With a past that includes partitions and occupation, you can see why historians say the date to celebrate Poland’s independence was “chosen.” The video below shows how Poland’s borders have changed over time and how Poland has even disappeared from the face of the earth at times.
After Poland was partitioned and totally consumed by it’s neighbors (for 123 years), World War I brought defeat to it’s occupiers and allowed Poland to be reborn as a state and Poles to reclaim their national culture. The process was gradual, but November 11, 1918 a new Commander and Chief was appointed, and this day is celebrated as Independence Day. On this date, the area around Poznan was not part of Poland. It was left behind as part of Prussia, not reunited with Poland until later, so you see that November 11th might not mean as much to the people of this region as in other parts of the country.
November 11th also happens to be St. Martin’s Day, and St. Martin happens to be the the name of the main street in town. What do you do when you have hard feeling about your country’s Independence Day? Celebrate your main street’s name’s day!
The celebration today included mass, of course, and a parade. I recognized some parade entries as having significance in Polish history or folklore; it may have been the case for all of them. The parade route was also lined with booths selling traditional Polish food, crafts and Rogale Swietomarcinskie, a local specialty. Legend has it that a Poznan baker dreamed of St. Martin riding into town on a white horse. The horse lost one of it’s golden horse shoes. The baker found it and was inspired make a horse shoe shaped pastry which he gave to the poor. The St. Martin Croissant was born!
An accountant by trade and a food blogger since 2009, Lois Britton fell in love with Polish cuisine during the years she lived in Poznań, Poland. As the creator of PolishHousewife.com, she loves connecting readers with traditional Polish recipes. Lois has a graduate certificate in Food Writing and Photography from the University of South Florida. She is the author of The Polish Housewife Cookbook, available on Amazon and on her website.
Kasia
Lois – it never crossed my mind that Nov 11 was not the Independence Day for Wielkopolska. But then, I don't think it was a holiday in PL when I still lived there. Thank you for reminding me, and you will be able to celebrate again on Dec 27.
I wish I could have a "rogal marcinski" for breakfast right now:)
Have a great weekend!
tralf
How incredibly resilient Polish people must be to have had their country invaded so many times and have it totally taken over by neighboring countries and yet they've maintained their language and traditions. That's truly incredible.
Melinda
Thank you for the history lesson AND for sharing the fun of St. Martin Day! Glad to hear that you weren't troubled by the rioting elsewhere in Poland on Independence Day…
Lois B
Kasia – we may totally warp tradition and have regal marcinski for Christmas.
Tralf – during the nazi occupation, it was forbidden to speak Polish. People were killed for a lot less, yet there were women risking their lives to secretly teach children Polish.
Melinda – we heard that there was a small demonstration on Wednesday with the F16 anniversary celebration. They
Ola
As I mentioned, never tried this cakes. But they do look delicious!
Halina
Thank you for the history lesson! I would love a recipe for plum Pierogi My babcia would make them with potato dough and Italian plums
polishhousewife
Hi Halina, like this recipe maybe? Plum dumplings in a potato dough – https://polishhousewife.com/polish-potato-plum-dumplings-knedle-ze-sliwkami/
Sharon
The plum pierogies were my favorite too! My grandma would make them for me, but I had to wait ti they were in season.