Adam Zamoyski: Famous Historian on Poland

[@samfortune589]

I'm just reading his book, Poland, and it's a beautifully written book. An erudite and gracious man, it's a pleasure to hear him speak on Polish history.

[@WojciechWachniewski-st1zm]

It is always interesting to read a history of Poland written THIS WAY in English. One may not be a very big fan of learning history with all the kings, queens, wars, dates, but here we have a story, an essay, making the stuff more friendly. To me it is the same thing, as reading the New Testament in German. No explanations, not too much footnotes, just a story to read. Good work, Mr. Adam, and thanks very much for it. In your history Poland becomes more interesting, than in many big books. And what a reading to a Pole! Kawał dobrej roboty, za którą dziękuję najserdeczniej🙂👍♍

[@richardkosiorowski8887]

It is an amazing interview. Zamoyski is a Pole living in England since 2nd WW and Patrick Ney, a Brit living in Poland for 10 years.

[@cimg9673]

'The son of Polish aristocrats' leads to the following conclusion: Mr. Adam Zamoyski is an aristocrat, thanks God. I wish Poland would apprieciate so great Polish.Thank you for the interview.

[@Stryjekmod]

I’m currently on Adam Zamoyski binge watch, discovered him few days ago. My grandfather was born near Zamość, a city founded by Jan Zamoyski, so I’ve always been told great stories of this MAGNIFICANT family. Also, my great-grandmother worked at Ordynacja Zamoyska (Zamoyski Family Fee Tail) before the war, so it’s a real pleasure to watch this interview. I will have to inform my grandad about existence of Adam, and how classy he is, haha. Great interview man.

[@squamish4244]

The Zamoyksi family is 500 years old and was one of the most powerful in Poland until WW2, with vast holdings across the country. It managed to keep its estates even after participating in the failed uprisings of the 19th Century. I had no idea about it, even though I have heard of a lot of old noble families in Europe.

[@leeseaman6068]

Much appreciated! A great interview Patrick. Adam Zamoyski is so knowledgeable, articulate and at the same time impartial and unbiased. He has revealed so much about the role of Poland in Europe that has been largely hidden and has made his research accessible to the lay reader.

[@amazingpolishhistory]

Thanks I really enjoyed this discussion.

[@squamish4244]

@@amazingpolishhistory Any relation to you-know-who?

[@Lorenzo-bl2ss]

Adam Zamoyski is a fantastic writer and an inspiring, in many ways very european spirit. I enjoyed reading his 1812 book very much, as a historian as much as a simple reader. I wished that Poland would take advice from a man like this, it would be a better country.

[@Nicolaus-ih3fy]

Believe me, there are wise men in Poland. A historian from Cracow, professor Andrzej Nowak is one of them.

[@JerzyMi]

​@@Nicolaus-ih3fy Nowak is smart but biased

[@clandestine2701]

Thank you for bringing Mr Zamoyski to do the show. Gripping.

[@kacperm6555]

That was a truly interesting interview I must admit. Thanks so much for your invaluable contribution to popularizing the knowledge of Polish history.

[@brenoa.oliveira4821]

Amazing interview, I wish your channel to gain millions of views and subscribers! Cheers

[@patrickney846]

We're working on it :)

[@mikadorek1]

The few sentences describing Rzeczpospolita part of Central Europe history are the best I’ve ever heard about.

[@jerryksiezopolski8258]

Amazing interview Patric. Adam is a great man., I like his views as general.

[@squamish4244]

I came across this guy through his debates with Andrew Roberts about Napoleon. I had no idea the Zamoyski family was one of the most powerful in Poland before WW2, with vast holdings across the country. They managed to keep their estates even after the failed Polish Uprisings of the 19th Century.

[@Nicolaus-ih3fy]

Not the 'most powerful". It was one of the most distinguished ones. Their greatest period was the 16-17th Centuries.

[@sylwiatime]

@@Nicolaus-ih3fy Zamoyski is also a descendant from the Czartoryskis so one of the most powerful to boot.

[@miguelkurc6655]

Great interview!

[@patrickney846]

Thanks a lot Miguel!

[@nina-ciara]

Absolutely fascinating.......💕🙋🏼‍♀️💕

[@patrickney846]

I agree! Many thanks

[@MK-lm6hb]

Excellent interview. Patrick asks interesting questions and Adam Zamoyski gives thought-provoking answers. Regrettably, it is common in Poland to wallow in self pity, martyrdom and Messianism while the greatness of the Commonwealth of Both Nations is underappreciated. At school, the emphasis is on the nineteenth century when Poland existed not as a state but only as a nation. Poles are taught a Romantic myth that Poland was always an innocent victim of rapacious neighbours. They instinctively think about Poland as an ethnic community and not as a state. A nation is for them an equivalent of das Volk rather than a nation as a political community as in the Anglo-Saxon tradition. It is an interesting paradox that Poland is a modern, economically developed and technologically advanced country whose inhabitants are still mentally in the nineteenth century. Well, not all of them but the majority. And many historians, which is more puzzling. Something astonishing happened in the history of Poland: Poles were in some aspects more modern during the times of the Commonwealth of Both Nations than they are now. How come, you may ask. The answer is that Poland was then religiously tolerant and multi-confessional, multilingual and multi-ethic, unlike modern Poland.

[@kernowpolski]

That is a very well analysed comment, which highlights a big historical irony.

[@GodOfVictory501]

Jeez, Adam Zamoyski is a real smoothie. I wish I was that suave.

[@amazingpolishhistory]

Dude you will never be, I'm afraid! He's quite someone, isn't he?

[@GodOfVictory501]

@@amazingpolishhistory Indeed. Really enjoying his Napoleon bio.

[@amazingpolishhistory]

@@GodOfVictory501 Oh good. I haven't read his Napoleon related books.

[@stormyrain2957]

Interesting.

[@jozefkolbe9003]

You can’t really avoid the martyrological tone when writing honestly about the Vendée or Cristero wars, so too you can’t really, honestly avoid it when writing about much of Polish history in the 20th and earlier centuries. Likewise, you can’t ignore the moral aspect in the history of Poland’s 1st Republic, without it you can’t explain why and how it collapsed. Such is Polish history and you can’t wish it away. On the other hand, at least martyrological history has a point. For all their vastly superior achievements in culture and art, I don’t envy the histories of many other nations, such as the Germans, Russians or Jews - such histories are simply tragic.

[@wladyslawbukowski]

"For all their vastly superior achievements in culture and art, I don’t envy the histories of many other nations, such as the Germans, Russians or Jews - such histories are simply tragic" ???

[@stevenwillicombe9505]

Zamoyski can deliver with some of his books but others appear too rushed to publication. e.g. his Poland a history is sorely lacking in historical accuracy and in addition, mute on important events ranging from 13th century incursions by Subotai son of Genghis Khan into Poland and Russian pogroms through the years

[@rabarba6]

As my english teacher once said "If you do not know what to write then maake stuff up"

[@rttuy7978]

​@@rabarba6Your English teacher obviously did not emphasise the need for accuracy, not even in basic spelling.

[@sylwiatime]

I'm not surprised Zamoyski is interested in the history of the First Republic since his own ancestor literally designed that Polish Republic.

[@karl246111]

Read Gombrowicz the diaries in English translation, if you need to know further the heart of the noble artistic individual experience on this level and beyonder: he was for me the deepest insight in english you can read and totally new to an english reader in both syntax and mind, Go into the mind of that region on earth and the geniuses alongside chopin, and the other world renowned Poles and you will see more and more beyond known history .

[@krismalecki8278]

There were poles and Poles. I group you, mr Zamojski with Capital P Poles.

[@thefirstnews9019]

Thanks for watching. Please share!

[@kskslslslsoooao]

11:50 "that Europe always ended on..." On what? Can't figure out what he's saying there.

[@sharischoll9411]

Perhaps if he had suffered like the Polish people, he would have empathy. He was "exiled".......removed from being slaughtered and watching your family and friends die. Would have to be sheer terror. He has been protected from all harm his entire life. Was he tortured? No. Protected. Idiotic? Next time, stick around. Something you have to live through to understand. The fact that it happened at all needs to be discussed or it will happen again. We should point fingers at all the leaders who planned this horror. Sat back in their offices while non-royal went through hell.

[@MK-lm6hb]

What you write is silly. You equate suffering with moral superiority. You imply that suffering is natural and remembering it is like carrying a badge of honour. The horror of the WWII happened 80 years ago and it belongs to history. It is not healthy psychologically to dwell on the past and see the modern world as if nothing changed since the war.

[@alexk48]

His view of the history of Poland is that of an outsider, an Englishman. He and his family were not in Poland during the German and Soviet occupations. He is correct that his knowledge of Poland comes from another century.

[@JerzyMi]

Don't throw out the baby with bathwater

[@JerzyMi]

Mr Zamoyski, with marriage gone bad and dirty wasing, there's a question of money ...

[@NbyD]

One odd thing nobody mentions is that while it is true the poles suffered a lot during ww2 they also inflicted a lot of suffering towards the German civilian population they "expelled" in a genocide (in concert with the Russians). Politically, they were the biggest winners from both world wars expanding their territories. Knowing Polish culture quite well I wonder if some problems in mentality in Polish culture today result from the need to blame and dont take responsibility for what they did due to the inability to look at their own problems in their history and guilt. Perhaps the flip side of having won the war and conquered after being victimised first.

[@sylwiatime]

You have no idea what you're writing about. Poland LOST territory after WW2. Actually it lost half of its prewar territory and Poles were expelled from there and resettled to the much smaller territory in the West Soviets got from Germans. Not to mention how many times Germans expelled Poles from their houses during WW2. While Poles generally don't think that the territorial shifts were good, and we resent Russians, Brits and Americans for them (there were no Poles in Yalta where that decision was made), you can hardly ask us to cry because of poor Germans who lost their homes. On the average, a Pole was expelled from his home 6 times during the war and most had no place to return to after the war ended because Germans and Soviets burnt down our cities. In what dimension Poland was a winner in WW2?

[@NbyD]

​@@sylwiatime Look at historical maps. WW2 was a continuation of WW1. Poland went from non-existence in 1900 to what it is today with good ports and land taken from other peoples. The sacrficies and suffering so many Poles experienced were absolutely undeniable. But so is that net net they benefitted in historical terms and now have a historical opportunity to flourish as a country if they dont get stuck in victim and blaming mentality. And ideally also not in the type of inhumane cynicism part of your post seems to exhibit to millions of civilians who mostly had as much responsibiity for the politics of the time as you and I have ...

[@sylwiatime]

@@NbyD Yeah, why don't you look at historical maps? Poland existed for centuries before it was occupied by, among others, Germany - a country that came into being only in 1871. Inhumane cynicism? Where were the sympathetic Germans when Poles were being expelled from their own homes in the 19th century and during WW2? Oh, wait, weren't they just moving into "their" new lands in the newly conquered East? I do take responsibility for the politics of my country, and I think you should, too. And I do hold Germans of the era responsible for the acts of the govt they voted into power. No foreign empire forced them to have a Nazi government. Also, no, WW2 wasn't a continuation of WW1. It didn't need to happen at all if not for the greed and resentment of some people. However, the expelling of Poles, Germans and others after WW2 was its direct aftermath. It would have never happened if Germans hadn't made the war. Stalin, the guy who made the decision about border shifts, would have never gained power over Poland without Germany. You think Poles preferred Szczecin to Lviv? Lviv was Poland's cultural capital before the war, and unlike the cities in the West it survived the war in good shape. Do you know how many Polish officers who fought the Nazis in the West committed suicide once they learnt they had no homes anymore because Eastern Poland was grabbed by the USSR? So think again and don't go now blaming Poles for events that happened only because German own ideas didn't go the way they wanted. And BTW Poland was totally ruined after WW2. Warsaw alone suffered more than twice as many losses as Hiroshima and Nagasaki together. Germans never paid for that. Whatever Poland is today it's thanks only to the hard work of Polish people who, over decades, rebuilt it with their own hard work. Poles hadn't get any nice cash from Uncle America like Germany did, and Soviets stole whatever they could. So spare me your shameless talk about flourishing and benefits.

[@lifebyyou4479]

Those two communities never lived together. Vatican brought that other group to Poland and forced them on the native population.

[@alexk48]

Nonsense.

[@Nicolaus-ih3fy]

Complete nonsense

[@JerzyMi]

Long live Reformation

[@thorner2994]

Where is the story about great help from England and France in September 1939...???

[@richardkosiorowski8887]

There was no help from England or France to Poland when Hitler attacked it on Sep. 1st 1939.

[@szyszka8303]

Well they let thos ppl to stay and to have a good live.

[@lemat579]

If France and England didn't help to Czech Rep. , despiste they had signed treaty. Why would they help to Poland, if they did nothing in march 1939 for Chechs.

[@thefirstnews9019]

We invite you to watch our 2 part special on that story with historian Roger Moorhouse

[@peterandsylviastephens8785]

​@@lemat579Poland also had a treaty with France and Britain. The poles fought with the allies but received no help in return from France or Britain.

[@juliakarwan-jastrzebska1915]

OMG he is so hot