Line+of+Inquiry+3

Line of Enquiry 3: Societies evolve and adapt. What rules of behaviour did people adapt to?

Rule by the church – Polish are very religious, and strongly follow the Roman Catholic religion.

Rule by other countries – Poland has been invaded many times. Germany, and Russia have forced Poles to live by their laws, even sometimes outlawing speaking Polish.

How have people adapted to living in Warsaw?

During the Second World War the capital city of Poland, Warsaw was burnt to the ground. The people of Warsaw tried to fight the German invasion – this was called the Warsaw uprising.

But the Germans crushed the people’s army, hundreds of thousands of people were killed, and the Germans set fire to the city. The Soviet Army then came into the city and took over. The people of Warsaw had to live under Soviet rule until 1989. So you can see it has been very difficult for the people of Warsaw with all the people taking over their country and invading their society.

How has the judicial system changed?

In world war II, when the Germans invaded the people of Poland had to obey their rules. The police were so strict that they had secret police called Gestapo. They would be thrown in concentration camps often for no reason at all.

After the Germans came the Communists. The Communists were like the Nazis but with different names. They also had secret police called The Polish Secret police. Their Gulag camps were similar to the concentration camps.

These days they have a proper judicial system like ours and they are much more free to do things.