mathematician; one of the founders of the Lwów School of Mathematics, he is regarded as one of the early founders of game theory and probability theory which led to later development of more comprehensive approaches by other scholars; Banach-Steinhaus theoremLWS - an abbreviation name used by Polish aircraft manufacturer Lubelska Wytwórnia Samolotów (1936–1939)PZL - an abbreviation name used by Polish aerospace manufacturers (1928–present)RWD - an abbreviation name used by Polish aircraft manufacturer (1920–1940)TKS - a tankette (1931)Stetysz (1929) - Polish automobile manufacture by engineer and inventor, Stefan TyszkiewiczRWD-1 - sports plane of 1928, constructed by the RWDWz. 35 anti-tank rifle, a Polish 7.9 mm anti-tank rifle used by the Polish Army during the Invasion of Poland of 1939Marian Smoluchowski a Polish scientist, pioneer of statistical physics - *Einstein–Smoluchowski relation, Smoluchowski coagulation equation, Feynman-Smoluchowski ratchetKazimierz Fajans, a Polish physical chemist, the discoverer of chemical element protactiniumKazimierz Funk, a Polish biochemist, credited with formulating the concept of vitaminesAlfred Tarski, a renowned Polish logician, mathematician and philosopher; Banach-Tarski paradox, Tarski's undefinability theorem, formal notion of truthWacław Sierpiński, known for outstanding contributions to set theory (research on the axiom of choice and the continuum hypothesis), number theory, theory of functions and topology; Sierpiński triangle, Sierpiński carpet, Sierpiński curve, Sierpiński numberAleksander Jabłoński, a Polish physicist, known for Jablonski diagramJosef Hofmann, designer of first windscreen wipersRudolf Weigl, a Polish biologist and inventor of the first effective vaccine against epidemic typhusLudwik Hirszfeld, a Polish microbiologist and serologist. He is considered a co-discoverer of the inheritance of ABO blood typesStephanie Kwolek, American chemist of Polish origin, inventor of KevlarAndrzej Tarkowski, a Polish embryologist and Professor of Warsaw University, known for his pioneering researches on embryos and blastomeres, which have created theoretical and practical basis for achievements of biology and medicine of the twentieth century - in vitro fertilization, cloning and stem cell discoveryMichał Kalecki, a Polish economist; he has been called "one of the most distinguished economists of the 20th century", he made major theoretical and practical contributions in the areas of the business cycle, growth, full employment, income distribution, the political boom cycle, the oligopolistic economy, and risk; he offered a synthesis that integrated Marxist class analysis and the then-new literature on oligopoly theory, and his work had a significant influence on both the Neo-Marxianand Post-Keynesian schools of economic thought; he was also one of the first macroeconomists to apply mathematical models and statistical data to economic questions.Stefan Bryła, a Polish construction engineer and welding pioneer; he designed and built the first welded road bridge in the world as well as the Prudential building in Warsaw, one of the first European skyscrapersRalph Modjeski, a Polish civil engineer who achieved prominence as a pre-eminent bridge designer in the United StatesWojciech Świętosławski, Polish chemist and physicist, considered the father of thermochemistryJózef Tykociński, a Polish engineer and a pioneer of sound-on-film technologyTadeusz Sędzimir, a Polish engineer and inventor in the field of mining and metallurgyMieczysław Mąkosza, a Polish chemist specializing in organic synthesis and investigation of organic mechanisms; he is credited for the discovery of the aromatic vicarious nucleophilic substitution, VNS; he also contributed to the discovery of phase transfer catalysis reactionsBronisław Malinowski, a Polish anthropologist, often considered one of the most important 20th-century anthropologists; participatory observationMirosław Hermaszewski, a Polish Air Force officer and cosmonaut; the first Polish person in spaceHenryk Arctowski, a Polish scientist, explorer and an internationally renowned meteorologist; a pioneer in the exploration of AntarcticaJózef Paczoski, a Polish botanist; he coined the term of phytosociology and was one of the founders of this branch of botanyStefan Drzewiecki, a Polish scientist, journalist, engineer, constructor and inventor; he developed several models of propeller-driven submarines that evolved from single-person vessels to a four-man model; he developed the theory of gliding flight, developed a method for the manufacture of ship and plane propellers (1892), and presented a general theory for screw-propeller thrust (1920); he also developed several models of early submarines for the Russian Navy, and devised a torpedo-launching system for ships and submarines that bears his name, the Drzewiecki drop collar; he also made an instrument that drew the precise routes of ships onto a nautical chart; his work Theorie générale de l'hélice (1920), was honored by the French Academy of Science as fundamental in the development of modern propellers.Tadeusz Tański, a Polish automobile engineer and the designer of, among others, the first Polish serially-built automobile, the CWS T-1Leonard Danilewicz, a Polish engineer, he came up with a concept for a frequency-hopping spread spectrumFlorian Znaniecki, a Polish sociologist and philosopher; he made significant contributions to sociological theory and incroduced such concepts as humanistic coefficient and culturalism; he is the co-author of The Polish Peasant in Europe and America, which is considered the foundation of modern empirical sociologyAdolf Beck, a Polish physiologist, a pioneer of electroencephalography (EEG); in 1890 he published an investigation of spontaneous electrical activity of the brain of rabbits and dogs that included rhythmic oscillations altered by light; Beck started experiments on the electrical brain activity of animals; his observation of fluctuating brain activity led to the conclusion of brain wavesAndrzej Schinzel, a Polish mathematician, studying mainly number theory; Schinzel's hypothesis H, Davenport–Schinzel sequenceWładysław Starewicz, a Polish-Russian pioneering film director and stop-motion animator, he is notable as the author of the first puppet-animated film i.e. The Beautiful Lukanida (1912)Walery Jaworski, one of the pioneers of gastroenterology in Poland; he described bacteria living in the human stomach and speculated that they were responsible for stomach ulcers, gastric cancer and achylia. It was one of the first observations of Helicobacter pylori. He published those findings in 1899 in a book titled "Podręcznik chorób żołądka" ("Handbook of Gastric Diseases"). His findings were independently confirmed by Robin Warren and Barry Marshall, who received the Nobel Prize in 2005Witold Hurewicz, a Polish mathematician; Hurewicz space, Hurewicz theoremJózef Wierusz-Kowalski, a Polish physicist, discoverer of the phenomenon of progressive phosphorescence1851-1900Maria Skłodowska-Curie - a Polish chemist and physicist, a pioneer in the field of radioactivity, co-discoverer of the chemical elements radium and poloniumZygmunt Florenty Wróblewski and Karol Olszewski - the first to liquefy oxygen, nitrogen and carbon dioxide from the atmosphere in a stable state (not, as had been the case up to then, in a dynamic state in the transitional form as vapour) (1833)Zygmunt Florenty Wróblewski discovers carbon dioxide clathrate (1882)Ignacy Łukasiewicz - a Polish pharmacist and petroleum industry pioneer who in 1856 built the world's first oil refinery; his achievements included the discovery of how to distill kerosene from seep oil, the invention of the modern kerosene lamp, the introduction of the first modern street lamp in Europe, and the construction one of the world's first modern oil wellThe Polish Academy of Learning, an academy of sciences, was founded in Kraków in 1872.Stefan Drzewiecki built in 1884 the world's first electric submarine.[citation needed]Casimir Zeglen, inventor of one of the first bulletproof vestsJan Szczepanik, a Polish inventor, with several hundred patents and over 50 discoveries to his name, many of which are still applied today, especially in the motion picture industry, as well as in photography and television, which include telectroscopeand colorimeterEdmund Biernacki, a Polish pathologist, known for the Biernacki reaction used worldwide to assess erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), which is one of the major blood testsLudwik Gumplowicz, a Polish sociologist, "one of the founders of European sociology"Antoni Leśniowski, a Polish surgeon, discoverer of Leśniowski-Crohn's diseaseEdward Flatau, a Polish neurologist and psychiatrist, his name in medicine is linked to Redlich-Flatau syndrome, Flatau-Sterling torsion dystonia, Flatau-Schidler disease and Flatau's law. He published a human brain atlas (1894), wrote a fundamental book on migraine (1912), established the localization principle of long fibers in the spinal cord (1893), and with Sterling published an early paper (1911) on progressive torsion spasm in children and suggested that the disease has a genetic component.Kazimierz Prószyński, a Polish inventor active in the field of cinema; he patented his first film camera, called Pleograph, before the Lumière brothers, and later went on to improve the cinema projector for the Gaumont company, as well as invent the widely used hand-held Aeroscope cameraMikhail Dolivo-Dobrovolsky, a Polish-Russian engineer and electrician; inventor of the three-phase electric power systemJoseph Babinski, a neurologist best known for his 1896 description of the Babinski sign, a pathological plantar reflex indicative of corticospinal tract damageJan Baudouin de Courtenay, a Polish linguist, he formulated the theory of the phoneme and phonetic alternationsErnest Malinowski, a Polish engineer, he constructed at that time the world's highest railway Ferrocarril Central Andino in the Peruvian Andes in 1871–1876Bruno Abakanowicz, a Polish mathematician and electrical engineer, inventor of the integraph, spirograph and parabolagraphStanisław Kierbedź, a Polish-Russian engineer, and military officer; he constructed the first permanent iron bridge over the Vistula River in Warsaw known as the Kierbedź Bridge; he designed and supervised the construction of dozens of bridges, railway lines, ports and other objects in Central and Eastern Europe.Felicjan Sypniewski, a Polish naturalist, botanist, entomologist and philosopher; his ground-breaking studies and scientific publications laid down the foundations of malacologyLudwik Zamenhof, a Polish medical doctor, inventor and writer; creator of Esperanto, the most successful constructed language in the worldNapoleon Cybulski, a Polish physiologist and a pioneer of endocrinology and electroencephalography; discoverer of adrenalineWacław Mayzel, a Polish histologist; he described for the first time the process of mitosisAntoni Patek, a Polish pioneer in watchmaking and a creator of Patek Philippe & Co., one of the most famous watchmaker companies in the worldLudwik Rydygier, a Polish surgeon; in 1880, as the first in Poland and second in the world he succeeded in surgical removal of the pylorus in a patient suffering from stomach cancer, he was also the first to document this procedure; in 1881, as the first in the world, he carried out a peptic ulcer resection; in 1884 he introduced a new method of surgical peptic ulcer treatment using Gastroenterostomy; Rydygier proposed (1900) original concepts for removing prostatic adenoma and introduced many other surgical techniques that are successfully used to dateJan Dzierżoń, a pioneering Polish apiarist who discovered the phenomenon of parthenogenesis in bees and designed the first successful movable-frame beehive; his discoveries and innovations made him world-famous in scientific and bee-keeping circles; he has been described as "the father of apiculture"Stanisław Leśniewski, philosopher and logician, known for coining the term mereology1801-1850Ignacy Domeyko - geologist and mineralogist, a geological map of Chile, describing the Jurassic rock formations, and discovered deposits of a rare mineral (1846)Paweł Strzelecki, a Polish explorer and geologist; in 1840 he climbed the highest peak on mainland Australia and named it Mount Kosciuszko; he made a geological and mineralogical survey of the Gippsland region in present-day eastern Victoriaand from 1840 to 1842 he explored nearly every part of Tasmania; author of Physical Description of New South Wales (1845)Julian Ursyn Niemcewicz - scholar, poet, and statesmanIgnacy Prądzyński, a Polish military commander and general; principal engineer and designer of the Augustów CanalWojciech Jastrzębowski, a Polish scientist, naturalist and inventor, professor of botany, physics, zoology and horticulture; considered as one of the fathers of ergonomics1751-1800Commission of National Education (Polish: Komisja Edukacji Narodowej), founded in 1773, was the world's first national Ministry of Education.Stanisław Staszic was an outstanding Polish philosopher, statesman, Catholic priest, geologist, translator, poet and writer — almost a one-man academy of sciences. The Polish Academy of Sciences' Staszic Palace, in Warsaw, is named after him; one of the founding fathers of the Constitution of May 3, 1791 - the world's second and Europe's first written constitution and a crowning achievement of the Polish EnlightenmentJózef Maria Hoene-Wroński, a Polish Messianist philosopher, mathematician, physicist, inventor, lawyer, and economist; he is credited with formulating the Wronskian1601-1650Johannes Hevelius was an outstanding astronomer who published the earliest exact maps of the moon and the most complete star catalog of his time, containing 1,564 stars. In 1641 he built an observatory in his house; he is known as "the founder of lunar topography"Jan Brożek (Ioannes Broscius) was the most prominent 17th-century Polish mathematician. Following his death, his collection of Nicolaus Copernicus' letters and documents, which he had borrowed 40 years earlier with the intent of writing a biography of Copernicus, was lost.Kazimierz Siemienowicz, a Polish–Lithuanian general of artillery, gunsmith, military engineer, and pioneer of rocketryMichał Boym, a Polish Jesuit missionary to China, scientist and explorer; he is notable as one of the first westerners to travel within the Chinese mainland, and the author of numerous works on Asian fauna, flora and geographyKrzysztof Arciszewski, a Polish–Lithuanian nobleman, military officer, engineer, and ethnographer. Arciszewski also served as a general of artillery for the Netherlands and PolandJan Jonston, a Polish scholar and physician of Scottish descent; author of Thautomatographia naturalis (1632) and Idea universae medicinae practicae (1642)Michał Sędziwój, a Polish alchemist, philosopher, and medical doctor; a pioneer of chemistry, he developed ways of purification and creation of various acids, metals and other chemical compounds; he discovered that air is not a single substance and contains a life-giving substance-later called oxygen 170 years before similar discoveries by Scheele and Priestley; he correctly identified this 'food of life' with the gas (also oxygen) given off by heating nitre (saltpetre); this substance, the 'central nitre', had a central position in Sendivogius' schema of the universe.1551-1600Bartholomäus Keckermann - A Short Commentary on Navigation (the first one written in Poland)Josephus Struthius - published in 1555 Sphygmicae artis iam mille ducentos perditae et desideratae libri V.in which he described five types of pulse, the diagnostic meaning of those types, and the influence of body temperature and nervous system on pulse. This was one of books used by William Harvey in his worksSebastian Petrycy; a Polish philosopher and physician who lectured and published notable works in the field of medicine1501-1550De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium (On the Revolution of the Heavenly Spheres). Nicolaus Copernicus began writing De Revolutionibus in 1506, and finished in 1530.Nicolaus Copernicus was a true Renaissance polymath — an astronomer, mathematician, physician, lawyer, clergyman, governor, diplomat, military leader, classics scholar and economist, who developed the heliocentric theory in a form detailed enough to make it scientifically useful, and described "Gresham's Law" the year (1519) that Thomas Gresham was bornMarcin of Urzędów, a Polish Roman Catholic priest, physician, pharmacist and botanist known especially for his Herbarz polski ("Polish Herbal")Adam of Łowicz, a Polish physician, philosopher, and humanist; author of Fundamentum scienciae nobilissimae secretorum naturaeAlbert Brudzewski, a Polish astronomer, mathematician, philosopher and diplomat; known for establishing the moon's elliptical orbit; author of Commentum planetarium in theoricas Georgii Purbachii1351-1400Kraków Academy (Akademia Krakowska) founded in 1364 by King Kazimierz the Great.1251-1300Witelo (ca. 1230 – ca. 1314) was an outstanding philosopher and a scientist who specialized in optics. His famous optical treatise, Perspectiva, which drew on the Arabic Book of Optics by Alhazen, was unique in Latin literature and helped give rise to Roger Bacon's best work. In addition to optics, Witelo's treatise made important contributions to the psychology of visual perception.Poland – It is possible that you have a hairstyle invented by Polish, you take supplements made by the researcher from Poland. If you think that it will be another article about the great discovery by Maria Sklodowska- Curie, who we owe RAD and POLON, you are wrong. Today we present something that will thrill and surprise you. The list of five remarkable ideas by Polish that transformed the world forever.Now, we have you all ready for our little lesson about how great Poland is, let us go ahead! Stay a while and read on about “most amazing Polish inventions” you probably used but had no clue they are Polish:The computer Commodore 64It was invented by Jacek Trzmiel, also known as Jack Tramiel. The story of the man who construed Commodore 64, a father of our laptops and other devices, is remarkable. He was born in 1928, and when he was only ten years old, his life became a nightmare. He lived in Litzmannstadt Ghetto in the city of Łódź, and after years of life in fear, he had been taken to the concentration camp in Auschwitz in 1944. Fortunately, a year later the war became the past, and the genius scientist survived. Two years later he emigrated to the USA, where he created the first calculator and then the computer known as Commodore. Tamiel opened the successful company Commodore International. For many decades his achievement was an inspiration to giants like Apple, IBM or Microsoft. They company sold over 17 millions of the model Commodore 64, which is the best-sold computer in history.2. Cotton budsClear ears are the good ears, right? In 1892 in Warsaw lived a man named Leo Gersenzang. He was born in the Polish capital, in a Jewish family. When he was 20 years old, he started his new life in Chicago. In 1923 he invented the cotton buds and called them ”Baby Gays”. With time his invention became one of the best-sold products around the world and gained multiple usages.3. First type player ”Nagra”Can you imagine your life without music? Most of us cannot do it, we listen to the music in the car, while jogging, etc. It wouldn’t be possible if Stefan Kudelski would never discover the ”Nagra” type player. He was born in Warsaw in 1929, but his family left Poland with the beginning of the World War II. He spent his childhood in Hungary, later in France. Finally. The Kudelski family found their shelter in Switzerland. Nagra had been presented in 1951 and sold to the TV stations, movie producers, radio stations, etc. Due to the success of the invention, he created the company called Kudelski Group, which sold the tape player to TV RAI, BBC, American stations NBC, ABC, CBS, but also plenty of radio stations including famous Radio Luxembourg. Kudelski received prestigious Oscar Awards in 1965, 1977, 1978, and 1990. He also won two Emmy Awards in 1984 and 1986.4. Vitamins!In 1912, when the world lived with the tragedy of Titanic, Polish researchers Kazimierz Funk who worked in the UK discovered a substance from rice that he called with the Latin name ”vitamines” from vita – life and the chemical name of amines. The first vitamin was B1, and due to this milestone discovery, it was able to continue this work. While discovering the vitamins and other substances that were closed in the well-known pills, he traveled around the world and continued his works at universities in UK, USA, Germany and Switzerland. He achieved milestones in healing avitaminosis, diabetes and cancer prevention. Thus, next time, when you will support your body with the pill full of vitamins, know that you can enjoy them due to the work of Kazimierz Funk.5. ”Bob” haircutAntoni Cierplikowski was in the 1920s one of the most magnetic personality of Paris. He was the first celebrity among the hairdressers of the world. His clients were world famous women of his times including Greta Garbo, Eleanor Roosevelt, Coco Chanel, Brigitte Bardot and Edith Piaf. He was noted as Antoine the Paris or Monsieur Antoine, and his greatest achievement was creating the bob cut, a hair style that stayed popular until now. Cierplikowski was born in Sieradz in 1884. At the age of 17, he went to Paris where he worked in the salon at Galeries Lafayette. He was a unique, passionate talent, whose creativity conquered the hearts of hundreds of women. The characteristic ”garconne” hairstyle became his sign, and gate to the incredible fame. He claimed that the bob cut was inspired by the paintings of French icon Joan of Arc, whose cult became very popular around this period. In 1939, during the coronation of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, he prepared 400 coiffures during the one night. Famous hairdresser spent his last years in Sieradz, where he died in 1976.Lwów School of Mathematics - WikipediaKraków School of Mathematics - WikipediaPolish School of Mathematics - WikipediaList of Polish mathematicians - WikipediaMore on Polish mathematiciansKategoria:Polscy matematycy – Wikipedia, wolna encyklopediaPolscy genialni matematycy w światowej elicieBetween the two World Wars, Poland experienced a hugely influential flourishing of talent. ... The leading lights were Hugo Steinhaus, who had a doctorate from Göttingen (then the Mecca of mathematics) and Stefan Banach, who would become the greatest ever Polish mathematician.Polish mathematicians and cracking the EnigmaThe legacy of Jozef Marcinkiewicz: four hallmarks of geniusEsperanto - WikipediaPolish female poetsElżbieta Szemplińska-Sobolewska, 1943, photo: East NewsPoland’s Forgotten Women Poets#language & literatureAuthor: Agnieszka WarnkePublished: Nov 7 2019Share:FacebookTwitterIn fact, you could almost say they didn’t exist. If one happened to be on par with a man, it was only in his shadow. The history of literature has either forgotten them or labelled them as scandalous… How did women poets cope in a world of linguistic metaphors and distant rhymes?THE Culture.pl EN | Polish culture: literature, art, film, design, language, cuisine & more! | Culture.pl NEWSLETTER#stayculturedThe best in Polish culture, delivered straight to your inbox.Get our newsletter!A man’s perspectiveStatistics state that during the Interwar period, every 10th Polish poet was a woman. When looking through biographical notes on women writers of the time, each is listed as the wife, sister, daughter, friend or acquaintance of a male writer. Men often exist independently (in encyclopaedias – but not, of course, in reality).Therefore, in order to break the patriarchal model of the poetry groups of that period, a woman poet had to be at the very least talented, as it was assumed that even if she learned the rules of the craft, she would never transcend them.She also had to be well-educated; in reality, the first such generation, with Zuzanna Ginczanka and Anna Świrszczyńska at the forefront, made its debut in the 1930s and later. On top of all of this, a woman poet had to be courageous and uncompromising.Basically, in a word, a woman poet had to be a ‘man’ in her artistic work. Of course, it wouldn’t hurt if she also happened to be beautiful – then, she could count on the favourable glances of gentlemen. Some succeeded in this, but they operated on different principles.It is not difficult to associate women’s surnames with Skamander, the Polish group of experimental poets founded in 1918 – including Maria Pawlikowska-Jasnorzewska, Kazimiera Iłłakowiczówna and Maria Morska, a muse of male poets and a reciter of their work. In avant-garde currents, however, they are practically non-existent.The researcher Agata Zawiszewska believes that for the majority of women writing at the time, a high degree of formal awareness was unavailable (including free verse and metaphor as the basic means of expression), as were intellectual discipline and emotional restraint.The majority is not everything, however. It was customary to call women poets ‘only children’ (girls, of course). This is how the Kraków Avant-Garde group, with its exhaustive poetic programme, regarded Mila Elin. The more malicious probably referred to her as Tadeusz Peiper’s ‘bastard’, considering the fact that he was the only one who valued her at that time.A similar attitude towards women was held by the Warsaw literary group Kwadryga, which formed part the Second Avant-Garde. It was probably no accident that the editorial office of the magazine was located on Chłodna Street (with ‘chłodna’ meaning cold). Amongst its circle were Nina Rydzewska and Elżbieta Szemplińska-Sobolewska, even though they probably better deserve consideration as outsiders.Mila Elin – 16 negatives & one photographMila Elin, projekty kostiumów do sztuki Tadeusza Peipera "Szosta! Szosta!", 1928, praca z wystawy "Papież awangardy. Tadeusz Peiper w Hiszpanii, Polsce, Europie" w Muzeum Narodowym w Warszawie, 2015, fot. Joanna Borowska/ForumMila Elin was the only woman associated with the Kraków Avant-Garde group. All you could really say for certain is ‘she existed’, as her biography leaves many questions.When exactly was she alive? She must have been born around 1907, since Tadeusz Peiper mentioned a 16-year-old Elin who began to correspond with him shortly after the first issue of Zwrotnica (Points), a magazine issued by the Kraków Avant-Garde, appeared. Anecdotal evidence suggests that Elin died in the Warsaw Ghetto, although the Jewish Historical Institute is not able to confirm these hypotheses.We know a few details from Marian Piechal, the co-founder of the Meteor poets’ group. For example, we can determine that she lived in Warsaw – first on Leszno Street, then on Elektoralna – and that she was the daughter of a watchmaker.A photograph of her, from 1928, was also found in Piechal’s collection: the only known one. It shows a young woman with a girly face, a clever look, prominent lips and dark, short hair which emphasises her cheekbones.The other preserved items are objects created by Elin: theatrical costume designs for the play Szósta! Szósta! (Sixth! Sixth!) by Peiper, essays implementing the Kraków Avant-Garde programme line (flattering its leading representative), a file of letters to Jalu Kurek (in which Elin wrote about studying philosophy and feeling isolated in literary circles). There are also, of course, poems – scarcely 16, mainly erotic in nature.The period of flirtation between Elin and all that literature encompassed for her spans just six years. Beginning in March 1927, it ends in October 1932 in Kraków, taking place between the pages of the magazines Zwrotnica and Linia (Line). In the meantime, Elin became involved with the Łódź Meteor, a magazine devoted to verse which was issued in Warsaw in three editions under the same title.Elin was always faithful to Peiper, with whom she had an intellectual affair. Its fruit is her poetry – a woman’s intimate response to an exceedingly masculine worldview, or, as Andrzej Waśkiewicz would have it, a negative of the works of Peiper, this ‘pope’ of the avant-garde.On the one hand, Peiper wrote:you, a sheet of paper which I shall saveFrom ‘Naga’ (Naked) by Tadeusz Peiper, trans. ADas well as:I will push into you, font into paperFrom ‘Ja, Ty’ (Me, You) by Tadeusz Peiper, trans. ADElin, on the other hand, uses an analogy – of a sexual act and the act of writing – characteristic of her master’s erotic poems:the most expensive book, it was in meand it made of me a book, in which no one writes.From ‘Książka’ (Book) by Mira Elin, trans. ADAlthough they both move within the same topoi (a sheet of paper, a dream, the scent of skin or body, shadow, night), their relations are usually antithetical. If with Peiper, we have action, with Elin, it is an expectation – one which ends in disappointment. When he deprives the woman of her voice, she does the same to the man. One is watching, the other is running away – or flirting.There are also convergences. When the poet accuses:Seamstress of dreams, on the eyes of day you sew the sleepy eyelids of shadowonto the open eyes of day.From ‘Na Rusztowaniu’ (On the Scaffolds) by Tadeusz Peiper, trans. ADThe poetess admits:and I am a short night, I, the short shadow of a lighthouseFrom ‘Głód’ (Hunger) by Mira Elin, trans. ADIn other works, Elin implements the arrangement of Peiper’s poetics, such regularly distanced rhymes or paraphrasing reality, for example of a love act:the sky with a bloody kiss of dawnopens the earthFrom ‘Krzyk Kogutów’ (The Cocks’ Cry) by Mira Elin, trans. ADShe does this, however, to describe different emotional states or her experiences as a woman. In Elin’s poetry, intimacy, honesty and, above all, loneliness dominate:A fan is made from white squares,The promises of wooden paper printed,You and me in an apartment of numbersEven and lonely like someExpectations […]From ‘Kalendarz’ (Calendar) by Mira Elin, trans. ADIf, to repeat the claims of Zwrotnica, Elin was nothing more than a student of Peiper, it should be added that she was an extremely daring one at that. If, to agree with Jan Brzękowski and Julian Przyboś that her poems are ’colourless’, then you have to remember about the shades of grey.With the words: ‘she approached me with her poetry like no other, while retaining all the interesting peculiarities of her imagination’, Peiper shut the mouths of those criticizing his protégé – so effectively that Janusz Sławiński left Elin out of a crowning work on the poetic language of the Krakow Avant-Garde.When in the 1970s, her poems were remembered, Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz asked:The mysterious Elin, of which nothing is left, whom nobody remembers nor ever speaks of – is not this the most beautiful, and in any case, saddest tale in our poetry?Trans. ADNina Rydzewska – ‘The City of the Owl of Mokotów’In the book Chmurnie i Durnie (Clouds and Fools), Stanisław Ryszard Dobrowolski described Nina Rydzewska as follows:She was a good-looking [...] 20-something-year-old brunette with a marked tendency towards obesity, with a slightly exotic, oriental beauty.Trans. ADNina Rydzewska, photo: public domainHe was likely secretly in love with her.Friends nicknamed her ‘owl’ due to her large, dark eyes. Fellow writers remembered her as a modest, cheerful, but lonely woman. She remained the only woman part of Kwadryga for a long time – that is, until Elżbieta Szemplińska-Sobolewska appeared on the horizon (more about her in a moment).Before the war, Rydzewska wrote poems (translated into German, French, Hungarian, Finnish and Latvian). After the war, she only published novels about Kashubianfishermen and miners; for this purpose, she actually wound up taking a job in a mine. She also created radio reports and various versions of her own biography. She has two reported birthdates: on February 16, 1902 and also in 1906, probably in Warsaw, somewhere in Mokotów, most likely to a poor family.And here is where we come across four scenarios. First, her father died when she was three years old and her mother remarried. Second, she was orphaned by the First World War and then taken care of by the Rydzewska family. Third, she had both parents, and fourth, she came from Georgia, and her parents died during the October Revolution.The latter clue would be indicated by her second name, Zaira, and her particular beauty, as well as her love for a Georgian merchant – later her husband – with the surname Asłan Bek Barasbi Baytugan (her contact with him shattered her chances of joining the PZPR [Polish United Workers’ Party]).Nina Rydzewska, photo: public domainRydzewska took her first job as a tutor of reading and writing when she was just 10 years old – paying for her school and university studies this way. She wrote down her first pieces on official forms in the office of the Chapter of the War Order of Virtuti Militari.Her first, but also loudest poem caused a scandal. Published in Głos Prawdy (Voice of Truth), the 1927 poem Madonna Nędzarzy (Madonna of the Poor) – written in the style of Józef Piłsudski – enraged the national democratic and Catholic communities.Rydzewska was accused of blasphemy in a denunciation to the justice minister. The people – forgetting about the romantic (Mickiewicz) and Young Poland (Kasprowicz) traditions of getting in touch with God – wanted her tried as a criminal and to see her imprisoned, although some were inclined to simply deem the piece talentless.The poet’s trial did not take place due to a protest by the literary community (including Kaden-Bandrowski, Iłłakowiczówna and Gałczyński), as well as her readers. Ultimately, the poem won the plebiscite for the best work of poetry.It was actually not Rydzewska, but Kwadryga – the group which she aspired to be a part of – that would gain the most renown, however. Rydzewska cooperated with the Warsaw literary group between 1928 to 1930; she then moved towards prose. Poems from that period were included in the only volume – Miasto (City) – which placed her in the realm of nationalised poetry.Although critics of the time analysed the works of the young writer in the context of women’s poetry (and not poetry in general), they noted her talent as greater than the achievements of Kwadryga itself. They referred to her work as ‘fresh’ and with a ‘healthy comprehension of emancipation’.The series Miasto (City), with its expressionist and futuristic tones, is steeped in darkness, poverty and destruction:Our world is like the inside of a black, scorching foundry.Heavy evenings haunt with wind and rain...From ‘Miasto’ (City) by Nina Rydzewska, trans. ADAccording to Jan Marx, it is reminiscent of images from Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables, with an undercurrent of Baudelaire. She attacks the imagination of readers with urban snapshots, which she composes in the spirit of ballads.If, in spite of their opposition towards Skamander’s poetics, the work of Kwadryga’s writers dangerously approached them, then Rydzewska drew upon them the least.Rydzewska often moved, finally settling in Szczecin. She died of heart complications on 3rd February 1958.Elżbieta Szemplińska-Sobolewska –Ephebos’ profile, Strzyga’s teethElżbieta Szemplińska-Sobolewska with her husband, photo: public domainWith Kwadryga’s second woman poet, who broke Rydzewska’s monopoly – Elżbieta Szemplińska-Sobolewska – the situation is more complicated. She was neither able to acquire the same level of recognition, a fact unsurprising when considering her work, nor was she as temperamental as her predecessor.Szemplińska was silent, shy. It can’t be denied, however, that she had a unique sense of humour. She refused to provide personal information to the editor of Kwadryga, explaining: ‘My profession is so disgraceful’. Already writing novels by the age of 10, at 14, she had also published poems. She would later study Polish Studies and become a journalist and author of prose.Sabina Sebyłowa, the wife of a Kwadryga member, also a writer, recalled:E. Sz. – sometimes signing as Szem. – a poetess and prose writer. With the profile of the wonderful Ephebos and the teeth of Strzyga. [...] [S]he gives the impression of being constantly surprised, even in relation to herself. [...] She speaks using monosyllables, cramming them with sense.Trans. ADAs one can see, it was not only men who reacted coldly to her.Elżbieta Szemplińska-Sobolewska painted by Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz, photo: Adam Mickiewicz Museum of LiteratureSzemplińska did not dissociate herself from the Skamander tradition; her poetry is full of various influences. The erotic poem Ciało (Body) is a sensual version of Bolesław Leśmian, while her feminine lyrics are smeared with the Pocałunki(Kisses) of Maria Pawlikowska-Jasnorzewska.In Rozmowa z Ojcem (A Talk with Father), you can hear Antoni Słonimski. Witold Gombrowiczeven spoke about Szemplińska’s ‘childlike-feminine-animal’ view of the world.Her non-uniform poetry, written in the 1930s, is characterised by social radicalism and revolutionary accents. Just like Rydzewska, Szemplińska drew from futurism and expressionism:A man in a vast jungle that is the city,among lianas of signals, the roar of smell -among concrete street networks,alone – in the jungle – man without claws.From ‘Prawo Dżungli’ (The Law of the Jungle) by Elżbieta Szemplińska-Sobolewska, trans. ADSzemplińska was accused of extreme communism. The combination of her unconventional beauty and political views prompted Witkacy to paint her portrait. Even if she believed in social ideals before the war, she changed her mind after escaping to the USSR. At that time, few people believed in her transformation.Her works written in New York, Rio de Janeiro or east of the Polish border were filled with nostalgia. She published in the pages of the London Newsand the Parisian Kultura. Few remember her poems devoted to insurgent Warsaw – the Troy of the North, such as Chorągiew (Banner) or Krzyż Warszawy (Warsaw’s Cross).When poetry failed her, she tried to earn her keep by selling her paintings. She most often painted the face of her husband, Zygmunt Sobolewski, in the style of Chagall (she also dedicated one of her poems to an exhibition of his). Her other favourite subjects included cats or Pekingese.Ah, those Polish people, they definitely are good and were good at something.. :)