Polish customs, especially at Christmas time, are both beautiful and meaningful. The preparations for Christmas begin many days before the actual celebration. Nearly everywhere women are cleaning windows in apartments and houses just before Christmas. The insides of the houses are also cleaned thoroughly. It is believed that if a house is dirty on Christmas Eve, it will remain dirty all next year. The Breaking of the Oplatek One of the most beautiful and most revered Polish customs is the breaking of the oplatek. The use of the Christmas wafer (oplatek) is not only by native Poles in Poland but also by people of Polish ancestry all over the world. The oplatek is a thin wafer made of flour and water. For table use, it is white. In Poland, colored wafers are used to make Christmas tree decorations. In the past, the wafers were baked by organists or by religious and were distributed from house to house in the parish during Advent. Today, they are produced commercially and are sold in religious stores and houses. Sometimes an oplatek is sent in a greeting card to loved ones away from home.

1. CHRISTMAS IN
POLAND

2. POLAND
Poland is
in eastern
Europe.

3. Poland is east across the Atlantic Ocean and slightly
north of Seaford. People in Poland speak Polish.

4. • St. Nicholas Day is celebrated on December 6.
• Christmas Eve, December 24, begins with Wigilia – Christmas
Eve dinner. It is a time for family to get together, usually
without outside guests. Traditionally, a place is set for any
strangers who might arrive. This custom comes from the old
Polish saying, "A guest in the home is God in the home.“

5. • St. Nicholas, called Swiety
Mikolaj encourages children
to be good. He gives
apples, oranges, holy
pictures or pierniki (saint
cookies made with honey
and spices) to good children
and switches to those who
were not so good. Children
write letters to St. Nicholas
telling him about their
behavior and asking for
special gifts.

6. OPŁATEK , A THIN WAFER
PRESSED WITH PICTURES OF
THE HOLY FAMILY. PEOPLE
PASS THIS AROUND, SHARING
GOOD WISHES AND SMALL
PIECES OF THEIR OPŁATEK.
Straw is
sometimes put
under the table
in remembrance
of the manger
where the Christ
Child was born.

7. The tradition of the Oplatki originated in Poland during Early
Christian times. This Christmas Custom began with a simple
white wafer, baked from flour and water. The wafers are
wonderfully designed to display Christmas images, such as the
Nativity. The Oplatki are enjoyed by families, typically right
before the Christmas Eve meal.

8. Christmas Eve has been given the affectionate name of
"little star" or "Gwiazdka," in remembrance of the star of
Bethlehem. Everyone watches for the first star to be seen
in the sky on Christmas Eve because that signals the start
of Wigilia, the traditional dinner. These stars are made of
straw.

9. Wycinanki is the
traditional art of
papercutting.

10. 'Wesołych wi t‘Ś ą
Happy Christmas
“Cicha Noc”
Silent Night

11. MANY POLISH PEOPLE ARE
CATHOLIC, SO THE
CHRISTMAS CELEBRATIONS
HAVE A RELIGIOUS BASIS.
PEOPLE FAST ON CHRISTMAS
EVE, WHICH MEANS THEY DO
NOT EAT ALL DAY LONG.
WIGILIA , THE TRADITIONAL
CHRISTMAS EVE DINNER
BEGINS AFTER THE FIRST
STAR OF THE EVENING IS
SPOTTED, AND CONSISTS OF
MANY NON-MEAT DISHES.
Pierogi is a Polish dumpling that can be
stuffed with all sorts of ingredients, including
pork, potatoes, cheese, mushrooms,
cabbage, sauerkraut, rice, or fruit. Pierogies
("pierogies" is the plural in English, though
pierogi is actually the plural for pieróg in
Polish) can be boiled, fried, or baked, and
are often served with sautéed onions and
sour cream.

12. Pierogi are dough wrapped around cheese or cabbage.
Borscht is a beet soup. Kluski (egg noodles), carp (a
kind of fish) and poppy seed bread or cake are also
served.

13. Wigilia -- The Vigil
For Poles, Christmas Eve is a night of
magic when animals are said to talk and
people have the power to predict the future.
It’s a time for families to gather and
reconcile any differences, and to remember
loved ones who have gone before them.

14. REFERENCES:
• http://www.santas.net/polishchristmas.htm
• http://www.whychristmas.com/cultures/poland.shtml
• http://www.californiamall.com/holidaytraditions/traditions-
poland.htm
• http://www.stnicholascenter.org/Brix?pageID=93
• http://www.bbc.co.uk/northyorkshire/content/articles/2007/12/05/
polish_christmas_feature.shtml
• http://www.polishamericancenter.org/Wigilia.htm