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Poland

Poland is an ancient nation that was conceived near the middle of the 10th century. Its golden age occurred in the 16th century. During the following century, the strengthening of the gentry and internal disorders weakened the nation. In a series of agreements between 1772 and 1795, Russia, Prussia, and Austria partitioned Poland amongst themselves. Poland regained its independence in 1918 only to be overrun by Germany and the Soviet Union in World War II. It became a Soviet satellite state following the war, but its government was comparatively tolerant and progressive. Labor turmoil in 1980 led to the formation of the independent trade union "Solidarity" that over time became a political force and by 1990 had swept parliamentary elections and the presidency. A "shock therapy" program during the early 1990s enabled the country to transform its economy into one of the most robust in Central Europe, but Poland still faces the lingering challenges of high unemployment, underdeveloped and dilapidated infrastructure, and a poor rural underclass. Solidarity suffered a major defeat in the 2001 parliamentary elections when it failed to elect a single deputy to the lower house of Parliament, and the new leaders of the Solidarity Trade Union subsequently pledged to reduce the Trade Union's political role. Poland joined NATO in 1999 and the European Union in 2004. With its transformation to a democratic, market-oriented country largely completed, Poland is an increasingly active member of Euro-Atlantic organizations.

Krakow is changing fast, including an ongoing transformation of Oskar Schindler's old factory (near the Kazimierz Jewish quarter) into a museum. The main office building will host an exhibit about the non-Jews who aided Holocaust victims, while the old factory buildings will become an art gallery. Also in Krakow, the Gallery of 19th-century Polish Art will likely return to Cloth Hall on the Main Market Square, and three new stained-glass windows based on century-old designs by Polish Art Nouveau headliner Stanislaw Wyspianski are now displayed in the newly opened Wyspianski Pavilion.

Renovations at the Auschwitz Concentration Camp Museum continue. The plan is to spread the existing exhibit through more buildings — mostly on the ground floors — to allow easier movement through this poignant memorial.

Warsaw is improving its infrastructure. The Royal Way thoroughfare through the most historic stretch of town — until recently a congested mess of potholed asphalt — is being replaced with wide, beautifully landscaped sidewalks. Once gloomy and urban, downtown Warsaw is fast becoming an appealing place to hang out.

In Gdansk, the wonderful "Roads to Freedom" museum (about Lech Walesa and the Solidarity movement in the 1980s) has moved to a temporary location not far from is original home in the shipyard where the protests took place. That part of the shipyard will be renovated into a super-modern zone of shops and homes, with the museum moving back in a few years. Other parts of the city are also undergoing a long-overdue redevelopment, in preparation for the Euro Cup soccer championship coming here in 2012.

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