# sinych plecach



## jacquesvd

Dear all,

I have problems understanding "sinych plecach" in the sentence: O KOR, sinych plecach Gierka z Radomia gadatliwych esbekach najpiękniejszym sylwestrze w źyciu i o tym jak to jest nie mieć imienia opowiada żofia Romaszewska.

What does it mean? About KOR, ..........Gierek in Radom, garrulous secret policemen, the most beautiful sylvester in her life and about that what cannot have a name, talks Z.R.

Can somebody help, please?
Thanks


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## mietagosia

Hello! "o sinych plecach Gierka z Radomia" means "about the livid back of Gierek from Radom". Gierek is a surname, Radom is a name of a city and livid back alludes to a back full of bruises (I'm guessing the person was arrested and beaten up during interrogation and that's where the bruises came from). 

Sylwester is a male name but in this context it means New Year's Eve (December 31st is Sylwester's name day and that's where the celebration of New Year's Eve got its name from). 

"o tym jak to jest nie mieć imienia" = "about what it feels like not to have a name (to be nameless)

Hope this helps  If you have any problems understanding the historical or political context, don't hesitate to ask further questions


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## jacquesvd

mietagosia said:


> Hello! "o sinych plecach Gierka z Radomia" means "about the livid back of Gierek from Radom". Gierek is a surname, Radom is a name of a city and livid back alludes to a back full of bruises (I'm guessing the person was arrested and beaten up during interrogation and that's where the bruises came from).
> 
> Sylwester is a male name but in this context it means New Year's Eve (December 31st is Sylwester's name day and that's where the celebration of New Year's Eve got its name from).
> 
> "o tym jak to jest nie mieć imienia" = "about what it feels like not to have a name (to be nameless)
> 
> Hope this helps  If you have any problems understanding the historical or political context, don't hesitate to ask further questions


 
Thank you very much. I knew "plec" means back; didn't know what "sinych" but after looking it up in my dictionary I couldn't make anything of a 'blue back'. With your explanation, I now I understand. I thought Gierek was a communist Polish leader who had, at one time in his life, been a miner. Sylvester is also the name given to New Year's eve here in Belgium, as it is in France, and I thought the expression existed in the UK as well but I may well be wrong there.


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## kknd

you mean 'plecy' (back as a part of the body); it's _pluralia tantum_ (doesn't have singular form).


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## Ben Jamin

mietagosia said:


> Hello! "o sinych plecach Gierka z Radomia" means "about the livid back of Gierek from Radom". Gierek is a surname, Radom is a name of a city and livid back alludes to a back full of bruises (I'm guessing the person was arrested and beaten up during interrogation and that's where the bruises came from).
> 
> Sylwester is a male name but in this context it means New Year's Eve (December 31st is Sylwester's name day and that's where the celebration of New Year's Eve got its name from).
> 
> "o tym jak to jest nie mieć imienia" = "about what it feels like not to have a name (to be nameless)
> 
> Hope this helps  If you have any problems understanding the historical or political context, don't hesitate to ask further questions


"O sinych plecach Gierka z Radomia" sounds quite meaningless, as it was not Gierek who was beaten up in Radom, but the workers. Maybe the sentence was to include more words that were lost in the process of quoting, or in the original text. Maybe it was written by a person that was not born yet in 1976, and couldn`t see the error?


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## Szkot

Its about another Gierek, who was beaten up:

Pierwsze drzwi, do których zapukała w Radomiu Zofia Romaszewska,  prowadziły do mieszkania człowieka, który nazywał się Leopold Gierek.  Był bardzo pobity, bo kiedy milicja pytała go o nazwisko, odpowiadał  zgodnie z prawdą, a oni myśleli, że z nich kpi. ...   - Wciąż miał sine plecy, trząsł się cały - mówi Zofia Romaszewska.  Source


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## Slovianka

A link to the information about what happend in Radom in 1976:

http://www.polskieradio.pl/muzyka/nieprzegap/artykul103638_jak_zbite_palka_ludzkie_plecy.html

And another one, to the lyrics of a song by Jan Krzysztof Kelus : "Szosa E-7" (Road E-7), which begins with words: "Czerwony Radom pamiętam siny jak zbite pałką ludzkie plecy" - Red Radom I remember purple like human's back beaten with a rod):

http://www.tekstowo.pl/piosenka,jan_krzysztof_kelus,ballada_o_szosie_e7.html


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## Ben Jamin

Szkot said:


> Its about another Gierek, who was beaten up:
> 
> Pierwsze drzwi, do których zapukała w Radomiu Zofia Romaszewska, prowadziły do mieszkania człowieka, który nazywał się Leopold Gierek. Był bardzo pobity, bo kiedy milicja pytała go o nazwisko, odpowiadał zgodnie z prawdą, a oni myśleli, że z nich kpi. ... - Wciąż miał sine plecy, trząsł się cały - mówi Zofia Romaszewska. Source


 Ta historia nie była znana a całej Polsce. Ja mieszkałem wówczas w Gdańsku, i nigdy nie słyszałem o Leopoldzie Gierku.


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## Thomas1

Ben Jamin said:


> Ta historia nie była znana a całej Polsce. Ja mieszkałem wówczas w Gdańsku, i nigdy nie słyszałem o Leopoldzie Gierku.


I think this an expedient play on words by the author given who is assiociated with the surname 'Gierek' by almost everyone in Poland. My mum used to live near Radom at that time and she said she hadn't heard this story either.


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